Right-wing extremists celebrate Taliban: “Revolt against the modern world”

Right-wing circles are warning of a huge onslaught of Afghans in Europe after the Taliban came to power. At the same time, some admire the Islamists for their “revolt against the modern world”.

After the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, right-wing extremists in the US and Europe admired the Islamists. In relevant online forums there is talk of the assumption of power being a victory for love for the fatherland and for religion. A right-wing blogger in the US touts the Taliban as a “conservative and religious power,” like US media report.

Islam is poison – so begins a contribution in a Telegram channel from the environment of the right-wing extremist “Proud Boys” in the USA. But these farmers, meaning the Taliban, would have fought to recapture their land. “They have regained their government, introduced their national religion as law and executed those who think differently,” the article reads. It is “difficult not to respect that.”

“Homoparades have a break in broadcast”

A well-known activist of the right-wing extremist “Identitarian Movement” from Austria wrote on Twitter that the “Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan means a crushing defeat for globalism”. And further: “Drag queens, gay parades and ideology of human rights have a break there.” It is time, according to the right-wing radical, “for Europe, too, to free itself from its condition as an American colony!”

The activist of the “Identitarians” also posted a statement at the beginning of September by a woman who, according to her own statements, had set up the first project for gender studies in Afghanistan. “A clear case of crimes against humanity – hand them over to the Taliban!” Writes the activist.

Burning rainbow flags

With memes (graphics), right-wing extremists also make fun of the defeat of the Afghan army. A cartoon-style graphic shows the US embassy in Kabul with a McDonalds logo hanging between two burning rainbow flags. In front of it stands the cartoon character Pepe, who plays a central role in right-wing extremist online campaigns – and who in this depiction wears a beard, a headscarf and a rifle.

Not only right-wing extremists shared this graphic to celebrate the victory of the Islamists, but also a Twitter user with more than 10,000 followers who, according to his own account, is at home in the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”. According to a journalist from Afghanistan, the man belongs to the Taliban. In an interview with the journalist, it cannot be said for sure whether he is actually in Afghanistan tagesschau.de.

This posting includes numerous anti-Semitic depictions depicting Jews as the pullers behind the Western military operation in Afghanistan, as well as numerous approving comments. For example, one writes: “I’m not saying that I like the Taliban. I’m just saying that I hate the American empire.”

“Ambivalent relationship”

“The relationship between the extreme right and Islamists like the Taliban is ambivalent,” explains Prof. Dr. Matthias Quent. The director of the Institute for Democracy and Civil Society Jena says in an interview with tagesschau.de: Both the “extreme right and Islamists see the main enemy in Western liberalism, which in their view is responsible for globalization, multiculturalism, materialism, decadence and decline and the loss of values, culture, faith, authority and male rule”.

Both ideologies also contained “fascistic, authoritarian, anti-Semitic and misogynistic elements and refer to historical myths and conspiracy narratives”. In addition, Quent continued, “right-wing extremists respect or admire the sacrifice and ideological consequences of radical Islamism”.

But “superficially, not only radical Islamism, but also Islam is construed as an existential threat against which one would have to defend oneself resolutely,” says Quent. “The victory of the Taliban is discussed on the one hand as a model for ethnic, self-proclaimed liberation movements, on the other hand as an instrument to stir up fear and mobilize for the supposed resistance.”

“Revolt Against the Modern World”

And so the Taliban and right-wing extremists are at least united in their enemy images. A former AfD functionary shared a graphic that illustrates this attitude: It shows a man with a headscarf and a beard who is supposed to represent a Taliban, and a white man who appears in various representations as a representative of nationalists. They look at each other with determination – and underneath it says: “Revolt against the modern world.”