“France has returned 35 people — 10 women and 25 minors — from a sprawling camp
in northeast Syria housing thousands of people linked to Islamic State
extremists. Al-Hol Camp — named after a town near the Iraqi border — holds
about 51,000 people, including many widows, wives and children of Islamic State
fighters. Iraqis make up nearly half the population, but a sizeable minority
are from outside the Middle East. Part of the camp called the Annex holds
around 8,000 women and children from 60 nationalities who are considered the
most die-hard among the residents, and experts have warned for years that the
camp’s wretched conditions and confined spaces risk creating another generation
of Islamic State fighters.”











<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>



Eye on Extremism



July 6, 2023



Associated Press: France Returns 35 Citizens From Camp In Syria Housing
Thousands Linked To Islamic State Extremists
<[link removed]>



“France has returned 35 people — 10 women and 25 minors — from a sprawling
camp in northeast Syria housing thousands of people linked to Islamic State
extremists. Al-Hol Camp — named after a town near the Iraqi border — holds
about 51,000 people, including many widows, wives and children of Islamic State
fighters. Iraqis make up nearly half the population, but a sizeable minority
are from outside the Middle East. Part of the camp called the Annex holds
around 8,000 women and children from 60 nationalities who are considered the
most die-hard among the residents, and experts have warned for years that the
camp’s wretched conditions and confined spaces risk creating another generation
of Islamic State fighters.”



Jewish News Syndicate: Seven Injured In Tel Aviv Car-Ramming, Stabbing
<[link removed]>



“A Palestinian terrorist drove his car into pedestrians at a bus stop on
Pinchas Rosen Street in Tel Aviv’s northeastern Ramat Hahayal neighborhood on
Tuesday. He then got out of the vehicle and stabbed additional victims with a
sharp object, police said. There were seven victims in total. Five of the
victims were in serious condition as of Tuesday evening, including a pregnant
woman listed in very serious condition. The woman subsequently lost her baby
while fighting for her life in the hospital.”



<[link removed]>

Listen to the Fighting Terror Podcast

Fighting Terror is a podcast that brings together counterterrorism experts and
practitioners from Europe, the United States, and beyond to address different
approaches to combating terrorism in our society. Our frank discussions cover
the lifecycle of terrorism from propaganda and recruitment, to financing,
action, and failure. Listenhere
<[link removed]>
or wherever you get your podcasts.




United States



Reuters: Pfizer, Astrazeneca And Others Ask US Supreme Court To Bar Iraq
Terrorism Funding Claims
<[link removed]>



“More than 20 U.S. and European pharmaceutical and medical-device makers have
asked the U.S. Supreme Court to bar claims that the companies helped to fund
terrorism that killed or injured hundreds of American service members during
the war in Iraq. The companies, part of five corporate families — AstraZeneca
(AZN.L), Pfizer (PFE.N), GE Healthcare USA, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) and F.
Hoffmann-La Roche — are challenging a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia Circuit. The petition at the high court was added on
Wednesday to the court's public docket. The D.C. Circuit order from last year
at the center of the case reinstated a lawsuit alleging that 21 U.S. and
European medical equipment and pharmaceutical companies made corrupt payments
to the Hezbollah-sponsored militia group Jaysh al-Mahdi in order to obtain
medical-supply contracts. The plaintiffs’ complaint said Jaysh al-Mahdi
controlled Iraq's health ministry.”



Iraq



Iraqi News: Iraqi Security Arrests 6 ISIS Terrorists
<[link removed]>



“The Federal Intelligence and Investigations Agency (FIIA) announced on
Monday the arrest of six dangerous terrorists in Nineveh governorate in
northern Iraq. The FIIA indicated that the terrorists that have been arrested
previously joined different terrorist groups belonging to ISIS and were
receiving money for their participation in terrorist operations, according to
the Iraqi News Agency (INA). Iraq announced in late 2017 the liberation of all
its territories from the grip of ISIS, but the authorities are constantly
launching security operations to pursue remnants of the terrorist group that
carry out attacks from time to time in the country. The Iraqi security forces
wage battles in several Iraqi governorates, including Nineveh, Kirkuk, Diyala,
Salah Al-Din, Anbar, and the outskirts of Baghdad, to eliminate the remaining
members of the ISIS group, following the elimination of the terrorist group,
which occupied large areas in Iraq and Syria for years. The Iraqi authorities
have confirmed more than once that the security forces are trying to eliminate
remnants of terrorist organizations in the country and tighten restrictions on
firearms.”



