Rep. Max Rose (D-N.Y.) and former FBI agent Ali Soufan called on Congress to designate white supremacists as foreign terrorist organizations in a Feb. 11 New York Times op-ed.
Rose, who is also an Army veteran, and Soufan argued that white supremacist organizations have an international reach in Western countries; they compared them to al-Qaida.
“They transcend national barriers with recruitment and dissemination of propaganda,” they wrote. “And just as jihadists exploited conflicts in Afghanistan, the Balkans and Syria, so too are white supremacists using the conflict in Ukraine as a laboratory and training ground.”
As examples, Rose and Soufan pointed to the Azov Battalion, an organization that trained “several of the men responsible for fomenting violence at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017.” They also noted that the Australian suspect in the shootings at a mosque and an Islamic center last March in Christchurch, New Zealand, wore an Azov symbol.
Additionally, Rose and Soufan highlighted the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen Division, which uses “ISIS-style recruitment videos.” Two British men were convicted of terror charges in June for promoting Atomwaffen and the Atomwaffen-inspired Sonnenkrieg Division, they wrote.
Rose and Soufan argued that it is imperative to designate such white supremacist organizations as terrorists to ensure that law enforcement can use their full arsenal of tools and methods.
“First, they could monitor communications between people connected to the designated groups,” they wrote. “Second, they could share intelligence with our allies overseas, an important asset when dealing with international terrorism. And third, they could bring charges for providing material support to the designated groups, with appropriately severe penalties attached.”
Rose and Soufan concluded: “Terrorism is terrorism, however its perpetrators justify it inside their twisted minds. If these peddlers of hate hoped to silence us by attacking us online, they have failed. They’ve only hardened our resolve.”
Jewish groups praised the op-ed.
“This is a tremendously important piece and a must-read from @Ali_H_Soufan
and @MaxRose4NY, breaking down why we need to treat the spread of white supremacy as the global terror threat that it is,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted.
This is a tremendously important piece and a must-read from @Ali_H_Soufan and @MaxRose4NY, breaking down why we need to treat the spread of white supremacy as the global terror threat that it is. https://t.co/LVUKTtvq2Y
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) February 11, 2020
The American Jewish Committee tweeted, “Jihadists and white supremacists both seek to undermine our diverse nation. Neither can be ignored in the fight against hate in America.”
Jihadists and white supremacists both seek to undermine our diverse nation. Neither can be ignored in the fight against hate in America. https://t.co/2msFV4SaSi
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) February 12, 2020
New York Times columnist and opinion editor Bari Weiss tweeted, “It was a pleasure to work with @MaxRose4NY and @Ali_H_Soufan–two people I admire tremendously–on this important piece about why we need to designate white supremacist groups as foreign terrorist organizations.”
It was a pleasure to work with @MaxRose4NY and @Ali_H_Soufan–two people I admire tremendously–on this important piece about why we need to designate white supremacist groups as foreign terrorist organizations: https://t.co/IAHA5HNJCF
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) February 11, 2020
