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'Jihad Vegan'. New article by Dr Janet Parker Published on 20 June 2005 | Author PARKER, Janet Louise, D.V.M.,B.S. www.newcriminologist.co.uk/news.asp?id=206663208 The recent brutal murders of a prominent Dutch politician who was destined to be Prime Minister (Pim Fortyun) and a controversial film director (Van Gogh), have led the Dutch Intelligence Service to consider the tortuous connections between the Radical Animal Rights Movement, Radical Islamic Terrorists and Organized Crime. In this secret world of underground direct actions, criminal activity and terrorist agendas there exists a pattern of interlocking networks and associations. The Case of the Murder of Pim Fortuyn has brought some of those connections to light. There are clear lessons to be learned by all those in law enforcement and social policy. His murder now leads the Dutch intelligence service (AIVD) to wonder whether public funds were used to plan a political assignation. Public concern has grown in the Netherlands that the outward appearance of civil dissent can potentially hide terrorist actions. It is increasing difficult to have effective law enforcement against such networks as they operate in decentralized cells and are very aware of how to use the established legal protections of free speech and right to privacy. Pim Fortuyn, a 54-year-old sociology professor, was a flamboyant character who combined expensive clothes and a flashy lifestyle with hard-hitting anti-immigrant views. This shaven-headed politician was openly gay and objected to Islam, because it militated against Dutch liberal traditions. Pim Fortuyn supported gay rights, legalized drugs and prostitution - the very hallmarks of Holland's permissive society. The Netherlands was the first country to legalize gay marriages, regulate prostitution, approve and control euthanasia, and tolerate the over-the-counter sale of marijuana. Fortuyn flaunted his sexuality as fuel for his fire against Islam, which - like many other religions - does not accept homosexuality. Surprisingly he had a broad range of political support and was leader of one of the Netherlands’s largest parties. Polls suggested that in national elections due in May 2002 Fortuyn and his party were set to garner as many as 26 seats - or 17% of the Dutch parliament. Fortuyn's anti-Muslim views called for an end to all immigration and took a hard stand against crime. This platform appealed to Dutch voters despite the country's celebrated reputation for liberalism and religious tolerance. Mr. Fortuyn wanted to integrate immigrants already in the Netherlands, rather than expel them. The murderer was a Dutch animal rights activist and vegetarian. This was a premeditated and planned murder. After lying in wait for him in bushes, Volkert Van der Graaf gunned down Fortuyn on a public street as he left the radio studio in Hilversum. On May 6, 2002 he calmly executed Fortuyn with 6 shots at close range. The killer initially claimed that he opposed Fortuyn's intention to revive the mink trade in Holland and then admitted in court that he murdered the Dutch Prime Ministerial candidate to "protect Muslims". The Dutch animal rights group Vereniging Milieu Offensief (VMO) acted as a non-governmental organization to obtain 300,000 gulden (about 125,000 dollars) of state funds through the Dutch Postcode lottery. The VMO then used those funds to subvert the legal process into a means to further their agenda. Many in the government and in agricultural sector believed that the incessant legal objections filed were used as a form of blackmail. The Dutch politician, Pim Fortuyn, while still a candidate had said he felt that the legal procedures were being used to hold up and stop legitimate agribusiness practices. Pim Fortuyn angered animal rights activists by stating that if he came into power, he would lift the ban on the breeding of fur-animals. Since 1996, militant animal activists in Belgium and the Netherlands have done about two hundred attacks. In the Netherlands, members of the Right Animal Treatment/ Animal Justice front (RAT/AJF) have committed serious arsons. Although the RAT/AJF radical cell in the Netherlands appears to be closed down, their membership has merely re-emerged in other similar activist organizations. The greatest hurdle to further arrests is that these animal rights and ecoterrorist groups work autonomously and leave very few tracks behind. The BVD (Dutch Security) feels that the animal rights activists are more violent in their actions than are the green ecoterrorists. The BVD has found a striking number of violent crimes against persons whom the Animal Rights activists believe to be guilty of animal maltreatment. Radical groups in the Netherlands such as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the animals liberations front (DBF) get regular the news updates on the web announcing attacks against the meat industry and fur industry (pelsdierfokkerijen). ALF leaves nothing to chance. On the ALF NL website of the organization stands an extensive handbook in which in five steps are described how you as an exemplary ALF-member to behave. It explains how the cell organization should