Former foreign secretary praises Demos report into rise of far right in Europe
David Miliband has joined those warning about the rise of a new wave of far-right nationalist parties across Europe, saying that it is important to keep track of their ascent.
In a rare foray into international politics since his defeat for the Labour party leadership 14 months ago, the former foreign secretary praised a report by the thinktank Demos which revealed a mass of mainly young, male Facebook-based supporters of such groups, who often held vehemently antagonistic views about immigrants and, in particular, Muslims.
"This report is an important antidote to any complacency about rightwing extremism," Miliband told the Guardian. "It shows that discontent with globalisation can fuel the politics of the right as well as the left. The Occupy protests have captured media attention but away from the public eye the hard right is also organising. The only way to defend the gains of globalisation is to understand its most dangerous critics, and this report helps us to do so."
The rise of such parties, which now hold significant parliamentary blocs in well over half a dozen western European countries, from Italy to the Netherlands to Scandinavia, has a particularly personal element for Miliband, whose Jewish immigrant parents fled Nazi Europe.
The Demos report sampled the views of more than 10,000 people who support such parties and street movements on Facebook pages, which for the 24 groups had a combined total of almost 450,000 mainly young fans. The breadth of such hard-right views means they are in danger of "becoming mainstream", warned Emine Bozkurt, a Dutch MEP of Turkish descent who heads the European parliament's anti-racism forum.
She said: "In some countries, for example the Netherlands, it even becomes the majority because mainstream right or centre-right parties are adopting the rhetoric of nationalist-populist parties in an attempt to attract their voters."
Observer
Showing posts with label nationalist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nationalist. Show all posts
November 07, 2011
Far right on rise in Europe, says report
Study by Demos thinktank reveals thousands of self-declared followers of hardline nationalist parties and groups
The far right is on the rise across Europe as a new generation of young, web-based supporters embrace hardline nationalist and anti-immigrant groups, a study has revealed ahead of a meeting of politicians and academics in Brussels to examine the phenomenon.
Research by the British thinktank Demos for the first time examines attitudes among supporters of the far right online. Using advertisements on Facebook group pages, they persuaded more than 10,000 followers of 14 parties and street organisations in 11 countries to fill in detailed questionnaires.
The study reveals a continent-wide spread of hardline nationalist sentiment among the young, mainly men. Deeply cynical about their own governments and the EU, their generalised fear about the future is focused on cultural identity, with immigration – particularly a perceived spread of Islamic influence – a concern.
"We're at a crossroads in European history," said Emine Bozkurt, a Dutch MEP who heads the anti-racism lobby at the European parliament. "In five years' time we will either see an increase in the forces of hatred and division in society, including ultra-nationalism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism, or we will be able to fight this horrific tendency."
The report comes just over three months after Anders Breivik, a supporter of hard right groups, shot dead 69 people at youth camp near Oslo. While he was disowned by the parties, police examination of his contacts highlighted the Europe-wide online discussion of anti-immigrant and nationalist ideas.
Data in the study was mainly collected in July and August, before the worsening of the eurozone crisis. The report highlights the prevalence of anti-immigrant feeling, especially suspicion of Muslims. "As antisemitism was a unifying factor for far-right parties in the 1910s, 20s and 30s, Islamophobia has become the unifying factor in the early decades of the 21st century," said Thomas Klau from the European Council on Foreign Relations, who will speak at Monday's conference.
Parties touting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic ideas have spread beyond established strongholds in France, Italy and Austria to the traditionally liberal Netherlands and Scandinavia, and now have significant parliamentary blocs in eight countries. Other nations have seen the rise of nationalist street movements like the English Defence League (EDL). But, experts say, polling booths and demos are only part of the picture: online, a new generation is following these organisations and swapping ideas, particularly through Facebook. For most parties the numbers online are significantly bigger than their formal membership.
The phenomenon is sometimes difficult to pin down given the guises under which such groups operate. At one end are parties like France's National Front, a significant force in the country's politics for 25 years and seen as a realistic challenger in next year's presidential election. At the other are semi-organised street movements like the EDL, which struggles to muster more than a few hundred supporters for occasional demonstrations, or France's Muslim-baiting Bloc Indentitaire, best known for serving a pork-based "identity soup" to homeless people.
Others still take an almost pick-and-mix approach to ideology; a number of the Scandinavian parties which have flourished in recent years combine decidedly left-leaning views on welfare with vehement opposition to all forms of multiculturalism.
Youth, Demos found, was a common factor. Facebook's own advertising tool let Demos crunch data from almost 450,000 supporters of the 14 organisations. Almost two-thirds were aged under 30, against half of Facebook users overall. Threequarters were male, and more likely than average to be unemployed.
The separate anonymous surveys showed a repeated focus on immigration, specifically a perceived threat from Muslim populations. This rose with younger supporters, contrary to most previous surveys which found greater opposition to immigration among older people. An open-ended question about what first drew respondents to the parties saw Islam and immigration listed far more often than economic worries. Answers were sometimes crude – "The foreigners are slowly suffocating our lovely country. They have all these children and raise them so badly," went one from a supporter of the Danish People's Party. Others argued that Islam is simply antithetical to a liberal democracy, a view espoused most vocally by Geert Wilders, the Dutch leader of the Party for Freedom, which only six years after it was founded is the third-biggest force in the country's parliament.
