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European Surprise: Switzerland Takes a Hardliner Stance Against Terrorism
A pro-Hamas demonstration in Zurich, Switzerland, Oct. 28, 2023. Photo: IMAGO/dieBildmanufaktur via Reuters Connect
Historically known for its neutrality, Switzerland maintained decades of politically neutral and pacifist policies towards international conflicts, while seeking world peace as a motto. But even with such a pacifist approach, the country remains a target for Islamism and jihadism, as it witnessed a spike in terrorism activities recently.
Switzerland has taken steps to combat these escalating threats, which appear to some as a reversal of its historically neutral stance, by targeting Islamist terrorists such as Palestinian Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.
A Swiss parliamentary committee has voted to ban Hamas as terrorist group on October 23rd, and proposed to ban Hezbollah for the same reason. The ban will be ratified by the House of Representatives and Senate in the upcoming winter. The ban would carry up to 20 years in prison for any person joining or aid these organizations.
“It is not accurate to say that Switzerland moved away from a position of neutrality. It still maintains formal neutrality on the issue of conflicts between state actors, although in light of the Russia-Ukraine war, there have been official moves to reconsider that norm” said New York-based lawyer and journalist Irina Tsukerman, who spoke to the Investigative Project on Terrorism.
Swiss security authorities remain on a high alert this year as a result of the mounting terrorism threats by the Islamic State against European countries, according to a statement by Christian Dussey, the director of the Swiss Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) last August.
The Islamist terrorist group “hadn’t done this for a long time. It’s really given a new impetus to the movement, multiplied by social networks”, said Dussey in an interview for the Switzerland’s Daily Tages Anzieger.
Around 30 arrests have been made across Europe of Islamic State suspects planning attacks the first 8 months of the year alone. Switzerland was not spared by the moves and influence of ISIS. Last March, a 15-year old teenager who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State stabbed a Jewish man in Zurich. The teenager called himself a “Soldier” of the alleged “Caliphate.”
The recent moves by Islamist groups warranted more scrutiny and even an update to the national Swiss counterterrorism strategy that was set in 2015 and updated last May. The updated strategy has enabled more freedoms for the police units in handling terrorism related issues and gives broader definitions for terrorism to combat the new threats.
Switzerland as a Global Private Banking Haven
Switzerland’s global influence stems from being the private banking haven of the world, with over $9.4 trillion dollars in assets as of 2023 held in Swiss banks. Half of these belong for foreign accounts and entities. The code of secrecy for Swiss banks was upheld in 1713, when the Great Council of Geneva established a federal act requiring bankers to maintain a register of all their clients while forbidding the bankers from divulging that information to anyone other than the client.
By 1934, The Banking Act in Switzerland made it a crime to disclose a client’s information to any foreign government, thus cementing the reputation of Switzerland as a tax haven and a trusted global vault. But with three centuries of secrecy came the risk of terrorist and global crime networks exploitation of the Swiss banking system through money-laundering schemes. This prompted the country to join a number of international organizations to fight these illicit activities including the G8-affiliated Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG).
However, Tsukerman believes it will be no easy task to weed out terrorism-affiliated accounts and funding.
“Clearing out Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist funding is not going to be easy. The first step is to finalize laws banning the organizations, and to establish that particular accounts are traceable to the terrorists. Likewise, shell organizations, NGOs, and corporate entities, and even individual accounts linked to the network, need to be investigated.”
Nevertheless, Switzerland is looking firmer this time around to freeze all terrorist related assets in the country to prevent funding international organizations that could be utilized for terrorism even if they carry the United Nations label such as the controversial UNRWA.
The Swiss National Council passed a motion on Sepember 10th to cut funding to the organization for alleged cooperation with Hamas. According to The Jerusalem Post, David Zuberbühler, a member of the Swiss National Council who introduced the legislation, was prevented along with a parliamentary delegation from accessing educational material paid by the UNRWA during a visit to Bethlehem in January 2023. This happened despite the fact that access to educational materials was agreed upon prior to the delegation visit.
“In UNRWA schools, children are taught to hate Jews and Israel. If terrorism is glorified, anti-Semitism is stoked and violence is incited in UNRWA schools, then one should not ask why a cruel act of terror like that of October 7 could have occurred,” stated Zuberbühler in the interview.
Switzerland vehemently condemned both the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and Hezbollah attacks that started a day later. The Swiss stance against both groups targeting civilians was clear from the early stages.
Moreover, despite supporting a two-state solution as means of a final step of resolving Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Switzerland abstained from voting for a full membership for a Palestinian state in the United Nations last April. The Swiss government believes that it can support a Palestinian state only in case of a peace in the region.
