Jihad and the World

jihadandtheworld

Jihad and the World is a periodic update of global issues that involve Jihad, which generally refers to the expansion of the world of Islam or the protection of the world's Islamic community. Jihad and the World centers on persons and events featured in Mark Silinsky's five books on militant Islam. These podcasts are offered as a courtesy of Dr. Silinsky's firm Kensington Security Consulting where we bring education to national security. 

  1. 1d ago ·  Video

    Jihad and the World - Women Warriors against Islamofascism - Fallaci and Satrapi

    Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the intersection of Western and Islamic cultures. I am Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting,             Let’s delve into the Kensington archives of women we love. Let’s start with an Italian. In earlier videocasts, we looked at some boutique social issues in Italy, illustrating Muslim-non-Muslim friction. There was the plastic pig of Padua, standing in the window of a delicatessen as a symbol of resistance to Muslim demands that it be removed. Then there was the nonsense about Italian and French women who adopt pigs as pets to keep Muslim men at bay. How this silly fable took hold in Europe and in India escapes me. It is easy to have fun with inane stories. But Islam in Italy and throughout Europe is serious business, and Oriana Fallaci was a very serious social critic. So, I would like to take a look at her life and the impact her writings had on shaping European opinions. Why did I select this celebrated, vilified, quoted, scorned, admired, and hated Italian journalist? Because, in my judgment, her insights into European-Islamic relations were second to none. She died 20 years ago. She argued, “there is no place for muezzins, minarets, fake teetotalers, their f****** middle ages, and their f****** chadors.” Yeah, So lets buckle up. The independent scholar Hugh Fitzgerald condenses her writings into the argument that Muslim immigration was turning Europe into “a colony of Islam.” She borrowed the neologism “Eurabia,” coined by Bat Ye’or, to refer to the Islamification of Europe, which, in her words, would “end up with minarets in place of the bell-towers, with the burka in place of the mini-skirt.” Fallaci argued that, from its inception, Islam was driven to conquer Europe and force it under its rule. It came damn close a few times. Until the 21st Century, the apogee was probably the siege of Vienna in 1683. The armies were beaten back, and Europe became resurgent in technology and science. The invasion had been halted. Now, here is where Fallaci becomes controversial. She claims that “children and boats” instead of “troops and cannons.” She continued, “The art of invading and conquering and subjugating” is “the only art at which the sons of Allah have always excelled.” Wow! Such sulfurous rhetoric. Well, you can see she certainly speaks her mind. Is this over the top? Was the only art in which Muslims excelled subjugation? What about the architecture, calligraphy, some poetry, and decorative arts? Also, is the historical analogy between invading Muslim armies and today’s migration solid? Aren’t European countries allowing them in? Aren’t they inviting them in? Well, let’s dive into her argument. But first, who was this woman? She was one of Italy's most celebrated and later reviled journalists, who died in her late seventies in 2006, covered the Vietnam War, and interviewed Henry Kissinger, Indira Gandhi, and Ruhollah Khomeini. And I particularly enjoy the story of her truncated interview with Ayatollah Khomeini. We will get into that. Her spunky persona developed early. Her father was a partisan during the war, captured and tortured by the Germans. As a 14-year-old, she was a courier for the Italian Resistance in Nazi-occupied Florence. As a young journalist, she took risks while covering the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and its crushing by the Soviet army. In my view, she developed wisdom while covering the Vietnam War.  She was a loud critic of American efforts to defeat communism. She was hardly alone. She also gained insights into the American and European left. And with these insights came contempt and anger.  She began as a strident critic of the American effort but became increasingly alarmed at the ruthlessness of the North Vietnamese and consequently, more sympathetic to the Americans. She developed a great hatred for certain American leftists poseurs, threatening to “kick Jane Fonda in the ass and spit in her face for lying about her coverage of the Vietnam War and betraying the confidence of American POWs.”  She developed a respect for Israel, particularly for Golda Meir. Fallaci developed an early concern about Islam, Arabs, and Muslim leaders, and she interviewed a slew of them. These included  Khomeini, Arafat, Gaddafi, and PFLP leader George Habash, a Christian Arab and a terrorist. She wasn’t impressed. My favorite story is her tryst with Ayatollah Khomeini, whom she described as a humorless fanatic. Standing in front of him, she ripped off her chador in his presence, yelling about “these medieval rags!” Well, as the story goes, even the grim old man laughed at her bravado. What a woman!  After September 11, her views on Islam crystallized. According to Al Jazeera, she adopted an “anti-Islam stance.” Maybe, but these ideas didn’t spring from nowhere. By the mid-1960s, she distrusted Islam and began to see it as a threat to the Western liberalism that she and her father fought for in World War II. After 9/11, she saw it as THE threat, and her journalism reflected that conviction. Hugh Fitzgerald stressed that Fallaci did not “stir anti-Muslim sentiment.” She did not call for violence. Was she an activist? Her writing was intended to be both objective and thought-provoking. Could this have led to action? Yes. But she was never a rabble-rouser. She would have thought that low rent. She was convinced that Islamic law was antithetical to Western values. She took Muslims seriously, unlike many thinkers on the left. When many Western professors and opinion-makers dismissed the triumphalism of Muslim immigrants to Europe, Fallaci took them seriously and at their word. When Muslims boasted that Islam is an unstoppable force in Europe, Fallaci sounded the alarm. This earned her both followers and enemies.             Three of her books commanded the attention of her fans and opponents.  The Rage and the Pride, The Force of Reason, and Oriana Fallaci Interviews Herself – in which she described the Muslim world as an “enemy we treat as a friend” and warned Europe about what she believed to be the danger of becoming “Eurabia.” Here are a few: The Muslims refuse our culture and try to impose their culture on us. I reject them, and this is not only my duty toward my culture-it is toward my values, my principles, my civilization. The increased presence of Muslims in Italy and in Europe is directly proportional to our loss of freedom. I find it shameful that in nearly all the universities of Europe, Palestinian students sponsor and nurture anti-Semitism. I defend Israel’s right to exist, to defend itself, to not let itself be exterminated a second time. Europe is no longer Europe, it is Eurabia, a colony of Islam, where the Islamic invasion does not proceed only in a physical sense, but also in a mental and cultural sense." Turning to Iran, "Without Khomeini, we would not be where we are. What a pity that, when pregnant with him, his mother did not choose to have an abortion.”             Well, this Spitfire was plucky to the end. A few months before her death, Fallaci famously said she was ready to blow up the minaret of a mosque in Chianti [because she did not want to “see a minaret in the landscape of Giotto when I can’t even wear a cross !”  Fallaci was famously a Tuscan patriot.      And today, from the grave? She exists in memory. Italy and the rest of Europe is far more populated by Muslims than in Oriana’s day. She would be crestfallen at the situation and would have yelled in Italian, “I told you so.” And then she would have wept.  In the words of one of her admirers, “Fallaci is no longer a simple journalist but has become a prophetess of misfortune who warned us that Islam wanted to attack us.” Marjane Satrapi There is another loss. This one is recent. French-Iranian artist and activist Marjane Satrapi, the gutsy author of “Persepolis,” a graphic account of her struggle for freedom in Iran, died far too young at age 56. She had been living in France with her Swedish husband. The French government announced, “Her passing marks the loss of a leading figure in French culture and an artist deeply committed to freedom, whose work carried a universal message and earned her immense international acclaim.” Satrapi was born into a secular, activist family in 1969 in Rasht in northern Iran. Her family and millions of other Iranians saw their lives yanked back to the Middle Ages as the theocratic regime eliminated the freedoms that evolved in the 20th century. Marjane was 10 at the time and, even at that young age, was bitter about having to wear a scarf to cover her hair.  Then, quickly came the avalanche of the Ayatollah’s edicts to narrow and eliminate basic human freedom. She was separated from boys in school and society, and she saw the emotional and intellectual devastation that befell the adults in her life.  All this is in her bestselling sensation  “Persepolis”, which came out in 2000. This graphic novel depicted the revolution through the eyes of a young girl and then young woman.  Satrapi’s rebellious streak – captured in “Persepolis” with touching honesty and humor – inspired her parents, who feared she’d get into trouble with the regime, to send her abroad in 1984. “Persepolis” was adapted into a film in 2007 and won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival that year. It was also nominated for an Academy Award. Satrapi’s work spanned numerous graphic novels – which she preferred to call “comic books” – and films. In 2019, she directed “Radioactive,” a British biographical drama film starring Rosamund Pike as Marie Curie. She was also an outspoken critic of Iran’s ruling establishment and a prominent supporter of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement that emerged after the death of a young woman in police custody

