Derek Holland
| Derek Holland | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England | ||
| Nationality | British | ||
| Ethnicity | Gaelic Irish | ||
| Known for | Political Soldiers theory | ||
| Occupation | activist, politician, theorist | ||
| Organization | National Front Official National Front International Third Position | ||
| Religion | Catholic | ||
Derek Holland (Irish: Deric Ó hUallacháin) is a British national liberation activist and figure noted amongst the broader European activism for his Political Soldiers theory of social nationalism. Holland was involved with the National Front and for a time in the 1980s led the Official NF faction with Nick Griffin and Patrick Harrington. Following this he took part in the International Third Position with Roberto Fiore and others. Since that time he has dedicated more of his time to Catholic activism; a religion he has held to staunchly throughout.
Life
Holland was born in England to a Catholic family of Gaelic Irish ethnicity. On his paternal side his father's family originated from County Cork in Ireland, where their ancestors had changed their name to Holland from O'Holohan (Irish: Ó hUllacháin) after moving down from their original territory of County Offaly.[1] In earlier times, they, along with the O'Hennessy were chiefs of Clan Colgan and descended from the Laigin.
He was brought up in Huntingdon and was already trying to recruit new members to the National Front while a student at Cambridgeshire College of Art and Technology. He then went to Leicester Polytechnic to study History and to bolster support for the already-established Young National Front Student Organisation.[2]
Political activism
Official National Front
After his studies Holland became closely associated with the Political Soldier wing of the party. One of the party's main writers in a time when their ideology was shifting, he contributed regularly not only to the party journal Nationalism Today, but was also co-editor of Rising, a fascist journal that was independent of the NF and drew heavily from Julius Evola and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu.[3] Holland became one of the leading lights on the Political Soldier wing of the party when his pamphlet The Political Soldier was published in 1984. Along with Nick Griffin and Patrick Harrington he became effective joint leader of the Official National Front following the resignation of Andrew Brons from overall leadership in 1984. In 1988 the three travelled to Libya on a fund-raising trip as an official representatives of the NF, although in the end they were given only copies of The Green Book.[4]
International Third Position
In 1989 Holland broke with Patrick Harrington and joined Michael Fishwick in following Nick Griffin and Roberto Fiore into the International Third Position (ITP) after Harrington had contacted The jewish Chronicle with regards to "opening dialogue".[5] Holland injected his sympathies for anti-Zionist groups, as part of his fascist philosophy, into the ITP. He supported the ideas of Muammar Gaddafi and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had previously featured on a cover of National Front News.
Holland's last public appearance was at a Swedish fascist convention in 2002 (hosted by Nationaldemokratisk Ungdom, the youth wing of the National Democrats). Since that time the ITP appears to have gravitated towards the European National Front, and Holland has retired from active involvement in politics, although his Political Soldier writings are still circulated among radical fascists.
Quotes
- I condemn the Western World’s Zionist-controlled media and the Marxist press for their attacks on the Iranian National Revolution led by Ayatollah Khomeini. Not for the first time, we find the reactionary ideologies of Capitalism and Communism standing shoulder to shoulder. What is it that has caused these ‘class enemies’ to unite? The answer is found permeating the Ayatollah’s speeches: “We will not allow the Superpowers to intervene in the destinies of our country, to intervene in our army, in our culture, or in our economy.” The Iranian administration’s philosophy is embodied in their slogan: ‘Neither East nor West’ – it is an affirmation that Iranian cultural identity and national independence will not be submissive to alien power blocs. It is a view of the world which rejects the crass materialism and despiritualization of Yankee imperialism on the one hand and the exploitative brutality and tyranny of Soviet Communism on the other. It is the Iranian National Revolution. – in: "Nationalism Today", May 1984