Sticking stickers, marching through the Brabant forests and banners stop with slogans as ‘remigration now!’. The extreme right -wing youth organization Geuzenbond says it wants to influence the public debate ‘in an peaceful way’. Yet last week the 24-year-old Thomas D. from Erp, a prominent member of the club, was arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist crime. What about that? And what kind of group is the Geuzenbond?
The Geuzenbond was founded in 2018 and since then active in the Netherlands and Flanders. In 2020, the Geuzenbond informed Omroep Brabant that they are a ‘covenant of young, patriotic Dutch’. They would be committed to ‘preserving our language, culture and the future of the Netherlands’.
The National Counterterrorism and Security Coordinator (NCTV) labeled the Geuzenbond as the extreme right. According to the Public Prosecution Service, the group tries to “normalize right-wing extremist ideas.” The union has an estimated 20 active members. They have a larger following online, with nearly 3000 followers on Instagram and around 1500 on Telegram.
Large network
According to ICO Maly, cultural scientist at Tilburg University, the Geuzenbond is part of a larger network. “It is a movement that pops up in different places under many flags.”
Maly does a lot of research into the extreme right -wing groups. He sees that these clubs in particular conduct an ‘ideological battle’. “It is often very small groups that want to spread their ideas about society, usually via digital media.”
Strong and resilient
According to several sources, those ideas revolve around the preservation of the ‘white’ Dutch culture, combating migration and reunification with Flanders. In addition, they strive for the resilience of the ‘white breed’, including through physical training such as fitness and martial arts. With this, the NCTV bases the organization under the so -called ‘Active clubs. ‘
What are Active Clubs?
Active clubs His small, extreme right -wing groups that focus on physical training to increase the ‘resilience of the white race’ as ‘preparation for an alleged racial war’. According to the NCTV, the emphasis is on martial arts, masculinity, healthy living and brotherhood.
“That focus on physical training is classic for the extreme right,” explains Maly. “They start from the idea that the European breed is under pressure. By training, they create a kind of line of defense for that weakening.”
‘Not for violence’
In the message on Instagram in which the Geuzenbond responds to the arrest of Thomas D., they say they are an organization “who has always rejected the use of political violence and wishes to influence the public debate peacefully.” According to Maly, many extreme right -wing groups set themselves up in this way. “They are often metapolitical movements. They are not for violence, but especially want to share their culture and ideas,” he explains.
According to the researcher, the danger of these movements is in the latter. Because when their ideas are widespread, according to him, there is only one person who really takes action: “And there is the Angel. You only need one individual who is tired of it and says:” It’s enough, nothing changes by just posting on the internet. “
Thomas D. was brought before the examining magistrate in Rotterdam last Friday, who then decided that he should remain stuck for fourteen days longer.