2 Charlie Hebdo Fallout, Specter of Fascist Past Haunts European Nationalism

8/10/2019 2 Charlie Hebdo Fallout, Specter of Fascist Past Haunts European Nationalism

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Analysis & Opinion| The Great DebateCharlie Hebdo fallout: Specter of fascist past haunts European nationalismBy Jacob HeilbrunnCHARLIE HEBDO| ASCIS!| ISLA!IS" !ILI"A#"S| !ARI#E LE

$E#| #A"IO#ALIS!| $ARIS

When up to a dozen world leaders and roughly !" #illion people gathered in $aris on%unday to #ourn the #urder o ' editors and cartoonists o the satirical newspaper(harlie Hebdo and se)en other people by three *rench+born ,sla#ic radicals- theywanted to de#onstrate that .urope will always e#brace liberal and tolerant )alues!But the #ore telling e)ent #ay turn out to be a counter+rallythat too/ place at a0th+century town hall in Beaucaire- *rance- that was led by 1arine 2e $en- theleader o the ar+right 3ational *ront! ,n Beaucaire- the crowd ended 2e $en4s rallyby singing the *rench national anthe# and chanting- 5This is our ho#e!62e $en is at the oreront o a .uropean+wide nationalist resurgence7 one that

wants to e)ict ro# their ho#elands people they )iew as 1usli# sub)ersi)es! %he andother ar+right nationalists are seizing on so#e legiti#ate worries about ,sla#ic#ilitancy 7 '-''' soldiers are now deployed in *rance as a saety #easure 7 inorder to label all 1usli#s as hostile to traditional .uropean cultural and religious)alues! 2e $en hersel has li/ened their presence to the 3azi occupationo *rance!
http://blogs.reuters.com/http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debatehttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/charlie-hebdohttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/fascismhttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/islamist-militantshttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/marine-le-penhttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/marine-le-penhttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/nationalismhttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/parishttp://www.macleans.ca/politics/worldpolitics/frances-other-rally-triumphant-and-foreboding/http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/09/opinions/berezin-paris-attack-europe-politics/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/far-right-in-europe-sees-opportunity-after-wave-of-terror-in-france/2015/01/12/94cb5fdc-99e3-11e4-86a3-1b56f64925f6_story.html?hpid=z1http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debatehttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/charlie-hebdohttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/fascismhttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/islamist-militantshttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/marine-le-penhttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/marine-le-penhttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/nationalismhttp://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/tag/parishttp://www.macleans.ca/politics/worldpolitics/frances-other-rally-triumphant-and-foreboding/http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/09/opinions/berezin-paris-attack-europe-politics/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/far-right-in-europe-sees-opportunity-after-wave-of-terror-in-france/2015/01/12/94cb5fdc-99e3-11e4-86a3-1b56f64925f6_story.html?hpid=z1http://blogs.reuters.com/


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2e $en hersel espouses an authoritarian progra# that calls or a #oratoriu# on

i##igration- a restoration o the death penalty and a 5*rench irst6 policy on welarebeneits and e#ploy#ent!2ong ater World War Two- ascis# is a specter that still haunts the continent! Butwhether 2e $en4s stances 7 and those o other nationalist leaders in .urope 7 8ualiyas ascist is 8uestionable! The borderline between the /ind o populis# they espouseand the outright ascis#o the 9:'s and 9;'s- when Adol Hitler and Benito1ussolini espoused doctrines o racial superiority- is a slippery one! %cholars continueto debate whether 1ussolini was e)en ascist 7 or si#ply an opportunistic nationalist!The real ai# o today4s would+be authoritarians 7 politicians who appeal to the

public4s desire or an iron hand 7 is to present the#sel)es as legiti#ate leaders whoare saying what the public really thin/s but is araid to say! And these ar+rightleaders are indeed increasingly popular!The card they are playing is populis# presented as an aggrie)ed nationalis#! Theydepict .uropeans as )icti#s o rapacious 1usli# i##igrants! 2e $en- Britain4s 3igel*arage o the obs ro# 5real6 .uropeans or li)ingo welare!


