“Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly blocked entrance roads to airports in New
York and Los Angeles on Wednesday, snarling traffic as U.S. airlines contended
with a rush of holiday travel. The demonstrations stopped cars on the outskirts
of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, where some travelers set
off on foot to bypass the jammed roadway, as well as Los Angeles International
Airport. A total of 62 people were arrested during the two protests, police
said. In New York, activists locked arms and held banners demanding an end to
the Israel-Hamas war and expanded rights for Palestinians, bringing traffic to
a standstill on the Van Wyck Expressway leading up to the airport for about 20
minutes. Video posted to social media showed passengers, some carrying
suitcases, leaving vehicles behind and stepping over barriers onto the highway
median. Twenty-six people in the protest were arrested for disorderly conduct
and impeding vehicular traffic, and the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey dispatched two buses to help travelers caught in the backup reach the
airport, agency spokesperson Steve Burns said.”











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**CEP's Eye on Extremism will be suspended on December 29 and January 1. It
will return on Tuesday January 2.



Eye on Extremism



December 28, 2023



Associated Press: Pro-Palestinian Protesters Block Airport Access Roads In New
York And Los Angeles
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“Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly blocked entrance roads to airports in New
York and Los Angeles on Wednesday, snarling traffic as U.S. airlines contended
with a rush of holiday travel. The demonstrations stopped cars on the outskirts
of New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, where some travelers set
off on foot to bypass the jammed roadway, as well as Los Angeles International
Airport. A total of 62 people were arrested during the two protests, police
said. In New York, activists locked arms and held banners demanding an end to
the Israel-Hamas war and expanded rights for Palestinians, bringing traffic to
a standstill on the Van Wyck Expressway leading up to the airport for about 20
minutes. Video posted to social media showed passengers, some carrying
suitcases, leaving vehicles behind and stepping over barriers onto the highway
median. Twenty-six people in the protest were arrested for disorderly conduct
and impeding vehicular traffic, and the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey dispatched two buses to help travelers caught in the backup reach the
airport, agency spokesperson Steve Burns said.”



Daily Mail: One In Five Young Americans Has A POSITIVE View Of Osama Bin
Laden: Disturbing Daily Mail Poll Results Also Reveal Three In 10 Gen-Zers
Think The Views Of The 9/11 Mastermind Were A 'Force For Good'
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“One in five young Americans has a positive view of 9/11 mastermind and Al
Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden, according to disturbing results of a
DailyMail.com poll. The alarming survey also found three in 10 Gen Z voters
believe the views of the anti-Semitic terrorist leader who slaughtered
thousands of innocent people were a ‘force for good'. Family members of 9/11
victims said the findings are 'horrifying' and proof of a startling trend
suggesting some in the younger generation are growing sympathetic to
terrorists.”

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CEP Mentions



Spectrum News: Biden Says U.S. Struck Militias In Iraq To Deter Iran; Iraq
Condemns Strikes As ‘Hostile Act’
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“... Kata’ib Hezbollah is a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and an
Iranian-sponsored militia “operating in Iraq with ancillary operations
throughout Syria” that fought against U.S. and coalition forces during the Iraq
War, according to the nonprofit Counter Extremism Project. “The strikes were
taken to deter future attacks and were conducted in a manner designed to limit
the risk of escalation and minimize civilian casualties,” Biden wrote. “I
directed the strikes in order to protect and defend our personnel who are in
Iraq conducting military operations pursuant to the 2001 Authorization for Use
of Military Force.” The legal authority to launch airstrikes in a country where
the U.S. war effort nominally ended in 2011 is derived from the 22-year-old
Authorization for Use of Military Force passed by Congress in the aftermath of
the 9/11 attacks. The authorization allows the president to use military force
against anyone “he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the
terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.” It has been used to
justify military operations in the Middle East, Africa and the Pacific by
presidents since then.”



United States



Bloomberg: Biden Says Iraq Strike Meant To Deter Attacks On US Personnel
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“President Joe Biden said the US military struck targets in Iraq in order to
prevent further attacks on American personnel in the Middle East, which have
fueled concerns about a wider regional conflict. US forces on Christmas Day
struck three installations linked to an Iran-backed insurgent group, their
latest retaliation against militias targeting Americans. The strikes are
“intended to degrade and disrupt the ongoing series of attacks against the
United States and our partners” and to “deter” Tehran’s proxy forces “from
conducting or supporting further attacks,” Biden wrote Wednesday in a letter to
congressional leaders. The president’s comments provided the broadest rationale
yet for stepped-up US military action in the Middle East amid the Israel-Hamas
war. American troops have been injured in a series of attacks carried out by
militias supported by Iran, while Yemen-based Houthi rebels have wrought havoc
on Red Sea shipping by launching drone strikes on commercial vessels. The
militant groups’ attacks are meant to be in support of Hamas, the Iran-backed
group that rules the Gaza Strip and carried out the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel
that sparked the war.”



