By: A. Agron*
"A thousand small phantom cells... is an intelligence nightmare for a government," wrote Louis Beam Jr., a former Ku Klux Klan member and Aryan Nations activist, in his 1992 essay "Leaderless Resistance," in which he endorsed the use of lone-wolf actors to perpetrate attacks. Three years later, Timothy McVeigh and his co-conspirators carried out Beam's ideas, culminating in the killing of 168 people with a truck bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Cross-pollination between domestic terrorists and jihadis would become evident when Abu Musab Al-Suri, an influential Al-Qaeda idealogue and military strategist, published online his book "The Global Islamic Resistance Call" that outlined strategies for jihadis with an emphasis on unorganized cells and "leaderless jihad."
There is an overlap between the ideology, motives, and targets of various jihadi groups and those of white supremacists and neo-Nazis. A slickly produced neo-Nazi accelerationist manual which was recently disseminated on social media included themes and ideas that were apparently repurposed from jihadi themes and ideas for the accelerationist ideology. However, the authors of the manual, which is untitled, are not indicated – reflecting an anonymous and dispersed structure. In contrast, ISIS and Al-Qaeda prominently brand their publications and releases, such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's Inspire, ISIS's Dabiq and Rumiyah, and they often provide authors' and editors' names or kunyas.
The following report will examine the similarities in and recycling of thematic and esthetic elements in content produced by jihadis and subsequently by accelerationists. It will also assess the commonalities in ideologies, such as the preservation of race, or religious identity from non-whites, and non-Muslims, respectively.
In The Crosshairs: Railroads, Festivals, Influential Business Magnates
Both Inspire and neo-Nazi accelerationist messaging and propaganda have focused on attacking transport systems in the West. Additionally, both jihadis and accelerationists have singled out "high profile" American economic figures to target.
Caliphate Cubs, The "14 Words," And Celebrating Violent Actors
Many ISIS videos include young boys in military fatigues, whom the organization calls "Caliphate cubs." ISIS propaganda focuses heavily on the grooming and molding of the next generation of jihadi fighters who will ultimately replace their fathers on the battlefield. Jihadi values and extremist worldviews were instilled in the cubs' young minds early on. Neo-Nazis similarly focus on dedicating children for the cause.
* A. Agron is a Senior Terrorism and Extremism Analyst at MEMRI
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