Eye on Extremism: July 21, 2026
Top Stories
Reuters: Saudi crude tankers turn back as Houthis open new front in US-Iran war
Two oil tankers carrying Saudi crude to Asia reversed course in the Red Sea onTuesday after threats from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis, as a widening Middle East conflict disrupted shipping through two of the world's most critical energy chokepoints. The diversions came as U.S. forces bombed targets in the south and west of Iran overnight, Tehran targeted U.S. sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan and at least one tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz in the latest escalation of violence that has all but wrecked an interim peace deal signed last month.
Times of Israel: From AI to ideology, scholars look for answers to post-Oct. 7 antisemitism surge
For many of the international academics visiting Haifa University earlier this month, the chance to network with others in their field was a rare opportunity. Scholars said the conference on Contemporary Antisemitism, which ran from July 7-9, gave them a sense of kinship and support (made all the better by the sweeping views of the Mediterranean coast from the top of Mount Carmel), even as many in academia would prefer to ignore or deny the problem of antisemitism.
CEP Mentions
Ynet: Report: Hamas planned ‘second October 7’ across Europe with weapons caches, sleeper cells
Hans-Jakob Schindler, a terrorism expert with the Counter Extremism Project, said the denial was not credible because of the suspects’ alleged personal links to senior Hamas figures. Media reports have identified the man arrested in London as the son of senior Hamas official Bassem Naim. Naim previously held health, youth and sports portfolios in the Gaza Strip and recently narrowly escaped an Israeli strike in Doha, according to the report.
Iran expert Hans-Jakob Schindler speaks to ZDF for a three-part documentary on Iran’s future, brutal repression, and military escalation since Israel’s first attack in June 2025.
WELT TV: "At some point, you reach a point where you would actually have to use a nuclear weapon."
US military attacks on Iranian targets continue, while Iran speaks of "full-scale war." The escalation over the Strait of Hormuz and the nuclear program is intensifying. "The spiral of escalation simply continues," says Iran expert Hans-Jakob Schindler.
Analysis
In recent months, there have been growing concerns about anti-tech extremism. Groups such as the Zizians have attracted significant media attention, as have threats against data centers and attacks against public figures, such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Researchers such as Mauro Lubrano have noted a steady escalation of anti-tech violence that is likely to significantly worsen.
United States
Washington Post: Veteran with ‘anti-ICE’ views targeted federal building in New York, FBI says
A former U.S. Army soldier who harbored disdain for immigration agents attacked the federal building in Lower Manhattan on Monday morning, using an incendiary device to start a large fire before he was detained, FBI officials said.
The Times: Far-right fight clubs admit women to be part of ‘parallel society’
A network of neo-Nazi fight clubs is now focusing its efforts on women, as the movement’s founder announced last month that the first all-female club had been created. Robert Rundo, an American white supremacist who was imprisoned in 2024 for rioting, launched Active Clubs in 2020 in order to combine combat training with extremist ideology. The group says it is preparing for a race war and openly admires Adolf Hitler.
New York Magazine: The New York Young Republican Club Has an Antisemitism Problem
A burner account that belonged to the group’s treasurer reveals a far-right turn.
Jewish Insider: Bernie Sanders’ 2020 Jewish liaison says his old boss is promoting antisemitism
Joel Rubin, a former State Department official who led Jewish outreach for Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) 2020 presidential campaign, is now excoriating his former boss and the movement he has built for elevating stridently anti-Israel candidates — most notably former Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner.
Metro Philadelphia: Mayfair man charged in Northeast Philadelphia mosque arson
A Mayfair man is facing federal criminal charges for allegedly trying to burn down a Northeast Philadelphia mosque earlier this month. Hateful phrases, including “F— Allah,” F— Islam” and “White Pride,” were scribbled on the rear and passenger’s side windows of Vincent Lang’s SUV when investigators surveilled his Longshore Avenue house, an agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) wrote in a criminal complaint.
Detroit Metro Times: Bigot Jake Lang crashes Abdul El-Sayed event and watches his stunt backfire
Jake Lang, a pardoned Jan. 6 rioter and avowed bigot, has gained notoriety for crashing events and meetings with racist and anti-Muslim rants. On Saturday in Detroit, Lang picked the wrong event to disrupt.
State Scoop: ‘Integrated’ cyber and physical attacks concerned FIFA planners
Among the events that did not occur during any of this year’s FIFA World Cup matches was a terrorist hijacking a jumbotron. Not during any one of the 78 games hosted in the United States this year was an AI-generated video shown to tens of thousands of startled soccer fans, falsely warning them of an imminent explosion somewhere in the stadium. And although that scenario did not occur this year, it was one of many possible scenarios that event planners prepared for leading up to the global sporting event that concluded on Sunday with fireworks, not bombs, and a 1-0 Spanish victory over Argentina.
