7+ Times Avi Yemini consorted with Neo-Nazis
– This article about Avi Yemini was written by Jews Against Fascism. They can be contacted on their Facebook page.
Avi Yemini is a useful idiot in the endless soap opera that is Australia’s far-right melodrama.
Day in day out, attempting to carve out their own niche, the actors of the far right, make and abandon friends, cheat on and chastise each other, oscillate between righteousness and hypocrisy, have budding romances and disappointments. They are manipulated and they manipulate.
As friend or foe to the various actors, Avi Yemini plays his part, cynically twisting and turning, whichever way the wind blows. Whichever way suits him at the time. But it is always the same story arc: the same movement, the same cause, the same united front, the same interrelated web of fascist activism.
Each night, when they all go to bed, they know one thing to be true: whatever their imagined differences of that day, they can sleep well knowing that they all share in an essential agreement.
This endless drama, powered by the narcissism of small difference, underscores the fact that Avi Yemini is united with the far-right, and the far-right is united with Avi Yemini.
And now he wants a seat in parliament.
History tells us that fascists do not gain power through revolution, but through popular elections. In the current environment this makes him and the Australian Liberty Alliance, dangerous. We do fear him, and we are right to fear him. But the world we want is a better and kinder. It is a world of connection and solidarity. Together we are powerful, and together we can win.
We use the terms like “fascist” and “neo-Nazi” with the utmost of care, sensitivity and precision.
Not all fascists are neo-Nazi, but all neo-Nazis are fascist. Avi Yemini is not a neo-Nazi, but he shares the broad fascist political milieu of neo-Nazis.
Drop a stone into the gloom of toxic Nazi masculinity and you find deep well off unbridled gutlessness. Few Nazis claim Nazi identity. As Hitler enthusiast Blair Cottrell claims “If you dress up as a brownshirt you are setting yourself up to be laughed at.” Their ideology is alluded to, joked about in memes, and hidden by design.
Avi Yemini, as useful idiot of the far-right, consorts with Nazis, but this is not nearly as chilling as the movement that has propelled him into the limelight, or the story arc of fascist ascendency.
1. Neil Erikson and Avi Yemini
Erikson has bounced between various neo-Nazi outfits for about 16 years, including Combat 18, Nationalist Alternative, United Patriots Front, and dozens of smaller one-man operations masquerading as serious organisers. During that time he received a non-custodial sentence for harassing a local Melbourne rabbi, having abused him over the phone (Dec, 2012) saying “Give me the money Jew or else I will get you”.
Erikson claims (in as much as his claims are worth anything) that he was asked to help dispose of the body of Vietnamese international student Minh Dương – beaten so close to death that the brick that was used was broken in half – by the boneheads Erikson was knocking around with at the time, the Crazy White Boys.
Erikson (front, 3rd from left) with bffs:
Somewhere along the line Erikson developed a fondness for Avi Yemini, far-right Jews and Israel, and ditched some of the Hitler enthusiasm.
Below is Erikson with Jim Saleam (see bonus! notes at bottom of page for more on Saleam) in a United Patriots Front & the neo-Nazi Australia First Party cross-promotional video from June 2015, which gives a strong sense of the political space the UPF were trying to establish themselves in:
Here is what Erikson thought of the neo-Nazi James Fields (Vanguard America), who killed one person, Heather Heyer, and injured thirty five when he ran down anti-racism protesters with his Dodge Challenger in Charlottesville in August 2017:
With “former Nazis” like these, who needs current Nazis?
When Avi Yemini called for a protest over a Bondi shul not being built, Erikson planed to attend the protest (Avi Yemini had to beg him to make a video explaining he was not a Nazi, and apparently needing to clarify to his own followers that Nazis would not be welcomed – this generally being a course of action he has needed to take with nearly every event he has organised).
When Erikson and others were charged and convicted with racial vilification for the “Bendigo mosque stunt”, Avi Yemini came to the court to support them (more on this later):
The same day Avi Yemini made a cross-promotional video for Erikson, with the broad intent of value-signalling Yemini’s fidelity to the fascist right, to attract Erikson’s followers, and, broadly, to build this movement.
The others that were charged for this stunt were neo-Nazis from the United Patriots Front Blair Cottrell, and Chris Shortis. These two are discussed later in this article, however this court date and Avi Yemini’s attendance cannot be underestimated: attending were a whose-who of the fascist zoo, with all major gangs representing.
When Avi Yemini held a “Make Victoria Safe Again” over the lie of an “”African crime wave””, Erikson (with other neo-fascist gangs) came along.
