Eye on Extremism: August 24, 2026
Top Stories
Iran International: Guards offer government help against ‘economic war’
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards offered broad cooperation with the government to counter what they called an enemy “economic war,” according to a statement marking Government Week.
A new study of online antisemitism found that coded language originating on fringe forums is migrating into mainstream online discourse, where its original meaning can become less apparent to outsiders while remaining recognizable to extremists.
CEP Mentions
The senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, Hans-Jakob Schindler, agrees that the sudden breakdown of border controls “does create a sense of vulnerability among the residents of Ceuta.” But, he tells the Sun, the majority of migrants walked back across the frontier within days, leaving a population skewed toward minors “who require special care” — a burden the city’s systems were never built to absorb.
Pro7 Newstime: 21 August, 2026
Hans-Jakob Schindler speaks on the weapons cache discovered near Berlin potentially belonging to Russian intelligence service.
FOCUS Magazine: Kritik an Ministeriums-Standort
Security experts are criticizing the new location of the Federal Ministry for Digital Affairs next to the “Russian House” in Berlin. Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project considers the choice of location a mistake, despite the security assessment that was conducted.
Analysis
Iran International: Iran leader’s absence gives war camp room to shape policy
Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen or heard publicly, leaving his condition and circumstances unclear as officials govern in his name, interpret messages attributed to him and invoke his authority on questions ranging from negotiations with Washington to the conduct of the war.
Mark Ruffalo wants you to know he isn’t antisemitic. He wants you to know this so badly that he posted a lengthy statement insisting his “views come from my own political convictions” and that he has “deep love and respect” for Jewish people, whom he credits with shaping “everything I know about acting, activism, and humanism.” To paraphrase the Queen in Hamlet, the actor doth protest too much.
United States
On Sunday, Barrack stressed that the US does not negotiate with Hezbollah, but said he was pointing out that “the weapons in question are supplied and financed by Iran,” which complicates negotiations over their fate.
Fox News: Woman’s alleged ISIS radicalization unfolded online before Capitol bomb plot: court docs
Jessica Bowie, a 35-year-old woman from upstate New York, is now facing terrorism charges after authorities allege she converted to Islam, swore allegiance to the Islamic State group and plotted to bomb New York's Capitol building just weeks before the U.S. will mark 25 years since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Fox News: Mugshot of accused NY Capitol ISIS plotter revealed as feds detail plans for more attacks
A newly released booking photo shows the face of the Albany woman accused of pledging allegiance to ISIS and plotting to bomb the New York state Capitol in an attack she allegedly hoped would kill scores of people, including state senators.
Nashid Shakir describes how assailants used wire cutters to break into the Westwood Islamic Community Center in the early hours of 3 August. “They cut the wire and broke the window to get in. They broke into the office, too. It was total disarray,” says Shakir, a board member, and member, at the community center since the 1960s.
Washington Post: El-Sayed’s win triggered wave of anti-Muslim rhetoric online, Post analysis shows
Hours after Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic Senate nomination in Michigan this month, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) called the man who could be the first Muslim senator a “TERRORIST” and “RADICAL ISLAMIST” on social media.
Officials nationwide face death threats and gunfire over AI data center projects — More than 500 towns restrict builds as councils shutter public comment
Over 20 actors who have appeared in Marvel films have joined a campaign calling for the release of convicted Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti, according to an Instagram post published on Friday by the group, freemarwannow.
JNS: Mark Ruffalo embroiled in antisemitism row with Paramount over Israel
American actor and producer Mark Rufallo has become entangled in an escalating antisemitism row with Paramount Pictures, with support for Israel taking center stage. The public feud began after the 58-year-old Oscar-nominated actor posted on Instagram Friday that Larry Ellison is using the American technology company Oracle, which he co-founded, to fund his son David Ellison’s acquisition of Warner Bros., linking Oracle’s military technology contracts with Israel.
Mark Ruffalo has fired back at Paramount Skydance after the media company accused him of invoking “antisemitic tropes” in his criticism of its $111bn merger with Warner Bros Discovery (WBD).
The Anti-Defamation League, Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Creative Community for Peace and L.A. Jewish Federation, four leading Jewish advocacy groups, have condemned Mark Ruffalo for his recent statement against the Ellison family and their pending Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger, arguing the actor’s comments are “antisemitic.”
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said she felt a “deeply personal” commitment to protect Jews in a speech at Central Synagogue, where she is a member, in the aftermath of an attack during Shabbat services there. Tisch addressed the Reform synagogue in Midtown Manhattan during its Friday evening prayers a week after a man disrupted the service by shouting obscenities, punched a congregant in the face and spat on and headbutted a Black security guard while calling him a racial slur. Suspect Larry Montes, who was arrested at the scene, has been charged with hate crimes in federal and state court.
JNS: Palm Beach County worker accused of Nazi salute, ‘Heil Hitler’ remark
A Palm Beach County employee driving a county building-services truck allegedly shouted “Heil Hitler” at a Jewish driver and made a Nazi salute, according to the nonprofit StopAntisemitism.
