CEP Roundup

Resources And Updates From The Counter Extremism Project

Islamist Extremism

 

CEP-EPC Report Calls for Pan-EU Policy for Return of Foreign Terrorist Fighters
On November 9, CEP and the European Policy Centre (EPC) held a webinar and launched their collaborative publication, Marching home? Why repatriating foreign terrorist fighters is a pan-European priority. The report examines the multiple challenges of repatriating foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs) and the varying approaches taken by France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Kosovo towards hundreds of their citizens who joined ISIS and are now languishing in overcrowded, insecure and dangerous prisons and refugee camps in Syria and Iraq. The report’s authors, CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson and EPC Senior Policy Analyst Amanda Paul, point out the national security, legal and moral implications of governments’ ‘bunker mentality’ approach and lay out a concrete set of recommendations for an operational response to FTFs that ensures public safety, accountability through the criminal justice system, and rehabilitation. Media coverage: The Times, Daily Express, Euractiv.

 

Wave Of Terror Attacks In Austria And France Rock Europe
Major European cities experienced a wave of devastating terrorist attacks in October and November, highlighting the continuing threat extremists pose to Europe. On November 2 in Vienna, Austria, a 21-year-old Austrian-North Macedonian dual citizen, Kujtim Fejzulai, attacked the city’s popular nightlife area with an automatic rifle, a handgun, and a machete, killing four and wounding 23. Fejzulai was killed by police. The Vienna attack came on the heels of a grisly October 29 knife attack that killed three at the Notre Dame Basilica in Nice, France. The attack came one day after ISIS released a video titled, “Defend him [Prophet Muhammad] by striking [their] heads,” on Telegram and 13 days after French middle school teacher Samuel Paty, 47, was killed in Paris after showing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad as part of a lesson on free speech. Media coverage: AFP, The National, WTOP, TVA Nouvelles, L’Orient Le Jour, The National.

Gradualists to Jihadists – Islamist Narratives in the West
Individuals and groups adhering to militant Islamism, a political ideology underpinned by a strict and literalist interpretation of religion, have claimed tens of thousands of lives around the world. This paper considers the four main narratives consistently deployed by both “non-violent” and violent Islamist (Jihadist) movements: (1) Enmity for the West, (2) An Islamic State, (3) War on Islam, and (4) Communities Under Siege. While accepting the religious underpinnings of Islamist and Jihadist ideology, Gradualists to Jihadists – Islamist Narratives in the West, argues that these narratives are inherently political and that Islamism should be treated in a policy sense as a political ideology like any other. Study author, CEP London-Based Advisor Liam Duffy, also notes that because the narratives are commonly used by both violent and non-violent Islamist groups, the language of jihadists has entered the mainstream and been introduced to much wider audiences than would otherwise be possible, presenting a radicalization risk. Duffy presented his findings during a webinar on December 10. He also facilitated a webinar on December 14 to further discuss Islamist movements in Europe with Sir John Jenkins, former U.K. ambassador to Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Saudi Arabia who led the U.K. government review into the Muslim Brotherhood, and Caroline Fourest, French commentator, writer, director, and former Charlie Hebdo columnist.

 

CEE Activities of the Muslim Brotherhood: Czech Republic, Poland, and Serbia
The presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) has for a long time remained an understudied issue due to a lack of available open data. CEP, in partnership with GLOBSEC, is contributing to a wider understanding of the Muslim Brotherhood’s organizational structures and activities in the CEE region and has been mapping its efforts in a selection of countries. In the first report, CEE activities of the Muslim Brotherhood: Mapping the Ikhwan’s presence in the region, the authors presented the cases of five countries in the CEE region, each representing a different landscape in which the movement could operate. The second report, Activities of the Muslim Brotherhood: Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, focused on the specific characteristics of these three countries and was launched with a webinar on September 23.

Ambassador Mark D. Wallace: “France’s problem with Islamist extremism must be fought on the ground and online”
CEP CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace observes that the power of online platforms to radicalize and incite violence makes it difficult for governments to enact measures to prevent attacks like the tragic murder of French schoolteacher Samuel Paty on October 16 in a suburb of Paris: “The internet has become the home of today’s Islamists. It is easy, it targets people in their homes and can reach millions within minutes. Online platforms are misused by propagandists to target those most vulnerable to extremist messaging.”