Anadolu Agency: PKK Terrorists Carry Out Drone Attack On Border Guards In
Northern Iraq: Kurdish Regional Government
<[link removed]>



“The Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq on Wednesday said
that PKK terrorists carried out a drone attack on border guards in the Duhok
region. A bomb-laden drone targeted the first brigade of border guards in the
Batifa subdistrict of Zakho district at 2:25 p.m. local time, the
anti-terrorism unit of the KRG said on its Facebook social media account. No
casualties were reported in the attack, it said. The drone was launched from a
place between the villages of Dukere and Beroshka Saduni, where PKK terrorists
were hiding, it added.”



Hürriyet Daily News: 9 PKK Terrorists ‘Neutralized’ In Northern Iraq
<[link removed]>


“Security forces have ‘neutralized’ nine PKK terrorists in northern Iraq, the
territory of a cross-border operation, the Defense Ministry announced on July
2. Nine terrorists identified in the Claw-Lock Operation area were
‘neutralized’ as a result of an air strike, the ministry said in a written
statement on July 2. Turkish forces will continue their anti-terror operations
with determination, the ministry added. Türkiye launched Operation Claw-Lock in
April 2022 to target PKK hideouts in northern Iraq’s Metina, Zap and
Avasin-Basyan regions. Turkish military and officials use the term ‘neutralize’
to imply the terrorists in question surrendered, were killed, or captured.”



Turkey



Reuters: Sweden Will Not Get Turkey's Nod For NATO Bid Unless It Stops
Sheltering 'Terrorists,' Erdogan Says
<[link removed]>



“Turkey will not lift its opposition to Sweden joining NATO unless it stops
harbouring groups Ankara considers to be terrorists, President Tayyip Erdogan
said on Monday. Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year,
ditching long-held policies of military non-alignment after Russia's invasion
of Ukraine. Applications for membership must be approved by all NATO members,
but Turkey and Hungary have yet to clear Sweden's bid. Turkey has repeatedly
said that Sweden needs to take additional steps against supporters of the
outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and members of a network Ankara holds
responsible for a 2016 coup attempt. Turkey treats both groups as terrorist
organisations.”



Daily Sabah: 13,138 Operations Carried Out Against Terrorist Organizations In
June
<[link removed]>



“Turkish security forces carried out 13,138 operations against terrorist
organizations last month, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Tuesday.
Yerlikaya wrote on social media that Türkiye’s fight against terrorism is
continuing while 65 terrorists have been eliminated within the scope of June’s
counterterrorism operations in urban and rural areas. Moreover, 418 have been
caught, 112 of which were arrested. As a result of the operations, 16 terrorist
acts were prevented, 38 bunkers and shelters were rendered unusable, 51 weapons
– 39 of which were heavy and long-barreled, 70 hand grenades, 24 mines/IEDs, a
total of 313 kilograms (690.05 pounds) of explosives, and 3 kilograms of
plastic explosives of various diameters were eliminated while 6,937 ammunition
of differing sizes were seized. For over 40 years, the PKK – listed as a
terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, the United Kingdom and
the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people,
including women, children and infants.”



