Hungary party to follow European extremism's move away from fringes

Extremist anti-Roma group Jobbik on course for success at this Sunday's elections in Hungary

It has been a good few weeks for racists, populists and rightwing radicals across Europe. A comeback for Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front in French regional elections. Big gains in Italy for the anti-immigrant Northern League. The Islam-baiting campaign of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands has taken his Freedom party to 25% and poll position ahead of June's general election.

And this weekend, Hungary is facing its biggest political earthquake in 20 years of democracy. On Sunday, the mainstream right and the neofascists are expected to take over the Westminster lookalike parliament on the banks of the Danube. It will be a landslide victory.
The left and the liberals who have run the country for eight years, taking Hungary to the brink of bankruptcy and into the arms of the International Monetary Fund, will be reduced to a rump.

The next prime minister, Viktor Orban, a combative populist, is leading his centre-right Fidesz party to a huge majority, running at more than 60% in the opinion polls. He may even secure a two-thirds majority enabling him to rewrite Hungary's constitution at will.
But the biggest breakthrough will be for Jobbik, the extremist antisemitic and antigypsy movement "for a better Hungary", which will win seats in the parliament for the first time and may emerge as the second biggest party.

"It's a flood that's coming. Everyone knows it's coming. We're just waiting for it. Will we drown or will we swim," said Pal Tamas, director of Budapest's Institute of Sociology. "People are trying to use the antifascist argument against Jobbik. But it's not working. It's being very poorly received."
During the past week a rabbi's home in the capital has been attacked during Passover and a Holocaust memorial was defaced. Budapest Jews have taken to the streets to protest. The country's large and marginalised Roma and gypsy communities are bracing themselves for a surge in racism and harassment.

Roma solution
"In terms of the gypsy issue, the situation in certain parts of the country is akin to civil war," said Jobbik's young leader, Gabor Vona. "Now only drastic interventions are capable of helping ... we must produce an environment in which gypsy people can return to a world of work, laws and education. And for those unwilling to do so, two alternatives remain: they can either choose to take advantage of the right of free movement granted by the European Union, and leave the country, because we will simply no longer put up with lifestyles dedicated to freeloading or criminality; or, there is always prison."

Though banned, Jobbik maintains a "Hungarian guard" of paramilitaries who dress in 1940s fascist paraphernalia. Vona wants this "gendarmerie" to police Roma "ghettos".
"Jobbik is openly legitimising anti-Roma violence. It is openly antisemitic. And it will do very well on Sunday," said Anton Pelinka, an Austrian political scientist working in Budapest.
Gaspar Miklos Tamas, a liberal and veteran anticommunist dissident, wrote this week that "a national tragedy" was befalling Hungary. "There are many factors, but the most important is the success of the post-fascist Jobbik party."

Jobbik won 15% of the vote in last summer's elections to the European parliament and could repeat the trick on Sunday, threatening to push Hungary's governing socialists into third place.
The breakthrough comes as the far right across Europe becomes more than a fringe presence. In France a fortnight ago, the xenophobic National Front won 11% of the vote in regional elections, with 20% of those who voted for Nicolas Sarkozy three years ago opting for the far right.

Silvio Berlusconi's rightwing coalition coasted to victory in Italian regional elections last week, but the real winner was Umberto Bossi's Northern League which captured the regions of Piedmont and Veneto and made big inroads in the working-class areas of northern Italy, normally a stronghold of the left.
Ahead of the Dutch elections, Wilders appears to be going from strength to strength, while later this month in Austria, the far-right mother of 10, Barbara Rosenkranz (left), whose husband publishes a neo-Nazi newsletter, will contest the Austrian presidency with the support of the country's bestselling tabloid, the Kronen Zeitung.

In Belgium the extreme right separatist Vlaams Belang party has been joined by mainstream rightwing parties, so secessionists now enjoy almost 50% support among Flemish voters, according to the polls.
A conventional explanation for the breakthrough of the far right sees the success as a protest vote, waxing and waning depending on the performance of the mainstream parties of the centre-right and left.

"This is not such a big victory for Jobbik and Fidesz, more a result of the failures of the previous government and its incredible incompetence," said Julius Horvat, head of European studies at Budapest's Central European University.

But analysts detect a more durable pattern, particularly in western Europe, entrenching the far right as an established presence in politics.