be. “Cells should consist of at most five persons.” The handbook of ALF suggests that the activist wear dark clothing on the day of the attack. "Also a baseball cap is a good idea to cover your face, " according to the writer of this terrorist’s manual. Van der Graaf at the moment of the attack was wearing jeans and a black coat and had a baseball cap on his head. The ALF activists are taught to distrust everybody which makes it much more difficult for the Dutch Secret Service to recruit informants. The convicted assassin of the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn, Volkert Van der Graaf, was an operative and founder of the Association Milieu-offensief (VMO), an Animal Rights Group in the Netherlands. In fact, the 32-year-old Van der Graaf was the also the founder of Zeeland's Animal Liberation Front before he went on to found Milieu Offensief (Environment Offensive). VMO had direct ties to other animal rights organizations including Bont voor Dieren (Fur for Animals), Milieudefensie, Foundation Lekker Dier and Animal Freedom. The VMO had since 1992 conducted 2220 legal procedures primarily against intensive cattle operations. The tactics of the VMO was to file legal objections against applications for environment licenses submitted by stock breeders who wanted to expand their operations. The VMO targeted high density stockyards and then instituted legal proceedings against them regarding compliance to waste water treatment and disposal standards. A stock breeder who is adding more animals to his farm or wants a modification of the conditions of waste water disposal, must request an extension of his permit at the local municipality. If the stockman’s license is refused the cattle operation may face financial troubles and eventual closure. If the license is granted the VMO association lodges an appeal and delays procedures as long as possible. This effectively stops the livestock owner from implementing any changes to his facility or livestock. It forces the stockman to pay for legal representation and incur extensive legal costs. The VMO targets small producers in rural counties who are more vulnerable because they had less legal resources to fight the objections. In this respect VMO operated just like the Animal Release Front by targeting smaller more vulnerable operations where action would more likely yield success. Volkert was accused of abusing the legal system by making as many as 50 objections to the municipality against the extension of a single stockman’s license. These legal proceedings took extensive time and resources from all ready overburdened small local municipalities. Although an official investigation could not prove the accusations, stock breeders considered the over whelming volume of objections to be a form of blackmail. Farmers claimed that VMO also acted as a sort of shakedown scheme whereby farmers willing to pay enough money via a third party broker could buy off the group and avoid legal hassles. One such farmer, Pieter Van der Camp, claimed that he paid 20,000 pounds to just such a broker and had no more problems with Environment Offensive. A civil servant in the department of environmental inspection was threatened while doing the investigation and stated off the record (about Van der Graaf) that "this man is like an assassin." This statement by the civil servant turned out to be prophetic as Chris Van der Werken, an environmental inspection officer was murdered in 1996. Environmental extremists were known to operate within the Dutch environmental movement, contrary to the moderate face it projects to the outside world. It was long suspected that VMO obtained sensitive information on cattle companies and copied the plans for their facilities. These plans might have information about alarm installation and information about the physical layout that would assist a burgling attempt. This information was in the hands of the VMO prior to their direct action against targets. When the police raided Volkert’s house after Pim’s murder, they found plans to cut through a fence and also information of the placement of oil barrels that could be climbed on to obtain access. The VMO group had an active internet presence as do many of the Green environmental groups. The BVD (Dutch security service) noted that there were violent tendencies amongst the animal-rights activists. It is striking that there are increasing numbers of violent actions including arson against the properties of persons targeted by animal rights activists. The police had been watching Mr. Van der Graaf for 2 years because of previous threats to kill some prominent figure. Mr. Van der Graaf. had been previously interviewed as "a witness" in connection with the unsolved murder of Chris Van der Werken, the environment officer, who was shot dead near Amsterdam, in 1996. It was rumored that the members of the core group around Volkert Van der Graaf had been involved in the murder. The Amsterdam public prosecutor stressed that that police were cross-checking the two cases. It was believed that the killing of Van de Werken had striking parallels with the Fortuyn assassination. Both were assassinated in broad daylight. And both were shot in the