    17 min

  2. Jun 10

    Jihad and the World - Islam, Britain and Europe - A Yorkshire Man Writes F Hamas

    Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the intersection of Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, which provides education on national security. It is part of a series titled "Europe Has Fallen: Islam, Britain, and the Continent." The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, and today’s episode focuses on Britain and its challenge of balancing free speech with respect for the sensitivities of the country’s Islamic and pro-Hamas communities. Today, we head to northern Yorkshire in Britain, where we meet Pete North, a man in his late 40s who has issues with Hamas, Muslims, and Palestine. He is very open and outspoken about his contempt for all three. His tweets “f_Hamas, f–k Palestine” and “f–k Islam earned him an arrest by the Yorkshire police. It also gained him support from people who share his opinions and from those who hold on to what little free speech remains in Britain. This is what happened: Peter North posted a meme on social media using the F word three times in reference to Hamas, Islam, and Palestine. In response, police knocked on his door at 9:30 on 25 September 2025 to arrest him and take him to the police station. Two officers informed him that he was under arrest under section 19, which relates to spreading racial hatred. One officer explained, “So you've posted something online that we believe is spreading racial hatred." However, according to North, the police refused to disclose the offending post. Was it on "Twitter or Facebook?" Responded a policeman, "Well, I can't explain too much. It's just to give you the context beforehand.” "What, you're taking me away now?" "Yes, so you're under arrest..." "In the middle of the night, over a tweet?" "I am, unfortunately." And off North went to the police station, where he was interrogated. North recalled, “The officer in the interview said, ‘Well, firstly, let’s start with the meme. You posted a meme that said f—k Hamas,’” North claimed. “I said, ‘yeah, I did post a meme that said f—k Hamas, because Hamas are a proscribed terrorist organisation internationally, including in Britain.“ ‘Just so we’re on the same page, you do know who Hamas are?'” “And he just … shook his head,” North continued, claiming the officer was just as clueless when he asked if he knew about the horrors committed by Hamas on Oct. 7. “He was totally oblivious,” he claimed. “If you’re going to arrest people for memes, you probably need to pay more attention to current events.” North was later released without charges after a lengthy interrogation and has since accused authorities of trying to “terrorize” people into being politically correct online. I was held in a holding area for some time before being taken for an interview. During the interview, to my shock and disgust, I had to explain to the interviewing officer what Hamas is. He was completely unaware. It seemed he didn't know what happened on 7/10. One of the questions was “Do you know who Tommy Robinson is?”—followed by “Are you aware that he was the first person to post this meme?” North responded that he did not believe that is what happened. North then explained that Hamas is a proscribed terrorist group in the UK. In his words, “The Palestine flag is the flag of Islamo-leftist revolution, and the agenda it represents is committed to the extermination of Jews. If you want to stand in support of that, you should go to a Muslim country. As it happens, many Muslim countries would lock you up—both for supporting Hamas and for protesting.” North expressed his disgust towards the police, stating: "I'm disgusted by the police because they could have handled this in an orderly, civil manner, but instead they chose the maximum intrusion, and it was essentially like being treated as an act of terrorism. "They were trying to find evidence that I intended to stir up racial hate with it, which is unbelievable. It's crass. The meme itself is controversial, but controversy isn't illegal, and it simply reflects my opinion.” North did not back down. In fact, he double-downed. “I feel quite strongly that what political cartoons and memes I post on social media is none of the police’s business. Nobody should be facing police inquiries for posting memes on Twitter. “The whole point of this exercise is not to win convictions. It’s to terrorize people like me into thinking twice about posting spicy memes.” North received support on social media. On Jihad Watch, many followers offered comments like these: “Is this Communist China? Why do the people here speak English? From MihaiI, “I have a genuine question for every police officer in the UK: Is this what your ancestors fought and died for? One said, “Hamas is a terrorist group. Are the police defending Hamas now? Lou C. asked, “When are the police in the UK going to wear Brown Shirts? This is the same path followed by the Nazis in late 1930s Germany... The UK is done. Put a fork in it.” Tee Dee asked, “Since when did Hamas become a race???” Said one Briton, “ISLAM GO HOME. You're not welcome and never were.” Well, North was released by the police on unconditional bail but maintains that the tweet in question remains 'a sentiment I wholly endorse.' He continued: "I'm quite shaken by the whole thing right now. I haven't slept and probably won't. I've always known my tweets could be a bit spicy, but being snatched by a goon squad at night for a 'F*** Hamas' meme is just breathtakingly outrageous and absurd. My wife was mortified. She was left alone after I was taken out of the house and was in tears, but she is very stoic and is my rock." When asked if he regretted his post, he responded: 'I don't regret at all expressing my solidarity for the principle of free speech. Not at all, because it was an act of solidarity with Tommy Robinson, who had been hauled over the coals for posting that meme.” Thank you for listening to this episode of Jihad and the World. Our upcoming book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World, will be available for purchase in July 2026. This podcast does not represent the official position of the United States government. Until next time, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting.

