“... The people who have been in prison so far cannot therefore be described as prisoners or detainees. "They are hostages of the regime," says Schindler, who now heads the Counter Extremism Project, a think tank that focuses on terrorism. Ultimately, the Iranians are not interested in giving the German detainees a fair trial, but rather in convicting them on flimsy evidence in order to use them as political bargaining chips. This was also the case with Helmut Hofer. "The Iranians' idea was to exchange him for the terrorist Darabi and his accomplices," says Schindler. Kazem Darabi was the mastermind behind the Mykonos attack in Berlin, in which four Kurdish politicians in exile were killed. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Germany did not allow itself to be blackmailed by Iran.” 

CEP Senior Advisor Ian Acheson writes: "Shawcross has now disagreed publicly. The Home Office had, he said, ‘ignored’ key recommendations to beef up Prevent’s performance and the glass remained only ‘half full.’ I have some experience of bureaucratic sleight of hand at work when it comes to reviews and recommendations. When I was tasked by the Government to look into the Prison Service’s colossal and unforgivable failures in containing Islamist extremism a few years ago, I made 69 recommendations which were mysteriously repurposed into 11 without my consent; eight were finally accepted."

CEP Non-Resident Fellow Ari Heistein made an appearance on “The WarCast” podcast from War On The Rocks to discuss recent events in Yemen.

"Cotler is an advisory board member of United Against Nuclear Iran and the Counter Extremism Project."

"“It could have taken quite awhile to repair,” explained Joshua Fisher-Birch, a researcher with the Counter Extremism Project. “This has been promoted by different groups and sort of sub-movements within the accelerationists online environment and they’ve put out manuals and they’ve put out videos that encourage attacks on infrastructure.”"

"“... It is no coincidence that the men all come from Central Asia: the IS offshoot ISPK is recruiting new supporters there. The abbreviation stands for "Islamic State Khorasan Province". But why Afghanistan? The ISPK operates from Afghanistan and claims the historical region of Khorasan, which stretches across several Central Asian states. According to the international non-profit organization Counter Extremism Project, the ISPK is a kind of showcase project for the IS headquarters in Syria and Iraq. Most IS groups emerged from the Al-Qaeda network, says Hans-Jakob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project. The ISPK, on the other hand, was founded by the IS headquarters in Syria. The group also receives its money from there - in contrast to other IS offshoots, which have to finance themselves, says Schindler.”"

"“In addition to strongly supporting proposed mass deportations, some extreme right groups are hoping that likely cuts to federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies and changing priorities will mean that attention will no longer be focused on them,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, a terrorism analyst at the Counter Extremism Project.

“They are anticipating having breathing room and some are hopeful about the future.”"

“The actions of the Israeli army in Lebanon against the terrorist organization Hezbollah have an impact not only on the Middle East region, but also on Germany, as terrorism expert Hans Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) in Berlin and New York, explains to the Berliner Morgenpost. He also describes Germany's role for the Lebanese militia. First of all: Who is Hezbollah? The "Party of God" is a Shiite organization that is mainly active in Lebanon. Like the Palestinian Hamas, it is divided into a political and military arm. The focus of Hezbollah, which is classified as a terrorist organization in Germany, is the fight against Israel and the spread of the Islamist revolution in Iran, says Schindler. He previously worked for the German government and was an advisor on the topics of Islamic State, al-Qaeda and the Taliban - including at the United Nations Security Council.” 

"“It could have taken quite awhile to repair,” explained Joshua Fisher-Birch, a researcher with the Counter Extremism Project. “This has been promoted by different groups and sort of sub-movements within the accelerationists online environment and they’ve put out manuals and they’ve put out videos that encourage attacks on infrastructure.”"

"“The extreme right is focusing on civil war and collapse narratives because, in the context of online propaganda, it signals their commitment to accelerationist or other extremist ideologies that are opposed to the electoral process,” said Joshua Fisher-Birch, an expert on the far right at the Counter Extremism Project. 
“They are hoping that if Harris wins, it will lead to further distrust in the electoral system and government institutions, which could lead to the growth of anti-government and white supremacist groups and movements.”

Not unlike the recent past, Fisher-Birch said the election of “Harris, a woman of color” would be used by extremists to “increase recruitment, similar to what happened after President Obama was elected in 2008”."