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Islam and the Evolution of Europe’s Far Right
Mounting fears of Islamic encroachment are restructuring the European Far Right, bringing about the rise of fire-breathing libertarians and pro-Israel populists.
What is to account for the success of Europe’s Far Right? The attention the news media have devoted to the story of Islam in Europe has never been greater. And displeasure over concessions granted to Europe’s Muslims, fear and loathing of Shari‘a (Islamic) law — and fears that Europe, in the rush to embrace the Other, may lose herself — appear to be driving the continent’s electoral agenda. These concerns have sprung from items as ridiculous as Fortis Bank’s decision to do away with pig mascot Knorbert (for fear of offending Muslims) to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s declaration that adoption of elements of Shari‘a law in the UK “seems unavoidable” — and would, in fact, be a great help to maintain social cohesion. In any case, it appears that a growing number are sufficiently discouraged by the imposition of the multicultural gag to take Europe’s latest war of religion to the voting booth. It is also the case, for many, that the persons who best speak to the continent’s concerns are not those moderate (or secular) Muslims who talk of assimilation, but the leading lights of Europe’s Far Right — and the growing host of Muslim-baiters who sit in public office.
But the electoral success of the Far Right has been far from evenly distributed. And this, of course, has a great deal to do with perceptions of the Old Guard of Europe’s Far Right, the most familiar branch of the movement. Geert Wilders, the Netherlands’ puckish libertarian, for example, does not easily compare to France’s Jean-Marie Le Pen, either with respect to personal history or electoral sway. But as difficult as it is to stack Wilders among the “blood and soil” conservatives of the Old Guard, Wilders and other members of the “progressive” nationalist faction nevertheless constitute an important, second branch of the confederation one casually describes as “Far Right.” These are the Young Turks of the movement. And lastly, there is the success of right-wing populists, like those in Belgium and Switzerland, who clearly seek to transcend Old Guard allegiances and adapt their platforms to better respond to the continent’s “Islam problem.” These groups represent a third branch, and a slippery strength within the greater movement. All told, however, what describes the strength of Europe’s Far Right is the fact that votes have begun to derive, in meaningful numbers, from across the political spectrum: from the “Godless” Left to the fascist Right, and all points in between.
To describe the Old Guard, then, is to include the likes of two men: Nick Griffin, national chairman of the British National Party (BNP), and Jean-Marie Le Pen of France’s National Front (FN). Since their earliest days in politics, one has likened these men to public discourse as one likens hooligans to organized sports. What is now clear, however, is that these men have failed to unite the electorate behind their classic fear of European federalism, Turkish accession to the European Union, and more or less avowed anti-Semitism. Consider, in addition, that parties of the center-right have begun to appropriate the Old Guard’s once signature xenophobia, and one will understand that little remains of the old fight. What remains to be seen is whether Griffin and Le Pen will acknowledge that Islam is the new game in town.
The BNP’s Nick Griffin, for his part, has admitted to privileging anti-Islamism for electoral gain — and for the same reason, to discourage attacks against the Jews. In a branch meeting recorded in Burnley, Lancashire, in March 2006, for example, he said: “But we bang on about Islam. Why? Because to the ordinary public out there, it’s the thing they can understand. … If we were to attack some other ethnic group — some people say ‘We should attack the Jews’ … — it wouldn’t get us anywhere, other than stepping backwards. It would lock us in a little box, which the public would think ‘extremist-crank-lunatics, nothing-to-do-with-me,’ and we wouldn’t get power. Whereas by making Islam the issue, when every time someone turns on the television, every time they pick up a newspaper … they get a drip, drip, drip. Something else, which tells them, ‘Yeah, Islam is a real serious problem; I’m really worried about it; what kind of future are my children and grandchildren, my nephews and nieces, gonna have, in a Britain which is on the way to becoming the Islamic Republic? That’s what I want to stop. The British National Party are the only people talking about it. Yeah, I think they’re the ones for me.’ That’s the reason for the tactic.”
