Violence and Security

TV Holds Potential in Countering Mideast Islamist Ideology

March 23, 2017

An article in Politico highlights how the request by the Mideast's creative community for the US to assist with the creation of content communicating tolerance, non-violence, and pluralism signals television's soft-power potential to counter the ideas and images spread by Islamist extremist groups to a massive viewing audience in the region.
UN Agents Push States to Act on "Incitement" to Hatred

March 23, 2017

A group of UN human rights mandate holders has issued a statement linking speech by politicians and the media the group categorizes as "incitement to racial hatred" to criminal acts against minorities and calling for "human rights and anti-racism training" for law enforcement officials and judges to ensure respect for the social and economic rights of minorities.
Article: US Rhetoric, Policies Lead to "Islamophobia"

March 23, 2017

W. Paul Smith of Human Rights Watch asserts that the current fear of radical Islamic terrorism in the US, which he associates with the advance of "Islamophobia," is largely unfounded and based in part on the rhetoric and policies of the Trump Administration in dealing with migrants from Muslim-majority countries.
UN Rights Chief: Ban "Racist Hate Speech"

March 22, 2017

In a recent statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein included with his calls to combat race-based crimes a push for states to pass laws "expressly prohibiting racist hate speech" inciting people to "racial discrimination," arguing that the right to free expression comes with "special duties and responsibilities."
EU Agency Issues Guidelines on Migrant Integration

March 22, 2017

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights has issued a report examining national approaches to the integration of migrants across the EU and setting out bloc-wide recommendations on migrant integration policies, including proposals on revamping laws related to education, discrimination, and young people.
EU, UN Tout "Cultural Literacy" as Key to Fighting Extremism

March 22, 2017

The European Parliament and the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) recognized the first anniversary of the 2016 Brussels attacks with an event asserting the importance of new forms of childhood education on "cultural literacy" to counter "violent extremism" and build a "more just, more peaceful, more sustainable future."
China Warns of Growing Islamist Extremism at Home

March 20, 2017

Senior Chinese officials are warning that the integration of the country's huge Uighur and Hui Muslim populations into global jihadi movements may justify an intensified domestic crackdown, an approach considered by some security experts to be controversial for its potential blowback, in order to prevent Islamist activism aimed at destabilizing China.
Afro-Arabian al-Qaeda Partners Share Attack Strategy

March 16, 2017

A growing partnership between al-Qaeda's affiliates in East Africa (al-Shabaab) and the Arabian Gulf (AQAP), including shared manpower, weapons, and financing, suggests the possibility of joint Islamist terror attacks against the jihadis' "far enemy" of America and Europe.
Jihadis Control Anti-Assad Syrian Opposition

March 16, 2017

Six years into the war in Syria, al-Qaeda jihadi groups have consolidated in a united front that has largely absorbed the anti-Assad opposition, ensuring that violent Islamists connected to transnational jihadism are guaranteed a role in stability negotiations and in the medium-term impact of Syria on the geopolitics of Eurasia.
German Minister Proposes "Hate Speech" Fines

March 15, 2017

IP Watch reports that German Minister of Justice Heiko Maas has published draft legislation to combat online "hate speech" and "fake news" by fining social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter up to 50 million euros for failing to take down illegal content within specified time frames.