Ian Acheson: “Are we any closer to stopping the next Usman Khan?”
Professor Ian Acheson, a CEP senior advisor, announced on November 27 that in association with the University of Staffordshire, CEP will carry out a year-long study into the phenomenon of ‘disguised compliance,’ or ‘deception’ in terrorist offenders: “We need better ways, systems and people to authenticate the motives of dangerous, sophisticated and charismatic terrorists on either side of the prison walls. We can’t always be right – but I believe passionately that we can be much better.” Media coverage: Scienmag, EurekAlert, 7th Space, Keep the Faith.

 

Hans-Jakob Schindler, Radoslaw Sikorski, Lucinda Creighton: “Time for EU to get real on Hezbollah”
CEP Senior Director Hans-Jakob Schindler, Polish MEP and former Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, and CEP Senior Advisor and former Irish Deputy Foreign Minister Lucinda Creighton urge the European Union (EU) to re-calibrate its foreign policy approach in the region by strengthening the U.N. mandate in a way that will bring real stability to Lebanon by curbing Hezbollah: “…neither the EU's foreign policy, nor the UNIFIL mandate, are in line with the current state of affairs, as Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist group which presents itself as a political party, continues to exploit Lebanon for its own nefarious purposes and insert itself into the political sphere. According to Western intelligence agencies, Iran funds Hezbollah to the tune of $200m to $300m [€168-€252] per year in cash outlays alone, and provides an arsenal of weapons and logistical services valued at more than $700m.”

U.S.-Designated Terrorist Extradited From Jamaica To New York
In August, U.S.-Specially Designated Global Terrorist and Islamist propagandist Abdullah al-Faisal was extradited to New York from Jamaica to face charges of supporting terrorism by conspiring to recruit followers and fighters for ISIS. The radical cleric is considered one of the most influential terrorists in the world. Faisal’s lectures, website, and videos influenced attacks at The Ohio State University in 2016 and in Garland, Texas, in 2015, among others. In its report, Abdullah al-Faisal’s Ties to Extremists, CEP documented a total of 52 extremists linked to Faisal. As a popular cleric among jihadists, Faisal amassed thousands of followers on a variety of social media websites, promoting murder, violence against women, and condoning the use of chemical weapons on non-believers. Media coverage: Fox News.

 

Liam Duffy: “When will the Yazidis get justice?”

CEP Advisor Liam Duffy argues that six long years after ISIS murdered and enslaved members of the Yazidi religious minority, the suffering is far from over: “Nearly 250,000 Yazidis languish in IDP camps and many women and children are still unaccounted for. In perhaps the cruelest twist, long after the group’s territorial defeat some women and children are still stuck living among their tormentors in the camps of Northern Syria.”

 

ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency
In May, CEP introduced “ISIS Redux: The Central Syria Insurgency,” a monthly report detailing the major attacks that define the resurgence of ISIS in central Syria. Each update is accompanied by an interactive map indicating the exact location and nature of major encounters by ISIS or Syrian forces. For example, the November report noted that ISIS carried out at least 30 confirmed attacks during the month, killing at least 58 pro-Assad regime fighters. October’s update can be read here, September’s update can be read here, August’s update can be read here, July’s update can be read here, June’s update can be read here, May’s update can be read here, and April’s here.

 

Far-Right Extremism

 

Resource: CEP Report Examines Transnational Violent Extreme Right-Wing (XRW) Movement
In November 2020, CEP released its report, Violent Right-Wing Extremism – Transnational Connectivity, Definitions, Incidents, Structures and Countermeasures, which was commissioned by the German Federal Foreign Office. The report is also available in German. It focuses on the rise and metastasis of the violent extreme right-wing (XRW) threat and analyzes its growing transnational connectivity between 2015-2020. The study centers on the transnational connections of the violent XRW milieus in six countries: Finland, France, Germany, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. The movement is not structurally unified in one hierarchical structure but embraces a “divided we stand” approach. Its members include individuals, groups, organizations, and networks, as well as political parties.

