Eye on Extremism
February 6, 2025
Voice Of America: Scores Killed In Somalia In Clash Between Security Forces, Islamic State
“Nearly 70 people were killed and up to 50 others wounded during 24 hours of fighting between Islamic State fighters and security forces from Somalia’s Puntland region, officials said Wednesday. At least 15 Puntland soldiers and more than 50 militants were slain in the fierce fighting around the Dharin and Qurac areas of the Cal Miskaad mountains in Puntland’s Bari region, multiple Puntland security officials told VOA, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.”
The New York Times: Trump Proposes U.S. Takeover Of Gaza And Says All Palestinians Should Leave
“President Trump declared on Tuesday that the United States should seize control of Gaza and permanently displace the entire Palestinian population of the devastated seaside enclave, one of the most brazen ideas that any American leader has advanced in years. Hosting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel at the White House, Mr. Trump said that all two million Palestinians from Gaza should be moved to countries like Egypt and Jordan because of the devastation wrought by Israel’s campaign against Hamas after the terrorist attack of Oct. 7, 2023. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too,” Mr. Trump said at a news conference Tuesday evening. “We’ll own it and be responsible” for disposing of unexploded munitions and rebuilding Gaza into a mecca for jobs and tourism. Sounding like the real estate developer he once was, Mr. Trump vowed to turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East.””
CEP Mentions
Fox News: Experts Slam UN Action Plan For Combating Antisemitism: ‘Phony Exercise In Futility’
“Last month, the United Nations (U.N.) released its "Action Plan to Enhance Monitoring and Response to Antisemitism," partially in response to a "surge in antisemitic incidents targeting Jews and Jewish institutions in Europe, the United States of America and elsewhere… Edmund Fitton-Brown, a senior advisor to the Counter Extremism Project and a former U.N. Monitoring Team coordinator, told Fox News Digital that "the CT[counterterrorism] strategy is a mess." Though he said that some U.N. efforts to counter terrorism are effective, he said that given the lack of agreement over what constitutes terrorism, the U.N. particularly struggles with identifying groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis as terrorists. "If something really dramatic happens, then often a group will find it is being accused of being a terrorist group," Fitton-Brown said, noting how the U.N. condemned the Houthis in the aftermath of their 2022 attack on Abu Dhabi airport but failed to designate them as a terror group. "On Hezbollah, the U.N. has been hopelessly weak," he explained.”
The Telegraph: Politicians Are Hopelessly Naive To The Threat Of Islamist Entryism
“If you’ve been bewildered by the actions of certain British institutions of late, you’re probably not alone. The discontent and distrust these bodies attribute to pervasive mis-and-disinformation is at least partly driven by a form of moral dislocation between the majority of the public, and the increasingly ideologically homogeneous professionals who scold them and manage their affairs. An underplayed component of this ideological drift has been the role of domestic Islamism and its penetration of state and civil society institutions. In short: entryism, a tactic long associated with the hard left. Talk of Islamist entryism into Western institutions has historically been trapped between outright denialism and over-the-top alarmism. The denialism is at least understandable. A global network of secretive and well-heeled professionals plotting to bring down liberal democracy from the inside to install sharia on its ruins sounds like something straight from the paranoid imagination of a right-wing shock jock at the height of the War on Terror. It is, though, the exact aim of Islamists, in their own words.”
WTOP News: The Hunt: What We Know About The Mass Shooting In Sweden
“After 11 people died in the worst mass shooting in Sweden’s history, we’re learning more about what happened and the United States’ concerns about terrorism. On this week’s episode of “The Hunt with WTOP national security correspondent J.J. Green,” Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, discusses another case of a lone actor carrying out a deadly mass shooting.”
United States
ABC News: As The Super Bowl Nears, New Orleans Grapples With How Safe Is Safe Enough
“The anticipation surrounding Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans is not just about which team will win, it's whether or not the city can pull the game off without a serious security breach. New Orleans has hosted 10 Super Bowls in previous years, but Sunday’s game at the Superdome is different. Just over a month before Sunday's kick-off, the city was the target of a terrorist attack on New Year's Day in which a driver racing down Bourbon Street killed 14 people, injured 57 others, and heightened fears among locals that the city is unprepared for the estimated 100,000 visitors expected to arrive this week.”
The New York Times: U.S. Is Holding Migrants In Cells That Once Held Al Qaeda Suspects
“The Trump administration is holding 10 migrants with suspected gang affiliations in the same prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, that has housed men accused of being members of Al Qaeda, U.S. defense officials said on Wednesday. The Pentagon made the disclosure as U.S. forces are preparing a tent city for migrants, in compliance with an order from President Trump, on a separate portion of the base. But the Defense Department said the first group of 10 deportees, who were brought to the base on Tuesday, were too dangerous for the migrant site. Instead they were put in a vacant section of the military prison that houses terrorism suspects and convicts, far from the area where other deportees will be held by the Department of Homeland Security.”