    7 min

  3. Jun 8

    Jihad and the World - When the Pagers Went Boom!

    Hizballah - When the Beepers Went Boom! On September 17 2024, explosions rocked Lebanon and Syria. These were not rockets launched from aircraft or shells from naval ships or ground-based artillery. Instead, they seemed to come from hand-held pagers, but witnesses and observers were not sure. Most of the explosions took place in Beirut, a stronghold for Hizbollah. Soon, the connection between the pager and Hizbollah was clear. But what on earth was happening? Why did the beeps go bang? For many younger listeners, pagers are largely artifacts of the past. They belong to yesterday’s technology. Maybe their parents used them early in their careers. They appear in old TV shows from the 1980s and 1990s, when women had poofy hair, and men wore suspenders at the office. But today’s generation is the cell phone generation. So, what exactly are pagers? Pagers are handheld communication devices that display short text messages relayed over telephone lines by a central operator. They operate on radio waves rather than the Internet. This makes them harder to monitor, which, in turn, makes them popular with terrorist groups, including Hizbollah. Hizbollah turned to pagers after its leadership determined that cellphones were being monitored by Israeli intelligence. Israeli intelligence got wind of this intended switch in communications and saw it as an opportunity. It crafted an intelligence operation like no other and one likely to make a mark in the history of intelligence operations, because it is one hell of a story! And here it is. When Israelis heard about the planned bulk purchase of cell phones, intelligence got to work. Technicians designed pagers with a battery that concealed a small but potent charge of plastic explosive and a one-of-a-kind, largely undetectable detonator. The Israeli pseudo-pager was significantly larger than other pagers to accommodate the mini-bomb. They crafted a marketing campaign to incite would-be Hizballah purchasers. Sure, the pager was bulkier, but that was because it was combat-tough – a real war pager. They dressed up the ads with military paraphernalia. But who would sell these pagers? Hizballah would not buy an Israeli pager or one connected to Israel. So Israel invented a company and the pager it claimed to sell. This company was BAC Consulting, ostensibly a Hungary-registered firm that partnered with a Taiwanese company, Gold Apollo. In fact, these were shell companies created by Israeli intelligence. But BAC Consulting would have to appear credible. Why didn’t it have significant sales? Why haven’t more people heard of it? What is this company, anyway? It is not well-known because it has very few clients. After all, it was military-grade. BAC needed only one client – Hizballah. And Hizballah took the bait and bought hundreds. Hizballah bought and distributed the pagers in the summer of 2022. The group’s technicians found nothing suspicious in the new product. Now, Israel would wait and wait for an opportune time to kill and maim. The moment came when Israel claimed it had thwarted a Hizballah attempt to kill senior Israeli leaders in September 2024. When the Israeli attack struck, it did so like lightning. Hundreds of pagers exploded nearly simultaneously, killing dozens and maiming and disfiguring scores of others. While the largest number of casualties was in Beirut, many people were also wounded in the country's north and south. But what were the mechanics of the attacks? Israeli intelligence sent a ring to each pager. The recipient then picked up the pager and, usually, saw the message “error.” This was followed by the message “Press OK,” which many did. This detonated the explosive inside the pager and usually killed or seriously injured the victim. Many lost fingers, which were blown off. Many suffered severe facial scars and blindness because they held the pager close to their face so they could read the message. The facial scars will remain clearly visible. There was also the psychological trauma. Mohammed Awada, 52, and his son were driving when the boy saw a pager explosion. Awada said. “My son went crazy and started to scream when he saw the man’s hand flying away from him.” Elsewhere, a young girl, Fatima, had just come from school when she answered her father’s pager. The explosion killed the 9-year-old girl. How reliable is each story related to journalists? Some are certainly fabricated or exaggerated. However, local hospitals treated people of all ages. Lebanese government officials and Hezbollah were quick to blame Israel. "After examining all the facts, available data, and information regarding the heinous attack this afternoon, we hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression.” The following day, hundreds of walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah operatives also exploded.

    9 min

  4. Jun 6 ·  Video

    Jihad and the World - Videocast Four - Monica Witt - Turncoat for Iran and Mossad's Animals