“At the present time” the admission of Palestine would “not be conducive” to détente and peace efforts in the Middle East said a statement for the Swiss Foreign ministry.
“Switzerland is of the opinion that it would be better to admit Palestine as a full member of the UN at a time when such a step will fit into the logic of an emerging peace” mentioned the statement.
The Swiss House of Representatives reiterated the same position in June and rejected a motion by the Social Democratic Party to recognize an independent Palestinian State.
New Security and Terrorism Threats
Switzerland overlooked the danger of Hamas for decades and hasn’t felt the urge to ban the group in the past, but the situation changed dramatically following the October 7 attacks, which manifested the danger of the terrorist group. Two Swiss citizens were killed in the attack, among the 1,200 Israeli and other nationalities who were slain that day.
Switzerland has long been targeted by Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, in efforts to promote the Islamization of the country.
Swiss lawmakers were forced to move from their complacent stance of the past decades to a more proactive one given the impending threats on their country and its neighbors.
“The scale and the extensive planning of the October 7 attack may have been the wake-up call for Europe; many international citizens came to harm in addition to the Israelis as a result, and the Hamas call for global action likewise had a chilling effect on decisionmakers in Switzerland and elsewhere.” said Tsukerman.
Outside of the counter-terrorism precautions, Switzerland signed a declaration to join the European Sky Shield initiative, which was formed as a precaution following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The system was initiated by Germany, and is designed to allow European countries to buy unified air-defense systems and conduct joint exercises.
“There is a direct connection between Switzerland’s shifting stand towards defensive posture with regards to Russia’s threat to Europe and an openness to tougher counterterrorism action. The reality is that Russia is one of the leading originators of modern terrorism, which started with political terror during the Czarist era,” said Tsukerman.
The escalating situation in Ukraine along with threats from Islamic States and their ilk, in the form of Hamas and Hezbollah, have forced the Swiss to rethink their passive neutral stance into a more positive neutrality based in reality rather than wishful thinking. No one can predict how far the Swiss will go with their counter-terrorism efforts.
“As Samuel Ramani recently wrote in the Telegraph on November 6th, it is only a matter of time before serious Russian attacks rock Europe,” said Tsukerman.
The Swiss are finally practicing realpolitik more than any time in their modern history, thanks to the new realities and terrorism threats that surround the peaceful central European country.
Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) Senior Fellow Hany Ghoraba is an Egyptian writer, political and counter-terrorism analyst at Al Ahram Weekly and a regular contributor the BBC. He is the author of Egypt’s Arab Spring: The Long and Winding Road to Democracy He is a writer and contributor for over a dozen international outlets, periodicals and networks including Newsmax, OANN, BBC Radio, CSP, MEF, American Spectator, American Thinker, Arab Weekly and Al Arabiya News. A version of this article was originally published by IPT.
The post European Surprise: Switzerland Takes a Hardliner Stance Against Terrorism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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As Gaza War Continues, Hamas Calls for Global Protests While Israel Marks Breakthroughs in Medical Innovation
A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect
As the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas calls for global protests amid stalled Gaza ceasefire talks, Israel has broken new ground despite the ongoing conflict, achieving a major medical breakthrough in synthetic human kidney development.
The contrast illustrates a stark contrast between the priorities of Hamas, an international designated terrorist group that has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades, and Israel, the lone democracy in the Middle East that has long been a leader in tech and medical innovation.
On Wednesday, Hamas urged worldwide protests in support of Palestinians, calling on the international community “to denounce Israel’s genocidal war and starvation policy in Gaza.”
“We call for continuing and escalating the popular pressure in all cities and squares on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday … through rallies, demonstrations and sit-ins outside the embassies of the Israeli regime and its allies, particularly in the US,” the statement read.
The Palestinian terrorist group also called to expose what it described as “the terrorism of the Zio-Nazi occupation against defenseless civilians.”
Hamas’s latest move against Israel comes amid stalled indirect negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal, which collapsed last month after the group vowed it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established — rejecting a key Israeli demand to end the war in Gaza.
In its statement, Hamas demanded the opening of all border crossings to allow immediate aid into the war-torn enclave and urged a global condemnation of “the international community’s inaction on the Israeli crimes.”
Amid mounting international pressure to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Israel announced new measures to facilitate the delivery of aid, including temporary pauses in fighting in certain areas and the creation of protected routes for aid convoys.
