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CEP Mentions
EU Commission: Unpacking Contemporary Antisemitism and Radicalisation
Includes contributions from the Counter Extremism Project, ARCHER at House 88, Senior Advisor Alexander Ritzmann, and Director Jacek Purski: This edition is dedicated to exploring the multifaceted nature of antisemitism, examining its manifestations in different spheres of life, both offline and online. The recent appalling attack against a synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur reminds us all of the relevance to counter antisemitism, including at EU level. This issue also explores the ideological fluidity observed among perpetrators across the full ideological extremist spectrum, including jihadist, violent right wing, and violent left wing extremist groups.
Münchner Merkur: Anti-Semitism as a "driver of radicalization": Expert warns of Hamas attacks in Germany
"Overall, the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to radicalize various milieus, including the Islamist extremist milieu," says terror expert Hans-Jakob Schindler, Director of the Counter Extremism Project in Berlin, in an interview with Ippen.Media's Münchner Merkur. The number of people who are open to Hamas propaganda narratives is growing rapidly in Germany, Europe and North America. This also increases the risk of possible acts of violence and attacks, according to Schindler. Anti-Semitic narratives, often renamed "anti-Zionism" in their current form, are becoming increasingly normalized: "This is also a driver of radicalization." He sees the latest arrests in Berlin as confirmation of this theory. "Since the summer of 2023, the terrorist group has apparently been trying to carry out attacks in Germany and Berlin in particular." Meanwhile, pressure is increasing on Hamas, which is losing supporters following the fall of the Assad regime and the weakening of Iran. "Unfortunately, it can be assumed that the terrorist group will continue to try to carry out terrorist activities in Europe," believes Schindler.
Analysis
Atlantic Council: ISIS has its sights set on a new potential ally—Uyghur jihadi groups
In July, al-Tazkirah media—an Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS)-affiliated media organization—distributed an online poster calling for Uyghur Muslims to join ISIS and destroy China’s “empire of tyranny.” The ISIS push to specifically recruit Uyghurs underscores its burgeoning alliance with Uyghur jihadi groups such as the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP; also known as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement)—and likely presents a security threat to China and its interests in Central Asia.
Jerusalem Post: From October 7 to Manchester: Jewish blood is spilled again in Europe
Two years after the October 7 massacre in Israel, when Hamas terrorists slaughtered, raped, and kidnapped Jews for being Jews, the same ideology of hatred has claimed more victims, this time in Europe. On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, two worshipers were killed in a murderous attack outside a synagogue in Manchester. They came to pray. They left in body bags. Eighty years after the Holocaust, Jewish blood is again being spilled on European soil.
Perspectives on Terrorism: Kumar Ramakrishna, Jemaah Islamiyah, ISIS and Beyond: Tracking the Evolving Challenge of Violent Extremism in Southeast Asia
This well-written short book is filled with very insightful observations by a veteran academic expert about the evolution of the terrorist threat from around 2001 to the mid-2020s. The author serves as Professor of National Security Studies (among other positions) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), in Singapore, and has written numerous books on terrorism in Southeast Asia. While this book primarily focuses on the characteristics of violent extremism in Southeast Asia by groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah, al-Qaeda, and most recently by ISIS (including the lone actors who follow them), one of the book’s important contributions is the author’s explanation of how the drivers of radicalisation into violent extremism have evolved globally over the years.
United States
New York Times: Witkoff and Kushner Set to Join Gaza Talks Soon, Official Says
Along with Mr. Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and former Middle East adviser Jared Kushner was expected to join the negotiations, according to two officials familiar with their itineraries, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details. As architects of Mr. Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war, their presence at the talks would signal progress, one of the officials said. The Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, will travel to Egypt on Wednesday to participate in the negotiations, a spokesman for Qatar’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday. His participation comes at a “critical stage” in the talks, the spokesman noted.
Times of Israel: California governor signs law aimed at fighting antisemitism in schools
California Governor Gavin Newsom in the United States signed a law Tuesday aimed at combating antisemitism in schools. The California Legislative Jewish Caucus said the law will help respond to alarming harassment against Jewish students. “California is taking action to confront hate in all its forms. At a time when antisemitism and bigotry are rising nationwide and globally, these laws make clear: our schools must be places of learning, not hate,” Newsom said in a statement. The law creates an Office of Civil Rights with a governor-appointed coordinator who will develop and provide training to help school employees identify and prevent antisemitism.
The Hill: Watch: House Democrat unveils bill promoting education on Oct. 7 attack, antisemitism
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) held a press conference Tuesday afternoon to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. During the event, he was expected to unveil bipartisan legislation that will require school curriculums to educate students about the attack and rising antisemitism across the U.S.
Germany
BZ: Fourth suspected Hamas terrorist identified in Berlin
There is another suspect in the case of the three Hamas terrorists arrested in Berlin. This was confirmed by the Federal Prosecutor's Office on Tuesday in response to an inquiry by B.Z.. Special forces of the Federal Criminal Police Office and a dog squadron of the Berlin police searched the man's apartment in Treptow. Around midnight, the investigators were called to an apartment building on Engelhardstraße in the Johannisthal district of Treptow. Women and children from an apartment on the third floor were sent to the front door. Investigators then searched the apartment. Even flower pots in front of the windows were thoroughly examined.
