David Myatt

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David Wulstan Myatt (born 1950), also known as Abdul-Aziz ibn Myatt, is a British neo-Nazi and Islamist, and author of numerous pamphlets and articles advocating neo-Nazism, Islamism, occultism, and what he calls "The Numinous Way of Folk Culture."

Myatt has been described as a "significant and promiment Nazi revivalist" ^[1] and, by The Observer, as the "ideological heavyweight behind the ultra-violent British neo-Nazi gang Combat 18".^[2] In July 2000, the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight identified him as "the most ideologically driven nazi in Britain, preaching race war and terrorism." ^[3] He was the first leader of the British National Socialist Movement (NSM), described by the Board of Deputies of British Jews as a "very small but very violent neo-Nazi group. Their whole programme is one of terrorism ... against Jews, against blacks and against Asians." ^[4]

Following his conversion to Islam in 1998, ^[5] Myatt became an advocate of suicide attacks, which he called "martyrdom operations," ^[6] expressed support for Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, ^[7] and referred to the "hoax of the so-called Holocaust," according to The Times. ^[5] An April 2005 NATO workshop heard that Myatt has called on "all enemies of the Zionists to embrace the Jihad," in order to fight against Jews and the United States. ^[8] Political scientist George Michael writes that Myatt "has arguably done more than any other theorist to develop a synthesis of the extreme right and Islam." ^[9]

Myatt came to public attention in 1999 when a pamphlet he wrote, A Practical Guide to Aryan Revolution, described as a "detailed step-by-step guide for terrorist insurrection,"^[10] was said to have inspired David Copeland, who left nailbombs in areas frequented by London's black, Asian, and gay communities. ^[11] Three people died and 129 were injured in the explosions, several of them losing limbs. Myatt has also been accused of writing a document, attributed to the White Wolves, which called for indiscriminate attacks on Blacks and Asians living in Britain ^[12].

In addition to writing about Islam and National Socialism, Myatt has translated works by Sophocles, ^[13] Sappho, ^[14] Aeschylus, and Homer, and has written several collections of poems ^[15] and some science fiction, using the name D.W. Myatt. ^[16]

Contents 1 Personal life 2 Political activism 2.1 Alleged influence on David Copeland 2.2 Conversion to Islam 2.3 "The Numinous Way of Folk Culture" 3 Notes 4 References 5 Further reading

[edit] Personal life

Myatt grew up in Tanzania, where his father worked as a civil servant for the British government, and later in the Far East, where he studied the martial arts. ^[9] He moved to England in 1967 to complete his schooling, and has said that he began a degree in physics but did not complete it, leaving his studies to focus on his political activism. ^[17] He is reported to live in the Midlands and to have been married three times.

Searchlight has written of him: "He does not have the appearance of a Nazi ideologue ... [S]porting a long ginger beard, Barbour jacket, cords and a tweed flat cap, he resembles an eccentric country gentleman out for a Sunday ramble. But Myatt is anything but the country squire, for beneath this seemingly innocuous exterior is a man of extreme and calculated hatred." ^[18]

Political scientist George Michael has written that Myatt is an "intriguing theorist," ^[9] with a reported IQ of 187, ^[9] who has embarked over the years on a series of "Faustian quests." ^[9] He studied Taoism and spent time in a Buddhist and later a Christian monastery, ^[19] and is alleged to have explored the occult, as well as Paganism and what Michael calls "quasi-Satanic" secret societies, while remaining a committed National Socialist. ^[19]

[edit] Political activism

Myatt joined Colin Jordan's British Movement, a neo-Nazi group, in 1968, where he sometimes acted as Jordan's bodyguard at meetings and rallies. ^[20] From the 70s until the 90s, he remained involved with paramilitary and neo-Nazi organizations such as Column 88 and Combat 18, ^{[21] [22]} and was imprisoned twice for violent offenses in connection with his political activism. ^[9]

Myatt was the founder and first leader of the National Socialist Movement ^[23] of which David Copeland was a member. He also founded the neo-nazi organization the NDFM which was active in Leeds, England, in the 1970's, ^[24] and the neo-nazi Reichsfolk group. ^[25].

