Rechtsextremismus

In ‘Far-Right Ecologism’, European Extremists Pursue Broader Appeal

In rescuing dogs and promoting ‘traditional’ rural life, far-right groups are seeking to encroach on the political mainstream in Europe. Anastasija first came across Levijatan [Leviathan] in 2017 on Facebook. The 23-year-old student from the Serbian capital, Belgrade, had long been interested in environmental protection and ecology, and was drawn to the group’s focus on concrete action to protect defenceless animals from cruelty. “At last someone is actually working on the ground to protect animals,” she recalled thinking. But the burly, tattooed men of Levijatan aren’t your average dog rescuers, as Anastasija eventually found out. “It took me more than a year to discover and understand that Levijatan isn’t quite as caring as it makes out and that behind the protection of animals stands the spread of intolerance of and hatred towards different social groups,” Anastasija, who declined to give her surname, told BIRN. In fact, with more than 220,000 followers on Facebook and roughly 22,600 votes in Serbia’s last parliamentary election in June, Levijatan is the latest offshoot of a Europe-wide phenomenon that has appropriated the fight for animal rights in the service of a far-right political agenda targeting minorities. But while ‘far-right ecologism’ – as PhD candidate Balsa Lubarda of the Central European University, CEU, calls it – can be traced to underground movements of the 1960s and 70s, its newest practitioners are encroaching on the mainstream in countries like Serbia and Hungary, where their discourse frequently dovetails with the policies espoused by increasingly authoritarian and populist governments.
“The whole spectrum of right-wing politics is invariably actually contributing to thinking about the environment, thinking about ecologically sustainable politics and that link is exactly what far-right and right-wing populism is now trying to play on, given the salience of the topic,” Lubarda said in an interview. Via grassroots activism, they seek to influence public policy and infiltrate state structures. Far-right parties with similar interests in the environment are represented in parliaments across Europe. Where Levijatan traces its founding five years ago to the rescue of a tortured pit bull called Grof, the Hungarian organisation Szurkolok az allatokert [Sports Fans for Animals] began with a dog called Fulop. Dogs Grof and Fulop. Photo: Levijatan Movement Foundation and Szurkolók az állatkínzás ellen Facebook pages Both groups reject the label ‘far-right’, but their politics are clear: Levijatan used to share an office with the Serbian Right, a far-right political party, and Levijatan’s leader, Pavle Bihali, is seen in pictures on his social media accounts posing with neo-Nazis. In an emailed response to questions for this story, Bihali said that, on the current Serbian political spectrum, Levijatan is “right of centre” and committed to fighting against “the remains of communism that have brought us to where we are.” Its tactics can be brutal. In mid-October, Serbian police arrested six members of the group on suspicion of attacking a man on a street in Belgrade, the Serbian daily Danas reported. According to prosecutors, the six – identified only by their initials – demanded the victim repeat certain words while they filmed on a mobile phone and, when he refused, they beat him. Two days later, prosecutors say one of the suspects threatened the victim, telling him to apologise on Facebook for his earlier criticism of Levijatan. Szurkolok az allatokert, meanwhile, has received coverage on media outlets close to Hungary’s ruling right-wing Fidesz party and Jobbik, a once virulently anti-Semitic far-right party that has sought in recent years to move closer to the centre. Szurkolok az allatokert, which did not respond to questions for this story, has shared speeches on social media by members of Our Homeland Movement, a far-right offshoot of Jobbik, while the think-tank Political Capital featured the group in its 2017 and 2018 reports on the far-right. Animal rights activism is a shield, said Florian Bieber, director of the Centre for Southeast European Studies at the University of Graz in Austria. “It is a very good way of avoiding and deflecting criticism.”

via balkna insight: In ‘Far-Right Ecologism’, European Extremists Pursue Broader Appeal

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Quantifying the Race War in America – #terror #TheBase

