Schröder races to halt neo-Nazi 'funeral march' in Dresden

[emad]

Luke Harding in Berlin
Friday February 11, 2005
The Guardian

Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, said yesterday he would explore "every possibility" to ban the neo-Nazi National Democratic party, which plans to demonstrate in Dresden on Sunday during the 60th anniversary of the city's destruction.

In an interview with a Jewish newspaper, Mr Schröder said his government was now considering a fresh attempt to ban the party following the failure of a similar effort three years ago.

"I want my government to use every possibility to go down the road of a ban," he said. "But it must have a good chance of success."

The party, known by the initials NPD, stunned Germany's mainstream political establishment last year when it won 9.2% of the vote during state elections in Saxony. Since then the NPD's 12 new MPs have staged a series of stunts in the state parliament in Dresden - walking out last month during a minute's silence for victims of the Holocaust.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,2763,1410707,00.html

[Something of Reason]

1. Hmmmm

Hard to decide which I like less. People who are opposed to free speech, or the neo-nazis.

[makhno]

2. Hmmmm indeed

His government has already tried to ban the NPD once, arguing that it incited hate crimes against foreigners and Jews. But in 2003, Germany's highest court refused to hear the case because the government cited inflammatory statements and writings by party members who were later unmasked as paid informers for the state.

I have an extremely hard time supporting the banning of any political organization that managed to obtain 10% of the popular vote in a democratic election. Perhaps the German government should address the causes of the fascist problem - unemployment, immigration, loss of class identity - instead of hysterically beating back the ever more present symptoms.

[David__77]

3. NPD is definitely neo-Nazi, but...

...they avoid saying things that are outright pro-Nazi or pro-Hitler. They don't deny the genocide of Jews and others outright, which is against the law, but rather claim that it is better to have "reconciliation" now by moving on, so to speak. They have learned to evade banning for years now.

[gottaB]

4. I think the authorities should allow protesters to publicly gather

and beat the shit out of the Nazis