Thread by @IRC_NIC

Belgium : “Foreign intelligence services do not understand that the neo-Nazi festival #Frontnacht is allowed to take place in #Ypres. This is apparent from my own research, which I reported today in Nieuwsblad and GvA”

https://twitter.com/TomDSmet/status/1559427353935323138

This festival has been welcoming neo-nazis from all over Europe and former nazis since it’s inception, and has been allowed to take place for decades, under the cover of being a nationalist Flemish rally and a celebration of the dead from the First World War

IJzerbedevaart or The Yser Pilgrimage, in Dixmude, started out in the 20s, as a remembrance of the Flemish soldiers that died in WW1. It then grew into a Flemish nationalist gathering as time went by. During WW2, it still went on and was organized by the nazi occupying forces

The nazis were directly affiliated with the event, and after WW2, its reputation fully changed and Dixmude became a well known meeting for former nazis and neo-nazis. I'm gonna quote The Beast Reawakens, by Martin A. Lee, to explain in more depth the neo-nazi take over

"This annual pilgrimage became a magnet for right wing-extremists in the late 1960s when the Vlaamse Militanten Orde (VMO), a Flemish paramilitary organization, invited neofascist groups from around the globe to send delegations."

In 1983, the infamous Otto Ernst Remer was part of the guests at Dixmude.
"They treated the 71 year old Remer like royalty when he arrived for the festivities. Hitler's illustrious bodyguard had recently pulled up stakes in Syria and resettled in West Germany."

He saved Hitler in 1944 and in the 50s, he was an advisor to Nasser and was involved in arms trade in Syria
"After two decades in the Middle East, he was eager to renew and expand his contacts among European neo-Nazis. The Dixmude gathering was well-suited for this purpose."

If you want to learn more about VMO and neo-nazis in Belgium, check out @RecluseS9's Belgium: Into the Heart of Darkness series, especially part I, where he goes more in depth. visupview.blogspot.com/2016/03/belgiu…
(BTW, if you're wondering, yes, VMO is linked to Gladio 😬)

Now, here's where it gets a bit tricky : IJzerbedevaart and IJzerwake are two different events. The IJzerbedevaart people didn't want to be associated with nazis, and so in 1995, the IJzerwake split from it, changing its location from Dixmude to Steenstrate, near Ypres, in 2002

https://twitter.com/IRC_NIC/status/1559500628031930368

In my first tweet, I'm talking about IJzerwake, which is the one taking place on August 28 this year, and being called out by Belgian media. The IJzerwake has been allowed to take place every year since 2003. Local authorities don't seem to mind

This year, they're doing a new event, a music festival on August 27, the day before IJzerwake, and it's what's been mostly in the media - some of the bands are openly neo-nazis. It's basically the same event, just taking place on 2 days, the weekend of the 27 and 28.

According to Het Nieuwsblad, the SITE Intelligence Group (non-governmental organization, but the RTBF claims the American government is involved) shared a document naming the event as a RW-extremist threat. European intelligence services (not clear which) have read and shared it

It's insane that an event with an history like this is being allowed to take place - everyone knows what it is at heart, a neo-nazi meet up. Here's hoping the attention in media and on social media will force Belgian's officials to take action and finally put a stop to this

(In French and Dutch)
nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf2022081…
lesoir.be/459883/article…
rtbf.be/article/festiv…