Fascist pseudo-anti-fascism advances in Russia
We have been noting, with growing unease, a phenomenon we call the Paradoxical Anti-Fascist Rhetoric of Contemporary Crypto-Fascism—witnessed both in the stateside far right Hitler-baiting Obama, and (more disturbingly) in the increasingly fascistic Vladimir Putin Nazi-baiting the Ukrainians. Now the websites Human Rights in Ukraine and Kyiv Post report on a far-right summit just held at Yalta (yes, in recently annexed Crimea, and the site of an Allied summit in World War II), attended by representatives of such unsavory entities as Hungary's Jobbik party, Belgium's Parti Communautaire National-Européen, and the British National Party—and overseen by Sergei Glazyev, a senior adviser to Putin, and Maxim Shevchenko, a member of Putin's human rights council (sic!). Predictably, this assemblage of neo-fascists discussed forming an "Anti-fascist Council" to oppose the "fascist junta in Kiev." Many of the Russian militants in attendance are said to have been followers of the Eurasia Party of Alexander Dugin—seemingly a key ideologue of Putin's Eurasian Union project.
We are heartened to note that simultaneously, as Sweden's neo-fascist Svenskarnasparti or Party of the Swedes (formerly the more honestly named National Socialist Front, with an agenda of halting immigraiton to preserve the country's "Western genetic and cultural heritage") took to the streets of Stockholm, the 150 or so of them were massively outnumbered by thousands of anti-fascist counter-protesters. There were clashes with police who tried to separate the two groups. (AP, Aug. 30)
But with much of the European and American "left" stupidly rallying around Putin and buying his line that the Ukrainians are neo-Nazis, we fear that some of the once stalwart antifas may become confused in their analysis. It isn't that there isn't a fascist element emerging in Ukraine. Of course there is. It's that there is also a fascist element emerging in Russia, around the ultra-nationalist and authoritarian cult of Putin. Supporting Putin in the name of "anti-fascism" is despairingly stupid—and all the more so after this Yalta confab.
Meanwhile, Euromaidan Press reports that a Russian Anti-War Committee has been formed to oppose Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The founding statement demands Putin's impeachment and calls on Russians to "Express their strong rejection of this fratricidal war with acts of peaceful civil disobedience." The mothers of soldiers mobilized to Ukraine have formed a Сommittee of Soldiers' Mothers and released a video demanding that Russian officials (who still deny Russian incursions into Ukraine) bring back their children alive.
We have noted the emergence of an anti-war opposition in Russia before—and that being an anti-war protester in Russia requires far more courage than in the West. We again insist: These are the people in Russia that we as progressives in the West should be supporting—not the war criminal Putin.
Israel Shamir attends Yalta pseudo-anti-fascist summit
It is hardly a surprise, but it appears that the vile Israel Shamir attended the Yalta affair, which was officially entitled "Russia, Ukraine, New Russia: Global Problems and Challenges." A very staid and technocratic name, except that the reference to "New Russia" completely betrays their hand. Ukraine-watcher Anton Shekhovtsov has assembled on his blog photos from the confab, in which Shamir is seen. So is the Italian neo-fascist Roberto Fiore. What a rogue's gallery.
Ukrainian fascists fight Russian fascists
Foreign Policy reports that the eastern Ukraine city of Mariupol is being defended by a Kiev-commanded paramilitary force called the Azov Battallion that uses openly Nazi imagery, including the wolfsangel ("wolf trap") symbol that was widely used by Third Reich military divisions (and has since been adopted by neo-Nazi groups including the Aryan Nations). This assuredly sucks, but we should also point out that the closer Ukraine gets to the EU, the more pressure there will be on Kiev to kick thugs like the Azov Battallion overboard. So, once again, the Putin propagandists have everything backwards. In addittion to failing to recognize the fascist element within the Russian and "rebel" ranks.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch reports on the systematic detention and torture of civilians who oppose the rule of the Donetsk and Luhansk "People's Republics" declared by the Russian-backed "rebels." This echoes recent findings of Amnesty International. The silence from the "left" (sic) about this has been deafening, as it echoes Putin propaganda about how the Kiev regime is "Nazi."
