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.
White jihad is a form of fused extremism exemplified by cases of white supremacist activists drawing on jihadist methods, narratives and propaganda 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 romanticized 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]
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 the aim of countering what they call "socialist female hypergamy" because they believe it is threatening the white race. It refers to the domination of women by white men and it also refers to the control of women's sexuality, reproduction and daily lives, as well as a 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 that white men are losing control of white women with a fear of Islam and a fear of non-white men. This notion is opposed by some individuals and organizations within the white nationalist milieus because advocates of it have drawn inspiration from the "Islamic world". [4] [5] [6]
During the 2000s, the neo-Nazi organization Aryan Nations expressed its support for jihadist terrorism and it also 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 an article which was published in the Belgian daily newspaper L-Post, one of the most important groups which advocates white jihad is Feuerkrieg, which was founded in 2020 by an Estonian minor. In 2021, a British minor member of this group was arrested for a terrorist offence, thus, he was 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, for Myatt, neo-Nazi and Islamist ideologies are 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]
David Wulstan Myatt, also known by the pseudonym Abdulaziz ibn Myatt al-Qari, is a British author, religious leader, far-right and former Islamist militant, most notable for allegedly being the political and religious leader of the White nationalist theistic Satanist organization Order of Nine Angles (ONA) from 1974 onwards. He is also the founder of Numinous Way and a former Muslim.
James Nolan Mason is an American neo-Nazi. Mason is an ideologue for the Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi terrorist organization. After growing disillusioned with the mass movement approach of neo-Nazi movements, he began advocating for a white supremacist revolution through terrorism. He was referred to as the "Godfather of Fascist Terrorism" in the Fair Observer. He has been convicted of assault and weapons charges, as well as charged with sexual exploitation and possession of pornographic images of a minor. In 2021, Mason was one of only two individuals sanctioned by the Canadian Government on its list of terror-related entities.
"Islamofascism" is a term that is a portmanteau of the ideologies of fascism and Islamism or Islamic fundamentalism, which advocates authoritarianism and violent extremism to establish an Islamic state, in addition to promoting offensive Jihad. For example, Qutbism has been characterized as an Islamofascist and Islamic terrorist ideology.
Right-wing terrorism, hard right terrorism, extreme right terrorism or far-right terrorism is terrorism that is motivated by a variety of different right-wing and far-right ideologies. It can be motivated by Ultranationalism, neo-Nazism, anti-communism, neo-fascism, ecofascism, ethnonationalism, religious nationalism, anti-immigration, anti-semitism, anti-government sentiment, patriot movements, sovereign citizen beliefs, and occasionally, it can be motivated by opposition to abortion, and homophobia. Modern right-wing terrorism largely emerged in Western Europe in the 1970s, and after the Revolutions of 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, it emerged in Eastern Europe and Russia.
Jihadism is a neologism for militant Islamic movements that seek to base the state on Islamic principles. In a narrower sense, it refers to the belief held by some Muslims that armed confrontation with political rivals is an efficient and theologically legitimate method of socio-political change. It is a form of religious violence and has been applied to various insurgent Islamic extremist, militant Islamist, and terrorist individuals and organizations whose ideologies are based on the Islamic notion of lesser jihad from the classical interpretation of Islam. It has also been applied to various Islamic empires in history, such as the Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates of the early Muslim conquests, and the Ottoman Empire. There were also the Fula jihads in West Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Order of Nine Angles is a militant Satanic left-hand path occultist and terrorist network that originated in the United Kingdom but has since branched out into other parts of the world. Claiming to have been established in the 1960s, it rose to public recognition in the early 1980s, attracting attention for its neo-Nazi ideology and activism. Describing its approach as "Traditional Satanism", it also exhibits Hermetic and modern Pagan elements in its beliefs.
Terrorism in the United Kingdom, according to the Home Office, poses a significant threat to the state. There have been various causes of terrorism in the UK. Before the 2000s, most attacks were linked to the Northern Ireland conflict. In the late 20th century there were also attacks by Islamic terrorist groups. Since 1970, there have been at least 3,395 terrorist-related deaths in the UK, the highest in western Europe. The vast majority of the deaths were linked to the Northern Ireland conflict and happened in Northern Ireland. In mainland Great Britain, there were 430 terrorist-related deaths between 1971 and 2001. Of these, 125 deaths were linked to the Northern Ireland conflict, and 305 deaths were linked to other causes, including 270 in the Lockerbie bombing. Since 2001, there have been almost 100 terrorist-related deaths in Great Britain.
