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RealAu­dio

This pro­gram cov­ers orga­nized fas­cist polit­i­cal activ­i­ty around the world.

1. Begin­ning in the Mid­dle East, the broad­cast dis­cuss­es an epi­dem­ic of Holo­caust denial and anti-Semit­ic pro­pa­gan­da in the media of Arab nations. (“Dance of Death Over­takes the Arab World” by Yos­si Klein Hale­vi; Los Ange­les Times; 5/15/2001; p. A15.) As not­ed, there are strong Third Reich con­nec­tions to nation­al­ist ele­ments in the Arab and Mus­lim worlds.

2. Ele­ments of Ital­ian fas­cism have strong ide­o­log­i­cal sym­pa­thy for some of these anti-Israeli ele­ments in the Mid­dle East. (“Fas­cists Who Read” by Peter Gomez; L’Espresso; 1/11/2001; p. 54.)

3. Many of these ele­ments are con­nect­ed to the gov­ern­ment of Sil­vio Berlus­coni. (Idem.)

4. Next, the pro­gram high­lights the role of Iraqi weapons deal­er Abdul Jebara as a con­duit between Euro­pean fas­cists and Sad­dam Hus­sein. (“Con­vict­ed Arms Deal­er Fun­nels Aid from Europe’s Far Right to Iraq” by Eric Geiger; San Fran­cis­co Chron­i­cle; 5/3/2001; pp. B1-B4.)

5. Jebara’s oper­a­tions are cen­tered in the Aus­tri­an province of Carinthia, the domain of Aus­tri­an fas­cist Jörg Haider. (Ibid.; p. B1.)

6. In the con­text of the fas­cist her­itage of the Balkan repub­lic of Croa­t­ia, it is worth con­sid­er­ing the fact that Iraqi oil has been find­ing its way to Croa­t­ia. (“Iraq Vows to Keep Close Eye on Oil;” [Reuters]; 4/25/2001.) Sad­dam Hussein’s pol­i­tics also have a Third Reich her­itage.

7. The pro­found Ger­man role in the desta­bi­liza­tion of the for­mer Yugoslavia, as well as the cur­rent con­flicts there, is made all the more inter­est­ing by the fact that a Ger­man mer­ce­nary was recent­ly arrest­ed for ter­ror­ism by Unit­ed Nations author­i­ties. (“U.N. Secu­ri­ty Arrests Car Bomb Sus­pect” by Lulz­im Cota; [UPI]; 4/23/2001.) Ger­man neo-Nazi groups have long been active as mer­ce­nar­ies in the for­mer Yugoslavia.

8. Ukrain­ian fas­cists with a her­itage going back to ele­ments that col­lab­o­rat­ed with Nazi Ger­many have been active in the Ukrain­ian dis­si­dent move­ment. (“Ukraine’s Embat­tled Democ­ra­cy” by Julia Bar­ton; San Fran­cis­co Chron­i­cle; 3/24/2001; pp. A10-11.) The Ukraine is not the only for­mer East Bloc coun­try in which democ­ra­cy is endan­gered.

9. In Hun­gary, the rul­ing Fed­er­a­tion of Young Democ­rats-Hun­gar­i­an Civic par­ty (Fidesz) has been embrac­ing the ultra-nation­al­ist and anti-Semit­ic MIEP, which cel­e­brates Hungary’s fas­cist past. (“Hungary’s Rul­ing Par­ty Court­ing Extreme Right-Wing Fac­tion” by Sam Loewen­berg; San Fran­cis­co Chron­i­cle; 5/5/2001; pp. D1-D2.)

10. Hun­gary was an Axis nation in World War II. Along with the fas­cist Ukrain­ian OUN/UPA, the Hun­gar­i­an Arrow Cross orga­ni­za­tion was strong­ly rep­re­sent­ed in the Anti-Bol­she­vik Bloc of Nations and also main­tained strong con­nec­tions to the Gehlen spy out­fit. (for more about the ABN, see RFA #’s 15, 36, 37.)

11. The Fidesz/MIEP rela­tion­ship has been nur­tured by con­tacts with the U.S. Repub­li­can par­ty. (Ibid.; p. D1.) The Repub­li­can Par­ty itself has strong con­nec­tions to the ABN milieu.

12. The pro­gram con­cludes with a look at recent dis­clo­sures of con­tacts between influ­en­tial Bel­gian politi­cians and the Sint-Maartens­fonds, a sup­port group for Flem­ish vet­er­ans of the Waf­fen SS. (The Dutch Flem­ish are, with the French-speak­ing Wal­loons, one of the two major eth­nic groups in Bel­gium.) Flem­ish Inte­ri­or Min­is­ter Johan Sauwens was revealed to have been a mem­ber of the group for 25 years. (“Flem­ish Inte­ri­or Min­is­ter Refus­es to Quit over Mem­ber­ship of SS Group” by Stephen Cas­tle; The Inde­pen­dent; 5/10/2001.)

13. Sauwens was seen to stand and sing the anthem of the Flem­ish Waf­fen SS brigade. (“Flem­ish Min­is­ter Quits Over SS Links”; BBC; 5/10/2001.)

14. Jack Gabriels, Belgium’s Min­is­ter of Agri­cul­ture also had ties to the group. (“Sec­ond Bel­gian Min­is­ter Linked to SS Vet­er­ans” by Stephen Cas­tle; The Inde­pen­dent; 5/18/2001.)