Ahmed Huber
Encyclopedia
Ahmed Huber was a Swiss German
journalist, and a convert to Islam
, who was active in both Islamist
and Far Right
politics. He gained international notoriety in 2001 when he was accused by the United States
government of funding Al Qaeda's terrorist activities through the Al Taqwa Bank
, of which he was one of five managers.
, Switzerland in 1927 into a Protestant family. He joined the liberal
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
in 1952, and remained a member until 1994, when he was expelled for his Right-wing political beliefs. Throughout his life, he worked as a journalist for various Swiss news services until 1989, when he lost his position as a result of advocating Ayatollah Khomeini's
fatwa
against Salman Rushdie. In 1959, the Party asked Huber to hide some Algeria
ns at his home, who were illegally transporting weapons through Switzerland which were to be delivered to the rebels fighting against French
colonialism
in the Algerian War. During the time they stayed with Huber, they discussed Islam, and Huber, who had never taken his Protestant background seriously, was very impressed by their beliefs. He continued to contemplate Islam until 1962, when he finally became a Sunni Muslim by reciting the shahada
at a Swiss Islamic center. He was then invited to visit Egypt
, where he was told that the Swiss Islamic center was hostile to then-President Gamal Abdel Nasser
, and that he should again recite the shahada at the Al-Azhar mosque
in Cairo
, which he did. It was at this time that he adopted the name Ahmed Huber.
Huber was able to meet with President Nasser during his time in Egypt. It was through his talks with Nasser, who spoke positively about German
National Socialism
, that Huber first began to reconsider his beliefs about Nazism and Hitler. Upon his return to Switzerland, he met a young secretary at the Egyptian embassy whom he married in 1963, and with whom he fathered two children.
Throughout the remainder of the 1960s, Huber continued to become increasingly sympathetic to both Arab nationalism
and Nazism. His views were strongly influenced by his meeting in 1965 with Haj Amin al-Husseini, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
who had made efforts to win support for the Third Reich among Muslims during the Second World War; as well as Johann von Leers
, originally a Nazi propagandist who fled to Egypt after the war (he also became a Muslim), where he continued to produce anti-Semitic propaganda for Nasser's government. Huber also claimed to have met Hitler's secretaries, Traudl Junge
and Christa Schroeder
; Artur Axmann
, who had been a leader of the Hitler Youth
; as well as several former SS officers, including Léon Degrelle
. Huber also kept many Nazi relics at his home, including a fragment from Hitler's destroyed residence at Berchtesgaden
. Huber was less forthcoming about his contacts among the contemporary Far Right, although it was reported that he knew Dr. William Pierce
, who was the leader of the American neo-Nazi
group, the National Alliance. He is also known to have been a friend of François Genoud
, a Swiss financier who was active in protecting fugitive Nazis, as well as supporting various Palestinian
and Islamist causes. In 1988, Genoud would become one of the founders of Al Taqwa, along with Huber.
Huber did not give up his associations with the Swiss left, however. In the late 1960s, he worked within a group known as the "Bern Nonconformists," which was a Swiss New Left
organization. He used their Leftist rhetoric to advocate anti-American and anti-Israeli positions. Given Huber's actual beliefs, this activity is an example of entryism
.
Huber remained an Arab nationalist until the Islamic Iranian Revolution
in 1979. Huber was very interested in the idea of an Islamic government, and he began to study the writings of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Huber visited Iran
in 1983, during which he spoke before the Iranian Parliament
. He continued to make annual trips to Iran every year thereafter, and met several times with Khomeini. The Iranians hoped that Huber would use his Right-wing contacts in Europe
to foster closer ties between Iran and the European Right. Although Huber was a Sunni, he advocated the Shi'a revolution in Iran as a model which could be an inspiration to all Muslim nations.
Beginning in the 1980s, Huber attended many Islamic conferences and meetings of the Far Right around the world, including in Iran, Lebanon, the United States, France, Austria
, Germany, and Switzerland. At these meetings he would promote the idea of greater cooperation between Muslims and the Right. Huber particularly advocated the school of thought known as the European New Right, which he believed provided the best basis for such an alliance. In spite of these activities, nothing concrete is known to have come of them.
Huber also worked closely with the Avalon Gemeinschaft, a Swiss pagan
, self-styled New Right organization which has hosted several conferences on Holocaust denial
, and counts former Waffen SS veterans among its members.
Huber died at his home in Muri bei Bern
in 2008.
in 1988, although it was based in the Bahamas for tax purposes. Several of the other individuals involved were members of the Muslim Brotherhood
. As early as 1996, it was claimed that Al Taqwa handled finances for individuals linked to Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas
, the Palestine Liberation Organization
, the Algerian Armed Islamic Group
, as well as Islamist groups in several other countries.
On 23 September 2001, President George W. Bush
announced that Al Taqwa had assisted Al Qaeda in moving funds around the world, and its assets were frozen. This resulted in the Swiss authorities raiding the Al Taqwa offices in December 2001. Huber himself was named by the U.S. government on 7 November 2001 as an individual with links to Al Qaeda. Huber did profess admiration for Osama bin Laden
, and had admitted to meeting with bin Laden sympathizers in Lebanon before the September 11 attacks, but he rejected the notion that either himself or Al Taqwa had any direct involvement with Al Qaeda. Despite an investigation of Huber by the Swiss government, no evidence was ever produced which proved his involvement with the organization. As the U.S. government never provided the Swiss with any evidence of its own against Huber, no criminal charges were ever filed against him, although he was restricted from traveling abroad in May 2002, and this ban remained in place for the remainder of his life. Huber always maintained that the U.S. accusations were lies, and that Al Taqwa was only involved with various Muslim charities.
Huber told author George Michael
that he believed the September 11 attacks were the result of a joint effort carried out by Muslims and American extremists working together. He said that, prior to 2001, he had talked to Rightists and Muslims in the U.S. who told him that a plan, similar to the attack on Pearl Harbor
, was being prepared by them which would serve to "wake up the American people" to the Zionist
domination of America. Huber further said that his American contacts had afterwards claimed responsibility for September 11 in telephone conversations with him, and that this attack was intended to lead the U.S. into "difficult days" which would result in a weakening of the United States, and would eventually bring about a Far Right revolution there.
basis, as Allah
is beyond all categories of reason. He liked the fact that Islam describes a direct relationship between Allah and the individual, rather than it being mediated by a church, priest or other authority. He also said that the Muslim belief in the unity of religion, politics and society was another aspect with which he agreed. Huber believed that the doctrines of National Socialism, which he called anti-modern, were entirely compatible with the principles of Islam. He pointed out that both Islam and National Socialism oppose usury
, homosexuality
and degenerate art
. He also referred to the fact that Hitler himself had praised Islam, particularly in comparison to Christianity, in his private conversations. Huber regarded Hitler as an anti-colonialist
, in that Hitler fought against all the great colonial powers of his day. He also believed that the Nazis' advocacy of deep ecology
was equivalent to the Muslim belief that nature must be respected as an expression of Allah.
In 1982, Huber wrote an essay entitled "The Unknown Islam," in which he identified the three principal threats to Islam as being Zionism, Marxism
and the spread of the American way of life.
In spite of his Nazi sympathies, Huber always denied being an anti-Semite, claiming that he was only opposed to Zionism. He frequently professed his belief in the importance of Holocaust denial
, and supported several deniers throughout his life. He also believed that anti-Zionism and anti-Americanism were merging due to the strength of Zionist power in the U.S.
Huber also differed from most European Right-wing extremists in that he welcomed immigration into Europe from Muslim countries. Although he believed that the refusal of Muslim immigrants to integrate into European society was initially harmful to Europe, he believed that younger Muslims were producing a new form of "European Islam," which was a synthesis of the two cultures, and that this could be beneficial for both Europeans and Muslims.
Huber believed that the U.S.-led Iraq War was doing a great service to his cause, as it was strengthening and bringing Islamists, Arab nationalists and the European New Right together against a common foe.
Huber's advocacy of National Socialism alongside typically left-wing viewpoints, such as his support for Third World
anti-imperialist movements and socialism, classify him as a Strasserist.
Huber has been described as being unique for attempting to reconcile his Nazi and Muslim beliefs, although he was certainly not alone in this. Johann von Leers
, Aribert Heim
and David Myatt are all examples of people who regarded themselves as being both Muslims and Nazis, and saw no contradiction between the two.
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
journalist, and a convert to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, who was active in both Islamist
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
and Far Right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
politics. He gained international notoriety in 2001 when he was accused by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government of funding Al Qaeda's terrorist activities through the Al Taqwa Bank
Al Taqwa Bank
The Al Taqwa Bank is a financial institution incorporated in 1988. It is based out of The Bahamas, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein...
