Here are just a few of the reasons I have deep misgivings about the Belgian Vlaams Belang party, successor to the banned Vlaams Blok, and their participation in the European anti-Islamization movement; thanks to LGF readers for pointing out these links.

Exhibit 1: in 2005, Vlaams Belang MPs shunned a resolution condemning the Nazi death camps.

BRUSSELS – The three members of the European Parliament from Belgium’s extreme right Vlaams Belang party abstained from Thursday’s vote commemorating the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland.

The EU’s legislative body adopted a resolution condemning the concentration and extermination camps built by the Nazis as “among the most shameful and painful pages of the history of our continent.”

It goes on to express concern about Jews in Europe experiencing a “heightened sense of security” due to anti-Semitism and calls for recognising the Holocaust formally across Europe every day on 27 January, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The resolution was adopted by 617 votes to 0 with 10 abstentions, including the trio of Vlaams Belang deputies.

Frank Vanhecke, the party’s president, said he feared that the resolution would be used against parties who “fight for European values and European peoples,” Belgian newspaper La Derniere Heure reported.

Exhibit 2: a White Power flag at a Vlaams Belang rally this month. The other flags are Flemish nationalist flags, and the one partly visible behind the White Power flag is typically used by Vlaams Belang.

Exhibit 3: As mentioned above, the predecessor to Vlaams Belang, Vlaams Blok, was outlawed in 2004. Their comeback as Vlaams Belang was applauded in 2005 by David Duke and the neo-Nazi skinheads at Stormfront. (The link goes to a Google redirect page, not directly to the Stormfront hate hole. If you search Stormfront for “Vlaams Belang,” you’ll find articles and videos by the dozen.)

Exhibit 4: we don’t only find support for Vlaams Belang at Stormfront. Here’s a post at the “Pan Aryan National Front,” with links to many VB videos. (Also goes to a Google redirect page.)

Please note: There’s a lot more of this kind of stuff out there.

As for the other party I identified as problematic for the anti-jihad movement in this post, Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden Democrats), the web site expo.se has a gallery of photos of their links to neo-Nazis, including this image from 1996:

Here’s a translation of the caption, from LGF reader “Truumax:”

“Tina Hallgren Bengtsson, member of city council for the Sweden Democrats in the city of Hoor, in full nazi regalia. During this time it was still common for people to attend in uniform during Sweden Democrat gatherings. New party leader Mikael Jansson grew tired and banned the use of uniforms. The following message was to be read in the Sweden Democrats internal news bulletin: ‘The Sweden Democrats have gotten a bad reputation on account of certain ‘Hollywood nazis’ and other people in uniform-like apparel joining the Engelbrekt march. […] People of such weak conviction that they feel the need to dress in this manner and thus ridiculing the party are advised to stay at home.’ Out of caution, this message was repeated in the internal bulletin for several years.”

If you research these groups, it’s impossible to miss these disturbing connections.

LGF is as anti-jihad as anyone on the web; but I do not accept that we’ve reached the point where we should embrace these kinds of people as allies, simply because they’re hitching a ride on the bandwagon and saying the right things when the spotlight is on them.

I’m in this fight because I believe in personal freedom and liberty, and these links and photographs raise more than warning signs to me. They raise the hairs on the back of my neck.