But France’s National Front (FN), often cited as the vanguard of the continent’s Far Right, has drawn very different lessons from the past decade’s electoral chill. The FN has, since its inception, brandished a “blood and soil” anti-Semitism. This fact, and electoral debates within the party, prompted Michel Gurfinkiel, a French political scientist, to suggest that Le Pen was “poised to strike an alliance” with France’s Muslims. If this has not since come to pass, it remains that Gurfinkiel’s deduction stands to reason: “The National Front is surprisingly popular among Muslim immigrants or second-generation Muslim citizens,” he writes. “For all its campaigning about immigration, Mr. Le Pen’s party has always extended support to Arab and Islamic causes abroad, from Saddam’s Iraq to Arafat’s or Hamas Palestine, and from Al Qaeda to Iran. And it is as firmly anti-American and anti-Jewish as the Muslim community itself tends to be.” Members of Le Pen’s fold are now drawn to patently anti-Islamist groups, which has only encouraged the splintering of France’s Far Right — and empowered Nicolas Sarkozy.
Consider now the Young Turks of Europe’s Far Right. This group represents a new breed of politician, who, although tarred with the extremist brush for their attacks on Islam, speak most loudly to themes dear to libertarians and social democrats. And now is their magic moment. In the past decade, the “progressive” nationalism of these politicians has come to enjoy support the moribund Old Guard has only imagined; for these represent a new generation of politician: libertarian and socially democratic personalities who feel that to legislate Islamic space is to assault core “progressive” European values.
This is a portion of the movement that came to prominence under the openly gay and socially libertarian Pim Fortuyn, who abandoned mainstream politics to found his Pim Fortuyn List (LPF). Most remarkable is the fact that the Dutch were quick to adopt his message: Assassinated shortly before the 2002 vote, Fortuyn’s party still went on to claim 26 of 150 seats and become the second party in parliament. His most natural successors, both in matter of abrasive charisma and fire-breathing anti-Islamism, are Geert Wilders of the Netherlands’ Party for Freedom (PVV) and Pia Kjærsgaard of the Danish People’s Party (DF). Like Fortuyn, both abandoned establishment parties to form groups prompt to defend “national values” against the multiculturalisme mou (milquetoast multiculturalism) of the new Europe.
Wilders’ transformation to become Despiser of the Faith came as something of a shock to the Dutch public. He is now best known for his short file Fitna (strife), which seeks to expose the “fascist” program of the Koran. The Guardian profiled Wilders in February, making the point that he views himself as a “libertarian provocateur like the late Pim Fortuyn or Theo van Gogh. It mentions also that he “[rails] against ‘Islamisation’ as a threat to what used to be the easy-going Dutch model of tolerance.” “My allies are not Le Pen or [Jörg] Haider,” he wishes to make clear. “We’ll never join up with the fascists and Mussolinis of Italy. I’m very afraid of being linked with the wrong rightist fascist groups.” Instead, as reported by the daily, “Dutch iconoclasm, Scandinavian insistence on free expression, the right to provoke are what drive him.”
Danish politician Pia Kjærsgaard speaks a similar language, remarking last year to the Associated Press: “The most important thing for the Danish People’s Party (DF) is to maintain the Danish identity.” And like Wilders, she is quick to reject comparisons to Europe’s Old Guard, saying: “There is nothing racist about what I have said, I know that. … My driving force is the love for my home country. … I want Denmark to be a safe and good and cozy nation that has a good relationship to the rest of the world.” Her party today is the parliament’s third largest, having garnered 14% of the legislative vote in November 2007. This was also a moment for the party to affirm its anti-Islamist credentials: a campaign poster depicted a cartoon illustration of Mohammed, underscored by text that read: “Freedom of speech is Danish, censorship is not.”
Add to the Old Guard and the Young Turks of resurgent nationalism a third group, comprised of right-wing populists often associated with the likes of Britain’s Griffin and the Frenchman Le Pen. These are the nationalist (and regionalist) parties of Austria, Switzerland, and Belgium. Like the Old Guard, these groups are often socially conservative and subject to accusations of anti-Semitism (and, perhaps, too fond memories of Hitler’s Reich). These groups have packaged themselves under nationalist-populist wrap to play on perceptions that establishment parties are deaf to the cause of the people; and they are interesting for having reoriented their politics and policies in calculation of popular support. Like the Young Turks, however, this populist Right has learned to exploit fears of insurgent Islam to great electoral success.
