Udo Ulfkotte

Udo Ulfkotte
Ulfkotte at a Pegida demonstration, p2015
Born (1960-01-20)20 January 1960
Lippstadt, West Germany
Died 13 January 2017(2017-01-13) (aged 56)
Nationality German
Occupation Journalist

Udo Ulfkotte (20 January 1960 – 13 January 2017) was a German journalist who maintained that journalists (including himself) and leading newspapers published material that had been fed to them, or bought, by the CIA and other Western intelligence and propaganda agencies.[1] He was an assistant editor for a German main daily newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) for several years until 2003.[2] Between 1997 and his death he published a dozen books, including a number with right-wing populist,[3] [4] Islamophobic[5] and conspiracy theory[6] themes.

Career

Ulfkotte studied jurisprudence and politics in Freiburg and London. Between 1986 and 1998 Ulfkotte lived predominantly in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Jordan.[7][8]

Ulfkotte was on the staff of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation from 1999 to 2003.[9] He won the civic prize of the Annette Barthelt Foundation in 2003.[10]

Ulfkotte published a magazine called Whistleblower, reporting on topics not covered by the German media.

Ulfkotte was born into a Christian family, but by the age of 21, he abandoned Christianity and became an atheist. While living in Herat, Afghanistan, he converted to Islam. He later returned to Christianity. Ulfkotte had no children.

Political activism

After his departure from FAZ in 2003, Ulfkotte became known for his conspiracy theories, for instance claiming on his Kopp Verlag blog that Barack Obama ordered the burning of bibles,[11] that African sportsmen would "slaughter whites" if allowed in to Germany,[12] or that Muslims were waging "fecal jihad" against Europe.[6]

Ulfkotte was involved in the far right Pro Germany Citizens' Movement.[13] In June 2007, he signed the anti-Islam organisation Bundesverband der Bürgerbewegungen (BDB)'s "Wertheimer Appell" against the "creeping Islamisation" of Germany.[13] The BDB merged with Ulfkotte's Pax Europa[5] organisation to form Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa, but Ulfkotte left this in 2008 after an internal dispute.[13] Pax Europa was affiliated to the anti-Muslim Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) alliance and approached the far-right Belgian party Vlaams Belang (VB) for their assistance.[14] It worked with them to organise an anti-Islamic 9/11 anniversary march in Brussels in 2007, but mayor Freddy Thielemans refused to licence it and it was eventually cancelled, leading to a split between Ulfkotte and SIOE.[14]

Ulfkotte had planned to run for the Hamburg local elections in 2008, as number two on the Centre Party's list,[15] but later withdrew in June/July 2007. In July 2007, Ulfkotte announced he would found a new national party,[5] but this effort failed.[16]

Ulfkotte was a speaker at rallies of the right-wing anti-Islam Pegida movement[17] and the right-wing party AfD.[18]

Journalists for Hire

In 2014, Ulfkotte published the book Gekaufte Journalisten (German Bought Journalists), in which he stated that the CIA and other secret services pay money to journalists to report stories in a certain light. According to Ulfkotte, the CIA and German intelligence (BND) bribe journalists in Germany to write pro-NATO propaganda articles, and it is well understood that one may lose their media job if they fail to comply with the pro-Western agenda.[19] Der Spiegel noted that "Ulfkotte’s book was published by Kopp, a melting pot for conspiracy theorists. Kopp publishes works by ufologists, and by authors who claim the Americans destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center themselves in 2001... Ulfkotte’s critics see the book as a vendetta against the FAZ, which he left on bad terms."[20]

On May 15, 2017 Next Revelation Press, an imprint of US-Canadian-based publisher Tayen Lane, released the English version of Bought Journalists, under the title, Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys the News. James F. Tracy wrote on the globalresearch.ca conspiracy theory website that this English translation appears to have been suppressed throughout North America and Europe, that Tayen Lane has since removed any reference to the title from its website, and that, correspondingly, Amazon.com (per 31 July 2017) indicates the title is “currently unavailable,” with opportunities to purchase from independent sellers offering used copies for no less than $1309.09. The book’s subject matter and unexplained disappearance from the marketplace suggest that powerful entities are seeking to prevent its circulation, according to Tracy. Tracy also cites Ulfkotte saying the book "was almost completely ignored by mainstream German news media",[21] although Gekaufte Journalisten sold more than 120,000 copies, lingered on the Der Spiegel bestseller list for 18 weeks, and was reviewed (and ridiculed) in Der Spiegel[22] by Jan Fleischhauer who in June 2015 also wrote a portrait of Ulfkotte which was republished in January 2017.[23]

Death

Ulfkotte died from a heart attack on 13 January 2017 at the age of 56.[24]

Works

These works are all written in German. English translations of the titles are included here.

