Far Right Online: The Rise of "Extreme" Gamers | The Economist

Jul 16, 2021 • In America, the intelligence services deem far-right extremism a greater domestic threat than Islamist terrorism. The pandemic has exacerbated the spread of white supremacism and neo-Nazism.

Germany Shuts Down Far-Right Clubs That Deny the Modern State

THE NEW YORK TIMES: In a first, the federal government banned two clubs with allegiance to the old German Reich. Police raids on members’ homes found weapons, propaganda and narcotics.

BERLIN — The German government on Thursday banned two clubs linked to an anti-Semitic movement that refuses to recognize the modern German state, with the Interior Ministry ordering raids on the homes of the groups’ leaders in 10 states as part of a crackdown on Germany’s far right.

“We relentlessly continue the fight against right-wing extremism even in times of crisis,” Horst Seehofer, Germany’s interior minister, said in a statement. “We are dealing with an association that distributes racist and anti-Semitic writings and thus systematically poisons our liberal society,” Mr. Seehofer added.

After years of focusing on threats from Islamist extremists, the German authorities have started to train their resources on combating homegrown far-right extremists. There have been three major attacks in the last nine months, including the killing of a politician, a failed attack on a synagogue and the killing in February of nine Germans with immigrant backgrounds, all three of which were carried out by far-right extremists.

“Far-right terror is the biggest threat to our democracy right now,” Christine Lambrecht, the country’s justice minister, said after the February attacks. On Thursday, she said the decision to ban the clubs brought the fight against far-right extremism and racism to the “highest political level.” » | Christopher F. Schuetze | Thursday, March 19, 2020

Soul-searching in Germany as Hanau Mourns Shooting Victims | DW News

People in Germany have been holding vigils for the ten killed by a suspected far-right extremist in the western city of Hanau. Authorities have identified the attacker as a 43-year-old German national. Prosecutors are treating the killings as an act of right-wing domestic terrorism. People have been coming together to mourn the victims and also to call for action. The city has a population of about 100,000, with a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. The Confederation of Kurds in Germany has confirmed that several of the dead had Kurdish origins. We met with some family members of those killed in Wednesday's attack.

Merkel Marks Hitler Assassination Attempt with Anti-extremism Appeal

BBC: German Chancellor Angela Markel has used the 75th anniversary of the most famous plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler to call on citizens to counter rising right-wing extremism.

Ms Merkel thanked the German officer, Claus von Stauffenberg, and other plotters who tried in 1944 to kill the Nazi dictator with a briefcase bomb.

Stauffenberg and some 200 co-conspirators were caught and executed.

Mrs Merkel urged people to join programmes for strengthening democracy.

"This day is a reminder to us, not only of those who acted on July 20, but also of everyone who stood up against Nazi rule," she said in her weekly video podcast.

"We are likewise obliged today to oppose all tendencies that seek to destroy democracy. That includes right-wing extremism." » | BBC | Saturday, July 20, 2019

Opinion: The Grave Threats of White Supremacy and Far-Right Extremism

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Hate crimes are on the rise. Police and prosecutors need better tools to fight back.

Last week, federal agents in Maryland arrested a United States Coast Guard officer and said he was plotting to assassinate Democratic members of Congress, prominent television journalists and others. The officer, Lt. Christopher Hasson, apparently was inspired by a right-wing Norwegian terrorist who slaughtered 77 people in 2011, stockpiled firearms and ammunition and researched locations around Washington to launch his attacks, according to investigators. Fortunately, the F.B.I. arrested him before he could act.

This frightening case is just one of several recent reminders that white supremacy and far-right extremism are among the greatest domestic-security threats facing the United States. » | Thomas T. Cullen | Mr. Cullen is the United States attorney for the Western District of Virginia. | Friday, February 22, 2019

Glenn Greenwald on Bolsonaro: Brazil Has Elected “Most Extremist Leader in the Democratic World”

Far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro has been elected Brazil’s next president, marking the most radical political shift in the country since military rule ended more than 30 years ago. Bolsonaro, a former Army officer, openly supports torture and dictatorships, has a history of making racist, misogynistic and homophobic comments, and has threatened to destroy, imprison or banish his political opponents. He defeated Fernando Haddad of the leftist Workers’ Party with 55 percent of the vote. His ascendance to power is leading many to fear the future of democracy in Brazil is in danger. We speak with Glenn Greenwald, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and one of the founding editors of The Intercept, in Rio de Janeiro. He says that Bolsonaro is “by far the most extremist leader now elected anywhere in the democratic world.”

