scholarly journals GERMANY’S FAR-RIGHT TERRORISM AND THE TIMID NSU CASE VERDICT

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teoman Ertuğrul Tulun
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
German Society ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Far Right ◽  
National Socialist ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Terrorist Organization ◽  
Terrorist Acts ◽  
Military Structure ◽  
The Military

As we have explained in detail in our analysis of last year, the Nationalist Socialist Underground (NSU) far-right terror group, between 2000 and 2007, murdered ten people in Germany . Eight of the victims belonged to Germany's more than three million Turkish community. The last victim was a German policewoman who was gunned down in 2007. This terror cell carried out also several robberies and bombings in this period. Between 1998 and 2011, they robbed 11 banks in Saxony towns of Chemnitz, Zwickau, one bank in Stralsund, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, and two banks in Arnstadt and Eisenach in Thuringia . As it was given the details in our mentioned last year's analysis Beate Zschäpe, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt were the nucleus of the National Socialist Underground. Only a couple of hours later, the third member of the group, Beate Zschäpe, set fire to the group's flat in Zwickau, left the scene, and mailed about twelve prepared envelopes containing copies of DVDs claiming responsibility for their acts to newspapers, mosques, parties and one right-wing extremist mail order company, and stayed hidden for several days before turning herself in to the police, accompanied by her lawyer. Searching the debris of the flat, investigators found more weapons, among others the pistol of the first nine murders, and a laptop containing copies of the video claiming responsibility. As a result, the last surviving member of the NSU Beate Zschäpe was charged with co-founding a terrorist organization and the complicity in ten murders, two bombings and fourteen bank robberies .The NSU trial began on 6 May 2013 in the 6th Criminal Division of Munich's Higher Regional Court and Beate Zschäpe together with the four suspected accomplices deemed to be in the "close periphery" of the NSU trio, including Ralf Wohlleben and André Eminger, were tried. Zschäpe is accused of 10 murders, arson, forming a terrorist organization and membership of a terrorist organization. After nearly a five-year trial, the Munich Higher Regional Court has issued the verdict on 11 June 2018. Beate Zschäpe was found guilty of being complicit in 10 murders, 43 attempted murders, 2 severe bombing attacks and 15 bank and other robberies, and sentenced to life in prison . Carsten Schultze, a juvenile at the time, was found guilty of handing the pistol and silencer to the NSU, and was sentenced to three years. Last but not least, André Eminger was given only two years and six months for helping a terrorist group and was released, having already served his prison time during the trial . Meanwhile, many held a minute of silence for NSU's victims before the verdict was read out . The verdict of the Munich Court has been widely criticized, especially for the light sentences given to the already very limited number of accomplices of these serious crimes. The Munich court, almost after two years of its verdict, published the reasoning of its judgement on 21 April 2020. According to the report of Deutsche Welle, the lawyer of one of the plaintiffs whose father was killed by the NSU suggests that the main purpose of the case was not only to convict the only surviving core member of the NSU. Per the report, the BfV identified 32,080 right-wing extremists in Germany in 2019, up from 24,100 the year before. The BfV classified 13,000 of these cases as prepared to use violence, 300 more than in 2018. The report underlines the increase in racism, right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism in Germany, and considers these areas as the biggest threat to security in Germany. There is no doubt that the German government and a large segments of the German society are fighting seriously against terrorist acts that started to emerge in parallel with the rise of the far-right. At this point, it is necessary to add the serious rise in Islamophobia to the list of threats to security in Germany mentioned by the German authorities. In this context, it is also possible to name Islamophobia as anti-Muslim racism. A video titled "Anti-Muslim racism on the rise in Germany" prepared and broadcasted by DW News on 17 September 2020 is a useful start in studying this issue.In the light of the foregoing, as a concluding remark, the following question comes to mind: Did the timid verdict of the Munich Court on the NSU case play a role in the recent increase of number of right-wing extremists and rise in far-right terrorist acts in Germany? It is considered that investigating an answer to this question through an academic research can contribute to elucidating the reasons for the recent rise of the far right in Germany. On the other hand, recent revelations of confirmed infiltration of right wing extremists into the police force as well as the military structure and intelligence units is a most worrisome development that necessitate an even more scrutinizing follow up to this article.

scholarly journals Rally 'round the Barracks. Version1.1 (July 6th 2021)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Villamil ◽  
Stuart James Turnbull-Dugarte ◽  
José Rama
Keyword(s):  
Military Personnel ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Knowl Edge ◽  
Show Evidence ◽  
Military Facilities ◽  
The Military ◽  
The Relationship