This is a "key point" for the new populist-nationalists, said Matthew Goodwin from Nottingham University, an expert on the far right. "As an appeal to voters, it marks a very significant departure from the old, toxic far-right like the BNP. What some parties are trying to do is frame opposition to immigration in a way that is acceptable to large numbers of people. Voters now are turned off by crude, blatant racism – we know that from a series of surveys and polls.
"[These groups are] saying to voters: it's not racist to oppose these groups if you're doing it from the point of view of defending your domestic traditions. This is the reason why people like Geert Wilders have not only attracted a lot of support but have generated allies in the mainstream political establishment and the media."
While the poll shows economics playing a minimal role, analysts believe the eurozone crisis is likely to boost recruitment to anti-EU populist parties which are keen to play up national divisions. "Why do the Austrians, as well as the Germans or the Dutch, constantly have to pay for the bottomless pit of the southern European countries?" asked Heinz-Christian Strache, head of the Freedom Party of Austria, once led by the late Jörg Haider. Such parties have well over doubled their MPs around western Europe in a decade. "What we have seen over the past five years is the emergence of parties in countries which were traditionally seen as immune to the trend – the Sweden Democrats, the True Finns, the resurgence of support for the radical right in the Netherlands, and our own experience with the EDL," said Goodwin.
The phenomenon was now far beyond a mere protest vote, he said, with many supporters expressing worries about national identity thus far largely ignored by mainstream parties.
Gavan Titley, an expert on the politics of racism in Europe and co-author of the recent book The Crises of Multiculturalism, said these mainstream politicians had another responsibility for the rise of the new groups, by too readily adopting casual Islamophobia.
"The language and attitudes of many mainstream parties across Europe during the 'war on terror', especially in its early years, laid the groundwork for much of the language and justifications that these groups are now using around the whole idea of defending liberal values – from gender to freedom of speech," he said.
"Racist strategies constantly adapt to political conditions, and seek new sets of values, language and arguments to make claims to political legitimacy. Over the past decade, Muslim populations around Europe, whatever their backgrounds, have been represented as the enemy within or at least as legitimately under suspicion. It is this very mainstream political repertoire that newer movements have appropriated."
Jamie Bartlett of Demos, the principal author of the report, said it was vital to track the spread of such attitudes among the new generation of online activists far more numerous than formal membership of such parties. "There are hundreds of thousands of them across Europe. They are disillusioned with mainstream politics and European political institutions and worried about the erosion of their cultural and national identity, and are turning to populist movements, who they feel speak to these concerns.
"These activists are largely out of sight of mainstream politicians, but they are motivated, active, and growing in size. Politicians across the continent need to sit up, listen and respond."
Voting trends
As a political party, having tens of thousands of online supporters is one thing but translating these into actual votes can be quite another. However, the Demos survey found that 67% of the Facebook fans of the nationalist-populist groups which put up candidates – some are street movements only – said they had voted for them at the most recent election.
Further analysis found that female supporters were more likely to turn support into a vote, as were those who were employed.
Observer
The far right is on the rise across Europe as a new generation of young, web-based supporters embrace hardline nationalist and anti-immigrant groups, a study has revealed ahead of a meeting of politicians and academics in Brussels to examine the phenomenon.
Research by the British thinktank Demos for the first time examines attitudes among supporters of the far right online. Using advertisements on Facebook group pages, they persuaded more than 10,000 followers of 14 parties and street organisations in 11 countries to fill in detailed questionnaires.
The study reveals a continent-wide spread of hardline nationalist sentiment among the young, mainly men. Deeply cynical about their own governments and the EU, their generalised fear about the future is focused on cultural identity, with immigration – particularly a perceived spread of Islamic influence – a concern.
"We're at a crossroads in European history," said Emine Bozkurt, a Dutch MEP who heads the anti-racism lobby at the European parliament. "In five years' time we will either see an increase in the forces of hatred and division in society, including ultra-nationalism, xenophobia, Islamophobia and antisemitism, or we will be able to fight this horrific tendency."
The report comes just over three months after Anders Breivik, a supporter of hard right groups, shot dead 69 people at youth camp near Oslo. While he was disowned by the parties, police examination of his contacts highlighted the Europe-wide online discussion of anti-immigrant and nationalist ideas.
Data in the study was mainly collected in July and August, before the worsening of the eurozone crisis. The report highlights the prevalence of anti-immigrant feeling, especially suspicion of Muslims. "As antisemitism was a unifying factor for far-right parties in the 1910s, 20s and 30s, Islamophobia has become the unifying factor in the early decades of the 21st century," said Thomas Klau from the European Council on Foreign Relations, who will speak at Monday's conference.
Parties touting anti-immigrant and Islamophobic ideas have spread beyond established strongholds in France, Italy and Austria to the traditionally liberal Netherlands and Scandinavia, and now have significant parliamentary blocs in eight countries. Other nations have seen the rise of nationalist street movements like the English Defence League (EDL). But, experts say, polling booths and demos are only part of the picture: online, a new generation is following these organisations and swapping ideas, particularly through Facebook. For most parties the numbers online are significantly bigger than their formal membership.
