Bloed, Bodem, Eer en Trouw (BBET; "Blood, Soil, Honour and Loyalty") was a

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

group, created in 2004 from a splinter of the Flemish branch of the international

Nazi skinhead White power skinheads, also known as racist skinheads and neo-Nazi skinheads, are members of a neo-Nazi, white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white nationalist organizations an ...

organization

Blood & Honour Blood & Honour is a Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi music promotion network and right-wing extremist political group founded in the United Kingdom by Ian Stuart Donaldson and Nicky Crane in 1987. It is composed of White Nationalism, White Nationalists an ...

History

The group rose to public prominence in September 2006, after 17 members, including 11 soldiers, were arrested under the December 2003 anti-terrorist laws and laws against

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

anti-semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and

negationism Historical negationism, also called denialism, is falsification or distortion of the historical record. It should not be conflated with '' historical revisionism'', a broader term that extends to newly evidenced, fairly reasoned academic reinter ...

. According to the prosecutor, the suspects were preparing terrorist attacks in order to "destabilize"

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. 150 police officers searched five military barracks in

Leopoldsburg Leopoldsburg (; french: Bourg-Léopold, ; li, Leopolsbörch) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006, Leopoldsburg had a total population of 14,403. The total area is 22.49 km² (8.68 sq mi) which ...

and Peer, in the

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

province near the Dutch border, in the

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Royal Military School and in

Zedelgem Zedelgem (; vls, Zillegem) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the villages of Aartrijke, Loppem, Veldegem and Zedelgem proper. On January 1, 2019, Zedelgem had a total population of 22,8 ...

. Police also searched 18 private residences in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

. They found military weapons, ammunition, explosives, and a homemade bomb large enough to "blow up a car". Led by Thomas Boutens, the group trained itself in military foundations. It also trained in

interrogation Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...

and counter-interrogation techniques, as well as in becoming

clandestine Clandestine may refer to: * Secrecy, the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups, perhaps while sharing it with other individuals * Clandestine operation, a secret intelligence or military activity Music and entertainme ...

. The group was engaged in arms dealing, and one of the suspects worked in the Kleine Brogel military base where

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

are stocked. Thomas Boutens was developing international links, in particular with the Dutch

far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

movement National Alliance (NA). Several NA members, including party secretary Virginia Kapić, attended a BBET training camp. This led to her position in the party becoming untenable and she soon resigned from her post. Flemish TV channel VTM claimed (citing justice sources) that the group was preparing to assassinate

Filip Dewinter Philip Michel Frans "Filip" Dewinter (born 11 September 1962) is a Belgian politician. He is one of the leading members of Vlaams Belang, a right-wing Flemish nationalist and secessionist political party. Together with Hugo Coveliers of the VLOT ...

, an important figure of the far right

Vlaams Belang , ideology = , predecessor = Vlaams Blok , position = , europarl = Identity and Democracy , european = Identity and Democracy Party , youth_wing = Vlaams Belang Jongeren , colours = , ...

party, in a

false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...

attack that would have been blamed on the Islamist movement. Taking advantage of the ensuing confusion, the group would then murder

Dyab Abou Jahjah Dyab Abou Jahjah ( ar, دياب أبو جهجه, born 24 June 1971 in Hanin, Lebanon) is an Arab political activist and writer who was active in Europe between 2001 and 2007. He is the founder and former leader of the Arab European League (AEL) ...

, leader of the

Arab European League The Arab European League (Dutch: ''Arabisch-Europese Liga'', AEL) is a Pan-Arabist political organisation active in Belgium and the Netherlands.

. Belgian justice authorise denied these claims. The Belgian press recalled the "bloody eighties," during which the Brabant massacres were carried out (28 deaths), and the

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

organization

Communist Combatant Cells Cellules Communistes Combattantes (CCC; Communist Combatant Cells, also known as Fighting Communist Cells) was a Communist Belgian urban guerrilla organization. The cells were active for less than two years in the mid-1980s; primarily engaged i ...

carried out terrorist attacks (2 deaths).

Far right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

groups such as Westland New Post were suspected of being responsible for the Brabant massacres, although the parliamentary commission could not find any definitive proof. Journalist Manuel Abramowicz, a specialist of the far-right and founder of the progressive
ResistanceS
' website and network, was quoted in ''

Le Soir ''Le Soir'' (, "The Evening") is a French-language Belgian daily newspaper. Founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel, it was intended as a politically independent source of news. It is one of the most popular Francophone newspapers in Belgium, competing ...

'' saying that radical right-wing

ultra adopted by British military intelligence in June 1941 for wartime signals intelligence obtained by breaking high-level encrypted enemy radio and teleprinter communications at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. '' ...

s have always had an aim to "infiltrate the state mechanisms" — including the army in the 1970s and the 1980s, through Westland New Post and the Front de la Jeunesse.

References

External links

Combat 18 Flanders Website

Belgium police hold '17' in plot
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

'', September 7, 2006
Extreem-rechts complot in Belgisch leger
''

De Standaard ''De Standaard'' (meaning ''The Standard'' in English) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and F ...

'', September 13, 2006
Parket ontkent dat BBET Filip Dewinter wilde vermoorden
''

Gazet van Antwerpen The ''Gazet van Antwerpen'' (Antwerp Gazette, popularly named ''De Frut'', "sour head cheese") is a Belgian newspaper in Antwerp and Flanders, published by Concentra. History and profile ''Gazet van Antwerpen'' was established in 1891. Its edit ...

'', September 12, 2006
Verdachte extremisten blijven in de cel
'' VRT'', September 12, 2006
Belgium to Continue Probe on Neo-Nazi Group
Einnews.com, September 12, 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloed, Bodem, Eer En Trouw Neo-fascist terrorism Neo-Nazi organizations Terrorism in Belgium 2004 establishments in Belgium Neo-Nazism in Belgium

History

See also

References

External links