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Canada's "Alt-Right" Mosque Shooter, And What He Means For Right-Wing Media Media Matters for America (blog) It's not true that the accused gunman who entered the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City on Sunday night and opened fire on dozens of defenseless worshippers was of Moroccan origin. And it's also not true that the gunman, who was later ... Alexandre Bissonnette: Is Quebec shooter a pro-Trump alt-right terrorist?International Business Times UK Alt-right leader Richard Spencer prompts anger with tweet asking why there are mosques in 'one of North America's ...Daily Mail Suspect in mosque shooting a moderate conservative turned extremist, say friends, classmatesYahoo News Canada (blog) BBC News -Patheos (blog) all 3,196 news articles »

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Canada's "Alt-Right" Mosque Shooter, And What He Means For Right-Wing Media - Media Matters for America (blog)

Earlier this month, about 20 Jews gathered in a rental space above New York Citys Times Square to celebrate the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. Israeli wine, red and white, was poured into plastic cups alongside platters of bagels.

The events organizers wore black T-shirts bearing the phrase Never Again, the slogan of the Jewish Defense League, a far-right organization angling for a resurgence amid a rise in ethnic pride, and ethnic tension, spurred by Trumps campaign.

As the new presidents image flashed on the mounted TV monitor, the room erupted in cheers.

We support him, Karen Lichtbraun said. Trump is supporting many of the ideals that we have. Lichtbraun is a senior organizer in todays JDL, and wants to propagate its founding principle of fighting anti-Semitism by any means necessary.

Members of the nascent Jewish Defence League branch of New York celebrated Donald Trumps inauguration earlier this month at a rental space near Times Square.

Founded in 1968 by the firebrand Jewish nationalist Meir Kahane, the JDL is seeking to re-establish itself in the United States after decades of inactivity.

But generational divisions might thwart the groups ambitions. Members disagree sharply on how they should relate to the so-called alt-right, the loosely organized white nationalist movement that championed Trump during the election.

While an older generation, affiliated with the original JDL, denounces the alt-right as simple Nazis younger activists who identify as Kahanists feel differently.

A lot of our ideology is similar, Jonathan Stern, a younger Kahanist activist, told the Forward, speaking at Trumps inauguration event. I see this as a priority to reach out to the people in the alt-right that are pro-Jewish, pro-Zionist and pro-Israel.

He speaks in the same language as Kahane

The inauguration celebration in Times Square was an effort of a nascent New York branch of the JDL that, if formally established, would be helmed by Lichtbraun.

Meanwhile, more grassroots activism, outside of the chapters official activity, is also taking hold, oftentimes online.

Theres one thing all the activists older and younger agree on: Trump is seen as a harbinger of positive change.

Trump is just making it easer to emerge, offered Yaniv Baron, a Kahanist activist.

Kahane was an American-Israeli Orthodox rabbi who formed the JDL to protect Jews from anti-Semitism by whatever means necessary.

A handful of JDL members and leaders including Kahane were convicted in relation to acts of domestic terrorism in the United States. Kahane relocated to Israel, launched a political career and advocated for the transfer of Palestinians out of Israel.

In 1990 an Egyptian-born gunman shot him dead in Manhattan. And in 1994 the Israeli government banned Kahanes political party, Kach, which means thus, under anti-terrorism laws.

Now a new generation of activists looking to Kahane for inspiration sees Trump as its ticket to renewed relevance, said Gennadiy Faybyshenko, a 35-year old Kahanist based in Brooklyn who said that he has already seen an uptick in interest.

Sam Kestenbaum

Karen Lichtbraun, a Jewish Defence League organizer in New York City, says her movement has nothing to do with the alt-right.

Activists do not promote violence, they say, but are inspired by Kahanes message of hard-line Jewish nationalism.

Faybyshenko, who was born in Ukraine and has been involved with Kahanist activities for a decade, said he had been to several Trump election parties throughout Brooklyn, particularly in Midwood and Brighton Beach, Orthodox and Russian enclaves in which Trump had support. In Trump, Faybyshenko said, some hear echoes of Kahane a nationalist who speaks bluntly about minorities and has no patience for political correctness.

Donald Trump brings a lot of similar ideology. He speaks in the same language as Kahane, Faybyshenko said.

