AAfG’s call to protest against Jobbik’s visit in London on 26 January 2014

ANTIFASCIST ACTION for GREECE (AAFG)

CALL TO PROTEST!

Supporters of ‘Jobbik’, Hungary’s own fascist party/organisation, are organising a public meeting this Sunday 26 January 2014 to drum up support for Jobbik in the upcoming EU elections. Jobbik has variously been described as ‘neo-fascist’, ‘far-right’, ‘neo-Nazi’, ‘anti-Semite’, ‘right-wing populist’ and so on. Gabor Vona – Jobbik’s leader – shall be the main speaker at this meeting. Vona’s hate speech has  whipped up anti-Roma and anti-Semitic sentiment that has led to waves of violent attacks against migrants, Jews, the Roma, leftist activists, and others in Hungary. Jobbik’s leader, as is the case for senior party officials, is not merely some conservative, patriotic Hungarian as he seeks to portray himself; rather he holds chauvinist views with casual sprinkles of anti-semitism, racist rhetoric, and homophobia. Jobbik members in paramilitary fatigues – occasionally armed – and organised in battalions, have reportedly invaded Romani camps and carry out attacks throughout Hungary. Placing itself to the ‘right’ of the newly-formed European Alliance for Freedom ( of the likes of Le Pen in France and Wilders in the Netherlands), Jobbik seeks to form its own political alliance with other fascist organisations such as Greece’s Golden Dawn and the UK’s BNP, in order to better advance their mutual ‘cause’. Vona’s visit to London is part of Jobbik’s – and the European fascists’ – strategy of drumming up support and of forming political alliances in light of the upcoming EU elections.

The rise of extreme nationalist and neo-fascist movements cannot be understood without examining how it takes root at times of economic crises during which the few cling on to their privileges and push those hit the most by the crisis to find scapegoats in the ‘Jew’, the ‘Gypsies’, the ‘Communists’, and, generally, the ‘Other’. The recent rise of fascism throughout Europe is a consequence of the dire economic crisis that is inevitable under capitalism. The unending neoliberal adjustments foisted on our societies by our own ruling elites and under the instructions of international organisations – such as the International Monetary Fund and the various EU bodies – perpetuate and further deepen this crisis. Consequently, the fight-back against fascism – which must be immediate and decisive – must necessarily also be a rejection of neoliberal prescriptions and a denunciation of the system that gives birth to phenomena such as fascism, racism, anti-Semitism and the like.  At the opposite side of the fascist forces stand we – the progressive forces in society – we – anti-fascists – inspired by hope, not hate – conscious of the difficult task of building our own resistance based on solidarity in a system based on preserving the privileges of the few while the many are condemned to austerity, austerity, and more austerity.  To this end, we, AAfG, fully support the call by UK antifascist/antiracist groups to protest against Vona’s visit, and we call for the widest possible participation. The rise of UKIP and the anti-immigration delirium of the Tory MPs must be a warning to us all and a hint that the rise of fascism in Greece and Hungary might not be as distant as they appear.

NO PLATFORM TO HATE! NO FASCIST SCHEMING!

JOBBIK, BNP, AND GOLDEN DAWN, NO PASARAN!

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