Steven Stalinsky

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Steven Stalinsky is an American political commentator[ citation needed ] whose writings focus on the interplay between supposed Islamic terrorism and technology, and especially terrorism and social media. He has served as executive director of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) since 1999[ citation needed ].

Contents

Commentary

On terrorism and social media

Stalinsky has published analysis on the use of social media by Al-Qaeda and ISIS. [1] [2] He has been interviewed by media outlets about terrorist use of social media, especially about terrorist use of Telegram, VK, and encryption. [3] [4]

Stalinsky's writing on Al-Qaeda's online magazine Inspire was cited in a U.S. Department of Justice terrorism case. [5] In 2013 and 2014, several media organizations used Stalinsky's research describing the indoctrination and exploitation of young children by Al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups. [6] [7]

Stalinsky also spent years pressing Twitter to take action about jihadis' use of their social networking service – efforts which culminated in a 2013 congressional letter to the FBI urging them to take action. [8]

On terrorism and drone use

Stalinsky co-authored a study for MEMRI on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant's and other Jihadi organizations use of drones that has been cited by many media outlets. The Washington Post subsequently interviewed Stalinsky for an article on how Islamic State uses unmanned aerial vehicles. [9]

On Muslim communities in the US

On February 2, 2024, Stalinsky published an opinion piece on The Wall Street Journal titled "Welcome to Dearborn, America’s Jihad Capital". [10] The article criticized the Dearborn, Michigan community for perceived "enthusiasm for jihad against Israel and the West" stemming from the Hamas led terror attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023. Dearborn mayor Abdullah Hammoud described Stalinsky's article as being "inflammatory" and linked it with "an alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online targeting the city of Dearborn". [11] President Joe Biden and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined in the condemnation. [12]

On Anti-Israel Protests in American Universities

On April 22, 2024, Stalinsky published an opinion piece on The Wall Street Journal titled "Who’s behind the Anti-Israel Protest". [13]

Related Research Articles

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Al-Qaeda is a pan-Islamist militant organization led by Sunni Jihadists who self-identify as a vanguard spearheading a global Islamist revolution to unite the Muslim world under a supra-national Islamic state known as the Caliphate. Its membership is mostly composed of Arabs, but also includes people from other ethnic groups. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian, economic and military targets of the US and its allies; such as the 1998 US embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombing and the September 11 attacks. The organization is designated as a terrorist group by NATO, UN Security Council, the European Union, and various countries around the world.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), officially the Middle East Media and Research Institute, is an American non-profit press monitoring and analysis organization that was co-founded by Israeli ex-intelligence officer Yigal Carmon and Israeli-American political scientist Meyrav Wurmser in 1997. It publishes and distributes free copies of media reports that have been translated into English—primarily from Arabic and Persian, but also from Urdu, Turkish, Pashto, and Russian.

Islamic terrorism refers to terrorist acts with religious motivations carried out by fundamentalist militant Islamists and Islamic extremists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gilles Kepel</span> French political scientist and Arabist (born 1955)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jihadism</span> Islamist movements for jihad

Jihadism is a neologism for militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West. It has been applied to various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideologies are based on the Islamic notion of jihad. It has also been applied to various Islamic empires in history, such as the Umayyad Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire, who extensively campaigned against non-Muslim nations in the name of jihad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic extremism</span> Extreme or radical form of Islam

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State</span> Salafi jihadist militant Islamist group

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A terrorist training camp is a facility established to train individuals in the ways of terrorism. By teaching them the methods and tactics of terrorism, those conducting such facilities aim to create an "army" of individuals who will do their bidding. They are often located in, but not confined to, regions where it is intended that acts of terrorism will be carried out, or in traditional areas of extremism, such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, Syria and Somalia. Wide-open spaces such as parks and wilderness areas are common sites for these camps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salafi jihadism</span> Transnational Sunni Islamist religious-political ideology

Salafi jihadism, also known as revolutionary Salafism or jihadist Salafism, is a religious-political Sunni Islamist ideology that seeks to establish a global caliphate, characterized by the advocacy of "physical" (military) jihadist attacks on non-Muslim and (takfired) Muslim targets. The Salafist interpretation of sacred Islamic texts is "in their most literal, traditional sense", which adherents claim will bring about the return to "true Islam".

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawhid al-Jihad (Gaza Strip)</span>

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Islamic extremism in the United States comprises all forms of Islamic extremism occurring within the United States. Islamic extremism is an adherence to fundamentalist interpretations of Islam, potentially including the promotion of violence to achieve political goals. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, Islamic extremism became a prioritized national security concern of the U.S. government and a focus of many subsidiary security and law enforcement entities. Initially, the focus of concern was on foreign Islamic terrorist organizations, particularly al-Qaeda, but in the course of the years since the September 11 terror attacks, the focus has shifted more towards Islamic extremist and jihadist networks within the United States.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Islamic Media Front</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula</span> Militant jihadist organization

Al-Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula, or AQSP, is an Egyptian militant jihadist organization possibly formed by a merger between al-Qaeda operatives in Sinai and Ansar al Jihad. It was Al-Qaeda's branch in the Sinai peninsula, and is composed of many Al-Qaeda factions in the area. AQSP made international headlines in November 2014 when the organization pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) in a nine-minute audio speech released on Twitter.

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References

  1. "Commentary: Online jihad" . Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  2. "Orlando Shows the Limits of Facebook's Terror Policing". Wired. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  3. Kirkos, Bill (17 March 2016). "Minnesota police officers appear on kill list". CNN. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  4. Purnell, Newley; Yuniar, Resty Woro (2016-01-19). "Islamic State Eludes Southeast Asian Authorities With Telegram App". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  5. "AL-AULAQI v. OBAMA et al". Justia Dockets & Filings. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  6. "Syrian Jihadists Target Children for Indoctrination, Training". 23 February 2014. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  7. "Al-Qaeda-linked Syrian faction touts training camp for boys". Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-07-09.
  8. "Feds take little action against U.S. Web companies hosting sites linked to terror". The Washington Times. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
  9. "Use of weaponized drones by ISIS spurs terrorism fears". The Washington Post .
  10. "Welcome to Dearborn, America's Jihad Capital" . Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  11. "Michigan mayor ramps up police force near places of worship, citing 'inflammatory' WSJ op-ed" . Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  12. "Biden, Whitmer join in condemnation of Wall Street Journal column on Dearborn" . Retrieved 2024-02-05.
  13. "Who's Behind the Anti-Israel Protests" . Retrieved 2024-04-23.