Al Monitor: Turkey Says It Busted Israeli Mossad Spy Ring Targeting Hezbollah,
Others
<[link removed]>



“Turkey’s counter-intelligence services detained seven people who allegedly
confessed to spying on behalf of Israel, part of a massive espionage ring
targeting the likes of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, whose tentacles
extended beyond Turkey to Sweden, Jordan, Thailand and Syria, Turkish media
reported Monday. The pro-government Daily Sabah said Turkey’s national spy
agency, MIT, had uncovered 56 operatives linked to nine separate networks who
gathered ‘biographical intelligence’ on foreign nationals, hacked into their
communication devices and tracked their vehicles. Daily Sabah named one Israeli
of Arab origin called Soliman Agbaria as one of the ringleaders. Israel’s
Mossad intelligence agency allegedly sent ethnic Arab assets in Istanbul to
Lebanon and Syria to establish the locations of Lebanese Hezbollah, notably in
Beirut’s Hrair Hreik municipality, with the aim of striking them with drones.
All of their activities were orchestrated from Tel Aviv, Daily Sabah claimed.”



Afghanistan



AFP: Afghan Taliban Say Biden 'Acknowledged Reality' About Al-Qaeda
<[link removed]>



“Biden was leaving a press conference on Friday on the US Supreme Court's
decision to block his student debt relief program when a reporter asked if he
admitted to mistakes during the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. ‘No, no.
All the evidence is coming back,’ he replied, according to a White House
transcript. ‘Do you remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al Qaeda
would not be there. I said it wouldn't be there. I said we'd get help from the
Taliban. What's happening now? What's going on? Read your press. I was right.’
The question was prompted by a report released Friday which said US officials
were inhibited during mass evacuations from Afghanistan in 2021 by a lack of
clear decision-making, an absence of centralised crisis management and
confusing public messaging.”



Pakistan



Associated Press: Shootout In Southwest Pakistan Kills 4 Security Forces, 1
Militant, Officials Say
<[link removed]>



“Militants attacked a security post in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan
province, triggering a shootout that left three police officers a paramilitary
soldier and one militant dead on Sunday, officials said. Local police chief,
Abdul Salam Baloch said one of the militants was also killed while the others
managed to escape to the mountainous terrain in the Shirani district, bordering
North Waziristan where they have multiple hideouts. Baloch said the attackers
used hand grenades, rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles on the joint
security post of police and paramilitary forces. Bilal Shabbir, a top
administrative officer in Shirani district, said two militants and one
paramilitary trooper were wounded in the shootout that lasted for about two
hours. He said the attackers managed to escape with their wounded accomplices.
He added that security forces launched a search operation in the area and
surrounding mountains to trace and eliminate the perpetrators.”



Voice Of America: Militant Ambush Kills 2 Pakistan Soldiers Amid Spike In
Terrorism
<[link removed]>



“Officials in Pakistan said Monday that insurgents had ambushed a military
convoy in a southwestern region and killed two security personnel, including an
army major. The deadly overnight assault occurred in Balor in the turbulent
Baluchistan province. The army’s media wing said troops were on a
counterterrorism search mission in the area and trying to block ‘escape routes’
when a group of ‘terrorists’ ambushed them. The ensuing ‘heavy exchange of
fire’ killed two army officers and injured another, it added. No group claimed
responsibility for Sunday’s deadly ambush in Baluchistan, where several ethnic
Baluch insurgent groups and the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP,
routinely target security forces.”



Dawn: 6 Terrorists Killed In Tank, North Waziristan Operations: ISPR
<[link removed]>



“The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that on the night of June
29/30, ‘a fire exchange took place between own troops and terrorists in general
area Manzai, Tank district. Own troops effectively engaged the terrorists’
location. Resultantly, three were sent to hell,’ adding that weapons and
ammunition were also recovered from them. It further said that in another
‘fierce encounter’ between troops and terrorists in North Waziristan’s general
area of Razmak, ‘three more terrorists were sent to hell.’ The ISPR said the
slain militants were actively involved in terrorist activities against security
forces and killing innocent citizens.”