The Rise of the Extreme Far-right in Britain – BBC Newsnight

The former head of the Metropolitan Police's counter terrorism unit is warning the extreme right-wing is on the rise in Britain and we "haven't woken up" to it yet.

Neo-Nazi Murder: Greeks Protest Rise of the Far-Right

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The alleged murder of a leftist rapper by a neo-Nazi has shocked Greece, where thousands have taken to the streets to protest the rise of the far-right Golden Dawn party. Athens says it is determined to take action.

As Pavlos Fyssas was laid to rest in Athens on Thursday morning, thousands of Greeks took to the streets to pay their respects to the anti-fascist rapper and demonstrate against the escalating violence engulfing the country.

When he was stabbed to death early on Wednesday, the 34-year-old became the most prominent victim of a wave of right-wing extremism that, if left unchecked, some fear may degenerate into generalized instability as social tensions rise on the back of the country's economic crisis.

A 45-year-old man, Giorgos Roupakias, has been arrested for the crime and, according to police, has confessed to both the murder and his ties to the far-right Golden Dawn, which has seen a meteoric rise in popularity and is now Greece's third most popular political party. » | Georgios Christidis in Thessaloniki | Thursday, September 19, 2013

Verwandt »

Support for Greece's Golden Dawn Rises

Read the article The Spectre of Fascism in Greece here | Tuesday, July 09, 2013
Related »

New Dark Age Alert! Thug Politics - Greece

Related »

Austerity Anger Boosts European Extreme Parties
In the Netherlands and across Europe, the growing anger towards austerity measures is leading to a boost in support for the far-left and far-right parties. Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull reports from The Hague.

Related here, here, here, here, here, and here.

A Civilization on Edge: Amid Debt Crisis, Athens Falls Apart

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: As Greece struggles to master its devastating debt problem, decades of mismanagement have taken their toll on the country's once-proud capital. Athens has degenerated into a hotbed of chaos and crime, where tensions between Greeks and immigrants have led to attacks on foreigners by the far-right.

Massoud starts walking faster as the shadows lengthen. He glances at the scratched display on his mobile phone. It's 7:15 p.m.

The sun is setting behind the large apartment buildings on Patission Street, disappearing behind the few remaining classical facades where the plaster is beginning to crumble. "For Rent" and "For Sale" signs are posted on boarded-up windows or behind sheets of opaque glass.

Massoud is in a hurry. He wants to get home before dark, because that's when the people who are out to get him come out.

The gangs of right-wing thugs, sometimes up to 20 at a time, approach their victims on foot or on mopeds, carrying clubs and knives. They are masked, faceless and fast. They appear suddenly and silently before striking.

The neo-fascists are hunting down immigrants in the middle of downtown Athens, in the streets north of the central Omonia Square. They call it cleansing.

They hunt people like Massoud, a 25-year-old Afghan from Kabul. He has been living in Athens for five years without a residency permit, even though he speaks fluent Greek. He studied geography in Kabul, but in Athens he works as a day laborer.

The gangs also hunt the dark-skinned man pushing a shopping cart filled with garbage and scrap metal through the streets. Or the woman with Asian features, who now grabs her child and the paper cup with which she has just been begging in the streets. » | Julia Amalia Heyer | Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan | Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Part 2: Violence, Drugs and Disease »

Anders Behring Breivik: 'I Am the Commander of Norway's Resistance Movement'

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Anders Behring Breivik, the self-confessed killer who massacred 77 people in bomb and gun attacks in Norway earlier this year, has claimed to be the commander of a Norwegian "resistance movement".

Breivik's first public hearing before a packed Oslo court was the first time victims and family and friends of the dead had seen the 32-year old since he killed eight in the Norwegian capital with a bomb before shooting 69 people dead at a youth camp on the island of Utoya back in July.