 

Resource: Vehicles as Weapons of Terror
Vehicle attacks have been associated with Islamist terrorism, used as a tactic by groups such as ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Hamas. Since 2016, however, vehicular attacks against protesters have also risen. Authorities recorded at least 50 vehicular rammings against protesters between May and June 2020. Officials classified at least 18 of those as deliberate attacks. In its updated resource, Vehicles as Weapons of Terror, CEP examined a sample of 23 vehicular attacks against protesters since 2016, which wounded at least 72 and killed at least two. While many of these intentional attacks appear attributable to those subscribing to far-right ideologies, some were also perpetrated by those on the left against right-wing protesters.

 

The Nordic Resistance Movement’s Activities, Strategies, and Tactics
On October 30, CEP held a webinar that probed the transnational connectivity of violent right-wing extremism in several European countries and the United States. Ongoing research demonstrated that the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) is one of the key actors that is often highly regarded by other members of this movement. The NRM is also one of the most transnationally networked organizations, whose members travel frequently within Scandinavia and beyond. In the summer of 2016, two NRM members traveled to Russia to train in camps run by the U.S. designated Russian Imperial Movement. Following the paramilitary training, the two NRM members carried out a string of bomb attacks on refugee centers in Sweden in January 2017.

Ukraine Deports Americans Encouraging Neo-Nazi Terror Attacks
In October, Ukraine deported two American citizens who had belonged to the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division (AWD) for attempting to establish a local AWD branch and trying to join a far-right Ukrainian military unit to “gain combat experience.” The AWD reportedly disbanded earlier in 2020, though former members reorganized as National Socialist Order (NSO) in order to “build an Aryan, National Socialist world by any means necessary.” AWD gained national prominence after some of its members attacked counter-protesters at the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Police also suspect individual AWD members to be the perpetrators of multiple murders throughout 2017 and 2018. Media coverage: Buzzfeed News.

 

Greece’s Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party Have Been Ruled a Criminal Organisation
The leaders of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Party, once the third-largest political force in the country, were on October 7 found guilty of running a criminal organization, following a landmark trial that had taken more than five years. In a statement to VICE News, Hans-Jakob Schindler, the senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, said that the finding that Golden Dawn was a crime group, rather than a legitimate political party, sent a message to the violent international far-right scene “that their actions will have consequences and will not go unpunished.”

The State And Foreign (Terrorist) Fighters With Islamist And Right-Wing Extremist Backgrounds
On November 30, CEP held a webinar that probed how different Western European states address the ongoing issue of foreign fighters and returnees, both Islamists and right-wing adherents. The webinar also examined what can be expected as more and more convicted terrorists from ISIS’s peak in 2015-2016 complete their prison sentences and are released.

 

New Resources

 

CEP Launches ‘Fighting Terror’ Podcast
On October 29, CEP launched ‘Fighting Terror,’ a new podcast that explores different ways we can combat terrorism in society. Each episode features an expert guest from an area of counterterrorism, joined by CEP Senior Advisor and former European Affairs Minister Lucinda Creighton. The first episode featured former EU Security Commissioner, Sir Julian King, to discuss the global leadership in tackling online radicalization and the Regulation on Preventing the Dissemination of Terrorist Content Online (TCO). Episode two focused on tackling radicalization at the grassroots level, and episode three dealt with the challenges of reintegrating terrorist offenders after custody. All of the podcasts can be accessed on the CEP Website, as well as on Spotify, Buzzsprout, and Podcast Addict.

 

Resource: U.S. Far-Left Groups

In the 20th century, U.S. left-wing extremism was synonymous with either communism or causes such as environmentalism. In the 1960s and ’70s, the Weather Underground declared war against the U.S. government and carried out a campaign of political violence. In the 1990s, groups such as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Earth Liberation Front (ELF) emerged. A July 2020 report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) concluded that far-left attacks had resulted in one fatality in the previous 25-year span, compared with 329 fatalities in attacks by the far right. In recent years, the radical far left has seen a resurgence in response to the rise of the far right, particularly since the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. A revitalized American far left has emerged to lead protest movements against the far right and perceived injustices. These manifestations were on display during the 2020 protests against police brutality, leading President Donald Trump in May 2020 to call for designating Antifa a terrorist organization. In its report, U.S. Far-Left Groups, CEP profiles nine far-left movements active today in the United States.