"This is no longer a sudden surge that then vanishes. The far right has become a permanent fixture in our societies now," said Jean-Yves Camus, a specialist in European radical movements at the Paris thinktank the Institute of International and Strategic Relations.

In France, Le Pen has been a major factor in politics for 25 years. In Austria, the far right has been a key player since the late Joerg Haider hijacked the political agenda in the 1990s.
Today in Rome, the "post-fascist" National Alliance of Gianfranco Fini held a centre-right conference on whether Italy should be transformed into a presidential system modelled on France. This week Bossi held a "summit" with Berlusconi to push his agenda of federalising Italy, meaning his wealthy northern power base stops subsidising the south.

The Northern League has been in government in Italy for seven of the past nine years. In Denmark the far right has long been propping up a conservative government in parliament, and in Switzerland it is the strongest party. The far right leaders are now central and not peripheral players in their national politics.

Disaffected conservatives
Political scientists note that while there is much talk of "neofascism", in western Europe some of the most successful parties are rooted less in 1930s European fascism than in disaffection with mainstream conservativism. Whether out of opportunism or conviction, many have shifted to the far right to exploit the potent issues of immigration and Islam and to broaden their electoral base. This has occurred in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy.

"What's new is that some of the conservatives have moved to the radical right, rejecting multiculturalism, Islam and immigration," said Camus. "It's … a radical right that is disconnected from the traditions of European fascism."

In colonising the far-right territory, these former conservatives are winning over traditional leftwing voters. Where previously their powerbase was made up from small businesses, shopkeepers, and lower middle class, they are now making inroads into the working-class vote among those hostile to immigration and worried about job losses.
In Hungary and in the young democracies of central Europe, the situation is different.

"In post-communist Europe, it's the old-fashioned far right. In Western Europe, it's the postmodern far right," said Pelinka. "In central Europe it's still the old enemies — the Jews, the gypsies, the national minorities."

If wealthy societies of western Europe are seized by new phobias, in the east old prejudices die hard. While 55% of Hungarians do not want Romas as neighbours, half are opposed to a homosexual or lesbian next door and 22% are averse to having a Slovak, Romanian or a Jew for a neighbour,according to a poll by Pal Tamas, leading Hugarian sociologists.

The Guardian

Police probe house fire as arson victim suspects retaliation for anti-Nazi activity (Canada)

Abbotsford police are reporting that accelerant was used in a fire that damaged a home 2am Monday had a fused device connected to it.

The presence of the device caused investigators to request outside assistance, said spokesman Const. Ian MacDonald.
"We didn't relinquish the investigation, we asked for some expertise from the [RCMP] bomb squad," he said.

A resident of the house in question, Maitland Cassia, identified himself as a member of Anti-Racist Action, and said he was jolted out of bed by what he described as a loud "blast."
Cassia fears the fire was in retaliation for an anti-Nazi rally he helped organize that took place at New Westminster's Braid SkyTrain Station on March 21.
The rally generated media coverage and subsequent photos from the event splashed Cassia's name and face across several Lower Mainland newspaper websites, making him a target, he said.

He said he is fearful of further retaliation, and planned on moving out.
Members of the bomb squad were on scene Monday, said MacDonald, and collected several items of interest in evidence bags and containers.
Heavy black scorching and damage to the exterior could be seen beside a door at the side of the house.
Police suspect the device was used as a way to create distance when the accelerant was set off, and are treating the incident as arson.
The Braid rally in March drew hundreds of anti-Nazi protesters, and was in response to a planned white supremacy, neo-Nazi rally that never materialized.
Online sites quoted Cassia declaring the rally a "victory" for those opposed to racial discrimination.

Vancouver Sun

Hypocrisy in action – Ignoring the Christian Terrorists

With all the talking in the UK from the far right about Islamic terrorists Douglas Todd makes a really good point in his blog for The Vancouver Sun.

If a follower of Islam can be called an Islamic Terrorist, why shouldn’t a Christian be called a Christian Terrorist?
Here’s what he wrote.

When the opportunity has arisen since September 11, 2001 and even before, the North American media hasn't hesitated to expose the evils of "Muslim terrorists." We also do so in regard to "Sikh terrorists," as Canadians are highly aware ever since an Air India jet was blown up in 1985.

But what about "Christian terrorists?"
The phrase does not often fall from our lips. Not even when there is ample reason for it to do so.

Why are the media not referring to the nine recently arrested members of a paramilitary extremist U.S. organization called Hutaree as "Christian terrorists?"

