Germany: Right wing anti-immigration groups resisted by "successful antiracist actions"

[pampango]

http://socialistworker.org/2010/11/05/germanys-growing-tide-of-islamophobia

IN THE last few weeks, U.S. news media have reported on right-wing political developments in the Netherlands, Sweden and, in part, in Britain. The focus has been on the electoral successes of far-right parties in the first two countries, as well far-right and fascist groups like the English Defense League.

RIGHT-WING and anti-Islam voices have also been getting louder and more numerous in Germany, but there is still no relevant party to the right of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU, the main conservative party). Extreme right-wing or neo-Nazi-parties have no real influence on a federal level.

However, so-called "citizens' movements," based entirely on anti-Islamic hate campaigns, have been appearing at the regional level. One such example is the "Pro-Deutschland" (Germany) movement which has been setting up regional and local "Pro" organizations across Germany, and spouting anti-Islam propaganda under the guise of defending human rights: Pro-North Rhine Westphalia, Pro-Cologne, Pro-Munich, etc.

The Pro movement is now trying to establish itself as national political party. Fortunately, they haven't been very successful thus far. This has been partly due to several very successful antiracist actions against them. In 2008, thousands of demonstrators shut down what was meant to be a large-scale "anti-Islamization" conference in Cologne. Likewise, in the last few months, several neo-Nazi marches have been shut down by well-organized, peaceful, mass blockades in Leipzig, Dresden and several small towns near Berlin.

At the same time, the existence of the Left Party as a mass radical left party has meant that protest votes have tended to go to the left rather than the right. Of course, protest votes don't go to the left in general--they could even go toward a neo-Nazi-party. But obviously the existence of a mass radical left party absorbed a huge part of the protest votes. That is not to say that these people are all left wing.

Until now, the Pro movement hasn't managed to gain a foothold in the German party system, and we don't face the same conditions as in the Netherlands or Sweden. That is not to say that these new right-wing movements are insignificant or harmless. Their anti-Muslim propaganda is similar to those of the neo-Nazis, but somewhat hidden behind a respectable veneer.

THE NEXT question, unfortunately, is almost the same as the last one--on October 17, Chancellor Angela Merkel declared the ideal of multiculturalism in Germany to be an "absolute failure." Can you describe the reactions to her statement in the days since?

I DON'T think you can consider Merkel's statement as separate from the speech given two weeks earlier by the president of the Federal Republic, Christian Wulff, on the anniversary of unification of Germany.

Wulff is also a member of Merkel's party, the CDU. Referring to the recent bitter altercations about Muslims and about integration, Wulff stressed that "Islam belongs to Germany." For this statement, he was immediately fiercely attacked by the right wing of the CDU. At the same time, the more liberal wing of the party demanded recognition that Germany is a country of immigrants, noting the lack of qualified employees in the country. Social liberals within the CDU called for a more regulated approach to immigration, according to a points system.

Merkel, who had until then reacted rather negatively to Sarrazin's statements, is currently subject to powerful political pressure from the conservatives, because the CDU is losing huge amounts of support in what has been its political strongholds. The right wing of the CDU has complained for a while now that Merkel is too liberal. They are afraid of losing votes to their right, and note with interest the electoral success of right-wing populist parties in other countries like the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland. The CDU are very afraid of the emergence of a new party to their right.

At the same time, this debate is also convenient for the CDU. It distracts from their own failures--that is, from the poor results of the government, which is partially responsible for the financial crisis. At the same time, they hesitate to go hard to the right. Merkel is therefore torn between the two tendencies.