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Ater World War Two- nationalis# went into re#ission in .urope! ection o ,sla#ic unda#entalis##ust be proclai#ed loudly and clearly6 and called on *rench $resident *rancoisHollande to suspend the %chengen Accords that allow or )isa+ree #o)e#ent inside.urope!1eanwhile- Ale?ander Gauland- a leading #e#ber o the libertarian party Alternati)eor Ger#any- #aintains- 5.)eryone who has until now laughed or scoed at theapprehensions o people o a loo#ing ,sla#ic threat are being punished by thisbloodshed!6And *arage- o the ihadist 5ith colu#n6 e?ists in *rance- one that is the result o#ulti+cultural policies! ,n the 1ay .< elections- his party bested both the(onser)ati)e and the 2abour $arty- winning :@ percent o the )ote- a big >u#pro#its !" percent in :''9- the last .< election! Twenty years ago- it only drew percent!The )italityo all these parties is a direct result o the ailure o #ainstrea#political elites! .?hibit A is the sel+destructi)e austerity policy that Ger#any under(hancellor Angela 1er/el has espoused! Haunted by the #e#ory o the soaring

inlation that helped destroy Ger#any4s post+World War One de#ocratic Wei#arepublic 7 leading to Hitler4s rise 7 Berlin has de#anded budget cuts and opposed
http://www.independent.mk/articles/13201/marine+le+pen+to+hollande+suspend+visa-free+zone,+strip+terror+suspects+of+french+citizenshiphttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/26/ukip-european-elections-political-earthquakehttps://euobserver.com/news/127106http://www.vox.com/2015/1/12/7531357/national-front-platformhttp://www.vox.com/2015/1/12/7531357/national-front-platformhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harold-meyerson-european-austerity-engenders-a-keynesian-outlook/2014/12/31/88ab92aa-9121-11e4-a900-9960214d4cd7_story.htmlhttp://www.independent.mk/articles/13201/marine+le+pen+to+hollande+suspend+visa-free+zone,+strip+terror+suspects+of+french+citizenshiphttp://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/may/26/ukip-european-elections-political-earthquakehttps://euobserver.com/news/127106http://www.vox.com/2015/1/12/7531357/national-front-platformhttp://www.vox.com/2015/1/12/7531357/national-front-platformhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/harold-meyerson-european-austerity-engenders-a-keynesian-outlook/2014/12/31/88ab92aa-9121-11e4-a900-9960214d4cd7_story.html


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sti#ulus progra#s that could help re)i)e the struggling econo#ies o southern.urope!

This is per)erse! ,t has had the eect o #iring the eurozone in une#ploy#ent anddelation 7 thereby helping create conditions re#iniscent o the 9;'s- whenecono#ic #isery helped radicalize the #iddle and wor/ing classes!Today- a new generation o leaders on the right has seized on .urope4s econo#ic#alaise to argue that the real culprit is ,sla#ic i##igrants ta/ing >obs away ro# thenati)e+born! The underlying senti#ent 7 the de#onization o an 5out6 group 7 recallsthe wa)e o anti+%e#itis# that helped propel ascist political parties to triu#phsduring the 9;'s!The credo o nationalist parties today is that .urope- the cradle o Western(i)ilization- is directly threatened by a new inlu? o 1usli#s intent on reenacting the,sla#ic in)asion o .urope that too/ place in the eighth century and was only stoppedby (harles 1artel at the Battle o $oitiers in 0;:! ,t4s a #essage that4s attractingnew adherents 7 so#e o the# Jews- who eel threatened by 1usli#s!%/epticis# o .uropean unity and i##igrants has also pro)ed a potent political #o)ein *rance4s neighbor- Ger#any! The anti+euro Alternati)e or Ger#any partyhas entered state parlia#entsin Thuringia- %a?ony and Brandenburg in the past yearand its leading igures are #a/ing co##on cause with anti+i##igrant groupings!

,n Dresden- or e?a#ple- wee/ly rallies against i##igrants are ta/ing place under therubric $atriotic .uropeans Against the ,sla#ization o the Occident6C $.G,DA! 2astOctober the turnout was roughly "''! At least :"-''' #arched 1onday 7 despiteconde#nations ro# #ainstrea# politicians- including 1er/el!
http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2014/09/elections-thuringia-and-brandenburghttp://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2014/09/elections-thuringia-and-brandenburg


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,n the 3etherlands- populist leader Geert Wilder4s *reedo# $arty is leading the polls!,n Greece- the neo+3azi Golden Dawn $arty entered parlia#ent in :': with the

slogan- 5%o we can rid this land o ilth!6,n %weden- the anti+i##igrant %wedenDe#ocrat $arty )aulted to; percent o the )ote in :'!Though parties o the right ha)e a history o s8uabbling with one another- they ha)ebegun to cooperate in the .uropean parlia#ent! , 2e $en were to win the *renchpresidency in :'0- it could spell the end o the .uropean


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2 Charlie Hebdo Fallout, Specter of Fascist Past Haunts European Nationalism