“A series of bomb threats across multiple battleground states and baseless
claims of wrongdoing by former President Donald Trump disrupted an otherwise
smooth Election Day that capped a tumultuous presidential campaign. The bomb
threats in parts of Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania on Tuesday turned out to
be hoaxes, but they forced some polling places to evacuate and extend hours,
and delayed the counting of some ballots. The threats were reported throughout
the day at polling locations in three metro Atlanta counties, all with large
numbers of Democratic voters, and into the evening at Pennsylvania polling
places and election offices where ballots were being counted. Bomb threats also
were reported in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to state election
officials.”











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



Eye on Extremism



November 6, 2024



Associated Press: Bomb Threats In Swing States Disrupt A Mostly Smooth
Election Day
<[link removed]>



“A series of bomb threats across multiple battleground states and baseless
claims of wrongdoing by former President Donald Trump disrupted an otherwise
smooth Election Day that capped a tumultuous presidential campaign. The bomb
threats in parts of Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania on Tuesday turned out to
be hoaxes, but they forced some polling places to evacuate and extend hours,
and delayed the counting of some ballots. The threats were reported throughout
the day at polling locations in three metro Atlanta counties, all with large
numbers of Democratic voters, and into the evening at Pennsylvania polling
places and election offices where ballots were being counted. Bomb threats also
were reported in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin, according to state election
officials.”



Associated Press: Middle East Latest: Dozens Killed In Gaza As Israel Says It
Targeted A Weapons Facility
<[link removed]>



“Israeli strikes killed at least 30 people in Gaza, including on a home where
displaced families were sheltering, according to Palestinian health officials.
Ten people were killed early Tuesday, including four children and two women,
and a strike late Monday on the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya killed at
least 20 people, including eight women and six children, health officials said.
The Israeli military said it targeted a weapons storage facility from which a
militant had operated, and that “numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk
of harming civilians.” Israel has been waging a massive offensive in northern
Gaza — which was already the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the
territory — for nearly a month.”




The CEP CounterPoint: Expert Analysis

* ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency In September 2024
<[link removed]>
* One Year On: Remembering October 7 In London
<[link removed]>
* Al-Qaeda’s Brazen Attacks In Mali’s Capital Bamako
<[link removed]>
* ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency In August 2024
<[link removed]>
* CounterPoint Brief: EU Arrests Members Of Newly-Designated Terrorist Group
The Base
<[link removed]>



CEP Mentions



WKRN: ‘White Supremacist Ideology’ Tied To Man’s Plan To Attack Nashville
Power Grid
<[link removed]>



“Federal agents took Skyler Philippi, 24, into custody moments before he
allegedly planned to strike a Nashville power grid. According to the Department
of Justice (DOJ), Philippi had a drone powered up and armed with explosives. An
attack Attorney General Merrick B. Garland described as to “further his violent
white supremacist ideology.” Critical infrastructure, including power grids,
have been the target of several recent attacks involving white supremacists,
according to the Counter Extremism Project. “It could have taken quite awhile
to repair,” explained Joshua Fisher-Birch, a researcher with the Counter
Extremism Project. “This has been promoted by different groups and sort of
sub-movements within the accelerationists online environment and they’ve put
out manuals and they’ve put out videos that encourage attacks on
infrastructure.”



The Guardian: ‘Collapse Is How We Win’: US Far Right Aims To Make Gains On
Election Division
<[link removed]>



“... While Russian disinformation and election denialism are seeding mistrust
in the American electoral process, some far-right extremists are already
heralding this divisive election season as an unbridled victory for their
cause. To them, who wins or loses is less important than the effect: with
already two assassination attempts on Donald Trump and both mainstream parties
more at rhetorical war than ever before, they see signs of hope the US
government is beginning to lose control of the country. For example, one
popular Telegram account on the fringes of the far right gleefully asked
followers in a survey what they think the outcome of the election could be.
“Trump wins, civil war kicks off” was among the options, followed by “Kamala
‘wins,’ civil war kicks off”.”



Berliner Morgenpost: Expert Sees Terror Threat From Hezbollah For Germany
<[link removed]>



“The actions of the Israeli army in Lebanon against the terrorist
organization Hezbollah have an impact not only on the Middle East region, but
also on Germany, as terrorism expert Hans Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of
the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) in Berlin and New York, explains to the
Berliner Morgenpost. He also describes Germany's role for the Lebanese militia.
First of all: Who is Hezbollah? The "Party of God" is a Shiite organization
that is mainly active in Lebanon. Like the Palestinian Hamas, it is divided
into a political and military arm. The focus of Hezbollah, which is classified
as a terrorist organization in Germany, is the fight against Israel and the
spread of the Islamist revolution in Iran, says Schindler. He previously worked
for the German government and was an advisor on the topics of Islamic State,
al-Qaeda and the Taliban - including at the United Nations Security Council.”



United States



Reuters: Pentagon Says It Will Work Closely With Israel's Next Defense Minister

<[link removed]>



“The Pentagon said on Tuesday that Yoav Gallant, whom Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu fired as defense minister on Tuesday, has been a "trusted
partner," and said it will continue to work closely with Israel's next defense
minister. "America's commitment to Israel's security remains ironclad and the
U.S. Department of Defense will continue to work closely with Israel’s next
Minister of Defense," Pentagon spokesman Major General Patrick Ryder said in a
statement.”



Syria



Reuters: Blast Heard In Syria's Homs, Syrian State Media Says
<[link removed]>



“An explosion was heard in Homs province in Syria, Syrian state media said on
Tuesday, as a result of confronting and shooting down a hostile drone. It did
not provide any further details about the damage caused by the drone. Earlier
on Tuesday, an Israeli attack targeted an industrial zone and some residential
buildings in the town of Qusayr in Homs, Syrian state TV reported.”