Canada
Dominion Society of Canada says it's planning a conference featuring Canadian and international speakers at a venue in the Hamilton area on Aug. 29. Elected officials and anti-hate groups have spoken out about the anti-immigration group, accusing it of spreading hate.
Germany
Reuters: AfD turns 'Vespa of East Germany' into election campaign vehicle
The sound of thousands of engines filled the festival grounds of the medieval German village of Quedlinburg on Sunday as Ulrich Siegmund, the far-right AfD's charismatic candidate in a key vote next month, led out a motorcade atop a blue moped. Nearly 5,000 people turned out for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) campaign event-cum-motorcycle show ahead of elections in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt on September 6, in which it could become the first far-right party to take power at a state level since the Nazi era.
Reuters: Germany’s AfD eyes Saxony-Anhalt win as first step toward federal power
Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is banking on a breakthrough in next month's state election to build momentum for a future national victory, the party’s co-leader Alice Weidel said on Sunday. “We will form the government in Saxony-Anhalt,” Weidel said in an interview with public broadcaster ZDF, referring to the eastern German state that votes on September 6.
Deutsche Welle: What is the ‘political firewall’ against Germany’s AfD?
A firewall is a wall designed to prevent a fire from spreading from one building to another. In German politics, the term “firewall” serves as a metaphor for a strict boundary drawn against parties regarded as extremist. Just as a firewall is intended to protect buildings from fire, the “political firewall” is intended to safeguard democracy.
Greece
Rafi Rom, an Israeli who has lived in Athens for 12 years, claims he was removed from a social event in the city on Saturday night after organizers learned that he was Israeli and Jewish. According to Rom, security guards told him he had to leave because he allegedly posed a “security risk,” despite the fact that he had not done anything unusual and was not told what specifically constituted that risk.
Lithuania
The former GLORY champion reported on his political activism in a now-deleted social media post. Lithuanian fighter Sergej Maslobojev has drawn attention after publicly promoting and attending a protest against mass migration in Vilnius' Cathedral Square yesterday. With banners front and center reading “Balta Lietuva – Graži Lietuva” (“White Lithuania – Beautiful Lithuania”), however, the gathering carried a broader far-right, white-nationalist message.
Sweden
The Guardian: Seventeen-year-old girl killed in sword attack at school in Sweden
A 17-year-old girl has been killed after a teenager brandishing a sword attacked students at a school in Sweden, police have confirmed. Three other people were wounded in the incident during classes in the central town of Fagersta on Friday afternoon, including two boys aged 12 and 17 who sustained minor injuries.
Switzerland
JNS: Swiss police probe ‘death to Zionism’ rally in Basel
Police in Switzerland are investigating a call online for an unauthorized protest rally in Basel on the 129th anniversary of the 1st Zionist Congress, which Theodor Herzl organized and presided over.
United Kingdom
Police are investigating a far-right demonstration where neo-Nazi, ‘white nationalist’ and banned terrorist group flags were flown on Princes Street. Banners of the neo-Nazi Combat 18, the racist and antisemitic Patriotic Alternative and anti-Islamic Scottish Defence League were displayed at the demonstration at the east end of Princes Street on Saturday, 15 August. Another carried the name of the proscribed terrorist organisation the Ulster Defence Association.
Middle East
Reuters: Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked ship off Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu; no Saudi confirmation
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they attacked a vessel off Saudi Arabia’s port city of Yanbu, in comments by the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree in a televised speech on Monday. The Saudi Center for International Communication was not immediately available for comment.
Afghanistan
Sources in Parwan, a central-northern province say the Taliban have detained six civilians, including two former members of Afghanistan’s security forces, in Salang district. The sources identified two of the detainees as Raiees Agha Salangi and Nasrullah, who previously served in the police force under the former Afghan government. The four other detainees were identified as Sharif, Mohammad Agha, Mirwais and Sohrab, all of whom are students, according to the sources.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Detains Women, Girls In Herat Despite Observing Hijab
Three eyewitnesses in Herat told Afghanistan International that Taliban morality police detained several women and girls in three separate incidents, including a 13-year-old girl who was fully covered and wearing a headscarf and mask.
Ronald Neumann, a former US ambassador to Afghanistan, says reopening the US embassy in Kabul could be possible in the future, but the Taliban must make concrete policy changes before relations can be normalised.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Returns NRF Commander Hasib Panjshiri’s Body To His Family
The Taliban handed the body of NRF commander Hasib Panjshiri to his relatives in Kabul after a three-day delay. Sources say the Taliban imposed two conditions: no slogans and no photographs or videos at the funeral. On Sunday, 23 August, the Taliban transferred Hasib Panjshiri’s body from Charikar to Kabul.
Afghanistan International: Dissident Commander Juma Khan Fateh Will Face Trial, Says Taliban
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Afghanistan International on Saturday that Juma Khan Fateh, the group’s former Nusay district governor, will be put on trial. Mujahid said further details were not yet available because “the case and charges must first be prepared and then referred to the judicial authorities.”