The phenomenon is sometimes difficult to pin down given the guises under which such groups operate. At one end are parties like France's National Front, a significant force in the country's politics for 25 years and seen as a realistic challenger in next year's presidential election. At the other are semi-organised street movements like the EDL, which struggles to muster more than a few hundred supporters for occasional demonstrations, or France's Muslim-baiting Bloc Indentitaire, best known for serving a pork-based "identity soup" to homeless people.
Others still take an almost pick-and-mix approach to ideology; a number of the Scandinavian parties which have flourished in recent years combine decidedly left-leaning views on welfare with vehement opposition to all forms of multiculturalism.
Youth, Demos found, was a common factor. Facebook's own advertising tool let Demos crunch data from almost 450,000 supporters of the 14 organisations. Almost two-thirds were aged under 30, against half of Facebook users overall. Threequarters were male, and more likely than average to be unemployed.
The separate anonymous surveys showed a repeated focus on immigration, specifically a perceived threat from Muslim populations. This rose with younger supporters, contrary to most previous surveys which found greater opposition to immigration among older people. An open-ended question about what first drew respondents to the parties saw Islam and immigration listed far more often than economic worries. Answers were sometimes crude – "The foreigners are slowly suffocating our lovely country. They have all these children and raise them so badly," went one from a supporter of the Danish People's Party. Others argued that Islam is simply antithetical to a liberal democracy, a view espoused most vocally by Geert Wilders, the Dutch leader of the Party for Freedom, which only six years after it was founded is the third-biggest force in the country's parliament.
This is a "key point" for the new populist-nationalists, said Matthew Goodwin from Nottingham University, an expert on the far right. "As an appeal to voters, it marks a very significant departure from the old, toxic far-right like the BNP. What some parties are trying to do is frame opposition to immigration in a way that is acceptable to large numbers of people. Voters now are turned off by crude, blatant racism – we know that from a series of surveys and polls.
"[These groups are] saying to voters: it's not racist to oppose these groups if you're doing it from the point of view of defending your domestic traditions. This is the reason why people like Geert Wilders have not only attracted a lot of support but have generated allies in the mainstream political establishment and the media."
While the poll shows economics playing a minimal role, analysts believe the eurozone crisis is likely to boost recruitment to anti-EU populist parties which are keen to play up national divisions. "Why do the Austrians, as well as the Germans or the Dutch, constantly have to pay for the bottomless pit of the southern European countries?" asked Heinz-Christian Strache, head of the Freedom Party of Austria, once led by the late Jörg Haider. Such parties have well over doubled their MPs around western Europe in a decade. "What we have seen over the past five years is the emergence of parties in countries which were traditionally seen as immune to the trend – the Sweden Democrats, the True Finns, the resurgence of support for the radical right in the Netherlands, and our own experience with the EDL," said Goodwin.
The phenomenon was now far beyond a mere protest vote, he said, with many supporters expressing worries about national identity thus far largely ignored by mainstream parties.
Gavan Titley, an expert on the politics of racism in Europe and co-author of the recent book The Crises of Multiculturalism, said these mainstream politicians had another responsibility for the rise of the new groups, by too readily adopting casual Islamophobia.
"The language and attitudes of many mainstream parties across Europe during the 'war on terror', especially in its early years, laid the groundwork for much of the language and justifications that these groups are now using around the whole idea of defending liberal values – from gender to freedom of speech," he said.
"Racist strategies constantly adapt to political conditions, and seek new sets of values, language and arguments to make claims to political legitimacy. Over the past decade, Muslim populations around Europe, whatever their backgrounds, have been represented as the enemy within or at least as legitimately under suspicion. It is this very mainstream political repertoire that newer movements have appropriated."
Jamie Bartlett of Demos, the principal author of the report, said it was vital to track the spread of such attitudes among the new generation of online activists far more numerous than formal membership of such parties. "There are hundreds of thousands of them across Europe. They are disillusioned with mainstream politics and European political institutions and worried about the erosion of their cultural and national identity, and are turning to populist movements, who they feel speak to these concerns.
"These activists are largely out of sight of mainstream politicians, but they are motivated, active, and growing in size. Politicians across the continent need to sit up, listen and respond."
Voting trends
As a political party, having tens of thousands of online supporters is one thing but translating these into actual votes can be quite another. However, the Demos survey found that 67% of the Facebook fans of the nationalist-populist groups which put up candidates – some are street movements only – said they had voted for them at the most recent election.
Further analysis found that female supporters were more likely to turn support into a vote, as were those who were employed.
Observer
October 05, 2009
Cameron's unsavoury European ally
The Polish MEP Michał Kamiński is an antisemite, homophobe and nationalist. But David Cameron is courting him
Michał Kamiński, the Polish MEP and leader of the European Conservative and Reformist grouping in the European parliament, has been invited to attend the Conservative party conference. His opposition to the Lisbon treaty has led British Conservative MEPs to view him, and the Law and Order Party (PiS) that he represents, as natural allies.
But the picture is far from simple. In eastern Europe the road from communism to democracy has been a difficult one. While it has brought freedom, that freedom has at times meant the freedom to hate. Kamiński has impeccable anti-communist credentials. He has experience both as a parliamentarian and adviser to the Polish president. He has an equally strong record as an antisemite, homophobe and Polish nationalist. His politics fit as easily into the Polish as they do into the European context. He is at ease with both constituencies.