Lebanon



Al Jazeera: Israel Attacks Launch Site In Lebanon After Rockets ‘Fired’
<[link removed]>



“Israeli forces have struck an area of Lebanon from which a cross-border
rocket launch was carried, its military said. The statement said a rocket fired
earlier on Thursday from within Lebanon had exploded within Israeli territory.
‘In response, the IDF (Israeli military) is currently striking the area from
which the launch was carried out in Lebanese territory,’ the military statement
said. A previous statement by the military had said there were no preliminary
findings of any unusual events on Israel’s side of the border.”



Middle East



Outlook India: Explained: Why Has Israel Launched Its Biggest Military
Operation In 2 Decades in Jenin? What Are The Objectives?
<[link removed]>



“…"The group’s ideology blends Islamism and Palestinian nationalism and seeks
the destruction of Israel and the creation of an Islamic state between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River...Hamas views the entirety of the land
of Mandate Palestine—excluding the 80 percent of Palestine that became
modern-day Jordan—as an Islamic birthright that has been usurped. To that end,
Hamas does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and has dedicated itself to
violently seeking Israel’s destruction," says think tank Counter Extremism
Project (CEP) about Hamas.”



New York Post: Princeton University Student Kidnapped By Iran-Backed Militia
Group In Iraq — In March: Officials
<[link removed]>



“A Princeton University doctoral student was abducted by a radical
Iran-backed militia group while doing work for the school in Iraq — and has
been missing for months. Elizabeth Tsurkov, 36 — an Israeli-Russian citizen
studying political science at the New Jersey-based Ivy League institution — was
seized in March by members of the Shiite group Kataeb Hezbollah in Baghdad,
officials said Wednesday. [Elizabeth Tsurkov] is an Israeli-Russian dual
citizen who has been missing for several months in Iraq, where she is being
held by the Shi’ite militia Kata’ib Hezbollah,’ the office of Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. The Israeli government ‘views
Iraq as responsible for her fate and safety,’ it said. The student researcher
had used her Russian passport to visit the country in January ‘in pursuit of a
doctoral thesis from Princeton University,’ according to Netanyahu’s office.”



Asharq Al-Awsat: Israel Moves To Seize Hamas Funds In Europe
<[link removed]>



“Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has signed administrative memorandums
allowing the confiscation of funds paid to five senior Hamas officials working
in Europe, amounting to more than $1 million, according to Israel Hayom
newspaper. The new step is part of an ongoing campaign by the security
establishment in Israel, in partnership with the General Security Service and
the Israeli Bureau for Combating Terrorist Financing, aiming to thwart the
Hamas movement's organizational infrastructure and financial resources within
the European Union (EU). The memorandums claimed that these senior officials
worked within the framework of a foreign branch of Hamas, led by Khaled
Meshaal, to raise funds and gain public support. Israel says hundreds of
thousands of dollars were transferred to these people to promote Hamas'
activities within the EU. Israeli media reported that Hamas activists reside in
Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and Italy. In the past few years, the
Israeli security services have increased monitoring of the routes and transfers
of Hamas funds, including money transferred to the movement in the West Bank,
Gaza Strip, and abroad.”



Nigeria



AFP News: Five Killed In Nigeria Jihadist Rocket Attack
<[link removed]>



“Five people have been killed and 11 others injured after suspected jihadists
fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a town in northeast Nigeria's Borno state,
two anti-jihadist militia commanders told AFP on Sunday. Scores of fighters
attempted to invade the town of Damboa late on Friday but met stiff resistance
from the anti-jihadist militia, a paramilitary outfit that works alongside the
armed forces, the militia said. The attack is the latest in Nigeria's 14-year
jihadist conflict in the northeast, where 40,000 have died and more than two
million have been displaced by the fighting since 2009. ‘Out of desperation,
the insurgents fired an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) on the town from a
distance, which killed five people and injured 11 others,’ said Babakura Kolo,
a militia leader in the region.”