This is not an idle, mischievous thought. It is a serious question about the kind of labels we put on any militants who plan to wreak havoc in the name of a religion, philosophy or ideology.

Even though they have ample reason to do so, both the FBI and the U.S. media are rigorously avoiding describing the nine men and women as "terrorists." Sometimes they don't even mention "Christian."

Still, these Michigan-based Hutarees have put together a weapons stockpile, train to fight while wearing camouflage gear, believe in the Biblical battle against the Anti-Christ, judge President Barack Obama to be controlled by Satan, think of themselves as martyrs and were allegedly planning to kill a policeman and then bomb his funeral, killing more innocents and starting a war.

Even their website defines the word, Hutaree, as "Christian warrior." {Here's their website.)

Yet, what are these would-be terrorists being called by federal officials and the media?

"Extremists."

"Militants."

"Radicals."

Even "patriots."

The media don't seem to want to call them "Christian terrorists," because it might suggest Christianity is itself illegitimate and dangerous. And that's a hard sell on a continent where most people remain loyal in various ways to Christianity, which they consider a religion of love.

Yet that is exactly the argument made by Muslims. Why, they ask, does their entire religion, which they associate with peace and altruism, get maligned by being intimately and constantly linked with foreign terrorists who are Muslim?

Is it time for some fairness in labelling? Or, simply, better labelling? What do you think the Hutarees should be called by the FBI and media? What do you think Muslims who are extremists should be called?

{Jokes not at all appreciated.}

Vancouver Sun

Neo-Nazis increase online social network activity for new recruits (Germany)

Right-wing extremists are increasing their activity on online social networks to reach young people, the Lower Saxony state intelligence service warned on Thursday.

Neo-Nazis are using sites like Facebook, and similar German sites such as SchülerVZ, StudiVZ, Wer-kennt-wen and StayFriends to find new recruits, head of the agency Hans Wargel told daily Die Welt.

The danger is that many young people are unable to recognise propaganda and attempts at indoctrination from these groups at first glance, he said, explaining that instead of blatant symbols such as swastikas, many are using graffiti and other less-recognisable imagery from youth culture.

“The right-wing extremists appear as a wolf in sheep’s clothing online,” he told the paper. “At first they seem very harmless, and try to surreptitiously gain the trust of other users.”

The tactic is new for these groups, he added, referring to a newspaper for the neo-Nazi NPD party called

Deutsche Stimme, which recently encouraged its members to appear on online forums as people with humour, hobbies, and serious cultural interests.
They were also told not to openly identify with the NPD and its ideology, he said.

The Local Germany

When rightwing hate goes mainstream (USA)

The Republican party is indulging extremists, hoping they'll put down their guns long enough to vote for them this November.

Late Monday afternoon I received an email from the American Patriot Foundation informing me that Terrence Lakin, a lieutenant colonel in the US army, needed my help. It seems that Lakin had refused to obey orders unless his commander-in-chief – that would be Barack Obama – produces evidence proving he was born in the United States and is thus constitutionally qualified to serve as president. Lakin now faces a court-martial and prison.

Well, good for Lakin. What struck me about the missive, though, was not the banality of his foolish quest. Rather, it was the atmospherics surrounding the group that has taken up his cause. The American Patriot Foundation has a nice office in Washington. Its spokeswoman, Margaret Hemenway, is a former government official who has written for the Washington Times, among other publications. Its founder is a former Republican senator, Bob Smith, who told Salon that he no longer controls the group, but who pointedly declined to criticise Lakin.
In other words, Lakin's outburst of birtherism should not be seen in isolation. Instead, it's further evidence that rightwing hate, aided and abetted by leading Republicans, has gone mainstream.

The first warning came a year ago, when the department of homeland security predicted a rise in rightwing extremism fuelled by economic calamity and the election of our first black president. News of the report, and especially about a warning contained therein that military veterans might be pulled into the movement, set off criticism among conservative bloggers. Yet it proved prescient.