This is essentially a reprise of the 1990s Ustashe-v-Chetnik horrorshow in ex-Yugoslavia (itself a replay of the 1940s Ustashe-v-Chetnik horrorshow), where the "left" (sic) was similarly duped into supporting fascists.
Ukrainian 'rebels' use forced labor
Human Rights Watch reported Sept. 5 that insurgent forces in eastern Ukriane "are detaining civilians on allegations of violating public order and then subjecting them to forced labor. Rebels appear to be using public order infractions as a pretext to obtain unpaid labor. In some cases, the members of these 'punishment brigades' are beaten or subjected to other cruel and degrading treatment. In several cases Human Rights Watch documented, civilians were forced to work at checkpoints near front lines, where they were at risk of attacks by Ukrainian government forces."
What, no fascism here!
Russian pot calls Ukrainian kettle black —again
Hopefully we don't have to over-emphasize that the term "fascist junta" is pretty absurd when applied to a government not run by a junta but a parliament and executive that were, for better or worse, elected. True, as The Guardian noted May 25, the rebel-held east of the country did not participate in the election. But need we remind Putin's admirers that the elections that brought his own government to power in 2012 were tainted?
Russian pot calls Ukrainian kettle black —again
Putin now says the Ukrainian army "is not an army, but a foreign legion, in this case a foreign NATO legion, which, of course, doesn’t pursue the national interests of Ukraine." (RT) This as he has thousands of his own literally foreing forces fighting illegally in Ukraine. He must be wetting his pants laughing.
Cult of Putin gets more fascistic
What, no fascism here! From Huffington Post, Oct. 7:
Putin fascism attacks sex deviants
Russia has barred transsexuals, "exhibitionists" and "fetishists" from driving, finding that "'mental disorders" make them more likely to crash. (Daily Mail) What, no fascism here! Just ask The Nation or Counterpunch.
Anti-Semitic attack in Moscow?
From The Forward on Oct. 12:
What, no fascism here! By the way, Andrey Makarevich's Wikipedia page informs us that he has been denounced in the Russian media as a "traitor" and supporter of "fascists" for having the temerity to perform for internally dispalced persons in Svyatogorsk, Ukraine, who had fled the "People's Republics" (sic) of Donetsk and Luhansk.
The attitude of the Western "left" (sic) in the face of all this continues to be disgraceful. The ever-annoying Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) runs a piece entitled "'Radioactive' Putin Is 'Stalin's Spawn'," providing a tiresome litany of predictable overheated rhetoric from the likes of Fox News demonziing Putin. Talk about an easy target!
I read stuff like this, and I think "cast the beam from thine own eye." The shameless shilling for Putin on the "left" is no less odious than the demonization in the MSM. When FAIR has anything—anything at all—to say about Stephen F. Cohen's serial Putin-shilling in The Nation, I will take them seriously. Not until.
Russo-Ukraine intra-fascist war comes to New York...
The Hyperallergic arts blog on Oct. 3 notes alarmingly that a photo exhibit on Ukraine and Syria entitled Material Evidence, held at 540 West 21st Street ("formerly" home of the Eyebeam Art & Technology Center, although we confusingly aren't told what it is called now) was vandalized by hoodlums who left behind neo-Nazi leaflets. A photo shows that one was emblazoned with the wolfsangel, symbol of the above-referenced Azov Battallion. Now the Ukrainian Policy website runs a piece, "New York’s anti-Ukrainian art gallery, and the far-right Russian network behind it," alleging:
Alas, the article minimizes the attack, disingenuously stating that the flyers did not contain neo-Nazi imagery (yes, they did). Hoo-boy...
Ukraine rebel chief: Kiev run by 'miserable' Jews
From AFP, Feb. 2:
Now which side are the Nazis again? Leave it to the stupid American left to get everything backwards.
US idiot-leftists attend Russo-fascist confab
December 2014 saw an international conference in Moscow on the "Right of Peoples to Self-Determination and Building a Multi-Polar World," organized by one Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR). Participants included US "leftists" from the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) and the International Action Center (IAC)—both in the orbit of the Workers World Party—alongside Russian and Italian fascists and white nationalists from the neo-Confederate League of the South. AGMR appears to be in the orbit of Eurasinist ideologue Aleksandr Dugin UNAC notes that attendees included Israel Shamir, "a leading anti-Zionist writer from Israel," with no mention of his abject Jew-hatred.
