Counter-jihad
Counter-
While the roots of the movement go back to the 1980s, it did not gain significant momentum until after the September 11 attacks, 7 July 2005 London bombings, the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy and the 2005 French riots.[17] As far back as 2006, bloggers such as Fjordman were identified as playing a key role in forwarding the nascent counter-jihad ideology.[4] Bat Ye'or's Eurabia conspiracy theory published in her eponymous book in 2005 also played an important factor in influencing the movement. The first official counter-jihad conferences were held in 2007. The movement received considerable attention in 2011 following the lone wolf attacks by Anders Behring Breivik, a neo-Nazi who disguised himself with a manifesto that exploited and extensively reproduced the writings of prominent counter-jihad bloggers,[18] and following the emergence of prominent street movements such as the English Defence League (EDL) and Pegida.[4] The movement has adherents both in Europe and in North America. The European wing is more focused on the alleged cultural threat to European traditions stemming from immigrant Muslim populations, while the American wing emphasizes an alleged external threat, essentially terrorist in nature.[5]
According to academics,
Overview
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Counter-jihad is a radical right-wing movement
The authors of Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse describe the movement as heavily relying on two key tactics:
The first is arguing that the most radical Muslims – men like Osama bin Laden – are properly interpreting the Quran, while peaceful moderate Muslims either do not understand their own holy book or are strategically faking their moderation. The second key tactic is to relentlessly attack individuals and organizations that purport to represent moderate Islam...painting them as secret operatives in a grand Muslim scheme to destroy the West.[26]
Benjamin Lee describes the "counter-jihad scene" as one where
Europe and the United States are under threat from an aggressive and politicized Islamic world that is attempting to take over Europe through a process of "Islamification" with the eventual aim of imposing
mosques in particular is seen as continued reinforcement of the separation of the Muslim population from the wider populous. As strong as the threatening practices of Muslims in descriptions of the counter jihad are images of a powerless Europe in decline and sliding into decadence, unable to resist Islamic takeover. The idea that European culture in particular is in a state of decline, while a spiritually vigorous East represented by Islam is in the ascendancy in civil society, is a common sentiment in some circles.[4]
Counter-jihad movement
One of the first organizations of the counter-jihad movement (CJM), the 910 Group (later renamed to the International Civil Liberties Alliance) was founded in 2006 and announced on Gates of Vienna, "a principal blog of the CJM since 2004". Its stated purpose was to defend "liberties, human rights, and religious and political freedoms [that] are under assault from extremist groups who believe in Islamist supremacy".[27] In April 2007, the counter-jihad current became visible as a movement operating in northwestern Europe with "The UK and Scandinavia Counterjihad Summit", organised by a transatlantic network of anti-Islam bloggers in Copenhagen, Denmark.[28] The conference was hosted by American blogger Edward May, Danish activist Anders Gravers Pedersen, and Danish blogger Exile, and included participants such as Norwegian blogger Fjordman.[28]
In October 2007 a second summit, "Counterjihad Brussels 2007", was hosted by the Belgian
From 2009, the
Organisation
Blogs such as
Think tanks such as the
The International Free Press Society lists representatives from many parts of the counter-jihad spectrum on its board of advisors.
American Counter-jihad movement
The U.S.-based Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) is led by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer.[52][53] SIOA has been accused by the Anti-Defamation League of "promot[ing] a conspiratorial anti-Muslim agenda under the guise of fighting radical Islam. The group seeks to rouse public fears by consistently vilifying the Islamic faith and asserting the existence of an Islamic conspiracy to destroy 'American' values".[54]
In 2010, a workgroup dubbed "Team B II" published a report titled Shariah: The Threat To America which has been cited as influencing the movement's discourse and the public's perception. The report was published by the Center for Security Policy.[55][40]
With the election of Donald Trump to the United States presidency in 2016, it has been claimed that the American wing has achieved some influence in the US administration. This is focused on the influence from Frank Gaffney, President of the Center for Security Policy, and Brigitte Gabriel, President of ACT for America.[40]
European Counter-Jihad Movement
An umbrella organization, Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), was founded by Anders Gravers Pedersen,[56][57][58] who also sits on the board of the Stop Islamisation of Nations.[59] and there are affiliated groups in several European countries, among them Stop Islamisation of Denmark and Stop Islamisation of Norway.[48] The English Defence League was a prominent street movement in the United Kingdom, formerly led by Tommy Robinson.[60]
The counter-jihad movement has connections to, and has influenced the ideology of European right-wing populist parties such as the
Counter-jihad ideology
In the words of Toby Archer, a scholar of political extremism and terrorism,
"Counter-jihad discourse mixes valid concerns about jihad-inspired terrorism with far more complex political issues about immigration to Europe from predominantly Muslim countries. It suggests that there is a threat not just from terrorism carried out by Islamic extremists but from Islam itself. Therefore, by extension, all European Muslims are a threat."[64]
