How a group of young people on the internet radicalizes in a few months In May 2020 forms a group of young men on Instagram and Telegram called "The National Storm Association". Several dozen men have been involved here for a shorter or longer period of time. The group is now called "National Socialist Dutch Movement", one participant stands in front of the… Read more
Intelligence experts warn the Dutch government about the growing danger of right-wing extremism. In closed chat groups, young boys share increasingly harsh Nazi propaganda. They glorify terror attacks such as the one on Christchurch mosques that left dozens dead. Extremists are looking for 'school shooters', frustrated teenagers imbued with hatred of jews, Muslims and Sexual Minorities. They share information about weapons and about potential targets. In some countries, such groups are already on terror lists. Not in the Netherlands. Does the government have sufficient insight into this new threat?
Zembla dives into the network of hate, the dark online world where today's Nazis dream of a race war.
Two young men have to go to court today, because they are associated with The Base, a right-wing extremist terrorist organization. Their Siege culture calls for a race war.
Extreme right – Two members of the far-right movement The Base come to court. They called for violence against non-white people.
Extremism. According to American researchers, the neo-Nazi Feuerkrieg Division is led by people in the Netherlands.
After a long term, intensive investigation into an international neo-Nazi terrorist network calling itself the Feuerkrieg Division (FKD), we have compiled a detailed report which provides an overview of the network’s ideology, history, structure, membership, activity, and legal entanglements.
The extreme right seems to be making a cautious advance in the Netherlands. Deze
takes place mainly online and therefore distinguishes itself in important ways
points of the 'traditional', extreme right based on physical encounters.
There would even be a “completely new generation of right-wing extremists”
(Terrorist Threat Assessment Netherlands, nr. 53, 54).
There are several factors that make this a worrying development.
First of all, online radicalization can happen very quickly. Because of the
anonymity that the computer screen offers, are conversations within chat groups
often more extreme than in the physical sphere, where newcomers enter
such groups quickly conform to the group mores – without
to realize that some statements arise from exaggerations and/or
or bullshit (Wagenaar, 2021).
In addition, the Internet provides access to international networks, after
deletion often reappears under a different name (Hart et al. 2021).
This has led to the current extreme right in the Netherlands becoming strongly international
oriented, especially the influence of the extreme right
the United States has increased. This is reflected, for example, in the support
for the so-called international accelerationist networks, in which is
talked about things like starting a race war through
of terrorist attacks. A few hundred Dutch young people would
be part of such networks. The NCTV recently reported that
the danger of an attack in the Netherlands in the case of the extreme right
lies in this corner in particular (Terrorist Threat Assessment Netherlands, nr. 56).
On the broadcast 'Network of hate’ van 9 september 2021 Zembla has published an extreme right-wing dictionary as a tool for the “language, signs and images” to recognize.
In 2008 Kafka has published a symbolism brochure. That is hier to find.
Interesting pieces about the extreme right, outside the special chapter on p 80-91:
Right-wing (RW) terrorism
In 2020, three EU Member States experienced four terrorist
incidents motivated by right-wing extremism. One terrorist
attack using firearms was committed in Germany and
resulted in the death of nine people;8 another attack plot in
Germany was disrupted. A failed attempt to attack a public
institution occurred in Belgium, while one plot was foiled in
France.
At least three of the four perpetrators were nationals of the
country in which the attack took place or was planned, and
one of them was female.
In 2020, 34 individuals were arrested in eight EU Member
States on suspicion of involvement in right-wing terrorist
activity. Where the offence leading to arrest was reported,9
the most frequent offences were membership of a
terrorist group and attack planning and preparation, often
accompanied by possession of weapons. The suspects
were predominantly male, with an average age of 38, and
nationals of the country in which they were arrested.
The perpetrator of the completed right-wing terrorist
attack in Hanau (Germany) was motivated by racist and
xenophobic ideas, but does not seem to have referred to
previous right-wing attacks like the one in Christchurch (New
Zealand) in 2019, or taken part in transnational right-wing
online communities.10
Arrests of suspects planning to commit terrorist or extremist
attacks were made in several EU Member States in 2020. It
is concerning to note the increasingly young age of suspects
– many of whom were minors at the time of arrest. Most
are linked to transnational violent online communities with
varying degrees of organisation.