Literature on the determinants of far-right support has increased markedlyduring the last few years, expanding our knowledge on who votes for these par-ties. Little is known, however, about the relationship being a member of the mil-itary and voting for the far-right. Recent scandals within the armed forces ofsome developed democracies underscore this gap. In this paper, we argue thatthere is an ideological affinity between the military and far-right parties based onshared values over nationalism and authoritarianism. We use two distinct empir-ical strategies to test this argument in Spain. First, we pool together data fromseveral survey rounds to show that individual military personnel are significantlymore prone to support Spain’s new populist radical right-wing party, VOX. Sec-ond, we show that the location of military facilities across Spain is linked to highersupport for VOX. Using spatial statistics, we show evidence of a diffusion effect.Our findings are relevant to both the literature on far-right support and our knowl-edge of civil-military relationships.

“Why Hasn’t This Teacher Been Shot?” Moral-Sexual Panic, the Repressive Right, and Brazil’s National Security State

2012 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 403-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Cowan
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Considerable Influence ◽  
Far Right ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Right ◽  
National Security State ◽  
The Military

Abstract This article takes up the story of right-wing mobilization before and during Brazil’s military government of 1964–1985. Understanding the regime’s violent countersubversion requires analysis of the ideology that framed it. This ideology flourished among a long-neglected group of far-right intellectuals and organizations that had considerable influence in successive military administrations and worked to define subversion—the military state’s ever-invoked enemy—in terms chiefly moral and sexual. Scholars have noted that defense of “Western Christian civilization” peppered the vague rhetoric of Cold War autocrats throughout Latin America. Yet inattention to the Right per se and to those considered extremists has impeded our understanding of the specific values bound up in such visions of the West and hence of the centrality of morality and culture in countersubversive thought. This article argues that rightists, some of them radical, echoed past conservatisms by linking morality, sexuality, and subversion in ways that gained increasing influence in the 1960s and 1970s.

Pliuvium’s Unholy Trinity: Russian Nationhood, Anti-Semitism, and the Public Sphere after 1905

Experiment ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-116
Author(s):  
Stephen M. Norris
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Far Right ◽  
The Public ◽  
Imperial Culture ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Right

Abstract This article focuses on anti-Semitic cartoons published in the right-wing, satirical, illustrated newspaper Pliuvium, which appeared in Russia after the 1905 Revolution. The illustrated journal represented one of the new, far-right media outlets in the wake of the events of 1905 and its editors sought to redefine Russia as a traditional monarchy, home to ethnic Russians. To accomplish this aim, Pliuvium employed caricaturists who drew contrasts between Russians and Jews, turning the latter into the antithesis of the nation. Through close readings of several anti-Semitic images from the newspaper, the author seeks to reveal the broader historical forces contained within them. In the end, these cartoons help us understand the “unholy trinity” comprising the ugly side of Russian nationhood, racism in Russian imperial culture, and the emergence of far-right publics by 1905.

Israel’s Netanyahu will court Trump carefully

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Family Ties ◽  
Military Aid ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Israeli Government ◽  
President Elect ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Military

Significance Netanyahu and his various right-wing coalition partners reacted with evident enthusiasm to Trump's election victory. However, the government fears a proliferation of messages, following several outspoken interviews by ministers. During his election campaign, Trump emphasised his positive attitude towards Israel, family ties to US Jews and Jewish advisers. Nevertheless, Israelis are doubtful over Trump’s enigmatic positions on Russia, Syria and Iran. Netanyahu may be worried about possible surprise moves by the unpredictable president-elect. Impacts Fears among US Jews of alleged anti-Semitism among Trump’s advisers could cause tension between that community and the Israeli government. If the new US president acts on his campaign promise to move the embassy to Jerusalem, Palestinian violence could spike. Trump could try to push Israel to give better value in exchange for US support, potentially threatening the military aid package.

Export-Import Theory and the Racialization of Anti-Semitism: Turkish- and Arab-Only Prevention Programs in Germany

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esra Özyürek
Keyword(s):  
Prevention Programs ◽  
German Society ◽  
European Identity ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Nazi Past ◽  
Year 2000

AbstractSince the year 2000, remembering the Holocaust and fighting anti-Semitism have come to be accepted as cornerstones of European identity. The flip side of this development has been racialization of Muslims by singling them out as the main contemporary anti-Semites. After discussing the emergence of the concept “Muslim anti-Semitism,” I scrutinize government-issued reports and anti-Semitism-prevention programs in Germany. I show how the recent wave of struggle against anti-Semitism depicts Muslims as outsiders who bring unwanted ideologies, evaluates their anti-Semitism as more dangerous than that of right-wing German nationals, and attributes to Muslims culturally transmitted psychopathologies that make Muslim nations prone to anti-Semitism. Experts locate the root of Turkish anti-Semitism in their “myth of tolerance toward Jews,” and of Arab anti-Semitism in their sense of a “false victimhood” and “desire for power and pride.” Educators focus on each nationality separately to distinguish these alleged group-specific myths and feelings. Efforts and money that go into producing nation-specific Muslim anti-Semitisms depict a new Germany that has fully liberated itself from any anti-democratic tendencies surviving from its Nazi past. It also obscures connections between anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim racism, both of which are active forces in mainstream German society.