In the last years of communism in the 1980s, Kamiński belonged to the Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski (National Rebirth of Poland – NOP), a youth nationalist organisation that took as its inspiration the ideology of Roman Dmowski. At the same time, NOP declared its ideological proximity to the Falanga, a fascist youth organisation established under the umbrella of the National Democratic movement in the late 1930s. Dmowski and the Falanga were committed to a Polish state on racial principles, where the Jewish community would not have a place.
During the first years after the fall of communism, NOP openly proclaimed its determination to establish a national state. In its fight against the perceived evils of western influence, NOP mobilised skinhead groups that became notorious for attacking leftwing parties and the opposition. In the 1990s Kamiński moved on to became a deputy for the Nationalist Christian ZChN party. More recently, he has assumed the role of presidential advisor, since he is believed to be a smooth and well-connected operator in the Polish and European political scenes.
Fortunately for those who are trying to understand the man, he has left a good record of his political activism. A consistent element of his pronouncements has been his desire to defend Poland's interests against its enemies and critics. In 2001, when the leftwing president Aleksander Kwaśniewski made an official apology for atrocities committed by Poles against Jews in the town of Jedwabne in 1941, Kamiński made a public declaration in defence of those who felt that Poles had nothing to feel ashamed of. Likewise, his electoral call for "Poland for Poles" could have only one meaning in the Polish context: that non-Catholics had no place in post-communist Poland. In 2005, Kamiński publicly used a particularly vulgar phrase to describe homosexuals when interviewed on television about the then mayor of Warsaw's refusal to give permission for a gay pride march.
When Kamiński wants to be seen as a European statesman, his earlier pronouncements are quoted against him. His response has been to refuse to engage with his critics. The reason for this disdain lies in his confidence that what he has said – and the values to which he very likely still subscribes – cannot injure his political base in Poland. In a country where no politician, clergyman or activist has been prosecuted for antisemitic pronouncements, even though these are neither few nor discreet, what Kamiński has to say on the Jewish question is widely condoned. To the horror of those Poles who had hoped for a process of reconciliation between Jews and non-Jews after the debates on Jedwabne, an attempt was made last year to prosecute Jan Gross, the author of a book about Jedwabne and a more recent book on antisemitism after the war, for slandering Poland.
Tolerance of sexual diversity, meanwhile, is not something most Poles understand or want to understand. Since sexuality is seen through the prism of the Polish woman's duty to bear children for the nation, the rights of individuals and pleas for tolerance fall on deaf ears. Kamiński's contempt for homosexuals is matched by the contempt of the ruling Polish centre-right for women and their right to assert control over their bodies.
If Kamiński is made to feel politically comfortable in Strasbourg and at the Conservative party conference, it will confirm his conviction that good use can be made of him and the Polish PiS grouping because of their opposition to the Lisbon treaty. Kamiński's friends have previously threatened to refuse to co-operate with other conservatives when Kamiński was not elected as vice-president of the European parliament for the Conservative and Reformist bloc. If they withdrew now, the bloc would be very close to dissolution, because parliamentary rules require a grouping to bring together MEPs from 7 countries.
Kamiński's previous visit to the United Kingdom was in 1999, when he led a delegation to comfort General Pinochet, pending his extradition to Spain. Kamiński gave the ailing general a replica of the Black Madonna icon. Both men were apparently deeply moved and Kamiński declared this to be the most uplifting moment of his entire life. One wonders if his meeting with David Cameron will have the same impact.
Comment is free
Michał Kamiński, the Polish MEP and leader of the European Conservative and Reformist grouping in the European parliament, has been invited to attend the Conservative party conference. His opposition to the Lisbon treaty has led British Conservative MEPs to view him, and the Law and Order Party (PiS) that he represents, as natural allies.
But the picture is far from simple. In eastern Europe the road from communism to democracy has been a difficult one. While it has brought freedom, that freedom has at times meant the freedom to hate. Kamiński has impeccable anti-communist credentials. He has experience both as a parliamentarian and adviser to the Polish president. He has an equally strong record as an antisemite, homophobe and Polish nationalist. His politics fit as easily into the Polish as they do into the European context. He is at ease with both constituencies.
In the last years of communism in the 1980s, Kamiński belonged to the Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski (National Rebirth of Poland – NOP), a youth nationalist organisation that took as its inspiration the ideology of Roman Dmowski. At the same time, NOP declared its ideological proximity to the Falanga, a fascist youth organisation established under the umbrella of the National Democratic movement in the late 1930s. Dmowski and the Falanga were committed to a Polish state on racial principles, where the Jewish community would not have a place.
During the first years after the fall of communism, NOP openly proclaimed its determination to establish a national state. In its fight against the perceived evils of western influence, NOP mobilised skinhead groups that became notorious for attacking leftwing parties and the opposition. In the 1990s Kamiński moved on to became a deputy for the Nationalist Christian ZChN party. More recently, he has assumed the role of presidential advisor, since he is believed to be a smooth and well-connected operator in the Polish and European political scenes.
Fortunately for those who are trying to understand the man, he has left a good record of his political activism. A consistent element of his pronouncements has been his desire to defend Poland's interests against its enemies and critics. In 2001, when the leftwing president Aleksander Kwaśniewski made an official apology for atrocities committed by Poles against Jews in the town of Jedwabne in 1941, Kamiński made a public declaration in defence of those who felt that Poles had nothing to feel ashamed of. Likewise, his electoral call for "Poland for Poles" could have only one meaning in the Polish context: that non-Catholics had no place in post-communist Poland. In 2005, Kamiński publicly used a particularly vulgar phrase to describe homosexuals when interviewed on television about the then mayor of Warsaw's refusal to give permission for a gay pride march.
