White jihad
White jihad is a political neologism for white supremacists' adoption of jihadist methods, narratives and aesthetic.
Groups such as the Order of Nine Angles, National Action and Atomwaffen Division actively promote white jihad. Multiple individuals influenced by white jihad have been involved in planned terrorist attacks between 2020 and 2021.
Definition
White jihad is a form of fused extremism exemplified by cases of white supremacist activists drawing on jihadist methods, narratives and propaganda in order to promote their violent ideals and perpetrate terrorist attacks. According to academics Ariel Koch, Karine Nahon and Assaf Moghadam, white jihad represents a "clear and present danger". They trace the historical roots of white jihad to the relationship between Adolf Hitler and Amin al-Husseini during World War II, and to the ideals of racial separatism shared between George Lincoln Rockwell and Malcolm X.[1][2][3]
White supremacism and jihadism converge on antisemitism, anti-Americanism and opposition to liberal democracy and adopt similar propaganda narratives. Jihad and Islamist terrorism are romantized by some white supremacist activists, while the Islamogram online jihadist community adopts propaganda elements from neo-Nazism and the alt-right. During the 2010s, methods of attack generally associated to jihadist terrorism began to be praised and adopted by white supremacists, such as suicide attacks and ram car attacks. For example, a member of neonazi group Aryan Strikeforce planned a suicide attack against anti-fascists, while a French Generation Identity member evoked the idea of using his car to carry out a jihadist-style attack. A growing adoption of the notion of the martyr also made its appearance among white supremacists, with neo-fascist accelerationists openly promoting the idea of "saints", analogous to the notion of the martyr in jihadism.[1][2]
White sharia
Analogous to jihadists calling for sharia law, white supremacists call for "white sharia"[1]. Originally a meme born in 2016, white sharia is a concept developed by neo-Nazi, white supremacist and white nationalist groups, including The Daily Stormer website and blogger Sacco Vandal, with the aim of promoting a white patriarchy and counter what they perceive as "socialist female hypergamy" threatening the white race. It refers to the domination of white men over women and the control of their sexuality, reproduction and daily lives, as well as the return to an extreme form of patriarchy within a white ethno-State, drawing on a distorted interpretation of Islamic sharia law. White sharia combines the fear of white men losing control over their women with a fear of Islam and non-white men. This notion divides among white nationalist milieus because of its inspiration from the "Islamic world".[4][5][6]
Groups promoting white jihad
During the 2000s, neo-Nazi organization Aryan Nations expressed its support for jihadist terrorism and called for an "Aryan jihad" against the "Judaic tyrannical system".[1][7] Since 2015, neo-Nazi terror groups National Action and Atomwaffen Division have promoted white jihad by adopting symbols, terminology and methods from Islamist extremism. National Action is linked to violent attack motivated by white jihad, such as the brutal attack on a Sikh man in 2015 in the United Kingdom. In France, influenced by the propaganda of Atomwaffen Division and al-Qaeda, two radicalized youths oscillating between jihadism and neo-Nazism have planned attacks between 2020 and 2021, until their arrest. In the United States, an individual active on platforms linked to the Islamic State and to white supremacism planned attacks in 2017.[1][3][8] According to Belgian daily newspaper L-Post, one of the most important groups claiming white jihad is Feuerkrieg, which was created in 2020 by an Estonian minor. In 2021, a British minor member of this group was arrested for terrorist offence, thus becoming the youngest person to have been arrested for this offence in the United Kingdom.[9]
The Order of Nine Angles (O9A) is a Satanist neo-Nazi group which has played an important role in the promotion of the idea of white jihad. Its ideologue David Myatt attempted to synthesize far right ideas with Islam, calling for a jihad against Jews and Americans. However, according to academic Jacob Christiansen Senholt, neo-Nazi and Islamist ideologies are for Myatt only a way of subverting radical activists to serve his Satanist agenda. In june 2020, an American soldier was charged with passing sensitive information to an O9A-inspired group, with the aim of passing it to members of Hurras al-Din. Atomwaffen Division itself was inspired by O9A.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Koch, Ariel; Nahon, Karine; Moghadam, Assaf (2023-07-05). "White Jihad: How White Supremacists Adopt Jihadi Narratives, Aesthetics, and Tactics". Terrorism and Political Violence: 1–25. doi:10.1080/09546553.2023.2223694. ISSN 0954-6553. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
- ^ a b Sweeny, Nadia (2022-03-23). "Jihad blanc, la menace hybride". Politis (in French). Retrieved 2024-04-08.
- ^ a b Koch, Ariel (2023-08-23). "White Jihad: The Jihadification of White Supremacy". GNET. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
- ^ Farid Hafez (2017-08-21). "The (sexual) Inferiority Complex of White Supremacists: Charlottesville and the Call for 'White Sharia'". Bridge Initiative. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
- ^ Sam Kestenbaum (2017-11-28). "With 'White Sharia,' Neo-Nazis Push Misogynist Meme". The Forward. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
- ^ Corbett, Erin (2018-04-02). "Inside the Alt-Right's Violent Obsession with 'White Sharia War Brides'". Vice. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
- ^ Subramanian, Meera (2005-10-18). "Aryan Jihad and the Elephant in America's Living Room". The Revealer. Retrieved 2024-04-08.
- ^ Sweeny, Nadia (2022-03-23). "Entre jihad et néonazisme : la haine à la carte". Politis (in French). Retrieved 2024-04-08.
- ^ Prenten, Olivier (2022-07-30). "White djihad et cellules terroristes : un réseau actif d'adolescents extrémistes néonazis". L-Post (in French). Retrieved 2024-04-08.