Anne Leer, a journalist in court, said Breivik looked his victims straight in the eye when he entered the court.

"I am a military commander in the Norwegian resistance movement and Knights Templar Norway," Breivik said in a low and controlled voice. "Regarding the competence (of the court), I object to it because you received your mandate from organisations that support hate ideology (and) because it supports multiculturalism."

The public presence of the anti-Muslim extremist produced a maelstrom of emotions for those who survived the massacre or those who lost loved ones. Some left the court sobbing while others remained, curious to see the man responsible for so much death and suffering. » | Matthew Day | Monday, November 14, 2011

Related »

LE FIGARO: Le tueur d'Oslo reste en prison trois mois de plus : Anders Behring Breivik, l'auteur du massacre du 22 juillet en Norvège, comparaissait pour la première fois en public lundi devant le tribunal d'Oslo. » | Par lefigaro.fr | lundi 14 novembre 2011

THE ATLANTIC WIRE: Anders Breivik Demands Psychiatrists and Cigarettes » | Connor Simpson | Saturday, August 02, 2011

BBC: Norway attacks: Breivik makes ‘unrealistic’ demands » | Saturday, August 02, 2011

Outrage over Property Deal: German State Sells Manor House to Right Extremists

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: The German state of Thuringia spends millions of euros on combating right-wing extremism, but has now undermined its efforts by selling a manor house to a suspected member of a far-right organization. The group, which has links to Holocaust deniers, is already holding meetings there.

The eastern German state of Thuringia is under fire for unwittingly selling a large manor house to a suspected far-right sympathizer who has made it available as a meeting place for right-wing extremists.

The building stood empty in the village of Guthmannshausen, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) northeast of the state capital, Erfurt, until its sale this year, and is now being used by a notorious right-wing extremist group called Gedächtnisstätte (Memorial Site), which plans to transform it into a center to commemorate the German victims of World War II.

The organization is run by a landscape architect, Wolfram Schiedewitz, who has been on the watch-list of the domestic intelligence agency for a number of years.

The group has links with known Holocaust deniers, such as Ursula Haverbeck-Wetzel, its founder and former chairwoman, who has been convicted of incitement several times and whose two other organizations have been banned.

In a statement to supporters, Schiedewitz said his group had at last found a new home. "We want to fill our manor with life in remembrance of our civilian victims of World War II through bombs, abduction and expulsion and in prison camps," Schiedewitz said. » | Maik Baumgärtner and Christina Hebel | Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Matthew Goodwin on the Far Right: A Violent Strain
Europe's emergent right wing is not all violent, and it should be taken seriously, says the author of "New British Fascism"

Verwandt »

Rüstzeug gegen populistischen Extremismus
DIE PRESSE: Der britische Thinktank Chatham House untersucht den Aufstieg ausländerfeindlicher Parteien. Welche Gruppierungen fallen überhaupt in diese Kategorie und wie lässt sich der Siegeszug der Populisten stoppen?

London/La. „Der Aufstieg des populistischen Extremismus ist eine der dringendsten Herausforderungen für Europa.“ Zu diesem Schluss kommt die britische Ideenschmiede Chatham House, die zu diesem Thema eine Studie in Auftrag gegeben hat. Der Bericht, der den Titel „Right Response“ (richtige bzw. rechte Antwort) trägt und gestern in London vorgestellt wurde, soll das politische Establishment in Europa mit dem notwendigen Rüstzeug ausstatten, um der Gefahr Einhalt gebieten zu können.

Welche Gruppierungen fallen überhaupt in diese Kategorie? Die Studienautoren definieren populistischen Extremismus relativ weit: Ihre Liste umfasst 27 Parteien und beinhaltet neben der britischen National Front oder der deutschen NPD auch die FPÖ, das BZÖ, die italienische Lega Nord und die SVP – die immerhin die stimmenstärkste Partei der Schweiz ist. Gemeinsame Nenner sind demnach die fundamentale Ablehnung der Immigration sowie eine Strategie, die sich gegen die etablierten Kräfte richtet und die repräsentative Demokratie implizit infrage stellt. » | Die Presse | Print Ausgabe 23. 09. 2011 | Freitag 23. September 2011

