Eye on Extremism: June 11, 2026
Top Stories
Reuters: Iran fights to keep Lebanon as leverage in high-stakes US deal
Iran is waging a calculated campaign to preserve Lebanon as its last bastion of influence on the Mediterranean, tying the country's fate to a grand bargain with Washington as it seeks to end Hezbollah's war with Israel on its own terms, not Beirut's. That effort is colliding with a historic U.S.-sponsored negotiating track between Lebanon and Israel aimed at ending decades of conflict along their frontier and redefining the balance of power in a country long caught between regional foes.
The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ) convened an emergency summit this week amid growing concern over the global rise in antisemitism following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023.
CEP Mentions
Jüdische Allgemeine: Goebbels Villa Could Become Center Against Extremism
An international organization dedicated to combating extremism plans to transform the former Goebbels villa at Bogensee, north of Berlin, into a center addressing antisemitism and online hate. The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) aims to establish a new base there and has approached Berliner Immobilienmanagement GmbH with the proposal, CEP Executive Director Hans-Jakob Schindler told the German Press Agency (dpa).
Tag24: New life for Nazi villa: Organization has big plans for Goebbels' estate
The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) wants to establish another base there and approached Berliner Immobilienmanagement GmbH with the idea, CEP Managing Director Hans-Jakob Schindler told the German Press Agency.
Stern: Organization against extremism wants to expand Goebbels' villa
An international anti-extremism organization plans to develop the former Goebbels villa at Bogensee, north of Berlin, into a center against antisemitism and online hate speech. The Counter Extremism Project (CEP) intends to establish another branch there and has approached the Berlin real estate management company with the idea, CEP Managing Director Hans-Jakob Schindler told the German Press Agency.
RBB24: CEP plans to develop the former Goebbels villa
Hans-Jakob Schindler speaks to RBB24 about CEP plans to develop the former Goebbels villa into a center against antisemitism and online hate speech. (Interview starts at 7:02)
Analysis
The war that Hamas ignited on October 7, 2023, has since expanded far beyond Gaza, drawing in Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. But as Israel found itself under attack from multiple fronts in recent months, the group that started the conflict has been strikingly absent from the battlefield, largely holding fast to a ceasefire that halted fighting in October.
Times of Israel: Why the IRGC Needs Israel
Many analyses of Iran’s confrontation with Israel focus on ideology, military strategy, or regional influence. While these factors matter, they often overlook a deeper structural reality: the Islamic Republic’s survival has historically depended on external crises that reinforce internal cohesion.
United States
Reuters: Exclusive: Kash Patel on the FBI's defining test: securing the World Cup
With 48 teams, 36 base camps and 11 stadiums, the World Cup, which kicks off on Thursday, is one of the biggest security challenges the FBI has ever faced. That's before you account for 3 million visitors, including heads of state, not to mention threats from drones, spies, terrorists, drunken fans, cartels or pyrotechnics.
ESPN: U.S. official: Somalia's Omar Artan had suspected terror ties
A United States official said Tuesday night that Omar Artan, the Somalian soccer referee who was denied entry into the country ahead of the World Cup, was refused admission due to "association with suspected members of terror organizations."
JNS: HHS urges State Department review of alleged terrorist ties to CAIR, affiliates
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has asked the U.S. State Department to review allegations that chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations have ties to designated terrorist organizations and improperly received taxpayer funds.
JTA: Jewish leaders throw support behind bipartisan House antisemitism bill
Reps. Dan Goldman and Mike Lawler introduced bipartisan legislation Wednesday aimed at expanding federal security support for Jewish institutions and combatting antisemitism. The bill, a House companion to Jewish American Security Act in the Senate, would increase Nonprofit Security Grant Program funding to $1 billion, extend funding to Jewish organizations and allow additional funds to be directed towards law enforcement.
Jewish Insider: Goldman: Jewish community needs non-Jewish allies to effectively fight antisemitism
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), the chair of the House antisemitism task force, argued in an interview with Jewish Insider on Wednesday that the Jewish community needs non-Jewish allies to help fight antisemitism, following a press conference introducing the Jewish American Security Act (JASA), a bipartisan and bicameral package aimed at tackling attacks on Jewish institutions, campus antisemitism and online antisemitism.
Jewish Insider: Fetterman: Outlook for Jews in Democratic Party is ‘bleak’
Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), a stalwart ally of Israel and the Jewish community who has become increasingly isolated within a Democratic Party facing internal friction over its Middle East policy, warned on Wednesday that the outlook for Jewish voters within his party has become “bleak.”