The most recent and oddest manifestation was last week's arrest of nine people involved in what authorities have referred to as a "Christian militia" intent on sparking revolution. But there have been other examples, each treated by the media as isolated incidents. The murder of Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller, whose killer was sentenced to life in prison last week. The pilot who crashed his plane into an Internal Revenue Service facility in Austin, Texas, in February. Protesters whipped into a frenzy during the healthcare debate who yelled racist and homophobic slurs at members of Congress, who spat upon one and who phoned in threats of violence.
According to Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Centre, the number of rightwing extremist groups has risen exponentially during the past 18 months. And in an interview with National Public Radio's On the Media last week, he was unstinting in placing at least some of the blame for that with their enablers in the Republican party and in the media. Potok said:

"I'm talking about when [Republican congresswoman] Michele Bachmann says President Obama is setting up political re-education camps all around the country, presumably to turn our children into Marxist robots. I'm talking about when Steve King, a congressman out of Iowa, says that 25 Americans every single day are either murdered or run over and killed by drunken, as he would say, 'criminal illegal aliens', or when Glenn Beck on Fox News talks about the possibility that the Federal Emergency Management Agency is running a set of secret concentration camps to intern good patriotic Americans, all of that and much more. And that is becoming quite common today."

The right is ever fond of pointing out that leftwing extremists have also been among us for lo these many years, from the Weather Underground during the Vietnam war to the 9/11 truthers of recent years. But such groups have never received an iota of support from Democrats. Indeed, when Beck, of all people, ferreted out someone who might be called a truther sympathiser last year in the Obama White House, that person lost his job immediately.
By contrast, a mainstream conservative figure like Sarah Palin posts a map on her Facebook page of Democratic congressmen she wants defeated that is festooned with gun-sight crosshairs and then hosts a Fox News special on inspirational Americans.
"At the least, the Republicans are playing footsie with extremism – while extremism seems to be spreading," writes the veteran progressive journalist David Corn.

We are living through a frightening moment in American history – the near-collapse of the economy, followed by a slow and uncertain recovery, a mountain of public debt and war seemingly without end.
A responsible political opposition would find a way to oppose Obama and the Democratic Congress while at the same time standing up to the forces of extremism. Instead, today's Republican party coddles and indulges them, hoping they'll put down their guns long enough to vote for them this November.

It's a sick and cynical game, and we can only hope it doesn't end in tragedy.

By Dan Kennedy writing in The Guardian

POLICE INVESTIGATE LATEST ATTACK AGAINST ROMANIES (Czech Rep.)

Late on Saturday night, two bottles containing an unknown substance were thrown into the doorway of a block of flats inhabited by Romany families in Opava, north Moravia. The bottles failed to catch fire and didn’t cause any damage. The police are investigating the incident as a threat to public safety. A similar attack took place only three weeks ago, in the nearby city of Ostrava. Unknown perpetrators threw a Molotov cocktail into the room of a fourteen-year-old Romany girl who was woken by the noise and was able to extinguish the fire before it could spread. Though nobody was injured in both recent cases, Czech Romanies says they feel at high risk from neo-Nazi violence. Last year, the worst arson attack on a Romany family in Vítkov shocked the country: the family’s two-year-old daughter Natálka suffered burns on eighty percent of her body. With the trial of the Vítkov attack perpetrators coming up in May, Kumar Vishwanathan, a social worker and Romany rights activist, is hoping for the court to send a clear signal. “I think it’s really necessary for the courts to make it clear that such brutal attacks with Molotov cocktails are not welcome in this country, that it is a grave crime and that it will be punished very severely. We are hoping that the court will send a clear signal and will be bold enough not to downplay the significance of this attack.”


Before last year’s highly publicized attack in Vítkov, arson attacks did not receive as much attention as they do now, says Mr. Vishwanathan. “Such arson attacks have been happening here for the past ten years. I think there is a greater sensitivity to this issue now, both from the Roma community and the Czech public and institutions and the media. So what used to hardly be reported on in the past, because nobody was really injured, now it’s being dealt with and people are giving it the necessary attention and in the past, it used to be ignored or the victims themselves didn’t even report it. It’s a serious issue, especially in the northern Moravia region.” Earlier this year the extremist far-right Workers’ Party was banned by the Supreme Administrative Court; many people believe this at least is a step in the right direction when it comes to combating such violence. Miroslav Brož is an expert on extremism. “I think with the dissolution of the Workers’ Party, the Czech state has demonstrated that it is willing to fight against extremism, and I’d rather use the word neo-Nazism to be precise, and that it does not have a place in our society. And I think that the development has been that to a certain extent, neo-Nazi activities have been on the decline. If you think back to late 2008 and early 2009, neo-Nazis held marches through Czech towns every weekend.”

Radio Prague