The University of Pittsburgh’s Working Group on Antisemitism has released its long-awaited final report. Formed in 2025 in response to a rash of antisemitic activity on and around the university following Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — including antisemitic graffiti, activity on a digital chat, damage to university property, anti-Zionist encampments and the physical assault of three Jewish students — the working group was charged with “making actionable recommendations to prevent and respond to antisemitism.”
JNS: Puerto Rico man indicted for allegedly threatening to kill Jews, burn synagogues
Humberty Jesus Carillo Garcia, of Puerto Rico, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of transmitting interstate threats after allegedly using X and TikTok to post violent threats against Jews, U.S. soldiers, law enforcement officers and government buildings, federal prosecutors said.
ABC 4: Man re-arrested for making terrorist threats and mentioning homicide against DA’s office
A Salt Lake City man previously charged for making terroristic threats against court officials, including “government bloodshed,” has been arrested again for leaving a voicemail saying he would “go as far as homicide.”
Argentina
JTA: Argentina’s Jews turn a World Cup chant into a call for justice 32 years after the AMIA bombing
If the phrase Argentina’s Jewish community has adopted to mark the 32nd anniversary of the worst terrorist attack in the country’s history sounds familiar to their compatriots, it’s intentional: “Today we cannot lose … our memory” echoes the soccer-mad nation’s World Cup slogan.
Germany
Antisemitism in parts of Berlin’s queer community has intensified since October 7, leaving many Jewish LGBTQ+ people feeling excluded, intimidated, and unsafe, according to a new report commissioned by Berlin’s Department for Justice and Anti-Discrimination.
Italy
Times of Israel: Italy shuts down ‘Jew hunting’ form seeking to ‘map Zionist tourism’ after uproar
An anonymous online form asking people to report the locations of Jews and Israeli tourists in Italy has been taken down after government officials intervened, according to media reports on Tuesday.
The president of Mosaico, the Jewish Community of Milan, Walker Meghnagi, has gravely condemned online forms urging the public to report the presence of Israeli citizens and Italian Jews staying in Italian hotels and other tourist accommodations. “I think we’re going back to the 1930s, to hunting Jews,” he said.
United Kingdom
The Independent: Who is Joshua Kerry? The suspect charged with murdering Ann Widdecombe
The man suspected of murdering former MP Ann Widdecombe has been named as former lift company worker Joshua Kerry. The 28-year-old has been charged with murdering the Reform UK spokeswoman, 78, after almost a week of questioning.
Daily Star: Secret neo-Nazi fight clubs recruiting women to prepare for a 'future race war'
Britain's secret neo-Nazi fight clubs are recruiting women to prepare for what they call a future “race war”. The underground network has spread across England and Scotland, where members use brutal martial arts sessions and fitness training to lure youngsters into fascism and whip up support for the far right.
The Islamophobic message was discovered this morning (Tuesday, July 21) at Clachnacuddin FC’s Grant Street Park. ‘Islam is Evil’ was written in blue spray paint to the left of the entrance to Mercury House, which hosts the offices of Mercury Cleaning Services.
The British Jewish Campaign Against Antisemitism organization urged the country’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, to make combating antisemitism a central priority of his government, warning that the UK’s Jewish community was facing an unprecedented security crisis.
Afghanistan
Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban has compiled lists of former security personnel in Kandahar, Helmand and Uruzgan and begun surveilling them, including by phone to verify where they live.
Afghanistan International: Taliban Classifies More Than 7,400 Acres Of Paktika Land As State-Owned
The Taliban’s Justice Ministry said on Tuesday, 21 July, that more than 7,400 acres of land in Yusuf Khel district of Paktika province had been officially classified as state-owned property. The ministry said the land had been identified as government property based on a ruling by the special court dealing with cases involving usurped land.
Afghanistan International: Taliban & Tajik Ambassador Hold Border Talks A Day After Rocket Attack
A day after unidentified attackers fired rockets at a Taliban border battalion in Badakhshan’s Khwahan district, a Taliban Defence Ministry official met Tajikistan’s ambassador in Kabul to discuss border issues. The Taliban Defence Ministry said on Monday that Noor Rahman Nusrat, the army’s director of military operations, met Tajik Ambassador Saadi Sharifi to discuss border issues.
Sami Sadat, a former commander of Afghanistan’s national army and the head of the United Front of Afghanistan, says the killings of 184 former security personnel have been documented over the past three months since the Taliban returned to power.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
Little will change in Hamas now that Khalil al-Hayya has been named head of its political bureau, though the terror group will now enjoy not having the financial burden of administering the Gaza Strip, Dr. Michael Milshtein, the head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
The Palestinian Authority’s buildup of a military force, in violation of the Oslo Accords, presents an unprecedented threat to millions of people living in central Israel, a newly published report penned by Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch, published in the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, warned.
Times of Israel: Extremist settlers steal 200 goats from two Palestinian villages – report
Extremist settlers allegedly stole some 200 goats from two Palestinian villages in the central West Bank and took them to a nearby illegal farming settlement outpost, the Peace Now settlement watchdog said Tuesday.
