Quick takesTighter airport employee security; ISIS senior operative killed; Norway tightens asylum laws; West Bank settlements
The TSA is increasing the number of random checks of employees – of both airports and airlines — who hold badges which allow them to enter restricted area at airports; The Pentagon said that Charaffe al-Mouadan, a French national who had joined ISIS in Syria, was killed in a 24 December U.S. airstrike; The Norwegian government said that it is planning to ask the Norwegian parliament to change forty or so major and minor asylum laws in order to tighten the country’s asylum policy; Israel continues to plan for building in the E1 area of the West Bank — if the plan is implemented, it would, in effect, cut the West Bank in half, making the creation of a contiguous, viable Palestinian state impossible.
Aviation: TSA tightens airport employee security
The TSA is increasing the number of random checks of employees – of both airports and airlines — who hold badges which allow them to enter restricted area at airports. Often, these badges allow these employees to bypass security checkpoints altogether. The TSA move comes after several incidents in which badged employees used their security clearance to smuggle guns and other contraband.
Syria: ISIS operation officer behind Paris attacks killed
The Pentagon said that Charaffe al-Mouadan, a French national who had joined ISIS in Syria, was killed in a 24 December U.S. airstrike. Al-Mouadan had links to Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the 13 November Paris attacks, and was plotting more terrorist attacks on Western targets. Al-Mouadan was among ten ISIS senior operational leaders killed in the past months in U.S. airstrikes. Another strike killed Abdul Qader Hakim, who facilitated the militants’ external operations and also had links to the Paris attack network.
Norway: Norway tightens asylum policy
The conservative coalition government of Prime Minister Sylvie Listhaug said that it is planning to ask the Norwegian parliament to change forty or so major and minor asylum laws in order to tighten the country’s asylum policy. The proposed changes will be tabled in February when Parliament returns from its winter break. The government said it wanted action taken before the European spring season, when asylum seeker arrivals were expected to rise again.
Israel: Plans to build in controversial area of West Bank revealed
In November 2013, under intense U.S. pressure, the Natanyahu government announced it was cancelling a plan to build Jewish settlements in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank. The E1 area connects Jerusalem to the west with Ma’ale Edumim to the east – and if built, it would, in effect, cut the West Bank in half, making the creation of a contiguous, viable Palestinian state impossible. The Netanyahu government waited for the public storm to subside, and in November 2014 went back on its commitment to the United States and quietly funded the continued planning of new housing units in E1 – a much larger number of units than the one raising the U.S. ire a year earlier. The continued planning of housing units and the infrastructure they require does not mean the decision has been made to start the actual building in E1, but it does mean that the “breakout” time has been shortened considerably: If the government decides to go ahead and build, it could so right away, with the plans, blueprints, and bureaucratic approvals all on file already.