    Hello from Jihad and the World – a podcast that explores the intersection of Western and Islamic cultures. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, and today’s episode will examine the strange case of Monica Witt – from all-American girl to a traitor for Iran. Here is an update to a podcast I made a few months ago.              So, an all-American girl joins the Air Force, becomes an intelligence analyst, learns Persian, and defects to Iran. It doesn’t happen often. Generally, defections go the other way, from autocracy to freedom. There are, of course, exceptions. Kim Philby and the other Cambridge spies skedaddled to Moscow when their cover was blown. A few Americans hightailed it to Cuba. But this was rare. Rarer still was defecting to Iran. Some Iranians who lived in the West for a while returned to Iran. Maybe they have very aged parents, saw business opportunities, or were seized by religious conviction. But they were not defectors.  However one was, and her name is Monica Elfriede Witt. Witt was born in Texas, raised in Florida, served competently in the Air Force, earned an advanced degree at a top university, and then she defected. She claimed to use her intelligence background, knowledge of tradecraft, and personnel to support a higher purpose—serving the Islamic Republic of Iran. She was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to deliver national defense information to the Iranian government; prosecutors say Witt provided highly classified secrets to Iranian intelligence and helped them target operations after she defected to Tehran. She remains at large, with a $200,000 bounty from the U.S. Department of Justice.               So, What Happened?             Well, she didn’t like it in the Air Force.  Years after her service and speaking on Iran's Press TV, Witt criticized a "boy's club atmosphere" and widespread sexual harassment that she claimed was systemic in the U.S. military. In June 2008, she left the Air Force and earned a degree from the University of Maryland. With her security clearance and bachelor’s degree, she was well-positioned to work for national security contractors, a role she held for several years. From November 2008 to August 2010, she worked as a Middle East Desk Officer in Virginia. She later worked for a nonprofit organization that connected Middle Eastern students with Fulbright scholarships. She enrolled at George Washington University and partially paid her tuition through an Iraq Fulbright scholarship. You think she would be happy, but she wasn’t.  In choppy English, she published an article in the university’s International Affairs Review that was very critical of the United States.              She, like many other university students, was openly critical of the United States, and at first her anti-American rhetoric was indistinguishable from that of other graduate students. Many Middle East studies departments have been highly hostile to the policies of successive administrations. They are also well-financed by Middle Eastern states. But the key here is that she began to show signs of disloyalty to the United States, and these signs were noted but not reported. Something similar happened with an Army psychiatrist, Major Nidal Hasan. He began to turn away from his country and embrace radical Islam. He unleashed his fury on his fellow American soldiers as they were preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. On a rampage, he shot at anything that moved, killing 14 and wounding and crippling others.               It is vital to note that both Hasan and Witt were ostentatiously disdainful of America, and their fellow students were concerned. But they were also worried about being tarred as a bigot or Islamophobic. Referring to Monica Witt, a fellow student at George Washington, later recalled, 'There weren't warning signs in terms of 'go to authorities' warning signs.' One student recalled that “everyone just kind of sat and watched” as Witt expressed strong opposition to American foreign policy in class. No one, it seems, pushed back with even a limited defense of America. According to some accounts, Witt was haunted by what she claimed were American war crimes in the Middle East. A classmate recalled that she said she had difficulty sleeping and reconciling her participation in the war effort. Witt would mention drone strikes, extrajudicial killings, and atrocities against children, all of which she claimed her colleagues in the military would brag about. She appeared distressed by what she called ‘gross incompetence’ by her superiors. Well, they were certainly not competent enough to catch on to her. And I am very dubious about her alleged war crimes.             The Hollywood Conferences 2012 and 2013               Her journey toward becoming an agent for the Iranian government took a significant step in 2012, when she attended a highly publicized conference in Tehran. Since the 1979 revolution, the Iranian regime has arranged visits for many influential intellectuals to speak at conferences, most of which are closely monitored by Iranian intelligence services. New Horizon, an organization backed by Iranian intelligence, hosts events featuring anti-American, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel, and far-left speakers.             A New Woman upon Return             After returning to the United States from the 2012 conference, Witt began wearing a hijab and often discussed her conversion to Islam. Some people found her comments on Iran troubling, viewing them as both concerning and openly supportive of the regime and its ideology. She delivered a class presentation that alarmed some students for its sympathetic tone toward the Iranian government. A fellow student recalled that Witt's paper sounded like a "love letter to Iran." The FBI also grew concerned. Several agents approached Witt and expressed concerns that Iran’s intelligence services might try to recruit her.             She met an Iranian-American spotter and recruiter for Iranian intelligence less than seven months after the New Horizon conference, according to an indictment charging her with multiple felonies. The indictment identified a person known as Individual A, who approached her, built a relationship, and arranged her re-entry into Iran in August 2013. Once there, Witt was provided with housing and computer equipment. Her defection was complete, and Ms. Witt, who had served ten years as an Air Force intelligence specialist, was now under the operational control of Iranian security services. She disclosed classified U.S. information and researched U.S. intelligence personnel she had worked with and knew professionally and socially. This information was used to create target packages.               Monica Witt’s Espionage – The Grand Jury Indictment             The grand jury indictment of Witt was unsealed during the week marking the fortieth anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. In the same indictment, the grand jury charged four Iranian nationals with conspiracy, attempted computer intrusion, and aggravated identity theft. And what about Monica Witt today?  I don’t know. Has she been harmed in the spring 2026 US-Israel attacks on Iran?  She may have been. But in May 2026, the FBI announced a $200,000 reward for information leading to Witt's apprehension and prosecution. Something to think about. Eurovision Update Let’s revisit the Eurovision contest for an update. This is a good piece by a young Israeli, Yael Bar Tur. It gives a clearer picture of the voting rules and how they affected Israel’s strong performance. Each participating country — 35 this year — submits an original song, performed by a local singer or band. The real show begins when voting starts, and countries, through panels of judges and fans voting from home, unleash their lethal arsenal of soft power on one another. And unleash they do: Scandinavian countries all vote for each other, as do the Balkans. Ukraine won a landslide in 2022 amid international sympathy following Russia’s invasion. Its artists have been snubbed by fellow performers, and countries have even dropped out of the competition altogether to protest their presence. Israeli singers reportedly rehearse to a soundtrack of boos and jeers to simulate what they’ll inevitably face onstage. But scratch the glitter, and a brighter picture emerges. Amid all the controversy — and despite low points from judges’ panels (who wants to deal with all those mean Instagram comments?) — Israel has been reeling in record numbers of audience votes. In 2025, when judges ranked Israel’s entry 14th, the audience overwhelmingly picked it as their favorite, propelling it to the No. 2 spot overall. This year brought a similar result: The audience vote moved Israel from eighth place in the judges’ estimation to second in the final tally. Anti-Israel critics claimed the public support was the result of a sophisticated campaign by those crafty Zionists, but voters in countries like Albania, Finland and Portugal — not exactly known for their thriving Jewish communities — each awarded Israel the majority of their points. They just love the song, “Michelle.” Iranians in the diaspora campaigned on Bettan’s behalf, and social-media viewing numbers for “Michelle” broke records. Animal Kingdom Let’s return to the animal kingdom I discussed in earlier videocasts and podcasts. In an earlier videocast, Kensington Security Consulting announced a competition for the best image of an Israeli super rat. Hope you will enter. The prize is a copy of my upcoming book, Cauldron of Terror. Well, today let’s turn to other animals that prowl and roar across the greater Middle East. Then there are wild boars. In 2012, wild boars in the West Bank, which the Zionists rele

