Jihad and the World

Jihad and the West - War Dogs - Israel and Hamas

Jihad and the World

Show Notes

Dogs have been integral to armies throughout history. Ancient warriors deployed them to intimidate and attack enemies, with civilizations such as the Romans and Vikings relying on their canine companions. Over time, dogs became not just combatants, but also mascots and friends to soldiers. The United States Army officially commissioned dogs in 1942 with the creation of the Canine Corps. The Army partnered with civilians to house and train the dogs. After basic training, the dogs were assigned to soldiers and then deployed to units. The Soviets also mustered up dogs and sometimes assigned them suicide missions. Dogs would have satchels of explosives strapped to their back. Then, as per training, they crawled under German panzers where their bombs were detonated. The Germans caught on quickly and gave orders to kill all dogs they saw in Russian combat zones. Other armies used dogs for military and non-military purposes. Soldiers recovering from physical or psychological trauma enjoy the devotion and snuggle factor of their four-legged friends. All this brings us to Hamas and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Dogs are highly valued in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Their training, care, and combat-related activities are treated with seriousness and affection. Many of these dogs have served in Gaza, and some have made the ultimate sacrifice in combat. The Israeli Canine Corps, known as the Oketz unit, comprises Belgian Malinois dogs, each with a specialized role. Some are trained to detect explosives, while others are skilled at identifying various threats. Many of these dogs are also used to track terrorists. In Gaza, they played a crucial role in navigating the complex network of tunnels to locate the enemy. In the Oketz unit, each dog is assigned a specialized role: some are trained to sniff out explosives, others to locate hidden threats and tunnel entrances, and others to track and apprehend terrorists. The Oketz unit’s expertise has been essential for years, and their capabilities are now being utilized in the streets of Gaza and within Hamas’s extensive tunnel system. The word Oketz means sting. Joining Oketz is a challenge for both soldier and dog. Soldiers are rigorously tested and, if selected, pair with a dog. Both go through training where they work and bond. Both train on agility courses and in simulated battlegrounds. Israeli war dogs served with distinction during the October 2023 war with Hamas. Oketz was scrambled and sent with their human partners to Gaza and kibbutzes where they showed bravery. An Israeli officer recounts his loss and love for Nero, who served in a commando unit to hunt down terrorists. The officer relates, “'A dog who was with one of our men went into a house. He revealed the location of two terrorists, was hit by a burst of gunfire from them, and was killed. 'That's how the men in the force realized that there were terrorists in the house, and human lives were saved.” And Ziggy was there when it counted, too. Another Israeli tells Ziggy’s story. "I remember exactly what happened - I entered the house with the 101st Battalion of paratroopers and engineering soldiers. We scanned the first floor, and I insisted that my devoted dog, Ziggy, also scan the second floor of the residence. As soon as he came down the staircase of the house in Khan Younis, the terrorists shot at him, and Ziggy was killed on the spot. My heroic and beloved dog Ziggy, who was close to me for a year and a half, saved my life and the lives of the other soldiers. Thanks to him I'm sitting here and talking to you.” Some dog stories, in fact, many dog stories, have happy endings. One is the warm rescue of Billy, a three-and-a-half-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. Billy was probing for food in the rubble of Rafa when he heard Hebrew being spoken. A soldier embraced him and cared for Billy. Billy’s microchip paired him with his caretakers at a kibbutz, leadin

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Sep 1, 2026

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Aug 22, 2026

Hello. This is Mark Silinsky from Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. Welcome to the Kensington Weekly, a program that explores Islam's relationship with the world, week by week. This is the third week in August 2026. Let’s take a look at Jihad Watch and see what stories are posted. First, let’s go to Germany to examine the migrant situation. This is a recurring theme in my podcasts. Years ago, then-Chancellor Merkel promised her countrymen that “We can do it.” She meant that native Germans could assimilate the “New Germans.” So…how is it going? Well, let's look at a few examples. First, there is a municipal swimming pool in Berlin. What can be controversial about a public pool? A drowning perhaps? No, nothing like that. Maybe it was those burkinis. The combination of a burka and a bikini. You may have seen them. Imagine a wet, swimming mummy in a pool, and you will get the idea. But that is not it. No, this harkens back to the Nuremberg Laws of the 1930s. It is a sick story of rank racial discrimination….AGAIN! Berlin allocated €300,000 (£255,000) to open a "people's swimming pool." A people's swimming pool reminds me of the Volkswagen, Ya? Well, the pool announced six hours of restricted swimming. That is, no whites were allowed to swim during those hours. It was scheduled for August 14, 2026. Now… let's look closer. From the article I read, an organization called Each One Teach One, which bills itself, in its words, “as a non-discrimination collective,” was behind the effort. And the reasoning for the exclusion? In the words of Each One Teach One. "In doing so, the People’s Swimming Pool provides access for people who are frequently affected by exclusion and racism.” I am not sure that I understand the logic here. Do you? And, while we are at it, what is a non-White? I mean…would Barack Obama have been invited or excluded? His mom was white, and his father was black. Maybe he could have gone halfway, to his waist, into the pool given his mixed-race genes. I had never heard of Each One Teach One. So let’s drill down a bit. This is from its homepage. “We counsel according to the principles of empowerment and partisanship, which means that the person seeking advice, with his or her history, desires and interests, is at the center of our work. In most cases, discrimination is subtle and difficult to grasp; sometimes there is even uncertainty as to whether it was discrimination at all. Those seeking advice can also turn to us in order to find words to express what they have experienced.” Wow! I am taken by this line: “In most cases, discrimination is subtle and difficult to grasp.” Well, folks, I don’t think there is any subtlety to a pool sign that says “people of color only.” Do you? It is about as subtle as saying “Raus Juden!” Well, this group disagrees with me and other critics. They announced, "Labeling this (the black-only restriction) as a form of discrimination is very revealing." Well, Each One Teach One: we agree on one thing – it is revealing. Yes, it reveals to me the continued obsession with race in Germany and elsewhere. After pressure, the government canceled this event. But some form of it will be back. Mark my words. What does this have to do with Islam? I don’t have the details, but many of them are considered non-white and are from North Africa and, presumably, Turkey and the Middle East. So, I would like to know who funds this group. Let me know if you have insights or opinions. Let’s move away from the pool and into the classroom. How well are things going there with mass migration? Here is a story from Hugh Fitzgerald about a school in the Rhineland. The headlines read, “German teacher says school with 75% migrant-background students is plagued by violence, drugs, and even prostitution in toilets.” Speaking anonymously to Bild, special education teacher “Carola S.” said many New Germans had arrived from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, or Ukraine. The teac

