Springbok Has Sprung!

A comment arrives, from Evangelist Nigel Owens:

Hi, please feel free to check out our new Northern Ireland Springbok Club website. It is really good and has a few articles on anti-semitism and Israel. God bless Israel.

So off we head:

Welcome To The Northern Ireland Springbok Club

Where the British Empire Lives On!

Proudly  Standing  For Faith, Flag, Family, Freedom & Future

I’d always wondered what had happened to the British Empire…The site carries a disclaimer:

Needless to say, it is not the intention, policy or purpose of the ‘Northern Ireland Springbok Club’ and / or its web site to incite or justify law breaking or hatred against anyone, in fact we condemn all such activity…Whilst there may be those with whom we disagree, we bear them no evil whatsoever, we wholeheartedly respect their legal right to have, defend, express and promote whatever opinion they hold to and we hope that they, in return, will afford us those same courtesies.

Evangelist Nigel contacted me in response to a couple of blog entries (here and here) that mentioned the Springbok Club, which I described as “a London-based network for disaffected white South Africans and Rhodesians living in the UK.” His Northern Ireland Springbok Club is the official NI branch of that organisation. The “Who We Are” section gives further details:

The current Chairman of the Northern Ireland Branch is Evangelist Nigel Owens B.Th., B.A. (Hons) and we are incredibly privileged to have none other than Mr Jim Dixon of Enniskillen as our ‘Honorary Life President’.

And as it happens, Jim Dixon (a survivor of the 1987 Enniskillen terrorist bombing) was interviewed in the Daily Ireland just a few days ago. Take a deep breath:

“It’s wrong that blacks are coming to Northern Ireland,” he said.

“I couldn’t care less if people call me a racist. I couldn’t care less what they think. Apartheid meant the black man was better treated and respected

“Immigration is a recipe for trouble. It shouldn’t happen anywhere. Each to their own. Other races should have their own schools, hospitals and buses.”

It should also be remembered that the London Springbok Club is headed by Alan Harvey, a former activist with the National Front. However, the NI Springbok Club insists that it is “not a ‘far right’ movement”.

As promised, the NI website also hosts a number of articles. There we can find news about how there is “massive Jesuit Activity Reported in Rhodesia and South Africa“, among much else (and the writer means “Rhodesia” in a contemporary sense). A number of pieces come from Shaun Willcock, a South African who runs Bible Based Ministries. Willcock is vehemently anti-Catholic, and on his own website he mourns the end of Afrikaner supremacy and rails against the “occult fantasy” of CS Lewis.

Evangelist Nigel also runs True Grace International Ministries, and is president of Reaching Mormons for Christ Ministries. Neither has any internet presence that I could find. Back in late 2004 Owens was complaining that one of his fellow evangelists had been banned from harassing Mormon missionaries.

A few weeks ago the Guardian was heavily criticised for running a two-part article that explored the idea that Israel can be compared to apartheid-era South Africa. Less criticism, if any, has been levelled against a constituency that supports Israel precisely because it reminds them of the good old days of Rhodesia and 1980s South Africa.

(Daily Ireland link via Slugger O’Toole)

UPDATE: Apparently Owens responded to the Daily Ireland piece with a letter. He provides a copy in the comments section of Slugger O’Toole:

…Within the ‘Northern Ireland Springbok Club’, as is the case throughout the black and white communities of South Africa themselves, you will find a variety of views on the issue of apartheid.

We are not a ‘white rule’ club. Our vision for the future of South Africa is to see a multi-racial, Conservative, Judeo-Christian, pro-freedom, Atlanticist party (or coalition of parties) replace the present day Marxist ANC government. We do not campaign for a return to apartheid.

…We are ‘neo-imperialist’, not ‘old imperialist’. We only wish to restore those things that were good about the Empire, and them alone.

One wonders how this squares with Alan Harvey’s vision for the Springbok Club, which he laid out at its founding:

In a nutshell our policy can be summed up in one sentence: “We want our countries back, and believe this can now only come about by the re-establishment of civilised European rule throughout the African continent.”

Harvey spoke in similar vein when he was interviewed by Anthony LoBaido (himself the subject of a recent ConWebWatch exposé) for WorldNetDaily in 2001:

White rule around the world has a lot more influence than people think. I personally believe that the white man will return to Africa and rule one day.

It should also be noted that while the NI Springbok Club is prepared to be ecumenical about whether white and black people should be allowed to mix, some other views are unacceptable. Hence the Google cache of the site shows that it used to sell books by Alan Campbell, while these appear have been purged from the current website. One assumes that someone noticed that Campbell is a British-Israelite who believes in “the Celto-Anglo-Saxon peoples as the Israel of God”, rather than Jews.

7 Responses

  1. I find it incredibly interesting that you didn’t see fit to quote my letter to Daily Ireland in full, particularly the bit about us being a multiracial organisation. Here is the full text: –
    “Permit me please to clarify the official position of the ‘Northern Ireland Springbok Club’ with regard to apartheid and related matters.

    Within the ‘Northern Ireland Springbok Club’, as is the case throughout the black and white communities of South Africa themselves, you will find a variety of views on the issue of apartheid.

    We are not a ‘white rule’ club. Our vision for the future of South Africa is to see a multi-racial, Conservative, Judeo-Christian, pro-freedom, Atlanticist party (or coalition of parties) replace the present day Marxist ANC government. We do not campaign for a return to apartheid. Whilst we are not affiliated to any single political party in South Africa, the parties with whom we would have most in common are the African Christian Democratic Party, United Christian Democratic Party, Inkatha Freedom Party and Freedom Front Plus – most of whom are multi-racial and overwhelmingly non-white.