Michael writes that Myatt took over the leadership of Combat 18 in 1998, when Charlie Sargent, the previous leader, was jailed for murder. ^[9]

[edit] Alleged influence on David Copeland

In November 1997, Myatt posted an allegedly racist and anti-Semitic pamphlet he had written called Practical Guide to Aryan Revolution on a website run out of British Columbia, Canada by Bernard Klatt. The pamphlet included chapter titles such as "Assassination," "Terror Bombing," and "Racial War." ^[26] According to Michael Whine of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, "[t]he contents provided a detailed step-by-step guide for terrorist insurrection with advice on assassination targets, rationale for bombing and sabotage campaigns, and rules of engagement."^[10]

In February 1998, British police raided Myatt's home in Worcestershire and removed his computers and files. He was subsequently charged with publishing hate material, but the case was dropped because the evidence supplied by the Canadian authorities was not enough to secure a conviction. ^[27]

It was this pamphlet that, in 1999, allegedly influenced David Copeland, the London nailbomber — also a member of Myatt's National Socialist Movement — who planted homemade bombs in Brixton, Brick Lane, and inside the Admiral Duncan pub on Old Compton Street in London, frequented by the black, Asian, and gay communities respectively. Friends John Light, Nick Moore, and Andrea Dykes and her unborn child died in the Admiral Duncan pub. Copeland told police he had been trying to spark a "racial war."^[4]

According to the BBC's Panorama, in 1998 when Myatt was leader of the NSM, he called for "the creation of racial terror with bombs."^[4]

[edit] Conversion to Islam

Myatt converted to Islam in 1998. He told writer George Michael that his decision to convert began when he took a job on a farm in England. He was working long hours in the fields and felt an affinity with nature, concluding that the sense of harmony he felt had not come about by chance. He told Michael that he was also impressed by the militancy of Islamist groups, and believed that he shared common enemies with Islam, namely "the capitalist-consumer West and international finance." ^[28]

Critics and observers have suggested that Myatt's conversion is insincere and "may be just a political ploy to advance his own failing anti-establishment agenda." ^[29]

According to Fionnuala Bourke, Myatt wrote to Nick Griffin, leader of the British National Party, in August 2004 urging him to embrace Islam ^[30]. Gerry Gable, editor of Searchlight, dismissed the letter as a ploy: "Myatt is a self-publicist who has claimed to have taken up many guises, including being a monk. Satanism is probably his overriding inspiration. He still supports neo-Nazi groups and contributes to their websites. This letter is probably some kind of bluff in their favour." ^[31] Myatt has always strenously denied such allegations about Satanism: "For over twenty years, journalists, and [others] have been circulating rumours and making allegations about my personal involvement with Occultism and Satanism. This is despite the fact that I have denied and do deny ever having been a 'Satanist'... These rumours and allegations were started by, and are still circulated by, my enemies for one simple reason — to try and discredit me personally." ^[32].

In addition, Myatt has repeatedly challenged anyone to provide any evidence of such malicious allegations, and even challenged two journalists - Nick Lowles (from Searchlight) and Nick Ryan - to a duel for repeating such allegations, a challenge which they both declined. ^{[33] [34]}

According to an article in The Times published on April 24, 2006, Myatt believes that: "The pure authentic Islam of the revival, which recognises practical jihad as a duty, is the only force that is capable of fighting and destroying the dishonour, the arrogance, the materialism of the West ... For the West, nothing is sacred, except perhaps Zionists, Zionism, the hoax of the so-called Holocaust, and the idols which the West and its lackeys worship, or pretend to worship, such as democracy... Jihad is our duty. If nationalists, or some of them, desire to aid us, to help us, they can do the right thing, the honourable thing, and convert, revert, to Islam — accepting the superiority of Islam over and above each and every way of the West." ^[5]

Michael writes that Myatt's initial euphoria about Islam after his conversion did not last long, and he has recommitted himself to National Socialism, although he still admires Islam, and still uses his Muslim name on occasion. ^[35].

[edit] "The Numinous Way of Folk Culture"

Myatt has written of what he calls "The Numinous Way of Folk Culture" that "[o]ne way of effectively combating the New World Order is by creating new rural communities inspired by honourable, rational pagan/heathen beliefs — and the Numinous Way of Folk Culture is a step toward this.^[36]

