Eye on Extremism: August 11, 2026
Top Stories
Reuters: Three killed in attacks on ships in Red Sea, Gulf, sources say
Three crew members were killed in a suspected attack by Iran-backed Houthis on a small cargo vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Tuesday while a container ship was hit by a missile off Pakistan in a suspected U.S. attack, sources said.
The rapid pace of youth radicalisation is driven by the internet, social media algorithms and gaming environments, with extremist networks exploiting the vulnerabilities of impressionable youth, experts said. In a report in March, the Sydney-headquartered Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) noted that self-radicalised individuals aged up to 18 years old accounted for 42 per cent of all terror-related investigations in Europe and North America, a threefold increase since 2021.
CEP Mentions
ICCT: Episode 5: Germany - How a Coalition of Islamist And Far-left Actors Supercharge anti-Semitism
Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director at the Counter Extremism Project, joins the ICCT-SACC SENTINEL podcast to examine the escalating threats facing Germany's Jewish community since October 7th, 2023 - and the shifting coalitions behind them.
ZDFheute: ZDF midday magazine from August 11, 2026
Hans-Jakob Schindler speaks on the reform of the legal mandate of the German intelligence and security forces.
WELT TV: Trump hidden in catering container – “The US administration accepts zero risk”
US President Trump reportedly secretly changed his plane to a container after the NATO summit in Ankara due to an Iranian death threat. “The US administration accepts zero risk,” said Middle East expert Hans-Jakob Schindler.
Analysis
ACLED: Hezbollah’s shift to attrition offers Iran a lasting tool to pressure Israel and the US
Since March, Hezbollah has shifted toward an attritional strategy and guerrilla tactics in combatting Israel forces in Lebanon. Rather than relying mainly on large formations and heavy rocket fire, the group has used small cells, dispersed launch sites, drones, guided missiles, and selective rocket attacks.
Deutsche Welle: Why 2026 could be a milestone for Germany’s AfD
2025 was the most successful year yet for Germany’s AfD, or Alternative for Germany. It came second in national elections and recently topped some opinion polls. Now in 2026, the party could win power in state elections for the first time. In this Berlin Briefing, Richard Walker and Matthew Moore analyze what could be another year of breakthroughs with Kate Brady of the Washington Post.
JNS: Inside story: Why Israel rejected the Board of Peace’s plan for Gaza
“Withdrawal must move in lockstep with decommissioning,” Board of Peace High Representative Nikolay Mladenov stated on July 31, referring to the release of the body’s 15-point roadmap for Gaza and, specifically, its proposed timetable for an Israeli pullback from the Strip alongside Hamas’s disarmament.
Jerusalem Post: Are the Houthis Iran’s last gaming card? – opinion
With Hamas and Hezbollah substantially weakened, Iran is increasingly relying on the Houthis as its principal remaining proxy capable of exerting sustained military and economic pressure on the US and its regional partners.
United States
JNS: Judge allows ‘pay-for-slay’ lawsuit against PA, PLO to proceed
A federal judge on Monday denied a motion by the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that their terrorist-payment programs, dubbed “play-for-slay,” helped induce two Hamas attacks.
The American Prospect: Private Intelligence Firms Are Selling Dossiers on AI and Data Center Critics
Private intelligence firms are selling dossiers about critics of artificial intelligence and the data centers powering them, including trying to peddle them to federal regulators, according to documents obtained by the Prospect. The offerings show that even as voter hostility toward data centers has emerged as an election-altering, bipartisan issue, corporate spy shops are hawking reports that frame widespread dissent in the language of counterterrorism to both private- and public-sector clients.
The New Arab: Trump putting ‘target’ on Muslim officials with ‘jihadist’ remarks]
Donald Trump is “putting a target on the back of Muslim elected officials,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) warned on Monday, after the US president claimed that “jihadists” were being elected to public office.
A national co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America said last week that she would have attended an anti-Israel rally in Times Square one day after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terror attacks had she been in New York City at the time, describing the terror group’s slaughter of more than 1,200 people across southern Israel as “inevitable.”
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel accused the Michigan Democratic Party on Monday of not doing enough to address antisemitism by allowing members charged with antisemitic acts to still attend the upcoming convention.
Back in March 1994, Yossi Spalter traveled on a van with his Yeshiva classmates from Manhattan to Crown Heights over the Brooklyn Bridge. The trip changed his life when terrorist Rashid Baz opened fire on the van, murdering 16-year-old Ari Halberstam, and injuring several others. Spalter was one of 14 Jews in the van who survived the attack. He spoke exclusively on Monday with CBS News New York’s Lisa Rozner in New Jersey, where he is now a rabbi.