    As an organization, we are multi-racial. Anyone, of whatever race, who agrees with our aims and objectives, is free to join.

    We are ‘neo-imperialist’, not ‘old imperialist’. We only wish to restore those things that were good about the Empire, and them alone. We want to see a peaceful, multi-racial partnership that will spread freedom and conservative values right around the world.”

    With regard to your comments about the articles on our website and a few items which were previously sold in our online shop – I would refer you to our web site’s disclaimer (which I also notice you didn’t quote in full).

    The NI Springbok Club’s support for Israel has nothing to do with South Africa. Our support for Israel and the Jewish people is like our position on the union between Britain and Ireland, it is a point of principle which we will never give an inch on. Furthermore it flows logically from our position of opposition to racism, fascism, antisemitism, antizionism, communism, the far right and holocaust denial.

  2. I think I quoted enough of your letter and disclaimer to show that you do not personally believe in white supremacy. However, I find it “incredibly interesting” that your life-president is pro-apartheid and doesn’t want blacks in NI, while your counterpart in London, Alan Harvey, believes “the white man” will one day rule Africa again.

    I’m also interested to know which Israel you support – the Israel of Just Peace, B’TSelem, Courage to Refuse, and all the other Israeli organisations that support an end to the Occupation and equal rights for the Palestinians, or the Israel of Likud and Shas?

  3. Regarding Harvey and Dixon’s comments, firstly you have to be sure that they actually said what they are alleged to have said, and secondly, you have to be sure that their words have been quoted in the proper context. In addition, you must also remember that just because Harvey may have said something in the past, that doesn’t automatically mean that he still believes it today. Time is a great educator and it changes people.
    We wholeheartedly support Likud, especially under its present leader.

    We also had a lot of time for Ariel Sharon, however we didn’t agree with his pull out from the Gaza Strip and his dismantling of the Jewish settlements.

    In addition, we would have SOME sympathies with a few of the more conservative parties and settlers movements to the right of Likud. However, we wouldn’t have endorsed everything they stood for.

    I don’t want to get into a long protracted debate on this, but briefly, here is our position on ‘the palestinians’.

    According to the World Health Organisation, the living standards of the ‘Palestinians’ rose substantially since the Jewish homecoming (or ‘occupation’ as others prefer to call it) began. They certainly enjoy higher standards of living than their ‘Palestinian’ brothers and sisters in Jordan, Lebanon and surrounding countries, especially Kuwait.

    Interestingly, Jordan, which is 70% ‘palestinian’ and run by a minority bedouin hashemite (apologies if I spelt that wrong) government, massacred around 70,000 of the ‘palestinians’ last time they tried to make Jordan a ‘palestinian state’.

    Perhaps therefore they, with British and American help, may wish to consider locating a palestinian state in Jordan? This could be done very easily and peacefully indeed by giving everyone in the state of Jordan a vote.

    There is quite an interesting web site listed on the links section of the ‘Anglicans for Israel’ web site called ‘Arabs for Israel’, which may be of interest.

    The best way therefore that we can get a fair deal for the ‘palestinians’ is to support Israel and take a much tougher line with Lebannon, Syria and Jordan. That would be a real ‘two state solution’.

    God gave the whole land, undivided, to Israel and it is imperitive that Britain and America continue to hold the line. Supporting Israel and the Jewish people is far more than just merely an issue of politics, it is, for us, a matter of faith and morality as well.

  4. Regarding Harvey and Dixon’s comments, firstly you have to be sure that they actually said what they are alleged to have said, and secondly, you have to be sure that their words have been quoted in the proper context.

    I know that the first Harvey quote is genuine and in context because I personally took it from the London Springbok website. The second quote comes via a sympathetic journalist known for supporting the South African far-right, and fits with the first quote. If the Dixon quote was fabricated by the Daily Ireland, why didn’t you say so in your letter, and why isn’t Dixon suing for gross defamation and libel?

    Harvey may have said something in the past, that doesn’t automatically mean that he still believes it today.

    In that case, he needs to revise his website and post a prominent notice disavowing his support for white supremacy in Africa.

    As advised, I looked over the “Arabs for Israel” site. The authors appear to be decent peace-loving people, but the site is woefully short of any actual engagement with Palestinian complaints about Israel’s policies. Your plan to make Jordan into a Palestinian state suffers from one flaw: why do you think that the Palestinians in the West Bank (and maybe Israel proper?) would be willing to move there? I know I wouldn’t want to be kicked out of my home for the benefit of another group of people, and I doubt you would either. Well done for opposing anti-semitism, but to suggest that Israel should enjoy unconditional support (aside from when it withdraws from some areas) due to a divine mandate is an abdication of moral responsibility.

    Also, I noted in my entry that the NI Springbok Club does not consider itself to be “far-right”; however, if you’re prepared to have a man who boasts of being a racist apartheid-supporter as your Honorary Life President and to be part of a larger organisation led by Alan Harvey, I’m afraid that’s the category I think your organisation belongs in, philo-Semitism notwithstanding.

  5. […] across the group a couple of years ago when I was researching a related outfit called the “Springbok Club“, which campaigns for causes such as the return of white rule over Africa (”We want our […]

  6. […] Christian Identity, and he was explictly racist. Alan Campbell has featured on the blog before – I noted that his books at one point had been sold via the (now apparently defunct) Northern Ireland […]

  7. […] Northern Ireland. The pastor there is none other than Nigel Owens, who featured on this blog back in 2006 when I noted that he ran the Northern Ireland branch of Alan Harvey’s Springbok Club […]

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