These online communities espouse the ‘leaderless
resistance’ concept of the SIEGE culture and accelerationist
ideas. Such ideologies promote the view that attacks by
individuals or small groups, rather than large organisations,
are required to accelerate the anticipated breakdown of
society. This can be used to justify lone-actor attacks, like
those observed in 2019.
Right-wing terrorism and extremism continued
to comprise a very heterogeneous set of
ideologies, political objectives and forms of
organisation, ranging from lone individuals linked
to extremist online communities to hierarchical
organisations. Violent Neo-Nazi and white
supremacist groups were dismantled and/or
banned in several EU Member States, including
Germany and Spain. Their stated aim was to
attack those whom they considered ‘non-whites’,
including people of Jewish or Muslim faith, to
destroy the democratic order, and to create new
communities based on racist ideology. Some of
these groups financed their activities through
criminal means, including drug trafficking.
Combat training and access to weapons are
factors increasing the capabilities of rightwing
extremists to commit acts of violence.
Right-wing extremists often own, and in many
cases collect weapons, and they tend to have
an increasing interest in paramilitary training,
sometimes outside the EU, for example in
Russia.
In 2020 enhanced public awareness of climate
and ecological crises led right-wing extremists
to increasingly promote eco-fascist views.
According to eco-fascism, these crises can be
attributed to overpopulation, immigration and
the democratic systems’ failure to address them.
Video games and video game communication
applications were increasingly used in 2020
to share right-wing terrorist and extremist
advertising, in particular among young people.
Right-wing extremists continued to use a variety
of online platforms, from static websites to
social media and messenger services.
In the EU, Turkish ultranationalists were
involved in confrontations with critics of
Turkish government policies, including Kurdish
protesters.
(…)
Among right-wing extremists also, COVID-19 was observed
to accelerate the trend of spreading propaganda online,
rather than offline. EU Member States noted an increase
in transnational right-wing activities online, while in-person
contact was limited by COVID-19 restrictions on movement.
…
Right-wing extremists exploited COVID-19 to
support their narratives of accelerationism and conspiracy
theories featuring anti-Semitism, and anti-immigration and
anti-Islam rhetoric. Left-wing and anarchist extremists also
incorporated criticism of government measures to combat
the pandemic into their narratives.
(…)
The level of activity concerning explosiverelated
attacks linked to right-wing terrorism
or extremism did not increase further
compared to 2019 and the identified trends.
The methods still included the commission
of arson and explosive attacks with simple
improvised incendiary devices (IIDs) or IEDs
constructed with readily available materials. In
addition, some incidents once more showed
that right-wing terrorists were still interested in
and capable of manufacturing more complex
HMEs, such as TATP and nitroglycerine.
(…)
Right-wing extremists discussed methods to use
COVID-19 as a weapon: close contact, airborne and fomite
transmissions were suggested as sources of contamination
targeting minorities, politicians, police officers and
medical staff. Shipping of contaminated products was
also suggested. Taking advantage of the COVID-19 crisis,
right-wing extremists further suggested attacks on critical
infrastructure, governmental facilities and the use of cyanide
to contaminate drinking products.
(…)
Links to larger criminal networks appear to be less common.
Nevertheless, an overlap between organised crime groups
and right-wing extremists, in particular with regard to
weapons procurement and drug trafficking, has been
observed. In January 2020 in Mallorca, for example, Spain
arrested 16 members of United Tribuns Nomads Spain,
the Spanish chapter of an international organisation linked
to drug trafficking and sexual exploitation of women. Part
of the group’s proceeds in Spain was used to finance its
members’ activities in violent right-wing extremist groups,
including football hooligans and neo-Nazi groups38. Also
in Spain, a transnational group trafficking in weapons,
including military weapons, was dismantled in late 2020. The
group was providing weapons to drug trafficking networks in
southern Spain. Three individuals were arrested, including a
German citizen who was linked to right-wing extremist and
neo-Nazi networks and had at his home a collection of Nazi
objects, uniforms and flags.