Most people see hate filtered through the individual events that reach our daily lives or news feeds – a chance encounter, a video, a story from a friend. But hate rarely emerges at random. There are patterns, sources, and cultures that give rise to hateful trends. When our team at the podcast Sounds Like Hate was approached with a trove of secret recordings from the Base’s vetting room for domestic terrorists in training, our goal was to understand the patterns in this data. You can hear the full story of our investigation by listening to our podcast series. The Base is a terrorist organization that began in 2018 to advance a white supremacist agenda​ ​of the collapse of America, an impending race war, and preparation for ​violence. Each recording contains a vetting call where members of the Base talk to potential recruits over the messaging app Wire. We were faced with the task of analyzing a significant amount of data, 83 hours in total. In this post, we will describe how we applied statistical analysis, data visualization, and machine learning to understand the trends beneath the hate.
To be clear, these vetting calls are not about conversion. The men who apply for membership are already believers. For instance, the men on these secret recordings share an interest in president Trump. His name was brought up 69 times and was mentioned in 18% of all conversations. While they didn’t all agree with him, they all agreed he was serving their agenda. ​“It’s a kind of like we’re climbing a ladder. We hit a rung and we hit another rung on a ladder. And so I think this next election will be just interesting. And depending if Trump wins and if the left, depending on how bad they freak out, how bad they riot and things like that. There’s potential for some, you know, mass kind of lawlessness and things like that.​“ [Speaker 86] The central theme of the Base’s neo-Nazi doctrine is whiteness, both as a race and as a culture. In the recordings, “white” was mentioned more than “Black,” “Jew,” or any other racial/ethnic term combined. The most commonly mentioned phrases including “white” were “white nationalism,” “pro-white,” “white people,” and “white power.” When discussing white people, recruits would frequently extol their perceived virtues of whiteness and bemoan the perceived decline of the white race.

via splcenter: Quantifying the Race War in America

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America of the 1930s saw thousands of people become Nazi

During the 1930s, thousands of Americans sympathized with the Nazis, holding huge rallies. The rallies were organized by the American German Bund, which wanted to spread Nazi ideology.
Nazi supporters also organized summer camps for kids to teach them their values. Having radical fringe groups tearing at the seams of America is not a new phenomenon. Less than a 100 years ago, the Nazis were gathering for big rallies on U.S. soil, running youth camps, their numbers growing by tens of thousands. In the America of the 1930s, pro-Hitler groups like The Friends of New Germany carried out propaganda and intimidation campaigns to disseminate the National Socialist agenda. Their members wore uniforms, consisting of a white shirt and black trousers for men, topped by a black hat with a red symbol. Female attire included a white blouse and a black skirt. In 1936, the Amerikadeutscher Volksbund, or German American Bund, was created as “an organization of patriotic Americans of German stock.” They ran around 20 camps for youth and training, eventually establishing 70 regional divisions around the nation. The ostensible goal of the German American Bund was to represent Americans of German descent but its true objective was to promote the views of Nazi Germany. The Bund played into the growing “America First” stance that sought to keep the U.S. out of World War 2, while amplifying its racist messages. One of the most astonishing events held by the Bund was the “Americanization” rally it held at Madison Square Garden in New York on February 20th, 1939. The event, attended by 20,000 people, consisted of railing against Jewish conspiracies, President Roosevelt and similar sentiment. While speaking, the leader (Bundesführer) of the organization, Fritz Julius Kuhn (a chemical engineer by trade), spewed anti-Semitism, calling the President “Frank D. Rosenfield” while describing his New Deal as a “Jew Deal”. He referred to the U.S government as a whole as “Bolshevik-Jewish” and kept attacking the press and American culture as being run by the Jews. The rally featured a giant banner of George Washington, as the speakers tried to link the event to his birthday and supposed non-interventionist positions. Huge crowds of up to 100,000 people comprising of anti-Nazi protestors also came to make their voices heard at this event, but were held back by 1,700 New York police officers. For chilling footage and more on the Manhattan rally, check out the Academy Award-nominated short documentary film A Night at the Garden:

via bigthink: America of the 1930s saw thousands of people become Nazi

siehe auch: The America of Trump’s Father. One might have been confused about America’s actual loyalties during the brewing years of World War II if they happened to live in the greater New York City region. New York and its suburbs in Long Island and New Jersey had a vibrant community of first- and second-generation German Americans, the latter having included Fred Trump, Sr., a rising star in real estate and retailing.

