Fight Against the Right

Fight Against the Right (German: Kampf gegen Rechts) is an ideological, government-funded program in Germany whose stated purpose is to fight far-right politics.[1] Its supporters consider it to be an essential part of Fortified Democracy and a national interest.[2]

History

On October 2, 2000 two Arab immigrants committed an arson attack against the New Synagogue in Düsseldorf with three Molotov cocktails.[3] The material damage was limited, but the attack was seen as a moral catastrophe in Germany, because of the country's fascist past.[3] Although the perpetrators remained unknown for over two months, most media suspected the attack was done by far-right antisemites.[3][4] The following day, Paul Spiegel, leader of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, called for a clear sign of solidarity with the Jewish victims.[4] German chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) responded to Spiegel's request, and called upon the public for an "uprising of the decent" against far-right extremism. As a result, numerous demonstrations and chains of lights were arranged all around Germany, and the red-green government started the state campaign of Fight Against The Right.

The perpetrators, a 20-year-old Palestinian, and a 19-year-old Moroccan, were identified and arrested on December 6, 2000.[3] Both admitted they wanted to protest against the Israeli occupation policy through the attack, since they saw a boy on TV who was shot while in his father's arms by the IDF in Gaza on September 22, 2000 (the Muhammad al-Durrah incident).[3] The killing took place on a crossroads in public and was filmed, so the pictures were spread and attracted attention all over the world.[3] Later investigation of this incident raised controversy, with split opinions regarding the responsibility for the child's death, and the authenticity of the video.

Distribution

Notable organizations which receive support or are supporting Fight Against The Right include the German Federal Agency for Civic Education, the German Football Association, the Evangelical Church in Germany, several Roman Catholic Churches in Germany, and the SPD owned information service "View to the Right" (Blick nach Rechts).[5][6][7]

The organization uses various media services for its purpose. It is already used in kindergarten and school.[8] There are more than 4,500 different programs supported by the campaign. The campaign is therefore sometimes criticized to be nontransparent.

Funding

Fight Against The Right is funded by the German government. Each year, a total of 24 million Euros of tax money goes to the program. The campaign is supported by all parties of the German parliament. However, the way of support varies among the parties. While the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) favor to keep the Status quo, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Greens and the Left Party call for an increase of 50 million Euro to fund the campaign.

Criticism

The campaign is accused by conservatives, classical liberals, and libertarians to be biased towards the left.[9][10][11][12] Some even accuse it to be connected to far-left politics due to its associations with Blick nach Rechts, which had been previously criticized by the conservative CDU/CSU parliamentary group for linking to far-left websites on its homepage.[13][14] Critics allege that the campaign does not distinguish between right-wing politics and the far-right.[15][16][17][18]

In September 2009, the Amadeu Antonio Foundation (AAF) protested against a pro-life silent protest by Bundesverband Lebensrecht (de) (BVL; "Federal Association of the Right to Life"). The BVL arranged a silent protest against abortion in Berlin under the slogan "1.000 Crosses for Life".[19] Countering BVL's protest, the AAF arranged a counter-demonstration under the slogan "1.000 Crosses into the Spree".[19] During the demonstration, the counter-protesters threw Christian Crosses into the Spree, insulted the silent protesters, and made loud noises through drumbeats, whistles, and calling to disturb them.[20] The counter-protesters also burned a Bible on the Bebelplatz, where the Nazi book burnings took place in 1933.[20] The AAF was later criticized for the behavior of its counter-protesters, and for putting pro-life activists on the same level as violent neo-Nazis.[21][22]

In June 2012, the German trade union ver.di arranged a nationwide activity to protest against the selling of right-wing newspapers like the Junge Freiheit in magazine stands. The activity was funded by the trade union's money from the state sector. The activists looked for right-wing newspapers in the stands and asked the salesmen to stop selling them. If they refused, the activists started to protest against the magazine stand outside in order to pressure the salesmen to remove the newspapers. The activity was criticized to be unlawful, as trade unions are obligated to be politically neutral under German law.[23][24]