(…)
Organisations can rely on their members for funding
activities. Violent right-wing extremist organisations in
Finland and Sweden, for example, finance their activities
mainly through membership fees and donations from their
members and supporters. Poland observed that, in addition
to collections from members, right-wing extremist groups
fund their activities through legal private businesses run
by members or by selling nationalist paraphernalia.
(…)
RIGHT-WING TERRORISM
The number of convictions for right-wing terrorism
increased in 2020 (11) compared to 2019 (6). In Germany,
eight German nationals appeared before the Higher Regional
Court of Dresden on charges of participation in a terrorist
organisation and, in one case, leadership of a terrorist
organisation. Five of the defendants were also charged with
other offences of breach of the peace and grievous bodily
harm. The court determined that, in September 2018, the
defendants set up an extremist, right-wing orientated chat
group with the aim of initiating a violent overthrow of the
existing social order. They had planned demonstrations
to take place on the 4 October National Day in Berlin and
considered using firearms. A few days before that, a trial run
took place in the Schlossteichinsel area of Chemnitz, during
which five members of the group were arrested. Further
planning by the defendants was revealed, partly from data
saved on their mobile phones. On 24 March 2020, the court
found all eight defendants guilty. The leader of the group
was sentenced to five years and six months’ imprisonment,
while the other seven defendants were given prison
sentences between two years and three months and three
years and nine months.
In Lithuania, on 18 September 2020 the Vilnius Regional
Court sentenced one defendant to a prison term of two
years and four months after it established that the man,
who belonged to the right-wing extremist group Feuerkrieg
Division (FKD, ‘Fire War Division’), attempted to commit an
act of terrorism. On 5 October 2019, he placed an improvised
explosive device (IED) at a building but it failed to explode.
He was also convicted of holding explosives for terrorist
purposes and a firearms-related offence.
(…)
The average prison term for separatist and right-wing
terrorism-related offences in 2020 was six years, and for
left-wing terrorism-related offences it was five years. This
average is higher than the average for right-wing terrorismrelated
offences (three years) and separatist terrorismrelated
offences (four years), and lower than the average for
left-wing terrorism-related offences in 2019 (19 years).
The threat level is based on DTN 54 determined on level 3. A terrorist attack in the Netherlands is conceivable. There are currently people in the Netherlands who are radicalising or who are strongly radicalized and who are at risk (kunnen) vormen. There are currently no indications that persons in the Netherlands are preparing an attack. It is conceivable, however, that a loner will commit an attack. In recent years, attacks in Europe have mostly been committed by Islamist and jihadist single-acting perpetrators, in whom extremist ideas can sometimes be accompanied by psychosocial or psychiatric problems. The attacks in France and Austria in the autumn of 2020 fit into the picture of the threat posed by individuals. The threat level is based on the elements below.
CIDI recorded in 2020 135 anti-Semitic incidents in the Netherlands. This brings us back to the same level as the anti-Jewish incidents we registered in 2018. 2019 was a sad low point in the annual CIDI monitor in terms of the number of incidents measured, which appears for the 37th time this year.
Unfortunately, we saw the number of followers of conspiracy theories increase significantly in the past year, both on social media and beyond. It is not uncommon for Jews to be identified as the cause and / or stakeholder in the corona virus. It is good to see that the fight against anti-Semitism has entered the political agenda, both nationally and in some municipalities. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the path taken is hopeful.
Dth last years zijn there are new forms of the right–extremism to arise. These are mostly
based on existing ideas, but are ohk adapted to developments, fromoals of
emergence of the internet. In the previous publication of NTA ('NTA, De New Generation
the extreme right and its online shadow’) 1 we described how the extreme right via the internet
zijn message spreads and new peoplen at the ideology involved. In this publication
let's zoom in on the most extreme currents of the extreme right: the new generation
rechts–extremists. These hang often accelerationism; the belief that if there is one
fight against enemies, deze better to break out today than tomorrow.
