Europe's Right-Wing Populists Find Allies in Israel

Europe's Right-Wing Populists Find Allies in Israel

By Charles Hawley

Islamophobic parties in Europe have established a tight network, stretching from Italy to Finland. But recently, they have extended their feelers to Israeli conservatives, enjoying a warm reception from members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. Some in Israel believe that the populists are Europe's future.

Anders Breivik's 1,500-page manifesto is nothing if not thorough. Pages and pages of text outline in excruciating detail the ideological underpinnings of his worldview -- one which led him to kill 76 people in two terrible attacks in Norway last week.

It is a document which has led many to question Breivik's sanity. But it has also, due to its myriad citations and significant borrowing from several anti-immigration, Islamophobic blogs, highlighted the deeply entwined network of right-wing populist groups and parties across Europe -- from the Front National in France to Vlaams Belang in Belgium to the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ).

But recently it has become clear that Europe's populist parties aren't merely content to establish a network on the Continent. They are also looking further east. And have begun establishing tight relations with several conservative politicians in Israel -- first and foremost with Ayoob Kara, a parliamentarian with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party who is also deputy minister for development of the Negev and Galilee districts.

The reason for the growing focus on Israel is not difficult to divine. "On the one hand," Strache told SPIEGEL ONLINE in a recent interview, "we are seeing great revolutions taking place in the Middle East. But one can't be totally sure that other interests aren't behind them and that, in the end, we might see Islamist theocracies surrounding Israel and in Europe's backyard."

In other words, in the battle against what right-wing populists see as the creeping Islamization of Europe, Israel is on the front line.

'More Sensitive to the Dangers'

Many in Israel see it the same way. Eliezer Cohen, known in Israel by his nickname "Cheetah," says that leftist parties in both Europe and Israel have lost their way. Cohen, a decorated Israeli air force colonel now in retirement, is a former member of the Knesset with Yisrael Beiteinu, the hardline nationalist party led by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman that currently governs together in a coalition with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.

"Right-wing politicians in Europe are more sensitive to the dangers facing Israel," Cohen, who gave a keynote address during Dutch right-wing leader Geert Wilders' visit to Berlin last October, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "They are talking the exact same language as Likud and others on the Israeli right. I'm too old for bullshitting -- we hope the right wing wins out in Europe."

Kara sounds no different. "I am looking for ways to lessen the Islamic influence in the world," Kara told the Israeli daily Maariv in June. "I believe that is the true Nazism in this world. I am the partner of everyone who believes in the existence of this war."

At first glance, the European populists' relationship with Israel would hardly appear to be a marriage built on love. Many see the FPÖ as being just one tiny step away from classic neo-Nazi groups and the same holds true for their partners throughout Europe. While such parties insist that they are not anti-Semitic -- Strache claims that he takes a close look at populist parties' stances toward Israel and Jews before he enters into partnerships with them -- it is not difficult to find indications of extreme, anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic vitriol from within the populist party membership rolls.

Andreas Mölzer, for example, a member of the European Parliament for the FPÖ who has recently changed his tune to defend Strache's approaches to Israel, edits a weekly called Zur Zeit which is replete with attacks on Israel. Following its incursion into the Gaza Strip in late 2008, the paper accused Israel of acting in "the Talmudic spirit of annihilation" and that it was trying to "finally annihilate the open-air concentration camp of the Gaza Strip in the spirit of the Old Testament."

'Neo-Nazi Millionaire'

Indeed, when it comes to the FPÖ, observers of the party say the embrace of Israel, however far to the right it is taking place, is an insincere effort to establish foreign policy credibility. "The strategy is clearly that of normalizing itself, of becoming socially acceptable," Heribert Schiedel, an expert on the FPÖ with the Documentation Center of Austrian Resistance, a foundation which monitors right-wing extremism, wrote in an e-mail. "We presume that anti-Semitism remains a fundamental part of the party's ideology."

Many in Israel would tend to agree. And Kara was blasted in the Israeli press for a recent meeting in Berlin he held with Patrick Brinkmann, a German right-wing populist. "Deputy Minister Meets Neo-Nazi Millionaire," read a headline in the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth earlier this month, noting that Brinkmann, while now insistent that he is not anti-Semitic, once had close ties with the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). Following a visit to Vienna in December to meet with Strache, Vienna Jewish community leader Ariel Muzicant published an open letter in which he demanded that Netanyahu fire Kara.