German American Bund NYWTS.jpg
Von New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer – Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection. <a rel=”nofollow” class=”external free” href=”http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c17148″>http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c17148</a>. CALL NUMBER: NYWTS – SUBJ/GEOG–German-American Bund, Gemeinfrei, Link

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Teenage White Supremacist Sentenced to Four Years In Juvenile Detention for Plotting to Kill Black Worshippers at Georgia Church Last Year

A white teenager who admitted to plotting to kill Black churchgoers last year was sentenced to four years in juvenile detention on Thursday. Caitlyn Pye, 17, will also face 10 years of probation upon her release from the Department of Juvenile Justice at the age of 21. Pye, of Gainesville, Georgia, at city of less than 50,000 people about an hour north of Atlanta, was charged with criminal attempt to commit murder after she plotted a deadly attack on worshippers at the city’s Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in November 2019. School resource officers in Gainesville were made aware that Pye had “detailed” written plans to “commit murder” in a notebook. When school officials searched Pye’s bag, they found the notebook, one T-shirt with the phrase “natural selection,” written on it, and another with “Free Dylann Storm Roof” on it, along with swastikas drawn on each sleeve, the Gainesville Times reported. White domestic terrorist Dylann Roof murdered nine Black worshippers at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. The back of one shirt said: “I had to do it because somebody had to do something, because Black people are killing White people every day on the streets. What I did is still miniscule compared to what they’re doing to White people every day. I do consider myself a White supremacist.” The quote nearly mirrors Roof’s statements found in his online manifesto and a journal after the Charleston Massacre. There were also two knives in the bag. Pye visited the church she intended to target several times, but there was no one there. Pye is forbidden from having any contact with any AME church in the state of Georgia, and is required to remain 150 yards away from any other AME church. The sentence also requires that she write an apology letter to the church and attend court-ordered counseling.

via atlantablackstar: Teenage White Supremacist Sentenced to Four Years In Juvenile Detention for Plotting to Kill Black Worshippers at Georgia Church Last Year

siehe auch: MOTIVATED BY HATE ‘White supremacist’ teen girl ‘plotted to butcher Black churchgoers in knife attack’ because ‘she idolized Dylann Roof’. A TEENAGE girl who plotted to butcher Black churchgoers in a knife attack has pleaded guilty, after paraphernalia idolizing gunman Dylann Roof was found in her schoolba. The 17-year-old girl, who remains unidentified, said she planned to attack churchgoers at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Gainesville, Georgia, with a knife. (…) Prosecutors said that the teenager had written out the plans in her notebook and a search of her bag revealed two knives and T-shirts, one of which read ‘free Dylann Storm Roof’ with swastikas drawn onto the arms, WXIA reported. The shirts also included several writings on their backs, including “I’m not crazy I had to do this,” and, “I do consider myself a white supremacist,” prosecutors said. Roof was 21 years old when he massacred nine Black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, during a prayer service in 2015. The self-proclaimed white supremacist was convicted of murder over the massacre, in which a senior pastor and a state senator were shot dead at a Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishop Reginald Jackson, presiding prelate of the Sixth Episcopal District of the AME Church, told reporters that the girl was inspired by Roof. “Idealizing him and sharing the same ideology, she plotted to accomplish the same at Bethel church in Gainesville,” Jackson said.