Salafi jihadism, also known as Wahhabi jihadism, Salafi-jihadism, jihadist Salafism and revolutionary Salafism, is a religiopolitical Sunni Islamist ideology that seeks to establish a global caliphate. An extreme, jihadist interpretation of the broader Salafism movement, Salafi jihadism is characterized by the advocacy of physical violence against both non-Muslims, and self-proclaimed Muslims deemed to be heretics or apostates. In a narrower sense, jihadism refers to the belief that armed confrontation with political rivals is an efficient and theologically legitimate method of socio-political change. The Salafist interpretation of sacred Islamic texts is "in their most literal, traditional sense", which adherents claim will bring about the return to "true Islam".
The Nordic Resistance Movement is a pan-Nordic neo-Nazi movement in the Nordic countries and a political party in Sweden. Besides Sweden, it is established in Norway, Denmark and Iceland, and formerly in Finland before it was banned in 2019. Terrorism expert Magnus Ranstorp has described the NRM as a terrorist organization due to their aim of abolishing democracy along with their paramilitary activities and weapons caches. In 2022, some members of the United States Congress began calling for the organization to be added to the United States Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. On 14 June 2024, the United States Department of State designated NRM and its leaders as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT).
Counter-jihad, also known as the counter-jihad movement, is a self-titled, anti-Islamic political movement loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, demonstrators, and other activists across the Western world. Proponents are linked by a far-right view of Islam as an actively destructive ideology rather than a religion, arguing that it constitutes an existential threat to Western civilization. Consequently, counter-jihadists consider all Muslims as a potential threat, especially when they are already living within Western boundaries. Western Muslims accordingly are portrayed as a "fifth column", collectively seeking to destabilize Western nations' identity and values for the benefit of an international Islamic movement intent on the establishment of a caliphate in Western countries. The counter-jihad movement has been variously described as anti-Islamic, Islamophobic, inciting hatred against Muslims, and far-right. Influential figures in the movement include the bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer in the US, and Geert Wilders and Tommy Robinson in Europe.
The Atomwaffen Division, also known as the National Socialist Resistance Front, was an international far-right extremist and neo-Nazi terrorist network. Formed in 2013 and based in the Southern United States, it expanded across the United States and it had also expanded into the United Kingdom, Argentina, Canada, Germany, the Baltic states, and other European countries. The group was described as a part of the alt-right by some journalists, but it rejected the label and it was considered extreme even within that movement. Atomwaffen was described as "one of the most violent neo-Nazi movements in the 21st century". It was listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and it was also designated as a terrorist group by multiple governments, including the United Kingdom and Canada.
Antipodean Resistance (AR) is an Australian neo-Nazi hate group. The group, formed in October 2016, uses the slogan "We're the Hitlers you've been waiting for" and makes use of Nazi symbols such as the swastika and the Nazi salute. AR's logo features the Black Sun and Totenkopf with an Akubra hat, a laurel wreath and a swastika.
The Russian Imperial Movement is a Russian ultranationalist and white supremacist militant organization which operates out of Russia. The group seeks to create a new Russian Empire. Its paramilitary wing is the Russian Imperial Legion. During the Donbas War, it recruited and trained thousands of far-right volunteers who joined the Russian separatist forces in Ukraine. It has also given training to other far-right groups in Europe and North America.
Terrorgram refers to a decentralized network of Telegram channels and accounts that subscribe to or promote militant accelerationism. Terrorgram channels are neo-fascist in ideology, and regularly share instructions and manuals on how to carry out acts of racially-motivated violence and anti-government terrorism. Terrorgram is a key communications forum for individuals and networks attached to Atomwaffen Division, The Base, and other explicit militant accelerationist groups.
The Active Club Network are decentralized cells of white supremacy and neo-Nazi groups active in many U.S. states, with multiple chapters in other nations. Largely inspired by the defunct street-fighting Rise Above Movement formed by Robert Rundo in 2017 and hooliganism, the network was created in January 2021 and promotes mixed martial arts to fight against what it asserts is a system that is targeting the white race, as well as a "warrior spirit" to prepare for a forthcoming race war. Some extremism researchers have characterized the network as a "shadow or stand-by army" which is awaiting activation as the need for it arises.
Morenazi or morenaryan are derogatory terms to describe non-white, or more directly mixed race and black neo-Nazis, who show support or sympathy for Nazism, Nazi Germany, the personality cult of Adolf Hitler and more directly white supremacism.
According to a report by the civil rights group the Southern Poverty Law Center the Order of Nine Angles "holds an important position in the niche, international nexus of occult, esoteric, and/or satanic neo-Nazi groups." Several newspapers have reported that the O9A is linked to a number of high-profile figures from the far right and that the group is affiliated and shares members with neo-Nazi terrorist groups such as Atomwaffen Division and proscribed National Action, Sonnenkrieg Division, Combat 18 and Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM). Also the leader of the eco-extremist terrorist Individualists Tending to the Wild claimed to have been influenced by the O9A.
Assaf Moghadam is an academic with appointments in both Israel and the United States. He writes about political violence and counterterrorism in Asia and the North Atlantic region.