France: Macron Gave Up Fighting Radicalism

There are also teachers who, possibly because they are scared, choose to bow their heads, give up teaching certain subjects and — when students shout anti-Semitic and anti-Western insults — to act as if they hear nothing. It has become almost impossible in most French high schools to talk about either Israel or the Holocaust.

Most journalists seem to prefer avoiding all discussion of the advance of radical Islam in France. They know that those who do so are immediately called “racists” or “Islamophobes” and are often threatened, prosecuted, sentenced to heavy fines or fired from their place of work.

Following Interview With U.S. Reporter, Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) Leader Al-Joulani Called Liar, U.S. Collaborator By Opponents; Praised For Pragmatism By Supporters

On April 2, 2021, as part of its Frontline documentary series, the U.S.-based PBS television network published an article discussing an interview with Abu Muhammad Al-Joulani, leader of Syrian jihadi group Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS). The article, titled “Syrian Militant and Former Al Qaeda Leader Seeks Wider Acceptance in First Interview with U.S. Journalist,” describes the interview with Al-Joulani, which was conducted by PBS correspondent Martin Smith in February 2021 in Idlib, Syria.[1]

The article includes two brief video clips in which Al-Joulani answers questions about the HTS designation as a terrorist organization and the group’s treatment of its rivals. In the clips, Al-Joulani responds in Arabic to questions Smith poses in English, asserting that HTS does not pose a threat to the U.S. or Europe and that the group’s terrorist designation was a political decision. He denies that HTS tortures prisoners, and invites international humanitarian organizations to inspect HTS prisons.

On Local Radio Station Syrians Offer Their Kidneys for Sale

The talk of Syrians offering their bodies for sale in order to secure their livelihood is no longer just a rumor as a local radio station received a call from a number of people confirming that they are in fact selling their kidneys and urging buyers to hurry and take advantage of the opportunity and the low prices.

Syrian Refugees in the Netherlands Concerned About a Proposal To Amend the Naturalization Law

Syrians in the Netherlands are anxiously awaiting the formation of the new government, despite the fact that one of the major parties supporting them obtained good results in the parliamentary elections last month. Syrians fear that the largest party in the Netherlands wants to suggest amending the naturalization law in the country after the formation of the government.

Denmark Cancels Residency Permit for a Syrian Student Months Before Her Graduation

Danish Minister of Immigration and Integration, Mattias Tesfaye, created a crisis in Denmark when he canceled the resident status from a host of Syrian refugees, which would blow up their future.

The case of the Syrian student Aya Abu Zahr has gone viral on social media in Denmark after receiving an official letter that freezes her residency and demands that she leave the country, only three months before graduating from high school.

Can We Win in the ‘Gray Zone’?

The gray zone is the space between peace and war involving coercive actions that fall outside normal geopolitical competition between states but do not reach the level of armed conflict…. They usually seek to avoid a significant military response, though are often designed to intimidate and deter a target state by threatening further escalation.

[B]ut do liberal democracies in the 21st Century have the political will to do the dirty work that is necessary to win?

Western nations have multiple pre-emptive and reactive options to respond to gray zone actions directed against them or their allies, most effectively involving multilateral coordination. The objective should be to frustrate or deter, avoiding escalation that might lead to all-out conflict. Broadly, options fall into four categories: diplomatic, informational, economic and military.

Repatriating ISIS Foreign Fighters Is Key to Stemming Radicalization, Experts Say, but Many Countries Don’t Want Their Citizens Back

A review of the 10 countries that yielded the most individuals affiliated with ISIS found varying levels of commitment to repatriation and prosecution.

In the two years since the self-declared Islamic State lost its last physical stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, thousands of ISIS foreign fighters, along with their wives and children, have remained in limbo, mostly in Iraqi custody or in Kurdish detention camps in northeastern Syria.

Israel Reportedly Attacks Iranian Ship in Red Sea

Israel has informed the United States that it is behind Tuesday’s attack on an Iranian reconnaissance ship in the Red Sea, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. According to several reports, Israel’s commando naval forces struck the Iranian vessel, called Saviz, off the shores of Eritrea, responding to last month’s two incidents in which Israeli-owned cargo ships were targeted in the Persian Gulf by Iranian missiles. On Wednesday, Tehran’s foreign ministry issued its first official comment, acknowledging the ship was hit but adding that only minor damage was sustained and that no one onboard was hurt. The latest incident is a noticeable escalation in the ongoing hostile naval exchanges between the two enemy nations. In March, two separate commercial vessels owned by Israeli shipping magnates were hit by Iranian missiles, causing limited damage. Israel, meanwhile, has over the years reportedly sabotaged dozens of Iranian ships it has suspected of illegally carrying arms and oil to Syria and other neighboring countries.