On February 5, 2024, CEP Senior Research Analyst Josh Lipowsky led a course for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Penn State University entitled "Understanding Antisemitism." 

Antisemitism is at its highest levels in the United States in decades, and the bad guys don’t all wear recognizable brown shirts and swastikas anymore. This course will give participants a better understanding of historic antisemitism and why it is on the rise now. Together we will look at how antisemitism has manifested in recent years while exploring common themes that have repeated throughout history, which will empower participants to recognize and confront it. Please note this course will be recorded for the instructor’s use and will be posted online with the Counter Extremism Project.

Instructor: Josh Lipowsky is the senior research analyst of the Counter Extremism Project, a New York–based NGO that researches and combats the spread of violent extremism. His focuses include antisemitism, white supremacy, and Iran-sponsored terrorism. He has a master’s in global affairs from New York University and bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Jewish studies from Penn State. His writing has been featured in the Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, the Hill, Forbes, the New Jersey Jewish Standard, and New York Jewish Week, among other publications.

On January 30, 2024, CEP held a webinar to present a policy paper concerning the threat to global security posed by the Houthi attacks on the international shipping industry since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, 2023. 

Report here: https://counterextre.me/StakesOfHouthiAggression

Since November 18, the Iran-backed Houthis have launched dozens of attacks in the Red Sea and Suez Canal, prompting the United States to announce a multinational naval operation to protect global shipping interests. Several major shipping companies, meanwhile, have started diverting shipments around the Cape of Good Hope—adding weeks to shipping times, fuel consumption, and increasing shipping and insurance costs. Tensions and confrontations have escalated throughout 2024: on January 9, the Houthis ignored recent warnings and launched a complex missile attack against several commercial ships; on January 11, the U.S.-led coalition launched retaliatory strikes against Houthi targets. Most recently, on January 15 the Houthis struck a U.S.-owned and operated cargo ship for the first time. The Biden administration re-designated the Houthis as Specially Designated Global Terrorists on January 17.

These attacks, and the international response to them, have escalated and expanded the stakes of the war between Israel and Hamas. Houthi aggression has significant security and economic implications for international trade and the fight against ramping inflation both in Europe and the United States, as the Red Sea shipping route is a vital component of the global economy. CEP’s policy paper explores the consequences of recent Houthi aggression on the global shipping industry as well as its possible implications for both the peace process in Yemen and the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East connected to Hamas’s war against Israel.