Eye on Extremism

December 11, 2023 

The Washington Post: U.S. Seeking Partners To Safeguard Ships After Red Sea Attacks 

“The United States, attempting to contain the spread of Israel’s war in Gaza, is pitching allies on expanding a multinational naval task force to address an alarming rise in attacks on commercial vessels traveling near Yemen that have posed a significant threat to global shipping. The White House says it’s a “natural response” after the Houthis, a Yemeni militant group aligned with Iran, have fired missiles and one-way drones at several ships and hijacked at least one in recent weeks. But it remains unclear whether the United States and its partners will be able to deter the Houthis or tamp down Israel’s demands for forceful action. Measures such as military strikes or designating the Houthis as terrorists could complicate efforts by the United Nations, the United States and the others to end a disastrous civil conflict in Yemen. The Houthi attacks have underscored broader outrage across the Middle East over Israel’s assault on Gaza. The campaign has leveled neighborhoods, killed about 18,000 people and triggered a humanitarian disaster, prompting a wave of retaliatory attacks on U.S. and Israeli interests in the region. On Saturday, the Houthis declared they would target any ship that travels to Israel and does not stop in Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid. Ships with no ties to Israel or that do not travel there will be permitted to pass, the group said.” 

Reuters: Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah Vows More Attacks On US Forces 

“Attacks by Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah militia against U.S. interests on Friday are the start of "new rules of engagement," a security official from the group said in a social media post. The Iran-aligned group, while not claiming responsibility for a rare attack on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Friday, claimed the embassy was a forward operating base for planning military operations. The attack was condemned by the U.S. and by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who said it was an act of terrorism against a diplomatic mission. But Kataeb Hezbollah (KH) said the facility was a base involved in planning military operations. Those who described it as a diplomatic mission were "subservient" and self-interested, Abu Ali al-Askari, a security official from the group, said in a social media post. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a Friday call with Sudani, singled out KH and another group, Haraket Hezbollah al-Nujaba, for the recent targeting of U.S. personnel and said the U.S. reserved its right to respond. U.S. officials have reported more than 80 attacks against U.S. interest in Iraq and Syria since mid-October, most claimed by an umbrella-group of Iran-aligned Iraqi militias over Washington's backing of Israel in its war in Gaza.” 

CEP Expert Analysis

• The Houthis: Terrorizing Women and Journalists 
• Houthis Targeting Of Religious Minorities 
• The Houthis And U.S.-Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations
• The Houthis’ Use of Technology for Repression
• CEP Calls For Account Freeze On Qatari Assets In The UK 

CEP Mentions 

Seattle Times: Two Canadians Who Police Link To Neo-Nazis Face Terrorism Charges  

“… Active Club portrays itself as consisting of combat sports groups. Alexander Ritzmann, a senior adviser at the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin, said in a research paper that the Active Club’s real purpose is to create a “standby militia” that can be activated to create violence on behalf of neo-Nazi causes. Active Club groups try to minimize police scrutiny by telling members to “present a friendly face to the public” and to “avoid threatening behavior or displaying obvious Nazi symbols,” a move it hopes will also help broaden its public appeal, Ritzmann wrote in his report, published in September. As of last month, there were 10 Active Club chapters across Canada, Peter Collins, a forensic psychiatrist with the Ontario Provincial Police and a professor at the University of Toronto, wrote in a recent edition of a law enforcement magazine. Canada has seen a “significant increase” in the number of terrorism charges for people linked to far-right groups such as the Atomwaffen Division, said Michael Nesbitt, a law professor at the University of Calgary who studies extremism. There have been seven terrorism arrests in the country this year, including three linked to right-wing extremism, according to his data, while only six cases since 2000 have been associated with right-wing extremism.” 

Tagesspiegel: Daily Mirror Plushamas Fighters Are Said To Have Surrendered: Are Gaza's Terrorists Coming Into Military Trouble?  

