Far-right extremists across Europe are successfully integrating themselves into the political mainstream by shunning street violence and adopting the same recruitment techniques used by jihadis, according to a new report.
The research, carried out by the Counter Extremism Project, was revealed exclusively to The Independent ahead of a major march in London organised by Ukip and English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson.
Ukip, which has won millions of votes in previous British elections, has been hit by a string of high-profile resignations in protest at the direction taken by leader Gerard Batten, who recently appointed Robinson as an adviser.
Campaigners warn that although Robinson and other anti-Islam figures publicly eschew violence, their ability to shift into the political mainstream and hijack topical issues broadens their public appeal.
David Ibsen, executive director of the Counter Extremism Project, said: “Portraying themselves in this way is definitely a tactic to increase the reach of their message and, as such, increase the potential of radicalisation.”
He said anti-Islam figures and white nationalists were using online channels to “build communities” around specific issues, in a way that has previously been seen with jihadis who capitalise on topics like the Iraq War and airstrikes.
“The real worrying issue is that, with the power of social media, these claims create an ecosystem where people looking for legitimate mainstream movements access extremist culture,” Mr Ibsen added.
“What we cannot ignore is how these groups will affect pluralism, peace and tolerance.”
Defectors from Ukip have told The Independent they fear the party is morphing into a successor to the racist British National Party and condemned Mr Batten’s “obsession” with Robinson and Islam.
Robinson called the exodus “brilliant” and claimed Ukip would become “a populist, revolutionist political party”.
Mr Batten, a Ukip MEP for London, has repeatedly branded Islam a “death cult” and the party’s latest manifesto included proposals to create Muslim-only prisons and repeal hate crime laws.
Ukip claims it has gained 8,000 new members since Mr Batten took charge in February, and the leader said Robinson’s appointment has given the party “access to a million Facebook followers”.
While the EDL founder has denied inciting violence, his posts formed part of the inspiration for the Finsbury Park terror attack, which saw a man plough a van into Muslims during Ramadan.
British security services have been increasing their focus on the far-right since the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox by a white supremacist in 2016.
The number of right-wing extremists arrested and jailed for terror offences has been increasing, and MI5 has recently taken the lead on intelligence operations from counterterror police.
Jackson Hughes
The Independent understands that discussions are ongoing over where to set the bar for far-right terror investigations, with much of the material inspiring extremists online falling short of a criminal threshold.
The Counter Extremism Project’s report said that while some groups openly espouse violent white supremacy, others are propagating radical stances under the guise of populism.
Researchers said far-right political parties and groups across Europe were hijacking legitimate concerns over Islamist terrorism, while scapegoating Muslim immigrants for economic hardship faced by young Europeans.
“More than 70 years after the defeat of Nazi Germany, ethno-nationalist and white supremacist movements in Europe continue to thrive,” the report said.
“Populist groups claim that they are striving to protect average hardworking Europeans by preserving their livelihoods and heritages from economic and cultural threats posed by immigrants and ethnic minorities.
“Though not all of these groups directly link their ideologies to Nazism, their propaganda portrays immigrants and ethnic minorities in a similar manner to how Nazi propaganda portrayed Jews, blaming them for national economic troubles and depicting them as a serious threat to the broader national identity.”
Researchers noted the success of parties like Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland and Italy’s Lega Nord, who have “been able to generate substantial popular support by promising to defend their respective countries against the cultural attacks of immigrants and foreign influence”.
While Britain’s electoral system limits the ability of fringe groups to gain parliamentary seats, organisations using the same tactics appear to be attracting growing memberships.
The pan-European white nationalist group Generation Identity, which originated in France, declared its presence in Britain last year and has since launched waves of protests, publicity stunts and stickering drives to attract more members.
The group has openly discussed how it looks to “engage with the student demographic” and targets 18 to 30-year-olds with a slick social media presence in multiple languages.
Generation Identity’s central ideology claims that white people are being “replaced” by ethnic minorities in Europe and calls for non-whites to be “relocated” from the continent.
Austrian leader Martin Sellner has been prevented from entering the UK and the group has been marred by infighting, but recruitment continues.
The Counter Extremism Project said Generation Identity has “renounced violence in favour of utilising social media and public demonstrations to portray themselves as a legitimate, mainstream movement protecting European culture.”
Researchers warned that similar groups have been able to gain support by attacking minorities, rather than openly promoting white supremacy.
Meanwhile, neo-Nazi groups such as Combat 18 and the Nordic Resistance Movement are still able to recruit for overtly violent aims.
The British government banned the neo-Nazi organisation National Action in 2016 but its members split into rebranded regional factions, including some that are still in operation.
National Action supporters include a British soldier who was recruiting fellow troops for a race war, a man who plotted to murder a Labour MP and another who tried to behead a Sikh man.
The group has characterised its ideology as “white jihad” and police investigations have exposed the existence of gory propaganda material.
“Not only do these violent white supremacist groups employ similar strategies to some of the most prominent Islamist terror groups, but they are also motivated to pursue the radical end goal of an ethnically or culturally homogenous state due to similar concerns that their identity and way of life are under threat,” the Counter Extremism Project said.