They have made numerous self-promotion videos together on Facebook. There is no contradiction here: Erikson needs to iron out his reputation as a neo-Nazi, Avi Yemini needs influential actors on the far-right. Both share the same racist politics over immigration and Islam and a range of other issues whose foundation is racism.
In more recent developments the bromance between Erikson and Avi Yemini seems to have hit a rocky patch (at the moment Erikson is a “dick”, and Avi Yemini a “snake”): for the time being they see each other as traitors to a movement they are otherwise united for.
2. Blair Cottrell / United Patriots Front and Avi Yemini
Blair Cottrell thinks “There should be a picture of this man [Adolf Hitler] in every classroom and every school, and his book should be issued to every student annually”, thinks feminism is some kind of Jewish conspiracy, and has a general all-round enthusiasm for misogyny. Early on in his ascent Cottrell was far less concealed about his antisemitism and general obsession with Jews, his enthusiasm for misogyny, and his respect for Nazism and national socialism. Cottrell has all the strong feelings on crime, developed perhaps during his stint as a guest of Her Majesty
The now defunct United Patriots Front was established after a split from Reclaim Australia, and it was in this battle of personalities that Cottrell emerged as leader within the fascist right.
When Cottrell (along with UPF leadership Neil Erikson and Chris Shortis), was charged and then convicted with racial vilification, Avi Yemini showed up to the court offering his moral support, brought awareness to the plight victims of political correctness, and generally built their profiles and their case within a broader far-right milieu.
UPF boys outside the Court (Erikson left, Cottrell middle):
Just so we are all clear, Avi Yemini doesn’t agree with everything neo-Nazis leaders have to say:
3. Milo Yiannopolous and Avi Yemini
Yiannopolous, as editor of the infamous alt-right Breitbart News Network, regularly solicited articles from the likes of neo-Nazi news desks Daily Stormer, American Renaissance, and other individual neo-Nazis. We don’t know why a gay dude, married to a Black man, with a Jewish mother, would go out of his way for neo-Nazis (so stop “asking” us alt-right types). Breitbart was designed to make far-right and white supremacist views palatable, and Milo pushed the limits even for them. Attempting to secure an interview with an administrator for the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer, Milo wrote “He’s one of the funniest, smartest and most interesting people I know. … Very on brand for me.”
Neo-Nazi Richard Spencer (of Punch-A-Nazi fame) and friends giving Milo Nazi Salutes as he sang “America the Beautiful” at Karaoke:
In December 2017, Milo Yiannopolous came to town and Avi Yemini was over the moon, as were dozens of the city’s white supremacists, including United Patriots Front / Lad’s Society, Soldiers of Odin, True Blue Crew, and many others. Aside from promoting the Milo event, and doing a live stream that lasted hours, Avi Yemini stood alongside these fascists whilst they taunted local communities with who came down to witness what was happening.
Avi Yemini has shown an interest in “protecting children” from the nonsense conspiracies around the Safe Schools program. Avi Yemini did not hesitate in his support Yiannopolous, despite Yiannopolous’ enthusiasm for child rape(this was the limit for Breitbart, however, where Milo was forced to resign).
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Meanwhile, Avi Yemini was incandescent with dummy spitting rage-denial when news emerged that the bunch of racists chanting Islamophobic hate he surrounded himself with would turn on Jews:
…the 33-year-old university administrator, was walking through the gathering Melbourne dusk towards the Flemington Railway station when she heard the chant. “Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau.’’
At first, she thought she’d misheard. Then she turned and looked at the faces of the men glaring at her, chanting in unison. “Auschwitz-Birkenau, Bergen-Belsen, Buchenwald, Dachau.’’ She hadn’t misheard. There was no mistake; only a hatred deeper than Perry, a woman readily identifiable as Jewish, could have imagined.
[Noting, of course, the thorough grossness of anyone thinking any Jew is “readily identifiable as Jewish” – & which the fascistic Australian Jewish Association/Nothing Left – Jewish alt-right hobby radio types/fascist gang who also interviewed Yiannopolous – gleefully explained that they can spot a Jew at a hundred yards and there was no way that this person was a Jew. But that is by-the-by.]
4. Soldiers of Odin and Avi Yemini
Soldiers of Odin was founded in Finland by neo-Nazi Mika Ranta (criminal convictions for racist assaults), and is an offspring of the Nordic Resistance Movement. In Melbourne they run vigilante street patrols, and sausage sizzles for homeless people where homelessness, etc etc etc, is blamed on immigrants, etc etc etc. It runs all the fascist lines popular with the far right at the minute.