“…However, according to the senior director at the international Counter Extremism Project, only some fighters have given up so far. There is probably an understanding among them that “things will not end well for them.” Not everyone is prepared to die as a martyr. But Schindler warns against interpreting this too broadly as the end of Hamas. “The conflict is not yet over. There are still enough fighters who do not surrender.”” 

Quillette: Aiding Terror: How Terrorists Exploit Humanitarian Organizations 

“… According to the Counter Extremism Project, in some instances, this may serve to cover up their continued patronage of known Houthi-controlled companies, such as the private security provider Yemen Armored.” 

United States 

NPR: The U.S. Has Vetoed A Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution In The U.N. Security Council 

“The United States vetoed a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war at the United Nations Security Council on Friday. The Security Council vote on the resolution, backed by Arab states, had 13 in favor and one — the U.S. against, while the United Kingdom abstained. After the vote, the U.S. deputy representative to the U.N., Robert Wood, said the resolution was rushed and ignored U.S. diplomatic efforts to get more aid into Gaza and free hostages taken by Hamas militants in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. "We propose language ... that would have reinforced the life-saving diplomacy we have undertaken since Oct. 7, increased opportunities for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, encourage the release of hostages and the resumption of humanitarian pauses and laid a foundation for a durable peace," Wood said. "Unfortunately, nearly all of our recommendations were ignored." Several foreign ministers of Arab countries that have been pushing for a cease-fire met U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington shortly after the U.S. veto. While Blinken's aides say he wanted to talk about the future of Gaza, once Israel defeats Hamas, Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, rejected that approach. "Today's failure to support the call for a humanitarian cease-fire is an endorsement of further killing of Palestinians, further violations of international law, further commitment of war crimes," Safadi said.” 

Canada 

The Times New York: Two Canadians Who Police Link To Neo-Nazis Face Terrorism Charges 

“Two Canadian men who the police say are affiliated with a variety of far-right, neo-Nazi, white supremacist groups have been charged with terrorism and hate crimes. In a statement, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or R.C.M.P., said that Matthew Althorpe of the Niagara area in Ontario and Kristoffer Nippak of the Toronto area were involved in creating extremist manifestoes and recruiting videos. The police force, in an email, declined to offer specifics, citing a publication ban on the case. Lawyers for the two men could not be immediately identified. A bail hearing is scheduled for next week in Toronto. One of the groups that the police said was affiliated with the men, the Atomwaffen Division, was declared a terrorist organization by Canada in 2021. The group, which uses the German word for “atomic weapons” as its name, is among the most violent of right-wing extremist groups and is linked to several killings in the United States. The R.C.M.P. said the men also made promotional material for Terrorgram Collective and described it as a group of Telegram channels that share neo-fascist ideology, producing and sharing manuals on how to carry out racially motivated violence. The channels, the statement said, are linked to the Atomwaffen Division as well as other neo-Nazi and far-right groups.” 

Syria 

Reuters: Syria Shoots Down Israeli Missiles Fired Near Damascus 

“Syria's army said its air defence shot down Israeli missiles fired at the surroundings of the capital Damascus from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Sunday evening. Others missiles not intercepted caused some damage, the army said in a statement. The Israeli army declined to comment.” 

Iran 

Forbes: The Iran-Backed Militia Threats The U.S. Navy Faces 

“U.S. warships in the Red Sea have come under increasing fire from the Houthis in Yemen since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October. At the same time, the Hezbollah in Lebanon has hinted it could target the U.S. Navy in the Eastern Mediterranean. Could such Iran-backed armed groups really pose a serious obstacle or threat to U.S. naval power in the region? The naval destroyer USS Carney shot down three drones during a sustained attack in the Red Sea on Dec. 3. The drones targeted nearby commercial ships as well as the destroyer. The Carney previously shot down four cruise missiles and 15 drones the Houthis launched toward Israel over the Red Sea on Oct. 19, the first such attack originating from Yemen since the Israel-Hamas War began 12 days earlier. On Nov. 27, two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen landed “approximately ten nautical miles” away from the USS Mason after that destroyer had responded to the hijacking of a commercial vessel, according to a U.S. Central Command statement. Days earlier, on Nov. 23, the USS Thomas Hudner shot down several attack drones targeting it in the Red Sea. The same warship downed a drone headed in its direction on Nov. 15, also over the Red Sea.” 

