Daily Times

On Friday, July 22, 2011, Anders Behring Breivik shook Norway, and the world. Perhaps, Ayman al-Zawahiri now has this unexpected, unknown foe who has stolen the limelight and air time from him, at least for a while.
Not only has his action brought to the fore, once again, the multiculturalism debate but has also made many academics reach out for their sociology texts on cultural Marxism and sift through Crusade history, searching for the Knights Templar. This article seeks to provide some preliminary observations about Breivik and his ideas.
Breivik is in solitary confinement but has left us his ‘documented legacy’ — an almost 1,518 page ‘compendium’ called 2083: A European Declaration of Independence, which will take experts, academics, journalists and, perhaps, historians and theologians some time to unravel. It took him three years to write and compile it. This compendium features his understanding of the current situation in Europe vis-à-vis the growing number of Muslims, his views about Islam, the perils of socio-political policies that support multiculturalism according to him and the future plans for his movement, which he calls the ‘Western European Resistance’ or ‘the PCCT Knights Templar’, revolting against “the ongoing Islamic colonisation of Europe” and stating that “it is our duty as Europeans to prevent the annihilation of our identities, our cultures and traditions and our nation states!”
In terms of structure, the compendium is divided into initial remarks, an introduction and three books. Book one is titled, What You Need to Know, Our Falsified History and Other Forms of Cultural Marxist/Multiculturalist Propaganda. It is almost 242 pages long. Book two is titled, Europe Burning, and is around 486 pages long. The last, Book three, is titled, Declaration of a Pre-emptive War and spans almost the rest of the document. The last few pages of the manifesto feature a glossary and pictures of Breivik in various outfits, including dressed up as a modern-day Knight Templar. A preliminary overview of the document reveals thought all the way from Islam, cultural Marxism to the acquisition and use of weapons, analysing revolutions, small scale farming and effects of hip hop music on youngsters — a maze of ideas and plans indeed.
Thematically, till now, I have observed some broad themes — the present article is based on this current understanding. First of all is the ‘theory’ theme: the segment of work that has to do with building a theoretical argument against multiculturalism. Second is an ‘operational’ theme, related to operational plans and details for Europe’s liberation from multiculturalism in the future. Then there is a ‘reporting’ theme, which presents in details the logs of events and experiences during his research and planning for his terrorist operations. It also features vivid accounts of the entire process of weapons acquisition and making explosives. Lastly, is a ‘personal’ theme, which contains thoughts related to his personal life and social network. This includes even the minutest of details like how his computer devices crash due to electrical surges, food and favourite television programmes, taking steroids, finesse in dressing and how he is able to keep other people at bay from learning about his malicious activities on his farm. In many cases, there is an organic overlapping among the themes.
In building a theoretical argument against multiculturalism in Europe, Breivik presents various arguments in favour of the need to defend Christianity in the manifesto and has documented his critical research on Islam, its doctrines and Muslim history too. Moreover, there are criticisms on cultural Marxism for enabling the downfall of Europe’s culture. Most of his comments about Islam come from noted Islam critics. Breivik, in his research, seems to have read, in depth, both the American arguments about cultural Marxism and the European writings about it. He is well aware of Mark Steyn’s work, for example, which constitutes an American strand of thought on multiculturalism, while some of his references also include The Brussels Journal, which is a European strand of such social thought. Moreover, Fjordman, from Norway, has been quoted extensively too. However, it is important to mention here that the above quoted sources have clearly stated their position: one of disowning Breivik’s action, in unambiguous terms. The overall document, with its theme of a cultural invasion by ‘the other’ and the need to defend ‘your’ people, has an eerie resemblance to those of al Qaeda’s leaders, as Thomas Hegghammer, a terrorism specialist, has already pointed out, the author wanting to “mirror al Qaeda, exactly in reverse”. However, the operational details in the document have interesting parallels or, at least, a ‘feel’ of the operational documents of al Qaeda too.
As I try to complete this, very basic preliminary overview, the Cross of the Knights Templar seems to be so dramatically woven on to the front page of Breivik’s Manifesto and a line underneath it states in Latin ‘Pauperes Commilitones Christi Templique Solomonici’ translated as ‘The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon’. Another very meaningful and symbolic statement accompanies it; ‘De Laude Novae Militiae’, which is the name of a book in praise of the Templars by Bernard of Clairvaux, written somewhere around 1130 AD during the Crusade times. Moreover, as per his words, Breivik was anticipating this as “a martyrdom operation”. After the radical Islamists already having shaken the world, the last thing one would want is a return of the Knights Templar too.
While the court case continues, we cannot anticipate the results. However, one thing is for sure: Breivik has spurred a debate on Eurabia and Dhimmitude, along with other things, raising pro-cultural conservatism voices like Fjordman and Bat Ye’or to almost celebrity status, yet both have expressed their dislike for being quoted in the manifesto, distancing themselves from Breivik’s action. 2083: A European Declaration of Independence is a complicated person’s handiwork. The self-assumed Knight Templar shaking Norway is not a simple character out of a Dan Brown novel — Breivik’s actions have left residue. As the enquiry unfolds, it will be important to see how he explains his atrocious actions. But, for now, it clearly seems that July 22, 2011 will go down in history as not only a day that brought sadness and shock to the world, but also a day that marked yet another attempt by a radical to hijack human history itself.

The writer teaches sociology at University College Lahore (UCL). He can be reached at naqibhamid@gmail.com