As a chilling sign of our times, law enforcement in USA has warned about a potential national “Day of Hate” today. Neo-Nazis and white supremacists have reportedly been asking followers to engage in vandalism and to spread antisemitic propaganda in USA.
Read the full story on Yahoo!News:
https://news.yahoo.com/law-enforcement-jewish-groups-warn-213918248.html
After the email scandal regarding President Trump’s senior advisor Stephen Miller broke out, professor Cas Mudde wrote about the way the Republican party is steeped in white supremacism, these days.
Read the full story on The Guardian:
Southern Poverty Law Center has published extensive report regarding President Trump’s senior advisor, far-right personality Stephen Miller.
Read the full report here:
According to some media reports, Australian white supremacists have attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing several Muslims. This is another terrible reminder that right-wing extremism and terrorism is becoming a truly serious threat to us all.
Before we get more information about the horrible attack and the attackers, here is an old post of mine regarding the growing problem of right-wing extremism and terrorism in USA – I published this post in my old blog in August 2017:
STATISTICAL INFORMATION ABOUT DOMESTIC TERRORISM IN USA
The threat of Islamic extremism and terrorism was one of the most important themes during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. After becoming the president, he has banned foreign nationals from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering USA. Several wealthier Muslim-majority countries, where the Trump Organization has business interests, are not on the list. President Trump claimed that the temporary ban is needed in order to avoid terrorist attacks. Some critics have argued that the ban is just a backdoor way to bar Muslims from entering USA (1).
What seems to have been overlooked is right-wing extremist terrorism. The Investigative Fund and Reveal have compiled a database of nine years of domestic terrorism incidents in USA (2). The database gives very interesting statistical information about the domestic terrorism in USA.
DOMESTIC TERRORISM INCIDENTS IN USA
January 2008 – End of December 2016
Type of domestic terrorism | Number of incidents | Foiled plots* (% of total) | Number of fatalities |
Islamic extremist | 63 | 76 % | 90 |
Right-wing extremist | 115 | 35 % | 79 |
Left-wing extremist** | 19 | – | 7 |
* foiled plots = no attack took place ** including ecoterrorism and animal rights (Source of the data: The Investigative Fund)
During January 2008 – end of December 2016 there were 63 Islamist terrorism cases. Vast majority (76 %) of these cases were foiled plots, i.e. no attack actually took place. 48 % of these cases were sting operations. 13 % of Islamist terrorism cases caused fatalities. However, the total number of fatalities was greater.
According to the database, there were nearly twice as many (115) right-wing extremist terrorism incidents. Only 35 % of these cases were foiled plots and only 12 % were sting operations. The right-wing extremist terrorism was often more deadly – nearly 1/3 of these incidents caused fatalities.
Left-wing extremist terrorist incidents were comparatively rare. Only 10.5 % of these cases were sting operations.
Before President Trump signed the ban regarding the six predominantly Muslim countries, he claimed that vast majority of individuals convicted of terrorism and terrorism-related offences since 9/11 came from outside USA. According to the database, only 13 % of perpetrators or alleged perpetrators were foreign born and only 1 % of them came from the countries that are on Trump’s list. The Department of Homeland Security analysis came to the same conclusion – it stated that citizens of nations named in the ban are “rarely implicated in U.S.-based terrorism.” (2)
References:
1) Samuel Osborne: “Muslim-majority countries where Donald Trump does business not included in travel ban” The Independent 27.6.2017
2) David Neiwert: “Home is where the hate is. Trump’s fixation on demonizing Islam hides true homegrown US terror threat” Reveal 21.6.2017
https://www.revealnews.org/article/home-is-where-the-hate-is/
President Trump had, even in his own opinion, an eventful campaign rally in El Paso, Texas, on Monday the 11th. President Trump once again criticized media as well as the Democratic Party, or “radical left.” The lively audience was cheering and booing, and there seemed to be several skirmishes. (1) In one incident Trump supporter attacked BBC cameraman (2). Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, and members of his far-right armed militia were seen in the front row. Rhodes has expressed willingness to train and form an armed militia to do whatever President Trump wants. (3)
References:
1) President Trump’s campaign rally in El Paso, Texas 11.2.2019, link to Fox News video on YouTube:
2) “Trump supporter attacks BBC cameraman at El Paso rally” BBC News 12.2.2019
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47208909
3) “The founder of this extremist armed militia had a front-row seat to Trump’s rally” Media Matters 12.2.2019
USA has had military cooperation with radical groups particularly in the Middle East. However, the cooperation with far-right parties and militia groups, such as Azov Battalion, in Ukraine may have been one of the most controversial and it may also backfire handsomely.