Arun Kundnani, in a report published by the International Centre for Counter-terrorism, writes that the counter-jihad movement has evolved from earlier European far-right movements through a shift from race to values as identity markers: "In moving from neo‐Nazism to counter‐jihadism, the underlying structure of the narrative remains the same." Continuing on this note, he writes that comparing the counter-jihadist worldview to the older, neo-Nazi one, "Muslims have taken the place of blacks and multiculturalists are the new Jews."[45]
Toby Archer detects a difference between the European and American wings of the movement. The American wing emphasizes an external threat, essentially terrorist in nature. The European wing sees a cultural threat to European traditions stemming from immigrant Muslim populations. While Archer notes that the perceived failure of multi-culturalism is shared across much of the political spectrum, he argues the counter-jihad movement is a particular conservative manifestation of this trend. He acknowledges the movement's conservative defense of human rights and the rule of law but he believes by rejecting progressive policy it rejects much of what Europe is today.[5]
The views of the counter-jihad movement have been criticised as a source of support for the anti-Muslim views of individuals inspired to take violent direct action.[44] Anders Behring Breivik, responsible for the 2011 Norway attacks, published a manifesto explaining his views which drew heavily on the work of counter-jihad bloggers such as Fjordman.[25][66] Daniel Pipes argues that a "close reading of his manifesto suggests" that Breivik wanted to discredit and undermine the movement's dedication to democratic change to further Breivik's "dreamed-for revolution" as the only alternative.[67] Breivik has later been identified as a neo-Nazi,[74] and has stated that he had exploited counter-jihad rhetoric in order to protect "ethno-nationalists", and instead start a media drive against what he deemed "anti-nationalist counterjihad"-supporters.[75][76]
Executive director of the
Philosopher
Counter-jihad has sought to portray Western Muslims as a "fifth column", collectively seeking to destabilize Western nations' identity and values for the benefit of an international Islamic movement intent on the
See also
- Alt-lite
- Counter-terrorism
- Far-right politics
- War against Islam
References
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The clearest case of violence linked to the CJM is that of Anders Breivik; the commonalities between Breivik and the CJM have been noted by several writers (Kundnani, 2012: 4; Jackson, 2013; Meleagrou-Hitchens & Brun, 2013:2; Goodwin, 2013: 4; Titley, 2013).
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- ^ Meleagrou-Hitchens & Brun 2013, p. 2: "The popular American Counter-Jihad activists Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer ... EDL leader Tommy Robinson now holds almost legendary status within this nascent movement, and is considered the “rock star” of the ECJM [European Counter-Jihad Movement]."
- ^ Aked, Jones & Miller 2019, p. 24: "Dutch politician Geert Wilders – a key European counter-jihad figurehead" Aked, Jones & Miller 2019, p. 26: "both Labour and Conservative Home Secretaries have prevented counter-jihadists from entering the UK: Jacqui Smith stopped a planned visit by Dutch politician Geert Wilders in 2009 and Theresa May denied Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer in 2013."
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- ^ Aked, Jones & Miller 2019, p. 34.
- ^ Pertwee 2020, p. 211.
- ^ Othen 2018.
- ^ Aked, Jones & Miller 2019, p. 16.
- ^ Pertwee 2020, pp. 211, 222.
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- ^ Aked, Jones & Miller 2019, p. 6.
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- ^ "Bells toll in Norway to mark 10 years since neo-Nazi Breivik killed 77". Reuters. 22 July 2021.
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- ^ "Anders Breivik: Mass murderer sues Norway over prison isolation". BBC News. 9 January 2024.
A neo-Nazi who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011 is suing the country in a bid to end his years in isolation.
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- ^ "Psychiatrist says Breivik still a danger, hitting parole chances". France 24. 19 January 2022.
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- ^ "Norway's far-right mass killer Breivik sues state over prison isolation". Al Jazeera. 19 August 2023.
A neo-Nazi, Breivik killed 77 people, most of them teenagers, in shootings and a bombing attack in Norway's worst peacetime atrocity in July 2011.
- ^ Sources describing Breivik as neo-Nazi include:[68][69][70][71][72][73]
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Bibliography
- Aked, H.; Jones, M.; Miller, D. (2019). Islamophobia in Europe: How governments are enabling the far-right 'counter-jihad' movement (PDF). Public Interest Investigations (Report). University of Bristol.
- Lee, Benjamin (September 2015). "A Day in the "Swamp": Understanding Discourse in the Online Counter-Jihad Nebula" (PDF). Democracy and Security. 11 (3): 248–274. S2CID 62841363.
- Meleagrou-Hitchens, A.; Brun, H. (March 2013). A Neo-Nationalist Network: The English Defence League and Europe's Counter-Jihad Movement (PDF). International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (Report).
- Othen, Christopher (2018). Soldiers of a Different God: How the Counter-Jihad Movement Created Mayhem, Murder and the Trump Presidency. Amberley. ISBN 9781445678009.
- Pertwee, Ed (October 2017). 'Green Crescent, Crimson Cross': The Transatlantic 'Counterjihad' and the New Political Theology (PDF) (Thesis). London School of Economics.
- Pertwee, Ed (2020). "Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 43 (16): 211–230. S2CID 218843237.