Israeli officials have previously accused Hamas of diverting aid for terrorist activities and selling supplies at inflated prices to civilians, while also blaming the United Nations and other foreign organizations for enabling this diversion.
Hamas’s statement also emphasized that the “global resistance movement must continue until Israeli aggression on Gaza ends and the siege on the coastal strip is lifted.”
Meanwhile, as Israel faces escalating hostilities and the heavy toll of war, the Jewish state continues to push the boundaries of innovation and resilience, achieving new medical breakthroughs while confronting ongoing challenges.
In a major medical breakthrough, scientists at Sheba Medical Center and Tel Aviv University have successfully grown a synthetic 3D miniature human kidney in a lab using specialized stem cells derived from kidney tissue — one of the most promising advances in regenerative medicine.
Dr. Dror Harats, chairman of Sheba’s Research Authority, described this achievement as a reflection of Israel’s leading role in global medical innovation.
“Despite growing efforts to isolate Israel from international science, breakthroughs like this prove our impact is both lasting and essential,” he said.
In a landmark study, a team from Sheba’s Safra Children’s Hospital and Tel Aviv University’s Sagol Center for Regenerative Medicine created synthetic kidney organs that matured and remained stable for 34 weeks — the longest-lasting and most refined kidney organoids developed to date.
Nearly a decade ago, the research team became the first to successfully isolate human kidney tissue stem cells — the cells responsible for the organ’s development and growth.
Previous attempts to grow kidneys in a lab using general-purpose stem cells were short-lived, typically lasting only a few weeks and often producing unwanted cell types that compromised research accuracy.
However, this Israeli research team used stem cells taken directly from kidney tissue — cells that naturally develop into kidney parts — allowing them to create a much purer and more stable model with key features found in real kidneys.
This medical breakthrough could have far-reaching implications, redefining the current understanding of kidney diseases and advancing the development of innovative treatments.
Researchers believe the model could help assess how medications impact fetal kidneys during pregnancy and move science closer to repairing or replacing damaged kidney tissue with lab-grown cells.
The discovery came days after researchers from Hebrew University of Jerusalem and international partners discovered a way to boost the immune system’s cancer-fighting ability by reprogramming how T cells, which are white blood cells critical to the immune system, produce energy.
The researchers explained in a study published in the peer-reviewed Nature Communications that disabling a protein known as Ant2 in T cells greatly enhances their effectiveness against tumors.
“By disabling Ant2, we triggered a complete shift in how T cells produce and use energy,” Prof. Michael Berger of Hebrew University’s Faculty of Medicine, who co-led the study with doctorate student Omri Yosef, told the Tazpit Press Service. “This reprogramming made them significantly better at recognizing and killing cancer cells.”
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Netherlands to Push EU to Suspend Israel Trade Deal but Won’t Recognize Palestinian State ‘At This Time’
Netherlands Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp addresses a press conference, in New Delhi on April 1, 2025. Photo: ANI Photo/Sanjay Sharma via Reuters Connect
The Netherlands is spearheading efforts to suspend the European Union-Israel trade agreement amid rising EU criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, while simultaneously refusing to recognize a Palestinian state, contrasting with other member states as international pressure mounts.
On Thursday, Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp announced that the Netherlands will push the EU to suspend the trade component of the EU-Israel Association Agreement — a pact governing the EU’s political and economic ties with the Jewish state.
This latest anti-Israel initiative follows a recent EU-commissioned report accusing Israel of committing “indiscriminate attacks … starvation … torture … [and] apartheid” against Palestinians in Gaza during its military campaign against Hamas, an internationally designated terrorist group.
Following calls from a majority of EU member states for a formal investigation, this report built on Belgium’s recent decision to review Israel’s compliance with the trade agreement, a process initiated by the Netherlands and led by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas.
According to the report, “there are indications that Israel would be in breach of its human rights obligations” under the 25-year-old EU-Israel Association Agreement.
While the document acknowledges the reality of violence by Hamas, it states that this issue lies outside its scope — failing to address the Palestinian terrorist group’s role in sparking the current war with its bloody rampage across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Israeli officials have slammed the report as factually incorrect and morally flawed, noting that Hamas embeds its military infrastructure within civilian targets and Israel’s army takes extensive precautions to try and avoid civilian casualties.
In a Dutch parliamentary debate on Gaza on Thursday, Veldkamp also announced that the government would not recognize a Palestinian state for now — a position that stands in sharp contrast to the recent moves by several other EU member states to extend recognition.
“The Netherlands is not planning to recognize a Palestinian state at this time,” the Dutch diplomat said.