Punch: B’Haram Killed Over 5,000 In 30 Months, Says Report
<[link removed]>



“Boko Haram terrorists have killed no fewer than 5,873 Nigerians between
December 2020 and May 2023, a report has said. SBM Intelligence in its report
released on Friday said the number of fatalities was recorded in 430 incidents.
The report added that Borno leads with the highest number of fatalities,
followed by Yobe, Niger, Kastina, and Adamawa states. Others are Taraba, Kogi,
Kaduna, Kano and Nasarawa states, FCT, and Ondo State. The report noted that
although the military had recorded progress in the fight against the
terrorists, the war was far from over.”



Somalia



Garowe Online: Al-Shabaab Raids KDF's Newly Handed Over Base In Somalia
<[link removed]>



“In what would be a setback to the ongoing drawdown of troops attached to the
African Union Transition Mission in Somalia [ATMIS], the Al-Shabaab militants
on Tuesday raided one of the newly handed over Forward Opérating Base [FOBI in
Somalia, a country which has been struggling with instability. According to
reports, the militants raided Gherille Forward Operating Base which was handed
over to the Somali National Army [SNA] last week by the Kenya Defense Forces
[KDFI, who are set to leave the country after a successful tour of duty. The
base is one of the seven FOBs which have been handed over to the Somali
government. But reports indicate that a fierce gunfight ensued between the
militants and the SNA troops on-site, forcing the terrorists to flee from the
area. Gherille Forward Operating* Base is located in the Gedo region of
Jubaland state which is under the control of Jubaland regional troops.”



AllAfrica: Somalia: Al-Shabaab Operative Killed In Nisa Raid In Lower Shabelle
Region <[link removed]>



“Somali Intelligence forces conducted an operation against Al-Shabaab in
Barire and Sabid, Lower Shabelle region in response to rising raids on SNA and
AU bases. NISA said the troops killed Al-Shabaab and seized his AK-47 riffle
during the covert operation that comes weeks after militants attack UPDF base
in Bulo-Marer town. Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has announced the deaths
of 54 Ugandan soldiers in the May 26 al-Shabab attack on a base housing African
Union peacekeepers. ‘NISA carried out a planned operation in Macalinka village
located between Barire and Sabid within Lower Shabelle region, and killed an
Al-Shabaab fighter,’ reads the statement.”



Africa



Reuters: Kenya To Delay Re-Opening Somali Border Over "Wave Of Attacks"
<[link removed]>



“Kenya will delay re-opening its border with Somalia because of a ‘wave of
attacks’ it blames on al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants, interior minister
Kithure Kindiki said on Wednesday. In May the two governments agreed to reopen
within 90 days several border posts including Mandera, Liboi, and Kiunga, which
have been closed since 2011 when Kenya sent its forces into southern Somalia to
help fight al Shabaab. More than a dozen people have been killed along their
shared border in the last month, part of what security analysts say are ongoing
efforts by al Shabaab to pressure Kenya into withdrawing its troops from
peacekeeping missions in Somalia. ‘The government will delay the planned
phased-out reopening of the Kenya-Somalia border points to facilitate
comprehensive and conclusive handling of the recent wave of terror attacks and
cross-border crime,’ Kindiki wrote on Twitter.”



Al Jazeera: Burkina Faso Suspends French News Channel Over Report On Rebels
<[link removed].>



“Burkina Faso’s military government has suspended a French television news
channel for a report on armed groups’ activity, which it said lacked
objectivity and credibility, the latest escalation in a crackdown on French
media. Relations between Burkina Faso and its former coloniser France have
soured since frustrations over worsening insecurity spurred two military
takeovers last year. French television channel La Chaine Info (LCI), of private
broadcaster TF1, was suspended for three months from June 23 over a report
aired at the end of April, according to a statement by the national media
regulator published on Thursday. The media regulator said the report overplayed
the scale of the insurgency and ‘seditiously’ exposed ‘unverified’ failures in
Burkina Faso’s military response to the crisis. TF1 did not immediately respond
to a request for comment.”