Iran



Associated Press: Iran’s Top Diplomat Says Tehran Would Respond To Israel’s
Strike In A ‘Measured’ Way
<[link removed]>



“Iran’s foreign minister on Tuesday reiterated that his country does not seek
an escalation in the Middle East but reserved the right to defend itself
against Israel’s attack with a “measured and calculative” response. Iranian
officials are increasingly threatening to launch yet another strike against
Israel after its Oct. 26 attack on the Islamic Republic that targeted military
bases and other locations and killed at least five people. Iranian Foreign
Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking at a news conference during a visit to
Pakistan, said that “unlike the Israeli regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran
does not seek escalation.” “We reserve our inherent rights to legitimate
defense under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and we will certainly
respond to the Israeli aggression in a proper time and in a proper manner in a
very measured and very calculated manner,” he said.”



Afghanistan



Voice Of America: UN Finds Surge In Afghan Opium Poppy Cultivation Despite
Taliban Ban
<[link removed]>



“The United Nations reported Wednesday that the cultivation of opium poppies
in Afghanistan has increased by an estimated 19% in the second full year since
the country's de facto Taliban authorities banned the crop, but cultivation
remains far below pre-ban levels. The resurgence comes after a dramatic 95%
decline in 2023 when the ban nearly wiped out poppy cultivation throughout much
of the impoverished South Asian nation, which has long been the world’s leading
supplier of the raw material for heroin, according to the report from the U.N.
Office of Drugs and Crime, or UNODC. The Taliban outlawed the cultivation of
narcotics nationwide in April 2022, months after sweeping back to power in
Afghanistan, which led to a massive decline in opium poppy production. The U.N.
survey, published Wednesday, noted the ban remains largely effective."



Lebanon



Associated Press: Red Cross Launches International Emergency Appeal Urging
Donors To Provide Resources For Lebanon
<[link removed]>



“The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on
Tuesday launched an international emergency appeal asking donors to provide
resources for Lebanon during the Israel-Hezbollah war. IFRC also called on all
parties to protect paramedics in the conflict that has left thousands of people
dead and wounded, many of them over the past six weeks. Jagan Chapagain, the
secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies, told The Associated Press in Beirut that “needs are just growing so
fast.” He met with officials and toured shelters housing people displaced by
the conflict. The IFRC said its emergency appeal for 100 million Swiss Francs
($115.8 million) is aimed at helping Lebanon and the Lebanese Red Cross through
the ongoing conflict.”



Associated Press: Middle East Latest: Rescue Workers Pull 30 Bodies From
Apartments In Lebanon After Israeli Strike
<[link removed]>



“Lebanon’s Civil Defense service says they have pulled 30 bodies from the
rubble of an apartment building that Israel struck the night before. Search
efforts were ongoing Wednesday, and it was unclear how many survivors or bodies
were still trapped under the rubble. The airstrike Tuesday night came without
warning. There was no statement from the Israeli military on the strike, and it
was not immediately clear what the intended target was. On Tuesday, Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in a
surprise announcement that sparked protests across the country. Gallant’s
replacement is Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a longtime Netanyahu loyalist and
veteran Cabinet minister.”



Middle East



The Washington Post: Netanyahu Ally Accused Of Leaking Documents To Derail
Hostage Deal
<[link removed]>



“A scandal over a leak of top-secret military documents, allegedly involving
the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has rocked Israel’s political
establishment in a wartime country still reeling from last year’s Hamas
attacks. Israeli media has linked the leak to two articles that appeared in
foreign outlets — Britain’s Jewish Chronicle and Germany’s Bild — in early
September. Both articles, which were immediately called into question by
Israel’s military, claimed to be based on internal Hamas documents that showed
the Palestinian militant group had no intention of releasing the hostages it
captured on Oct. 7. The stories were published days after six hostages were
murdered by their captors in Gaza, according to the military, and
demonstrations had intensified in Israel calling for the government to reach a
cease-fire deal.”



Reuters: Israeli PM Netanyahu Fires Defence Minister Gallant, Citing Lack Of
Trust
<[link removed]>



“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired defence minister Yoav
Gallant on Tuesday, saying he had no trust in him over the management of
Israel's ongoing military operations as the wars in Gaza and Lebanon grind on.
Netanyahu appointed Foreign Minister Israel Katz, a close ally, to succeed
Gallant, while Gideon Saar becomes the new foreign minister, Netanyahu's office
said in a statement. Gallant and Netanyahu, both in the right-wing Likud party,
have clashed for months over the objectives of Israel's 13-month-old war in
Gaza against the militant group Hamas, and many had expected the prime minister
to sack him sooner or later. But the timing was a surprise, and came as the
United States was consumed by its presidential election.”



Europe



The Wall Street Journal: Russia Is Accused Of Terrorism In Alleged
Incendiary-Device Plot
<[link removed]>



“Eastern European officials said Russia’s alleged plot to send incendiary
devices by mail to Western countries including the U.S. marked an escalation in
Moscow’s conflict with the West, presenting a challenge to governments trying
to deter the Kremlin. Polish and other European officials said that agents
suspected of working for the Russian military intelligence this summer posted a
number of parcels packed with incendiary material from Lithuania to Britain, in
a dry run to see if such packages could also be sent by aircraft to North
America. The plot was foiled when two of those packages caught fire at DHL
depots in the U.K. and Germany in July. The Kremlin denies any involvement.”



The Counter Extremism Project depends on the generosity of its supporters. If
you value what we do, please consider making a donation.

DONATE NOW
<[link removed]>
 




Click here to unsubscribe.
<[link removed]>