Voice Of America: Biden Struggles To Contain Israel-Hamas War As Conflict
Spreads On Multiple Fronts
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“As the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expands its
ground offensive in Gaza, Iran's threats of retaliation over the airstrikes
that killed a senior military officer and continued attacks from Tehran-backed
groups in the region are increasing the likelihood of an all-out war in the
Middle East. It is a risk U.S. President Joe Biden cannot afford as he heads
into an election year in 2024. Earlier this week, Tehran vowed retribution for
what it called the assassination in Syria of Seyed Razi Mousavi, a senior
adviser to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Mousavi was said to be
involved in supplying arms to Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon and
Syria that has been intensifying its assault from Israel's northern border in
solidarity to Palestinians in Gaza. Israel declined to confirm it was behind
the airstrike that killed Mousavi. The White House did not respond to VOA's
queries on whether Israel informed Washington in advance of the airstrikes that
killed Mousavi, or whether the administration believes the war can still be
contained in Gaza.”



Turkey



Associated Press: Turkey Hits 70 Sites Linked To Kurdish Groups In Syria And
Iraq In Retaliation For Soldiers’ Deaths
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“Turkey has hit more than 70 sites allegedly linked to Kurdish groups in Syria
and northern Iraq during airstrikes launched this week in retaliation for the
deaths of 12 Turkish soldiers in Iraq, the defense minister said Wednesday. At
least 59 Kurdish militants were killed in the strikes as well as in land
clashes, Yasar Guler said in a video message to top military officials which
was posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Our pain is great, but our determination is
complete,” Guler said. “We avenged (the deaths) of our precious children and we
will continue to do so.” There was no immediately statement from Kurdish groups
and the 59 deaths could not be independently verified. On Friday, militants
affiliated with the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, attempted to
infiltrate a Turkish base in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region,
Turkish officials said. Six Turkish soldiers were killed in the ensuing
firefight. The following day, six more Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes
with the Kurdish militants. Turkey responded by launching strikes against sites
that officials said were associated with the PKK in Iraq and Syria.”



Yemen



Wall Street Journal: Israel-Hamas War Jeopardizes Prospects For Yemen Peace
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“A string of Houthi attacks targeting Israel and Red Sea shipping lanes is
threatening to derail the most advanced effort to end Saudi Arabia’s
entanglement in Yemen’s nine-year civil war. Months of Saudi talks with Houthi
rebels have produced an informal three-year roadmap that the United Nations
hopes could become the basis of a long-term resolution to the conflict,
according to U.S., Saudi, Yemeni and U.N. officials. Ending the conflict would
allow President Biden to claim success on a foreign policy priority he set at
the start of his administration when he appointed a special envoy to lead peace
efforts and froze weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and its ally, the United Arab
Emirates, which is also part of an Arab coalition fighting the Houthis. The
talks were heading toward success earlier this year, but the war in Gaza is
threatening to upend the delicate negotiations amid the various parties to the
conflict. The Houthis have been targeting ships in the Red Sea and Israeli
cities, which they say is in response to Israeli military operations in Gaza.
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said it had shot down a dozen drones and a number of
missiles, part of the latest wave of Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea.”



Middle East



New York Times: Hamas And Other Militant Groups Are Firing Rockets Into Israel
Every Day
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“As Israel wages a war in Gaza aimed at dismantling Hamas’s military capacity,
the armed group and its affiliates have continued to fire rockets at Israel
nearly every day, aiming deep inside its borders and striking some of the
country’s biggest cities. Since Hamas led a terrorist attack on southern Israel
on Oct. 7, Hamas and other armed groups have fired about 12,000 rockets from
Gaza into Israel, a quarter of them on Oct. 7, the Israeli government has said.
Most rockets fired from Gaza were shot down by Israeli air defenses before they
were able to make impact. But the ongoing salvos, although less frequent than
at the start of the war, are an indication of the size of Hamas’s arsenal and
its continued ability to menace cities far from Gaza. In nearly three months of
war, 15 people in Israel have been killed in strikes and about 700 others
injured, according to Israel’s emergency service. In southern Israel, along the
Gaza border, rocket attacks have long been a fact of life. But since the start
of the war, Israelis across the country have become accustomed to the scream of
air raid sirens. In recent weeks, sirens have sounded in central Israeli
cities, including Tel Aviv. Residents in Jerusalem were sent running to safe
rooms and shelters in December for the first time in over a month.”