First to Belgium, where Vlaams Belang (the former Vlaams Blok) occupies 12% of the Chamber of Representatives. Party chief Filip Dewinter appears more than eager to transcend the politics of the Old Guard and declaim Europe’s debt to Judeo-Christian tradition. Active support for Israel is a fine way to begin, he imagines. For example, in a 2006 interview with the American New Republic, Dewinter stated: “It’s disgusting, it’s infamous, it’s treacherous, but … many Socialist and Green politicians … hope they can win over the Islamic vote bank by bashing Israel and the United States, and by turning a blind eye on the virulent anti-Semitic rhetoric in Islamic publications and Islamic websites. These facts mirror a remarkable switch of alliances in many European countries: … The right-wingers defend Israel and warn against Islam. The left-wingers are bashing Israel and the United States, and kowtow for Islam.”
In Switzerland, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) defied electoral expectations to walk away with 29% of the legislative vote in October. This was accomplished with no small help from the party’s outspoken (and hotly controversial) position on the expulsion of law-breaking immigrants — as well with the announcement, in May 2007, of the party’s motion to ban minarets. Austria’s Far Right has clearly sought to capitalize on the group’s “Swiss Quality.” In August 2007, Jörg Haider’s Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) introduced an initiative to ban construction of “unusual” structures in the federal state of Carinthia. The reason? Minister of urban planning Uwe Scheuch explains: “With the help of this law, it will be de facto impossible to construct mosques or minarets.”
These state- and nation-wide initiatives to ban mosque and minaret have also borne continental fruit. A grand multi-party rally erupted in Antwerp in February, under the banner “Cities Against Islamisation.” The organization, which boasts an online platform in six languages, speaks to the rise of Far Right populism across the continent. Event coordinator Filip Dewinter (who insists his politics are merely “right-wing”) explained: “We already have more than 6,000 mosques in Europe, which are not only a place to worship but also a symbol of radicalization. … These kinds of symbols have to stop.”
The Young Turks have profited from this language, of course; and that is quite the point. Denmark’s Kjærsgaard sums up the mood among Europe’s right-wing elites: “I am convinced that the Islamists want to sneak Shari‘a (Islamic law) in through the back door, that they want to combat Western society and they want Islam to become the main religion.” And when asked by the Associated Press whether she believed Islam had anything to contribute to Danish society, she replied: “I don’t think so at all.” Ditto for Wilders, who told the Washington Post in an interview: “Islam and democracy are fully incompatible. They will never be compatible — not today, and not in a million years.”
One might prefer to dismiss Wilders and Kjærsgaard as hotheads, or merely out of touch. But a report just now released by the World Economic Forum (in partnership with Georgetown University) on the subject of West-Islamic world dialogue, suggests that the Far Right’s anti-Islam turn is far more representative of Europe’s fears than one has wished to believe. According to the results of surveys gathered by the Gallup Institute, 60% of Europeans surveyed see the growing interaction between the Muslim world and the West as a menace to freedom. What’s more, the study claims that the citizens of Wilders’ Netherlands and Kjærsgaard’s Denmark are most fearful, with 67% of Dutch and 80% of Danes surveyed in agreement with this statement. What’s more, like Kjærsgaard, fully half of Danes consider Islam incompatible with democracy. (Sadly, Gallup failed to collect opinions in France, Germany, or Great Britain.)
In the end, the phenomenon of right-wing populism (or left-wing reaction) is as good a marker as any to insist upon the new ground being broken among these figures and parties of the “Far Right.” And it is clear that perceptions of Islam as an intolerant faith are driving the agenda — for Left and for Right, and across the political spectrum. For this reason, one can no longer easily dismiss the hodgepodge of characters, all platforms considered, who “bang on about Islam.” And if Britain’s Nick Griffin is correct in his estimation that Islam is soon to dominate political discussion, we can expect to hear noises like his own from the continent’s mainstream political elite. It is unlikely that Old Guard formations like the British National Party will ever enjoy the support of the Swiss and Danish Far Right — both for reasons of their history and the promise of fresh libertarian faces like Wilders’. But in the meantime, Britain’s flagging passion for “diversity” presents sure opportunity for the party — as it does for anyone interested in the popular vote.
R. John Matthies is Assistant Director of Islamist Watch, a project of the Middle East Forum. He can be contacted at matthies@meforum.org.
