An old restaurant in Erp, where a raid was made by the police last Thursday, was used as a clubhouse of the extreme right -wing youth organization Geuzenbond. That is what research group Kafka says. Weapons and ammunition were found in the former restaurant, which has been inhabited for years anti -squat. A 24-year-old man from Erp was arrested, he is suspected of preparing a terrorist crime.
The Geuzenbond was founded in 2018 by a group of friends in Badhoevedorp, the place where the man from Erp was arrested on Thursday. It is the first time that someone from the Geuzenbond is a suspect of preparing a terrorist crime. “It’s not a club of stupid boys,” says a spokesperson for research group Kafka. This research group has been following the extreme right in the Netherlands since 1988.
“The founders are young and study or study at various universities and HBO courses in the Netherlands. As a result, they are spread throughout the country,” explains spokesperson Remco van Kafka the qualification youth organization. The mission of the Geuzenbond is in short: making a ‘white’ Netherlands, reunification with Flanders and men physically stronger.
The members are active on social media. By comparing images of meetings, research group Kafka concluded that the old restaurant in Erp was used as a sort of clubhouse. “Photos show that this is the same building where their New Year’s reception was also held and a delegation of an extreme right -wing American organization was received,” the researchers say.
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The Geuzenbond still focuses on young people. “The Groot Dutch Student Association is strongly connected to Geuzenbond. This student association is increasingly popping up on information markets during intro-weeks for first-year students, but also at student sports associations,” Kafka discovered.
According to the researchers, organizers of those kinds of events cannot refuse the Geuzenbond, because the club ‘does not do anything off.’ “It is not punishable that you are proud of the Netherlands and that the Netherlands must be paramount.”
“By profileing themselves in places where many students come together and be active on social media, the supporters are steadily swells within the Groot Dutch Student Association (GNSV for short),” says a spokesperson for the research group. “It is not an official student association, because then they must comply with conditions and rules.”
“You can register via an email and then you will receive invitations to fight together, recently in Nijmegen,” the spokesperson continues.
This activity fits in with the description that the National Coordinator of Terrorism gives and safety of the Geuzenbond. “They try to normalize the right-wing extremist ideas and focus on ‘making the white breed resilient’ through physical training.”
That someone from the Geuzenbond has now been arrested because he is suspected of preparing a terrorist attack, research group Kafka does surprise. “They have never crossed the edge before, this would be the first time.”
Images of the raid in the former restaurant:
