While the specific content of the traditionalist beliefs and mores cherry-picked and melded into ‘new’ mythology is of lesser import, that the terrorist Breivik is racist, nationalist and rightwing is significant, orienting the political compass. In common with other proponents of fascism, Breivik syncretises disparate, contradictory elements – of the Crusades and Knights Templar, Freemasonry and modern expositions of conservative and reactionary thought – to mythologise a glorious ‘pure’ past. Fascism is better defined by its rightwing nature, its hatreds, ultraracism and ultranationalism, than the myths it recycles and from which its bankrupt political ‘philosophy’ is derived. The perpetual struggle is against perceived impediments – in Breivik’s pseudo-philosophy these are scapegoated Muslims, communists who tolerate them, feminists and the politically correct – if these results and proponents of multiculturalism can be removed or dealt with, the re-mythologised past can be transmuted into a glorious future. Did Breivik consciously attempt to resolve the contradiction between eternal warfare against the ‘Other’ and the achievement of a golden age described by Eco, by setting out specific tasks to be accomplished by certain times?
Whether harvesting from Christianity or Wobblythumpianism, fascists merge core cultural, political and religious themes into dissonant reactionary mythologies to galvanise an irrational political ideology tailored for the target society, forging Blut und Boden ultranationalism with selective populism in order to promote a militarist drive for power.
Other notable commonalities within existing and historic fascist ideologies and the Breivik dogma include newspeak – the epithet of his movement ‘cultural conservatives’, its ‘cultural marxist‘ enemies and ‘Eurabia’ are striking examples; the ends justifies the means, contempt for the weak, attack of intellectuals, communists and leftists; anti-capitalist and anti-democratic goals; social darwinism, sexual machismo; a cult of heroism, strength, unity and purity; militarism and violence; rejection of cultural pluralism and multiculturalism; xenophobia, ultra-racism, antisemitism, bigotry and prejudice; censorship of opposing ideas, disagreement is treason, strategic victimhood and sense of besiegement.
Although Breivik executed a spectacle which may reduce pressure for a time and is disowned publicly by those who similarly espouse extreme rightwing views (with the exception of the monstrous Glenn Beck, who likened Breivik’s victims to ‘Hitler youth’), Breivik’s essential nationalist, Islamophobic doctrine remains as yet unrepudiated and unexamined critically by these fellow travellers.
One of the features of racism is that its sufferers are oblivious to its symptoms. Yet, racism doesn’t grow in a vacuum. Breivik’s acts and doctrine cannot be separated from the substrate in which it arose in the specific contexts of permissiveness of racism and violence, fuelled by frustration with the hegemony of the ruling class, alienation, and major political events like 9/11 and leaders’ counter-productive, inflammatory reactions to them. While Breivik sees multiculturalism and its leftwing protectors as his primary obstructions, the destructive activities of the transnational ruling class which benefits from and promotes racist, nationalist division is obscured.
There is a larger organism with which Breivik is connected – from neofascist and islamophobic organisations, to fascist Israel, to the white supremacist, uncritical media and people who assumed myopically that the appalling carnage plotted and executed by Breivik couldn’t have been committed by a ‘white’ person, a rightwinger or in a ‘white’ culture. This political terrorist may not be defined as ‘mad’ (to diagnose and disparage is unwise as mentally ill people are no more violent than other community members) or adher to any one isolated belief system than his own concocted dissonance, yet be ‘possessed’ of a dangerous, familiar ideology which has taken root symbiotically in several polities, a toxic phenomenon to be cauterised, else there will be more spectacles, with successive liftings of the bar. The Norwegian Prime Minister has demonstrated deep wisdom in declaring that Norway’s response will be more democracy and respect, not more security and fear.
May kindness, universal human rights, reason and democracy, prevail over brutish dogma.
Related Links
A vile logic to Anders Breivik’s choice of target : Slavoj Zizek deconstructs Breivik’s fascist ideology, with particular reference to the anti-semitism implicit in zionism and Breivik’s own anti-semitism.
Did Anders Breivik target young people because of his adolescent shame?
The biggest threat to Western values : Multiculturalism does not pose a significant danger to Western values – but neoliberalism does.
Extremist Hate Groups Expand Via Facebook Recruiting
Extremists flocking to Facebook for recruits
Mr Ray, who believes there is a “threat to our way of life from Islam”, refused to rule out using violence in support of his beliefs and said it was “inevitable” there would be further violent clashes between Muslims and Christians.