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39 Comments
1. jw:Why do you call libertarians or social democrats “far right”? The term only has meaning within the context of the French Revolution when the Jacobins sat in the far left of the semicircular National Assembly. The monarchists and clericals sat on the far right. For those in the Jacobin tradition, e.g. Marx and his followers, anyone who was not in this “left” tradition was “right-wing”! The division of political positions into two is poor; see the more astute accounts of Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke, Hume, and Montesquieu. It is ridiculous to call them “right-wing” or “left-wing.” In the scheme of Plato’s Republic, Bks. 8-9, the Jacobins, Marxists, etc. are tyrants with tyrannical souls who are furthest from the Ideal State with the rule of reason. (Plato has other schemes in the Statesman and the Laws.)
Apr 11, 2008 - 12:07 am 2. Typewriter King:I vaguely recall the European right-wing parties banding together to create a major unified continental effort, centered on excluding Turkey from the EU. Haven’t heard about it for a number of months, but I can’t help but wonder if all their transnational teamwork is about to bare fruit in the form of national majorities soon.
Apr 11, 2008 - 1:21 am 3. David:It is a strange world where people like myself who value, free expression, democracy, the rule of law and the simple premise that we can vote for the people who set policy are deemed to be the extreme or far right. It just shows you who the real fascists are.
Often people in the West seem to be looking at what defines the West, what we really should be defending and I just pointed it out in my first sentence. It is as simple as that, is it that difficult to understand?
Wilders and Kjaersgaard stand for that, so they have my support, the EU and the people in power in European countries like the UK, France and Germany do not, they are the fascists or extremists because they are anti-democratic and anti-freedom of expression. They support the curtailment of our freedoms through the EU laws that curtail freedom of expression, they are the enablers, I had high hopes for Sarkozy, yet he is just like all the rest. While in the UK we have the Labour party which has actually tried to destroy the UK, they cannot be that incompetent, it is deliberate.
People like Nick Griffin and Le Pen are getting in the way of the real revolution in Europe, I wish they would just disappear in teh dustbin of history where they belong, the people want a voice on what is destroying our civilisation, immigration that we were never given a voice on, which is destroying our safety nets, the creation of a Socialist super state without any representation, and the Elite in power at the moment are seeking to destroy that voice or hide it or manipulate it, they better start listening or they will find themselves hanging from lamp posts, they certainly deserve it.
Apr 11, 2008 - 1:40 am 4. RE:The ‘Far-right’ label in Europe is a pejorative used to marginalize anyone who does not agree with the the socialist government and media establishments.
You are ‘far-right’ if you find yourself agreeing with John Locke in the Locke vs Rousseau debate on individual liberty versus the supremacy of the state.
America’s Founding Fathers are extreme right wingers by contemporary European standards.
Apr 11, 2008 - 3:17 am 5. Andrew Ian Dodge:I echo the wonderment at calling libertarians or those who stand up for free expression in Europe “far-right”. This is foolish and merely plays into the hands of the leftist who are trying to limit their access to media and other forms of getting the message out.
Apr 11, 2008 - 4:44 am 6. thegrandmufti:Agreed, the use of the term “far-right” is just a broad based ad hominem attack on those who want to preserve European culture and identity.
Apr 11, 2008 - 5:40 am 7. MaE:since when did a libertarian become the “far right.”
unadulterated crap.
Apr 11, 2008 - 6:34 am 8. R John Matthies:My use of the moniker “Far Right” is ironic. The point being that hostility to Islam has spawned a movement now impossible to classify:
Geert Wilders, the Netherlands’ puckish libertarian, for example, does not easily compare to France’s Jean-Marie Le Pen, either with respect to personal history or electoral sway. But as difficult as it is to stack Wilders among the “blood and soil” conservatives of the Old Guard, Wilders and other members of the “progressive” nationalist faction nevertheless constitute an important, second branch of the confederation one casually describes as “Far Right.” [...] All told, however, what describes the strength of Europe’s Far Right is the fact that votes have begun to derive, in meaningful numbers, from across the political spectrum: from the “Godless” Left to the fascist Right, and all points in between.
Apr 11, 2008 - 6:56 am 9. jbenson2:I certainly disagree with R John Matthies’ statement: “My use of the moniker “Far Right” is ironic. The point being that hostility to Islam has spawned a movement now impossible to classify:”
A more logical statement would be:
My use of the moniker “Far Right” is moronic. The point being that hostility by Islam has spawned a movement now impossible to classify:
Apr 11, 2008 - 7:16 am 10. WR Jonas:When did opposing murder and enslavement become “hostility to Islam”?