The primary focus of the FPÖ's political message, however, is -- like that of populist parties from the True Finns in Finland to the Lega Nord in Italy -- one of extreme skepticism of Muslim immigration. The groups are opposed to the construction of minarets, convinced that Europe's future is threatened by high Muslim birth rates and certain that the Christian West must defend itself from Islam.

"For decades, politicians in Europe have ignored demographic developments and we are now in a situation where we have to warn that we are experiencing the Islamification of Europe," Strache says. "We don't want to become an Islamic society."

Geert Wilders, who hit the headlines in 2008 with his virulently anti-Muslim film "Fitna" in 2008, pioneered the European populist-Israeli connection that same year. He has been back to visit Israel several times since.

Allied with the Settlers

Broader relations began in earnest late last year. Strache, together with Vlaams Belang party boss Filip Dewinter, Kent Ekeroth from the Swedish Democrats and René Stadtkewitz, who founded a German Islam-critical party called "Freedom" last October, traveled to Israel in December. The visit was quickly reciprocated with a trip by Kara and others to Vienna at the very end of December. Other exchanges, including Kara's visit with Brinkmann in July, have followed.
The partners that the European right-wing has sought out in Israel are, perhaps not surprisingly, well to the right of center. Kara himself, a member of the minority Druze religious community who enjoys close ties with Netanyahu, opposed the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and is a loyal supporter of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Gershon Mesika, a settler leader in the West Bank, received the populist delegation in December. Hillel Weiss and David Ha'ivri, both proponents of "neo-Zionism," a movement which holds the belief that it is impossible to live in peace with Arabs, traveled to Germany last April for a conference hosted by the small, German right-wing populist movement Pro-NRW.

Their hope is that a pan-European platform will begin to emerge that values Israel as an important bastion in resisting the advancing tide of Islam. And they think, with the populist right making electoral gains across Europe in recent years, the smart bet is on Strache and Co.

'Europeans Cannot Sleep'

"The reasonable right parties have their roots at home. The Germans in Germany, the Swedes in Sweden and so on," says David Lasar, a member of the Vienna city government for the FPÖ. "I think that Israel is also a country that says this is our homeland and we can't open the borders and let everyone in as happened in Europe. That is a reason that Israel today has more trust in the right-wing parties in Europe than in the left-wing parties."

Lasar himself is Jewish and is one of the key players in ongoing efforts to tighten relations between Israel and the Europeans. And his view on Israel is one which would seem to be at odds with his party's past positions on the Middle East. Whereas Lasar is skeptical of peace negotiations which would require Israel to give up East Jerusalem or to withdraw from the settlements, the FPÖ has traditionally been allied with Arab leaders such as Moammar Gadhafi and remained skeptical of America's hard-line position on Iran.

That, though, Strache made clear, is changing. "There are areas where we Europeans cannot sleep, where we can't remain silent," says Strache. "Israel is in danger of being destroyed. Were that to happen, it would also result in Europe losing its foundation for existence."

You know, I don't think there is anyway to avoid the Islamification of Europe.

I read an excellent book by Mark Stein titled "America Alone" that demonstrated, through cold hard statistics, that Western Europe is on its way out thanks to the extremely low fertility rates of Western Europeans.

The native populations of Western European nations are not reproducing at a rate sufficient to even hold their populations steady. Native populations are shrinking, and will soon be shrinking at an alarming rate (within the next couple of decades). Meanwhile, immigrant populations are exploding and their reproductive rates are massively higher than those in their host countries.

dblboggie wrote:The native populations of Western European nations are not reproducing at a rate sufficient to even hold their populations steady. Native populations are shrinking, and will soon be shrinking at an alarming rate (within the next couple of decades). Meanwhile, immigrant populations are exploding and their reproductive rates are massively higher than those in their host countries.

I've been hearing this for the last 10 years. It's true because the stats don't lie. One day, many in Europe are going to ask WTF happened? They'll have only themselves and their govt's to blame.

This is why I reject the massive influx of people from Mexico. If left unchecked, this country will be Mexico in 100 years. Yeah, I'll be dead, but why leave that shit to others?

TexasBlue wrote:

dblboggie wrote:The native populations of Western European nations are not reproducing at a rate sufficient to even hold their populations steady. Native populations are shrinking, and will soon be shrinking at an alarming rate (within the next couple of decades). Meanwhile, immigrant populations are exploding and their reproductive rates are massively higher than those in their host countries.