A federal grand jury has indicted an East Brunswick man on two charges related to an investigation that accused him of soliciting a partner to damage a PSE&G substation via an explosion.
Zohran Mamdani appointed an ex-judge to his Advisory Committee on the Judiciary who is accused of allowing racism and antisemitism to fester at a non-profit, court papers reveal. Milton Tingling was appointed to the new committee last month, but also serves as board chair of the West Harlem Development Corporation (WHDC), currently under fire over alleged racism from its executive director, Zaed Ramadan.
JNS: Haverford to establish antisemitism committee in settlement of Jew-hatred lawsuit
Haverford College will establish an antisemitism committee and require annual antisemitism training for students, faculty and staff as part of a settlement with the Deborah Project, which sued the Pennsylvania liberal arts college over its handling of alleged Jew-hatred on campus.
The sentence of 300 days in jail and two years of probation that Kasem Noubani received on Aug. 4 for attacking two Jewish students at DePaul University “raises serious questions about whether the punishment reflects the gravity of the crime,” according to Daniel Schwartz, president and co-founder of the Chicago Jewish Alliance.
The Seattle Police Department will work with local Jewish communities to ensure their safety during the High Holidays amid surging anti-Jewish violence nationwide, Katie Wilson, mayor of Seattle, told JNS. “Seattle has no place for antisemitism or hatred of any kind,” the mayor, who identifies as socialist, told JNS.
Since 2023, the year in which the Oct. 7 attacks took place, Seattle has recorded 384 hate crimes, 35 of which (9.1%) have targeted Jews. Jews make up about 1% of those who live in the Seattle metro area, according to the Pew Research Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study.
KUTV: Man accused of terrorism after threatening Cache County School Board over tax increases
Cache County man was taken into custody after he reportedly threatened to kill members of the Cache County School Board during a public hearing about potential tax increases. Multiple witnesses reported hearing Christopher Paul Nielsen, 58, make threats toward school board officials during the meeting, including, “If this goes through, I am gonna kill everyone of them.”
Reuters: Apple settles EEOC claims about antisemitic retail manager for $150K
Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab has agreed to pay $150,000 to settle the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's claims that the manager of a retail store made antisemitic comments and denied a Jewish longtime employee's requests for time off before firing him. Apple and the EEOC unveiled the settlement in a joint filing in Alexandria, Virginia, federal court on Friday, nearly a year after the commission filed the lawsuit.
Jewish Insider: Rep. Randy Fine campaign sign vandalized with a swastika
A lawn sign for Rep. Randy Fine’s (R-FL) reelection campaign outside an early voting site in Flagler Beach, Fla., was spray-painted with a swastika over the weekend, local news outlets reported on Monday.
Canada
CBC: Police chief to address Montréal-Nord racism scandal publicly. Here's what to expect
Montreal police will be providing an update Tuesday on the scandal surrounding Station 39 in the city's Montréal-Nord borough following allegations of racial profiling by a group of officers. The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) made the allegations public in June, during an unprecedented late-night news conference headed by Chief Fady Dagher.
JTA: Over 95% of Canadian Jewish university students report exposure to antisemitism in new survey
Nearly all Jewish students surveyed on Canadian university campuses said they have experienced or witnessed antisemitism, according to a new government-commissioned report. The survey from the Department of Canadian Heritage found that 95.7% of Jewish students said they were exposed to antisemitism, with 70% saying their university did not take antisemitism seriously and 22% reporting physical violence against Jews.
Bulgaria
Novinite: Bulgaria’s Interior Minister Targets Online Networks After Plovdiv Murder
Demerdzhiev made the comments on Monday evening in a Facebook post following the brutal killing of a 37-year-old man in Plovdiv. Five teenagers have been charged in connection with the death after investigators said they arranged a meeting with the victim while posing as so-called “pedophile hunters” on social media.
Germany
Reuters: AfD on pre-election roll in east Germany, despite economists’ scepticism
The AfD is polling at around 41% in Saxony-Anhalt, which votes on September 6, and 36% in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, voting on September 20. While in western Germany much AfD support stems from opposition to immigration, experts say that in eastern Germany, the issue matters less.
Italy
Jerusalem Post: Italian teenager arrested for ISIS association, antisemitic and neo-Nazi propaganda
A 16-year-old Italian boy has been arrested for association with ISIS and for possessing “neo-Nazi and antisemitic content,” Italian Police announced. The teenager, from the province of Como, was arrested in Grosseto, where he was on vacation with his family, on charges of participation in an association with the aim of international terrorism, as well as propaganda and incitement to commit crimes motivated by racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination.