Tagesspiegel: Police break up banned anti-Israel demonstration at Berlin's Alexanderplatz
The Berlin police broke up a banned anti-Israel demonstration in Berlin-Mitte on Tuesday evening. According to the police, around 250 people had gathered at the Neptune Fountain not far from the Rotes Rathaus. According to the Tagesspiegel, some of those present were from the radical anti-Israel camp, such as the banned extremist network "Samidoun". According to a Berlin police spokeswoman, the police used a loudspeaker van to repeatedly inform all demonstrators that they were in a "prohibited gathering of people" and asked them to leave the square in the direction of Kreuzberg. Not all participants complied with the request.
Deutsche Welle: October 7 commemorations held across country
At 5:29 a.m. (6:29 a.m. in Israel), the precise time at which the Hamas attack began, the names of the victims were read out at the iconic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, where 1,000 empty chairs have also been laid out as a symbol of remembrance. Various commemorative events will take place in cities across Germany, including in the eastern city of Leipzig where German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will speak to members of the local Jewish community. Back in Berlin, Julia Klöckner, the president of the German parliament, the Bundestag, a position comparable to a parliamentary speaker abroad, will address relatives of some of the victims before opening an Israeli art exhibition.
Deutsche Welle: Merz appeals to Germans to stand up against 'new wave of antisemitism'
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has warned of increasing levels of antisemitism in Germany since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ensuing Israeli response, and called on Germans to show solidarity with their Jewish compatriots. "Today, we look at our own country with concern," he said. "Since October 7, 2023, we have experienced a new wave of antisemitism which shows itself in both old and new forms: on social media, at universities, on our streets — ever louder, ever more insolent and ever more frequently in the shape of violence," Merz added.
Le Monde: Turkish community in northwest Germany tempted by far-right AfD party
The café was decorated with colorful oriental patterns and black-and-white photos of film stars. "These are not Hollywood actors, they are Turkish actors," explained Hakan Alkaç, who was elected on September 14 to the Marxloh neighborhood council in Duisburg (North Rhine-Westphalia) on the ticket of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). He spoke in Turkish to the young waitress, who was picking out orange blossom pastries from the display case. She had striking light eyes and wore a headscarf.
United Kingdom
Sky News: Manchester synagogue attacker Jihad al Shamie 'shared ISIS videos
The synagogue killer, Jihad al Shamie, radicalised himself after searching online for videos of the Islamic State terror group, according to a friend. The man, Qas, said al Shamie "started using [encrypted messaging app] Telegram and searching for ISIS videos. "Once, he even tried to show me one at the shisha lounge. I told him to go away and asked how he even got access to that content, and he said it was through Telegram. After that, I didn't see him for a long time until I heard what had happened."
Reuters: Two men on trial in UK over alleged plot against Jewish community
Two men plotted an Islamic State-inspired attack on the Jewish community in northwest England with the aim of "killing hundreds of innocent people", British prosecutors said on Wednesday at the start of their trial.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, are charged with preparing terrorist acts, while Walid Saadaoui's brother Bilel Saadaoui, 36, is charged with failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.
Israel
Times of Israel: Grief, defiance and hope: 30,000 gather in Tel Aviv to mark two years since Oct. 7
Emotions ran high in Tel Aviv on Tuesday night as Israel marked two years since Hamas’s devastating October 7, 2023, onslaught on southern Israel. Some 30,000 people filled Yarkon Park for what became the nation’s largest memorial ceremony for the deadliest day in Israeli history. The event, organized by Kumu (“Rise Up”) — a movement founded by survivors of that day and families of victims and hostages — stood in place of an official state ceremony. The government has opted instead to recognize a national day of remembrance corresponding to the Hebrew anniversary of Hamas’s attack.
New York Times: In Israel, Two-Year Anniversary of Oct. 7 Attack Is Quiet but Inescapable
Israel marked the second anniversary of the Hamas-led attack that began its longest war in subdued fashion on Tuesday, with new hopes of ending the conflict but with hostages still in captivity and its exhausted military adding to the death toll of Palestinians and to the destruction in Gaza. The arrival of the Jewish harvest festival, Sukkot, a national and religious holiday, shut down most businesses across Israel for the day. The government delayed official remembrances of the war’s traumatic first day until Oct. 16, after the High Holiday season. But Tuesday’s milestone was inescapable.
Times of Israel: Anti-Israel protests held worldwide on second anniversary of Hamas massacre
Anti-Israel activists rallied worldwide on Tuesday, the second anniversary of Hamas’s October 7 rampage through southern Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. Large rallies were held in Sydney, London, Paris, Geneva, Athens, Thessaloniki, Istanbul, Tokyo, Jakarta and Stockholm, among other cities. The protests reflect a shift in global sentiment, with sympathy that initially flowed to Israel after the October 7, 2023, attacks now increasingly directed toward Palestinians, leaving Israel more isolated on the world stage.