He describes the "Numinous Way" as a new form of "heathenism" based on respect for the natural world and the principles of personal honour, compassion,^[37] cosmic ethics, empathy, ^{[38] [39]} loyalty to family, "folk" and community. The lifestyle is distinguished by the desire for personal freedom, the desire to learn, and a willingness to do one's communal duty. It is clear from Myatt's writings that the term "community" is defined in racial terms. He has written that those who uphold the "Numinous Way" should respect diversity and enhance their own culture while respecting the cultures of others, but that this should not lead to integration.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Barnett, Antony. "Right here, right now", The Observer, February 9, 2003
• Bassey, Amardeep. "Midland Nazi turns to Islam", Sunday Mercury, February 16, 2003
• BBC Panorama. "The Nailbomber", broadcast June 30, 2000
• BBC Panorama. "The Nailbomber" transcript
• Bourke, Fionnuala. "Come and be a Muslim, Nick", Sunday Mercury, 1 August 2004
• Goodrick-Clark, N. (2001) Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. ISBN 0-8147-3155-4
• Karmon, Ely. "Arenas for Radical and Anti-Globalization Groups Activity", NATO Workshop On Terrorism and Communications, Slovakia, April 2005
• Lowles, N. (2001) White Riot: The Violent Story of Combat 18. Milo Books, England; this edition 2003 ISBN 1-903854-00-8
• Michael, George. (2006) The Enemy of My Enemy: The Alarming Convergence of Militant Islam and the Extreme Right. University Press of Kansas
• Myatt, David. Myatt's neo-Nazi writings
• Myatt, David. Myatt's personal website
• Myatt, David. Another personal website about Myatt
• Myatt, David. The Numinous Way of Folk Culture
• Tel Aviv University. "Anti-Semitism Worldwide 1998/9 United Kingdom", retrieved August 17, 2005
• Woolcock, Nicola & and Kennedy, Dominic. "What the Neo Nazi Fanatic Did Next: Switched to Islam" The Times April 24, 2006
• Gary Daher Canedo: Safo y Catulo: poesía amorosa de la antigüedad, Universidad Nur, 2005

[edit] Further reading

• Kaplan, J. (1998) "Religiosity and the Radical Right: Toward the Creation of a New Ethnic Identity" in Kaplan and Tore Bjørgo (eds.) Nation and Race: The Developing Euro-American Racist Subculture, Northeastern University Press, 1998, ISBN 1-55553-331-0.
• Kaplan, J. (ed) (2000) Encyclopedia of White Power: A Sourcebook on the Radical Racist Right. Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc., 2000; AltaMira Press. ISBN 0-7425-0340-2 pp.216ff; pp.235ff; pp.512ff
• Ryan, Nick. (2003) Homeland: Into A World of Hate. Mainstream Publishing Company Ltd. ISBN 1-84018-465-5
• McLagan, Graeme. (2003) Killer on the Streets. John Blake Publishing. ISBN 1-904034-33-0
• Lowles, Nick. (2003) White Riot: The Violent Story of Combat 18. Milo Books ISBN 1-903854-00-8
• Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. (2001) Black Sun: Aryan Cults, Esoteric Nazism and the Politics of Identity. New York University Press ISBN 0-8147-3124-4 ISBN 0-8147-3155-4 (Paperback)
• Michael, George (2006) The Enemy of My Enemy: The Alarming Convergence of Militant Islam and the Extreme Right. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0-7006-1444-3
• Greven, Thomas (ed) (2006) Globalisierter Rechtsextremismus? Rechtsextremismus in der Ära der Globalisierung. VS Verlag. ISBN 3-531-14514-2

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Pre-1945 people:	John Amery | A. F. X. Baron | Henry Hamilton Beamish | John Beckett | Hastings Russell, 12th Duke of Bedford | Barry Domvile | William Evans-Gordon | Robert Forgan | Neil Francis Hawkins | J. F. C. Fuller | William Joyce | Arnold Leese | Rotha Lintorn-Orman | Diana Mitford | Unity Mitford | Lady Cynthia Mosley | Oswald Mosley | Alexander Raven Thomson | Henry Williamson
Post-1945 people	Ian Anderson | John Bean | Jane Birdwood | Andrew Brons | A. K. Chesterton | David Copeland | Mark Cotterill | Sharon Ebanks | Richard Edmonds | Andrew Fountaine | Nick Griffin | Jeffrey Hamm | Anthony Hancock | Patrick Harrington | Derek Holland | Colin Jordan | John Kingsley Read | Michael McLaughlin | Eddy Morrison | David Myatt | John O'Brien | Denis Pirie | Kevin Quinn | Anthony Reed Herbert | Robert Relf | Charlie Sargent | Simon Sheppard | Troy Southgate | Keith Thompson | John Tyndall | Richard Verrall | Martin Webster | Martin Wingfield | John Graeme Wood
Related articles:	Battle of Cable Street | British National Front election results | British National Party election results | British nationalism | Europe a Nation | List of British fascist parties | National Party of Europe | Political Soldier | World Union of National Socialists