Iraq 

Associated Press: A Rocket Attack Targets The US Embassy In Baghdad, Causing Minor Damage But No Casualties 

“A rocket attack on the sprawling U.S. Embassy in Baghdad caused minor damage but no casualties on Friday morning, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. The attack was the first on the embassy located in the heavily fortified Green Zone of Iraq’s capital to be confirmed since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, triggered by the deadly attack on southern Israel by Palestinian militants from Gaza. The Green Zone houses Iraqi government buildings and foreign embassies on the west bank of the Tigris River. Friday’s assault was followed by drone and multi-rocket attacks, including on al-Asad air base in western Iraq and three troop locations in Syria, also with no casualties, U.S. officials said. Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks that targeted bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Hamas war erupted two months ago. The U.S. military says 78 attacks have been carried out against U.S. facilities over the past weeks, of which 43 were in Iraq and 41 in Syria. An Iraqi security official said 14 Katyusha rockets were fired Friday, of which some struck near one of the U.S. Embassy’s gates while others fell in the river.” 

Afghanistan 

Voice Of America: Taliban Reportedly Dismantled Islamic State Bases In Western Afghanistan 

“Taliban security forces in Afghanistan have reportedly killed an Islamic State operative and captured several others during overnight raids on the militant group’s bases near the border with Iran. “important network” of the regional branch of Islamic State known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, said a Taliban-affiliated media outlet Friday. The network was involved in some of the recent attacks on the Shi’ite Muslim community in Afghanistan, according to Al-Mersaad, which is tasked to counter IS-K propaganda in the country and report on Taliban counterterrorism operations against the group. Using a local acronym for the group, Al-Mersaad noted that “some of the arrested ISKP members are highly important.” It was not possible to verify the claims from independent sources and Taliban government officials rarely comment on reports published by the state media outlet. The United States, in recent statements, has described IS-K as a significant threat to regional security, warning the group could soon launch an international attack from Afghan bases. On Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden attempted to address those concerns in a letter he wrote to Congress. “United States military personnel remain postured outside Afghanistan to address threats to the United States homeland and United States interests that may arise from inside Afghanistan,” Biden said without elaborating.” 

BBC: Elite Afghan Troops Face Return To Taliban After UK 'Betrayal' 

“The figures - gathered by a network of Afghan veterans - reveal the scale of what one former UK general calls a "betrayal" and a "disgrace". The soldiers fled to Pakistan, which now says it will expel Afghan refugees. The UK says it has brought thousands of Afghans to safety. Gen Sir Richard Barrons, who served the British Army in Afghanistan over 12 years, told BBC Newsnight that the failure of the UK to relocate these soldiers "is a disgrace, because it reflects that either we're duplicitous as a nation or incompetent". "Neither are acceptable," he said. "It is a betrayal, and the cost of that betrayal will be people who served with us will die or spend their lives in prison." In 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had told Parliament that the service of these Afghan special forces had been "incredibly important", adding the UK would do "whatever we can" to get "safe passage" for them. The fears for the Afghan commandos come as it was revealed the government also rejected calls from senior British diplomatic and military figures to offer asylum to key Afghan civilian leaders whose lives were in danger. The BBC has obtained a private letter sent in March 2022 to the Foreign Office, which called for urgent help to be given to a group of 32 former governors, prosecutors and officials who worked with the UK and US in Helmand Province during operations between 2006 and 2014.” 

