'The Evolution of Jihadism in Italy'

Lorenzo Vidino, ISN Blog, The Evolution of Jihadism in Italy: Rise in Homegrown Radicals I have had MA students working on related issues recently.

Syria-EU

EUObserver, EU lacks will for Iran oil ban, Syria intervention, 1 Dec 2011 "The bloc also added 12 people and 11 entities to its Syria blacklist. The new measures will block Damascus from trading bonds, buying insurance, opening bank branches in the EU, buying oil and gas equipment and buying internet and phone snooping kit (an Italian firm was up until two weeks ago installing email interception equipment for Syrian intelligence in Damascus)."

Mediterranean Microcosm workshop

The Mediterranean Microcosm workshop - Florence, 25-6 Feb 2011 "The Project has been promoted and is being conducted by the Italian Institute of International Affairs (IAI) in cooperation with the Center for the US and Europe of the Brookings Institution, in Washington, and with the Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute (EUI), in Florence."

Details of a recent workshop, which I contributed to (talking about social networking and 'web 2.0' in relation to events in Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain, Yemen, and elsewhere). The pdf includes a list of contributors. I found it a very useful event. Expect a chapter related to this later this year, as part of a book based on the project.

"Learn Arabic with Maha"

alarabiya.net, Palestinian-Italian launches online Arabic lessons, 8 Sep 2010 "Maha Yacoub, a Palestinian-Italian living in the city of Livorno on the western coast, starting her teaching career with private tutoring then moved to the video sharing website YouTube where she launched the channel "Learn Arabic with Maha.""

See Maha's blog Learn Arabic with Maha, and here's her YouTube channel

aQ hostage clip

Reuters Africa, Italian hostage in Africa heard in Internet appeal, 28 Feb 2010 "An Italian hostage who was seized with his wife in eastern Mauritania in December has urged Prime Minister Silvo Berlusconi to intervene to secure their release in an audio clip posted on the Internet."

Milan bombing attempt: web responses

AKI, Italy: Jihadist websites exalt Milan barracks attack, 13 Oct 09

"Extremist websites have lauded Libyan immigrant Mohammed Game's botched bombing of a military barracks in northern Italy - the country's first attempted suicide attack. Police have arrested two people suspected of helping Game in Monday's attack, in which he lost a hand, his eyesight and suffered injuries to his face. An Italian soldier was slightly injured in the attack."

Italian police arrests

Daily Mail, Italian police arrest suspected Al Qaeda plotters who 'planned terror attacks on Britain', 13 May 09 "Bassam Ayachi, 63, and Raphael Gendron, 34, were arrested in Bari last November.

"The men - a Syrian-born imam and a French computer expert - are feared to have been plotting a string of suicide attacks."

Strong web element to this case.

Swine Fever discussions on net

al-Bawaba, ”Muslims immuned from swine flu symptoms”…, 29 Apr 09, " ... the news about the symptoms and the infections from the current swine flu virus created a heated debate in the streets, the cafes and internet forums all across the Arab world - will the "scavenger pig" spread also among the Muslims?

"A review of some posts loaded in recent days to the internet exposes some kind of optimism among the Muslims. For instance: "Anonymous Coward" wrote: "Muslims are better immune. Did you ever hear of SARS cases in Muslim countries?" Other posts support this view, claiming Muslims will not be infected as they don't eat the "dirty" pork. This is of course a wrong suggestion as humans do not get swine flu from eating pork."

Also see AKI, Swine flu: Imam claims virus affirms Koran, 29 Apr 09 "The global spread of the deadly swine flu virus affirms Islam's teachings and its holy book, the Koran, according to imam Amadia Rachid based in the Italian city of Salerno. "We believe that what is happening shows the truth of our faith," said Algerian-born Rachid in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI)."

Baghdad museum

AP, Italy plans virtual Baghdad museum, 27 Feb 09 "After helping to fund the reopening of Iraq's National Museum, Italy is planning a virtual exhibition of Mesopotamian and Islamic treasures, many of which are still missing from the looted Baghdad repository, officials said Wednesday.

"Starting late next month, Internet surfers will be able to roam eight virtual halls showcasing artifacts dating from the birth of civilization in ancient Iraq to the founding of Baghdad in A.D. 762."

Facebook sermon

AKI, Italy: Islamic sermon on Facebook speaks of jihad, 6 Feb 09, "An Islamic sermon in Italian language was broadcast for the first time on the Internet's top social networking site Facebook, before it was due to be read at a local mosque .

"The idea was originally proposed by Italian imam and director of Islam-online.it, Hamza Piccardo. The first topic to be discussed was that of jihad meaning 'holy war' but also 'personal struggle'."

Italy

Reuters ASfrica, Two terrorism suspects arrested in Italy, 2 Dec 08

"Ilhami and Ghafir, who had been living in Italy for around 10 years, downloaded information about bomb-building from the Internet. They also discussed potential targets in conversations monitored by police with eavesdropping devices."

Italy

Spiegel Online, Fatwa Issued Against Italian Politician, 24 Nov 08, "He likes to express controversial opinions, like the notion that police should "ethnically cleanse" homosexuals or that immigrants in public parks should be "dressed up like rabbits" and used for target practice. But now Giancarlo Gentilini, the deputy mayor of the northeastern Italian city of Treviso, has reportedly had a fatwa declared against him."

aQ

AKI, Terrorism: Italian PM and Christian convert targets of Islamist death threats, 17 Jun 08 "Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a prominent Italian journalist who recently converted to Christianity, are the targets of new death threats posted on one of the most popular Islamist websites said to be close to al-Qaeda, on Tuesday."

aQ

BBC Monitoring/redorbit, Italian Paper Examines Al-Qa'Idah's Use of Internet, 11 Jun 08 [Report by Gianni Santucci: "School of Terrorism Online: Combat Manuals, Forums, Videos", in Corriere della Sera, A scuola di terrorismo. Online, 10 Jun 08] "This was a school in subversion on the Internet - run from an Italian city, but linked to Baghdad, Kabul, and Algiers. Nobody can yet say how many jihad outposts there arein anonymous rooms in Europe, the Orient, or the United States, or at what rate they are multiplying. This is Al-Qa'idah's virtual and elusive entrenchment."

Reaction to Berlusconi

AKI, Terrorism: 'May Allah curse Berlusconi' urges Qaeda linked site, 15 Apr 08, "A jihadist message posted to an al-Qaeda linked website urges Allah to "curse" Italy's prime minister-elect, billionaire media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, and also Pope Benedict XVI."

Italy

Daily Mail, Mr and Mrs Bin Laden: Rockers in Rome hoping for peace and a meeting with the Pope, 6 Feb 08 Non-tech ...

Italy/Egypt

adnkronos.com, Italy: Cairo move to stop imam's visit "alarming", says chief rabbi, 22 Jan 08 "The intervention of an Egyptian mosque in stopping Rome imam, Ala Eldin Mohammed Ismail al-Ghobaishy, from visiting the city's synagogue was "alarming", the chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, said on Tuesday." (non-tech)

BBC News, Italy imam guilty of terror links, 20 Dec 07 "An Islamic cleric who preaches at a mosque in Milan has been convicted on terror charges by an Italian court."