Europe is awakening to reality.

The Continent’s counterterrorsim coordinator, Gijs de Vries, finally stated the obvious: that Europe is an “integral part of Dar al-Harb,” or the jihadists’ domain of war—not just a “base of support” for attacks elsewhere.

De Vries, a former Dutch deputy interior minister, made the comments September 12 at the Institute for Counterterrorism’s annual conference in Herzliva, Israel. He said “The risk of further attacks in Europe—and on Europeans elsewhere in the world—is real and will probably remain high for years to come.”

These observations should not come as a surprise, considering the terror strikes in London and Madrid. European intelligence and law enforcement officials, however, have had a hard time accepting that their countries are on the front lines of the jihadist war, even though Europe has permitted—even knowingly hosted—terror cells within its borders for decades. Some of the masterminds behind 9/11 worked out of Germany.

Europe’s tolerance of extremist Muslim activity has made it a far more desirous place for terrorists to operate than the U.S. Says a Stratfor analysis, “Europe’s large Muslim communities offer support networks in which jihadists can blend in with little difficulty. Unlike the United States, where most immigrants from Islamic countries are scattered throughout society in relatively small groups, Muslim communities in Europe exist in large concentrations in major cities. These Muslim neighborhoods offer jihadists built-in support networks and several layers of insulation between themselves and the authorities” (September 15).

Because jihadists have flourished within European cities, they have been disinclined to stage attacks there and thus possibly endanger the stability of their base of operations.

But that is all changing.

Increased security measures in the U.S. drove even more terrorist activity back to Europe, according to Stratfor. Many operatives assimilated into networks that were already entrenched on the Continent.

Once flare-ups of jihadist violence began occurring in European cities, including Madrid, Amsterdam and London, governments and populations began to stir.

The German government has been working diligently to crack down on the terrorist network within its borders. Berlin established an anti-terrorism command headquarters last December, consolidating the efforts of the nation’s security offices, including the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation and the German Border Police. In addition, effective January 1, a new law made it possible to detain people suspected of belonging to foreign terrorist organizations.

Authorities have already conducted several successful raids and arrests, preventing at least one assassination attempt and thwarting bombing plans and an enriched uranium purchase. “We have now set up a dense web against the terrorist network, and we were successful with it,” stated an intelligence service official (bbc News, January 31).

The Washington Times of August 4 described a campaign underway across Europe to expel radical Islamic clerics who incite extremism and condone terrorism. This is an effort “to root out extremist imams [Islamic leaders] who help radicalize disenchanted Muslim youths and recruit them for violent causes.”

In early August, eight fundamentalist Palestinian preachers were expelled from Italy. France deported an Algerian imam who was arrested in “a preventative anti-terror operation.” Another Algerian was expelled from France for preaching inflammatory sermons. More deportations are expected to follow. “We will not keep people on our territory who issue calls to hatred, to violence and to the disrespect of our democratic values,” French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy stated.

At the same time, more stringent legislation is being passed in European countries to make prosecution easier. Austria passed a law allowing the deportation of Muslims who preach sermons that are “a danger to public security.” In the Netherlands, legislation has been proposed that would outlaw the praising of terrorism, and France has announced plans to strengthen its anti-terror laws.

Bible prophecy shows us that jihadists are actually awakening a fierce beast. As emboldened radicals bring the fight to the Continent, a huge global conflict is shaping up—a clash of civilizations that will spill over the borders of every nation on Earth.