CARD: Extreme Weather. Extreme Denial. Extreme Politics.

Two important pieces from the HOPE not hate research team this week. First, everything you need to know about this week’s Synagogue shooting in Germany. We also have highlights from a new longform report on how climate change will affect extremist movements. Both are well worth spending some time and reflection on. -Melissa

Far-right Attack on Yom Kippur

By HOPE not hate Right Response Team

This week, on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, a suspected gunman killed two people in the east German town of Halle. Heavily armed with homemade weapons, after failing to enter his original target – a synagogue – he shot dead two people nearby and injured a further two before being detained by German police upon attempting to flee.

A document circulated online and attributed to the alleged gunman by the ICSR at King’s College, London, is written in the parlance of the modern online far right, and made explicit that the apparent rationale behind the rampage was both antisemitic and Islamophobic.

The tragedy is just the latest in a string of deadly far-right attacks around the globe over the last year, including in Christchurch, New Zealand and El Paso and Pittsburgh in the USA, again reiterating both the increasing threat of far-right terrorism and the international nature of the extreme right. 

Internationalized and gamified: the attack was indicative of the contemporary far-right terror threat. Read HOPE not hate’s analysis here.

Extreme Weather. Extreme Denial. Extreme Politics.

By Simon Murdoch

With the world standing on the brink of a climate emergency, we have a host of new research on the threat that climate change poses to our communities and to our planet. The overlaps between this urgent issue and the fight against the far right are extensive. From climate change denial’s ideological and financial links to the far right to climate refugees’ reception in an era of ramped up xenophobia, this is a crossroads of extremes which warrants closer attention.

Our new research includes polling on attitudes towards climate change from around the world, analysis of the range of far-right party positions on the issue, accounts of travels to North Africa and Southern Europe to look at the present and future situation for refugees, analysis and explainers on the worrying revivals of ‘eco-nationalist’ populist platforms and ‘eco-fascist’ terrorist rhetoric, and much, much more.

View and explore our research hub here.

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Research/Projects

• Volume II of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s bipartisan report on election interference in the 2016 election is out. You can read the original here. CNBC also has a good recap of the most important points as well as the committee’s recommendations for moving forward. Key finding: “No single group of Americans was targeted by IRA information operatives more than African Americans. By far, race and related issues were the preferred target of the information warfare campaign designed to divide the country in 2016.”

ICYMI

• Donald Trump is Stuck in a Human Centipede of Boomer Memes (Buzzfeed)
• Political Operatives Are Faking Voter Outrage With Millions of Made-up Comments to Benefit the Rich and Powerful (Buzzfeed)
• Far-right Stirs Violence Against Anti-trump Protests (Unicorn Riot)
• ‘Treason,’ ‘Spy,’ ‘Coup’: As Impeachment Talk Intensifies, So Does Trump’s Rhetoric (NPR)
• It’s Easy to Despair and Do Nothing After the Halle Synagogue Shooting. But We Shouldn’t. (FFWD)
• How Trump and Facebook Are Cashing in on the Impeachment News (Huffington Post)

Want even more links? Support us on Patreon to receive a second ICYMI post just for CARD members.

New podcast alert

The latest CARD podcast is now available! I interviewed Igor Volsky, a longtime progressive activist and the founder of Guns Down America. We had a wide-ranging conversation about changing the conversation around gun violence in America and emerging areas of activism, covering everything from state legislators and Congress to corporate activism. Take a listen!

These podcasts are made possible thanks to the generous support of our sustaining members who receive early access to them. If you enjoy them please consider becoming a Bronze member via our Patreon page. 

Talk to you next week!