November 29, 2017 This backgrounder is based on information from Hope Not Hate, an organization based in London: http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/ Origins of Britain First Britain First (BF) is a far-right, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant group founded in 2011 by former members of the British National Party (BNP), a far-right political party with ties to neo-Nazis.  The group is estimated to have about a thousand members. Britain First was founded by Jim Dowson and Paul Golding in…

November 29, 2017 President Donald Trump retweeted three violent, anti-Muslim videos Wednesday. It is just the latest illustration of how the president bolsters and amplifies the messages of extremists and other purveyors of hate. Trump retweeted the videos from the account of Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First, a far right extremist anti-Muslim group with ties to the British National Party, a racist, anti-minority neo-Fascist group. Such extremist propaganda is one of…

November 27, 2017 By Mark Pitcavage, Senior Research Fellow for the Center on Extremism Many subjects are difficult to report on, but extremist and fringe movements are particularly difficult landscapes for journalists to navigate, strewn with rough terrain and the occasional landmine. As someone who has monitored right-wing extremism for more than two decades, I’ve had the pleasure of reading many fine works of journalism on extremist-related subjects, but I’ve also seen…

November 17, 2017 Since it began losing territory in Iraq and Syria last year, the Islamic State has shifted its propaganda away from rapturous rhetoric describing sweeping conquests across the region to more muted language urging its followers not to lose hope, and to embrace its last best chance for relevance: lone wolf attacks in the West. Islamic State’s reputation as a notorious terrorist organization is one of the few things that remains after the territorial losses…

November 16, 2017 A few days before the 22nd anniversary of the Million Man March/Holy Day of Atonement, NOI’s leader, Louis Farrakhan tweeted: “Black People: We should be more convinced that it is time for us to separate and build a nation of our own.” Farrakhan’s pronouncement, which was echoed in his anniversary speech, “Separation or Death,” was retweeted nearly 2.9K times, a number that included alt-right leaders Richard Spencer and Mike Enoch, as…

November 10, 2017 A year ago, when the Anti-Defamation League convened its first major summit on anti-Semitism in New York City, all of the signs pointed to a distinct resurgence of the world’s oldest hatred. Jewish journalists had endured withering assaults on social media. Anti-Semitism was a serious and growing concern on college campuses. And hatred of Jews was once again entering the public conversation as Americans witnessed one of the most divisive presidential elections in…

November 07, 2017 November 2, 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, a letter signed in 1917 by British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour expressing his country's support for the establishment of a national Jewish home in Palestine. While the UK and Israel celebrated the anniversary of this Declaration, which has become a symbol of international recognition of the Jewish right to self-determination, Palestinians and others have used the occasion to protest, and demand an…