    23 min

  5. Jun 2

    Jihad and the World - Roger Waters and Medea Benjamin – Pretty in Pink

    Hello from Jihad and the World. The author is Mark Silinsky of Kensington Security Consulting, which provides education on national security. Today’s episode is called “Roger Waters and Medea Benjamin – Pretty in Pink.” It examines two colorful characters. Roger Waters “We, the ordinary people of the world, hugely outnumber the Israeli scum and the ruling Elites in the West. We stand alongside our brothers and sisters in Iran in the fight to end the occupation, oppression, and genocide in Palestine.” Roger Waters For listeners over 50, the name Roger Waters is instantly recognizable. You likely know some of his songs by heart. Some songs were rebellious, while others were gentle. Pink Floyd blasted onto the London music scene in 1965 and stayed on the charts for over a decade. The iconic album The Wall was released in 1979. Waters, one of the group’s veterans, continues to make music and stir controversy. Like many entertainment celebrities, he is an activist. A very loud one, and his perennial hobby horse is Israel. He is certainly not alone, but his theatrical flair has drawn the attention he sought. He appeared publicly in a Nazi uniform and performed with a giant inflatable pig bearing a Star of David on its side. The balloon also features words and symbols such as “kyke” [sic], “scum,” “follow the money,” and dollar signs. Waters is particularly incensed by the “religious supremacism” he attributes to “the Jews.” He says that “supremacy of all kinds is the key to understanding why people behave in these extremely evil ways, like the Israelis have done for the last 75 years and are continuing to do so with the support of the American empire, including my country, the United Kingdom, which is part of the American empire.” “And it’s deeply, deeply depressing to me.” He repeatedly assures his fan base and others that, in his words, “I am not an antisemite.” But not everyone is persuaded. Polly Samson, the wife of his former Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, who has known Roger Waters for decades, is credited with texting, “Sadly, Roger Waters, you are antisemitic to your rotten core. Also a Putin apologist and a lying, thieving, hypocritical, tax-avoiding, lip-synching, misogynistic, sick-with-envy, megalomaniac.” It doesn’t help his cause that so many of his comments are captured on tape and that his cavalier insults annoy his bandmates more than he realizes. Given all this, it surprised few that he wanted to weigh in on the joint American-Israeli attacks against Iran in 2025 and 2026. The Pink Floyd bassist texted, “March 1st, 2026, is day two of WW3. We, the ordinary people of the world, hugely outnumber the Israeli scum and the ruling Elites in the West. We stand alongside our brothers and sisters in Iran in the fight to end the occupation, oppression, and genocide of our brothers and sisters.” This was a broadside against Israelis and Western elites, presumably Americans. He speculated that Donald Trump might have him assassinated. His contempt is not limited to Donald Trump. He loathed his predecessor. Iranian media referred to Waters as a “political expert” and quoted him on the Russian channel RT as saying, "Biden (is a) warmongering servant of the oligarchy that rules the United States of America and will continue to be so for however long he remains the president of the United States. He's not to be trusted on anything.” On his television show, Piers Morgan unsuccessfully pressed Waters to condemn Iran. On his show, he said to the 82-year-old rocker: "(Roger) You like to stand up for one of the world's worst regimes in Iran and pretend that the only reason people there are protesting is because of the economy, and that's because of sanctions put on it by other countries, wrongly, because they don't prop up any terror groups. "So, when I look at your worldview, I don't see a guy - with all due respect, Roger - who's standing up for the voiceless and powerless. I see somebody trying to prop up terrorists and powerful dictatorships and regimes." That is what Piers said. Medea Benjamin There is another “pink” in this podcast beyond Pink Floyd. This is Code Pink, cofounded by Medea Benjamin. The website touts Code Pink’s involvement in many causes. These include Justice for Palestine, U.S. Out of Africa, China is Not our Enemy, Peace in Ukraine, and, for our purposes today, No War on Iran/Peace with Iran. The site requests, “Tell Congress we don’t want ANY troops sent to the Middle East, we want a complete halt in military equipment and aid to Israel, and we want peace with Iran. Over 60% of Americans want to stop arming Israel, and Americans certainly do not want to go to war with Iran. No more endless wars, we want peace!” The website offers an “action toolkit” that is not easily accessible. But Ms. Benjamin and Code Pink call people of conscience to “Gather a group of people - reach out to your local anti-war coalition to broaden your base. Check out our basic events checklist. Gather your signs, art, chants, and other striking visuals. Review the CODEPINK Statement of Nonviolence. Take action! Host a rally, a street teach-in, a sit-in at your representative’s office, or something even more creative. Demand no war on Iran!” As for the woman herself, Medea Benjamin has much in common with Roger Waters. She finds a kindred spirit in Waters’ focus on Israel as a central force of the world’s evil. Born Susan Benjamin in 1952 on Long Island to Jewish parents, she changed her name to that of the Greek mythological woman who killed her children to spite their father, who loved them. At Tufts University, she threw herself into left-wing activism. In the early 1980s, this trust-fund woman of privilege lived in Cuba and married the black coach of the country’s basketball team. But she was jailed and deported after rubbing Fidel’s regime the wrong way. On her return to the United States, she pursued a slew of anti-American causes. Like Waters, Benjamin is highly theatrical. In 2024, during Israel’s war against Hamas, she appeared on video wearing striped pajamas that evoked the German concentration camps. She said, “I’m wearing these pajamas that are supposed to symbolize the concentration camp and the people in the Holocaust who died of starvation, to say people are starving right now in Gaza.” She makes similar claims about the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran today. For those interested in her perspective on this war, please read Code Pink's webpage. For those seeking a more critical account of her advocacy, consider her profile on the Canary Mission website. For those interested in a sympathetic account of Roger Waters' politics, his videos are widely available online. Please consider watching the 37-minute film titled “The Dark Side of Roger Waters.” This concludes this episode of Jihad and the World. Our upcoming book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World, will be available for purchase in July 2026. This podcast does not represent the official position of the United States government. Until next time, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting.

