The 800-page report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Christchurch terror attacks ultimately asks New Zealanders to look to themselves to prevent such an atrocity happening again.
The anti-fa movement gained momentum in the United States following the election of Donald Trump. However, its members do not constitute a threat in the sense of the American president.
Is right-wing violent extremism the new fifth wave of modern terrorism? If so, there’s no doubt the impacts of COVID-19 will only help accelerate the radicalization of its adherents.
Left-wing terrorism had its heyday in the 1960s-80s, and though some threats remain today, groups like Antifa are known more for low-level violence, not significant terrorist actions.
ASIO has warned that far-right groups pose an elevated threat to national security. Parliament needs more oversight of how Home Affairs decides which terror groups are listed on the national register.
The US, Russia and China haven’t backed the NZ-led Christchurch Call to crackdown on online extremism. Without them, and key non-western media, the initiative is unlikely to make enough difference.
My assessment is that there are about 150 to 300 core right-wing activists in New Zealand. This might sound modest – but proportionate to population, it’s similar to extremist numbers in Germany.
In the wake of last year’s Christchurch mosque attacks, New Zealand’s intelligence agencies must become more transparent in their reporting on the risk of right-wing terrorism.
Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID) and Davide Rodogno, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID)
We have entered a resurgent age of racism wherein discrimination is globalised, normalised and weaponised.
The process of radicalisation is a complex system that cannot be reduced to the brain, behaviour, or environment. It exists at the intersection of all these elements.
Michael Haneke’s allegorical 2009 film showed how a peaceful society can be shattered within a single generation. It’s a lesson for us now in a world drifting toward populism and violence.
Groups promoting right wing extremism, like the Antipodean Resistance and the Lads Society, have recently dominated headlines, but they are far from the sum of the extreme right in Australia.
The recent massacre at a New Zealand mosque is a traceable, direct outgrowth of an American white nationalist movement that insists immigrants and people of color are a threat to ‘white civilization.’
There is deep sadness in the Christchurch attacks, but little shock. We need to address the permissive political environment that allows such hateful extremism to be promulgated so openly.