A meme from Soldiers of Odin (2016):
That sneaky line at the end there about “existence of our people”? That is a politically correct take on the neo-Nazi “14 Words”: “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” This is stock-standard neo-Nazi symbolism: on tattoos, t-shirts, stickers, posters, everything. It was taken from the work of incarcerated neo-Nazi David Lane, doing time, in part, for the murder of a Jewish talk show host, Alan Berg.
Spruiking for his big community rally, Avi Yemini met with Soldiers of Odin to garner their support. He made them a promo video for their efforts:
Avi Yemini was rewarded for his efforts. For months Avi Yemini spruiked his great big community safety rally. In the end only a few dozen people turned up, at best. The bulk of those attending were from neo-Nazi and fascist gangs (including representations from: Soldiers of Odin, True Blue Crew, Infidel Brotherhood, Patriot Blue, Party for Freedom, Lad’s Society, and United Patriots Front – i.e. the same fascist and neo-Nazi gangs that have turned up at the court supporting the UPF trio on racial vilification charges):
During Yemini’s “rally” for “free speech” in October 2018 he bragged about Soldiers of Odin “dealing with” a lone Hero who went to heckle the minuscule crowd. (It is worth noting the Canberra counterpart of this rally, also minuscule, was largely attended by neo-Nazis from Lad’s Society/Squadron 88, and the usual assortment of fash).
5. Tom Sewell / The Lad’s Society / Antipodean Resistance and Avi Yemini
The Lad’s society is a neo-Nazi spin off from the United Patriots Front (replacing the now defunct-ish latter). It is brainchild of Thomas Sewell, faithful servant of Blair Cottrell. The Lad’s Society has a Cheltenham gym and provides safe harbour for various white supremacist and neo-Nazi gangs/individuals – including former UPF types, Antipodean Resistance, Firearm Owners United, and others.
Here is The Lad’s Society founders celebrating Hitler’s birthday (from far right Sewell, Cottrell):
Here’s is little Tommy attending Avi Yemini’s “Make Victoria Safe Again” rally:
6. Chris Shortis / Australia First & Avi Yemini
Chris Shortis says he is definitely not a Nazi, just a national socialist. Good for you if you can see the difference. Shortis (now ex-UPF) is member of Jim Saleam’s little Nazi mob, the Australia First Party. He is an online antisemitic ranter, Jewish conspiracy theorist, all round Christian extremist, with the usual multiple interests of day-to-day neo-Nazis at the minute. Shortis has a gig with United Nationalists, an arm of Australia First, whose head honcho is Nathan Sykes, the Jewish Nazi (not a metaphor), in which Avi Yemini got a rather predictable write up.
Here is Shortis on the left at a follow up to Reclaim Australia, marching with bonehead Glenn Anderson (to the right of him) and fellow neo-Nazi bonehead James Lawrence (Christian Identity/Right Wing Resistance) behind him:
When Shortis got charged (and convicted) wfor racial vilification along with Blair Cottrell and Neil Erikson, Avi Yemini showed up to the court to shake Chris Shortis’ hand:
7. Stuart von Moger / Lad’s Society / Antipodean Resistance & Avi Yemini
Stuart von Moger has been lurking around the neo-Nazi Lad’s Society, now indistinguishable from its youth wing Antipodean Resistance, since it’s inception. Von Moger is second from left in the earlier photo in this article of the Lads celebrating Hitler’s birthday. Below (top) he is photographed making ‘White Power’ hand signals with fascist Lauren Southern, alongside mates from Lad’s Society and Antipodean Resistance. Stuart and Lad’s Society Nazis provided security for the event. Below (bottom) he is photographed with Blair Cottrell and Tom Sewell at the Milo Yiannopolous event, which, as noted, Avi Yemini attended/promoted.
In the lead up to the Victorian state election of 2018, following the murder of Sisto Malaspina in Bourke street in what has been alleged to be terrorist attack, Avi Yemini and the Australian Liberty Alliance attempted to hold a ghoulish election campaign spectacle masquerading as a “vigil” for the victims. No one took it as genuine, and hardly anyone showed. However, von Moger turned up, representing the Lad’s Society.
(Try not to be distracted by Avi’s friend with the Legend of Zelda Hylian Shield.)
Speaking to von Moger is Daniel Jones, Avi Yemini’s cosplay hero, both of whom are involved in security for the far right. Jones acts as Yemini’s security/man servant whenever Avi Yemini holds an event that no one shows up to. Likewise, von Moger has given training workshops to Lad’s Society Nazibois for entering security industry, as well as providing security at high profilefar-right events.
In February 2018 Lad’s Society and True Blue Crew had a little fascist conference on the lie of an “”African crime wave.”” It was a how-to on establishing vigilante street patrols. Here is Jones, looking very obedient at the Lad’s Society cubby house:
Immediately following this meeting at von Moger’s Lad’s Society, reports emerged of Jones establishing a vigilante response to very naughty children. This was enthusiastically endorsed and promoted by Avi Yemini.