Attacks aim to fuel this struggle.
Right-wing extremism
In Europe, and also in the Netherlands, a right-wing terrorist attack by a loner is conceivable. Although the Dutch right-wing extremist offline scene is characterized by fragmentation, weak leadership, personal animosity and lack of a consistent organization, can be the threat of one (internet-)loner come. Furthermore, in the Netherlands there seems to be some resonance from the terrorist attack in Christchurch in some individuals. They are not so much driven by well-defined right-wing extremist ideas, but have been getting excited about social developments in society and politics in particular from a mix of personal grievances and psychological problems.
(…)
Right Terrorism
The right-wing terrorist attack in Christchurch has inspired several perpetrators worldwide, like in El Paso, Oslo, Halle and Hanau. In the Netherlands, too, a legal terrorist attack by a loner is conceivable. This estimate is mainly based on the possibility that a Dutch (internet)loner radicalizes and commits to a right-wing extremist act of violence. The Dutch right-wing extremist and right-wing extremist organizational landscape is fragmented, groups are marginal and non-violent and no appealing leaders can mobilize large groups. It is precisely here that there is a danger with regard to the threat posed by loners because they are disorganized (online) can radicalize.
(…)
The threat from the right-wing extremist is increasing, right-wing terrorist attacks are glorified online and inspire like-minded people.
(…)
Worldwide right-wing extremist internet community
In recent years, an increase in right-wing extremist violence has been observed in various European countries, like Britain and Germany. In Germany, for example, three attacks have taken place in the past nine months (the murder of Lübcke, Halle and Hanau). Characteristic of the current right-wing extremist attackers is that they are no longer members of a neo-Nazi group, but often seem to feel part of a global internet community. Glorification of such attacks on right-wing extremist forums is a source of inspiration for like-minded people. The narrative, that is used on international online forums, is partly inspired by the anti-Semitic and racist periodical Siege, which appeared in the United States in the 1980s. This philosophy also has some sympathizers among Dutch right-wing extremists, making such a copycat assessment also conceivable in the Netherlands.
Confrontations between the right- and left-wing extremists
In recent years, contradictions and confrontations between far-right and far-left groups in countries such as the United States and Germany have surfaced. The polarized political climate in the United States is reflected in international extremist online channels that are also used by the Dutch.
(…)
Extremism, radicalization and polarization
Manifestations of right-wing extremism in the Netherlands are few in the streets, in the scale of violent incidents, in organization, in financing and in willingness to violence. The group of Dutch right-wing extremists active internationally online is also limited.
Right-wing extremism in the Netherlands
Unlike countries like Germany, France, Belgium, Britain and Italy have few extremist organizations and few activists in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, there has been a small number of extremist violent incidents per year for many years. The visibility of right-wing extremists on the street is marginal. The Dutch right-wing extremist scene is in numbers, organizational structures, financing and the willingness to commit violence cannot be compared to neighboring countries.
De Anger
Two lawsuits have recently been launched that shed more light on the appeal that the terrorist act in Christchurch and the motives behind it can exert on individuals in Dutch society. The profiles of the suspects in these lawsuits are different from those of the attacker in Christchurch and his epigones. These are not young men who have been radicalized via the internet, but older men whose ideological background seems to be consistent with the German concept of Wutbürger: furious (system hating) citizens who are not so much driven by well-defined right-wing extremist ideas, but have been getting excited about social developments in society in general and in politics in particular from a mix of personal grievances and psychological problems. Refugees and Muslims often have to suffer, because they would threaten the "self" of Dutch society.
Online right-wing extremism
The recently hacked database of the fascist and neo-Nazi private web forum IronMarch shows that a small group of Dutch right-wing extremists was active online internationally and searched for right-wing extremist content. This forum is linked to international Neo-Nazi (online) groups, zoals Nuclear Weapons Division and Fire War Division, and had between ten to fifteen users who seem to come from the Netherlands over a period of seven years. Not so much the number of Dutch people, but especially the apocalyptic and violent "Siege narrative", which Dutch youngsters also enjoy is disturbing.