The
neo-Nazi party Golden
Dawn entered the Greek
parliament this month. With its swastika-inspired emblem,
Hitlerian salute, reference to Mein Kampf, antisemitic and racist ideology,
Holocaust denial, violence against migrants, threats against journalists and
personality cult, the party is the lineal heir of the German national-socialist
party that led Europe and the world into chaos and bloodshed.
Unfortunately,
Greece is not the only country threatened by this revival of Nazi ideology. In
Latvia this year, the president of the republic has for the first time
supported the annual
former Waffen SS march, in spite of strong criticism. In Austria the FPÖ, an
extreme right organisation that nurtures Third Reich nostalgia, is favourite in
the polls for the next parliamentary elections. In Hungary, the Hungarian Guard
Movement, descendant of The Arrow Cross
party – the former militia
responsible for the extermination of Jews and Gypsies – terrorises Jewish
populations and holds direct responsibility for provoking deadly attacks against
Roma people.
This
revival was made possible by the systematic attack by extreme right parties
against the republican ideal that recognises that everyone belongs to the same
national community, together. This campaign against "togetherness" is modelled
on Geert Wilders' strategy for his Freedom party, launched in the early 2000s.
The core of this strategy is to hide a rhetoric promoting race inequality behind
a "cultural" fight against the so-called "Islamisation of Europe".
In
this ongoing economic and social crisis, which favours a frenzied search for
scapegoats and strengthens the fear of the decline of the "old continent", this
strategy has been revealed to be worryingly efficient. It has also enabled
extreme right parties to support – or even to become members of – governing
coalitions, normalising racist and antisemitic speech along the way. This new
extreme right has also paved the way for parties which, just like Golden Dawn,
can now legitimately win votes while openly promoting hate speech.
Faced
with this terrifying situation – exemplified by the election of neo-Nazis
deputies in the Greek parliament – we are asserting our solidarity: we are all
Greek Jews.
We
refuse to accept that on our continent, Jewish, immigrant, Muslim, Roma or black
people might fear for their lives because of who they are. We invite all
citizens, political parties, unions, civil society, intellectuals and artists to
fight the extreme right by promoting and bringing to life the European dream. We
must always remember that this dream was built on the ruins of Nazism. We must
never forget about the Shoah. Our dream is of a continent free from racism and
antisemitism. It is the project of a society based on "togetherness" – beyond
boundaries.
To
see this dream embodied again, it is urgent to put an end to two dogmas. First,
we must refute the dogma of austerity which is responsible for terrible damage,
creating the conditions that explain the success of populist parties, and limits
the future of our European youth, sacrificed on the altar of perpetual
austerity.
Second,
we must refute the dogma of "the European fortress", which favours the spread of
anti-immigrant speeches and the lockdown of Europe's frontiers, especially when
a core element of European postwar identity – its social welfare system –
requires the economic input of immigration to remain sustainable.
It
is of the utmost importance for European institutions to renew their pursuit for
democracy, social progress and the promotion of equality. Those citizens who,
particularly in times of crisis, are the target of racial and social violence,
must be protected. As Europe is undergoing a sustained assault against its core
principles, we strongly believe that we must work toward a stronger Europe,
right here and now. If we are not able to give life to the European dream, we
are condemned to the same nightmare, in Greece and in the rest of Europe.
Benjamin
Abtan, president of the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement
(EGAM); Dario
Fo, Literature Nobel Prize; Jovan
Dijvak, general defender of besieged Sarajevo; Svetlana
Gannushkina, Memorial leader in Russia; Anthoy
Giddens, sociologist; Amos
Gitaï, director; Béate
et Serge Klarsfeld, president of the "Fils et filles de déportés juifs
de France"; Bernard
Kouchner, former French minister of foreign affairs; Bernard-Henri
Lévy, philosopher, writer; Adam
Michnik, historian, essayist, journalist, former member of
Solidarnosc;Amélie
Nothomb, writer; Dominique
Sopo, president of SOS Racisme;Oliviero
Toscani, photographer; Elie
Wiesel, Peace Nobel Prize, writer; AB
Yehoshua, writer, essayist
•
The text can be signed online at weareallgreekjews.eu
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