Violence and Security

Activist Accuses Facebook of Enforcing Blasphemy Law

July 28, 2016

Egyptian-American anti-sharia activist Nonie Darwish says social media giant Facebook suspended her account after she posted comments critical of Islam in the wake of the recent terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, and has likened Facebook's censorship to the enforcement of "anti-blasphemy" laws in Muslim-majority countries.
Radical Islamist Financing Networks Operate in Europe

July 28, 2016

European intelligence officials are heralding the arrest by Spanish police of two Moroccans integral to Islamic State financial network operations in Europe as crucial to dissecting and dismantling the links between Islamist radical economic recruitment tactics and jihadi financing in Europe.
Academic Complains of "Hate Speech" on Facebook

July 26, 2016

Asserting that the freedom of expression "must come with limits and responsibilities," Dr. Imran Awan of Birmingham City University has published an article condemning what he deems to be the low enforcement by Facebook and UK authorities of laws and policies prohibiting "Islamophobic hate speech" on the social media website.
UN Event Seeks Legislative Action on "Violent Extremism"

July 26, 2016

Emphasizing the need for "soft power" to prevent worldwide "violent extremism" at an event hosted in part by the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova and other speakers called for parliamentarians to help address extremism, mainly through policies instituting "mandatory education on culture of peace."
Syrian Refugee Suicide Bomber in Germany Was IS Loyalist

July 26, 2016

Evidence has emerged that a young Syrian refugee in Germany who detonated a suicide bomb injuring 15 people in a US military garrison town was an Islamic State loyalist, spiking security concerns about links among Germany's refugee policy, Islamist terrorism, and youth radicalization.
Nigerian Court Approves Hijab in Public Schools

July 26, 2016

In the latest legal ruling in a controversial debate relating to the use by followers of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram of headscarves to conceal suicide bombs in attacks in Nigeria, the country's Court of Appeals in Lagos state overturned a 2013 ban that prohibited Muslim girls from wearing the hijab headscarf in public schools.
Islamist Violence in Europe Raise Nuclear Weapon Concerns

July 26, 2016

The spate of Islamist terror attacks in EU countries like Belgium, as well as the failed coup attempt against NATO-member Turkey's Islamist government, has intensified debate among US strategy experts about the serious security risks associated with storing US nuclear bombs in transatlantic member-states.
Islamic State Uses Head Tax on Christians as Tool for Genocide

July 25, 2016

According to a new report by respected Washington think-tank experts, the Islamic State has systematically utilized the jizya, a discriminatory head tax levied against Christians, as a mechanism for genocide against the Christian populations of Syria and Iraq.
Swedish Policymakers Disagree on Best Methods for Countering Islamist Extremism

July 18, 2016

In the face of the spread of Islamist extremist ideologies and transitional jihadist activities inside Sweden, Swedish policymakers are sharply divided on whether security and intelligence tactics or democratization and social integration programs are the optimal methods for countering threats from radical Islamism.
French Citizens Heckle PM at Nice Memorial

July 18, 2016

Hecklers called for the resignation of France's Prime Minister at the memorial service for victims of the terror attack in Nice, critiquing the government for its national security failures against individuals in France, like the perpetrator of the Nice massacre, with ties to and interest in global Islamist extremist groups.