For Baron, another Kahanist who lives in Boston and is running Kahanist activities there, Trumps language offers a way to connect the Kahanist ideology to a younger generation.

Trump has the slogan America first, Baron said. We have to take the concept of Jew first, which means to take care of ourselves first and then worry about other people.

Baron is organizing Torah study sessions as a way to introduce potential new recruits to Kahanism, highlighting passages that seem to reinforce Kahanes brand of Jewish nationalism. We dont just straight up give them the ideology, Baron said. We try to teach them with Torah.

There are some lessons to learn

The internet has proved to be a successful organizing tool for the younger wave of Kahane-inspired activists. In addition to a Facebook page, where Stern acts as an administrator, dozens of Kahanist Twitter accounts have popped up in recent weeks.

The lines between the alt-right and Kahanists can blur, even though the former is the label preferred by contemporary white supremacists who have a history of hating Jews. Both share a common language and irreverence for sacred cows of the left.

Facebook

The avatar image of a Kahanist Facebook group depicts Meir Kahane wearing a pro-Trump Make America Great Again hat.

Some see Kahane as a sort of proto-alt-right figure himself and an online meme has been circulated of Kahane sporting a red Make American Great Again hat.

A Twitter user known as AltRabbi wrote online, Closest thing jews have had to alt right was kahane.

AltRabbi is known online as a religious Jew who is sympathetic to the alt-right.

Secular Jews in US are so severly [sic] SJW that they are lost, he wrote, using an acronym for social justice warrior, a pejorative term for activists.

Hundreds of people watch Torah classes organized by Baron, who admires the ways the alt-right has harnessed the internet.

There are some lessons to learn from them in the way they reach out, he said.

A recent flare-up in Whitefish, Montana, brought the generational divisions of the movement into sharp relief.

Neo-Nazis pledged to carry out an armed march against local Jews in Whitefish, where Spencer lives part time. Spencer did not endorse the march, and quietly distanced himself from the anti-Semitic campaign, but the clear ideological links between the alt-right and Nazism were laid bare.

This caused members of the older JDL generation to take a stand.

Meir Weinstein, national director of Canadas JDL, told the Forward he was more than willing to confront Spencer and neo-Nazis in person.

That guys going to get his head kicked in. Hes a Nazi, this guys a Nazi, Weinstein said of Spencer in a phone interview.

But others, like Stern, are taking a more tempered approach: Were not going to work with Nazis God forbid but there are factions within the alt-right where there is a commonality.

Jonathan Stern, a Kahansit activist, says it is a priority to reach out to members of the alt-right who are open to working with Jews.

Stern hopes that Spencer might denounce all forms of Nazism. Spencer has complicated views on Jews and Israel and does not call himself a Nazi preferring instead white identitarian. Still, it is unlikely that he will disavow any of his neo-Nazi supporters.

In an email to the Forward, Stern asked: Why shouldnt we associate ourselves with a charismatic and extremely popular rising figure within the MAGA movement who agrees with us on most issues, but has some problematic followers?

In Sterns eyes, white nationalism is not akin to Nazism, and white nationalists do not necessarily hate Jews or non-whites. Sterns message went on: They simply want the best for their race. And Jews are white too btw, so why should we object to that?

We are looking to make an alliance with people on the right, but that doesnt include people who you would call Nazis, Baron said, trying to clarify the Kahanist camps position. We do connect to people who have an American nationalist viewpoint.

While it is unlikely that Spencer will develop a formal alliance with Kahanist elements, both they and the more established JDL movement are part of a swell of nationalist groups angling for revivals, according to researchers who monitor radical groups.

Faybyshenko has high hopes for his re-energized movement.

Its something being reborn, he said. Especially after the election results, we now see that people are waking up.

Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

Excerpt from:
The Next Generation of Militant Kahanists Embrace Trump But Are Divided on 'Alt-Right' - Forward

University of Wisconsin Chancellor Rebecca Blanks appearance at a Tuesday shared governance meeting was met with protests against white supremacy as she answered questions regarding the recent rise of an alt-right movement on campus.