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Jerusalem Post: Hamas obstructing aid efforts as Gaza supplies exceed humanitarian needs, COGAT says
Hamas remains the main obstacle to further improving the situation in the Gaza Strip, a senior official from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said on Sunday.
Times of Israel: IDF says Hamas commando who invaded on October 7 killed in overnight strike
A Hamas operative who took part in the October 7, 2023, onslaught was killed in an airstrike in the central Gaza Strip overnight, the military announces.
Jerusalem Post: Duvdevan captures 16-year-old terrorist who stabbed an off-duty soldier in Jericho
The Duvdevan unit of the IDF captured a teenager who stabbed an off-duty IDF soldier in Jericho on Sunday, moderately wounding him. One person was wounded in a terror stabbing attack in the area of Al-Auja, a Palestinian village located on Route 90 near Jericho, in the West Bank, the IDF said on Sunday morning.
Iran
Iran International: Iran state TV airs threat against Trump’s son Barron
Iranian state television has broadcast a segment describing efforts to reach President Donald Trump’s son Barron and referring to a $10 million reward, an unusually explicit threat against a member of the US president’s immediate family.
Kurdistan24: IRGC Pledges Cooperation With Government to Counter US Economic Pressure
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday expressed its readiness to strengthen cooperation with the Iranian government to confront what it described as an economic war and broad sanctions imposed by Iran’s enemies. According to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, the IRGC said coordination and cooperation with the government were key to helping the country overcome sanctions and strengthen national resilience.
Israel
Times of Israel: IDF told to act forcefully against Gaza kites; 3 reported killed in Israeli strikes
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz both said Sunday that they had instructed the IDF to take significant action after the launching of kites from the Gaza Strip over the weekend. Subsequent Israeli strikes in Gaza on Sunday were reported to kill three people, including a young boy.
Lebanon
Naharnet: Is Hezbollah secretly communicating with Washington?
The surprising stance of Hezbollah political council member Mahmoud Qmati that the party has not definitively closed the door to direct communication with the Americans, and that the decision will be made according to interests and appropriate circumstances, has raised questions among Hezbollah’s adversaries and allies alike, a media report said.
Naharnet: Israel says Hezbollah ‘continuing to use force in security zone’
An Israeli military source on Monday criticized the Lebanese Army’s performance in the so-called pilot zones in south Lebanon, noting that “it has not entered private property” there and that its search operations are “partial.” “The Lebanese Army has operational control over the pilot zones without fully cleansing them” of Hezbollah’s presence, the source claimed, in remarks to Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel.
Naharnet: Report: Lebanese Army wants to escort any int’l verification team
The Lebanese Army has outlined its conditions for any future international verification mechanism in south Lebanon, expressing its openness to a technically independent entity, provided that its operations on the ground be conducted in conjunction with the army and under its sovereign authority, al-Binaa newspaper reported on Monday.
Naharnet: Qmati says Hezbollah open to talks with US, studying ‘all options’ as to Ali al-Taher
Hezbollah Political Council member Mahmoud Qmati announced overnight that the Iran-backed party is not completely closing the door to direct communication with Washington, and that the decision will be made based on interest and the appropriate circumstances.
Nigeria
Deutsche Welle: Nigeria: Jihadis kidnap dozens during Friday prayers
Extremists attacked and abducted a number of worshippers in Nigeria’s Niger State, authorities said on Saturday. Police said the armed men attacked a number of villages in the Borgu Local Government Area before storming a mosque in the village of Kpenya during Friday prayers.
Japan
Jiji Press: Japan to Set Up Expert Panel on CBRNE Terrorism
The Japanese government on Monday compiled an action plan to address terrorism involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive, or CBRNE, materials. Under the plan, the government will establish an expert panel to improve initial responses to CBRNE attacks, strengthen intelligence functions, improve medical care systems and secure medical supplies. At a related meeting at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said, “We can't rule out the possibility that our country will be a target of terrorism in the future.” He ordered the prompt implementation of the action plan to “protect the people from disasters.”
Thailand
Japan Times: Dozens of attacks in Thailand’s restive south leave three wounded
Dozens of coordinated arson and incendiary attacks across Thailand’s insurgency-hit south late Saturday left at least three people wounded and government property burned, the military said.
Multiple local government offices and several vehicles were damaged or destroyed in the 51 attacks, according to the military’s Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC).
Australia
JNS: Australian judge says anti-Israel graffiti is not Jew-hatred
A man who pleaded guilty to vandalizing cars with the words “Fuk Israel” did not commit an act of Jew-hatred, an Australian Supreme Court judge determined in a ruling publicly released on Monday.
A Sydney-based podcast network that received federal grant funding to support social cohesion platformed a known conspiracy theorist who was deported and received a lifetime ban from Australia, an inquiry has heard.
There has been a “fraying” of social cohesion in Melbourne since the start of the war in Gaza, the city's lord mayor has told the antisemitism royal commission. The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has entered its final week of public hearings, with a final report due before the first anniversary of the Bondi Beach terror attack.
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