Time for politicians to challenge rightwing prejudices, not pander to them by appropriating rightwing arguments
Breivik’s “outpourings mirror the bigotry in the mainstream media”
The killer has evidently absorbed the far right’s shift from the language of race to the language of culture. But what is most striking is how closely he mirrors the ideas and fixations of transatlantic conservatives who for a decade have been the meat and drink of champions of the war on terror and the claim that Islam and Islamism pose a mortal threat to Western civilisation.
Norwegian investigators are set to question Anders Behring Breivik again as they probe what they called a flood of new leads relating to his killing spree.
Anders Behring Breivik was in contact with the EDL
Only months before he went on his murderous killing spree he exchanged several messages with EDL supporters using his internet pseudonym Sigurd Jorsalfare, the name of the 12th century King of Norway who led one of the Crusades.
Palestine’s Norwegians
Europe’s Homegrown Terrorists
Cognitive dissonance: ‘In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, leader of the Party for Freedom, issued a statement calling Mr. Breivik a “psychopath who violently abused the war against Islamization.” Mr. Wilders said his party is made up of “democrats” and “has never called for violence.”‘
An interesting insight onto the specific kind of antisemitism prevalent on much of the far right – Tony Karon quotes from the mass murderer’s manifesto
Palestinian civil society stands in solidarity with Norway
Defending Breivik: European Politicians in Hot Water for Norway Comments
Siddiqui: Warped standards on terror
One staple of post-9/11 discourse has been the consistent demand that all Muslims everywhere not only condemn terrorism — which almost all invariably do, if for no other reason than that they have been its chief victims — but also that Muslims denounce Muslim hate-mongers, the “enablers” of terrorism.
Yet here we are witnessing a furious attempt by Islamophobic politicians and pundits, as well as their apologists, to decouple themselves from Anders Behring Breivik, the Norwegian terrorist.
This despite the fact that Breivik himself repeatedly cites some of the leading European and American anti-Muslim crusaders to rationalize his anti-Muslim jihad. They, of course, do not advocate violence, while he is a mass murderer. The distinction is clear enough. But they influenced him and shaped his world view. His exaggerated sense of the danger posed by Islam, Muslims and multiculturalism is about the same as theirs.
Geir Lippestad, Breivik’s defence lawyer, said: “There are two more cells in Norway and others from the Western world” prepared to follow Breivik’s example
British rightwing blogger denies meeting Norwegian gunman
Breivik said in his 1500-page manifesto that he attended the founding meeting of the Knights Templar Europe “military order” in London in 2002 where he met a “mentor” who used the pseudonym Richard – after Richard the Lionheart.
Paul Ray, who writes a blog under the name Lionheart, says he belongs to an anti Muslim group called The Ancient Order of the Templar Knights but denies ever meeting Breivik and says he was horrified by the mass killings in Norway on Friday. In a telephone interview with Associated Press, Ray said he was not at the 2002 London meeting that Breivik described in his manifesto.
“I’d like to express my deepest sympathy to the people of Norway and to the families who have lost children,” Ray said. “It’s a horrendous crime that has been committed by someone what goes beyond the realm of human understanding.”
Ray, who now lives in Malta, refused to say how many members were in his group but said he had had no contact with Breivik and had not heard of him before Friday’s attacks.
“It’s an idea,” he said of The Ancient Order of the Templar Knights. “It’s not like it’s a massive organization. It’s a belief.”
Ray, who was involved with the far right English Defence League before falling out with the leadership, said it appeared Breivik had drawn inspiration from some of his ideas and writings.
“It’s really pointing at us. All these things he’s been talking about are linked to us,” he said. “It’s like he’s created this whole thing around us.”
Norway Attacks Raise Alert on Homegrown Extremists
Don’t blame religion for Anders Breivik
On Norway
La Trobe University researcher Ramon Spaaij
says the main ideological drivers for lone terrorists are white supremacy, Islamism, nationalism/separatism and anti-abortionism. …
Indeed, right-wing views are increasingly becoming political mainstream in Europe, and even moderate politicians have been moving to the Right and away from multiculturalism.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Prime Minister David Cameron in Britain have all recently declared an end to multiculturalism.