Apr 11, 2008 - 9:10 am 11. Wolf Pangloss:In the distorted and tortured mind of European leftist/communists this is what passes for truth.
Here is another example of truth. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
As you point out wrt Le Pen
But France’s National Front (FN), often cited as the vanguard of the continent’s Far Right, has drawn very different lessons from the past decade’s electoral chill. The FN has, since its inception, brandished a “blood and soil” anti-Semitism. This fact, and electoral debates within the party, prompted Michel Gurfinkiel, a French political scientist, to suggest that Le Pen was “poised to strike an alliance” with France’s Muslims. If this has not since come to pass, it remains that Gurfinkiel’s deduction stands to reason: “The National Front is surprisingly popular among Muslim immigrants or second-generation Muslim citizens,” he writes. “For all its campaigning about immigration, Mr. Le Pen’s party has always extended support to Arab and Islamic causes abroad, from Saddam’s Iraq to Arafat’s or Hamas Palestine, and from Al Qaeda to Iran. And it is as firmly anti-American and anti-Jewish as the Muslim community itself tends to be.”
This does not describe a conservative party in the European or American style. This describes a fascist party, a specifically socialist fascist party. This is not a far right party at all, but a national socialist party, a radical leftist party with a racialist and nationalist program.
Read Liberal Fascism.
A European conservative party would want to bring back or strengthen the royal or noble role in government. That would be the clearest analog to the original right/left distinction from 1789. An American conservative party would be strict Constitutionalist, almost libertarian, channeling Jefferson and Madison.
Apr 11, 2008 - 9:46 am 12. M.E.:The Author uses the term “far right”, belonging to old political European Scholasticism, which has no sense. Indeed, what does “far right” mean? To denounce the crimes of Islamic terrorists and to defend the liberty and the human dignity is being of the “far right”? And to justify their felonies as a right reply to the oppression of capitalism and American imperialism is to be for the progress and the social justice? This perverse reasoning demonstrates the affinity of the leftist’s ideology with Islamic terrorist doctrine. Like the sons of Allah the leftists also cry: “Freedom, go to Hell”.
Apr 11, 2008 - 9:57 am 13. Saltherring:I think the enormous diffusion of Geert Wilders’s film indicates a turning point in relation to Islam (on popular level, not of cowardly European Governs yet). The Europeans are becoming aware that Islam is a cancer that destroys our cultural and historical existence. As a man belonging to the Western culture I don’t want to die under the shadow of minarets. But we will not die because our God is the God of Life, not the Muslim’s anti-god of Death.
Well spoken, M.E., on all points. Desiring cheap labor to compensate for low birthrates and indolent citizenry, Old Europe’s socialist governments allowed millions of ticking bombs to enter and entrench themselves, demanding and receiving more and more “rights”. Let this be a lesson for the U.S. Close our borders NOW!
Apr 11, 2008 - 12:27 pm 14. Chequers:Through multi paragraghs of drivel Matthias fails to mention the concern that these western opponents of Islam have,namely that Islam is a political movement bent on world conquest and the destruction of civilization.It may just succeed in doing so by buying off the politicians and the universities with petrodollars and mass immigration(demograghics) of ,not immigrants looking to become dutchmen etc but as invaders seeking to impose their backward way of life on our precious and productive western culture.READ THE KORAN and see the supremist,violence and thuggery contained therein and the utter criminality of their profit.
Apr 11, 2008 - 12:43 pm 15. Free Mark Steyn!:[...] ISLAM AND THE Evolution of Europe’s Far Right, by R. John Matthies …. [...]
Apr 11, 2008 - 1:20 pm 16. Raymond Barry:It used to be said of Roman justice that it was a lion that preferred to sleep. Maybe Europe is like that, or like the tiger in the San Francisco Zoo. You can only pull its tail for so long before you are in real trouble.
