News
"In recent times, Europe has been grappling with a heightened terrorist threat, with events like the firebomb attack on a Berlin synagogue and killings in Belgium and France sending shockwaves across the continent. In a region where security concerns are on the rise, we aim to understand what measures have failed in Belgium and France and whether European security services can effectively counter the modern threat of terrorism.
To discuss the implications, responses, and potential solutions, we were joined by two political analysts and observers:
Ryszard Machnikowski, Dean of the Faculty of International and Political Studies at the University of Lodz, and Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project."
"Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a non-profit international policy organisation, said: 'It is untenable that the Qatari government should continue to profit from its business interests around the world while funds are re-patriated and used to support the perpetrators of mass murder.'"
"'These images are horrible from a German perspective,' Hans-Jakob Schindler, a former diplomat in the Middle East and a director of the Counter Extremism Project, told The National. '
We all remember the black-and-white pictures from the 1930s. Having Stars of David on the walls of Jewish buildings ever again in Germany is something I wouldn’t have expected to be possible and really sends some shivers down my spine.'
...
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has long called for Germany to move on from its penance for the past, has expressed support for Israel, a stance which Mr Schindler said corresponds to far-right thought.
'The right-wing extremist scene does anti-Semitism in a much smarter way,' he said, 'that says "we have nothing against the Jews – as long as they are in Israel".'"
"Hamas, after its surprisingly successful and deadly attack on Israeli villages, is for now on top of the terrorism tree. It adheres to an extreme ideology that blends Islamism with Palestinian nationalism, dedicated to the destruction of Israel; its 'preferred methods include suicide bombings, rocket and mortar attacks, shootings, and kidnappings,' according to the the New York- and Berlin-based Counter Extremism Project.
...The broader impact of the Hamas attacks—even before a potentially escalating regional war—is the possibility that terrorist groups around the world will try to match the spectacular carnage that Hamas pulled off earlier this month, which had a death toll equivalent to multiple Sept. 11 attacks on a per capita basis in a small country such as Israel. The need for terror outfits to raise their own game is what will make them even more dangerous, said Hans-Jakob Schindler, the senior director of the Counter Extremism Project."
"According to the Counter Extremism Project, Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in 'at least 13 countries', including Pakistan, Lebanon and Egypt and advocates for a 'global caliphate'. The group is not proscribed in the UK."
"Mark Wallace, a former US ambassador to the UN, called for assets linked to the Qatari state and royal family to be frozen 'until the Qataris turn over the worst of the worst terror leaders in the world'.
Wallace, who now runs the US-based Counter Extremism Project, also called for the UK’s diplomatic ties with Doha to be suspended if the regime fails to apprehend Haniyeh and hand him over to American or Israeli authorities."
"Counter Extremism Project (CEP) Executive Director David Ibsen says Turkey’s alliance with Hamas, runs fervently counter to NATO ally, the United States, and the terror group’s tight alliance with Doha. 'Since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip and drove out the Palestinian Authority in 2007, Qatar and Turkey have emerged as Hamas’s primary diplomatic backers. Qatar is home to both the current leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, and the former leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal,' he explained. 'Qatar provides Hamas with freedom of movement and allows it to carry out its activities undisturbed.'"
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed: "Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a smaller, but older terror group that operates in the Palestinian territories...Coming out of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, but very quickly developing very strong relationships to Iran. Its traditional base is in Jenin...but of course it is now operating primarily in Gaza at this moment."
"Hans-Jakob Schindler, director of the Counter Extremism Project NGO, pointed out that violence online can lead to violence on the streets.
He said Sweden was the focus of an online campaign by Islamists that was intensifying risks for the Nordic country.
The German authorities arrested two brothers from Syria in April, the eldest of whom had allegedly planned to 'carry out an attack on a church in Sweden where many people (were) assembled'.
'This demonstrates that this ongoing Islamist online campaign against Sweden has effects and motivates individuals towards violence,' he said, pointing out that the Israel-Hamas conflict could have a similar effect.'"
"France raised its terror threat alert to the highest level last Friday after a knife-wielding man of Chechen origin killed a teacher and injured three other people at a school in northern France. Officials described the killing as an Islamist terror attack. The murder put President Macron’s government under severe pressure as officials acknowledged that the main suspect in the attack and various members of his family had been identified by French intelligence services as radicalized or had been convicted on terrorism charges. Should we be concerned about another wave of terror in Europe caused by Islamic extremism? To delve more into the topic, we were joined by Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project."
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