|
August 18, 2011
Was I sleeping when the far-right became respectable? I thought Scandinavian
countries were models of social progress, not Islamaphobic fear-mongers.
The massacre of young government supporters in Norway was an eye-opener. It's
becoming clear that the right wing has captured a veneer of respectability.
It wasn't always so. When the far-right wing Freedom Party of Austria formed a
coalition government in 2000, world leaders were aghast. A decade later,
xenophobes have scurried out from the corners of darkness into political
positions.
Not just in Europe: attacks against immigrants have spread like a virus. Over
half of Danes believe that Islam hinders social harmony according to the New
Internationalist magazine. Three-quarters of East Germans want to "seriously
limit" the practice of Islam and other EU countries see Muslims as a threat to
their national identity.
If I had not been so lulled by visions of wonderful socialist state, the
massacre of Norwegians might not have been so shocking. It's no secret that
Norway's anti-immigrant Progress Party has climbed in popularity to become the
second-largest and their leader has repeatedly warned against the "rampant
Islamisation" of Norway.
You might think that the Progress Party would be embarrassed that the Norwegian
assassin, Anders Behring Brevik, was a member of their party and that they would
be apologetic that Brevik attacked and killed youths of the rival Labour Party.
But no, party leader Siv Jensen is not contrite. "The new thing is that we have
been in a horrible way reminded of the fact that terrorism can come in many
different forms,"
Logic escapes the far-right. The terrorism Jensen warns about comes from the
very virus of hate she spreads - - a virus that infects her followers and leads
them to kill countrymen.
|
In neighbouring Denmark the far-right Danish People Party put on a brave
face, characterizing Brevik as a loner and mass-murderer despite his
targeted political enemies. Brevik may have been a deranged disciple of the
far-right but his actions were simply the ultimate conclusion of the
far-right dogma that fostered his actions.
While I slept, monsters slithered from under my bed. They breathed in the
oxygen of media exposure and fed on our darkest fears. Soon they walked
upright in a cloak of respectability.
The virus has spread to the U.S. where no one blinks an eye when Republican
presidential hopefuls such as Newt Gingritch and Sarah Palin question the
loyalty of U.S. Muslims. John L. Esposito of Georgetown University speaks
plainly. "In our country, we don't have fringe anti-immigrant parties," he
laments, "There is now a significant sector of them in our mainstream
political parties."
It's a mistake to think politicians are ineffectual. They can bring out the
best or worst in us. Politicians are at their best when they appeal to our
highest instincts and at their worst when they pander to our primal fears of
the "other." They can condemn socially toxic views or legitimize them.
Anti-immigration fears have not reached epidemic proportions in Canada but
we have to be constantly vigilant. Look what happened when a boat-load of
500 Tamils approached B.C. last year. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews had a
chance to reassure Canadians. Instead, Toews incited "distrust and anger"
according to the Canadian Tamil Congress.
Instead of pointing out the benefits that Tamil immigrants bring to Canada,
Toews chose to give a speech to the Economic Club of Canada about the
dangers of terrorism, including references about the Air India bombing of
1985 and the homegrown Toronto-18 cell that threatened to behead the prime
minister.
Shame on you, Mr. Toews.
David Charbonneau is the owner of Trio Technical.
He can be reached at
dcharbonneau13@shaw.ca
|
