Much like Times Square in New York, thousands and thousands of Frenchmen gather in Paris at the Champs-Élysées to ring in the new year with fireworks and concerts. However, the celebration of the arrival of 2026 has been cancelled in Paris because of a threat of Islamic terrorism, reports Jihad Watch. The decision was made despite the fact that 6,000 police officers were used to secure last year's event.
France’s Interior Minister Laurent Nunez previously warned of a high terrorist threat surrounding the Christmas season, and a stolen gun and ammo were already found cached in the Strasbourg Christmas market, an area that was victim to a terrorist attack in 2018. Although there would be bag checks and pat downs at the New Year’s Eve celebration to ensure that there will be no weapons or anything that could be used as such, authorities could not ensure the safety of the participants.
Instead, the celebration has been pre-recorded with actors in place of the audience. This way the New Years will be celebrated by watching the event and fireworks at home in front of the television. Champs-Élysées is also designated a “no-go-zone,” meaning no one can go for the end-of-year countdown.
Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch. He says that one has to wonder what the French authorities think the country is going to look like in five or ten years.
“If they're already surrendering their own customs, traditions, and practices, then how are they going to get them back? At what point are they going to say, ‘Oh, all's clear. Now we can resume having the New Year's Eve celebrations on the Champs-Elysees’?” asks Spencer. “There's no point where that's going to happen because they are not dealing with the real root of the problem."
Spencer says that the problem comes from unvetted mass Islamic migration, which allows radical jihadis to enter in large numbers and endanger the native population.
"The native population being endangered, that's not going to change. It's only going to get worse because France keeps bringing these jihadis in,” states Spencer. “They're cancelling it now, but people are kidding themselves if they think this is temporary. This is just another step towards the national suicide of France altogether."