Apr 11, 2008 - 2:15 pm 17. rvastar:Danish politician Pia Kjærsgaard speaks a similar language, remarking last year to the Associated Press: “The most important thing for the Danish People’s Party (DF) is to maintain the Danish identity.” And like Wilders, she is quick to reject comparisons to Europe’s Old Guard, saying: “There is nothing racist about what I have said, I know that. … My driving force is the love for my home country. … I want Denmark to be a safe and good and cozy nation that has a good relationship to the rest of the world.”
Amen, sister! And it’s precisely this – love for our families, love for our own countries and culture – that will 1) free Western Civilization from the stranglehold the Leftists have enjoyed for the past 50 years and 2) protect our civilization from being completely overrun by Islam.
Leftist notions of multiculturalism are wholly dependent upon being able to convince people of that central tenet of Leftist thought – namely, the notion that everything hinges upon economics (i.e. class warfare). But with every senseless bombing…with every senseless murder…with every senseless riot…Muslims are clearly demonstrating to Westerners that culture and religion play just as important a role in the human drama as economics does, no matter how much the Leftists try to downplay their importance.
According to the results of surveys gathered by the Gallup Institute, 60% of Europeans surveyed see the growing interaction between the Muslim world and the West as a menace to freedom.
And over and over again, the ruling Left reveals itself to be completely incapable of addressing those fears. And how could they possibly do so? In the eyes of your typical Leftist, Muslim terrorists – pardon me, “extremists” (ever notice how the only other time you hear that term is when it’s paired with the word “right”?) – aren’t to blame for their actions, Western culture and history are! In the mind of the Left, the only threat that Western Civilization faces is from non-liberal Westerners!
To me, it’s a beautiful irony: the Left’s all-encompassing obsession with trying to obliterate conservative and Christian identity within Western Civilization is precisely what – in the end – is going to save said conservativism and Christianity. As the threats from Islam become more and more serious – and they will – the Left is going to be trapped in a vicious circle that it can’t escape: on the one hand, if they crack down on Muslims and demand that they adhere to Western values, then they demonstrate the emptiness of their multicultural mantra…on the other hand, if they don’t crack down, they utterly disqualify themselves for being trusted with the reins of power, which denote an implicit responsibility to protect the citizenry and the culture. Either way, they pave the way for a resurgence of the political and cultural Right.
Let’s just hope that the West wakes up in enough time that the Wilders and Kjærsgaards will suffice…as opposed to waiting until things get so grim that the Griffins and Le Pens are allowed to rise.
Apr 11, 2008 - 2:26 pm 18. T. J. Babson:I don’t get it. Europe is supposed to be secular, but if you are critical of Islam you are labeled as “far-right.”
Apr 11, 2008 - 3:35 pm 19. Eric Dondero:“Far Right libertarians”?
I love it. That’s precisely what Geert Wilders and other Dutch Freedom Fighters are: libertarians. Good to see someone recognizing that the consistent libertarian view is Anti-Islamo-Fascist, Pro-Civil Liberties & Pro-Free Markets, most certainly NOT the Ron Paul Leftist Pacifist view of surrendering to the Radical Islamists.
Eric Dondero, Publisher
Apr 11, 2008 - 5:40 pm 20. Engineer-Poet:Libertarian Republican blog
http://www.libertarianrepublican.blogspotcom
Political Correctness doesn’t have to make sense. It may be more effective if it is nonsense; having to affect nonsensical attitudes under heavy social pressure causes humiliation and the devaluation of reason. Both of these are essential to the purpose of the tyrant.
It should surprise no one that both P.C. and Islam do this.
Apr 11, 2008 - 7:33 pm 21. david p:The European’s have a historical legacy of purging their undesirables, almost innate, predictable behavior demonstrated over time.
Apr 11, 2008 - 10:29 pm 22. Lichthammer:T. J. Babson:
Europe is only secular in the sense that it opposes Christianity – our apparent conscience-issues with people of other faiths and cultures prevents us from even attempting to criticise these. The political correctness militia is always looking to score some easy points by pointing fingers and yelling “far right!”, so even something as basic as a public discourse on Islam is effectively made impossible.
Apr 12, 2008 - 11:34 am 23. Michael Canzano:Far Right and Far Left indicate the borders of INSANIY. Example; Hitler , Herihito far right , Hollywood ,Democrats far left. It some times takes fire to fight fire. It can also take insanity to fight insanity. Muslims have worn out their welcome where ever they immigrate. Here are two facts of nature. “Assimilation Refusal” is the first seed planted to overthrow a Nation. Any nation accepting “Assimilation Refusal” as “Politically Correct” will eventually no longer be its own Nation”
Apr 13, 2008 - 10:05 am 24. jdm:“An addition of Muslims to a Nation is a subtraction in civilization.”