The Azov Battalion, or Azov Regiment, is one of many privately-funded volunteer battalions that were formed during the crisis in Ukraine in 2014 (1). Far-right volunteers from different parts of the world joined Azov Battalion. Azov Battalion has benefited from the funding, weapons and training USA has provided for Ukrainian military groups. Azov has gradually developed into a far-right, neo-Nazi movement with street-patrolling militia and own youth camp (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Because of the neo-Nazi element of the battalion, US Congressmen John Conyers and Ted Yoho drew up an amendment to House Defense Appropriations bill in 2015. The amendment “limits arms, training, and other assistance to the neo-Nazi Ukrainian militia, the Azov Battalion” and it was passed unanimously. However, US Department of Defense objected the amendment. The ban to give any kind of support or training to Azov Battalion finally came to force last year. (3, 4)
The Azov Movement and other similar far-right groups and parties have become increasingly severe problem in Ukraine. Their militia groups have been allowed to be some sort of part of law enforcement and they have attacked minority groups, often with impunity. There have also been attacks on anti-fascist groups, city council meetings, media outlets, art exhibitions, foreign students and women’s marches (1, 5).
The Azov Movement also wants to extend its cooperation with other far-right radical groups in Europe and North America. Olena Semenyaka, the international secretary for Azov’s political wing, the National Corps, says that Azov has gained popularity and become “small state in a state” in Ukraine. Semenyaka believes that in the current climate it is possible that far-right leaders can come to power in Europe and Azov wants to form coalitions and be in front of the far-right movement. There has also been more and more cooperation with American neo-Nazis and other right-wing extremists. According to FBI, Azov’s military wing is “believed to have participated in training and radicalizing United States-based white supremacy organizations.” (5)
References:
1) “Commentary: Ukraine’s neo-Nazi problem” Reuters 19.3.2018
2) “Foreigners join far-right militias in Ukraine’s fight against rebels” The Irish Times 17.7.2014
3) “Congress Has Removed a Ban on Funding Neo-Nazis From Its Year-End Spending Bill” The Nation 14.1.2016
4) “Congress bans arms to Ukraine militia linked to neo-Nazis” The Hill 27.3.2018
5) “Azov, Ukraine’s Most Prominent Ultranationalist Group, Sets Its Sights On U.S., Europe” Radio Free Europe 14.11.2018
Daily Sabah reported yesterday that the German authorities have conducted raids in several parts of Germany on suspected members of a far-right group called the National Socialist Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Deutschland. According to authorities, about 40 people are under investigation. The group’s members are suspected of glorifying Nazism and in some cases harboring “violent fantasies” (1).
Quite surprisingly, Ku Klux Klan is not a new addition on the far-right scene in Germany. German journalist Frederick Obermaier has been investigating the Ku Klux Klan in Germany and he has written a book about it (2). Obermaier told in an interview in 2017 that the German authorities have been aware of some KKK activity in Germany for decades. However, the amount of KKK members in Germany has been very small compared to USA. According to Obermaier, there have been “close relations” between US Klan groups and German Klan groups over the past 30 or 40 years. The German groups admire the American Klan and hope to become as big as the KKK in USA (3).
While Obermaier was reporting about the killing spree committed by National Socialist Underground NSU between 2000 and 2007, he found links to the Ku Klux Klan in Germany (3). Süddeutsche Zeitung told in 2016 that the only living member of the NSU terror cell, Beate Zschäbe, had reportedly attended at least two KKK gatherings (4). The NSU murdered 10 people, mostly Turkish immigrants, between 2000 and 2007 (5).
References:
1) “Police probe 40 members of German Ku Klux Klan” Daily Sabah 17.1.2019
https://www.dailysabah.com/europe/2019/01/17/police-probe-40-members-of-german-ku-klux-klan
2) Obermaier, Frederick & Schulz, Tanjev: Kapuzenmänner: Der Ku-Klux-Klan in Deutschland. DTV Premium, Munich 2017.
3) “‘The KKK is active here in Germany'” Deutsche Welle 22.2.2017
https://www.dw.com/en/the-kkk-is-active-here-in-germany/a-37668846
4) “Four Ku Klux Klan groups active in Germany, says govt” The Local.de 25.10.2016
https://www.thelocal.de/20161025/four-ku-klux-klan-groups-in-germany-report-kkk
5) “Neo-Nazi murder gang member jailed for life in Germany” Reuters 11.7.2018
Katie Hopkins, the British poster-girl for far-right, has been promoting far-right event called “Awakening II” which will take place in Finland in April. The event will feature notorious American antisemite Kevin MacDonald and equally notorious American white supremacist Jared Taylor, who also took part to the first “Awakening” conference in Finland, last year (1). The event will also feature Ukrainian far-right activist Olena Semenyaka, Swedish-Icelandic alt-right figure Frodi Midjord, Austrian writer Martin Semlitsch (aka Martin Lichtmesz) and Jasmina Ollikainen, a member of HAPSU, a student association which is a member of the Finns Party Youth, the youth-wing of the Finns Party (2).
Read the full story on Hope not Hate website:
Other references:
1)”A secretive far-right event in Helsinki on Sunday: International speakers united by anti-semitism and misogyny” Varisverkosto.com 4.4.2018
2) Information about HAPSU
IDIS Observer 