The BNP and antisemitism

Antisemitism has always been the bedrock of Nazi ideology. In this respect the BNP does not diverge very far from the traditional model. Despite wishing to distance itself from the images of swastikas, crude antisemitism, and concentration camps, the BNP is still firmly imbued with a belief in a Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world.

Nowhere is this more evident than in Who are the Mindbenders? a pamphlet written by Nick Griffin, the BNP leader. In the booklet, Griffin attempts to provide a comprehensive list of all known Jews working in the media. For Griffin this list of Jewish-sounding names is somehow proof of his thesis that Jews control the mass media: "very few people in Britain are aware of the huge influence over the mass media exercised by a certain ethnic minority, namely the Jews".

In the pamphlet Griffin claims that: "The mass media in Britain today have managed to implant into many people's minds the idea that it is 'anti-Semitic' even to acknowledge that members of the Jewish community play a large part in controlling our news".

Jews are also accused by Griffin of "providing us with an endless diet of pro-multiracial, pro-homosexual, anti-British trash".

Mindbenders is based on Who Rules America?, a similar pamphlet written by Dr William Pierce, one of the world's foremost neo-nazis and a self-confessed ally of Nick Griffin. Pierce is the author of the notorious Turner Diaries, which inspired the Oklahoma Bombing, and also leads the National Alliance, a group described by the US Anti-Defamation League as one of the most dangerous neo-nazi groups in the world.

Under the title Operation Daylight, Mindbenders asks readers to send in details of any more examples of "Jewish media control", that is, to send in more Jewish names. Further distribution of the pamphlet is urged: "There are plenty of people out there who already know that there is something wrong with Britain's mass media, but who can't quite put their finger on it".

Despite this, Griffin claims to be "anti-Zionist" rather than antisemitic. He declares that, "Those Jews who are loyal to Britain..., observe the laws of Britain and play no part in poisoning the minds of the people of Britain have absolutely nothing to fear from us". Those who do have something to fear then, are "those Jews who are disloyal [to Britain], break the law and/or play a part in poisoning the public mind".

Who are the Mindbenders? follows the lead of The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, the notorious 19th century tsarist forgery that purports to be the minutes of a meeting of Jews documenting their plans to control the whole world.

In Spearhead Griffin claims that "'anti-Semitism' itself is a misleading term deliberately adopted by our media controllers so as to suggest that those thus labelled want to ill treat Jews, even kill them, for no reason than that they are Jews, whereas the vast majority of people described as 'anti-Semites' simply oppose what they see as excessive Jewish power".

When the former MP Alex Carlisle reported Griffin for inciting racial hatred and Holocaust denial, Griffin commented: "This bloody Jew, our local MP who organised the raid whose only claim to fame is that two of his parents died in the Holocaust".

Griffin wrote in Spearhead: "Some 'anti-semitism' may be provoked by the actions of certain Jews themselves and thereby have a rational basis". At the time Spearhead was an official BNP magazine.

The Group Development Officer of the BNP, Tony Lecomber, is a convicted bomber who also has an assault charge under his belt for attacking a Jewish schoolteacher on the underground. Lecomber assaulted the man when he tried to remove a BNP sticker that Lecomber and his group had just put up.

The BNP often prints offensive cartoons of Jews in The Rune and Spearhead, which play up to racist stereotypes by presenting them as hook-nosed, wealthy and powerful.

In 1999, Hull BNP organiser Simon Shepherd was convicted of distributing race hate material. This was in reference to leaflets issued for the European elections, which had racist and antisemitic content.

The BNP continues to maintain links with some of the most vicious antisemites across the world. These include, Pierce and members of his National Alliance. The BNP also has links with antisemites in Germany, including Günther Deckert who was imprisoned for five years for Holocaust denial.