“This war has ceased to be a just war and is now leading to the erosion of Israel’s own security and identity,” he continued.
This latest decision goes against the position of several EU member states, including France, which has committed to recognizing Palestinian statehood in September.
The United Kingdom has likewise indicated it will do so unless Israel acts to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and agrees to a ceasefire.
For its part, Germany said it was not planning to recognize a Palestinian state in the short term, and Italy argued that recognition must occur simultaneously with the recognition of Israel by the new entity.
Spain, Norway, Ireland, and Slovenia all recognized a Palestinian state last year.
Israel has been facing growing pressure from several EU member states seeking to undermine its defensive campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in Gaza.
On Thursday, European Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera strongly condemned Israel’s actions in the war-torn enclave, describing the situation as a “grave violation of human dignity.”
“What we are seeing is a concrete population being targeted, killed and condemned to starve to death,” Ribera told Politico. “If it is not genocide, it looks very much like the definition used to express its meaning.”
Until now, the European Commission has refrained from accusing Israel of genocide, but Ribera’s comments mark one of the strongest European condemnations since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
She also called on the EU to take decisive action by considering the suspension of its trade agreement with Israel and the implementation of sanctions, while emphasizing that such measures would require unanimous approval from all member states.
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Graduate Student Unions Promoting Antisemitism, Reform Group Says
Students listen to a speech at a protest encampment at Stanford University in Stanford, California US, on April 26, 2024. Photo: Carlos Barria via Reuters Connect.
Higher-education-based unions controlled by United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America (UE) are rife with antisemitism and anti-Zionist discrimination, according to a new letter imploring the US Congress’s House Committee on Education and the Workforce to address the matter.
“Tracing its roots to communism in the 1930s, the UE is a radical, pro-Hamas labor union that has a long history of antisemitism,” the National Right to Work Foundation (NRTW), one of the US’s leading labor reform groups, wrote on July 30 in a message obtained by The Algemeiner. “The UE openly supports the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, which is designed to cripple and destroy Israel economically. Today, the UE furthers its antisemitic agenda by unionizing graduate students on college campuses and using its exclusive representation powers to create a hostile environment for Jewish students. The hostile environment includes demanding compulsory dues to fund the UE’s abhorrent activities.”
NRTW went on to describe a litany of alleged injustices to which UE members subject Jewish student-employees in the US’s most prestigious institutions of higher education, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to Cornell University. At MIT, the letter said, “union officers” aided a riotous group which illegally occupied a section of campus with a “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” participating in the demonstration and even denying access to campus buildings. UE members at Stanford University, meanwhile, allegedly denied religious accommodations to Jewish students who requested exemption from union dues over that branch’s supporting the BDS movement. And Cornell University UE was accused of denying religious exemptions in several cases as well and followed up the rejection with an intrusive “questionnaire” which probed Jewish students for “legally-irrelevant information.”
The situation requires federal oversight and intervention, NRTW said, including Congress’s possibly clarifying that student-employees are not traditional employees and are therefore afforded protections under sections of the Civil Rights Act which apply to the campus.
“These continuing patterns of antisemitism are illegal, immoral, and must be stopped,” the letter continued. “We encourage you to do all that is in your power to investigate and help bring an end to the UE and its affiliates’ nonstop harassment and intimidation of Jewish students … The Trump administration can also use tools available to it under Title VI and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act against colleges who work with unions to create a hostile environment for Jewish students.”
July’s letter is not the first time NRTW has publicized alleged antisemitic abuse in unions representing higher education employees.
In 2024, it represented a group of six City University of New York (CUNY) professors, five of whom are Jewish, who sued to be “freed” from CUNY’s Professional Staff Congress (PSC-CUNY) over its passing a resolution during Israel’s May 2021 war with Hamas which declared solidarity with Palestinians and accused the Jewish state of ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and crimes against humanity. The group contested New York State’s “Taylor Law,” which it said chained the professors to the union’s “bargaining unit” and denied their right to freedom of speech and association by forcing them to be represented in negotiations by an organization they claim holds antisemitic views.
That same year, NRTW prevailed in a discrimination suit filed to exempt another cohort of Jewish MIT students from paying dues to the Graduate Student Union (GSU). The students had attempted to resist financially supporting GSU’s anti-Zionism, but the union bosses attempted to coerce their compliance, telling them that “no principles, teachings, or tenets of Judaism prohibit membership in or the payment of dues or fees” to the union.
“All Americans should have a right to protect their money from going to union bosses they don’t support, whether those objections are based on religion, politics, or any other reason,” NRTW said at the time.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.