    8 min

  6. May 28 ·  Video

    Jihad and the World - Videocast Three - Sheik Yassin and Zionist Super Rats

    Hello and welcome to Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. This is Mark Silinsky. In this podcast, we will look at the founder of Hamas, Sheik Yassin, and examine the current controversy over capital punishment in Israel. Both are explored in my upcoming book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel and the World. So who is Ahmed Yassin, and why was he important? He created and led Hamas, which is why he is important. He had a difficult but accomplished life, though his accomplishments were reviled by Israelis, which is why the IDF killed him. In some ways, he was an unconventional leader who overcame many challenges. First, he was a quadriplegic. He claimed that he was performing handstands on a beach in Gaza as a small boy when he snapped his neck. This bound him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. It also forced him to rely on his intellect, which he did. Always studious, he studied English at Cairo University and later became a popular teacher in Gaza.   He found a home in the Islamic Brotherhood, which we have discussed at length on podcasts and in Cauldron of Terror. The Brothers led a broad-based effort to return Muslims to the principles of Islam’s first generation of leaders. In the 1960s, he led the Gaza branch of the Brotherhood. At the time, Gaza was part of Egypt, which clamped down on the Brothers' recruitment and social agitation. Egypt imprisoned him for a few months in 1965, hoping he would cool down. He continued to agitate.   A few years later, Yassin's Brotherhood began to build its influence by organizing and funding schools and medical clinics, a hallmark of the Brothers. He used this to call Muslims to Islam. Then he called his associates to violence. As future Hamas leader Khaled Mashal recounts, "In 1983, we carried out our first military experience under the leadership of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin; the 1983 organization sought to gather weapons to prepare groups for military training and launch the jihad project." Yassin himself has been directly tied to Hamas terrorism. Arrested in 1984, Yassin told Israeli authorities that he founded an organization intent on "fighting non-religious [Palestinian] factions in the territories and carrying out jihad operations against Israel."  Released in a 1985 prisoner exchange, Yassin hatched a 1989 plot to kidnap and murder Israeli soldiers and negotiate the exchange of their bodies for the release of Hamas prisoners. Yassin was arrested again after the abduction and murder of Israeli soldiers and was sentenced to two life terms for his role in these killings. Yassin was again released from prison in 1997 as part of a deal with Jordan's King Hussein, following Israel's botched attempt to assassinate Khaled Mashal in Jordan. Palestinian security forces placed Yassin under house arrest several times between 1998 and 2000 in an effort to curb Hamas's terrorist efforts to undermine the peace process. Since then, Yassin has played an increasingly active role in coordinating and financing Hamas attacks. In a well-known March 2000 case, Palestinian security officials arrested several members of Yassin's entourage, including two bodyguards, and uncovered explosives (intended for an attack against Israel) hidden in a kindergarten in Gaza's Shati refugee camp. Yassin was again released from prison in 1997 as part of a deal with Jordan's King Hussein, following Israel's botched assassination attempt on Khaled Mashal in Jordan. Palestinian security forces placed Yassin under house arrest several times between 1998 and 2000 to curb Hamas's terrorist efforts to undermine the peace process. Since then, Yassin has played an increasingly active role in coordinating and financing Hamas attacks. Yassin is also directly linked to the one documented case of operational crossover between Hamas and al-Qaeda. A Hamas activist receiving religious instruction in Pakistan was recruited in February 1998 for military training in al-Qaeda's camps in Afghanistan. So, what was he like? He is a martyr and an inspirational figure for many Palestinians and other Muslims. An Israeli security officer interrogated him for over 12 years. They met at his home in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City after his arrest in May 1989 and his trial before a military court. The Israeli was struck by his saintly status, and his followers obeyed his instructions immediately and unquestioningly. For both his admirers and his enemies, Yassin cut a respectable figure.   Bottom Line:   Yassin brought Hamas from obscurity to prominence after splitting from Arafat in 1994, when the Nobel Prize-winning PLO leader accepted a two-state solution. Yassin demanded that all Israeli land be surrendered to Palestinians and ordered a wave of suicide bombings. In response, Israel decided to eliminate him. In March 2004, a drone spotted him being wheeled to prayer and targeted him with an invisible laser. Helicopters launched three Hellfire missiles, one of which hit him directly, killing him and nine others. Many Palestinians idolized him, while Israeli authorities wondered whether they had created a martyr who would inspire future generations of Palestinians. All this is discussed in Cauldron of Terror, which will be available this summer.   Capital Punishment   Let’s look now at capital punishment in Israel. For those who have followed this controversy, you may have assumed, as I did, that there was no capital punishment in Israel, except for Adolf Eichmann. In practice, this was the case, but not in law. Execution was on the books for murder until 1954, when it was abolished for ordinary murders. It remained an option, however, for mass murder in time of war or against humanity. Judges rarely imposed death sentences, and when they did, those sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. Then Hamas and other organizations would kidnap Israelis and hold them for prisoner exchanges, as they did for Yasin. After October 2023, many Israelis began to view these exchanges more favorably, and some demanded the reinstatement of the death penalty. A successful push began to pass a law reestablishing the death penalty for those convicted by Israeli military and criminal courts. The bill states its purpose, "to establish the death penalty for terrorists who carried out murderous terror attacks, as part of the fight against terrorism." It further states that "a person who intentionally causes the death of another with the aim of harming a citizen or resident of Israel, with the intent of rejecting the existence of the State of Israel, his sentence shall be death or life imprisonment, and only one of these penalties." Predictably, the bill drew both praise and scorn. The main objection to the bill is that it is racist. Opponents argued that it was unethical, unconstitutional, and discriminatory, favoring Jewish Israelis over Palestinians. This is a no-nonsense law that mandates the death penalty in most cases. Only if the court determines that there are "special reasons" can it commute the death penalty to life in prison. Beyond the charge of racism, many Israelis oppose the death penalty. They believe Israel is too moral for it, as many Europeans and Americans do. Israelis also remember that the first execution took the life of an innocent man. In 1948, Meir Tobianski, an army officer, was falsely accused of espionage and executed for treason. He was posthumously exonerated. The second execution occurred in 1962, when Israel executed Adolf Eichmann. Few mourned his death.  Israel’s Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, the main driver behind the bill, had some fun with it. He declared that he dreamed of hanging terrorists and that he was “dying to see the bill passed.” Get it? Well, an Arab Knesset member, Ahmad Tibi, shouted that Ben Gvir needs a psychiatrist immediately, adding: ‘Usually, people wish for a better future and love with a birthday cake, but these people sanctify hatred and death.’ Israelis formed a group against the death penalty called “L’hayim – Israelis against the Death Penalty.” L’hayim means “to life.” Proponents respond that they are through with the peacenik-kibutznik efforts. After October 2013, many Israelis looked to stronger anti-terrorist measures, and capital punishment was among them.   So, when can we expect the first executions? The death penalty law won't be applied retroactively or to alleged perpetrators of the October 7 terror attacks. Opponents will throw everything they have at derailing the executions. Under the plan, the Israel Prison Service will carry out the death sentence within 90 days of sentencing. The prime minister may delay it for up to 180 days. The condemned will hang. Here are some of my thoughts. People who oppose the death penalty period, oppose this bill, and some civil rights organizations underscore the racist elements against Palestinians. The first point makes sense to me. Most Western states oppose it for many reasons. Fair enough. But is it really racist? Is it written anywhere in the bill that Jews are exempt? Certainly, most of the terrorists are Muslim. But there are also hard-left terrorists who have been convicted. If the hangman pulls the door on a disproportionate number of Palestinians, it is because a disproportionate number of terrorist murderers are Palestinian. It makes sense to me that Palestinians would do most of the air dancing because most of the Palestinians do the killing. But I would like your opinion. Our last issue is … unconventional. We at Kensington Consulting are indebted to the Palestinian Authority for expanding our awareness of Israeli tactics in Gaza. In Cauldon of Terror, we examined Israeli battle tactics used to destroy Hamas. We thought we were thorough and that our analysis was rigorous, but we overlooked a four-legged, mobile weapon designed to attack children and the infirm. We thank our stars that the PA brought it to th

    18 min

  7. May 27

    Jihad and the World - The Southern Poverty Law Center - Islamophobia? Really?