When Kamiński wants to be seen as a European statesman, his earlier pronouncements are quoted against him. His response has been to refuse to engage with his critics. The reason for this disdain lies in his confidence that what he has said – and the values to which he very likely still subscribes – cannot injure his political base in Poland. In a country where no politician, clergyman or activist has been prosecuted for antisemitic pronouncements, even though these are neither few nor discreet, what Kamiński has to say on the Jewish question is widely condoned. To the horror of those Poles who had hoped for a process of reconciliation between Jews and non-Jews after the debates on Jedwabne, an attempt was made last year to prosecute Jan Gross, the author of a book about Jedwabne and a more recent book on antisemitism after the war, for slandering Poland.
Tolerance of sexual diversity, meanwhile, is not something most Poles understand or want to understand. Since sexuality is seen through the prism of the Polish woman's duty to bear children for the nation, the rights of individuals and pleas for tolerance fall on deaf ears. Kamiński's contempt for homosexuals is matched by the contempt of the ruling Polish centre-right for women and their right to assert control over their bodies.
If Kamiński is made to feel politically comfortable in Strasbourg and at the Conservative party conference, it will confirm his conviction that good use can be made of him and the Polish PiS grouping because of their opposition to the Lisbon treaty. Kamiński's friends have previously threatened to refuse to co-operate with other conservatives when Kamiński was not elected as vice-president of the European parliament for the Conservative and Reformist bloc. If they withdrew now, the bloc would be very close to dissolution, because parliamentary rules require a grouping to bring together MEPs from 7 countries.
Kamiński's previous visit to the United Kingdom was in 1999, when he led a delegation to comfort General Pinochet, pending his extradition to Spain. Kamiński gave the ailing general a replica of the Black Madonna icon. Both men were apparently deeply moved and Kamiński declared this to be the most uplifting moment of his entire life. One wonders if his meeting with David Cameron will have the same impact.
Comment is free
Labels:
anti-semitic,
David Cameron,
homophobic,
Michal Kaminski,
nationalist
August 19, 2007
Czech watchdog to monitor hate speech
Grant to go toward scanning Web sites for racist online activity
The Czech Helsinki Committee, a human rights watchdog, is calling on Internet host companies here and in the United States to remove Czech neo-Nazi Web sites that promote racist views.
A growing number of Czech-language Internet pages promote discrimination and racism, according to the nonprofit group, which recently received a 50,000 euro ($69,000/1.4 million Kč) grant from the European Economic Association to monitor such sites for discriminatory content.
In addition, Czech Helsinki Committee workers will ask Internet host companies to develop a common code of conduct to govern such sites, said František Valeš, a lawyer with the group.
One apparent neo-Nazi site calls for a den rasy, or “day of race.” A blog on the National Idea Web site rallies against feminism, calling it a “dead-end street.” An article on the Národní čest, or “national honor,” site claims that “nothing but the nation” has a “right to exist.”
Valeš said the sites are disturbing, but not illegal.
“They do not openly say that only white Czechs have a right to exist,” Valeš said. “It’s hidden between the lines.”
Unregulated Web
People found guilty of racially motivated crimes can be sentenced up to two years in jail, said Zuzana Kuncová, a spokeswoman for the Justice Ministry. Such crimes include speaking, writing or behaving in such a way as to degrade, intimidate or incite violence or prejudice against a person or a group of people based on their nationality, language, race, religion or class, Kuncová said.
The law mentions groups using TV, press, movies and radio — but not the Internet — to spread their messages.
And since corporations don’t have the same legal liability as individuals do under the national law on hate crimes, Internet host companies would be prosecuted administratively, meaning they would probably receive a fine if found guilty, she said. Kuncová did not specify a fine amount.
Miroslav Novotný, who works on the Autonomní nacionalisté Web site, said his group is aware of the laws and “we try to provoke as little as possible.” The Autonomní nacionalisté site name was provided by the Czech Helsinki Committee as one being monitored.
“No nationalistic or fascist ideologies are promoted on the site. You won’t find any oaths to the Third Reich or similar material, but only reports and remarks about the current situation,” Novotný said. “Everything is simply uncensored information, which no one might like, but censorship and the breaching of freedom of speech are unacceptable.”
At Národní korporativismus, another site being monitored by the rights group, there is discussion about “minorities,” although no particular group is mentioned.
“We respect the laws of our nation,” said Jiří Petřivalský, who is affiliated with the site. “We have never been accused of any [racist] statements, whether it be the spoken word or those published on our Web site.”
An estimated 7,000 right- and left-wing extremists belong to hate groups across the country, according to Petr Vorlíček, an Interior Ministry spokesman. While the numbers are constantly changing, officials believe about 600 people are involved in neo-Nazi activity.
Some Czech neo-Nazi sites are posted with U.S. Web providers. Since people who work at U.S. Internet service providers do not usually speak Czech, they may not be aware of inflammatory content, Valeš said.
