Italy: Hitler, ISIS, Jihad, and All That Stuff

"Are you sure you're only 16?"

In the Lake Como area of Northern Italy this week, Italian police arrested a 16-year-old boy, described as an "Italian of foreign origin," after he was discovered on social media platforms encouraging armed jihad and extolling Adolf Hitler at the same time. 

This represents another example of the ideological affinity between Nazism and jihadism. This goes back to World War 2 when the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini (pictured above with Hitler), spent the war years in Berlin, joining forces with Hitler. Al-Husseini not only broadcast radio messages to his followers in the Middle East to drive out the Jews, but he also helped organize a Muslim Bosnian SS division to fight alongside the Wehrmacht. It seems that sentiment still lingers on in certain quarters.

The article below from Il Tempo is translated by Fousesquawk.

Como, Jihad and neo-Nazism- 16-year-old of foreign origin arrested: Piantedosi: "Constant commitment against extremism"

This morning in the Como region, a 16-year-old Italian of foreign origin was arrested by law enforcement accused of international terrorism following an investigation coordinated by the Milan Juvenile Prosecutors' Office and conducted by the Digos Anti-Terrorism Section. Combat materials, executions, training sessions, and war arsenals, together with symbols of the Islamic State- this and much more was retrieved from his cell phone where he wrote sentences like, "If I were two years older, I would join them", or "If they wanted to capture extremists, we would already be in prison."

The minor also repeatedly shared "Plurimi Nasheed", the religious songs of Islamic origin in the context of jihadist extremism, exalting martyrdom, and incitement to armed violence. But that's not all. In numerous conversations, the subject greeted his interlocutors with expressions praising Hitler and shared anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi content. Among these, a video portraying two subjects with their faces covered and military-type dress, inside a closed location, in which an ISIS flag appears in the background. 

The 16-year-old "demonstrating particular cunning and perseverance, inserted himself permanently into groups sharing materials of extremist character (both Islamic and supremacist), sharing ideology, downloading and sharing content of marked social concern." This is what Judge of Preliminary Instruction Laura Margheria Pietrasanta said in her order for application of preventive measures. For the judge, it seems "the will is clear" to continue navigating on social platforms and channels, "without law enforcement being able to identify him, and to actively participate in holy war". 

Regarding the intervention, Minister of Interior Matteo Piantedosi said: "An arrest that speaks to the constant commitment of our law enforcement to prevent and counter every form of radicalization and extremism, with particular attention to young people, to promptly intercept the danger signs and prevent the risk that paths of hate and violence can transform themselves into a concrete threat."