Global Islamism Monitor: No. 4

IN GEORGIA, A GRASSROOTS RESPONSE TO ISIS
The rapid growth of the Islamic State terrorist group in the "post-Soviet space" of the Caucasus and Central Asia has prompted a wide-ranging response from regional authorities, from security clampdowns to travel bans. But it is also beginning to generate a grassroots response from a regional population fearful of the destabilizing effects of Islamic radicalism. For instance, a new non-governmental organization has been formed in the Republic of Georgia as an antidote to what locals call "ineffective" government counterterrorism measures. The NGO, named "Pankisi Mothers for Saving Our Children," is based in Georgia's restive Pankisi Gorge, a traditional hotspot for radicals from Russia's North Caucasus region, and aims to counteract local recruiting now being conducted there by the Islamic State. (Golos Ameriki, April 21, 2015)

UNLIKELY ALLIES IN THE SINAI
The Bedouin tribes of the Sinai have long kept the Egyptian government at arm's length, wary of Cairo's policies and political agenda. But now, local worries over the growth of Islamic militancy on the peninsula are drawing them closer to the administration of president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. The Egyptian army - once unwelcome on Bedouin territory - is now said to be recruiting young tribesmen to join special counterterrorism units, and growing coordination is underway between the Egyptian military and various tribes in repelling the advances of Islamist groups like Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the local IS affiliate. (The Tower, April 29, 2015)

TACKLING EDUCATION IN EGYPT
As part of its efforts to limit the reach of radical Islamic ideas, the Egyptian government has launched an overhaul of the country's textbooks. The reforms include alterations to primary and secondary school curricula stripping them of potentially controversial passages relating to Islamic history. The move, which has provoked the ire of Egypt's Islamist political factions, has been defended by the country's Education Ministry on security grounds and because of its relevance. "Some of the material was inciting violence and was first entered into the curriculum during the Muslim Brotherhood's era," a ministry spokesperson has explained. (Voice of America, April 22, 2015)

HAMAS GAINS IN THE WEST BANK
Recent elections at the West Bank's most prestigious institution of higher learning have netted new political momentum for Hamas in the part of the Palestinian Authority controlled by President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction. The Islamist movement won a resounding vote of confidence when the Hamas-affiliated Wafaa' Bloc won 26 out of 51 available seats in Bir Zeit University's influential student council, trouncing Fatah's student party, which only netted 19 seats. Although a local one, the political victory is still significant, observers say - especially in light of the fact that Fatah and other secular factions have commanded a controlling majority at the university for years. "In 2007, after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip the election results were pretty similar but in Fatah's factor, and the young people opposed Hamas policy," one Fatah activist has told the Ha’aretz newspaper. "Now the trend has been reversed, and that says something."

In the wake of the political rout at Bir Zeit, Fatah is scrambling to cut its losses. Two separate Fatah-controlled educational institutions - al-Najah University and Hebron University - have called off student elections indefinitely, citing "unspecified technical reasons." (Tel Aviv Ha'aretz, April 26, 2015; Associated Press, April 28, 2015)

THE ISLAMIC STATE'S NEXT CASUALTY: THE TALIBAN
With its rise in Afghanistan in recent months, the Islamic State has become a competitor for Afghan "hearts and minds" - and a strategic challenge to the country's traditional Islamist powerhouse, the Taliban. The latter is reportedly experiencing an erosion of its human base, as affiliated militants and even high-level commanders increasingly defect to IS. Taliban elders see the draw as being based on the Islamic State's financial payoffs to local warlords and fighters, as well as the group's violent zeal. So significant has the challenge become that observers like HekmatullahAzamy of the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies in Kabul believe that it could pose a threat to the very "survival" of the Taliban in the longer-term. (Radio Free Europe, April 30, 2015)