Gorstra Political Extremism and Terrorism Newsletter: 5

Welcome to the 5th edition of the newly titled Gorstra Political Extremism and Terrorism Newsletter. In this edition we will explore the respective recent far right protests in the UK and Ireland, the terrorisy attack in France, the election of Geert Wilder in the Netherlands, and Hezbollah abroad in Brazil.

England 27/11/23: Tommy Robinson, co-founder of far right group, EDL, refused to leave a march against antisemitism

Far right leader, Tommy Robinson, has been charged with a criminal offense after refusing to leave a march on the 26th against antisemitism. Event organisers explicitly asked Robinson and his supporters to stay away from the event as it was thought that their presence would cause distress to many. Despite this, the 40-year-old was dragged away from the crowds in handcuffs by police after being pepper sprayed and claimed he was only attending the event as a journalist.?

Ireland 27/11/23: Anti-Immigration Protests in Dublin Turn Violent

Riots in Dublin that led to the torching of buses and trams, looting, and attacks on Gardaí took place last week following a knife attack at a primary school that injured 2 children and a carer and killed 1 child. Following the attack, far right groups began spreading misinformation, namely that the culprit was a foreign national, despite the fact that the culprit's identity, a 49 year old Algerian man who had lived in Ireland for 20 years, had not been revealed yet. This culminated in a large-scale mobilisation of far-right protesters, initially demonstrating next to the crime-scene where police protecting the site were attacked, and later moving to protest in Dublin city centre. So far 34 arrests have been made with more expected as Gardaí go through over 6,000 hours of CCTV footage in order to identify suspects. The Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, described the protests as being led by a "lunatic, hooligan faction driven by a far-right ideology." Following the protests, new laws have been passed enabling the use of body cameras, borrowed water cannons from Northern Ireland, and the expansion of hand held cameras, tasers and pepper spray, these new laws sparking greater controversy around the potential use of facial recognition software in policing.

Netherlands 22/11/23: Dutch Populist Geert Wilder’s surprise win in the Netherlands Election.

Geert Wilders' Party of Freedom (PVV) won the most votes in last week's election in the Netherlands, but will need to enter into a coalition to form a government. The Dutch populist, who denies that he is far-right, says that he intends to become prime minister. To broaden its appeal the PVV had softened its position on immigration and EU membership, but its manifesto contained policies that would severely restrict immigration and targeted Muslim’s religious freedoms. Wiider’s anti-Islam and anti-immigration stance is well documented and resulted in him being temporarily banned from entering the UK in 2009, and in 2016 he was convicted for inciting discrimination in the Netherlands. His populist approach and Dutch-first campaign has resulted in him being nicknamed the ‘Dutch Trump’. These policies, and his reputation, have already? made initial talks aimed at forming a Wilders-led coalition a chaotic process. Wilder’s is likely to find his more moderate allies will require concessions his base may be unwilling to accept.?

Brazil 08/11/23: Two men arrested over alleged Hezbollah terror plot against Jewish community in Brazil?

Brazilian federal police arrested two men with suspected links to Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The O Globo newspaper reported that “the group was planning to launch attacks on buildings belonging to Brazil’s Jewish community, including synagogues”. Brazilian musician Michael Messias told Brazil’s Federal Police that he was offered over $100,000 to carry out attacks for Hezbollah when he traveled to Lebanon for a performance. Brazil is home to the second largest Jewish community in Latin America. In 1994, Hezbollah was blamed for carrying out the deadliest terror attack in Argentina. 85 people died and hundreds were wounded after the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires was bombed.?

France 02/12/23: One dead, two injured in terrorist attack near Eiffel Tower.

A German man has died, and two others have been injured in a knife and hammer attack, near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The attack occurred around 21:00 local time (20:00 GMT) and a 26-year-old Frenchman was later arrested. Anti-terrorism prosecutors have opened an investigation and the suspect has been named in French media and is a French national, born to Iranian parents. He was released from prison in 2020? after serving four years for planning an attack, and was supposed to be receiving treatment for psychiatric problems. After the initial attack on Quai de Grenelle, the suspect fled across the river and attacked two men, one French and the other British. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that the suspect was heard shouting “Allahu Akbar” and told police that he was upset because ‘so many Muslims are dying in Afghanistan and in Palestine.’. A video posted on social media prior to the attack showed the suspect pledging allegiance to the Islamic State, and accusing the French State of being complicit in the deaths of Palestinans. This attack comes less than two months after a teacher was killed in Arras.

This edition was written and edited by Leanne Curran , Jennifer Young , Claudia Concha , and Joe Earnshaw