Haaretz: Israeli Army Intercepts Four Drones Launched From Yemen Within One Hour
Over the past month, Houthi drones have managed to successfully hit several sites in Eilat and its surrounding area, including one attack that wounded 22 people in the city's tourist area. The Israeli military said on Tuesday that it intercepted four drones launched from Yemen over the skies of southern Israel's Eilat, triggering two separate sirens in the afternoon.
Gaza Strip
Reuters: Hamas says on war anniversary it's ready to reach Gaza deal, but conditions remain
Hamas said on Tuesday it was ready to reach a deal to end the war in Gaza based on President Donald Trump's plan but still has demands, as Qatar's prime minister and senior U.S. mediators headed to Egypt to join indirect negotiations between the Palestinian militant group and Israel. On the second anniversary of Hamas' attack on Israel that triggered Israel's assault on Gaza, Trump expressed optimism about progress toward a Gaza deal. A U.S. team including special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and his Middle East envoy during his first term, left for the talks.
Lebanon
Associated Press: Lebanese army chief briefs government on Hezbollah’s disarmament as Israel strikes kill 2
Lebanon’s army chief on Monday briefed the government for the first time on its plan to disarm the militant group Hezbollah, while Israel carried out airstrikes in southern and northeastern Lebanon that killed two people. Army commander Gen. Rudolph Haikal’s report came a month after the Cabinet discussed the military’s plan to put all weapons under state control.
The National: The US may not be the only path for Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah
Both in public and private, Lebanese officials are expressing frustration with the US team currently dealing with Lebanon. “They have no experience or institutional memory,” one senior minister recently told me. Since the Biden administration imposed a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah last year, the situation has settled into a status quo, in which diplomacy has stagnated.
Syria
The Hill: US military kills senior al Qaeda-affiliated attack planner
The United States military killed a senior al Qaeda-affiliated attack planner last week in Syria, U.S. Central Command (Centcom) announced on Tuesday. Centcom said its forces conducted a strike on Oct. 2 that killed Muhammad Abd-al-Wahhab al-Ahmad, who the U.S. military says was a member of Ansar al-Islam, an al Qaeda affiliated terrorist group.
Yemen
Euronews: Houthis arrest nine more UN staff in Yemen, sparking condemnation
The Iran-backed Houthis' crackdown on the United Nations has seen the rebels arbitrarily detain 53 UN staff since 2021.
Yemen's Houthi rebels have detained nine more United Nations employees as part of a long-running crackdown on the organisation, according to the UN chief's office. The latest detentions mean that a total of 53 UN staff have been arbitrarily held by the Houthis since 2021, spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement late on Monday.
Fox News: Houthi rebels test US ceasefire with deadly strike on cargo ship
A crew member has died from injuries sustained during a Houthi attack on a Dutch cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, as the Iran-backed rebels escalate their campaign against international targets and detain United Nations workers in Yemen. The Philippines’ Department of Migrant Workers confirmed that the victim was a Filipino national aboard the Minervagracht, a vessel operated by Amsterdam-based Spliethoff. The ship was struck by an explosive device while sailing in international waters, igniting a fire that forced the evacuation of 19 crew members of Russian, Ukrainian, Filipino and Sri Lankan nationalities. They were rescued by helicopter and transported to safety, the company said.
Mali
Associated Press: Desperate search for fuel in Mali’s capital as al-Qaida-linked group enforces blockade
Endless lines stretched in front of gas stations in Mali’s capital Bamako late into Monday night, as commuters desperately tried to find fuel. Residents are starting to feel the impact of a blockade on fuel imports to the city declared in early September by a militant group affiliated with al-Qaida. Amadou Berthé, a bank employee in Bamako, said he traveled 20 kilometers (12 miles) by motorcycle taxi to find gas for his car, which broke down due to a lack of fuel as he was returning from work
Australia
Reuters: Australian state says pro-Palestine event on Oct 7 anniversary 'shockingly insensitive'
Australia's most populous state criticised a pro-Palestine group's plan to stage a protest event in Sydney on Tuesday, the second anniversary of the attacks by militant group Hamas that killed 1,200 Israelis and triggered a deadly war in Gaza. The Stand for Palestine Australia group is planning a 'glory to our martyrs' event on Tuesday evening in Sydney's Bankstown suburb, drawing condemnation from Chris Minns, the premier of the state of New South Wales, which includes Sydney. "Terrible timing, shockingly insensitive," Minns told radio station 2GB.
GNET: ‘The Generation of ‘Digital Natives’: How Far-Right Extremists Target Australian Youth Online for Radicalisation and Recruitment’
Over the past decade, Australia has seen the rise of a generation of ‘digital natives.’ These are young people who have spent their entire formative years online and who are entering a vulnerable age where they are more prone to radicalisation due to how they interact with online ecosystems. Their sense of normality, identity, and community is often shaped more by the digital world than by real-life experiences.
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