Associated Press: UN Says The Taliban Must Embrace And Uphold Human Rights Obligations In Afghanistan 

“The Taliban must embrace and uphold human rights obligations in Afghanistan, the U.N. mission in the country said Sunday on Human Rights Day and the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban have erased basic rights and freedoms, with women and girls deeply affected. They are excluded from most public spaces and daily life, and the restrictions have sparked global condemnation. The U.N. mission, highlighting the Taliban’s failures in upholding rights’ obligations, said it continues to document extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, corporal punishment, arbitrary arrest and detention, and other violations of detainees’ rights. People who speak out in defense of human rights face arbitrary arrest and detention, threats and censorship, the mission said. “We pay tribute to and express our solidarity with Afghan human rights defenders, many of whom are paying a heavy price for seeking to uphold the fundamental tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: peace, justice and freedom,” said Fiona Frazer, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Afghanistan.” 

Yemen 

Reuters: Yemen's Houthis Warn They Will Target All Ships Headed To Israel 

“Yemen's Houthi movement said on Saturday they would target all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned all international shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports. The Iran-aligned group is escalating the risks of a regional conflict amid a brutal war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The Houthis have attacked and seized several Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea and its Bab al-Mandab strait, a sea lane through which much of the world's oil is shipped, and fired ballistic missiles and armed drones at Israel. Houthi officials say their actions are a show of support for the Palestinians. Israel said attacks on ships was an "Iranian act of terrorism" with consequences for international maritime security. A Houthi military spokesperson said all ships sailing to Israeli ports are banned from the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea. "If Gaza does not receive the food and medicine it needs, all ships in the Red Sea bound for Israeli ports, regardless of their nationality, will become a target for our armed forces," the spokesperson said in a statement. The threat has an immediate effect, the statement added. The Houthis are one of several groups in the Iran-aligned "Axis of Resistance" which have been hitting Israeli and U.S. targets since Oct. 7 when Hamas militants attacked Israel.” 

Lebanon 

Reuters: Violence Escalates Between Israel, Lebanon's Hezbollah 

“Violence escalated at Lebanon's border with Israel on Sunday as Hezbollah launched explosive drones and powerful missiles at Israeli positions and Israeli air strikes rocked several towns and villages in south Lebanon. Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since the war in Gaza erupted two months ago, in their worst hostilities since a 2006 conflict. The violence has largely been contained to the border area. An Israeli air strike on the town of Aitaroun destroyed five homes and damaged many more, Ali Hijazi, a local official, said. "Divine intervention prevented anyone being martyred. Three women and two men were wounded," he told Reuters. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Senior Hezbollah politician Hassan Fadlallah, in a statement to Reuters, said Israeli air strikes were a "new escalation" to which the group was responding with new types of attacks, be it "in the nature of the weapons (used) or the targeted sites". The Israeli army earlier said "suspicious aerial targets" had crossed from Lebanon and two were intercepted. Two Israeli soldiers were moderately wounded and a number of others lightly injured from shrapnel and smoke inhalation, it said.” 

Middle East 

NPR: With The Israel-Hamas War, Sunni And Shia Armed Groups Find Uncommon Unity 

“The Gaza war has pushed together powerful Iran-backed Shia Muslim paramilitaries with militant Sunni factions in what appears to be closer cooperation between groups that differ in religious ideology but are united by opposition to Israel and the United States. Hamas, which launched the attacks on Israel two months ago that sparked the war, is a primarily Sunni Muslim Palestinian movement. The group — whose name is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic Resistance Movement — is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the powerful Islamist movement that was founded in Egypt in the 1920s. Hamas itself was founded in 1987 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, a Palestinian cleric who was living in Gaza. Yassin was assassinated by Israel in 2004. The group he founded won elections in Gaza two years later and the following year seized control from the Palestinian Authority. Egypt and Israel responded by blockading Gaza. Although Palestinians include Shia Muslims, Christians, Druze and other denominations, the vast majority are Sunni Muslims. Lebanese Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim movement, emerged during the country's civil war after Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Its fighters have been trained and funded partly by Iran, which uses armed proxy groups to extend its power in the region. Apart from Hamas, it poses the biggest challenge to Israel. Hezbollah and Israeli forces have attacked each other across the Lebanese-Israeli border since the war in Gaza began in October.” 