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#Geheimakten verraten Nähe zwischen #Lübcke-#Mörder und prominentem #Neonazi – #ThorstenHeise #terror

Unter Verschluss gehaltene Papiere des Verfassungsschutzes zeigen, dass der Neonazi Stephan Ernst und der Rechtsextremist Thorsten Heise immer wieder aufeinandertrafen. Dem hessischen Landtag wird das brisante Material vorenthalten. Der mutmaßliche Lübcke-Mörder Stephan Ernst hatte über ein Jahrzehnt hinweg immer wieder Kontakt zu dem einflussreichen Rechtsextremisten und heutigem NPD-Bundesvizechef Thorsten Heise. Die Beziehung von Ernst und Heise ist in Unterlagen des hessischen Landesamtes für Verfassungsschutz (LfV) dokumentiert, die WELT exklusiv vorliegen. Das geheime Material ist laut der Redaktion Teil der mehr als 56.000 Seiten umfassenden Ermittlungsakte des Generalbundesanwaltes (GBA) zum Mord am Kasseler Regierungspräsidenten Walter Lübcke (CDU). Zu den 240 Bänden hat das LfV Hessen 18 Bände zugeliefert. Sowohl der GBA als auch das für den Fall zuständige Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt/Main weigern sich, das Konvolut einem vom hessischen Landtag eingesetzten Untersuchungsausschuss auszuhändigen. (…) An der Seite des Neonazi-Kaders Heise nahm Ernst auch an einer Winter- und einer Sommersonnenwendfeiern in Hessen und Thüringen teil. Die erste in den Akten erwähnte Zusammenkunft der beiden fand nach Angaben von WELT im April 2001 statt, die letzte im Juni 2011.Mit

via welt: Geheimakten verraten Nähe zwischen Lübcke-Mörder und prominentem Neonazi

siehe auch: Stephan E. soll Kontakt zu NPD-Funktionär gehabt haben. Der Hauptangeklagte im Mordfall Lübcke soll mehrmals den NPD-Bundesvize getroffen haben. Die Begegnungen fanden laut einem Medienbericht zwischen 2001 und 2011 statt. Stephan E., der Hauptangeklagte im Prozess um den Mord an Walter Lübcke, soll immer wieder Kontakt zum stellvertretenden NPD-Bundesvorsitzenden Thorsten Heise gehabt haben. Das berichtete die Welt unter Berufung auf Unterlagen des hessischen Landesamtes für Verfassungsschutz. In den Verfassungsschutzpapieren seien zahlreiche Begegnungen von Stephan E. und Heise beschrieben, berichtete die Welt, darunter bei Stammtischen der NPD in Kassel, bei der Fahrt zu einer Demonstration in Berlin oder bei Winter- und Sommersonnenwendfeiern in Hessen und Thüringen. Die erste in den Akten erwähnte Zusammenkunft der beiden habe im April 2001 stattgefunden, die letzte im Juni 2011.

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“Rechtsextrem und rassistisch” – #Antisemitismus-Beauftragter fordert Beobachtung von #Burschenschaften

Der Antisemitismus-Beauftragte des Landes, Michael Blume, pocht auf ein härteres Vorgehen gegen rechte und völkische Burschenschaften. Es müsse geprüft werden, wo Vereinsverbote und Beschlagnahmungen von Wohnraum möglich seien, sagte Blume der Deutschen Presse-Agentur (dpa) in Stuttgart. Völkische und rechtsextreme Burschenschaften seien eine Gefahr – auch aufgrund von Seilschaften, die tief in den Staatsdienst reichen würden. “Wir haben Hinweise darauf, dass Netzwerke von alten Herren im Staatsdienst sich seit Jahrzehnten gegenseitig decken und Vorfälle immer wieder als Einzelfälle verniedlichen statt aufzuklären.” Blumes Kritik richtet sich vor allem gegen den Dachverband Deutsche Burschenschaft. Dieser sei “rechtsextrem, rassistisch und antisemitisch”. “Ich fordere den Verfassungsschutz auf, endlich diese Organisation zu beobachten und die Netzwerke, die in den Staatsdienst reichen bis hin zu Polizei und Justiz, endlich aufzuklären.” (…) Zu dem Dachverband gehört auch die Heidelberger Burschenschaft Normannia. Ein mutmaßlich judenfeindlicher Übergriff dort erschütterte vor Kurzem die Öffentlichkeit. Ein Gast mit jüdischen Vorfahren soll Ende August bei einer Verbindungsfeier mit Gürteln geschlagen, mit Münzen beworfen und antisemitisch beleidigt worden sein. Polizei und Staatsanwaltschaft ermitteln nun wegen gefährlicher Körperverletzung und Beleidigung gegen mehrere Burschenschafter der Normannia

via swr: “Rechtsextrem und rassistisch” Antisemitismus-Beauftragter fordert Beobachtung von Burschenschaften