Free speech issues
In general, Web content in the United States is protected as free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, large Internet companies such as eBay and Google have in the past taken steps to remove offensive sites, including ones that sold Nazi memorabilia.
Steadfast Networks, an Internet provider in Chicago that hosts a site being monitored by the Czech Helsinki Committee, said it does not make judgments about content.
“If you can find any content that is illegal or in violation of trademark or copyright, you can submit appropriate paperwork to have it removed,” Kevin Stange, a spokesman for the site, said in an e-mail response to a question about monitoring such sites.
If Czech Web providers don’t comply with the committee’s requests, the watchdog group is ready to take cases to court, Valeš said, even though it is often hard to pin down a site’s creator or creators.
“Once charges are pressed, the sites do a disappearing act and their content is moved onto a new domain,” Valeš said.
In April, 27 European Union countries agreed to proposed new rules to combat racism and hate crimes, after six years of negotiation. The rules include jail sentences of up to three years for those who deny or trivialize genocides such as the mass killing of Jews during World War II.
Individual parliaments must still vet the rules, however. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy and Denmark were reluctant to agree to such EU laws, feeling they could supersede their own laws that guarantee freedom of expression.
Prague Post
The Czech Helsinki Committee, a human rights watchdog, is calling on Internet host companies here and in the United States to remove Czech neo-Nazi Web sites that promote racist views.
A growing number of Czech-language Internet pages promote discrimination and racism, according to the nonprofit group, which recently received a 50,000 euro ($69,000/1.4 million Kč) grant from the European Economic Association to monitor such sites for discriminatory content.
In addition, Czech Helsinki Committee workers will ask Internet host companies to develop a common code of conduct to govern such sites, said František Valeš, a lawyer with the group.
One apparent neo-Nazi site calls for a den rasy, or “day of race.” A blog on the National Idea Web site rallies against feminism, calling it a “dead-end street.” An article on the Národní čest, or “national honor,” site claims that “nothing but the nation” has a “right to exist.”
Valeš said the sites are disturbing, but not illegal.
“They do not openly say that only white Czechs have a right to exist,” Valeš said. “It’s hidden between the lines.”
Unregulated Web
People found guilty of racially motivated crimes can be sentenced up to two years in jail, said Zuzana Kuncová, a spokeswoman for the Justice Ministry. Such crimes include speaking, writing or behaving in such a way as to degrade, intimidate or incite violence or prejudice against a person or a group of people based on their nationality, language, race, religion or class, Kuncová said.
The law mentions groups using TV, press, movies and radio — but not the Internet — to spread their messages.
And since corporations don’t have the same legal liability as individuals do under the national law on hate crimes, Internet host companies would be prosecuted administratively, meaning they would probably receive a fine if found guilty, she said. Kuncová did not specify a fine amount.
Miroslav Novotný, who works on the Autonomní nacionalisté Web site, said his group is aware of the laws and “we try to provoke as little as possible.” The Autonomní nacionalisté site name was provided by the Czech Helsinki Committee as one being monitored.
“No nationalistic or fascist ideologies are promoted on the site. You won’t find any oaths to the Third Reich or similar material, but only reports and remarks about the current situation,” Novotný said. “Everything is simply uncensored information, which no one might like, but censorship and the breaching of freedom of speech are unacceptable.”
At Národní korporativismus, another site being monitored by the rights group, there is discussion about “minorities,” although no particular group is mentioned.
“We respect the laws of our nation,” said Jiří Petřivalský, who is affiliated with the site. “We have never been accused of any [racist] statements, whether it be the spoken word or those published on our Web site.”
An estimated 7,000 right- and left-wing extremists belong to hate groups across the country, according to Petr Vorlíček, an Interior Ministry spokesman. While the numbers are constantly changing, officials believe about 600 people are involved in neo-Nazi activity.
Some Czech neo-Nazi sites are posted with U.S. Web providers. Since people who work at U.S. Internet service providers do not usually speak Czech, they may not be aware of inflammatory content, Valeš said.
Free speech issues
In general, Web content in the United States is protected as free speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. However, large Internet companies such as eBay and Google have in the past taken steps to remove offensive sites, including ones that sold Nazi memorabilia.
Steadfast Networks, an Internet provider in Chicago that hosts a site being monitored by the Czech Helsinki Committee, said it does not make judgments about content.
“If you can find any content that is illegal or in violation of trademark or copyright, you can submit appropriate paperwork to have it removed,” Kevin Stange, a spokesman for the site, said in an e-mail response to a question about monitoring such sites.
If Czech Web providers don’t comply with the committee’s requests, the watchdog group is ready to take cases to court, Valeš said, even though it is often hard to pin down a site’s creator or creators.
“Once charges are pressed, the sites do a disappearing act and their content is moved onto a new domain,” Valeš said.
In April, 27 European Union countries agreed to proposed new rules to combat racism and hate crimes, after six years of negotiation. The rules include jail sentences of up to three years for those who deny or trivialize genocides such as the mass killing of Jews during World War II.
Individual parliaments must still vet the rules, however. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy and Denmark were reluctant to agree to such EU laws, feeling they could supersede their own laws that guarantee freedom of expression.
