How serious is "left-wing" violence in Germany? Recently Der Spiegel reported on a new study by the Verfassungsschutz (Federal Agency for Protection of the Constitutiom). The data show an alarming increase in both left- and right-wing acts of violence in Germany:
Für die Polizei sind sie kaum noch zu unterscheiden: Links- und
rechtsextreme Autonome bereiten den Sicherheitsbehörden wachsende
Probleme. Die Gewaltbereitschaft in beiden Lagern nimmt dramatisch zu. (For the police there is virtually no difference: leftist and right-wing extremists are a growing concern for law enforcment officials. The willingness of both camps to engage in acts of violence is growing dramatically.)
Each week the neo-fascist paper Junge Freiheit complains that the media and politicians in Germany do not take left-wing violence seriously, while they print sensational pieces on neo-Nazis and skin-head violence.
Gegen Gewalt von rechts gingen die Berliner Regierenden ungleich härter
vor. Gewalt von Linksextremisten werde hingegen verharmlost. (The officials in Berlin took extraordinarily harsh measures against those on the right. Violence from the left is downplayed.)
A look at the official statistics shows that in 2008 there were nearly 20,000 criminal acts associated with right-wing groups in 2008, while only 3,000 were attibruted to left-wing groups. To be sure, many of the right-wing crimes were "propaganda" related, such as displaying the swastika which is illegal in Germany. Still, right-wing extremists committed nearly 900 acts of violent assault on people, resulting in 2 deaths. Many of these were random attacks on "foreigners"; most of the 350 assaults committed by the left were from confrontations and brawls with neo-Nazis.
The Sueddeutsche Zeitung examined the public's apparent greater acceptance of left-wing violence, which is usually directed against property rather than human beings: Nehmen wir linke Gewalt nicht ernst genug? / Should we be more concerned with left-wing violence?
Trotzdem scheint es bis in die Mitte der
Gesellschaft eine größere Akzeptanz für linke Straftaten zu geben.
Vielleicht weil der Rechtsextremismus immer eine exklusive, altbackene
und hässliche Komponente besitzt und wir mit der Linken eher Anti-AKW
und Friedensbewegung assoziieren. Vielleicht, weil wir bei rechten
Anschlägen eher an brennende Menschen als an brennende Autos denken. ( The centrist view apparently is more accepting of left-wing criminal acts. Perhaps this is because right-wing extremism is often xenophobic and ugly while we associate the left with the anti-nuke and peace movement. Maybe it's because with respect to right-wing attacks we are more inclined to think of burning human beings instead of burning autos.)
Right-wing violence is much greater threat in the United States, where there is virtually no violence from left-wing groups. The threat has become much greater with the election of Barack Obama, and the toxic mixture of right-wing hate radio/TV and guns is already leading to deadly acts, such as the assassination of a prominent abortion doctor last weekend. The blogger/journalist Sara Robinson has been warning about this on the excellent blog
Orcinus:
"The right
wing long ago accepted a foundational narrative that justifies
violence. Now, the leaders of the movement are inciting their followers
to take many (if not most) of the intermediate steps that signal a
group actively gearing up for violence. From this point, it's only a
short slide to further separation, disengagement, and finally
confrontation. What we've seen so far has been intense and surprising
-- but we should also recognize it as the first warning gusts of a
rapidly gathering storm."
Which is why I give my money for good causes to Planned Parenthood and the Southern Poverty Law Center!
Posted by: hattie | June 04, 2009 at 10:31 PM