by Sarah Carabott
Anders Behring Breivik, the 32-year-old man behind the Norwegian massacre that left at least 92 people dead on Friday, claimed Malta was among the countries “he had the privilege to experience”.
Included in his list of 24 countries, mainly northern European states, are a few “exotic” destinations such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Liberia, China, Mexico, Cyprus and Malta.
It is unclear, however, whether Mr Breivik, described as a far right, Christian fundamentalist, visited Malta as part of his fascination with the knights.
In a 12-minute YouTube video, “Knights Templar 2083”, which was posted along with a 1,500-page manifesto six hours before the massacre, Mr Breivik recycles the iconography of the crusades into a vision of the future that sees Christians having to fight Muslims once again.
He now faces charges related to the killing of at least 85 young people attending a summer camp organised by the ruling Labour party on Utoeya island and the simultaneous bombing of the government quarter in downtown Oslo which left another seven people dead.
The YouTube video is a rant on the rise of cultural Marxism and Islamic colonisation.
The video includes quotes by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and the Norwegian based “Jihadi ideologue” Mullah Krekar, while another shot depicts a bloody profile of a fair-haired girl, captioned: “Has your daughter, sister or girlfriend experienced cultural enrichment by the local Muslim community yet?”
In section three, Hope, a clip reads “Onward, Christian Soldiers! Because in only 14 years, by 2025, a majority of our Western European capitals will be Muslim cities, just as Marseille became majority Muslim in 2010! And in only 39 years, by 2050, this will be the fate of our countries as well! Unless we manage to defeat the ruling Multiculturalist Alliance!”
The video ends with images of knights during battle and a photo of Mr Behring Breivik himself in military uniform decorated with badges of merit including one that looks like a Maltese cross.
On the local far right site vivamalta.org, the Norwegian massacre attracted a lot of criticism.
The group’s leader, Norman Lowell, dismissed the gunman as a “poor patsy Jew lover. He is Zionistically, fanatically anti-Muslim”. He said the whole manifesto was “nauseatingly pro-Israel”.
Asked whether Mr Behring Breivik had made contact with him while in Malta, Imperium Europa’s founder said he had not.
The rest of the group seemed to toe Mr Lowell’s line, describing the man as “a pawn in a game bigger than he can ever imagine,” while others criticised the media for portraying the killer as a Neo-Nazi or a National Socialist.
Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party disassociated itself from a claim within the manifesto which included a list of European organisations and political parties which the author said were anti-immigration or far right.
The list includes Malta’s Nationalist Party, Imperium Europa, Viva Malta and Azzjoni Nazzjonali.
In a statement, the PN said its “position on immigration is clear — people’s life and dignity supersedes any other interest. The PN celebrates diversity in customs, cultures and skin colour and does not punish them.
“The Nationalist government implemented and will continue to implement this in practice especially when faced with situations of human tragedies, of people fleeing terror, wars and famine.”
www.timesofmalta.com, July 25, 2011