The chancellor began her portion of the meeting discussing four agenda issues:

Trump executive order impacts at least 88 in UW communityUniversity of Wisconsin officials announced Monday there are 115 faculty, students and staff impacted by President Donald Trumps executive order

On the matter of theimmigration ban, Blank saidapproximately 150 people at UW are directly affected and efforts have been taken to reach out to these individuals. Blank said Trumps shut-down of American borders has been destructive to universities across the country.

Above all, however, the discussion centered on UW student Daniel Dropiks recent proposal to start a Madison chapter of the American Freedom Party.

Blank stood by her previous statements on the topic, stating the administrationwe will not kick Dropik out of the university if all he is doing is expressing opinions.

Despite concerns expressed by members of the audience that racist rhetoric may lead to racial violence, Blank insisted free speech is the baseline and the system will come down where it comes down if Dropik attracts a following or takes further steps to start a student organization.

UW students protest alt-right, call on chancellor to condemn hate speechOne week after a University of Wisconsin student attempted to start an alt-right group on campus, students and community members

Though Blank stated several times Dropiks words and actions are personally offensive, she stood firm in her conviction that unless violence is directly incited, he is allowedto speak freely.

Additional issues arose around Dropiks felony record, which include two convictions of racially motivated arson.Blank proposed universities should be entitled to the criminal records of students, potential students and staff.

Though this could open doors to more racial issues, Blank said she believes criminal records should not be discounted in matters of admissions.

Conservative, liberal student organizations denounce alt-right movementIn a moment ofunity on the University of Wisconsin campus, student organizations from both the liberal and conservative camps have

As Blank finished her discussion, a student-led protest group disrupted the meeting chanting such things as This is our university, fuck white supremacy, No more check box and Hey Becky, whatd you say, make these fascists go away!

The group followed and continued to chant at Blank as she left out the doors of the Student Activity Center.

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Blank stands her ground on confronting 'alt-right' movement - The Badger Herald

This week, many of us learned an alt-right club is coming to our campus.

Framed as a pro-white organization, its organizer Daniel Dropik promises to alleviate racial tensions on campus, which he views as caused by the legitimate racial grievance[s] of white students.

He believes the University of Wisconsinis an anti-white environment with anti-white policies.

UW student wants to bring alt-right movement to campusLooking down at the small piece of paper that barely fit between his thumb and index finger, two phrases glared

The evidence given in his recruitment video consists mostly of graffiti, the existence of anti-white racism (which he equates with the phrase kill all white people), the existence of hate and bias reporting and the invitation of activist Bree Newsome to speak about anti-racism work.

As a white student myself, I wonder if he understands what whiteness means.

Its not a culture or an ethnicity, its a constructed group. Whiteness didnt exist until someone needed a justification for imperialist colonization, slavery and genocide. Discussions of white identity or white pride ignore the facts and history of race and racism, instead choosing to imagine there has always been a proud, accomplished monolith of what alt-right leader Richard Spencer would call children of the sun.

This goal of eliminating racial violence seems great, but what we need isnt pro-white advocacy.

White students and white people in general are humans and therefore need a source of real, healthy confidence and community, but it has to be outside of whiteness.

Conservative, liberal student organizations denounce alt-right movementIn a moment ofunity on the University of Wisconsin campus, student organizations from both the liberal and conservative camps have

Its not a matter of making ourselves feel good about belonging to a group that relies on violence for its existence, its a matter of getting over our fragile egos.

If we want solidarity and community, we need to get rid of racism and build something else. It is this lack of identity and self-worth outside of whiteness that causes these so-called racial grievances.

After being taughtyou are naturally better, whether you hold this belief consciously or unconsciously, equality often feels like an attack.

If you are forced to question that worth, what do you have left? If you are forced to consider yourprivilege helped your accomplishments instead of only your hard work, what do you have to be proud of?

I say this not to people of color (most of whom understand this out of necessity), but to my fellow white students who have yet to understand why anti-racism makes them uncomfortable.

Its because whiteness is such a part ofidentity and self-worth that weautomatically reject any erosion of that power. The easy solution to this discomfort is to prop up the crumbling edifice of whiteness no threat to your power, no uneasiness.

Student-led petition calls for Young Americans for Freedom to be denounced as hate groupNearly a month after conservative pundit Ben Shapiro came to speak at the University of Wisconsin campus, students are calling

But this will never actually solve your problems and it actively harms many people.

