Opinion: “Never Again” did not include me

World
Europe

“Never Again” was a strong motto, visually and physically, carrying a positive message against the “right-wing, fascist and Nazi parties” in the Western hemisphere for many decades. The streets of Britain screamed with progression and justice throughout the mid-70s to the late 80s.

The posters and banners showed a concentration camp victim from Hitler’s "final solution".

People of all identities, cultures, faiths or none at all rallied behind the movement as they systematically dissolved a poisonous ideology, which had emerged from a loud but small minority of the population.

For some, essentially indigenous people, they had succeeded. However, for “us” immigrants who were the main target of the "rise of the right", everyday life was not plain sailing.

Several thousand people gathered in front of Prague Castle for demonstration called 'Together Against Islamization' organized by Czech right-wing populist party Usvit (Dawn - National Coalition) and German Pegida (an acronym which translates as 'Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamification of the West'). Anti-Islam protests also took place with Pegidas 14 partners across Europe. / VCG Photo

Institutional and soft racism was still prevalent as we fought for equal rights. Attacks from small pockets of racists still created victims and any form of response other than peaceful was not allowed. The thrust of the narrative was that we were second- or third-class citizens and we should accept such fatalities.

“We can hurt you and we can save you” was probably a philosophy not far from the truth and across the mainstream of the population.

It is always interesting to note that the right wing appear at times when changes are about to come or some fear manufactured against immigrants is pinpointed as the cause of economic downturns. It really is comical were it not a serious observation.

The right wing is present across all class structures and has no monopoly on any particular group, be it working class or academia, the intellectual or the bitter ignorant hoards who blame others for their misfortune, never their own political system but those immigrants who just get down to carving out their lives by hard work and against all the odds. Jealousy is a lousy excuse for hatred.

Protesters chant during a demonstration by the UK branch of the German group 'Pegida' in the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, Northern England on February 28, 2015.The German-based PEGIDA movement, which opposes what it calls the "Islamisation" of Europe, was staging its first demonstration on British soil on Saturday. / VCG Photo

It is a very complex subject, racism, especially if required for the corridors of power to have fake intellectuals justifying it. But essentially it is simple, it is based around “superiority over another” as a norm.

The right wing which fashioned its arguments around color and civilization now repeats exactly the same hysteria around Islam. All it did was replace one word for another (“Blacks” replaced with the word “Muslims”) yet the surrounding substance has not changed.

The rise of the right is in full flow across the Western continent like never before, the target is acceptable, projected and accepted not as racism but fear that another civilization is about to take over the continent. The fact that the Muslim world itself is in turmoil does not play into any observational narrative. There are no armies gathered at the gates of Europe.

The global internet monster is allowing the connecting and organizing of these groups like never before. Those that festered in bedrooms now connect on large platforms with people of the same nervous disposition and the celebrity factor in full swing. It is now a career choice.

A participant dressed as Crusader holds a sword during an anti-Islam protest on February 6, 2016 in Prague, Czech Republic. / VCG Photo

Suppose the old colonial, imperial and settler mentality is deeper in the subconscious then they care to admit. The fact they fear what they did to others might be done to them is ingrained in their alarmist psychology. It’s not true but we, as immigrants, have to deal with the disorder as if it was real. After all, they want their fiction interpreted as fact and who are we to say they are paranoid?

European far-right leaders including Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders attend a conference of anti-Islam parties hosted by Tomio Okamura, head of the Czech far-right SPD party, it will be the “Oscars of Hate.” Britain’s far-right “fallen” poster boy Tommy Robinson will attempt to get back to the top but Jayda Franson, the recently endorsed Trump fascist, might become a serious contender.

The SS military uniforms will be worn beneath slick suits.

A man sets up the meeting seats bearing the names of the attendees prior to the European Parliament's Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) congress in Koblenz, western Germany, on January 21, 2017. European far-right leaders Marine Le Pen shared the stage with Frauke Petry of the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), Geert Wilders of the Dutch anti-Islam Freedom Party and Matteo Salvini of Italy's anti-EU Northern League. / VCG Photo

The fear that looms is not the small right-wing groups but the political establishment which has its fingertips on an obedient and well-ordered military to carry out orders. Small right-wing groups, we as immigrants can fight against, but not a military force. The military has for the last decade been a calming force for outright violence against communities by right-wing groups as it carries out it’s orders in countries thousands of miles away. Revenge is veiled under a well-oiled propaganda machine called “democracy.”

For us as “immigrants”, history is very close and sensitive to our hearts. Great injustices were committed by the so-called civilized nations but we thought a new era of resolve and progression was on the horizon. So naïve or wrong our aspirations were. The media has locked out debate of any substance. He who transmits right-wing poison becomes a poster boy or girl, and tribalism around identity or culture is a sad result of frustration, hypocrisy and contradictions.

There is no reflection but polemics in a desperate attempt to defend one's fluid or confused identity.

We need to be vigilant, aware and prepared as the sound of the “Never Again” crowd is a small hum but the crowd of “Again” is very loud, dangerous and real.

(Aki Nawaz is a musician and political activist who paints a picture of despair as the “new political right wing celebrity trend” in the West, takes root. The article reflects the author’s opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.)