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41. Factsheet: Gates of Vienna

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
09-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Gates of Vienna is an international far-right, anti-Muslim blogging website established in 2004 by the United States-based blogger Edward S. May and his wife. The website features the work of hard-line anti-Muslim writers and is a central player in the counter-jihad movement within the United States and across Europe. The blog has served as a platform for Fjordman, a Norwegian anti-Muslim writer, whose views were the ideological inspiration of Norwegian mass murderer, Anders Behring Breivik.
Topic:
Ideology, Islamophobia, Far Right, and Website
Political Geography:
Europe and United States of America

42. Factsheet: Swiss People's Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei, SVP)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is Switzerland’s leading far-right political party, established in 1971. Currently, the SVP is the strongest faction in the Nationalrat, the National Council. It is also part of the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive branch. The SVP was the catalyst behind the minaret ban in 2009 and has also launched other anti-Muslim campaigns to ban the face-veil. SVP politicians are internationally connected with other anti-Muslim movements and figures, including writer Udo Ulfkotte and Renaud Camus.
Topic:
Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, Far Right, Political Parties, and Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP)
Political Geography:
Europe and Switzerland

43. Factsheet: Identity and Democracy

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Identity and Democracy (ID) is the fourth-largest group in the European Parliament, representing thirteen far-right parties with heavy anti-Muslim agendas. It is the successor of the 2014 Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) group and emerged after the 2019 European Parliament elections. ID’s policy platform focuses on increasing security, tackling illegal immigration, and creating economic growth, as well as making the EU less bureaucratic. The group is currently headed by Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the Italian League and the French National Rally. It has been able to connect nationalist far-right parties and overcome nationalist cleavages by emphasizing the common ‘Muslim enemy.’
Topic:
Nationalism, Islamophobia, Far Right, and European Parliament
Political Geography:
Europe

44. Factsheet: National Rally (Rassemblement National, previously Front National or National Front)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
02-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
National Rally, previously known as National Front, is a far-right political party in France with a decades-long history of Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and misogyny. National Rally has enjoyed electoral success locally, nationally, and in the European Parliament. Throughout its history, the party has been dominated by the Le Pen family, especially Jean-Marie Le Pen, a Holocaust denier and apologist of French colonialism, and his daughter, Marine Le Pen, who advocates religious discrimination against Muslims, immigrants, and migrants.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Xenophobia, Anti-Semitism, Political Parties, and National Rally (Rassemblement National)
Political Geography:
Europe and France

45. Factsheet: Hamed Abdel-Samad

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Hamed Abdel-Samad is a German-Egyptian journalist and award winning author who has helped shape the public discourse on Islam in Germany. He has written seven books that are not only critical of Islam and Muslims, but frame Islam as a totalitarian ideology. Abdel-Samad is often invited as a guest by the German media, is part of governmental initiatives such as the German Islam Conference, and has been invited by the rising far-right political party Alternative for Germany.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Journalism, Muslims, and Hamed Abdel-Samad
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

46. Factsheet: Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland/AfD)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland/AfD) is a far-right political party in Germany and the first far-right nationalist party to enter the German parliament since World War II. AfD is widely regarded as an anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and racist political party.
Topic:
Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, Far Right, Anti-Semitism, Political Parties, Racism, and Alternative for Germany (AfD)
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

47. Factsheet: Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
05-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The most electorally successful far-right party in Sweden, the Sweden Democrats (SD, Sverigedemokraterna), have been represented in the national legislature since 2010 and the European Parliament since 2014. Rooted in Nazism and founded by white supremacists in the 1980s, the Sweden Democrats have attempted to rebrand by shifting to rhetoric and policies that stigmatize Islam, Muslims, and Muslim immigration in Sweden. SD members have a history of promoting anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, and racist statements and conspiracy theories.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, White Supremacy, Anti-Semitism, Political Parties, and Sweden Democrats
Political Geography:
Europe and Sweden

48. Factsheet: Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest, VB) is a far-right political party in the Flemish region of Belgium which promotes Flemish nationalism and was founded in 1978. The party has promoted fears of immigrant invasions, a Muslim takeover of Europe, and the Islamization of Flemish society. Filip Dewinter, one of the leading members of VB, has used the party’s platform to advance anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. VB gained its first electoral successes in the late 1980s. Today, the party is represented in regional, national and European parliaments, and has transnational and international ties with other anti-Muslim and far-right movements and parties.
Topic:
Nationalism, Islamophobia, Far Right, Xenophobia, Political Parties, and Flemish
Political Geography:
Europe and Belgium

49. Factsheet: Wiener Akademikerbund (WAB, Viennese Association of Academics)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Wiener Akademikerbund was established in 1957 and was affiliated with the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP). In 2011, it was formally banned from the ÖVP for questioning the 1947-Prohibition Act that prohibits Holocaust denial and belittlement of Nazi atrocities. The Wiener Akademikerbund presents itself as a right-wing conservative think tank that defends neoliberalism and Christian values. It is one of the major proponents of anti-Muslim sentiment in Austria and is well-connected with the international, anti-Muslim Counter-Jihad Movement.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Think Tanks, Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), and Wiener Akademikerbund
Political Geography:
Europe and Vienna

50. Factsheet: Freedom Party of Austria (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
06-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
The Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) was founded in 1956 as a party of former Nazis. While the party remained a marginal opposition party during its first three decades, by the mid-1980s it became one of the first (and most successful) populist far-right parties in Europe. FPÖ has primarily targeted Muslims and Islam in its policies and rhetoric, and has maintained connections with far-right, anti-Muslim parties, movements, and figures across Europe, in the U.S., and in Israel.
Topic:
Populism, Islamophobia, Far Right, Political Parties, and Muslims
Political Geography:
Europe and Austria