The Islamist/Neo-Nazi Connection

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Yesterday, Israeli president Moshe Katzav warned in a speech that Muslim terrorists may plan on using neo-Nazi groups to carry out attacks in Europe. "Let's not be surprised if terror organizations use neo-Nazis for carrying out terror attacks," he told the German parliament.

While there's little evidence thus far of operational links between Islamist terror groups and neo-Nazis, this is an intriguing possibility -- and some white supremacist groups have already made overtures toward the Islamists. For example, Aryan Nations leader August Kreis said of al-Qaeda earlier this year, "You say they're terrorists, I say they're freedom fighters. And I want to instill the same jihadic feeling in our peoples' heart, in the Aryan race, that they have for their father, who they call Allah." Going a step further, Kreis told CNN that he had a message for bin Laden: "The message is, the cells are out here and they are already in place. They might not be cells of Islamic people, but they are here and they are ready to fight."

Another connection between Islamic extremism and neo-Nazism is Ahmed Huber, a Swiss convert to Islam. He applauded the 9/11 attacks, describing the World Trade Center as a "tower of godlessness" and the Pentagon as "a symbol of Satan." Huber is also an admirer of Adolf Hitler who has attempted to forge close ties between Islamists and the far right in Europe. Kevin Coogan wrote of Huber:

Even as Huber plays a major role in Islamist networks, he remains highly active inside Europe's far right elite. Along with a poster of Imam Khomeini and a framed quote from Hitler denouncing modern art, Huber's house contains a photo of his friend J�rg Haider, Austria's leading electoral rightist. . . . Huber has also worked tirelessly to forge alliances between European rightists and Islamists, telling his fellow Europeans that their "enemies are not the Turks, but rather the American and German politicians with an American 'brain'." Huber hopes to establish an alliance between the anti-immigration European right and the Islamists based on the understanding that once Islamist parties take power, large scale Muslim emigration to the West would end.

Huber was also a director of the Al Taqwa bank, about which both Victor Comras and Douglas Farah have written today.

While an alliance between Islamists and white supremacists may see implausible on its face, it is by no means unprecedented historically. After all, Adolf Hitler received an enormous amount of support from Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, then the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. In fact, Coogan notes that, to promote ties between the European far-right and Islamists, "Huber regularly points out to his rightist comrades that the Arabs were [some] of Nazi Germany's strongest supporters and indeed remain so to this day."

Like the Hitler/al-Husayni alliance, the current growing alignment of Islamic extremists and neo-Nazi movements is rooted in the idea that "my enemy's enemy is my friend." As Kreis told CNN, he wants to make common cause with al-Qaeda because they are both opposed to the Jews and the American government.

Kreis and Huber are just two examples of this growing Islamist/neo-Nazi connection; there are others. What is clear is that Katzav's speech raises a possibility that is worthy of more sustained attention.

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