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Cryptocurrencies have helped the group invest its money while bypassing international financial sanctions, according to a report by the Counter Extremism Project. To combat those efforts. "Hamas was an early adopter of fundraising in crypto starting in 2019," said Ari Redbord, a former federal prosecutor and global head of policy and government affairs at TRM Labs, which is working to track Hamas funding. "They were using Telegram channels to solicit donations. They then set up website infrastructure to solicit donations." Yet, experts, including Redbord, emphasize that cryptocurrency remains a small piece of the group's financial strategy.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ignited controversy after revealing a previously unnoticed tattoo on his right forearm that reads "كافر" (kafir) in Arabic—a word that translates to "infidel" or "nonbeliever." "Extremist recruiters and propagandists have also sweepingly referred to Muslims and non-Muslims as kafir," according to the glossary of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP), a New York–based nonprofit that monitors extremist ideologies.
Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler of the international nonprofit research organization Counter Extremism Project considers it extremely unlikely that US authorities failed to notice that the server was located in the United States. He suspects that US authorities want to keep an eye on the server and are therefore allowing everything to continue running, "because with an American server, access is guaranteed. That wouldn't be the case if it were a company based in China, Russia, or anywhere else in the world."
CEP Non-Resident Fellow Ari Heistein writes: "Recent reports from the U.S. intelligence community and other sources indicate that Houthi activity along the Horn of Africa is increasing. The northeastern tip of the African continent has long been a hub for trafficking and piracy, but emerging Houthi-al-Shabaab cooperation presents a growing threat to regional stability. This partnership highlights the risk of Sanaa’s collaboration with criminal and terrorist organizations beyond Yemen and, over time, could serve as a model for future Houthi activities abroad."
CEP Senior Director Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler interviewed: After nearly 18 months of war in Gaza, Israel's aim of destroying Hamas, the militant Islamist organization, is still unfulfilled. In recent days, the Israeli military has killed more Hamas senior leaders in airstrikes. Yet, Hamas has shown that it is able to absorb major losses and can still fight and govern.
Witkowski is, among others, a journalist, deputy director at the Gabriel Narutowicz Institute of Political Thought and assistant professor at Collegium Civitas. He collaborates with the think tanks Counter Extremism Project and International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. He has written for “Krytyka Polityczna” and “Przekrój”, among others.
"The villa was bought by the American NGO Counter Extremism Project (CEP), which works worldwide against all forms of extremism, hatred and racism. "We are definitely not going to turn it into a museum," says CEP director Hans-Jakob Schindler. The organization has coined the building House 88, which is to serve as an 'experience space'. The house number 88 of Höss' home refers to the eighth letter of the alphabet and is a code for Heil Hitler. The world-famous architect Daniel Libeskind, son of Holocaust survivors and architect of the Holocaust Namenmonument in Amsterdam, is going to completely renovate the villa. The CEP has also bought the adjacent building, which will house a think tank."
Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the international Counter Extremism Project, tells the Tagesspiegel that the renewed escalation was unfortunately foreseeable. “The basic problem remains that no decision has been made as to who should ultimately control the Gaza Strip,” he tells the Tagesspiegel. “A withdrawal of the Israeli military at this point in time would therefore have meant that Hamas would have automatically taken control again.”
CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "A new report entitled “The enduring role of ideology in terrorism and radicalisation” is a meticulously researched and timely riposte to Keir Starmer’s view that we are now facing a “changed” terrorist threat in the aftermath of the Southport attack. What the author of the report, Robin Simcox, found instead was the enduring power of ideas and beliefs."
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