, of which he was one of five managers.
Life
Albert Friedrich Armand Huber was born in the Canton of FribourgCanton of Fribourg
The Canton of Fribourg is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the west of the country. The capital of the canton is Fribourg. The name Fribourg is French, whereas is the German name for both the canton and the town.-History:...
, Switzerland in 1927 into a Protestant family. He joined the liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
Social Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Social Democratic Party of Switzerland is the largest centre-left political party in Switzerland....
in 1952, and remained a member until 1994, when he was expelled for his Right-wing political beliefs. Throughout his life, he worked as a journalist for various Swiss news services until 1989, when he lost his position as a result of advocating Ayatollah Khomeini's
Ruhollah Khomeini
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran...
fatwa
Fatwa
A fatwā in the Islamic faith is a juristic ruling concerning Islamic law issued by an Islamic scholar. In Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar. The person who issues a fatwā...
against Salman Rushdie. In 1959, the Party asked Huber to hide some Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
ns at his home, who were illegally transporting weapons through Switzerland which were to be delivered to the rebels fighting against French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
in the Algerian War. During the time they stayed with Huber, they discussed Islam, and Huber, who had never taken his Protestant background seriously, was very impressed by their beliefs. He continued to contemplate Islam until 1962, when he finally became a Sunni Muslim by reciting the shahada
Shahada
The Shahada , means "to know and believe without suspicion, as if witnessed"/testification; it is the name of the Islamic creed. The shahada is the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet...
at a Swiss Islamic center. He was then invited to visit Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, where he was told that the Swiss Islamic center was hostile to then-President Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
, and that he should again recite the shahada at the Al-Azhar mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, which he did. It was at this time that he adopted the name Ahmed Huber.
Huber was able to meet with President Nasser during his time in Egypt. It was through his talks with Nasser, who spoke positively about German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
National Socialism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, that Huber first began to reconsider his beliefs about Nazism and Hitler. Upon his return to Switzerland, he met a young secretary at the Egyptian embassy whom he married in 1963, and with whom he fathered two children.
Throughout the remainder of the 1960s, Huber continued to become increasingly sympathetic to both Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism
Arab nationalism is a nationalist ideology celebrating the glories of Arab civilization, the language and literature of the Arabs, calling for rejuvenation and political union in the Arab world...
and Nazism. His views were strongly influenced by his meeting in 1965 with Haj Amin al-Husseini, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque.-Ottoman era:...
who had made efforts to win support for the Third Reich among Muslims during the Second World War; as well as Johann von Leers
Johann von Leers
Dr. Johann von Leers, alias Omar Amin , was an Alter Kämpfer and an honorary Sturmbannführer in the Waffen SS in Nazi Germany, where he was also a professor known for his anti-Jewish polemics. He was one of the most important ideologues of the Third Reich, serving as a high-ranking propaganda...
, originally a Nazi propagandist who fled to Egypt after the war (he also became a Muslim), where he continued to produce anti-Semitic propaganda for Nasser's government. Huber also claimed to have met Hitler's secretaries, Traudl Junge
Traudl Junge
Traudl Junge was Adolf Hitler's youngest personal private secretary, from December 1942 to April 1945.-Early life:...
and Christa Schroeder
Christa Schroeder
Christa Schroeder was one of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s personal secretaries before and during World War II.-Early life:...
; Artur Axmann
Artur Axmann
Artur Axmann was the German Nazi leader of the Hitler Youth from 1940 through war's end in 1945.-Early life:Axmann was born in Hagen on 18 February 1913...
, who had been a leader of the Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
; as well as several former SS officers, including Léon Degrelle
Léon Degrelle
Léon Joseph Marie Ignace Degrelle was a Walloon Belgian politician, who founded Rexism and later joined the Waffen SS which were front-line troops in the fight against the Soviet Union...
. Huber also kept many Nazi relics at his home, including a fragment from Hitler's destroyed residence at Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden
Berchtesgaden is a municipality in the German Bavarian Alps. It is located in the south district of Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria, near the border with Austria, some 30 km south of Salzburg and 180 km southeast of Munich...
. Huber was less forthcoming about his contacts among the contemporary Far Right, although it was reported that he knew Dr. William Pierce
William Luther Pierce
William Luther Pierce III was the leader of the white separatist National Alliance organization, and one of the most important ideologists of the white nationalist movement. Pierce originally worked as an assistant professor of physics at Oregon State University, before he became involved in...
, who was the leader of the American neo-Nazi
Neo-Nazism
Neo-Nazism consists of post-World War II social or political movements seeking to revive Nazism or some variant thereof.The term neo-Nazism can also refer to the ideology of these movements....
group, the National Alliance. He is also known to have been a friend of François Genoud
François Genoud
François Genoud was a noted Swiss financier and a principal benefactor of the Nazi diaspora through the ODESSA network and supporter of Middle Eastern liberation groups during the post-World War II 20th century. He was considered the Swiss financier of the Third Reich.- Early life:Genoud was from...
, a Swiss financier who was active in protecting fugitive Nazis, as well as supporting various Palestinian
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
and Islamist causes. In 1988, Genoud would become one of the founders of Al Taqwa, along with Huber.
Huber did not give up his associations with the Swiss left, however. In the late 1960s, he worked within a group known as the "Bern Nonconformists," which was a Swiss New Left
New Left
The New Left was a term used mainly in the United Kingdom and United States in reference to activists, educators, agitators and others in the 1960s and 1970s who sought to implement a broad range of reforms, in contrast to earlier leftist or Marxist movements that had taken a more vanguardist...
organization. He used their Leftist rhetoric to advocate anti-American and anti-Israeli positions. Given Huber's actual beliefs, this activity is an example of entryism
Entryism
Entryism is a political tactic by which an organisation or state encourages its members or agents to infiltrate another organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, or take over entirely...
.
Huber remained an Arab nationalist until the Islamic Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
in 1979. Huber was very interested in the idea of an Islamic government, and he began to study the writings of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Huber visited Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
in 1983, during which he spoke before the Iranian Parliament
Majlis of Iran
The National Consultative Assembly of Iran , also called The Iranian Parliament or People's House, is the national legislative body of Iran...
. He continued to make annual trips to Iran every year thereafter, and met several times with Khomeini. The Iranians hoped that Huber would use his Right-wing contacts in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to foster closer ties between Iran and the European Right. Although Huber was a Sunni, he advocated the Shi'a revolution in Iran as a model which could be an inspiration to all Muslim nations.
Beginning in the 1980s, Huber attended many Islamic conferences and meetings of the Far Right around the world, including in Iran, Lebanon, the United States, France, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Germany, and Switzerland. At these meetings he would promote the idea of greater cooperation between Muslims and the Right. Huber particularly advocated the school of thought known as the European New Right, which he believed provided the best basis for such an alliance. In spite of these activities, nothing concrete is known to have come of them.
Huber also worked closely with the Avalon Gemeinschaft, a Swiss pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
, self-styled New Right organization which has hosted several conferences on Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
, and counts former Waffen SS veterans among its members.
Huber died at his home in Muri bei Bern
Muri bei Bern
Muri bei Bern is a municipality in the Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland.The municipality is clearly divided into two parts, each with about 6,000 people...
in 2008.
Accusation of involvement with Al Qaeda
Huber was one of five individuals who founded the Al Taqwa Bank in LuganoLugano
Lugano is a city of inhabitants in the city proper and a total of over 145,000 people in the agglomeration/city region, in the south of Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, which borders Italy...
in 1988, although it was based in the Bahamas for tax purposes. Several of the other individuals involved were members of the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
. As early as 1996, it was claimed that Al Taqwa handled finances for individuals linked to Al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
, the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
, the Algerian Armed Islamic Group
Armed Islamic Group
The Armed Islamic Group is an Islamist organisation that wants to overthrow the Algerian government and replace it with an Islamic state...
, as well as Islamist groups in several other countries.
On 23 September 2001, President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
announced that Al Taqwa had assisted Al Qaeda in moving funds around the world, and its assets were frozen. This resulted in the Swiss authorities raiding the Al Taqwa offices in December 2001. Huber himself was named by the U.S. government on 7 November 2001 as an individual with links to Al Qaeda. Huber did profess admiration for Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
, and had admitted to meeting with bin Laden sympathizers in Lebanon before the September 11 attacks, but he rejected the notion that either himself or Al Taqwa had any direct involvement with Al Qaeda. Despite an investigation of Huber by the Swiss government, no evidence was ever produced which proved his involvement with the organization. As the U.S. government never provided the Swiss with any evidence of its own against Huber, no criminal charges were ever filed against him, although he was restricted from traveling abroad in May 2002, and this ban remained in place for the remainder of his life. Huber always maintained that the U.S. accusations were lies, and that Al Taqwa was only involved with various Muslim charities.
Huber told author George Michael
George Michael (professor)
George J. Michael is an associate professor of political science and administration of justice at The University of Virginia's College at Wise...
that he believed the September 11 attacks were the result of a joint effort carried out by Muslims and American extremists working together. He said that, prior to 2001, he had talked to Rightists and Muslims in the U.S. who told him that a plan, similar to the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, was being prepared by them which would serve to "wake up the American people" to the Zionist
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
domination of America. Huber further said that his American contacts had afterwards claimed responsibility for September 11 in telephone conversations with him, and that this attack was intended to lead the U.S. into "difficult days" which would result in a weakening of the United States, and would eventually bring about a Far Right revolution there.
Beliefs
Huber said that what attracted him to Islam was its anti-theologicalTheology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
basis, as Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
is beyond all categories of reason. He liked the fact that Islam describes a direct relationship between Allah and the individual, rather than it being mediated by a church, priest or other authority. He also said that the Muslim belief in the unity of religion, politics and society was another aspect with which he agreed. Huber believed that the doctrines of National Socialism, which he called anti-modern, were entirely compatible with the principles of Islam. He pointed out that both Islam and National Socialism oppose usury
Usury
Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
, homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
and degenerate art
Degenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
. He also referred to the fact that Hitler himself had praised Islam, particularly in comparison to Christianity, in his private conversations. Huber regarded Hitler as an anti-colonialist
Anti-imperialism
Anti-imperialism, strictly speaking, is a term that may be applied to a movement opposed to any form of colonialism or imperialism. Anti-imperialism includes opposition to wars of conquest, particularly of non-contiguous territory or people with a different language or culture; it also includes...
, in that Hitler fought against all the great colonial powers of his day. He also believed that the Nazis' advocacy of deep ecology
Deep ecology
Deep ecology is a contemporary ecological philosophy that recognizes an inherent worth of all living beings, regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs. The philosophy emphasizes the interdependence of organisms within ecosystems and that of ecosystems with each other within the...
was equivalent to the Muslim belief that nature must be respected as an expression of Allah.
In 1982, Huber wrote an essay entitled "The Unknown Islam," in which he identified the three principal threats to Islam as being Zionism, Marxism
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
and the spread of the American way of life.
In spite of his Nazi sympathies, Huber always denied being an anti-Semite, claiming that he was only opposed to Zionism. He frequently professed his belief in the importance of Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
, and supported several deniers throughout his life. He also believed that anti-Zionism and anti-Americanism were merging due to the strength of Zionist power in the U.S.
Huber also differed from most European Right-wing extremists in that he welcomed immigration into Europe from Muslim countries. Although he believed that the refusal of Muslim immigrants to integrate into European society was initially harmful to Europe, he believed that younger Muslims were producing a new form of "European Islam," which was a synthesis of the two cultures, and that this could be beneficial for both Europeans and Muslims.
Huber believed that the U.S.-led Iraq War was doing a great service to his cause, as it was strengthening and bringing Islamists, Arab nationalists and the European New Right together against a common foe.
Huber's advocacy of National Socialism alongside typically left-wing viewpoints, such as his support for Third World
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
anti-imperialist movements and socialism, classify him as a Strasserist.
Huber has been described as being unique for attempting to reconcile his Nazi and Muslim beliefs, although he was certainly not alone in this. Johann von Leers
Johann von Leers
Dr. Johann von Leers, alias Omar Amin , was an Alter Kämpfer and an honorary Sturmbannführer in the Waffen SS in Nazi Germany, where he was also a professor known for his anti-Jewish polemics. He was one of the most important ideologues of the Third Reich, serving as a high-ranking propaganda...
, Aribert Heim
Aribert Heim
Aribert Ferdinand Heim was an Austrian doctor, also known as Dr. Death. As an SS doctor in a Nazi concentration camp in Mauthausen, he is accused of killing and torturing many inmates by various methods, such as direct injections of toxic compounds into the hearts of his victims...
and David Myatt are all examples of people who regarded themselves as being both Muslims and Nazis, and saw no contradiction between the two.