back. Van de Werken was shot multiple times at very close range. The bullets police recovered from Van de Werken's body were 9mm silver-tip hollow-point bullets -- a type of ammunition that is rare in the Netherlands and just happens to be the same type of ammunition used in the Fortuyn killing. The Populist List Pim Fortuyn party asked the Justice Minister to reopen the investigation into Van de Werken's death in light of Fortuyn's murder. After the Fortuyn murder, documents and computer records seized from Van der Graaf’s home provided a possible link between Van der Graaf and a 1999 arson attack on a plant that freed mink and a series of 1995 poultry farm incidents. They also found that Van der Graaf apparently hadn't intended to stop with Fortuyn. He had floor plans of the homes of three of Fortuyn's fellow List Party candidates for the parliament. ALF (Animal Liberation Front) and ELF (Earth Liberation Front) are multinational organizations that advocate the use of violence through their web sites and printed materials. The Animal Liberation Front in Netherlands maintains an active web site of multinational direct actions. The July 2, 2002 smoke bomb attack on Marsh, the insurer of Huntingdon life Sciences, (HLS) in Seattle WA was featured on the ALF Netherlands web site. ELF in Netherlands helps fund prisoner’s support for convicted arsonists such as Josh Demmitt, Rodney Coronado, and Craig Marshall & Charles Jordon. Norway and Sweden also have active ELF memberships and internet web sites. Craig “Critter” Marshall and Jeffrey Luers are listed as prisoners of war on the Animal Liberation Netherlands web site. The ALF NL website contains writings in Dutch about Craig Rosenbraugh and his studies of the history of political violence as it was used during the Algerian revolution of 1954–1962. This included the writings of the Muslim Brotherhood which is the forerunner of the Armed Islamic Group (GAI), Takfir wa al-Hijra (TWH) and even al –Qaeda. Craig “Critter” Marshall (another ELF member) is also an advocate of the Algerian Resistance and the Muslim Brotherhood. Prisons remain a fertile recruiting ground for Islamic terrorists. Volkert van der Graaf, an acknowledged animal rights terrorist who was charged with the only political assassination in modern Dutch history, told the panel of judges that he acted out of concern for the country's Muslim minority. Perhaps the Islamic Terrorists are not so far removed from homegrown Animal Rights Terrorists. References: Deutsche Presse Agentur “Dutch police on Fortuyn case check 1996 killing too” May 8, 2002, Wednesday DATELINE: The Hague DIERENRECHTENACTIVISME IN NEDERLAND: GRENZEN TUSSEN VREEDZAAM EN VLAMMEND PROTEST Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst, juli 2004 Jaarverslag Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst 2001 AIVD Van dawa tot jihad De diverse dreigingen van de radicale islam tegen de democratische rechtsorde AIVD Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst Jaarverslag 2002 AIVD “Fortuyn murder suspect 'confesses'” BBC News Saturday, 23 November, 2002, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2506253.stm “Profile: Fortuyn killer” BBC News Tuesday, 15 April, 2003 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1974572.stm “Fortuyn suspect admits murder” Thursday, 27 March, 2003, BBC News< “In pictures: Death of Pim Fortuyn” Tuesday, 7 May, 2002, BBC News Angus Roxburgh “The paradox of Pim Fortuyn” Thursday, 16 May, 2002, BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/1977511.stm Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Joan Clements “Fortuyn killed 'to protect Muslims'” 3/28/2003) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/03/28/wpim28.xml Ambrose Evans Pritchard in Brussels and David Graves “Lone gunman kills Dutch far-Right leader” 07/05/2002 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/05/07/wfort07.xml David Graves “Dutch assassin is militant green activist” 08/05/2002 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/05/08/wfort08.xml Ambrose Evans-Pritchard “Muslims hail Dutch defeat of Fortuyn List party” 1/24/2003) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/01/24/wdutch24.xm l “Somali refugee follows in Fortuyn's footsteps with attack on imams” 11/01/2003 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/01/11/wdutch11.xm l “Fortuyn killer 'acted for Muslims'” CNN Thursday, March 27, 2003 http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/03/27/netherlands.fortuyn.trial/index.ht ml Toby Sterling, “Trial of confessed murderer of Dutch politician opens in Amsterdam”, Associated Press Thursday, March 27, 2003 http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/ article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2003/03/27/international0748EST0544.DTL http://www.lijst-pimfortuyn.nl/ http://www.animalliberation.net/netherlands/geVangenen.shtml http://www.animalliberation.net/netherlands/sg/handleiding.pdf http://www.animalfreedom.org/english/information/information.html http://www.animalliberation.net/netherlands/ http://www.angelfire.com/mac/vegan/deluxe.html http://www.militantvegan.com/ |
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