Whiteness was, and is, constructed to justify and implement oppression and in any truly just and peaceful society, it cannot exist. There will always be a threat to your power and privilege because your power and privilege are wrong, even by the very values we claim.Until we all face that and let go, we will always feel defensive, we will always lash out again and we will never be able to have a healthy sense of self.

If you are a white student looking for a way to deal with guilt or questioning what you have been taught, there is a much better way.

Instead of retreating, doubling down and willfully ignoring the realities of the racist society we live in, you can move forward.

You can help repair all the damage racism causes. You can find something else to be proud of, something that doesnt require elevating yourself by stepping on others. It wont destroy you, I promise, and I think youll find its very healing, especially in the long run.

Conservative pundit Ben Shapiro lectures to turbulent crowd on safe spaces, freedom of speechConservative public speaker Ben Shapiro, editor-in-chief for DailyWire.com and host of The Ben Shapiro Show, spoke at the University of

Beyond this misunderstanding, any presence of the alt-right on our campus is disturbing.

Dropiks stated goal of respectful dialogue seems at odds with the actual positions of the alt-right.

Take Richard Spencer, for example. In the same speech where he used the phrase children of the sun, he questions if those who oppose the alt-right are people at all, or instead soulless Golems, animated by some dark power.

He thinks some people make our lives worse just by the sheer fact of their existence, that [w]hites do, and other groups dont, that we are uniquely, at the center of history and we conquer or die. In fact, he views any dialogue or defense as beg[ging] for moral validation from some of the most despicable creatures to pollute the soil of this planet.

This horrific, blatantly white supremacist speech given at an alt-right conference was met with cheers and Nazi salutes.

While Dropik, without evidence, claims this organization can operate within the guidelines and rules of this university, it seems clear the leaders of this movement would disapprove of even trying.

How can this dangerously insidious notion some people should not exist ever foster dialogue? How can white supremacy ever ease racial tensions?

Most importantly, how can we let a movementneo-Nazis supportand are in involved inanywhere near students of color and Jewish, Muslim, queer, transgender and disabled students on this campus?

The vague promise of intellectual pursuit and dialogue is nowhere near worth the risk of letting organized white supremacy find a home here.

Do you want to end racial violence? Me too. I believe there is an actual solution, but this is not it.

Go home, Daniel.

Gwynna Norton (gwynna.norton@gmail.com) is a senior majoring in mathematics.

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'Alt-right' groups have no place on our campus or in our country - The Badger Herald

BERKELEY Protesters and police are gearing up for a confrontation Wednesday over a visit from Milo Yiannopoulos, writer for Breitbart News and alt-right provocateur, who intends to kick off a campaign to withdraw funding from sanctuary campuses.

Yiannopoulos, who has outed a transgender student, called feminism a cancer and rape culture a fantasy, was blocked from speaking at UC Davis earlier this month after rowdy protests prompted the UC Davis College Republicans to shut down their event.

The planned Wednesday event, hosted by UC Berkeley College Republicans, will mark the start of the conservative David Horowitz Freedom Centers campaign to withdraw federal grants from campuses that protect from deportation students who are undocumented immigrants. The University of California system announced measures in November that would, in effect, make it a sanctuary campus.

The announcement of Yiannopoulos visit initially prompted calls for the campus to block the event. Instead, the university intends to charge the College Republicans for costs that far exceed the basic security costs of an event.

Chancellor Nicholas Dirks sent a message to students, staff and facultyThursday, affirming the universitys commitment to freedom of speech while also distancing the school from the decision by the College Republicans, a separate legal entity, to host the event.

We are defending the right to freeexpression at an historic moment for our nation, when this right is once again of paramount importance, Dirks wrote. In this context, we cannot afford to undermine those rights, and feel a need to make a spirited defense of the principle of tolerance, even when it means we tolerate that which may appear to us as intolerant.

Now, Berkeley-based groups have put out calls to shut down the Berkeley College Republicans event on Wednesday.

The event, which will be held at the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union Building, will begin at 8 p.m. and the doors will open at 7 p.m. The venue holds 500 people and has been sold out for weeks, according to campus officials.

Protesters intend to organize at 6 p.m. at Sproul Plaza and campus officials expect a significant number of people to gather outside in protest.

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Alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at UC Berkeley - East Bay Times