Eight University of Michigan (UMich) associated anti-Israel activists were indicted for a two and a half year campaign of violent threats and vandalism against university officials, the local Jewish federation, law enforcement, and businesses, the Michigan Eastern District US Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday.
Jerusalem Post: Anti-Israel Columbia protest leader Mohsen Mahdawi fights deportation to Jordan
Columbia University anti-Israel student activist Mohsen Mahdawi appealed on Wednesday an immigration court order to deport him to Jordan, according to his legal representation, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The Oregonian: Oregon man faces terrorism charges, accused of declaring ‘war’ on U.S., setting fires
A 28-year-old Oregon man has been arrested on arson and terrorism charges after issuing a “declaration of war” against the United States and setting a series of fires in Wheeler County.
Alabama Political Reporter: Alabama neo-nazi plotted to kill journalist who reported on him
A neo-nazi from north Alabama plotted to kill a journalist who had reported on his activities, according to recent testimony in a federal case against him. Aiden Cuevas allegedly told an undercover officer that the journalist was a “pawn who needed to be taken off the board.”
Canada
Broadview: Mark Carney’s antisemitism announcement sparks mixed reactions from Jewish Canadians
Canada’s Jewish community is reacting this week to Prime Minister Mark Carney’s announcement of a series of measures aimed at combatting antisemitism, and many are hoping for more.
A Toronto activist group called for the US to release the Iranian regime proxy group commander who allegedly helped orchestrate attacks on Jewish, Israeli, and dissident sites and individuals across Europe and North America in the name of Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI), in a Thursday statement.
Belgium
Eurasia Review: Belgium: Seven Members Of Major Islamic State Financing Network Convicted
Europol supported the Belgian authorities in the successful conclusion of a complex counter-terrorism investigation, targeting an international network primarily composed of individuals of Chechen origin residing in Europe. The network was found to be deeply radicalised and actively engaged in supporting and financing the activities of the so-called Islamic State terrorist organisation.
Greece
Kathimerini: Terrorism probe uncovers new details
A terrorism investigation spanning Cyprus, Greece and several Asian countries has revealed previously undisclosed details about alleged planning meetings, recruitment efforts and possible international connections, Kathimerini understands.
United Kingdom
Reuters: UN human rights chief 'appalled' by violence in United Kingdom
The United Nations human rights chief said on Thursday he was appalled by violence erupting in different parts of the United Kingdom in recent days. On Tuesday rioters in Northern Ireland targeted ethnic minorities and foreign residents by torching homes and vehicles following a knife attack for which a Sudanese man has been charged with attempted murder. On Wednesday police deployed water cannon to tackle rioters for a second night.
Reuters: UK minister says violence in Northern Ireland is racist thuggery
Two days of anti-immigration violence in Northern Ireland is nothing short of racist thuggery, Britain's minister for the province said on Thursday, after police deployed water cannon to tackle rioters for a second night.
Reuters: Belfast's anti-migration violence brings back dark memories of the 'Troubles'
Staring at the burned out shell of his Belfast home, Jamie Corry said he would never get over the sight of watching his house go up in flames, torched by anti-migrant protesters angry at the brutal stabbing of a man in Northern Ireland's capital.
El Pais: How the far right stirs up protests against immigration in Britain
Crime is the perfect trigger for fury to erupt on social media and for national and transnational extremist groups to organize and coordinate street protests that inevitably escalate into violent confrontations with police. In Nowak’s case, Musk himself used his X account, with 240 million followers, to encourage people to mobilize.
One of the UK’s leading human rights lawyers has said the potential sentencing of four Palestine Action protesters as terrorists when the jury did not convict them of a terrorism offence violates fundamental legal principles.
BBC: Belfast knife attack disorder 'destabilising', says terror adviser
It is legitimate to discuss the impact of migration on the UK's national security after disorder that followed a knife attack in Belfast, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation has said.
POTENTIAL Islamist and Neo-Nazi terrorists could slip through the net as police struggle to cope with a massive surge in referrals to Scotland’s anti-radicalisation scheme. Police Scotland warn “the risk of terrorism in Scotland would increase” if the force’s Prevent Delivery Unit is overwhelmed.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan International: Taliban Used Live Ammunition Against Herat Protesters, Says UN
UN Secretary-General spokesperson Farhan Haq said Taliban forces used live ammunition to disperse a civil protest in Herat. He urged the Taliban to refrain from any unnecessary or disproportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrations.