Reuters: Trump Aides Defend Gaza Takeover Proposal But Walk Back Some Elements
“President Donald Trump's top aides staunchly defended his push to transfer Palestinians out of Gaza and have the U.S. take over the war-ruined enclave, but they also backed away from elements of his proposal in the face of international condemnation. A longtime New York property developer, Trump drew rebukes on Wednesday from world powers Russia, China and Germany, which said it would foster "new suffering and new hatred." Regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia rejected the proposal outright. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Trump's proposal was "remarkable" and urged that it be explored, even as he was not specific about what he believed Trump was offering.”
Syria
Voice Of America: VOA Kurdish: Syrian ISIS Families In Al-Hol Waiting To Return Home
“Syrian Islamic State families at the al-Hol camp are waiting for the implementation of a decision made by the self-ruled administration allowing them to leave the camp. The camp administration says it is still waiting for a response from the Damascus government to begin the process. The families say they want to return, despite the destruction of their homes.”
Iran
Reuters: Iran Is Willing To Give Trump Diplomacy 'Another Chance', Senior Iranian Official Says
“Iran is ready to give the United States a chance to resolve disputes between the arch foes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday, a day after President Donald Trump restored his "maximum pressure" campaign on the country. Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that U.S. concerns about Iran developing nuclear weapons were not a complicated issue and could be resolved given Tehran's opposition to weapons of mass destruction. "The clerical establishment's will is to give diplomacy with Trump another chance, but Tehran is deeply concerned about Israel's sabotage," said the senior official. The official said Tehran wanted the United States to "rein in Israel if Washington is seeking a deal" with the Islamic Republic. Trump said on Wednesday he preferred a verified nuclear peace agreement with Iran, according to a post on his Truth Social account.”
Pakistan
Reuters: China, Pakistan Pledge To Boost Cooperation On Infrastructure, Mining Projects
“China and Pakistan will upgrade and reconstruct Pakistan's railway network and further develop its Gwadar port, while Chinese companies can invest in the South Asian nation's offshore oil and gas developments, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday. The comments came as Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari visits China from February 4-8, where he will also attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Winter Games. Chinese investment and financial support for Pakistan since 2013 have been a boon for the South Asian nation's struggling economy.”
Associated Press: Pakistan’s President Says Extremist Attacks Won’t End Friendship With China
“Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said Wednesday that his country’s friendship with China has “gone through ups and downs” but it won’t be broken down by extremist attacks that have killed Chinese nationals. “Pakistan and China will always be friends, all-weather friends,” he said at the opening of talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “No matter how many terrors, how many issues crop up in the world, I will stand, Pakistan people will stand, with the people of China.” Thousands of Chinese work in Pakistan on road and other infrastructure projects under China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to improve trade routes and deepen China’s ties with the rest of the world. Chinese workers have been among those targeted in attacks in recent years, including seven who died last year in two separate attacks that raised renewed alarm in China.”
Middle East
Associated Press: ‘What Can I Do To Bring The Others Home?’ Hostages Freed From Hamas Captivity Vow All Must Return
“For the final two months of his captivity in Gaza, American-Israeli Keith Siegel was forced to lie down at all times in a cramped room. For most of his ordeal there was little electricity or running water, which made hygiene impossible, he said. When he returned to Israel last week, gaunt and pale, the first words to his family, according to his brother, Lee Siegel, were: “I’m back, I’m home.” Then, he asked, “What can I do to help bring the other hostages home?” Hostages are returning after 15 months in captivity as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and with their freedom, the first details of their ordeals are emerging.”
Africa
Reuters: Jordan's King Rejects Trump's Gaza Takeover Plan
"Jordan's King Abdullah said on Wednesday he rejected any attempts to annex land and displace Palestinians after a shock proposal by President Donald Trump that the U.S. take over Gaza, an issue that strikes a raw nerve in the kingdom. Trump said on Tuesday that under his plan Palestinians would be resettled elsewhere and Gaza would be developed economically, an idea that elicited widespread international condemnation. "His Majesty King Abdullah II stresses the need to put a stop to (Israeli) settlement expansion, expressing rejection of any attempts to annex land and displace the Palestinians," the Jordanian royal court said in a post on X. The issue is especially sensitive for Jordan.”
United Kingdom
Reuters: UK Will Oppose Any Effort To Displace Palestinians, Minister Says
“Britain will oppose any efforts to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to neighbouring Arab states against their will, a foreign office minister said on Thursday. "There must be no forced displacement of Palestinians, nor any reduction in the territory of the Gaza Strip," minister Anneliese Dodds told parliament. Dodds' remarks come after U.S. President Donald Trump proposed earlier this week resettling Palestinians and taking over Gaza to develop it. He said he envisioned building a resort where international communities could live in harmony. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump's proposal was "remarkable" and urged that it be explored, even as he was not specific about what he believed Trump was offering.”
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