Times of Israel: IDF strikes kill 2 Hamas terrorists who invaded Israel on Oct. 7, held hostages
Two Hamas terrorists, including a commander, who invaded Israel on October 7, 2023, and were responsible for the abduction of hostages, were killed in separate recent airstrikes, the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet announced on Tuesday.
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist who participated in the massacre at the Nova music festival during the October 7, 2023, onslaught, and took hostage Inbar Haiman, was killed in an Israeli strike over the weekend, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Iran
IranWire: IRGC Attacks US Bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced a new wave of missile and drone strikes targeting US positions in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Jordan early Tuesday morning, July 21. In a statement, the IRGC reported that it had targeted US air defence and radar systems in the Al-Muharraq and Riffa regions of Bahrain. The organisation also claimed to have struck and “destroyed” Amazon’s primary data centre infrastructure in Bahrain using cruise missiles.
Euronews: Iran's IRGC claims attack on Amazon's main data hub in Bahrain
The IRGC claimed its cruise missiles destroyed Amazon's central data infrastructure in Bahrain and hit US air defence systems. Bahraini, US and Amazon officials have not responded. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed on Tuesday that its Aerospace Force targeted and "destroyed" the central data infrastructure of the US company Amazon in Bahrain using several cruise missiles.
Iraq
Shafaq News: Iraq jails two for promoting ISIS on social media
Iraq's Central Criminal Court sentenced two convicts to five years and one month in prison for posting "extremist racist ideologies" on social media.
Israel
Times of Israel: On Lebanese border, a village still in Hezbollah crosshairs prepares for comeback
On a recent afternoon at On The Border Café, Ori Eliyahu made a cup of strong espresso for a customer and then gazed out at the cement barricade known as the Talking Walls. Eliyahu, the 28th of 51 grandchildren of Salah Eliyahu, one of the founders of this agricultural community, pointed out the colorful murals that are just inside the border with Lebanon.
The cabinet approved a plan in March to tackle violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, but it, along with harsh criticism by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the phenomenon, was not made public due to political considerations, according to a Monday report.
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) and Israel Police arrested Muhammad Awad, a 29-year-old Israeli citizen from Nazareth, on suspicion of promoting terrorist activity, police announced on Tuesday.
Lebanon
A pilot program in which Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) troops will enter designated areas in southern Lebanon to verify they have been cleared of Hezbollah operatives and weapons is expected to begin in the near future, two people familiar with the matter told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
Naharnet: Aoun-Trump meeting: Hezbollah's disarmament and Israeli withdrawal
President Joseph Aoun is set to meet with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in Washington on Tuesday, as pressure builds for Beirut to disarm Hezbollah, Israel's key condition before withdrawing from south Lebanon.
Naharnet: Aoun to meet Trump as pressure builds to disarm Hezbollah
President Joseph Aoun will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday to wrap up a four-day visit to Washington, in a bid to bring about long-term calm in the war-torn country after months of war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Yemen
Reuters: Houthis warn shipping companies to avoid Saudi ports, email shows
Shipping companies should not load or discharge cargo at Saudi Arabian ports and such activity may result in being targeted "in any location" by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militia, according to an email sent to companies by the Houthis. The Houthis on Monday declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front against the United States in its war with Iran and raising the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.
New York Times: Houthis in Yemen Edge Closer to Entering U.S.-Iran War
As the U.S. war with Iran spilled across the Middle East over the past five months, Yemen largely stayed on the sidelines. That was until Monday, when the Iranian-backed Houthi militia, which controls a significant part of Yemen, declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally. The move threatened to open a new front in the regional war and further disrupt global energy supplies.
Australia
J-Wire: Up to 70 per cent of Sydney synagogue families report antisemitic abuse, survey finds
A survey of more than 300 families from one Sydney synagogue has found that between 60 and 70 per cent reported experiencing antisemitic abuse, Rabbi Levi Wolff told the Royal Commission into Antisemitism today.
Australian Jewish News: Jewish schools spent more than $58 million on security in four years
NSW Supreme Court judge, The Honourable Justice Stephen Rothman has told the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion that Australia’s Jewish schools have spent more than $58 million on security over four years, diverting funds that would otherwise be spent on education.
A rise in antisemitism across Australia has “disturbing parallels” with the social climate of Nazi Germany, the president of the Australian Holocaust survivors association says. George Foster, the president of the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants, told the antisemitism royal commission that he did not believe Australia was “becoming another Germany in the 1930s”.
A representative of a Melbourne synagogue razed in a firebombing says multiple bids for additional security funding were knocked back before the building was destroyed in the 2024 arson attack. Adass Israel Synagogue board member Benjamin Klein was among several Jewish leaders to describe spiralling security expenses and mounting safety concerns as the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion continued security-focused hearings in Melbourne today.
Technology
A new study examines how artificial intelligence (AI) may influence terrorism in the coming years, finding that the technology is more likely to strengthen existing extremist trends than create entirely new forms of terrorism.
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