August EWJ 24 - Flipbook - Page 83
tion of those who do not believe in Islam. This ideology is not compatible with the principles of a liberal
democracy, who they want to overthrow and is a threat
to state security as well as influencing hate speech and
crime. Currently all European states are under a security threat posed by extremists, and it is the Islamist
threat that is the main threat, underpinning the
current terrorist threat level in European states.
Involuntary Celibate (incel) Movement
Incel movement can be traced back to 2014 with the
murder of six women in Santa Barbara, California by
Elliot Rodger, who is revered by incels globally. Incels
hold misogynistic views stating the sexual revolution
made women promiscuous and manipulative, fuelled
by:
1. Feminism;
2. Contraceptive pill; and
3. Women’s involvement in politics.
Extreme Far-Left
Extreme far-left ideology seeks to do away with the
existing state and social order, and therefore with the
free democratic basic order. They want to replace it
with a communist system or an anarchist society without rulers. All left-wing extremists agree that capitalism is the root of all evil that must be fought and
eliminated. In relation to capitalism the extreme farleft see as inseparable the union of the market-based
system of ownership and the democratic state governed by the rule of law. The sole purpose of this
union, they say, is to consolidate relations of exploitation and oppression. This is why they consider capitalism to be incompatible with the idea of a society that
is based on freedom and equality for all people. The
extreme far-left believe that overcoming capitalism is
not possible through political reforms or the democratic process but can only be achieved by violently
overthrowing the existing state and social order.
Incels claim that feminine values have dominated
society and men must fight back against politically
correct and misandrist values in order to preserve
male culture.
While there have been no incidents involving those
imbued with the incel ideology in Europe, there have
been several incel inspired attacks in the US and
Canada. In relation to Europe, in the UK Jake Davison went of a shooting spree killing four people in August 2021. From the police investigation it was found
that Davison was imbued with the incel ideology, finding what he downloaded on his electronic devices
were linked to incel sites and videos he posted glorifying Elliott Rodger. At his trial in 2023, there was no
evidence the murders were inspired by Davison’s incel
view, it was a result of a domestic dispute with his
mother. Although this incident was not incel inspired,
there is the potential for this extremist ideology to influence incel lone actors to commit acts of violence as
seen in Toronto, Canada. On one occasion a 17-yearold incel inspired male committed murder in 2020. At
his trial it was treated as an act of terrorism and in
2023 Ontario’s Superior Court held it was an act of
terrorism saying incel is an extremist ideology which
motivates terrorist activity.
There are two categories within the extreme far-left
movement. One is the autonomists, who reject all
forms of external control. They regard all types of
state and rule as equally authoritarian and think that
they should be replaced with an order free of domination. Within their free spaces, autonomists desire to
adopt alternative ways of life that are aligned with their
own ideals. This includes rejecting and keeping away
those in charge of law and order that includes the
presence of the police. The second are anarchists who
totally reject the subjugation of human beings by other
human beings. This includes all forms of state rule, including those within liberal democracies. Anarchists
believe the values of freedom and equality should exist
without restriction in a state and social order that is
entirely free of any domination. In achieving free
spaces within a given state system, anarchists seek to
overcome nation states and the forms of rule established in them which includes free democracy. Anarchists believe that it is only through violent revolution
that an anarchist society can be brought about.
The Right
When examining what is labelled as far-right, it is
useful to break it down into three categories:
1. Right wing populism – examples include the UK’s
Reform Party and Swedish Democrats in Sweden.
2. Far-Right. Nationalist groups that are anti-Islam,
but not necessarily anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, but
not necessarily racist and many are anti-EU due to
their nationalist view in seeing the EU as eroding
national identity.
3. Extreme far-right – these are white supremacist,
neo-Nazi groups, many of whom are proscribed/listed
as terrorist organisations in European states.
An example of the danger the extreme far-left pose
was recently seen in the UK. Deeply imbued with the
extreme far-left ideology, Jacob Graham from Liverpool was convicted in March 2024 for planning and
preparing acts of terrorism. His plan was to carry out
a bombing campaign aimed at killing over 50 people
and to assist others linked to the extreme far-left to
carry out attacks. He wrote and published a manifesto
that he stated was written for extreme far-left anarchists. It is an ideology whose threat to state security
cannot be ignored and would meet the criteria for extremism in the new definition.
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
Right Wing Populism and the Far Right
Both right wing populist and far-right political
ideology have entered mainstream politics in many
European states. In the UK this has occurred with the
Reform Party who, following the 2024 General Election have five MPs. Other examples include Italy with
The Brothers of Italy party who formed a government
in 2022 with Georgia Meloni as its Prime Minister and
in the 2024 EU Parliament elections The Brothers of
Italy increased their number of MEPs to 24. In the
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