Tuesday, May 31, 2022

CLARION PROJECT

 

The Extremism Roundup

Promoting Civil Discourse and Marginalizing the Extremes
A weekly compilation of the most important developments in the struggle against radical ideologies

Islamist Extremism

Osama Siblani

MEMRI TV

Calls for Terrorist Violence at Anti-Israel Rally Featuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib

  • Activist and publisher of Arab American News, Osama Siblani, praised knifing attacks in Israel at a “Nakba Day” rally held in Dearborn, Mich.

  • Siblani has a history of praising terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

  • The rally was hosted by activist and law professor Amer Zahr and featured U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib.

  • Amer Zahr also has a history of supporting terrorists, including PFLP terrorist Rasmea Odeh. Read More

US Sanctions Businessman Over Hezbollah Link

  • The U.S. Treasury Department issued sanctions designating Lebanese businessman Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah, along with five of his associates and eight of his companies in Lebanon and Iraq.

  • According to the Treasury, Abdallah’s insurance companies, medical equipment factories, real estate companies and other seemingly legitimate businesses funneled at least some of their profits to Hezbollah.  Read More

CUNY Law Faculty Backs BDS

  • The CUNY Law School faculty council approved an anti-Israel resolution supporting the pro-Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

  • The vote was taken a day before CUNY Law School’s graduation ceremony.
  • CUNY administrators recently returned from a mission to Israel, co-sponsored by the New York Jewish Community Relations Council.  Read More

Alt-Right & Alt-Left Extremism

Tops Store, Buffalo, NY

Scott Olson/Getty Images

US House Approves Domestic Terrorism Bill

  • The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation to increase the federal government's efforts to combat the threat of domestic terrorism.
  • The bill creates offices at the departments of Homeland Security and Justice, and the FBI specifically focused on investigating and tracking domestic terror threats.
  • The bill passed along a nearly party line vote of 222-203.  Read More

Antifa Activists Arrested After Throwing Molotov Cocktails at Police

  • Several protesters were arrested after they threw a Molotov cocktail at police during a protest at the future site of a police training facility.
  • The agitators face charges ranging from criminal trespassing to obstruction of law enforcement.
  • Antifa activists are raising money through GoFundMe to pay people from across the U.S. to cross state lines to join the violent protests. Read More

More News From the Alt-Right

  • Michigan leaders of the neo-Nazi group The Base, Justen Watkins and Tristan Webb, are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to felony gang and firearm charges. Each man faces up to 20 years in prison. Read More

More News From the Alt-Left

  • Colorado Antifa shooter Samuel Young, who was convicted of four counts of attempted manslaughter, was sentenced this week to no prison time and five years of probation. Young shot at a driver who tried escaping from a mob. Read More

Hate Crime

Larry Edward Foxworth

Clayton County Sheriff's Office via FOX 5 Atlanta

Man Who Shot up Gas Stations Indicted on Federal Hate Crimes

  • Larry Edward Foxworth, 48, of Georgia was indicted for hate and federal firearms violations after opening fire at a convenience store in Jonesboro, Ga. Foxworth admitted to investigators that he targeted the store because of race.  Read More

Hostile Foreign Influence Operations

Ministry of State Security of the People's Republic of China

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

US Citizen Accused of Spying for China

  • The U.S. Department of Justice charged one U.S. citizen, Wang Shujun, from Brooklyn, N.Y., and four members of China’s Ministry of State Security with spying on dissidents, human rights leaders, and pro-democracy activists. Read More

Powerful Russian Botnet Disinformation System Uncovered

  • Fronton, a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) botnet, first discovered in 2020, is much more powerful than previously thought, per the latest research.
  • Fronton functions as the backend infrastructure of the system for managing an army of compromised devices to stage DDoS attacks and disinformation campaigns on social media.  Read More

Research & Trends in Extremism

Social Media Icons

POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Why Content Moderation Fails to Counter Violent Extremism (CVE)

  • A new study published by Terrorism and Political Violence examines the current shape of online countering violent extremism (CVE) programs and explores the reasons why CVE programs are not as effective as widely believed.
  • The Study notes four reasons for this failure, including the uneven application of content moderation standards to militant Islamist groups that has allowed some of them to establish a solid foothold online.  Read More

Justice Department Announces New Initiatives to Prevent Hate Crimes

  • The Justice Department announced a series of new initiatives to confront hate crimes and other bias-related incidents.
  • Initiatives include the release of millions in grants toward programs that address hate crime.  Read More

QUOTABLE
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”


--Benjamin Franklin

NOTE TO OUR READERS: We have pulled out the salient points of the articles in this newsletter to keep you informed and focused on the most relevant, important and timely news in national security and extremism. While our national security experts stand behind the summary bullets and deem them trustworthy, Clarion Project does not endorse all the views expressed in the articles linked.

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