    Hi, Mark here from Kensington Security Consulting videocasts. This is our second videocast, titled “The Southern Poverty Law Center – Islamophobia? Really?” Today, we turn to the Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC, which is much in the news these days. First, let’s recap our first videocast, “Of Pigs and Men . . . and Women, too.” In that video, we briefly examined two stories about pigs in Europe. The first involved a yellow plastic pig in the front window of an Italian delicatessen. It was clearly a marketing prop, and there is no reason to believe the store owner intended to offend Muslims by displaying it. But a Muslim village elder demanded that the owner remove it, and when he refused, the case went to court. The owner and the pig won round one. There is a standoff, as the deli’s owner refuses to chuck the swine and influential Muslims demand that he do so. Why did I mention it? This is one of the myriad points of tension in Europe over seemingly trivial issues. The pig dustup is, by itself, trivial. But it, almost humorously, illustrates the growing tensions in Europe, which, to my observation, are worsening rather than improving. The other pig story is the claim that women are buying pigs to keep annoying Muslim men at bay. I think this is largely a hoax, which is why I mentioned it. As the story goes, European women are tired of unwanted sexual advances from Muslim men, so they harness pigs to leashes and walk them on city streets. Right. A woman will bunk near a pig in her tiny European apartment and clean up after it so she can use it as a deterrent against Muslim men? Does that make sense to you? Well, it is circulating online, and I don’t buy it. If you have inside baseball on the pigs of Paris or Rome, please let us know. But anyone who believes this is a truthful story will believe anything. But prove me wrong! OK, enough of pigs. Now, let’s turn to today’s episode, “The Southern Poverty Law Center – Islamophobia? Really?” This week, we will examine the ongoing controversy surrounding the Southern Poverty Law Center, or SPLC. Staying true to our goal at Jihad and the World, we will limit this podcast to Middle Eastern issues within the broader drama of the SPLC. In particular, we will focus on the SPLC’s charges and biographies of leading Middle East commentators whom the Center labeled as Islamophobic. We will look at the origins, mission statement, evolution, and the controversy in which it is currently embroiled. What is the SPLC? The answer depends on whom you ask. By its own account, it “defends racial justice issues.” OK. Good so far, but what do they mean by racial justice issues? Their website lists quite a menu: challenging racism, strengthening democracy and voting rights; dismantling white supremacy, ending unjust imprisonment, and eliminating poverty and economic inequality. Hmmm, that is an exhaustive mission statement. Tackling multiple wicked problems. Certainly ambitious. I’m still confused, but I would like to limit this videocast to Middle Eastern and Islamic issues. But first, what is the current lawsuit about? The Department of Justice was indicted in April 2026 on charges of fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors said the group misled donors by using their money to pay informants who served as leaders in the very hate groups the organization was founded to fight. Why would they do that? The SPLC responded that it paid informants just as the FBI or the military does. Justice says that this explanation is nonsense. The payments were part of a vast fraud that funded high-profile organizations to inflate their importance and lethality. These groups included the Ku Klux Klan, which is nationally notorious. But funding the Klan? Is this serious? Yes. Because the SPLC needed a cause – a great big one – to solicit mega donations. Well, it worked. The SPLC has an endowment of nearly $1 billion, some of which is held offshore. So, where does the Center stand on these issues? It has the Intelligence Project Dispatch. Let’s look at it. “The Southern Poverty Law Center works to dismantle white supremacy in public forums and online, exposes hate and anti-democratic extremism, and counters disinformation and conspiracy theories with research and community resources.” The Intelligence Project monitors and exposes white supremacy, anti-immigrant activity, and anti-Muslim activity, as well as their impact on communities. OK. That’s still awfully broad. What counts as anti-Muslim activity? Certainly, harassing or harming Muslims because they are Muslims is an anti-Muslim activity. OK. But what about drawing cartoons of Mohammed? What about displaying the yellow pig of Padua? Are these anti-Muslim activities? We don't know because the SPLC does not define anti-Muslim activity. Now let’s turn to an article the SPLC published in 2011. “A decade after 9/11, anti-Muslim hatred is on the rise again. This time, a cadre of activists and officials is largely responsible.” OK, and what are those groups, and who are these people? Over the years, the SPLC has listed seven key Islamophobes. They are Robert Spencer, Brigitte Gabriel, Frank Gaffney, David Horowitz, David Yerushalmi, Daniel Pipes, and Steve Emerson. I would like to investigate the charges against a few of them to see whether they are, in the SPLC’s damning words, Islamophobes. Daniel Pipes Let's start with Daniel Pipes. Who is he? I have a very different take from the SPLC. The SPLC asserts that “Pipes has spent the better part of three decades actively promoting anti-Muslim rhetoric. His anti-Muslim bigotry has not waned. In an August 2017 interview, Pipes, founder and president of the think tank Middle East Forum, called Islam “an imperialist faith” and claimed that “Muslim immigrants want to replace existing European civilization with Islam.” In another interview last month, he lamented that Islam will soon “replace” Western civilization because of “unfettered immigration and blind multiculturalism.” Let's examine these charges in greater detail.Let us assume that the SPLC . But the implicit charge is that these comments are bigoted and false. Is calling Islam an imperialist faith bigoted? What was the Ottoman Empire if not an empire? Why did the Ottomans call it an empire? Wasn’t it Muslim? That empire is defunct, but have all imperialist elements been purged from Islam? Yes? Has this been reflected in the fatwas from Al Ahzar University? I haven’t seen this. Have you? Where is the bigotry? Regarding Muslim immigrants who want to replace existing European civilization with Islam, I do not see any bigotry in this observation. Do all Muslims want to impose Sharia law on Europeans? No. But if many do, and I think many do, where is the bigotry? The SPLC claimed that “Pipes was among the first to peddle the unsubstantiated myth that 80 percent of American mosques are controlled by extremists. Despite being debunked on several occasions, the 80 percent figure is still promoted within anti-Muslim circles and publications.” OK. If that figure is debunked, what is the number, SPLC? Do you share Dr. Pipes’s definition of extremist? What are your sources? The SPLC also chides Dr. Pipes for popularizing the term “no-go zones” in Europe. He used the term in 2006 to describe Muslim-only zones in France and later regretted it. Fair enough, but that was 20 years ago. Demographics have changed. Have Muslim areas in Europe become safer for police and Europeans, or less safe? Can a Jew dress as a Jew and feel safe in large cities? Off the record, many police officers in various European cities have referred to parts of those cities as no-go zones. Some avoid the term for fear of being labeled an Islamophobe. What would the SPLC call these zones? Is it Islamophobic to even mention them? Finally, I want to address one charge that Dr. Pipes responded to in 2016. The SPLC’s Heidi Beirich, a contributor to its Field Guide to Anti-Muslim Extremists, wrote that “the call for a ban on any religious dress is indeed extreme, regardless of the religious institution. Daniel Pipes, another extremist on this list, has also called for a similar ban. These calls are contrary to religious freedom.” In fact, Dr. Pipes wrote that niqabs and burqas should be banned because they hide the face, obscuring identification. Pipes wrote, “Had you bothered to consult my blog on this subject, with over a hundred incidents where these articles of clothing have been used to facilitate criminality, political violence, and jihad, you would understand the problem.” That makes sense to me. What about you? In my view, Daniel Pipes is as well informed as any commentator on militant Islam alive today. I thoroughly endorse his products. Another SPLC target is Brigitte Gabriel, founder and head of ACT! for America and the American Council for Truth. The SPLC uses Gabriel’s words to condemn her. She said, “America has been infiltrated on all levels by radicals who wish to harm America. They have infiltrated us at the C.I.A., at the F.B.I., at the Pentagon, at the State Department.” Well, that is quite a charge. Let’s focus on the Pentagon. Military personnel committed mass murder at Fort Hood, including Nidal Hasan, and Mark Fidel Cools, who murdered American soldiers. I would be curious to know her sources for the claims of infiltration, but I do not see it as bigotry. I would like to learn more. Then there is Robert Spencer, who runs the Jihad Watch website. The SPLC derides him as, in their words, “entirely self-taught in the Koran.” Not true. He has an advanced degree in religion, and the fact that he doesn’t hold a Ph.D. from Columbia or Georgetown in Middle East studies is, in my view, not a slur. The SPLC condemns him for his associations. In their words, “Spencer has been known to fraternize with European racists and neo-fascists, though he says such cont