Democracy avowal

In early 2011, German Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth Kristina Schröder (CDU) introduced a new bill, according to which government-funded anti-right-wing programs have to prove that they recognize liberal democracy and the Constitution of the German Federal Republic.[25][26][27] Schröder argued that this law shall prevent Far-leftists from engaging in the campaign. The new law was heavily criticized by the SPD, the Greens, the Left Party, and many representatives of the campaign itself.[28][29] They argued that it would be outrageous to require the campaign activists to prove their loyalty to the Liberal Democratic principles of the Constitution, as it would put them under "general suspicion".[30][31] An association which had lost its public funding, because it refused explicitly pledge to abide by the principles of the constitution, sued against the state and federal government. The administrative court of Dresden declared on April 25, 2012 the law too vague and therefore unconstitutional.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ulrich Dovermann: „Der Aufstand der Anständigen“. Vom Bund geförderte Projekte zu Toleranz und Zivilcourage, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Bonn 2004, ISBN 3-89331-537-3.
  2. ↑ Kampf gegen Rechts als Staatsräson Tagesspiegel am 28. Januar 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tagesspiegel 7. Dezember 2000
  4. 1 2 Präsident des Zentralrats fordert Zeichen der Solidarität: Brandanschlag auf Synagoge in Düsseldorf, in: Berliner Zeitung am 4. Oktober 2000.
  5. ↑ "Kirche gegen Rechts: Würde Jesus tatenlos zusehen?"
  6. ↑ Kirche Gegen Rechts
  7. ↑ 33. Deutscher Evangelischer Kirchentag: Dürfen Nazis konfirmiert werden? (Dresden 1.-5. Juni 2011)
  8. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt, Lehrer lernen Umgang mit Extremismus an Kindergärten
  9. ↑ FreieWelt.net: Der "Kampf gegen Rechts"
  10. ↑ eigentümlich frei: Zwanzig Jahre Einheit: Der Kampf gegen Rechts geht weiter
  11. ↑ Lügen gegen rechts. Eine Chronologie
  12. ↑ Die Dialektik der Revolution – Wie linke Propaganda das Volk politisiert und warum
  13. ↑ Antwort der Bundesregierung auf die Kleine Anfrage Deutscher Bundestag Drucksache 15/4010
  14. ↑ Kleine Anfrage Deutscher Bundestag Drucksache 15/3875
  15. ↑ Zeit Online: Populismus. Das »Deutschen-Gen«
  16. ↑ eigentümlich frei: Der „Kampf gegen Rechts“, Teil I.: Politische Kategorisierung ist eine Frage des Menschenbildes
  17. ↑ Junge Freiheit: Willkür gegen Andersdenkende
  18. ↑ Nusquam: Gesinnungsterror und auf dem linken Auge Blind: Wie die SPD das Land gleichschalten möchte
  19. 1 2 1000 Kreuze in die Spree, in: Mut gegen rechte Gewalt (09/22/2009).
  20. 1 2 Mut zu linker Gewalt?, in: Conservare (09/29/2009).
  21. ↑ Marsch für das Leben 2009: Was die Amadeu-Antonio-Stiftung unter “rechter Gewalt” versteht, Kath-Info.de
  22. ↑ Elsa Laska: Schreiben an die Amadeu Antonio Stiftung
  23. ↑ unzensiert.at: Deutsches Familienministerium finanziert Gesinnungsterror
  24. ↑ Junge Freiheit: „Druck auf Zeitungshändler steigern“
  25. ↑ Schröders „Extremismusklausel“ im Bundestag. Tagesschau, 10. Februar 2011
  26. ↑ Feinde der Demokratie. von Ralf Beste, Der Spiegel, 17. Januar 2011
  27. ↑ Initiativen gegen Rechtsextremismus Staatliche Mittel, stattlicher Streit von Frank Jansen, Die Zeit, 20. Januar 2011
  28. ↑ Pressemitteilung Deutscher Bundestag, 20. Juli 2011
  29. ↑
  30. ↑ Kritik an Schröder wegen Extremismusklausel. Handelsblatt, 9. Februar 2011
  31. ↑ Kampf gegen Rechts gerät unter Generalverdacht. von Anna Mertens, Die Zeit, 19. April 2011
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