I've been hearing this for the last 10 years. It's true because the stats don't lie. One day, many in Europe are going to ask WTF happened? They'll have only themselves and their govt's to blame.

This is why I reject the massive influx of people from Mexico. If left unchecked, this country will be Mexico in 100 years. Yeah, I'll be dead, but why leave that shit to others?

Thankfully, the reason the book is titled "America Alone" is that our fertility rates are still high enough to sustain and grow our native population - though that fertility rate is right on the edge.

We need to enact policies that encourage Americans to have families that are larger than one or two children. And we do indeed need to bring illegal immigration under control and to limit legal immigration to those who really want to be here to become Americans.

The government can't control how many children people have. The incentives offered by our government haven't shown any real effect. And you also have to keep in mind that not every immigrant coming to western Europe is a Muslim.

BubbleBliss wrote:
The government can't control how many children people have. The incentives offered by our government haven't shown any real effect. And you also have to keep in mind that not every immigrant coming to western Europe is a Muslim.

Actually, there is historical precedent on the truth of your first statement. Rome, under Caesar, tried to encourage its citizens to reproduce at greater rates as their birth rates had been falling for decades. He gave precedence in land allotments to fathers of 3 or more children and passed laws that forbade childless women under 45 to wear jewelry or ride in litters, among other things. Of course, none of these measures worked as Roman society had, by that time (59 BCE), already slipped into an amoral abyss that no longer valued family life and child bearing.

However, I do believe that there are incentives that could yet work here.

And while I do realize that not every immigrant into Western Europe is a Muslim, those Muslims that do arrive reproduce at much greater rates that the native populations - and it is that reproductive rate that threatens the gradual Islamification of Western Europe. This doesn't require that Muslim immigrants be the largest demographic group immigrating to Western Europe, just that they comprise a significant portion of those immigrants - the birth rate does the rest of the work.

There are incentives the government could offer, but in the end, it's up to the people themselves.

My prediction/guess is that as more and more Muslims arrive in Europe, the populations of the countries are going to wake up and do something about the dwindeling of their own culture. You can already see that happening with countries requiring immigrants to speak the local language, pass an immigration test, etc.
Some countries such as Belgium and France even go as far as banning the Burka. That obviously has nothing to do with channelling immigration, but it does have something to do with these countries fearing for their identity.

Every time we try to do something about our own immigrants (the legal ones), the far-left and the ACLU step up and put a stop to it via the courts. I'm talking about languages, etc. For example, in the Minnesota, all election ballots must be available in these languages: English, Hmong, Russian, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese. Why? What for? if you're eligible to vote in this country, you must be a citizen. As a citizen, you must have a basic understanding of English.... just to become a citizen. As such, why the hell does this have to be this way? It's bullshit. But if someone tries to change that, the ACLU gets involved. Every time.

BubbleBliss wrote:There are incentives the government could offer, but in the end, it's up to the people themselves.

Quite true. Still, it couldn't hurt to offer incentives.

BubbleBliss wrote:My prediction/guess is that as more and more Muslims arrive in Europe, the populations of the countries are going to wake up and do something about the dwindeling of their own culture. You can already see that happening with countries requiring immigrants to speak the local language, pass an immigration test, etc.

Some countries such as Belgium and France even go as far as banning the Burka. That obviously has nothing to do with channelling immigration, but it does have something to do with these countries fearing for their identity.

I sincerely hope you are right about that my young friend, I really, really do.

But I fear that it is already too late for Western Europe. According to Steyn, no nation has ever come back from the low fertility rates we now witness in Western Europe. It's a really depressing thought, but unfortunately it's something we've seen in history repeatedly. It would seem that it is now only a matter of time.

Well things have changed quite a bit since we've last seen a fertility rate this low and a nation failed because of it.

BubbleBliss wrote:
Well things have changed quite a bit since we've last seen a fertility rate this low and a nation failed because of it.

It's not that the low birth rates and lack of native population replacements cause a nation to fail. Germany would not fail as a nation because Germans failed to reproduce at sufficient rates, it would just become a culturally different country. Native Germans would be gradually supplanted by immigrants who will assume an ever more prominent role in your country's businesses, politics and arts and native Germans would eventually go the way of the do-do bird.

It's been an ongoing process since the beginning of man and is the fate that has befallen all civilizations that have preceded us.

dblboggie wrote:

BubbleBliss wrote:
Well things have changed quite a bit since we've last seen a fertility rate this low and a nation failed because of it.

