Jonathan Greenblatt & Peter Neumann on Far-Right Terrorism

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Let me ask you, Peter, because we just been reading out. I’ve just been reading out this U.S. statistics talking about this massive rise. I mean triple the number of attacks were blamed on far- right terrorists. What do you see in your studies and in your work right row?

PETER NEUMANN, DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF RADICALIZATION AND POLITICAL VIOLENCE: So, what happened in the U.S. is not exclusive to the U.S. across western counties we’ve seen an increase of many years now for four or five years increase in the numbers of hate crimes and also right wing extremists, terrorist violence. And I attribute that to deepening polarization which has increased extremism not only on the jihadist side, but also on the right wing extremist side. Connected, of course, to virtual subcultures which also seem have played a role in this particular case where people can connect across borders and create a sense of being part of a much bigger movement, being part of something significant. As this attacker today said being a crusader, being someone who fights back. A member of the Knight Templars who is fighting against the Muslim invaders.

AMANPOUR: Were you — I mean when I heard this, I was truly shocked. I just didn’t imagine that in New Zealand which has peaceful open tolerant welcoming culture.

NEUMANN: Yes.

AMANPOUR: And in fact people are leaving as we know famously, big take billionaires are leaving America to hide out in New Zealand for safety. Were you shocked to see this happen there?

NEUMANN: Of course. And there isn’t necessarily anything about New Zealand, per se. This was an Australian person who picked, according to his own manifesto, almost in an arbitrary fashion, picked New Zealand as the place where he would carry out this attack. It could have happened in any western country. It could have happened in any European country. It could also have happened in Australia.

AMANPOUR: Let me turn to you, Jonathan Greenblatt of the ADL. You put out a statement about what happened today and about the trends that you are witnessing. And of course, I’ve said it’s not just Islamophobia although that is a big rise. But the attack on the synagogue in Pittsburgh, the attack on the black church in the United States. What are you seeing and how do you react to what happened this Muslim house worship?

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE, CEO: Well, my fir reaction (INAUDIBLE) and Muslims around the world who indeed their target it and particularly lost their lives.

AMANPOUR: OK. Jonathan, we’ve lost your audio briefly. We’ll come back to you. But let me just carry on with you, then, Peter, for a moment. This is a rise, as we’ve seen around the world. But it’s really interesting for me because every time we’ve talked to you mostly it’s about the radical extremist Islamic terrorism. Are people like yourself and law enforcement and other such agencies having to turn the ship of counterterrorism around to now focus on the equal and opposite?

NEUMANN: Absolutely. And to a greater and greater extent for example in U.K. last year, the intelligence service MI5 made it a priority for the first time in the entire history of the country, they banned at terrorist organization that was right wing as opposed to jihadist. You see that replicates across all European countries and it is a product of increasing radicalization, also of western European societies.