On 22 July 2011 Anders Behring Breivik carried out a "couterjihad" action and murdered 77 people -mostly young people. Five years to the day 18-year-old Ali Sonboly - inspired by his hero Breivik - murdered 9 people - nearly all were teenagers - at a Munich shopping mall. Initially, there was fear that this was yet another act of Islamic terrorism, but the police and the press then called it a "rampage" (Amoklauf) by a psychologically disturbed youth.
Annette Kahane, writing in the Berliner-Zeitung, will have none of that. She accuses the authorities of ignoring the facts behind this terrible attack:
"Der Täter war ein Fan von Breivik, der vor 5 Jahren 77 Menschen umbrachte und stolz auf seinen Rassismus war. Der Täter hat Einwanderer getötet und sein Zimmer war voll von rechtsextremem Propagandamaterial und Waffen. Er hat sich seines Hasses auf Türken und Araber gebrüstet und selbst dem arischen Herrenmenschentum zugerechnet. Mit anderen Worten: Der Mörder von München war doch ein Terrorist und zwar genau so, wie er es im Falle eines islamistischen Motivs gewesen wäre! Das Schweigen der Politik über diese Tatsache ist beunruhigend und gefährlich. Wir müssen uns ohne Wenn und Aber mit islamistischem Terror auseinandersetzen. Hinzuzufügen bleibt jedoch, dass wir eben auch ein Problem mit Rechtsterrorismus haben."
("The perpetrator (Ali Sonboly) was a fan of Breivik who murdered 77 people five years ago and was proud of his racism. The perpetrator killed immigrants and his room was filled with right-wing extremist propaganda material and weapons. He boasted about his hatred towards Turks and Arabs and considered himself as a member of the Aryan master race. In other words, the Munich murderer was actually a terrorist and in this he was no different from a case where the motivation was Islamic! The silence of the politicians concerning this fact is disturbing and dangerous. There is no question that we need to concern ourselves with Islamic terror. But we also need to recognize that we have a problem with right-wing terror as well.")
Frau Kahane is right to be concerned, for Sonboly wasn't the only fan of Breivik. It turns out there is a growing international fan club: Breivik receives in his prison cell nearly daily letters of support and even marriage proposals from young women. But more disturbing than the letters of these lovesick women is the strong support from legions of young men:
Rund 90 Prozent der 600 Menschen, die vor zwei Jahren eine Petition für die Freilassung von Anders Behring Breivik unterschrieben haben, waren männlich. Es sind jene, die seine Ideologie teilen und in Gruppen wie „Der Europäische Untergrund“ und „Deutsche Reichs Nachrichten“ sind. Sie verweisen auf die Identitäre Bewegung in Deutschland und fordern in sozialen Medien wie Twitter Breiviks Freilassung vor allem nach Terroranschlägen wie in Brüssel in diesem März oder in Paris im vergangenen November. Nach der Amokfahrt in Nizza twittern sie Sätze wie: „Kampf gegen Terror geht am besten mit Terroristen“, „Macht ihn zum Verteidigungsminister der Weißen“ oder „Es ist an der Zeit, gegen die Invasoren vorzugehen“.
("Nearly 90% of the 600 people who signed a petition two years ago demanding Breivik's release were male. They share his ideology and belong to groups like the "European Underground" or "German Reich Information Service". They make reference to the "Identity Movement" in Germany and call for Breivik's release via social media such as Twitter - especially after the terror attacks in Brussels in March or in Paris last November. After the terror rampage with a truck in Nice they tweet messages like "The fight against terror is best done by terrorists" or "Make him (Breivik) the Minister of Defence for White People" or "It's time to take action against the invaders.")
It is only a matter of time before there is another act of right-wing terrorism in Europe - the only question is will it happen before or after the next act of Islamic terror.
Breivik is not nearly as popular in the US as he is in Europe. Of course. our home-grown Nazis have their own heroes who inspire them every day - heroes like Timothy McVeigh.
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