Prague Post
Labels:
fascist,
free speech,
hate-groups,
nationalist,
nazi,
neo-Nazi,
racist
May 09, 2007
Extreme nationalist elected speaker of Serbian parliament
· Acting PM deserts alliance of democratic forces
· Setback to EU hopes of pro-western government
Serbia lurched back towards the pariah status of the 1990s yesterday when the acting prime minister switched his support to an extreme nationalist, making Tomislav Nikolic the influential speaker of the Serbian parliament.
For the first time since Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown in 2000, the prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, ordered his MPs to vote for the senior figure in the extremist Serbian Radical Party, whose leader is a former warlord on trial at the tribunal in The Hague for war crimes.
The decision by Mr Kostunica to desert Serbia's pro-European Democrats in favour of anti-western nationalists who advocate an alliance with Russia and China and remain loyal to the legacy of the late authoritarian, Slobodan Milosevic, marked a watershed in the country's failing attempt to escape a disastrous last 15 years.
"Serbia faces new self-isolation, a drastic worsening of its relations with its neighbours, and hard conflicts," predicted the country's Social Democratic Union.
Mr Kostunica's decision to switch sides followed months of bad-tempered negotiations with the pro-western Democratic party over a new government coalition.
Although Mr Kostunica is acting prime minister, Serbia has been without a new government since elections last January. The bargaining collapsed at the weekend because Mr Kostunica, whose party came third in the ballot, insists on remaining prime minister and retaining control of the powerful security services and police.
His rival, President Boris Tadic, leader of the pro-European Democratic party, refused the terms and Mr Kostunica switched sides. If no agreement on a new government is reached by next week, there has to be new elections. The extremist Radicals are the biggest single party, but unable to form a government, and could emerge strengthened from a new election.
The drama in Belgrade comes as Serbia takes the chair of Europe's human rights body, the Council of Europe, with its parliament headed by a politician from a party led by Vojislav Seselj, the ex-warlord being tried in The Hague, and the security services sheltering the genocide suspect General Ratko Mladic.
"I am not a danger to Serbia or anyone else's children," said Mr Nikolic after a marathon parliamentary session that saw him elected speaker early yesterday.
Dusan Petrovic, the Democrats' parliamentary leader, said Mr Kostunica's decision to support the extremists marked a departure from the values of October 2000 when Milosevic was overthrown in Belgrade. The upheaval coincides with western efforts to establish independence for Kosovo, Serbia's southern province. Mr Nikolic has threatened violent resistance to Kosovo independence.
Last night the crisis was deepening with the democratic forces boycotting the election of other key parliamentary positions and committee chairs, meaning that all senior posts in the chamber could fall into the hands of extremists and nationalists.
The developments in Belgrade represent a severe setback to EU efforts to engineer a pro-western government in Serbia. "The election of an ultra-nationalist as Serbia's parliamentary speaker is a worrying sign," said the EU's enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn. On Monday, Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, said that President Tadic should gain control of the police and security services, seen as crucial to hopes of arresting Gen Mladic.
Guardian
· Setback to EU hopes of pro-western government
Serbia lurched back towards the pariah status of the 1990s yesterday when the acting prime minister switched his support to an extreme nationalist, making Tomislav Nikolic the influential speaker of the Serbian parliament.
For the first time since Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown in 2000, the prime minister, Vojislav Kostunica, ordered his MPs to vote for the senior figure in the extremist Serbian Radical Party, whose leader is a former warlord on trial at the tribunal in The Hague for war crimes.
The decision by Mr Kostunica to desert Serbia's pro-European Democrats in favour of anti-western nationalists who advocate an alliance with Russia and China and remain loyal to the legacy of the late authoritarian, Slobodan Milosevic, marked a watershed in the country's failing attempt to escape a disastrous last 15 years.
"Serbia faces new self-isolation, a drastic worsening of its relations with its neighbours, and hard conflicts," predicted the country's Social Democratic Union.
Mr Kostunica's decision to switch sides followed months of bad-tempered negotiations with the pro-western Democratic party over a new government coalition.
Although Mr Kostunica is acting prime minister, Serbia has been without a new government since elections last January. The bargaining collapsed at the weekend because Mr Kostunica, whose party came third in the ballot, insists on remaining prime minister and retaining control of the powerful security services and police.
His rival, President Boris Tadic, leader of the pro-European Democratic party, refused the terms and Mr Kostunica switched sides. If no agreement on a new government is reached by next week, there has to be new elections. The extremist Radicals are the biggest single party, but unable to form a government, and could emerge strengthened from a new election.
The drama in Belgrade comes as Serbia takes the chair of Europe's human rights body, the Council of Europe, with its parliament headed by a politician from a party led by Vojislav Seselj, the ex-warlord being tried in The Hague, and the security services sheltering the genocide suspect General Ratko Mladic.
"I am not a danger to Serbia or anyone else's children," said Mr Nikolic after a marathon parliamentary session that saw him elected speaker early yesterday.
Dusan Petrovic, the Democrats' parliamentary leader, said Mr Kostunica's decision to support the extremists marked a departure from the values of October 2000 when Milosevic was overthrown in Belgrade. The upheaval coincides with western efforts to establish independence for Kosovo, Serbia's southern province. Mr Nikolic has threatened violent resistance to Kosovo independence.
Last night the crisis was deepening with the democratic forces boycotting the election of other key parliamentary positions and committee chairs, meaning that all senior posts in the chamber could fall into the hands of extremists and nationalists.
