Neo-Nazis Are Using a White-Only Homeless Charity to Spread Race Hate

English neo-Nazis are conducting whites-only homeless outreach in order to spread their race hate.

Hitler worshippers National Action have taken to the streets in Glasgow and Yorkshire in conjunction with Polish fascist party The National Revival of Poland, to give out tinned food to the homeless. Pictures show value bourbon creams, bananas and some kind of weird protein drink laying on a table covered with white-power flags.

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The National Revival of Poland campaign is dubbed “White Rescue: Charity Campaign for Europeans”. NA’s rationale for similar events is also explicitly racist. One of the reasons National Action wants to do this is for “the establishment of our brand of politics in areas it’s been lacking”. The “brand of politics” we’re talking about here is Nazism, a brand that was somewhat tarnished by the fact that it started World War II and the worst genocide in all history.

National Action want to build a group capable of “ethnically cleansing Britain”. They’re part of Europe’s “autonomist nationalist” subculture – Nazis who copy the aesthetics and tactics of the far left. For instance you’re more likely to see them in “black bloc” type gear than fetishising military uniform. Their members have been attending Isis inspired “Sigurd” training camps, where young neo-Nazis from across the country gather to practice fighting in groups, use knives as weapons and learn about Nazi ideology. Zack Davies, who is serving a life sentence for the racist attempted murder of an Asian man in North Wales, claimed allegiance to the group. That’s all pretty sinister, but on the other hand probably their most famous day was when they were utterly humiliated while trying to hold a “White Man March” in Liverpool, and hemmed into a corner of the station by anti-fascists and angry locals who pelted them with bananas, eggs and punches.

More recently they’ve made headlines by holding a flash-mob in Newcastle with a banner reading “Hitler was right”, and by giving a Hitler salute while in Buchenwald concentration camp. They really like Hitler, and would love to see another Holocaust – but maybe homeless outreach makes them good guys really?

The homeless outreach is described as “whites helping whites” and claimed to offer “a small glimmer of hope” to white homeless people. In a report from an undisclosed location in Yorkshire, NA describe “the rare sight of a Muslim homeless man” and claim that homelessness is a problem particular to white people. This is of course completely untrue.

Nobody should be homeless, white or otherwise. But homelessness is more common among ethnic minorities and it’s rising twice as fast among ethnic minority people as the population as a whole. To take one example, this year it was reported that ethnic minority people are four times more likely to be homeless in Birmingham.

Perhaps that’s not the point. As Goebbels said, “hey, why let the facts get in the way of a good story?” In interviews on a Nazi podcasts about the action, National Action member Ben Raymond describes the outreach as “real propaganda of the deed”.

Another NA member, Alex Davies, explains on a podcast that NA has been inspired by the Greek Golden Dawn. The extreme-right party has the third largest number of MPs in the Greek parliament. Its leaders are currently on trail for a wave of violence against non-white people, left-wing opponents and LGBT people.

“Their charity work, activism and social work has brought them a respect, some credibility in the eyes of the Greek people,” says Davies. “…That’s what gained them those seats in the Greek parliament. They used those resources then, that they gained from being elected to parliament, and they’ve put it back into the things that have gained them their credibility. And that’s how they’ve gained some momentum.”

“We want to replicate what Golden Dawn were doing in Greece, here in the UK. That’s exactly what we want to do.”

But hold on – bummer – apparently some cynical Greeks thought there was something wrong with carrying out racist charity work for political gain. “Their outreaches were called ‘soup-kitchens of hate’”, laments Raymond. “You can’t even open a soup kitchen without being attacked. But I think it’s the right thing to do.” Europe’s neo-Nazis just can’t catch a break!

Ben Raymond encourages other members of the far-right to get involved in charity work: “This is a very good thing nationalists should be involved in, because even the existing charities that are already set up, they don’t have enough people, there’s an enormous space we can fill.” Look forward to getting chugged by a guy with a swastika tattoo.

The tactic of homeless outreach is common among European far-right groups. Dr J F Pollard, an expert on fascism at Cambridge University said, “It is a well-known fact that Casa Pound, and other neo-Fascist organisations in Italy, have put a lot of effort into ‘social outreach’, including helping homeless and unemployed people and also OAPs.”

Casa Pound is a fascist group that has taken on some of the aesthetics and lifestyle of crusty squat-punks and the naughties anti-globalisation movement. “Their HQ in the centre of Rome is effectively a squat and I have visited it. It houses a number of hitherto homeless families. They have also followed this strategy in other Italian towns and cities. Like National Action, Casa Pound is a largely middle class/student based organisation.”

Dr Pollard continued: “Of course this is nothing new: the NSDAP/SA [the original Nazis] invested heavily in social outreach during the Great Depression in Weimar Germany and this was institutionalised into the Winterhilfe – literally, ‘winter help’ – after they came to power.” And sure enough, National Action give a quote from a Herr Adolf Hitler in its report as a reason for helping the homeless. There are also similarities here with the mobile food banks used by the BNP to gain trust with voters before the 2014 local and European elections.

Back to NA, apparently locals near the outreach at Argyll Street in Glasgow “came by to enquire as to the nature of our charitable work and to applaud our efforts,” although the racists were met with some resistance, or as NA put it: “there were a couple of leftists who were wailing uncontrollably.” Not to worry. “Local police also intervened on our behalf”. VICE contacted the Glasgow police for comment but did not receive a response.

The Radical Housing Network is an organisation which campaigns around housing issues. We approached them with the news that some Nazis were trying to help the homeless. Perhaps they’d be pleased? Not really:

“The absurdity of NA’s logic is demonstrated in the fact that they believe multiculturalism is to blame for homelessness when there are over 800,000 empty homes in the UK, which is larger than the entire homeless population.

“The real problem with housing is not the colour of people’s skin but the financialisation of housing by those seeking to profit from the fundamental need for shelter. It will not be petty racism, but mass collective action that will end the housing crisis.”

VICE reached out the National Action for comment but received no reply.

National Action anticipated that their action might be controversial. They write, “It is highly likely we will be attacked for this over the coming month – the media will twist our messages to present us as ideological opportunists and call our kindness hatred.” Mate, these journalists are so unfair. It’s almost as if charitable actions for the homeless are somehow less kind if they’re done with the massive ulterior motive of spreading race hate.

@jdpoulter / @SimonChilds13

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