Montenegro
Two young Israelis visiting Montenegro appear to have been targeted by a group of people for being Jewish during a pre-army vacation, N12 reported on Monday.
United Kingdom
BBC: Antisemitism towards Jewish children ‘shocking,’ government expert tells BBC
Headteachers of some Jewish schools are spending more of their time dealing with security arrangements than on educational matters, a review into antisemitism in schools and colleges has found. Sir David Bell, speaking for the first time about his ongoing government-commissioned independent review, told the BBC he had been struck by how many leaders of Jewish faith schools had told him security was their main concern - and that “sometimes education takes second place to that.”
The Telegraph: Liquid bomb plot terrorists could be free in weeks
Three Islamist terrorists who plotted to attack planes with liquid bombs could be freed from prison within weeks. Arafat Waheed Khan, Waheed Zaman and Ibrahim Savant were jailed for life in 2010 after being convicted of conspiracy to murder.
BBC: Man tried to join Isis after ‘watching YouTube’
A would-be Isis member has described in court how he was inspired to join the group after watching “extreme” videos on YouTube and TikTok. Mohamed Mohamoud, 22, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of preparing acts of terrorism between 1 October 2024 and 5 March 2025.
The Guardian: Labour peer urges Tories to sack former neo-Nazi who abused her
The Labour peer Luciana Berger has urged Kemi Badenoch to “listen to victims” and reverse her decision to give a national advisory role to a former neo-Nazi. Joshua Bonehill-Paine was jailed in 2015 for more than three years after posting antisemitic material online before a planned neo-Nazi rally. In 2016, he was found guilty of racially aggravated harassment for abuse directed at Berger, an MP at the time. He was also the founder and leader of the National British Resistance, a far-right group.
The Telegraph: Former neo-Nazi admits it was mistake to run as Tory candidate
A former neo-Nazi has admitted it was a mistake to run as a Conservative council candidate, despite Kemi Badenoch’s backing. Joshua Bonehill-Paine was selected as a candidate for Somerset council last week, despite previously being jailed for inciting racial hatred, with the Tory leader declaring the party “believes in second chances.”
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Stable Or Weakening: Will Taliban Rule Survive Another Five Years?
Five years after the Taliban’s return to power, armed opposition groups have yet to shift the balance. The Taliban still controls Afghanistan’s territory, state institutions and main economic resources. The opposition controls no territory and lacks effective foreign backing that could sustain and expand an insurgency in the way Pakistan’s support helped the Taliban during the years of war.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Justice Minister Denies Ethnic Motive Behind Land Seizures
Taliban Justice Minister Abdul Hakim Sharaei has rejected allegations of “systematic discrimination” and attempts to forcibly displace Hazaras, saying land recovery is a legal matter unrelated to ethnicity or religion.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Intelligence Reportedly Detains Two UNAMA Employees In Herat
Sources told Afghanistan International that Taliban intelligence has detained two UNAMA human rights staff members in Herat after they recently reported on the detention of women in the province. Sources told Afghanistan International on Tuesday, 11 August, that Taliban intelligence detained the two employees of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan’s human rights section as they were leaving their office in Herat.
France24: Five years on, Afghanistan’s Taliban build foreign ties despite rights concerns
Since they seized power in Afghanistan five years ago, the Taliban have succeeded in expanding their diplomatic and economic ties with countries around the world. But Afghanistan remains largely isolated due to a widespread refusal to formally recognise the Taliban government over human rights abuses.
Amu: Family disputes Taliban account of Kabul killing as UN expert seeks inquiry
A relative of one of 11 people killed by Taliban police in Kabul in less than 10 days has challenged the Taliban account that all of the dead were armed robbers, as the UN special rapporteur for Afghanistan called for prompt and impartial investigations into the killings.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Reuters: Trump’s Gaza plan hinges on Hamas disarmament, Israeli withdrawals
Donald Trump’s latest plan to end the Gaza war calls on Hamas to lay down its arms as Israel withdraws from the territory, terms endorsed by the militants but rejected by Israel, which says it will not pull back until the group's disarmament is complete.
Nickolay Mladenov, the Gaza envoy of the US-backed Board of Peace, sought to dispel skepticism in Israel about the board’s roadmap for the disarmament of Hamas in the Strip, arguing that the plan’s full implementation is Israel’s only “guarantee” of preventing a repeat of the October 7, 2023, massacre, and that it will be based on verifiable steps, rather than trust of the terror group.