American Christian Infidel
I can’t speak for Mr. Wilders, but the Danish politician Pia Kjærsgaard is in no way right wing. If you look at her and party’s positions on almost anything that is not related to immigration or immigrants, there is an almost perfect match with the usual European Social Democrat (aka Marxism lite) policies.
The idea that Ms. Kjærsgaard or The Danish People’s Party are right wing is more a reflection of how the Left in Denmark has manipulated The Narrative towards political correctness than engage her/their positions on immigration.
Apr 13, 2008 - 2:18 pm 25. Stefcho:It’s strange to be called “far-right”, but I’m getting used to it (and the irritation with the label has already worn off).
My Father is “far-right”, so is my Mother, my wife, my grandad and most people I know.
We haven’t swung to the right, the world has swung to the left. It tells us everyone is equal whether or not they deserve equality or whether hey have earned the respect they demand.
Sure, we’re “far right”… but far-right is where the world is heading. I can’t wait till election day.
Apr 13, 2008 - 2:21 pm 26. Anna:No doubt Churchil was considered “far right” at the time when Chamberlain was sucking up to Hitler. He was (Churchill) labelled a “war-monger” and resisted by most at first.
Apr 14, 2008 - 12:20 am 27. Smarty:History just repeats itself.
As a note aside. For those who have as I once did
still buy into the well-repeated lie that Hitler was far right, I suggest you read the Nazi manifesto (NAZI-National socialistic party)it was blatantly communist !
Fascism is just as left as communism, the only difference being that it is nationalistic, where as true communism is one-world international communism.
Euro-weenies consider anyone to the right of John Major to to be a far-rightist, and would put Obama in the moderate camp. Until you re-learn to stand up when you pee over there in Europe, you are lost. Sorry.
Apr 14, 2008 - 7:39 am 28. Hotpatch 6:Whether Europeans are Far Left, Far Right, Social Democrats, Unsocial Democrats or anything else, their track record of the last century is pathetic insofar as fighting for (or against) anything. It seems that the rule is that Europeans will only fight for (or against) something if 1.) The US leads the effort, 2.) The US pays in full, 3.)The US supplies virtually any military forces required, and 4.)The US does not offend the tender sensibilities of this or that European country during the process, and does not require repayment. Europe WILL become an Islamic entity simply because we cannot afford to keep it otherwise.
Apr 14, 2008 - 9:01 am 29. Teplost:Far right, far left or straight down the middle, call it what you will, it makes no difference. The day is coming when Europeans will have to choose who they are. And this time, they will have to make that choice, and face the consequences, on their own. The U.S. Cavalry is staying home this time.
Apr 14, 2008 - 10:34 am 30. rvastar:Europe WILL become an Islamic entity simply because we cannot afford to keep it otherwise.
Nah, that won’t happen. To be sure, there will be some rough patches along the way, but in the end, the current multi-culti silliness you see infecting Europe will be discarded when the cold-hard reality sets in that they have allowed the Leftists way too much leeway in setting the cultural tone since the end of WW2.
Prior to WW1 and WW2, Europe exhibited the standard racial, cultural, and nationalist thinking that all of humanity had exhibited throughout history. The utter devastation unleased by the Great Wars shook the European psyche to its foundations and scared the West into giving the opposite a try – namely, the cultural nihilism of the Left.
But mark my words: the reason Westerners – especially Europeans – are so loathe to wake from the slumber of the past 60 years has very little to do with high-minded Leftist BS about multi-culti and “understanding”…and has everything to do with simply wanting to “let the good times roll!”…to continue enjoying the nice little “holiday from history” that we’ve enjoyed.
But the Islamists will overreach because they can’t help themselves – their incessant violence…their incessant threats of violence will eventually serve to thaw Western identity out of its deep freeze and people will realize that a choice has to made: deal with the problem or die as a civilization. And trust me: they’ll decide to deal it…in the form of a big swing towards the political Right. Some Islamists skulls will get cracked as the Europeans reassert control over their own countries, but then, seeing that the pity party is over, the vast majority of their Muslims will quiet down and fall in line.