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Protest gegen #Ausgangssperre – Rechtsextreme randalieren in #Rom – #ForzaNuova

Nach Neapel jetzt auch Rom: In der Nacht haben Mitglieder einer neofaschistischen Gruppierung Polizisten angegriffen und Feuer entfacht. Ihre Wut richtet sich gegen die nächtliche Ausgangssperre. In Italien ist es in der zweiten Nacht in Folge bei Protesten gegen die nächtlichen Corona-Ausgangssperren zu Ausschreitungen gekommen. Rund 200 maskierte Anhänger der rechtsextremen Partei Forza Nuova attackierten in der Nacht im Zentrum von Rom die Polizei mit Leuchtraketen und Knallkörpern und setzten Mülltonnen in Brand. Nach Angaben der Zeitung “La Repubblica” wurden zwei Polizisten verletzt. Sieben Demonstranten wurden demnach festgenommen. (…) Vor der Demonstration in Rom hatte es Aufrufe in den Online-Netzwerken gegeben, dem Beispiel von Neapel zu folgen. Dort hatten in der Nacht zum Samstag Demonstranten bei Protesten gegen die Ausgangssperre die Polizei attackiert. Auch in der Region Kampanien, in der Neapel liegt, gilt ein nächtliches Verbot, die Häuser und Wohnungen zu verlassen.

via tagesschau: Protest gegen Ausgangssperre Rechtsextreme randalieren in Rom

siehe auch: Verletzte und Festnahmen Ausschreitungen bei Corona-Demo in Rom. Mindestens zehn Personen wurden von der Polizei festgenommen. Aus Unmut gegen die Corona-Maßnahmen der italienischen Regierung ruft eine rechtsextreme Partei zum Protest auf. Daraufhin gehen in Rom Hunderte Menschen auf die Straße. Dabei kommt es auch zu Gewaltausbrüchen. In Italiens Hauptstadt Rom ist es bei Protesten gegen Ausgangssperren und andere Corona-Maßnahmen zu Ausschreitungen gekommen. Demonstranten warfen in der Nacht zum Sonntag im Zentrum der Metropole Feuerwerkskörper auf Polizisten, wie die Nachrichtenagentur Adnkronos und andere Medien berichteten. Als Bereitschaftspolizisten zur Verstärkung anrückten, wurden demnach Autos beschädigt und Müllcontainer in Brand gesteckt. Zwei Polizisten erlitten den Berichten zufolge Verletzungen, mindestens zehn Demonstranten wurden festgenommen. An dem nicht genehmigten und von der neofaschistischen Partei Forza Nuova organisierten Protest hatten sich den Medienberichten zufolge Hunderte Menschen beteiligt. Parteichef Roberto Fiore twitterte, die italienischen Lebensgrundlagen würden “im Namen einer ‘Pseudo-Pandemie’ geopfert”. Die Italiener würden zeigen, “dass sie Einschränkungen und wirtschaftliche Euthanasie” nicht länger tolerieren könnten, so Fiore. Forza Nuova, die bei der Parlamentswahl 2018 weniger als 0,4 Prozent der Stimmen erhalten hatte, war auch an gewalttätigen Protesten am späten Freitagabend in Neapel beteiligt. Italiens Vize-Innenminister Matteo Mauri beschrieb das dortige Geschehen anschließend als “Stadtguerilla”-Vorfälle, die von Fußball-Hooligans, kriminellen Gruppen und politischen Extremisten angeheizt worden seien.

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