BBC: Israel Gaza War: Israel Warns Hezbollah And Lebanon Over Border Fighting
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“Israel's military will act to remove Hezbollah from the border with Lebanon
if its attacks continue, an Israeli minister has warned. Benny Gantz said the
military would intervene if militants do not stop firing on northern Israel.
Time for a diplomatic solution was running out, he added. Meanwhile, the head
of the Israel Defense Forces said troops were in "very high readiness" for more
fighting in the north. "Our first task is to restore security and the sense of
security to the residents in the north, and this will take time," Chief of the
General Staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said, after conducting a "situational
assessment.”



Hong Kong



Associated Press: Hong Kong Man Jailed For 6 Years After Pleading Guilty To A
Terrorism Charge Over A Foiled Bomb Plot
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“A Hong Kong man was sentenced Thursday to six years in prison after pleading
guilty to a terrorism charge under a Beijing-imposed national security law for
his involvement in a foiled plot to bomb court buildings. Prosecutors said Ho
Yu-wang, 19, was the plot mastermind who planned to manufacture explosives and
target court buildings in 2021. The plot, involving mostly secondary students
back then, was foiled due to a police investigation, while no bombs were made
and no casualties occurred, the prosecution earlier said.”



Australia



Reuters: Australia Checks Hezbollah Claim Of Citizen Killed In Israeli Strike
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“Australia on Thursday confirmed two of its citizens were killed in an Israeli
air strike in south Lebanon and said it was looking at Hezbollah's claims that
one of the Australian citizens killed had links to the militant group. "We will
continue to make inquiries about this particular person, with whom Hezbollah
has claimed links," Acting Foreign Minister Mark Dreyfus said during a media
briefing. "Hezbollah has claimed this Australian as one of its fighters. Our
inquiries are continuing." Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group backed by Iran,
is a "listed terrorist organisation" in Australia and it is an offence for any
Australian to provide it with financial support or fight in its ranks, Dreyfus
said. A Lebanese-Australian man, his wife, and his brother, who was a member of
Hezbollah, were killed in the Israeli attack, Lebanese security and local
sources told Reuters on Wednesday. The strike late on Tuesday, part of a
flare-up of border area hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, hit a home in
the town of Bint Jbeil where the militants enjoy widespread support. Dreyfus
said the Australian government had reached out to Israel about the attacks but
declined to disclose what was discussed.”



Europe



Reuters: Spanish PM Open To Creation Of New EU Mission To Protect Vessels In
Red Sea
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“Spain opposes using the European Union's anti-piracy naval force to protect
merchant ships in the Red Sea from the Yemeni Houthi militia, but it is willing
to consider the creation of a different mission to tackle the problem, Prime
Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Wednesday. The Iran-backed Houthis, who control
much of Yemen including the capital Sanaa, have since October attacked
commercial vessels in the Red Sea that they say have Israeli links or are
sailing to Israel. They say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians
under assault by Israeli forces in Gaza. "We are willing and open to consider
such an operation but not within the framework of Operation Atalanta," Sanchez
said, referring to the existing EU mission. He said he had conveyed to Madrid's
allies in both NATO and the EU that Operation Atalanta had "neither the
characteristics nor the nature required for the Red Sea". The situation in the
Red Sea was "completely different" from Atalanta's area of operation, the
Indian Ocean, where the EU's main mission was to combat piracy. Several
shipping lines have suspended operations through the Red Sea in response to the
attacks instead taking the longer journey around southern Africa.”



India



Times Of India: 2 Youths With Al-Qaeda Links Get 7-Year Jail
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“A special court in the city for cases registered by National Investigation
Agency sentenced two youths to seven years’ simple imprisonment for involvement
in terror activities. The accused are Akthar Hussain, resident of Tilaknagar
and from Theltikar village in Assam, and Abdul Alim Mondal alias Mohammed Juba
from South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. Juba was residing in Salem, Tamil Nadu,
when police arrested him on July 27, 2022. Akthar was taken into custody three
days earlier. Both are in their 20s. They were alleged to be members of
Al-Qaeda in Indian Sub-continent outfit, sources said. The NIA special court
convicted them on Monday and announced the punishment Wednesday.”



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