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Hello from Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. This episode is called Ramming – Muslims, Cars, Pedestrians, and Europe. Last week, I discussed the rampant and random stabbing attacks. I offered you the term “getting stabby,” a play on words. In England, it means getting irritable and getting skewered on the street generally by a knife-wielding Muslim in the name of Allah. Well, this applies to running people over as well as impaling them. I don’t have any gallows humor or punny phrase for vehicle killings. Is there an equivalent for “getting stabby?” I don’t know of any. Let me know if you do. But let's get right to the stories. Well, you likely heard about yet another car-ramming incident in Europe. More specifically, a 21-year-old named Abdul Ballout. Following the terror attack during the Christopher Street Day event in Berlin, a car struck several people in the Tiergarten area. One woman died in the attack and over 16 were wounded. According to the German magazine Bild, he was a German citizen of Lebanese descent. If you are curious about Christopher Street, it is a famous street in Manhattan that attracted many gays before the Stonewall Riot of 1968. Back to Berlin … well, Ballout had a past, not a clean one. In fact, he has a long criminal record. But why would a repeat offender plow a car into a group of peaceful gays celebrating an annual festival? Why kill his fellow countrymen? What gives? Well, the answer lies in Islamofascism. Last week, I shared an episode called “Getting Stabby.” I quoted Robert Spencer, and I will do so again. The Islamic State issued this call back in September 2014. Here it is -“So O muwahhid, do not let this battle pass you by wherever you may be. You must strike the soldiers, patrons, and troops. Strike their police, security, and intelligence members, as well as their treacherous agents. Destroy their beds. Embitter their lives for them and busy them with themselves.” It continues, “If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman, or any of their allies. Smash his head with a rock, or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car, or throw him down from a high place, or choke him, or poison him….” Sound familiar? It should be, because this sentiment is often repeated by Muslim clerics. Notice that the demand is to kill by any means possible, with a bullet, bomb, poison, rock, knife, or car. Use whatever you have. And Islamofascists do just that. According to Bild, Ballout was long part of the Islamofascist scene in Berlin. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared, “We will not allow this poison of terrorism to spread further in our society.” That was tough talk indeed, but what are the chances he will purge the “poison of terrorism” from Germany? And notice that Chancellor Merz did not mention Islam, let alone Islamofascism. I have discussed this ad nauseam. Western leaders avoid, at almost all costs, the ideology that drives the attacks. And that ideology is Islamofascism. European leaders are not alone. Several gay activists openly stated this. Before Ballout’s identity was known, they hoped the perp was a Christian, white person. And this is the mindset of intersectionality, which is part of the Green-Red alliance. I have discussed this repeatedly. Was Ballout the only Islamofascist to bowl over Europeans like tenpins? Hardly. In February of last year, Farhad N. carried out an Islamofascist vehicular rampage in Germany. He killed several infidels but did not die in the attack. The prosecutor in his case said, “He acted out of religious motivation.” Well, yes. So what was that religion? Was he a Lutheran? Lots of Lutherans in Germany, and Catholics, too. Jews? Probably not. Most are long gone. Hmmmm. Buddhists or Hindus? Maybe, I suppose. Hmmm. Well, somebody in the prosecutor's office added: “He believed he was obliged to attack and kill randomly selected p

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Hello. This is Mark Silinsky from Kensington Security Consulting, where we bring education to national security. Welcome to the Kensington Weekly, a program that explores Islam's relationship with the world, week by week. This is the second week in August 2026. Let's begin with an article by Hugh Fitzgerald at Jihad Watch that tells a compelling and tragic German story. What happened? Marius Dick, a young German, was killed by an Afghan who stabbed him. Dick was walking home after shopping when Afghan asylum seeker Sajad M, 22, sprang from a hedge and plunged a kitchen knife into his heart. The two had never met. Why did Sajad M kill a random pedestrian? According to a public health officer, he was mentally ill. This surprised some who knew him, who described him as a good neighbor and fellow worker.

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