Right-wing terrorism
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Right-wing terrorism draws its inspiration from a variety of ideologies and beliefs, including neo-fascism, neo-Nazism, racism and opposition to foreigners and immigration. Incidents of this type of terrorism have been sporadic with little or no international cooperation.[1] Their actions are generally poorly coordinated and there are few identifiable organizations. Modern right wing terrorism began to appear in western Europe in the 1980s and in eastern Europe following the collapse of Communism.[2]
The objective of right-wing terrorism is the overthrow existing governments and their replacement with nationalist or fascist-oriented governments.[1]
Right-wing terrorists generally are inspired by 19th century and early 20th century nationalist writers such as Arthur de Gobineau, Houston Stewart Chamberlain and Heinrich von Treitschke.[3] The core of this movement includes neo-fascist skinheads, right-wing hooligans, youth sympathisers and intellectual guides who believe that the state must rid itself of foreign elements in order to protect rightful citizens.[4] However, they usually lack a rigid ideology.[3]
History
Right-wing terrorism came to widespread attention after the August 1980 Bologna bombing, when a group of right-wing terrorists exploded a bomb at a railroad station in Bologna, Italy, killing 84 people and injuring more than 180. Two months later, a right-wing terrorist attack in Munich, Germany killed the attacker and 14 other people, injuring 215. Fears of an on-going campaign of major right-wing terrorist attacks did not materialize.[1]
In 1983, Gordon Kahl, a Posse Comitatus activist, killed two federal marshals and was later killed by police. Also that year, the white nationalist revolutionary group The Order (also known as the Brüder Schweigen or Silent Brotherhood) became involved with terrorism, including: robbing a sex shop, several banks and armored cars;[5] bombing a theater and a synagogue; and murdering radio talk show host Alan Berg.[6][7]
During the 1980s, more than 75 right-wing extremists were prosecuted in the United States for acts of terrorism, although they carried out only six attacks during the decade.[8] The success of law enforcement in capturing and preventing terrorists has been credited to their efforts to investigate terrorists before they turned to violence.[8] The April 19, 1995 attack on the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma, by the right-wing extremist Timothy McVeigh, which killed 168 people, would become the worst domestic terrorist attack in American history.[9] It was reported he had ties to a Michigan militia group.[10]
Britain 1999 David Copeland planted a series of bombs over 13 days in April 1999. He caused explosions in Brixton, south London Brick Lane in east London and a nail bomb in Soho, central London. The final blast at the gay pub the Admiral Duncan killed Andrea Dykes, 27, who was pregnant, and friends John Light, 32, and Nik Moore, 31, from Essex. His intention was to ignite a race war across Britain. In addition to the three killings, he injured 139 people including a 23 month old todler who had to have a 4 inch nail removed from his brain.
On July 22, 2011, Norwegian right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik bombed several government buildings in Oslo, Norway killing eight people and injuring more than 30. After the bombing, he made his way to Utøya island in a fake police uniform and began firing on people attending a political youth camp for Norway's left-wing AUF political party, killing 68 and injuring more than 60. The 2011 Norway attacks became the largest mass killing of people committed by a single person during peacetime, excluding use of bombs.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c Aubrey, p. 45
- ^ Moghadam, p. 57
- ^ a b Moghadam, p. 58
- ^ Moghadam, pp. 57-58
- ^ "Free the Order Rally". Southern Poverty Law Center. Spring 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- ^ "Death List Names Given to US Jury". New York Times. September 17, 1985. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
- ^ Morris Dees and Steve Fiffer. Hate on Trial: The Case Against America's Most Dangerous Neo-Nazi. Villard Books, 1993. page xiiv
- ^ a b Smith, pp. 25-26
- ^ Michael, p. 107
- ^ Marks, p. 103
References
- Aubrey, Stefan M. The New Dimension of International Terrorism. Zurich: vdf Hochschulverlag AG, 2004. ISBN 3728129496
- Marks, Kathy. Faces of Right Wing Extremism. Boston: Branden Publishing, 2006. ISBN 978-0828320160.
- Michael, George. Confronting Right-wing Extremism and Terrorism in the USA. New York: Routledge, 2003 ISBN 041531500X
- Moghadam, Assaf. The Roots of Terrorism. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2006. ISBN 0791083071
- Smith, Brent L. Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams. Albany: SUNY Press, 1994 ISBN 0791417603