Associated Press: Six Palestinians Are Killed In The Israeli Military’s Latest West Bank Raid, Health Officials Say 

“Israeli forces stormed into a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Friday to arrest suspected Palestinian militants, unleashing fighting with local gunmen in which six Palestinians were killed, health officials said. Among the dead were a 14-year-old boy and a local commander of the Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, an armed offshoot of the secular nationalist Fatah party, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. Thousands of men poured into the streets for their funeral, chanting with the bodies held aloft while masked militants opened fire into the air. Israeli undercover forces sneaked into the Faraa camp near the northern town of Tubas on Friday morning and set up sniper positions on top of buildings, residents said. They described Israeli soldiers trading staccato gunfire with Palestinian militants and young boys throwing stones at armored vehicles and setting tires on fire in the streets. The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment on the operation. Later Friday, the military said that one soldier was injured by Palestinian gunmen in a drive-by shooting in the northern West Bank. Soldiers at the military post where the shooting occurred fired back at the gunmen and began to pursue them, closing off roads in the area. The events Friday followed a dramatic surge in deadly military raids and increase in restrictions on Palestinian residents across the West Bank during the Israel-Hamas war.” 

Reuters: Fighting Intensifies Across Gaza, Raising Alarm Over Potential Exodus Into Egypt 

“Fighting between Israel and Hamas intensified across Gaza on Monday, fuelling fears flagged by the United Nations at the weekend of a breakdown in public order and a mass exodus of Palestinians into Egypt. The narrow coastal strip has been under a full Israeli blockade since the start of the conflict more than two months ago and the border with Egypt is the only other way out. Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been driven from their homes and residents say it is impossible to find refuge in the densely populated enclave, with around 18,000 people already killed and conflict intensifying. Since the breakdown of a week-long ceasefire, Israel launched a ground offensive in the south last week and has since pushed from the east into the heart of the major city of Khan Younis, with warplanes attacking an area to the west. On Monday, militants and some residents said fighters were preventing Israeli tanks moving further west through the city and there were also fierce clashes in parts of northern Gaza, where Israel had said its tasks were largely complete. Israelis fled to shelters after new warnings of rocket fire from Gaza, including in Tel Aviv. The armed wing of Hamas said it was bombarding the city in response to "the Zionist massacres against civilians". In Jabalia in northern Gaza, Palestinians ran to escape smoke bombs fired near tents and other homes.” 

Europe 

Reuters: France, Germany, Italy Back EU Sanctions Scheme To Target Hamas 

“France, Germany and Italy called for the European Union to set up a special sanctions scheme to target Hamas as EU foreign ministers met on Monday to consider possible next steps in response to the Middle East crisis. Among the possible measures up for discussion at the meeting are a crackdown on Hamas’ finances and travel bans for Israeli settlers responsible for violence in the West Bank. In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the foreign ministers of the bloc's three biggest countries said it was important the EU take "all necessary measures against the terrorist group Hamas and its supporters". "This implies a stronger European commitment both to combating Hamas' infrastructure and financial support, and to isolating and delegitimising Hamas internationally, which in no way represents the Palestinians or their legitimate aspirations," said the letter, seen by Reuters. Hamas is already listed by the European Union as a terrorist organisation, meaning any funds or assets that it has in the EU should be frozen. It was not immediately clear from the brief letter the details of how sanctions would be broadened or tightened. If EU members agreed in principle, the next step would be for experts to draw up the legal framework to figure out which individuals or entities would be targeted.” 

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