Jerusalem Post: IDF opens fire on suspected Hamas sniper near Gaza Yellow Line
IDF troops opened fire on a suspected Hamas sniper who posed an immediate threat near the Yellow Line in northern Gaza, the military said on Tuesday.
Iran
IranWire: Mojtaba Khamenei Appoints Six Top Military Commanders
Mojtaba Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, issued separate decrees on Monday, August 10, appointing six senior military commanders and administrators across the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and the Basij. Under these decrees, Ali Abdollahi was appointed Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, while Ahmad Vahidi was named Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC.
Iran International: From Karbala-4 to AMIA: Mohsen Rezaei returns to Iran’s security helm
Mohsen Rezaei, whose four decades in Iran’s ruling establishment span the disputed Karbala-4 offensive, repeated failed presidential campaigns and an Interpol Red Notice over the AMIA bombing, returned to a top security post on Sunday.
Iraq
Kurdistan24: Iraq Says Airstrikes Destroy Eight ISIS Hideouts in Kirkuk
Iraqi Air Force warplanes destroyed eight ISIS hideouts in Kirkuk province in a series of precision airstrikes targeting remnants of the militant group, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said Monday.
Israel
Israel informed the White House recently that it would be willing to negotiate an agreement halting the targeted killings of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, but that any such deal would exclude those who took part in the October 7, 2023, attack, Channel 13 news reported on Monday.
Syria
The New York Times: ‘We Know They Are Coming’: A Syrian Holdout Province Fears Takeover
When Syria’s government forcibly took control this year of a northeastern region long dominated by the Kurdish minority, the Druse in Sweida watched with growing unease.
Fox News: Former Syrian President Assad sentenced to death in absentia
A Syrian court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with his younger brother to death in absentia on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead.
Libya
Reuters: Car bomb kills eastern Libyan military intelligence chief, sources say
The head of military intelligence for eastern Libya’s Libyan National Army was killed on Monday when an explosive device detonated in his car outside his home in the Hawari area of Benghazi, two security sources told Reuters.
Reuters: Libya’s NOC says Zawiya refinery may halt operations after attacks
Renewed violence in the strategic Libyan city of Zawiya has once again disrupted the oil industry in the OPEC member country, with state oil firm NOC saying it could declare force majeure if drone attacks on energy assets in the city continued. Located west of Tripoli, Zawiya, which hosts Libya's largest operating refinery, has seen repeated clashes between armed groups. Most recently, drone attacks over the weekend into Monday targeted its oil complex, causing a tank containing about 4.5 million litres of gasoline to collapse after a fire.
Nigeria
The Guardian: Troops thwart ISWAP attack on FOB Gajiram, neutralise fighters, recover weapons
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK) have successfully contained an attack by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorists on Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Gajiram, Nganzai Local Government Area, Borno State, killing dozens of fighters and recovered weapons.
Australia
Children at an increasingly young age are engaging with violent extremist material at a “disturbing” rate, Australia's counter-terrorism coordinator says. The Department of Home Affairs’ Brendan Dowling was appointed counter-terrorism coordinator earlier this year after the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion recommended making the role full time.
Sydney Morning Herald: The new brand of hate radicalising Australian teens
Australia’s counter-terrorism chief has warned of a rise in youth radicalisation fuelled by online extremism, as he raised alarm about the spread of harmful rhetoric from foreign “propaganda machines” and social media platforms with no regard for content moderation.
Technology
Times of Israel: Mapping antisemitism, a website helps Jewish jet-setters avoid turbulence
Shay Yaish left his tech job a year ago, with plans to strike out on his own with a new startup. Frustrated with his inability to come up with an idea for his venture, he told his wife he needed a vacation to help him think. And that’s when it hit him.
CBC: Can Substack rise above the controversies?
But over the last few years, users and journalists have noted that a number of Substack newsletters promote white supremacy, Holocaust denial and neo-Nazism. An investigation by the Guardian in February found the site not only takes a cut of subscription fees paid for such content but algorithmically promotes it to users.
The evolution of AI-generated ‘brain rot’ content demonstrates how online radicalisation can emerge through formats that initially appear absurd, humorous, or harmless. A recent example is the proliferation of AI-generated fruit-and-vegetable slop videos, in which anthropomorphic fruits or vegetables are inserted into melodramatic narratives involving romance, betrayal, cheating, and domestic conflict.
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