…
Norway does not exist in a vacuum. Its right-wing scene is connected to the rest of Europe through internet forums, where hate-speech proliferates, and participation in right-wing demonstrations throughout Europe.
…
The Norway attacks are a reminder for Australians of the need to monitor individuals with extreme right-wing views. They should not be allowed to join gun clubs, own guns or be able to buy quantities of explosive precursors.
Windschuttle denial : Charge of deadly provocation is false
Anders Breivik, Stieg Larsson, and the Men with the Nazi Tattoos
What’s Blair’s excuse? It is really creepy to hear Blair, mass murdering war criminal, pronounce on mass murdering Breivik.
Blaming Google : Anders Behring Breivik absorbed all of his murderous ideology from the internet.
MSM logic over terrorism; blame Muslims and then blame them again
Distancing : France’s National Front suspends member for defending Breivik
Norway attacks: ‘No proof of UK link to Breivik’
“I can tell you, at this moment in time, we don’t have evidence or we don’t have indications that he has been part of a broader movement or that he has been in connection with other cells or that there are other cells,” said Ms Kristiansen, who heads the Norwegian Police Security Service.
She said she did not think Mr Breivik was insane, as his lawyer has suggested.
Instead, she described him as calculating and evil, and someone who sought the limelight.
Our culture warriors are fanning too much foreign fare
Glenn Greenwald: U.S. media equates terrorism with Muslims
Roger Cohen in the NY Times:
Breivik is no loner. His violence was brewed in a specific European environment that shares characteristics with the specific American environment of Loughner: relative economic decline, a jobless recovery, middle-class anxiety and high levels of immigration serving as the backdrop for racist Islamophobia and use of the spurious specter of a “Muslim takeover” as a wedge political issue to channel frustrations rightward.
Hypocrite O’Reilly can’t admit obvious racism in fundamentalist Christian ideology
Pat Buchanan Praises Breivik’s Cultural Analysis
European police probe Norway attacker’s links to right-wing groups
“What we’ve seen is an active extremist scene across European countries, including the UK,” Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, told the Guardian. “There are some signs the extreme right have been more active, especially on the Internet. They are more sophisticated and using social media to attract younger people.”
English Defence League founder convicted of leading street brawl
Manifesto just deluded rantings:Costello ‘Mr Howard is labelled “one of the most sensible leaders in the Western world”.’
Norway killer praised Australian conservatives
Norway attacks: Norway’s tragedy must shake Europe into acting on extremism
Anders Behring Breivik, a perfect product of the Axis of Islamophobia
Israeli fascist boasts of killing the Israeli left
Fascism Bibliography
Eternal Fascism: Fourteen Ways of Looking at a Blackshirt (Umberto Eco)
The 14 Characteristics of Fascism (Lawrence Britt)
Italian Fascism between Ideology and Spectacle (Federico Caprotti)
Marxists on Fascism
The palingenetic core of generic fascist ideology (Roger Griffin) [.pdf]
Excerpts from the book “Anatomy of Fascism” (Robert O. Paxton)
Israel embraces fascism and where is the Zionist Diaspora?
The eugenicist racism of religious zionism: ‘Gentile sperm leads to barbaric offspring’
Between moral outrage and historical analysis
Imagine if a terrorist cited the writings of leftists like me as his inspiration.
Anders Behring Breivik had no legitimate grievance
Palestine / Israel Links
Newspeak alert : What do ‘Flotilla Folk’ do?
The law actually deals with boycotting Israel as a whole – not only settlements
Open call to Wikimania: ‘Edit’ occupation and apartheid out of Palestine!
The overt, outrageous bigotry of Israel’s regime belies its hasbarist pink-washing and secular-sanitisation.
Israeli grocery store keeps Arab baggers and Jewish cashiers apart
Israel rejects bill allocating equal land to Jews and Arabs – old but good
The Palestinian Authority’s UN statehood bid: an exercise in futility?
Press Release: Jenin Freedom Theatre Attacked
More proof that political zionists are anti-semitic : Rightwing Jew can call leftwing Jew a Nazi, but if leftwinger turns the tables, he’s an anti-Semite
Nutanyahoo boasts about Israel being the only stable place with no demonstrations, everyone equal under the law, a strong military because it has a strong society … brrrrrr
Other Links
Minority Rules: Scientists Discover Tipping Point for the Spread of Ideas