The developments in Belgrade represent a severe setback to EU efforts to engineer a pro-western government in Serbia. "The election of an ultra-nationalist as Serbia's parliamentary speaker is a worrying sign," said the EU's enlargement commissioner, Olli Rehn. On Monday, Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, said that President Tadic should gain control of the police and security services, seen as crucial to hopes of arresting Gen Mladic.
Guardian
Labels:
Europe,
Milosevic,
nationalist,
Serbia,
Serbian Radical Party,
The Hague,
war crimes
March 19, 2007
Fascism's post-modern ally
Fascism is not a popular ethical choice in modern society. Britain’s cultural mythology is inextricably linked to fighting it in its most ascendant form. All countries of Europe bear its scars. Yet there is little doubt that, at least in Europe, the far-right and fascism are making a comeback. The accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the EU in January provided enough far right MEPs to form the first far right group within the EU parliament. Under the banner Identity, Tradition and Sovereignty they describe themselves as anti-immigration, anti-EU constitution (though there they are not alone) and anti-the incorporation of Turkey into the EU. Yet although the two countries provided the six MPs to form the block, they were merely reinforcing a fourteen member contingent of far-right MPs from Western Europe, including former UKIP MEP – now independent – Ashley Mote. Most of the rest come from Belgium’s Flemish Interest Party (3) and France’s National Front (7), supplemented by an Austrian and two Italians, one of whom is Mussolini’s granddaughter. Its worth noting that the two populations who have had most brutal brush with home-grown fascism, the Germans and the Spanish, don’t send the far right to the EU, though they certainly have their own problems with them.
Yet it is not just far-right parties that indicate fascist leanings in European society. Those who complain of our government’s authoritarian trend appear more vindicated week by week. Government policy on asylum seekers provides ample evidence of a nationalist turn. Though probably pandering to extremists rather than actually converting to them, British politicians help legitimise the far-right every time they hint that our ‘way of life’ is under threat. Phantom enemies at the gates have been pounced on by fascism in the past, whether they use communists or asylum seekers makes little difference.
Things are probably worse the further east you go: Poland has an anti-semitic authoritarian government with identical twins for a President and Prime Minister. When the murdered Russian dissident journalist Anna Politkovskaya wrote in February 2003 that “Fascism is in fashion”, she wasn’t just referring to the 20,000 young people belonging to fascist or racist organisations in her home city of St Petersburg. Her murder suggests that the nationalist ruling party, United Russia, have interests worryingly close to that of the far-right and that neither the authoritarian government, nor the fascist organisations have refined their tactics very much.
The rise of fascism in Eastern Europe poses a slightly lesser conundrum than in the west. Economic deprivation and the breakdown of prior political structures clearly played a part in the rise of Fascism in the 30s. These are factors extremely relevant to the post communist countries, even in Russia which, despite its enormous natural resources and rapid recovery after the 1998 economic meltdown, still has millions of its citizens living in abject poverty, clearly disaffected with the advent of democracy and the particular brand of freedom the collapse of Communism has given them.
However the National Front’s prominence in France, Britain’s own contribution to the far-right with the BNP and others and the far-right around Western Europe, have thrived in recent years, despite a lack of the classic precursors of economic breakdown and hardship.
What then is driving sizeable chunks of the populations of relatively successful, developed countries into the arms of such organisations? Some have looked to globalisation and the increasing impotence of individuals in a multiplex world. Politics no longer challenges the status quo and it may be that it is now apathy, not hardship, that is promoting extremism. Whether or not this is the case, apathy certainly plays into the hands of the far-right, it has often found its supporters amongst the most aggrieved in society (though not often its leaders). When those of us with little to complain about don’t show an interest, the stage is left to those who do.
Apathy cannot be the whole story however, particularly if you link Europe’s growing far-right with reactionary extremism around the world. Islamic fundamentalism in the forms the west is so concerned with bears striking resemblance to European fascism. Though they oppose each other, they do so for pretty similar reasons. Cultural superiority, anti-globalisation and violent political action are cornerstones of both approaches to hating the ‘other’.
As a wider global phenomenon, right-wing extremism suggests an explanation at once both appealing and frightening. Post-modernism is the buzz word of our era. The modernism of the twentieth century gave us a global hegemony, a stable and entrenched political system that makes the ideology that formed it increasingly irrelevant. We are now united in one goal - progress. Yet progress is not as neutral as those who champion it may represent. That there are many left behind by it is well documented. That there are many who are disillusioned with it is obvious. To see far right extremism as a post-modern rejection of established concepts of the good is to hope for change, yet fear those who might end up changing it.
For those who see a global system that is unjust, there is a need for a radical option. Fascism has always offered, indeed has succeeded by offering, such an option. Yet if those prepared to fight for change are embracing it then we have to ask ourselves why? Why, when we are told that ideology should no longer dominate the future of the people of the world, are so many embracing the ideological views that gave us the worst ideological driven brutality we have ever seen? It’s a question with no definitive answer, one which will ironically be based on your own ideological perspective. But it does have to be asked. Otherwise, when they come for you, no one will speak out, not because there’s no one left, but because there aren’t any reasons left to get off the couch.
Student
Labels:
asylum seekers,
BNP,
Coalition Europe,
far-right,
fascism,
Front National,
Mote,
Mussolini,
nationalist,
Politkovskaya
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