    15 min

  8. May 14

    Jihad and the World - The Lady in Red

    Hello from Jihad and the World, a product of Kensington Security Consulting. We will look at the Hamas-Israel war, the subject of our upcoming book, Cauldron of Terror – Hamas, Israel, and the World. Let’s begin by examining and updating the profile of Vlada Patapov, known to the world as the “Lady in Red.” Who is she? You may have seen her on television or social media, running for her life across the desert plain at the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023. Her panicked, desperate look quickly circulated around the world. Her red shawl became instantly iconic, earning her a moniker. The twenty-something Vlada darted to safety, unlike more than 393 revelers who were pursued by Hamas gunmen and shot dead, some begging for their lives. Hamas gunmen stormed the Nova music festival, killing and taking 40 people hostage. Much of her story is unique, but much of it is common among survivors of that day. First came shock, then awareness, then a response to the attack. Nova’s attendees were in shock because they couldn’t make sense of what was happening. They saw paragliders approaching but didn’t realize they were Hamas operatives. Then came the pop, pop, pop, and the screams. That was when awareness gripped them. They were under attack, and the enemy was killing anything that moved. The party was over, and the response came quickly. Run, hide, plead, or fight if you can. OK. Let’s set the stage for the attack. The attack on Nova was last-minute. Hamas likely had no prior knowledge of the Nova Festival, as it was initially scheduled for October 6th. The Nova music festival, or Supernova Sukkot Gathering, was an open-air trance music festival held in the Re’im area in Israel’s western Negev desert. Many Supernova attendees who paid $100 per ticket were tickled about the warmth, sounds, and friendship they anticipated. “Nova is like a family,” says a 26-year-old Tel Aviv bartender. “I bartend at many festivals, and Nova is different. People had been preparing for this party for weeks. Everyone knows each other. It was like magic.” This was to be a party of electronic dance music, which has flourished in Israel since the late Eighties. Festivals and packed crowds are the norm, thanks to a temperate climate and a shared desire to chill out. “There’s no DJ in the world who doesn’t like to come to Tel Aviv — the great people, the great weather. You can party more than in any other city in the world.” Does this sound a little like Woodstock 1969? There was likely little electronic music at Woodstock, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash did not perform at Nova. At Nova, partiers are fans of psychedelic trance, or psytrance, the intense, celestial dance-music subgenre. A veteran British DJ explained, “The music is based on a philosophy of life. It’s Woodstock with electronic music. It’s that kind of mentality: a hippie culture, but the music is different. These are the sweetest people. They would never harm anybody.” Ukrainian-born Vlada was among the partygoers. This Ashdod-based wedding planner and mother of one decided at the last minute to attend the festival in southern Israel with her partner, Matan, and a friend, Mai. They came, danced, and sang, and then the killing began. The “sweetest people, who would never harm anyone,” were randomly raped, shot, and mutilated. More than 100 were abducted. We detail the party massacre in Cauldron of Terror, so we won’t go into detail here. As for Vlada, she was separated from her friends and watched helplessly as people were hunted down and killed. 'So Mai and I started running again, and that's when you see me in the video get into the car of my angel, a man called Yosef Ben Avu. He stopped and told us to get in, and we did, all the while shooting was going on.' There were eight of us in the car. It was a Kia Picanto, and we were all on top of each other. I called Matan and told him I was OK, and he said he had been picked up as well and was safe.” Vlada and Mai eventually made it to the safety of an army base at Tze'elim, while Matan went to one 20 minutes away at Orim. She said: 'The whole thing had lasted three hours, but it went by so quickly. The longest part was waiting at the base before I could be picked up and go home and see my daughter Romi, and I gave her the biggest hug ever.' During the attack, her primary concern was staying alive for Romi. “She will be four soon, and for a quarter of her life she has known only war. When Romi hears the sirens, she is so scared that she starts crying,” Patapov explained. "If I had one wish, it would be to have told everyone at the festival one hour before Hamas attacked that something was going to happen, so everyone could have gotten away. I've been in therapy and counseling, like many of the others who were there, and I find that speaking to people helps me cope with what happened that day. If I had one wish, it would be to have told everyone at the festival one hour before Hamas attacked that something was going to happen, so everyone could have gotten away.' I survived, but others weren't so fortunate. I think about that. It weighs on my mind. I am still traumatized by what happened a year later. I've been receiving therapy and counseling, like many of the others who were there, and I find that speaking with people helps me cope with what happened that day." She is battling PTSD and survivor's guilt. For over a year, she agonized over the hostages. “But it's the hostages who are still there that I feel for the most, and their families as well, the little babies still there a year later. Who would have thought we would still be in this situation a year later?” All the hostages would be returned, alive or dead. But the PTSD? That certainly remains a recurring theme in this podcast series and the upcoming book, Cauldron of Terror. Thank you for listening to this podcast, Jihad and the World, hosted on our Cauldron of Terror channel. Nothing in this podcast or any Kensington podcast reflects the official position of the United States government. Thank you for listening. Until our next podcast, goodbye from Kensington Security Consulting.

    6 min
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About

Jihad and the World is a periodic update of global issues that involve Jihad, which generally refers to the expansion of the world of Islam or the protection of the world's Islamic community. Jihad and the World centers on persons and events featured in Mark Silinsky's five books on militant Islam. These podcasts are offered as a courtesy of Dr. Silinsky's firm Kensington Security Consulting where we bring education to national security. 

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