 

The Muslim Brotherhood on U.S. Campuses

Universities have also as a key source of recruitment and influence for the Muslim Brotherhood in Americas. Considered to be one of the world’s most powerful Islamist organizations, the Brotherhood was established in Egypt in 1928 with the ultimate goal of implementing sharia (Islamic law) under a global caliphate. Unlike ISIS and al-Qaeda, the Brotherhood has officially disavowed violence. Rather, it purports to achieve this societal transformation by taking advantage of existing democratic institutions. CEP’s report, The Muslim Brotherhood on U.S. Campuses, details the Brotherhood’s involvement in the creation of five prominent Muslim student organizations and how its influence continues today. Media coverage: WTOP.

 

Tech and Terrorism

 

Regulation Is Needed To Protect Citizens From Terrorist Content Online
The dissemination of terrorist content online is one of the most challenging and dangerous misuses of online platforms by users. For that reason, the Regulation on Preventing the Dissemination of Terrorist Content Online (TCO) is one of the most crucial pieces of legislation proposed in recent years. The regulation will be a cornerstone of protection against harmful terrorist content and should complement the Digital Services Act (DSA) to rid internet platforms of extremist posts and videos. Ahead of the next closed-door negotiations, or trilogues, for the TCO on 29 October, CEP Executive Director David Ibsen urged the European Commission to enact comprehensive legislation which protects our citizens. Ibsen said: “The continued ease of access to hyper-violent imagery and videos on social media demonstrates tech companies’ failure to keep their promises and address the prevalence of extremist and terrorist content online. What is not tolerated in public spaces should not be accepted on social media.”

 

U.S. Justice Department Seizes Kata’ib Hezbollah Propaganda Websites
In late October, the U.S. Department of Justice seized two websites affiliated with U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH). The seized websites, Aletejahtv.com and kataibhezbollah.com, were illegally utilized by the terror group to recruit new members and promote their extremist propaganda. CEP has previously called on GoDaddy to stop providing domain registrar services to another KH website that boasted of “[cutting] off the hand of America” and hosted videos of attacks on U.S. bases. However, the company refused to do so despite it being a clear violation of the company’s terms of services. KH is an Iranian-sponsored, anti-American Shiite militia operating in Iraq that is responsible for killing hundreds of American soldiers, U.N. workers, and civilians. As CEP Executive Director David Ibsen has previously noted, GoDaddy has had a dubiously selective record when it comes to deciding which websites to take down.

 

Officials Call For Ban Of ‘Euro Fatwa’ App Created By Muslim Brotherhood
Beginning in October, Google and Apple faced renewed scrutiny from European officials for their failure to remove—and ban in its entirety—the Muslim Brotherhood-sponsored app, Euro Fatwa. The intensifying pressure came after months of repeated government warnings that the app contains hate speech and potentially serves as a tool for Islamist radicalization. Euro Fatwa was developed by the European Council for Fatwa and Research, an organization founded by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Islamist theologian and the unofficial chief ideologue of the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite Euro Fatwa’s clear ties to an extremist who has called for the murder of Americans, gay people, and Jews, Google and Apple have refused to take down the app. Previously, CEP spotlighted Qaradawi’s significant presence on social media. CEP has also documented 15 extremist individuals and organizations with ties to Qaradawi. Media coverage: The National.

 

Facebook Updates Hate Speech Policy To Ban Content Denying Or Distorting The Holocaust
In October, Facebook updated its hate speech policy to ban content that “denies or distorts” information about the Holocaust. The company claimed that its latest policy change “is supported by the well-documented rise in anti-Semitism globally and the alarming level of ignorance about the Holocaust, especially among young people.” In truth, the change followed mounting pressure from advocacy groups’ efforts to hold Facebook accountable. CEP’s resource, Tracking Facebook’s Policy Changes, highlights Facebook’s reactive policy changes. CEP has previously documented instances of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial on Facebook-owned Instagram. One anti-Semitic account had more than 1,400 followers. In April, additional neo-Nazi Instagram accounts were found that included stores selling anti-Semitic and Nazi themed clothing, accounts calling for acts of violence, and an account belonging to a New England based neo-Nazi gang.