Gaza Strip/West Bank
While talks are underway in Cairo between Hamas and mediating countries, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, regarding the disarmament of the terrorist organization, a source close to Gaza's Board of Peace (BoP) told The Jerusalem Post that the council is not waiting for Hamas's response.
Times of Israel: External audit finds PA no longer rewarding security prisoners — diplomats
Preliminary results from an external audit have determined that the Palestinian Authority’s reform of its welfare program is being properly implemented to ensure recipients are no longer being awarded based on whether a relative of theirs carried out an attack against Israel, two Western diplomats briefed on the audit told The Times of Israel.
An armed settler who claimed to have military authority drove off a group of Israeli civil rights activists and Palestinian farmers from privately owned land in Area B of the West Bank last week, asserting that only Jews could stay and that Arabs had to leave.
Palestinian firefighters accused Israeli settlers of obstructing them as they sought to extinguish a large blaze near a Christian village in the West Bank late Tuesday night.
Iran
A commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened the entire region with harsh consequences if the United States destabilized the Strait of Hormuz, state news site WANA reported on Thursday.
IranWire: IRGC Closes the Strait of Hormuz; Two Vessels Targeted by Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters
The Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters announced that the Strait of Hormuz is closed until further notice to all vessels, including oil tankers and commercial ships, and that any vessel attempting to pass through the waterway will be targeted. At the same time, Iranian domestic media, citing the IRGC Navy, reported that two vessels, which the organization said had "attempted illegal passage through the Strait of Hormuz," were struck.
Iraq
The Islamic State's territorial caliphate collapsed in the dust of Baghouz in 2019. But for the women who followed husbands into its war zones, from the suburbs of Paris, the mountains of Dagestan, the cities of Russia and Serbia, the war never truly ended.
Shafaq News Agency: Supreme Council sentences ISIS member to life in prison
The Baghdad/Karkh Criminal Court has sentenced an ISIS member to life in prison for spreading extremist content and promoting terrorist ideology on social media platforms, the Supreme Judicial Council announced Thursday.
Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday urged the Lebanese people to “join Israel” in peace and reject Iran and Hezbollah, declaring that “Israel is not at war with you,” but is only looking to oust the Iran-backed terror group and its “sick aims” with its military operations in the country.
Naharnet: Israel says Hezbollah drones cross border for second straight day
Hezbollah launched drones at Israel on Wednesday and Thursday, Israel's Foreign Ministry said, as it accused the group of serving Iran's interests. "Yesterday evening and again this morning, the Iranian terror regime's proxy, Hezbollah, launched drones at Israel from Lebanon, in (a) blatant violation of the ceasefire," the Foreign Ministry posted on the X platform.
While there are several monuments and exhibits dedicated to Hamas’s October 7 invasion of southern Israel, the Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center (IICC) recently opened a new one with authentic items belonging to Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, from invasion plans which he wrote by hand, to his actual vest, shoes, and other clothes.
Lebanon
A United Nations Security Council statement on the recent death of a UN peacekeeper in Lebanon failed to condemn Hezbollah, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon pointed out on X/Twitter on Wednesday.
Naharnet: Rajji says Hezbollah, including political wing, 'illegal and destabilizing'
Minister of Foreign Affairs Youssef Rajji said Hezbollah is a military organization and there is no difference between its political and its military wings. In an interview with the French news channel LCI, Rajji said that "distinguishing between the political and military wings of Hezbollah is completely unrealistic."
Naharnet: Hundreds rally in south Beirut suburbs in support of Iran, allies
Hundreds of people rallied on Wednesday evening in Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, in support of Iran and its allies in the Middle East war, AFP correspondents said. The rally came despite the ongoing war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, with Israel pounding south and east Lebanon daily and still occasionally striking Beirut's southern suburbs, known locally as Dahieh, most recently on Sunday.
Syria
The Media Line: Syria Arrests 235 ISIS Operatives in 3 Months, Foils 7 Terror Plots
Syria’s Ministry of Interior announced Monday that security forces had arrested 235 members of the Islamic State group (ISIS) over the past three months as part of a broad security campaign aimed at dismantling the group’s active cells and preventing attacks intended to destabilize the country.
Australia
SBS: As women linked to ISIS return, how does Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) work in Australia?
The return of 32 women and children from Syria, who are linked to the self-proclaimed Islamic State group, has prompted concerns around community safety and discussions around mandatory Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) activities for at-risk individuals.
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