  • Journalists for Hire: How the CIA Buys the News Next Revelation Press (May 15, 2017), ISBN 1944505458, ISBN 978-1944505455
  • Holy War in Europe. Eichborn, Frankfurt/Main, 2007, ISBN 3-8218-5577-0
  • The War in the Dark. The True Power of the Secret Services. Eichborn, Frankfurt/Main, 2006, ISBN 3-8218-5578-9
  • The War in our Cities. As Radical Islamics Infiltrate Germany. Eichborn, Frankfurt/Main 2003, ISBN 3-596-16340-4
  • Restaurant economics. Goldmann, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-442-15125-2
  • Classified Material Federal Intelligence Service. Koehler und Amelang, Munich, Berlin 1997, ISBN 3-7338-0214-4
  • Over work and Expenditure for Paperback. Heyne, Munich updated 1998, ISBN 3-453-14143-1
  • Prophets of the Terror. The Secret Network of the Islamics. Goldmann, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-442-15196-1
  • Journalists Lie in Such a Way. The Fight for Ratios and Editions. Bertelsmann, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-570-00199-7
  • Gene Code J. Novel, Eichborn, Frankfurt/Main, 2001, ISBN 3-8218-0860-8
  • Market Place of the Thieves. Bertelsmann, Munich, 1999, ISBN 3-570-00198-9
  • Boundless Criminality. What politics and mass media keep silent about the crimes committed by migrants. Bertelsmann, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-570-00200-4

References

  1. ↑ Rechtspopulismus: Umstrittener Publizist Udo Ulfkotte ist tot in: Spiegel Online, 14 January 2017
  2. ↑ "Google Übersetzer". Translate.google.de. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  3. ↑ Philip Oltermann "Angela Merkel and the revival of the sick man of Europe" The Guardian 18 September 2015: "rightwing firebrand Udo Ulfkotte [author of] Mecca Germany: The Silent Islamisation"
  4. ↑ Patricia Anne Simpson, Helga Druxes, Digital Media Strategies of the Far Right in Europe and the United States, Lexington Books, 6 May 2015 p.125: "Udo Ulfkotte and Eva Herman... now promote right populist esoteric views"
  5. 1 2 3 Cas Mudde The Populist Radical Right: A Reader, Taylor & Francis, 4 Oct 2016, p.121
  6. 1 2 "The End of Tolerance? Anti-Muslim Movement Rattles Germany" Der Spiegel December 21, 2014
  7. ↑ "'German Wilders' attacks Islam - radionetherlands.nl". Radionetherlands.nl. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  8. ↑ Ulfkotte, Dr. Udo. "Download - Homepage Dr. Udo Ulfkotte". Ulfkotte.de. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  9. ↑ "Neoconservative project author Ulfkotte plans anti-Islamic party". Translate.google.de. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  10. ↑ "Staatspreis". Annette-barthelt-stiftung.de. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  11. ↑ "Kopp". info.kopp-verlag.de. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  12. ↑ "Kopp". info.kopp-verlag.de. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  13. 1 2 3 Humayun Ansari, Farid Hafez, From the Far Right to the Mainstream: Islamophobia in Party Politics and the Media, Campus Verlag, 2012, pp.39-40
  14. 1 2 Khaled Diab "Villains of the pax", Guardian 11 September 2007
  15. ↑ "hamburg kompakt". Taz.de. 23 April 2007. p. 24. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  16. ↑ Stefan Weidner "Why the German Media are Courting the Anti-Islam Movement" Qantara 2010
  17. ↑ David Crossland "Germany slams anti-Islam group as it draws thousands onto streets" The National January 6, 2015: "One of the speakers at the rally, Udo Ulfkotte, a journalist, complained about the 'Islamisation of our cemeteries', demanded legislation to repatriate criminal foreigners and railed against the influx of refugees saying: 'I only see strong young men.'"
  18. ↑ Madeleine Reckmann "Ulfkotte droht auf Facebook" Frankfurter Rundschau 29.03.2015
  19. ↑ "Periodistas alemanes comprados". El Mundo. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  20. ↑ Markus Brauck et al "Germans Lose Faith in the Fourth Estate" Der Spiegel February 24, 2016
  21. ↑ "English Translation of Udo Ulfkotte's "Bought Journalists" Suppressed?". Global Research. 31 July 2017.
  22. ↑ "Jan Fleischhauer Der Schwarze Kanal, Gekaufte Journalisten". Spiegel Online (in German). 29 December 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  23. ↑ "Zum Tod von Udo Ulfkotte, Mann im Wald". Spiegel Online (in German). 14 January 2017. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  24. ↑ "Udo Ulfkotte: Umstrittener Publizist und ehemaliger FAZ-Journalist ist tot". Spiegel Online (in German). 14 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
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