You’ll see alot of the multi-culti silliness currently infecting the West start to disappear, and as it does so, honest dialogue can return as people will start losing their fear of being attacked with the Left’s favorite thumbscrews of “Racist!”, “Sexist!”, “Christian!”. And when that happens, the scales will finally start to fall from their eyes and the Western Revival can begin.
Apr 14, 2008 - 2:40 pm 31. Anna:Good post rvastar ! As a Brit, I hope you are right and there is hope after all.
Apr 14, 2008 - 6:48 pm 32. rvastar:Hotpatch6..The US did not win the war single handed and were loathe to help until pearl harbour by the way- we could not have defeated Hitler without you, but also not without the Russians which I am sure you must be aware of.
No Repayment? Sorry, thats really funny. if only you knew !
Good post rvastar ! As a Brit, I hope you are right and there is hope after all.
Don’t worry, Anna…you Brits are made of stern stuff. Even though alot of you have forgotten that fact for a while, you’ll remember it again when you really need to.
Keep the faith!
Apr 14, 2008 - 7:25 pm 33. David:R John Matthies. I think you are right, with the arrival of Islam and its push into everyday life and the nation destroying EU that wants to belittle all of the past acheivements of European countries so that it can arrise from their ashes, a new breed of politician is at hand, Wilders is one of them, they are difficult for the established politicians to deal with because they are close to what people think and over use of the racist insult has weakened it to such a degree that as soon as some one uses teh racist word, we laugh…
I am a Brit and I have seen the UK having got its pride back lose it again in 10 years of Labour. I see signs of a awakening, but I am not sure it is enough. One thing is for sure, for Europe to shake off Islam we will need to see the end of the EU first…
Apr 14, 2008 - 11:52 pm 34. DWMF:Good article. Has anyone considered that these are precisely the fears and sentiments that have driven the resurgence of the Right Wing in the Italian general election? In particular, the near eradication of the Communist party?
Apr 15, 2008 - 11:32 am 35. rvastar:Has anyone considered that these are precisely the fears and sentiments that have driven the resurgence of the Right Wing in the Italian general election?
Who knows? Could be.
But then again, the Italians change governments almost as frequently as the US news media change the excuses they use to explain away Obama’s latest gaffe.
In particular, the near eradication of the Communist party?
♫ Not a single seat, I hear,
Apr 15, 2008 - 1:39 pm 36. Henrik Ræder Clausen:Sounds music to my ear ♫
This is, by any measure, one of the worst articles on European politics I’ve ever read. I’ve written an 8 page reponse to it, pointing out the libellious nature of the logic, assertions and comparisons presented here, seen from a European perspective. We are a lot of Europeans that are pretty pissed off by the Nazi analogies and Young Turks (CUPS) analogies here.
Anyone’s welcome to drop me an email, and I’ll return it. In particular, I encourage John Matthies to get in touch with me over this piece.
Apr 15, 2008 - 2:31 pm 37. Henrik Ræder Clausen:“Read Liberal Fascism.”
Wolf, I second that unconditional endorsement. As Daniel Pipes said: “It changed the way I understand politics”.
Same for me, by a mile. A lot of things makes much more sense now, and I’m able to point out totalitarian intiatives at a miles’ distance.
An extremely worthwhile book. But bad for Hillary
Apr 15, 2008 - 2:52 pm 38. Desert Sienna:Islamic immigration and multiculturalism should never have been forced on Europe’s native population. There is an automatic clash. It is much easier for Muslims to practice their religion in their own countries. It is fine to bring over moderate numbers of immigrants if they wish to follow the culture and adapt to the country they have chosen. Since it is a choice to come over, it is illogical to complain about the state of that country. It would have to be hurrendous and there is always the choice to go home available. The problem here isn’t Europeans, it is the alienation of immigrants by their own attitudes and choices, which they choose to blame Europeans for.
May 3, 2008 - 7:15 pm 39. Open Season on EUSSR Christians « Take Your Cross:[...] scheme, known as The Project). Those who care about countering this should support Far Right parties such as the Flemish Vlaams Belang, the superb Sweden Democrats, and the splendid Swiss [...]
Oct 11, 2008 - 7:44 am