It's not that the low birth rates and lack of native population replacements cause a nation to fail. Germany would not fail as a nation because Germans failed to reproduce at sufficient rates, it would just become a culturally different country. Native Germans would be gradually supplanted by immigrants who will assume an ever more prominent role in your country's businesses, politics and arts and native Germans would eventually go the way of the do-do bird.

It's been an ongoing process since the beginning of man and is the fate that has befallen all civilizations that have preceded us.

What Dbl is saying is what is happening in California and Texas. The Hispanic population is exploding so much that the "native" state population is going by way of minority. In Fort Worth, the Mexicans are now the major minority, supplanting the blacks back in 2000.

dblboggie wrote:You know, I don't think there is anyway to avoid the Islamification of Europe.

I read an excellent book by Mark Stein titled "America Alone" that demonstrated, through cold hard statistics, that Western Europe is on its way out thanks to the extremely low fertility rates of Western Europeans.

The native populations of Western European nations are not reproducing at a rate sufficient to even hold their populations steady. Native populations are shrinking, and will soon be shrinking at an alarming rate (within the next couple of decades). Meanwhile, immigrant populations are exploding and their reproductive rates are massively higher than those in their host countries.

Islamification of Europ was a term invented to express the right wing's hatred and contempt of the growing numbers of Muslims with in their country... in the same way as the right wing expressed it's hatred and contempt of the influx of Jews in the 19th-20th century.. with many backing up their Jewishification of Europ with the cold hard fact that Jews will out breed the population of the true Europeans.

and look at where the anti- Jewishification of Europ got us by the 1940's

and on another tack... [ I thought I would pop back to see if there where any changes in this forum.. as you may see I had to create a new persona for myself.. I am no longer "cable2" as my "cable2" persona was inactive with no way of reactivating it.. So me old mates I is the all new and clever "cable2+1" ]

Good to have you back, cable2.

We ask that you please use your old account. You could have reactivated by posting in the "Deactivated Accounts" forum (no membership necessary to do that). Tex has reactivated your account, so you don't need to do that, but you should probably know about it for future reference.

cable2 1 wrote:as you may see I had to create a new persona for myself.. I am no longer "cable2" as my "cable2" persona was inactive with no way of reactivating it.. So me old mates I is the all new and clever "cable2 1"

Your account has been reactivated. There's a subforum for reactivations and it's not hard to miss on the main page. It's also here.

Please use your old account for posting.

dblboggie wrote:The native populations of Western European nations are not reproducing at a rate sufficient to even hold their populations steady. Native populations are shrinking, and will soon be shrinking at an alarming rate (within the next couple of decades). Meanwhile, immigrant populations are exploding and their reproductive rates are massively higher than those in their host countries.

TexasBlue wrote:I've been hearing this for the last 10 years. It's true because the stats don't lie. One day, many in Europe are going to ask WTF happened? They'll have only themselves and their govt's to blame.

This is why I reject the massive influx of people from Mexico. If left unchecked, this country will be Mexico in 100 years. Yeah, I'll be dead, but why leave that shit to others?

Europeans have been saying "WTF happened?" for the moment the Neanderthals looked up and saw they were outnumbered by the Homo-Sapiens.. Europe is a big old mesh-mash of cultures and religions and creeds and colours and races with each new group being hated by the ones before... one has only to think of the English who were hated by the Brits and who went on to hate the Norsemen of France... BUT where would Great Britain be today with-out the Brits and the English and the Norsemen of France.. let alone all the rest of the unruly mobs that came afterwards .. AND the same can be said of each and every other country in Europe.

kronos wrote:Good to have you back, cable2.

We ask that you please use your old account. You could have reactivated by posting in the "Deactivated Accounts" forum (no membership necessary to do that). Tex has reactivated your account, so you don't need to do that, but you should probably know about it for future reference.

thanks guys.. I think I was being as lazy was I ever was..

sorry guys I's not used to the forums individuality but I may get back in tune with the way thing happen..

If your account was deactivated

Post by TexasBlue on Thu Nov 18, 2010 11:35 pm
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Big, big thank you Tex.. for making my old account available to me again...

I just had a little think to myself.. and wondered if all the guys of the forum would not mind if I where to keep to my new persona (cable2+1) a whole new start, with whole new ideas and a whole new vision of the world's needs... or some thing like that

That would make you having two accounts. If you want to keep the new one, I'll deactivate the old one again. I won't delete your old one because it would make all your posts made "guest."

Your call... the new one or old one.