Al Arabiya: About 15 Civilians Killed In Suspected Burkina Faso Extremist
Attack
<[link removed]>



“Around 15 civilians were killed Wednesday by suspected extremists in Burkina
Faso, security and local sources told AFP, sparking an exodus of people fearing
further bloodshed. ‘Terrorists carried out an attack early this morning in
Sorgha,’ in the eastern province of Gnagna, ‘which cost the lives of about 15
inhabitants, including women,’ a local official told AFP. The attack was
confirmed by a resident and security sources. Burkina, one of the world’s
poorest nations, is struggling with an extremist insurgency that swept in from
Mali in 2015, and has seen more than 10,000 civilians, troops and police
killed, according to an NGO count.”



United Kingdom



Unherd: A New Blasphemy Battle Is Coming
<[link removed]>



“Last summer, Sir Salman Rushdie told a German magazine that some normality
was finally returning to his life. Two weeks later, he was stabbed multiple
times on stage in New York. The incident was a cruel reminder that, despite all
the time elapsed and normality resumed, the fatwa against him was every bit as
valid as the day it was announced: Valentine’s Day, 1989.”



BBC: Brighton Teenager Charged With Terrorism Offences
<[link removed]>



“Mason Reynolds, 18, of Moulsecoomb Way, appeared at Westminster Magistrates'
Court on Tuesday, and will next appear at the Old Bailey on 21 July. The
charges against him are linked to an ‘extreme right-wing ideology’,
counter-terrorism police say. Among the charges are five counts of collecting
information which could be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of
terrorism. He is also charged with five counts of dissemination of terrorist
publications, and a further count of possessing an article for the purpose of
terrorism. Mr Reynolds was arrested on 27 June. The investigation which led to
his arrest was carried out by the Counter Terrorism Policing South East unit.”



Daily Mail: Drill Rapper, 20, Accused Of Plotting A London Terror Atrocity
Says He Was Only 'Pretending To Be ISIS To Help Him Seduce Women'
<[link removed]>



“A drill rapper accused of plotting a terrorist attack in central London has
told a court he put on an 'extremist Isis' persona to impress women. Al-Arfat
Hassan, gained a strong following of young Muslims under the name 'TS', using
his music to glorify so-called Islamic State (IS) killings, say prosecutors. Mr
Hassan, 20, from Enfield, north London, is on trial at Sheffield Crown Court
accused of preparing terrorist acts alongside one of his fans, a 16-year-old
from Leeds. On Friday, jurors were shown one of Hassan's music videos, which
showed him and other young men sitting round a table, wearing black clothing
and balaclavas, with money and weapons on the table. The defendant told the
court the video was meant to show 'a terrorist jihadi network discussing
plans'. Mr Hassan said women were 'drawn in' by the 'jihadi persona' he was
developing online in 2021.”



Russia



Metro.Co: The Shadowy Russian Military Firms Vying For Power After Wagner
Mutiny
<[link removed]>



“…Kacper Rekawek, a non-resident research fellow at the Counter Extremism
Project, a Washington-based think tank, places the PMCs within a tradition of
Russia having many different elements within its armed forces. Some, such as
groupings of Cossacks or Chechens, reflect different ethnic and regional
identities. Another tradition Rekawek identifies is deniability; the ability to
operate with stealth and to keep Ukraine and the West guessing. Added to the
mix are long-standing links between the Russian state and the far-right, which
crosses into the political sphere.’ ‘The PMCs, which are illegal under Russian
law and are structured as NGOs or associations, neatly come into this scope and
tradition,’ Rekawek said. ‘If you create something which is deniable and does
bad and rotten things for you, then it attracts bad and rotten people. ‘Some of
these people are coming from the extreme right.’”