 

The Emerging Threat of Extremist-Made Video Games
CEP Researcher Joshua Fisher-Birch notes that three video games released during the summer that promote violent extreme-right beliefs are part of a disturbing trend of free to play games specifically designed as extremist propaganda and recruitment tools. Video games created by extremist groups and individuals seeking to spread violent ideologies pose a unique challenge to those working to prevent and combat radicalization. Since at least the early 2000s, extremist groups have produced their own games With more than 214 million players in the United States in 2020, and two billion globally, extremist groups have recognized the potential of video games for spreading their beliefs. While extremist games are not novel, they are becoming easier to produce through the democratization of technology. Clearly, the creators of these games see their potential. It is time tech companies do as well.

 

Josh Lipowsky and Gretchen Peters: “We’ve Tracked Extremist Content on Facebook for Years: It Doesn’t Get Removed for Long”
CEP Senior Research Analyst Josh Lipowsky and Gretchen Peters, executive director of the Alliance to Counter Crime Online, observe in November that as Facebook bends to mounting pressure to stem the spread of domestic extremist content and conspiracy theories, it’s pertinent to look at Facebook’s track record for responding to foreign extremism on its platforms: “The Alliance to Counter Crime Online and the Counter Extremism Project have spent years tracking for how violent groups ranging from Mexican cartels to ISIS utilize Facebook. Our organizations have jointly concluded that the world’s largest social media company has neither the capacity nor the will to comprehensively remove violent extremist content and misinformation, despite the fiduciary risks this brings.”

 

The Lawfare Podcast: Hany Farid on Deep Fakes, Doctored Photos and Disinformation
In late July, CEP Senior Advisor Dr. Hany Farid, a world-renowned digital forensics expert, discussed deep fakes with on Lawfare's Arbiters of Truth series on disinformation. Deep fakes are realistic synthetic media in which a person’s likeness is altered to show them doing or saying something they never did or said. Dr. Farid also helped develop technology used by platforms to identify and remove material related to child sexual abuse. Dr. Farid discussed the danger of deep fakes, how much of that danger is the technology itself and how much of it has to do with how big platforms amplify incendiary content. Dr. Farid also discussed deep fakes at an Axios virtual event on September 30. Farid called for social media platforms to have a better handle on misinformation and to stop hiding behind "the line of 'I don’t want to be the arbiter of truth.' It is nonsense."

 

Policy and Analysis

 

CEP Supports Bill to Hold Tech Companies Responsible When Their Algorithms Promote Extremist Content
Legislation introduced in October by Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., and Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., would amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which provides a liability shield for tech firms regarding third-party content shared on their platforms. Called the Protecting Americans from Dangerous Algorithms Act, the bill specifically targets algorithms that amplify content while preserving the core elements of the law that protect users’ free speech, according to lawmakers. The legislation has early support from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the Counter Extremism Project and the Anti-Defamation League. Dr. Hany Farid, a senior advisor to CEP, called the Eshoo-Malinowski bill “an important measure” that would “hold the technology sector accountable for irresponsibly deploying algorithms that amplify dangerous and extremist content.” Media coverage: Gizmodo.

 

The Prospect for Peace in Afghanistan
Ongoing negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government with support from the international community offer the prospect for stability in Afghanistan for the first time in nearly two decades. The talks could result in a significant reduction of the Taliban’s large-scale insurgency since the early 2000s. However, the country is still plagued by the operations of several international terrorist groups, some of which belong to the global network of al-Qaeda and others to ISIS. On October 16, CEP conducted a webinar that examined the current security situation in Afghanistan, as well as probed the impact a potential peace deal may have on the Taliban movement as a whole. Media coverage: The National

 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Awards Grants to Organizations Opposing Extremism
In September, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) awarded $10 million in federal grants to 29 organizations focused on countering the threat from extremism. The bulk of the awarded funding, which was made possible through DHS’s newly established Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) program. CEP was among the organizations to receive TVTP funding. A $277,755 grant will be used in partnership with Parallel Networks to rehabilitate incarcerated individuals at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego County who profess white supremacist or Islamic extremist ideals or are members of groups that profess these ideals. To reduce recidivism among these inmates, CEP and Parallel Networks will together craft specific curricula for inmates devoted to different strands of extremism by offering them “alternative narratives to extremist ideology.” Media coverage: The Wall Street Journal.

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