Antifaschistische Aktion

Antifaschistische Aktion, Antifascistische Aktie, Antifascist Action or Antifascistisk Aktion — abbreviated as Antifa (German/Dutch/English) or AFA (Scandinavian) — is a far-left, extra-parliamentary, anti-fascist network in Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Australia, Canada, the UK and the United States of America whose stated goal is to "smash fascism in all its forms".[1] Some of its members are influenced by the theory of triple oppression, and all of its members claim to oppose sexism, racism, and classism. The point of the organization is to exchange information and to coordinate activities between local groups.

The group's activities have included handing out flyers, organizing demonstrations, direct action, and property destruction. They believe that physical aggression and violence are necessary to achieve their goals, due to the violence and aggression minority groups face at the hands of fascists and the far-right. In line with their ideology, and as a consequence of being constantly monitored by the police, the group has no central authority. This means it has a flat organization consisting of many independent groupings, without a board or leader. AFA works with other anti-racist groups all over Europe.[2][3] It is also described as a heterogeneous group which in the late 1930s and early 1940s was mostly made up of social democrats, communists, and progressive Christians following the collapse of Nazi government and civil society after World War Two.[4]

Germany

"Come to us" Poster of Antifaschistische Aktion (1932)

The first German movement to call itself Antifaschistische Aktion was proclaimed by the German Communist Party (KPD) in their newspaper Rote Fahne in 1932 and held its first rally in Berlin on 10 July 1932, then capital of the Weimar Republic. During the early 1930s amidst rising tensions between Nazis and the communists, Berlin in particular has been the site of regular and often very violent clashes between the two groups. In May 1932, the communist paramilitary organisation Rotfrontkämpferbund had been banned and, following a skirmish between Nazi and communist members in the parliament, the Antifaschistische Aktion was founded to ensure that the communists had still a militant wing to rival the paramilitary organisations of the Nazis. After the forced dissolution in the wake of the Machtergreifung in 1933, the movement was revived during the 1980s.

One of the biggest antifascist campaigns in Germany in recent years was the, ultimately successful, effort to block the annual Nazi-rallies in the east German city of Dresden in Saxony, which had grown into "Europe's biggest gathering of Nazis".[5]

In October 2016, the Antifa in Dresden campaigned on the occasion of the anniversary of the reunification of Germany on 3 October for "turning Unity celebrations into a disaster" („Einheitsfeierlichkeiten zum Desaster machen“), to protest this display of new German nationalism, whilst explicitly not ruling out the use of violence.[6]

Sweden

Antifascistisk Aktion (AFA) was founded in Sweden in 1993. Their Activity Guide advocates violence against neo-Nazis.[7] AFA members have admitted to arson by timed firebombs,[8] and have pleaded guilty to burning the Tråvad spinnery in 2005.[9] In January 2006, Swedish AFA members attacked the Norrköping immigration office and threatened officials.[10] In June 2006, AFA members broke windows of an estate of the Christian Democrats in Kalmar.[11] In October 2006, AFA members threatened to block a municipal council meeting in Gothenburg, because the Sweden Democrats had been elected to the council.[12] Swedish AFA is a part of the "autonomous" (autonoma in Swedish, from autonomist marxism) subculture, which revolves around many forms of leftist activism like antifascism, environmentalism and animal rights activism. This subculture includes people of many different ideologies, but the ideologies of the movement is always some form of radical leftism .[13]

In July 2007, AFA members threatened and attacked an immigration judge in Gothenburg.[14] The judge's front door was hit with an axe, and the house was vandalized with red spraypaint. Personal information about the judge and other judges was posted on the Internet.[15] On 7 March 2008, Säpo, the Swedish security police agency, reported that AFA or people using its symbols constantly threaten municipal and provincial elected council members.[16] In August 2008, AFA members spread announcements in Uppsala with the name and image of an opponent, encouraging people to attack him. For this, AFA promised to pay 500 Swedish kronor and a free "knogjärn" (knuckle duster).[17] In February 2009, AFA members attacked the National Democrats politician Vávra Suk.[18]

Criticism

Some in the media have called Swedish AFA left extremists.[19][20][21] An editorial in the tabloid newspaper Expressen argued that the label 'anti-fascist' was misleading, because the organization's methods, such as stealing the subscriber list of the National Democrats newspaper, and threatening the subscribers are counterproductive and similar to methods used by fascists.[22]

United States

On day of the President Donald Trump's inauguration, protesters used black bloc tactics. Protesters deliberately causing damage were described as members of Antifa, however were generally lone individuals grouped together by loose radical left-wing ideology.[23] In April 2017, local members of Antifa protested against multiple Republican and alt-right speakers in Berkeley, California. Some protesters were also members of the militant left-wing group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN).[24]

They are officially classified as a domestic terrorist organization by the state of New Jersey.[25]

Literature

See also

References

  1. ↑ "antifa.se - Antifascistisk Aktion Sverige".
  2. ↑ (in Swedish) AFA Lokalgrupper
  3. ↑ (in Swedish) AFA Presentation, Plattform
  4. ↑ Pritchard, Gareth (2012). Niemandsland: A History of Unoccupied Germany, 1944-1945. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 110701350X.
  5. ↑ Focus-Online. "Demo-Samstag in Dresden: Nazi-Aufmärsche und Linke treffen aufeinander". Focus-Online.
  6. ↑ DNN-Online. "Protest gegen Einheitsfeier – Initiativen wollen Dresdner „Einheitsfeierlichkeiten zum Desaster machen“ – DNN - Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten".
  7. ↑ (in Swedish) AFA - Aktivitetsguide för antifascister Archived 11 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine., Antifa.se, 2004, pp. 9-11
  8. ↑ "Afa riktar ilska mot Migrationsverket" (in Swedish). 1 January 2006. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015. Retrieved 3 December 2015.
  9. ↑ "Afa tar på sig mordbrand på nazistgård" (in Swedish). Dagens Nyheter. 2005-12-28. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  10. ↑ (in Swedish) Afa riktar ilska mot Migrationsverket Archived 12 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. SVT 10 januari 2006.
  11. ↑ (in Swedish) Slåss med knogjärn Aftonbladet 13.9.2009.
  12. ↑ (in Swedish) Aktivister försökte stoppa möte med Sverigedemokrat Archived 11 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. DN 2 november 2006.
  13. ↑ http://samtalskompassen.samordnarenmotextremism.se/valdsbejakande-extremism/valdsbejakande-vansterextremism/ideologi/
  14. ↑ (in Swedish) Migration judge threatened by extremists
  15. ↑ (in Swedish) Domare som utvisat irakier attackerades Dagens Nyheter 31 juli 2007.
  16. ↑ (in Swedish) Hot mot förtroendevalda ny rapport Säpo 7 November 2008.
  17. ↑ (in Swedish) "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 2010-01-17. Ruotsin TV
  18. ↑ (in Swedish) Expressen: Afa tar på sig våld mot ND-politiker
  19. ↑ (in Swedish) "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
  20. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
  21. ↑ (in Swedish) Aftonbladet: Såss med knogjärn
  22. ↑ (in Swedish) Expressen:090215: Stoppa AFA
  23. ↑ Strickland, Patrick (21 February 2017). "US anti-fascists: 'We can make racists afraid again'". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  24. ↑ Wang, Frances (27 Jun 2016). "A protest leader talks about "militant tactics" & "self-defense" to shut down "Nazi recruitment rally"". Twitter. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  25. ↑ "Anarchist Extremists: Antifa". New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.