Germany



Voice Of America News: German Court Categorizes Islamic Center As ‘Extremist
Islamic Organization’
<[link removed]>



“Germany’s Federal Administrative Court has upheld a determination that
activities conducted by the Islamic Center in the city of Hamburg, known as the
Blue Mosque, are those of an ‘extremist Islamic organization.’ Acting on an
objection and complaint lodged by the Islamic Center against action by the
Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Germany, the
Administrative Court of Hamburg on Friday upheld the categorization of the
center's activities as ‘Islamic extremism.’ In both 2018 and 2019, the Federal
Office for the Protection of the Constitution identified activities of the Blue
Mosque as falling under the classification of ‘extremist Islamist
organizations.’ After conducting two oral hearings in April and May of this
year, the Administrative Court of Hamburg issued its written verdict addressing
the complaint filed by the Islamic Center. The court's ruling acknowledges a
partial acceptance of the plaintiffs' complaint, leading to the prohibition of
publishing specific sections of the report by the Federal Office for the
Protection of the Constitution.”



Europe



Associated Press: Germany, Netherlands Arrest 9 Over An Alleged Plan For
Attacks In Line With Islamic State Group
<[link removed]>



“Nine people from central Asia were arrested in Germany and the Netherlands
on Thursday in connection alleged plans to carry out attacks in Germany in line
with the Islamic State group’s ideology, authorities said. Seven men arrested
in Germany are accused of founding a militant group and of supporting IS,
German federal prosecutors said. All had known each other for a long time, had
radical Islamic views and came to Germany more or less simultaneously from
Ukraine shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year, they
added. A year ago, the suspects allegedly formed a group that aimed to carry
out attacks in Germany. According to prosecutors, the group was in contact with
an IS offshoot, Islamic State Khorasan Province.”



The Jerusalem Post: Anti-Israel Sentiment In Ireland Almost Indivisible From
Antisemitism - Ex-Minister
<[link removed]>



“…For years, former minister of European affairs and deputy foreign minister
Lucinda Creighton was one of the few pro-Israel voices in Irish politics, and
as a lawmaker, she was one of the members of the ‘not-very-well-attended
friendship group,’ as she called it, between the Irish parliament and the
Knesset. Creighton continues trying to build ties between her home country and
Israel as CEO of Vulcan Consulting, which helps Israeli and other companies get
a foothold in the EU. She is also senior adviser to the Counter Extremism
Project and hosted a podcast on the rise in antisemitism in Europe. In Ireland,
Creighton said, few understand what is happening in Israel, and that ignorance
has been translated into hostility. ‘There is very little independent,
impartial reporting documenting what is happening in Israel, which feeds into a
lack of fact-based knowledge, and I think that allows these narratives to kind
of take off and be propagated, and that has been the case in Ireland,’ she
stated.”



Canada



CBC: RCMP Charge Ottawa Man Tied To 'Violent Far-Right Ideology' With
Terrorism Offences
<[link removed]>



“RCMP officers have arrested two people and charged one with three terrorism
offences in a first-of-its-kind case. The Mounties charged Patrick Gordon
Macdonald, a 26-year-old Ottawa man, with participating in the activity of a
terrorist group, facilitating terrorist activity and commission of an offence
for terrorist group (wilful promotion of hatred). Macdonald appeared in an
Ottawa court Wednesday and will appear again Friday morning. The RCMP said in a
news release that the arrests of Macdonald and a second individual came about
in response to information it received about the activities of the far-right
Atomwaffen Division, a group Canada has listed as a terrorist entity. ‘This
case is the first in Canada in which an individual advocating a violent
far-right ideology has been charged with both terrorism and hate propaganda,’
the RCMP said in the news release. The force said it uncovered evidence that
Macdonald allegedly helped to create and distribute three propaganda videos for
the Atomwaffen Division.”



Technology



Associated Press: Why Social Media Is Being Blamed For Fueling The Riots In
France
<[link removed]>



“…Hany Farid, a digital forensics expert at the University of California,
Berkeley who stepped down in January from TikTok’s U.S. content advisory
council, said if a government asks for a specific piece of content to be taken
down because it violates local law, most platforms will comply. But he said the
feasibility of requests also depends on the platform, as well as the breadth
and rationale for the request. If a government “asks for a broad takedown of
tens of thousands of pieces of content, then this may be met with more
resistance,” Farid said.”



The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
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