Meanwhile real extremists are stockpiling illegal weapon shipments in tax payed mosques, while the media is radicalizing the Muslim youth into violence and conquering fantasies….
Samuel Harris
Nice but fix that spelling.
Parker Diaz
Priorities son, we got to get rid of all the hate criminals typing "nigger" on the internet first, then we take care of the terrorists. sips
Dominic Parker
Is being an extremist bad? I was always taught growing up to be the best at what you do? isnt that extremism? im confused…
nothing draws recruits in like some good ole bombings of gubmint buildings
Oliver Campbell
Fuck me that spacing. Can someone reformat it in a non-plebbitard manner so that human beings can actually read it comfortably?
Brayden Russell
that spacing is the result of copypasting text from a website. but seeing how much you contributed to this thread STFU
Leo Wilson
Stop reading.
David Peterson
Well this certainly explains why Western security agencies have such a hard time dealing with retarded camlefuckers. They are too retarded to even figure out their methods.
Carter Roberts
WHITE JIHAD
Connor James
hey you little faggot you didn't even include the article link
Julian King
Please format memes more carefully in future >>12534407 fixed
What does benis mean agent Johnson? This is a matter of national security!
Brandon Morgan
Kek, I don't know what's better cybernazis or ubernazis
Ian Bennett
Since its inception Islam has been a far-right political ideology masquerading as third wave Judaism. It's only natural that its tenets would be adopted by the modern right.
Jaxson Rogers
WHITE NATIONALISM IS A RELIGION OF PEAS
Nathaniel Williams
Are they implying there is anything wrong with Islam?
Nicholas Robinson
Jee I wonder why people are feeling like they have to resort to violence.
They have to milk that cow somehow. The bigger picture is that they can claim victory from the shit that they've made up when their arbitrary demands are fulfilled, mainly because their premise isn't grounded in reality whatsoever. If you can claim that 1+1= 0, then there's nothing preventing you from claiming that it equals 3.
They'll claim victory that they've defeated [x group], later to claim that [x group] resurfaced again.
Adam Robinson
Congrats, you're just realizing that journalists are a collective of manipulative liars who hold several double standards. Their true beliefs are:
Muslims primarily kill the leftist traitors in your country. People who brand you as a terrorist for protecting them deserve to be killed by real Islamic extremists for throwing their countrymen under the bus for a few views.
Plus, experience is the best teacher. Continue with your activism so that you'll be vindicated every time.
Isaiah Mitchell
And good riddance. The problem here is that they are just being used to further destabilize the nations, so that the newly formed EU Mossad army can violently intercept and enforce the cash-less currency and the social credit ratings. After that it's communistic enslavement for everyone. Good luck being a Muslim or whatever else under that regime. Your faith will die in less then three generations because you are forced to worship your credit score.
Colton Roberts
To be truthful, far right white movements probably do pose more of a threat to the government. They don't see muslim terrorists as a threat because the CIA is the one carrying it out most of the time.
Hahaha oh wow You realize how fucking retarded pointing out how many posts an ID has does nothing right? Why did that even become a trend? It's just another superficial "imageboard" thing that outsiders do to look like they fit in, like with smug-anime posting.
Tyler White
Is that pic legit?
Landon Fisher
They don't pose a threat, they just solve issues permanently under their rule. There's been zero Islamic terrorist attacks under Trump's presidency so far.
The establishment is afraid of people seeing their success because people would emulate it. So in an attempt to prevent the emulation of influential politicians, they try to strangle it.
You'll hear several posts of Trump being a Jewish shill, which is true, but he never meant to be a new Hitler. He was meant to be a stepping stone for anti-globalist politics and activism. That's why Bolsanaro and Salvini won.
Christian Allen
theyre used to see who took the discussion seriously and whos just a shitposter or an IP hopping shill
Cameron Scott
Nazis, like ISIS are just poor dissidents against the Western capitalist oligarchy :^)
Camden Brooks
...
Cooper Brown
But muslims/isis are peaceful so how can allegedly emulating the religion of peace be anything other than peaceful? I think the counter "extremist group" is islamophobic, racist, antisemetic,sexist, altright, bigoted and extremist itself.
Josiah Adams
Is that pic really legit? Anna has nicer tits than I thought.
Jace Wilson
vidya akbar
Mason Ward
...
Henry Murphy
I wish they would already. But when it comes to attacking the White man, it seems like Muzzies are best buds with the kikes.
Connor Phillips
So that's what pinkos and glowniggers call their tinfoilers.
Colton Foster
So first we're using NATO psychological tactics against them. Now its Islam tactics. And they say our ideology doesn't work. We're basically organized ISIS now.
but you are correct about whites being a bigger threat to the system - the shitskins do the bidding of the system, they dont oppose it, they oppose the existence of white people
kek Zig Forums will ban you for posting this because it's technically the equivalent of a felony offense for them to have this saved or cached in their browser
Liam Cruz
Calling former party members "defectors," as if they've escaped from East Germany, is a nice touch. Let's look up the Jew who wrote this. . .
Zig Forums is right yet again
And her favorite subject, how bad the goyim are when they know:
