Bloed, Bodem, Eer en Trouw
Encyclopedia
Bloed, Bodem, Eer en Trouw (BBET; "Blood, Soil, Honour and Loyalty") is a Flemish
neo-Nazi group, created in 2004 from a splinter of the Flemish branch of the international Nazi skinhead
organization Blood & Honour.
, anti-semitism
and negationism. According to Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx
and Interior Minister Patrick Dewael
, the suspects were preparing terrorist attacks in order to "destabilize" Belgium
.
150 police agents searched five military barracks in Leopoldsburg
and Peer
, in the Limburg
province near the Dutch border, in the Brussels
Royal Military School and in Zedelgem
. Police also searched 18 private residences in Flanders
. They found military weapons, ammunition, explosives, and a homemade bomb large enough to "blow up a car". Led by Thomas Boutens, the group trained itself on military grounds. It also trained in interrogation
and counter-interrogation techniques, as well as in becoming clandestine
.
The group was engaged in arms dealing, and one of the suspects worked in the Kleine Brogel military base where United States
nuclear weapons are stocked. Thomas Boutens was developing international links, in particular with the Dutch far right
movement National Alliance
(NA). Several NA members, including party secretary Virginia Kapić, attended a BBET training camp. This led to her position in the party becoming untenable and she soon resigned from her post.
Robert S. Griffin, a member of the United States neo-Nazi group National Alliance took part on July 3, 2004 in activities organized by Blood & Honour Vlaanderen (Dutch language branch of Blood & Honour) and the BBET. He wrote in a report that he was "happy to see that the Flemish organizations had allies such as the Vlaams Belang
party." The Belgian justice department noted though they have found no connection between BBET and any political party.
Flemish TV channel VTM
claimed (citing justice sources) that the group was preparing to assassinate Filip Dewinter
, an important figure of the far right Vlaams Belang
party, in a false flag
attack that would have been blamed on the Islamist movement. Taking advantage of the ensuing confusion, the group would then murder Dyab Abou Jahjah
, leader of the Arab European League
. Belgian justice authories denied these claims.
The Belgian press recalled the "bloody eighties," during which the Brabant massacres were carried out (28 deaths), and the Marxist organization Communist Combatant Cells
carried out terrorist attacks (2 deaths). Far right
groups such as Westland New Post
were suspected of being responsible for the Brabant massacres, although the parliamentary commission could not find any definitive proof. Journalist Manuel Abramowicz
, a specialist of the far-right and founder of the progressive ResistanceS website and network, was quoted in Le Soir
saying that radical right-wing ultra
s have always had an aim to "infiltrate the state mechanisms" — including the army in the 1970s and the 1980s, through Westland New Post and the Front de la Jeunesse
.
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
neo-Nazi group, created in 2004 from a splinter of the Flemish branch of the international Nazi skinhead
Nazi-Skinheads
White power skinheads are a white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white nationalist organizations....
organization Blood & Honour.
Activities
The group rose to public prominence in September 2006, after 17 members, including 11 soldiers, were arrested under the December 2003 anti-terrorist laws and laws against racismRacism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
, anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
and negationism. According to Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx
Laurette Onkelinx
Laurette A.J. Onkelinx is a Belgian politician from the Francophone Socialist Party. She is the Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health in the Belgian federal government, i.e., the Van Rompuy I Government, which took office on 30 December 2008.-Biography:Born to Gaston Onkelinx and Germaine...
and Interior Minister Patrick Dewael
Patrick Dewael
Patrick Yvonne Hugo Dewael, in Lier, Belgium is a liberal Belgian politician. He is a member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats, or Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten . He is the nephew of the late liberal minister Herman Vanderpoorten and the cousin of Marleen Vanderpoorten, who also served as...
, the suspects were preparing terrorist attacks in order to "destabilize" Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
150 police agents searched five military barracks in Leopoldsburg
Leopoldsburg
Leopoldsburg is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006 Leopoldsburg had a total population of 14,403. The total area is 22.49 km² which gives a population density of 640 inhabitants per km².-External links:*...
and Peer
Peer, Belgium
Peer is a municipality located in the province of Limburg, Flemish Region, Belgium. On January 1, 2006 Peer had a total population of 15,810. The total area is 86.95 km² which gives a population density of 182 inhabitants per km²....
, in the Limburg
Limburg (Belgium)
Limburg is the easternmost province of modern Flanders, which is one of the three main political and cultural sub-divisions of modern Belgium. It is located west of the river Meuse . It borders on the Dutch provinces of North Brabant and Limburg and the Belgian provinces of Liège, Flemish Brabant...
province near the Dutch border, in the Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
Royal Military School and in Zedelgem
Zedelgem
Zedelgem is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Aartrijke, Loppem, Veldegem and Zedelgem proper. On January 1, 2006 Zedelgem had a total population of 21,835...
. Police also searched 18 private residences in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
. They found military weapons, ammunition, explosives, and a homemade bomb large enough to "blow up a car". Led by Thomas Boutens, the group trained itself on military grounds. It also trained in interrogation
Interrogation
Interrogation is interviewing as commonly employed by officers of the police, military, and Intelligence agencies with the goal of extracting a confession or obtaining information. Subjects of interrogation are often the suspects, victims, or witnesses of a crime...
and counter-interrogation techniques, as well as in becoming clandestine
Clandestine operation
A clandestine operation is an intelligence or military operation carried out in such a way that the operation goes unnoticed.The United States Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms defines "clandestine operation" as "An operation sponsored or conducted by governmental...
.
The group was engaged in arms dealing, and one of the suspects worked in the Kleine Brogel military base where United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
nuclear weapons are stocked. Thomas Boutens was developing international links, in particular with the Dutch 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...
movement National Alliance
National Alliance (Netherlands)
The National Alliance was a Dutch nationalist political party. The party was disbanded in 2007.The party was formed on 12 November 2003, by Jan Teijn and Virginia Kapić. Teijn kicked off his political career in the Centrum Democraten in Rotterdam, before going over to the CP'86, where he was one...
(NA). Several NA members, including party secretary Virginia Kapić, attended a BBET training camp. This led to her position in the party becoming untenable and she soon resigned from her post.
Robert S. Griffin, a member of the United States neo-Nazi group National Alliance took part on July 3, 2004 in activities organized by Blood & Honour Vlaanderen (Dutch language branch of Blood & Honour) and the BBET. He wrote in a report that he was "happy to see that the Flemish organizations had allies such as the Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
party." The Belgian justice department noted though they have found no connection between BBET and any political party.
Flemish TV channel VTM
VTM
The abbreviation VTM may refer to::* Vampire: The Masquerade, a popular role-playing game* Virginia Tech massacre* vtm, the main commercial television station in Flanders, Belgium...
claimed (citing justice sources) that the group was preparing to assassinate Filip Dewinter
Filip Dewinter
Philip Michel Frans "Filip" Dewinter is a Flemish politician in Belgium. He is one of the leading members of Vlaams Belang, a right-wing Flemish nationalist and secessionist political party...
, an important figure of the far right Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang
Vlaams Belang is a Belgian far-right political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels that advocates the independence of Flanders and strict limits on immigration, whereby immigrants would be obliged to adopt Flemish culture and language...
party, in a false flag
False flag
False flag operations are covert operations designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is flying the flag of a country other than one's own...
attack that would have been blamed on the Islamist movement. Taking advantage of the ensuing confusion, the group would then murder Dyab Abou Jahjah
Dyab Abou Jahjah
Dyab Abou Jahjah is an Arab political activist who came from Lebanon to Belgium as an asylum seeker. He is the founder and former leader of the Arab European League , a Pan-Arabist movement that supports the interests of Muslim immigrants in Europe.-Personal life:He was born and grew up in...
, leader of the Arab European League
Arab European League
The Arab European League or AEL is a radical Pan-Arabist civil rights movement/organization in Belgium and the Netherlands.-Foundation:...
. Belgian justice authories denied these claims.
The Belgian press recalled the "bloody eighties," during which the Brabant massacres were carried out (28 deaths), and the Marxist organization Communist Combatant Cells
Communist Combatant Cells
Cellules Communistes Combattantes was a Belgian terrorist organization committed to a Communist ideology....
carried out terrorist attacks (2 deaths). 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...
groups such as Westland New Post
Westland New Post
Westland New Post was a Belgian extreme right-wing organization founded in March 1981 by Paul Latinus and members of the Front de la Jeunesse...
were suspected of being responsible for the Brabant massacres, although the parliamentary commission could not find any definitive proof. Journalist Manuel Abramowicz
Manuel Abramowicz
Manuel Abramowicz is a far-left Belgian reporter, specialist of the far right.He initially was a member of the youth wing of the Parti ouvrier socialiste , a trotskyist movement, currently known as the Revolutionary Communist League...
, a specialist of the far-right and founder of the progressive ResistanceS website and network, was quoted in Le Soir
Le Soir
Le Soir is a Berliner Format Belgian newspaper. Le Soir was founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel. It is the most popular Francophone newspaper in Belgium, and considered a newspaper of record.-Editorial stance:...
saying that radical right-wing ultra
Extremism
Extremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...
s have always had an aim to "infiltrate the state mechanisms" — including the army in the 1970s and the 1980s, through Westland New Post and the Front de la Jeunesse
Front de la Jeunesse (Belgium)
The Front de la Jeunesse was a Belgian private militia. It was founded in 1973 by members of one of the so-called NEM-Clubs, situated around the Nouvel Europe Magazine....
.
See also
- Blood & Honour
- Combat 18Combat 18Combat 18 is a violent neo-Nazi organisation associated with Blood and Honour. It originated in the United Kingdom, but has since spread to other countries. Members of Combat 18 have been suspected in numerous deaths of immigrants, non-whites, and other C18 members...
- Racial Volunteer ForceRacial Volunteer ForceThe Racial Volunteer Force is a violent neo-Nazi splinter group of the British neo-Nazi group Combat 18 with close ties to far right paramilitary group, British Freedom Fighters. Although originating as a breakaway group the RVF has since re-established links to C18 whilst maintaining a distinct...
- Strategy of tensionStrategy of tensionThe strategy of tension is a theory that describes how to divide, manipulate, and control public opinion using fear, propaganda, disinformation, psychological warfare, agents provocateurs, and false flag terrorist actions....
External links
- Combat 18 Flanders Website,
- Belgium police hold '17' in plot, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, September 7, 2006 - Extreem-rechts complot in Belgisch leger, De StandaardDe StandaardDe Standaard is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Corelio . Circulation was about 102.280 in 2007. It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Socialist Flemish daily De Morgen...
, September 13, 2006 - Parket ontkent dat BBET Filip Dewinter wilde vermoorden, Gazet van AntwerpenGazet van AntwerpenThe Gazet van Antwerpen is a Belgian newspaper in Antwerp and Flanders, published by Concentra.-History:...
, September 12, 2006 - Verdachte extremisten blijven in de cel, VRTVlaamse Radio- en TelevisieomroepThe Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie , or VRT, is a publicly-funded broadcaster of radio and television in Flanders ....
, September 12, 2006 - Belgium to Continue Probe on Neo-Nazi Group, Einnews.com, September 12, 2006