Anti-Semitism as a Civil Religion

2021 ◽  
pp. 499-513
Author(s):  
Marc Neugröschel
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Civil Religion ◽  
German Society ◽  
National Society ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
The 19Th Century

This chapter portrays the 19th century political ideology of anti-Semitism as a form of civil religion that promoted the ideation of a German national society. In contrast to its interpretation as a right-wing reactionary protest against modernity, antisemitism, it will be argued, adapted the conceptualization of collective identity to the premises of a progressive worldview, defining German society in terms of the modern paradigms of nationalism, scientism and anti-transcendentalism. Evidence for this assertion will be elicited from texts by German anti-Semitic writers and analyzed with the aid of contemporary theories and thinkers.

scholarly journals Why Should We Care What Extremists Think? The Contribution of Emic Perspectives to Understanding the “right-wing extremist” Mind-Set

2021 ◽  
pp. 089124162110411
Author(s):  
Hilary Pilkington
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Right Wing Extremism

This article considers the implications of the mainstreaming of ‘right-wing extremism’ for what, and whom, we understand as ‘extreme’. It draws on ethnographic research (2017-2020) with young people active in movements routinely referred to in public and academic discourse as ‘extreme right’ or ‘far right’. Based on interviews, informal communication and observation, the article explores how actors in the milieu understand ‘extremism’ and how far this corresponds to academic and public conceptualisations of ‘right-wing extremism’, in particular cognitive ‘closed-mindedness’. Emic perspectives are not accorded privileged authenticity. Rather, it is argued, critical engagement with them reveals the important role of ethnographic research in gaining insight into, and challenging what we know about, the ‘mind-set’ of right-wing extremists. Understanding if such a mind-set exists, and if it does, in what it consists, matters, if academic research is to inform policy and practice to counter socially harmful practices among those it targets effectively.

scholarly journals Distinguishing "anti-Judaism" from "anti-Semitism": Recent championing of Serbian Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic

Sociologija ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jovan Byford
Keyword(s):  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Orthodox Christian ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
Historical Figures ◽  
The Way

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the continuity in the ideology of the Eastern European far right has been apparent in the extent to which the restoration of right-wing ideas was accompanied with widespread rewriting of history and the rehabilitation of contentious historical figures, many of whom, 40 years earlier, had attained notoriety for their antisemitism and fascist and pro-Nazi leanings. This article examines a specific example of postcommunist revisionism in Serbian society. The principal aim of the article is to explore the rhetoric of Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic (1880 - 1956), a controversial Serbian Orthodox Christian philosopher whose writing includes overtly antisemitic passages, and elucidate the strategies that his supporters have been deploying to promote him and maintain his popularity while countering objections of antisemitism. The paper focuses on the way in which the controversy surrounding Velimirovic?s antisemitism was managed around the time of his formal canonisation in May 2003. The author argues that unlike the Roman Catholic and Protestant Christian denominations, eastern churches, including the Serbian Orthodox Church, have as yet not formally addressed from a doctrinal or ecclesiological perspective the problem of Christian antisemitism. Due to the unwavering traditionalism justifications and denials of antisemitism must be constructed in such a way that they present the bishop?s views as consistent with the prevailing secular norms of ethnic tolerance.

Anti-Semitism as a Civil Religion

2017 ◽  
pp. 106-124
Author(s):  
Marc Neugröschel
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Civil Religion ◽  
German Society ◽  
National Society ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Anti Semitism ◽  
The 19Th Century

This chapter portrays the 19th century political ideology of anti-Semitism as a form of civil religion that promoted the ideation of a German national society. In contrast to its interpretation as a right-wing reactionary protest against modernity, antisemitism, it will be argued, adapted the conceptualization of collective identity to the premises of a progressive worldview, defining German society in terms of the modern paradigms of nationalism, scientism and anti-transcendentalism. Evidence for this assertion will be elicited from texts by German anti-Semitic writers and analyzed with the aid of contemporary theories and thinkers.

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