The Anti-Germans

Yesterday President Bush once again made a speech where he compared Osama Bin Laden with Hitler (and Lenin!) and spoke once again about "Islamic Fascism" and "Islamofascism".  This is a desperate political effort to convince American voters somehow that the disasterous War in Iraq is comparable to World War II. Trouble is, not many Americans buy into this rhetoric anymore; only the die-hard neocons at the Weekly Standard (who actually coined the term) believe it. 

But interestingly enough there is a group of "leftists" in Germany who admire President Bush for his hyperbole and even take to the streets to demonstrate their support for the American-led "War on Terror".  These are the so-called Anti-Germans (Antideutschen):

Among the German far-left, one subgroup called the anti-Germans holds some contradictory views. Most call themselves communists, yet loudly proclaim their support for Israel and George W. Bush.

When it comes to the anti-Germans, the political Big Tent theory appears to have become fact: groups that generally can't bear to be in the same room sometimes unite for a common cause.

That was on show recently in western Berlin, where thousands had gathered to show their support for Israel during the recent conflict with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. Many of the demonstrators were members of Berlin's Jewish community or the conservative Christian Democrats.

However, there were some there who belonged to the far-left and sported all the accoutrements of those who are known as Autonomen in Germany -- black clothing, buttons or patches with political slogans or insignia, and often scarves, sunglasses or baseball caps to make them harder to identify.

But this time they hadn't come to disrupt the demonstration, shout out anti-Zionist slogans or get into tussles with police, as they often do. The group of anti-Germans had actually organized the demonstration under the slogan "unconditional solidarity with Israel," one of the core positions of their movement.

Fighting a "new fascism"

To many observers, the anti-Germans are a conundrum. Most consider themselves communists, but according to a study carried out by Patrick Hagen at the University of Cologne, they "have abandoned almost all of the essentials of the communist movement and the left, such as the positive relations to the working class, anti-imperialism and anti-racism which has led to a deep split within the extra-parliamentary left."

The anti-German movement can be traced back to the fall of the Berlin Wall, where some on the far left demonstrated against reunification, warning that a stronger Germany could result in a new militarism and even a "Fourth Reich." They based their slogan on the phrase often used in Holocaust remembrance ceremonies: "Never Again." The anti-Germans went further, rallying around "Germany, Never Again."

As time went on, the group began to show more support for the United States. In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the destruction of Dresden by the allies, the anti-Germans praised the bombing of the civil population, since in their view, so many of them had supported the Nazi regime.

But the movement really got behind the Stars and Stripes after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, which they saw as anti-Semitic and targeted at Israel. To them, it marked the rise of a new type of fascism. This time is wasn't from the far right, but from radical Islam and it had to be fought. The US, in their eyes, was the only one willing to fight it.

There doesn't seem to be any coherent political ideology behind this "movement", other that a belief that Israel is somehow aligned with leftist principles.  Unfortunately, the term "Islomofascism" as used by President Bush is virtually meaningless, since he lumps Syria, Iran, Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hammas into one group of "fascist evildoers".

Jürgen Elsässer has an article about the Anti-Germans in Junge Welt  - Alte Feinde, Neue Feinde ("Old Enemies, New Enemies") where he puts the Antideutschen in the camp of the Washington neo-conservatives. 

Die ursprünglich als Antideutsche angetreten sind, haben sich im Laufe der Jahre zum durchaus deutschen Ableger der Neocons gemausert.

And, in fact, one of the leading thinkers of the Antideutschen - Thomas von Osten-Sacken, has begun writing op/ed pieces for the conservative daily Die Welt, including a long editorial supporting the bombing of Lebanon.  Here he has befriended the Washington neoconservatives' representative in Berlin - Jeffrey Gedmin - who publishes weekly pieces in Die Welt demonizing Islam.  Last month Gedmin wrote about how in the first Lebanon war Hezbollah fighters "drank the blood" of victims:

Im ersten Libanonkrieg in den achtziger Jahren fanden die Israelis in Krankenhäusern Patienten, denen Kämpfer der Hisbollah das Blut aus den Adern gelassen hatten, um damit ihre Gotteskrieger zu speisen.

This is reminiscent of the crudest Nazi propaganda of Jews drinking the blood of German girls. (Someone should also explain to Gedmin that Hezbollah didn't even exist as a group in the first Lebanon war).

Comments

[schwejk]

Well I happened to know one of these "Anti-Germans". In all honesty, he used to have a small home altar dedicated to the Rote Armee Fraktion in his former life as a pretended leftist. Mainly they are a bunch of violent xenophobes. Being foreigner in Germany I see them as the next relatives of the neo-nazis, just as radical only with a slightly different bend. As their hero Bush represents the DVU/NPD spectrum of Germany but they can't subscribe to it, maybe the best idea is to see a splitting of the radical, irrational political groups into Neo-Nazis and Anti-Germans.

[David]

That is extremely paradoxical that the anti-Germans are xenophobic. It is a bizzare development. The left in the US is divided over Israel, but I don't see any extremist movement here that is comparable to the anti-Germans.

[schwejk]

It has nothing to do with left or right. These 'leftists' always just wanted a better world by forcing people into it.

The most extreme ones took the opportunity Bush represented and went a bit nuts. Take Horst Mahler who "went all the way", literally nuts. Some other anti-Germans see themselves as "real communists" and follow a crude end-of-history ideology where the end result is inevitable Communism for all. By supporting the US and Israel this is supposed to happen faster. Nuts.

And the christo-fascists believe it will be Jesus for all, like that.

Brecht had a good piece about big rats and freedom & democracy that fits the anti-germans very well.

[ludwig]

Very interesting post David. These sorts of ideological contortions seem uniquely German. And difficult to understand. There also seems to be a Wikipedia page on the Anti-Deutschen.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antideutsche

It appears that the basic position of the "Anti-Deutschen" is (or has become) unconditional solidarity with Israel. This is difficult to understand--doesn't solidarity with a nation, regardless of the principles involved, affirm the sort of irrational nationalism the group is supposedly against? Not to mention the fact that accusing everyone critical of Israel of anti-semitism is simply going to foster anti-semitism, rather than mitigate it.

The sad truth is that real anti-semitism is likely to sharply rise in the next years, largely as a result of neoconservative policies.