Neo-Nazis and black extremists ‘forming antisemitic alliances'

Times

14 hours ago

Neo-Nazis are forging alliances with black extremist groups over a shared hatred of Jews, posing a growing threat to UK national security, research has warned.
Antisemitism is emerging as an ideological 'glue' binding white and black nationalists, according to a report that calls for a change in the way extremism is combated because ideologies no longer fit traditional far-right or Islamist profiles.
Dr Ariel Koch, a fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), described the phenomenon as 'bridge hate' — a tactical alliance between racial supremacists who would otherwise be ideological enemies.
He said: 'These alliances blur traditional ideological lines and create a broader, decentralised threat ecosystem. Antisemitism provides the glue that binds actors across racial, religious and political boundaries.'
The way in which white supremacists embraced the antisemitic outbursts of the American musician Kanye West in 2022 by launching a 'Kanye is right about the Jews' campaign illustrates how the far-right has co-opted support for the rapper's racist remarks in order to reach new audiences.
A white nationalist Telegram channel with more than 9,000 followers launched a sticker campaign across campuses and cities echoing the UK-born 'It's OK to be White' movement.
In the US, the Anti-Defamation League has documented more than 30 antisemitic incidents directly referencing West, including slogans projected onto buildings and flyers showing him next to a crossed-out Star of David.
Koch said the campaign's memes and slogans were rapidly imported into British online spaces.
In January 2024, West wore a t-shirt featuring Burzum, the band of Varg Vikernes, a convicted murderer and neo-Nazi. Rather than distance himself, Vikernes praised West publicly, calling it 'perfectly normal' to be inspired by his ideology.
Koch's research, titled Unite Against the Parasites, argued that these collaborations accelerated radicalisation by allowing antisemitic content to resonate across otherwise disconnected groups, lowering the barriers to extremist engagement and boosting its memetic spread.
He said that hybrid hate was harder to track because extremists who fused ideologies no longer fitted traditional far-right or Islamist profiles, posing a challenge to the British authorities.
Koch said: 'UK threat models must evolve. 'The convergence of far-right, far-left and ethno-religious extremist narratives — often anchored in antisemitism and anti-Zionism — demands a cross-ideological approach to threat assessment.'
One example was the so-called Jewish Problem Conference, hosted in Kentucky in June 2024, where black nationalists, neo-Nazis, Islamist preachers, Holocaust deniers and far-left antisemites shared a stage. 'It was the first real-world anti-Jewish coalition extending beyond digital rhetoric,' Koch said.
At the heart of these alliances is a shared racial worldview: both white and black supremacist groups prioritise ethnic identity, reject liberal democracy and blame Jews for controlling government, media and social change.
These groups fuse old ideologies, creating what UK counter-terrorism officials refer to as 'salad bar extremism' or 'mixed, unclear, unstable' threats, forming an unpredictable and volatile ideology.
'Today, antisemitism is the primary connecting bridge,' Koch said. 'The most dangerous development is the emergence of real-world coalitions and online ecosystems that normalise Jew-hatred — and, through it, undermine the foundations of liberal democracy.'