BONUS!
As we have said what is important about all this is the web of relationships that form within fascist activism. Read more about this web of relationships below:
Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands et al – In 2018 when neo-Nazi as well as the full spectrum of far right dogs took over the German town of Chemnitz, chanting Nazi era slogans such as “luegenpresse” and other Nazi slogans, doing Hitler salutes, spreading moral panics and inspiring vigilantism. They were clearly using these protests to build a neo-Nazi movement. Yemini lept to their defence:
Aryan Nations – That time that UPF lads Blair Cottrell, Neil Erikson, and Chris Shortis launched a political party in Perth at the home of Aryan Nations in 2015, prior to their convictions for racial vilification over the Bendigo Mosque stunt. This photo was taken on the same property in which six months later a murder-by-claw-hammer of Aryan Nations member by other Aryan Nations members took place in a some kind of great white insurance scam gone awry.
Jim Saleam: The UPF video made by Neil Erikson featuring Jim Saleam was made in June 2015, in October 2015 the UPF leaders pulled their Bendigo Mosque stunt that resulted in charges and convictions for racial vilification. By 2017 when the racial vilification case came to court, both Jim Saleam and Avi Yemini were turning up to support the UPF leadership. bouncing from one neo-Nazi outfit to another for fifty odd years, doing a stint in the nick for supplying shotguns to boneheads who shot up the home of a African National Conference representative in Perth (white South Africans and Apartheid have always been a pet topic of neo-Nazis for obvious reason, and it is well worth mentioning Avi Yemini’s save-white-South-Africa campaign). Here is Saleam (right) with Pauline Hanson fanboy Ross ‘The Skull’ May (middle) in 1975:
We cannot simply ignore the intersecting interests. There is no love lost between Saleam and Avi Yemini, but as the AJDS deftly put it (in a nice I-told-you-so moment) “It can’t be of any surprise that some neo-Nazi factions have turned on Avi Yemini (and, by extension, all Jews), jealous at the growing space he takes up on the far-right.”
True Blue Crew: When TBC are not getting into fisticuffs with Soldiers of Odin, or getting done for domestic violence, being shitdads, etc etc, they are showing up as one of the key fascist gangs at Avi Yemini’s failed protests, or joining in with him to show support for the UPF Hitler enthusiats in court together. Or, hanging out with Right Wing Resistance, or the Party for FreedomOr, their members are getting charged with terrorism offences for planning to bomb anarchist, um, “headquarters”. Erikson fondly refers to TBC as “True Meth Crew.”
Shermon Burgess: Burgess is known for the Reclaim Australia Rally, was part of the UPF split from Reclaim, and then split from UPF alongside Erikson, and then more recently has split again from Erikson, following instead the logic of Reclaim’s white supremacy into full-Nazi. In 2017 when Erikson was attempting to iron out his reputation as an antisemite/naziboi by buddying up to Avi Yemini he was still bffs with Shermon Burgess. For the bulk of 2017 Erikson and Burgess were working closely on their Nationalist Uprising project (formerly Australian Settlers Rebellion). Avi Yemini had denounced one side of the Nationalist Uprising coin as a neo-Nazi terrorist >(Burgess), whilst at the very same time seeing no apparent contradiction in working and building a comradely relationship with the other side (Erikson). In any case, this was the general trajectory of Reclaim Australia from the beginning (Burgess in full neo-Nazi regalia):
Infidel Brotherhood: The IB boys were among the key fascist gangs attending Avi Yemini’s great flop of a ‘Make Victoria Safe Again’ (pictured above). Likewise, IB joined Avi Yemini, Saleam and the bulk of fashy outfits at the magistrate’s court in standing with the UPF nasties as they faced racial vilification charges and subsequent convictions. Here Infidel Brotherhood share a video made by Brendan O’Connell on (((Jewish conspiracies))), made for Burgess’ now defunct neo-Nazi Zero White Guilt project:
In 2011 O’Connell received convictions and a three year stint for 6 race-hate charges for publishing videos he made in which he attacked some random Jews he found and abusing them with such claims as “You have a religion of racism, hate, homicide and ethnic cleansing” (which run unremarkably parallel to what Avi Yemini claims about Islam).
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Jews Against Fascism are a small band of Jewish anti-fascists, working on Wurundjeri Country. They emerged as a response to the growing tide of fascism and far-right activism that emerged in Australia in 2016. A large part of their work is on social media. Jews Against Fascism are deeply indebted to the work of many other anti-fascists who collate and track much of this information. They can be found and contacted on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