CHATHAM HOUSE: Understanding and Dealing with the Spread of Populist Extremism in Europe »

Nationalists Attack WWII Veterans and Russian Diplomats in W. Ukraine

RUSSIA TODAY: Moscow wants Ukraine to punish nationalists: Ukrainian authorities must bring to account nationalists who staged provocations on Victory Day in Lvov and other cities in Western Ukraine, stated the head of the State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs, Liberal Democrats MP Aleksey Ostrovsky. » | Aleksandr Mazurkevich | RIA Novosti | Tuesday, May 10, 2011

English Defence League: Inside the Violent World of Britain's New Far Right
THE GUARDIAN: Undercover Guardian investigation reveals plan by English Defence League to hit racially sensitive areas in attempt to provoke disorder over summer

MPs expressed concern tonight after it emerged that far-right activists are planning to step up their provocative street campaign by targeting some of the UK's highest-profile Muslim communities, raising fears of widespread unrest this summer.

Undercover footage shot by the Guardian reveals the English Defence League, which has staged a number of violent protests in towns and cities across the country this year, is planning to "hit" Bradford and the London borough of Tower Hamlets as it intensifies its street protests.

Senior figures in the coalition government were briefed on the threat posed by EDL marches this week. Tomorrow up to 2,000 EDL supporters are expected to descend on Newcastle for its latest protest.

MPs said the group's decision to target some of the UK's most prominent Muslim communities was a blatant attempt to provoke mayhem and disorder. "This group has no positive agenda," said the Bradford South MP, Gerry Sutcliffe. "It is an agenda of hate that is designed to divide people and communities. We support legitimate protest but this is not legitimate, it is designed to stir up trouble. The people of Bradford will want no part of it."

The English Defence League, which started in Luton last year, has become the most significant far-right street movement in the UK since the National Front in the 1970s. A Guardian investigation has identified a number of known rightwing extremists who are taking an interest in the movement – from convicted football hooligans to members of violent rightwing splinter groups.

Thousands of people have attended its protests – many of which have descended into violence and racist and Islamophobic chanting. Supporters are split into "divisions" spread across the UK and as many as 3,000 people are attracted to its protests.

The group also appears to be drawing support from the armed forces. Its online armed forces division has 842 members and the EDL says many serving soldiers have attended its demonstrations. A spokeswoman for the EDL, whose husband is a serving soldier, said: "The soldiers are fighting Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Iraq and the EDL are fighting it here … Not all the armed forces support the English Defence League but a majority do." >>> Matthew Taylor | Friday, May 28, 2010

Watch* Guardian video: The English Defence League uncovered: Formed less than a year ago, the English Defence League has become the most significant far-right street movement since the National Front. The Guardian spent four months undercover with the movement, and found them growing in strength and planning to target some of the UK's biggest Muslim communities >>>

*Warning: video contains very strong language. Viewer discretion is STRONGLY advised.

THE GUARDIAN: Muslims must refuse to rise to EDL provocation: By ignoring planned EDL demonstrations and looking toward dialogue to dispel myths, Muslims can facilitate cohesion >>> Samia Rahman | Saturday, May 29, 2010

Racism Alive and Well in Eastern Germany
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Three days after eight Indian men were attacked, injured and chased through an Eastern German town by a mob while the townsfolk looked on, Germany is worried that this latest incident will hurt its image abroad and scare off foreign investors.

The Indian government has demanded a rigorous investigation into the attack on eight Indian men (more...) by a mob of at least 50 Germans shouting "Foreigners out" in the eastern German town of Mügeln, near the city of Leipzig, on Saturday night.

"We expect the culprits to be caught quickly," India's ambassador to Germany, Meera Shankar, told Berliner Zeitung newspaper. Earlier she asked the German government "to take measures to tackle this issue and prevent such events from occurring in the future," a spokesman for the Indian foreign ministry said.

The attack has triggered fresh public debate about far-right extremism in the formerly communist east of Germany, which has seen a string of racist assaults since unification in 1990. Politicians and business leaders have expressed concern that the country's reputation abroad may have been hurt and that foreign investors be deterred from coming to Germany. After Attack on Indians, Germany Fears For its Reputation (more)

Mark Alexander