All this is reported by Three-Way Fight, an anti-fascist blog that has not been taken in by fascist pseudo-anti-fascism. Hang in there, comrades.
Ukraine: neo-Nazis fight on both sides
Three Spaniards were arrested upon their return from Ukraine, where they were apparently fighting as part of the pro-Russian Donbass International Brigades. One told El País of his fellow fghters: "Half of them are communists and the other half are Nazis... We fought together, communists and Nazis alike… We all want the same: social justice and the liberation of Russia from the Ukrainian invasion."
Meanwhile, Israel's YNet runs the story of a Jewish volunteer who was killed fighting for the Kiev forces in Ukraine, and whose body was removed from a battlefield under fire by members of the Jewish emergency organization ZAKA. The soldier, Yevgeni Yatsina, was buried by the Ukrainian Jewish community in Kiev's Jewish cemetery.
Now, who are the Nazis again?
The Daily Beast reminds us that there are neo-Nazis on the Keiv side too, reporting that a group from Sweden's Nordisk Ungdom (Nordic Youth) have arrived to fight for the Ukraine government, and is recuiting a brigade on its website.
But isn't it interesting how the "left" only sees the Nazis on one side—and is blind both to the countervailing evidence on that side, and to which side has behaved in fascist manner by invading and partially annexing a weaker neighbor.
Ukrainian 'rebels' fly Confederate flag
Amid all the controversy now about the rebel flag flying at the South Carolina state house, it has come to our attention that Moscow Times reported a year ago that that flag of the "Novorossiya" confederation that the Russian-backed rebels have declared in eastern Ukraine is actually based on the Confederate flag! The only difference is that it doesn't have stars: "otherwise, it is the same as the Confederate flag, a blue diagonal cross bordered with white on a red background." The "Ukrainian Dixie flag" has been used in recent weeks by Pavel Gubarev's secessionist Novorossiya Party, and serves as the backdrop in his numerous video appeals.
Still rooting for these guys, Idiot Leftists?
Putin push to bring back Romanovs
So the great hero of the "left" (sic!) wants to bring back the czars... The UK's Daily Express reported June 24 that Vladimir Petrov, a lawmaker from Putin's United Russia party, plans to introduce a law (to be implemented by the centenary of the end of czarist rule) that would "give the Royal family members a special status" and "stimulate their return to Russia." Putin is said to have loaned his support to the idea. Yeah, the Express is a right-wing scandal-rag, but this appears to be true. The Moscow Times reported on the proposal that same day, and also mentioned that Petrov has actually written to Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna Romanova in Spain and Prince Dmitry Romanovich Romanov in Denmark, both of whom claim to be the head of the house of Romanov, pitching them on a return to Mother Russia...
Ukraine gets Jewish prime minister
Amid all the charges of anti-Semitism in Ukraine, and the government being assailed as "Nazi" by Putin's propaganda partisans, it is worth noting that country's new prime minister, just appointed by President Petro Poroshenko, is Vlodymir Groysman—a former mayor of Vinnytsia and a practicing Jew. The appointment makes "Groysman the first openly Jewish person to hold the country’s second highest post and, at 38, the youngest person to have the job," Israel's Haaretz notes happily.
Wonder how Ukraine's Jewish prime minister feels about this?
From JTA, May 31:
Russian fined for telling historical truth
The Human Rights in Ukraine website reports the maddening news that "37-year-old Vladimir Luzgin has been convicted and fined 200 thousand roubles for reposting on his social network page a text which correctly states that the Soviet Union, in collaboration with the Nazis, invaded Poland in 1939." A court in Perm found Luzgin guilty of posting "knowingly false information." Perversely, he was convicted under a law passed in May 2014 against "rehabilitation of Nazism." Alas, Luzgin may be partisan of wartime Ukrainian nationalst Stepan Bandera. His offending text: "The communists and Germany jointly invaded Poland, sparking off the Second World War. That is, communism and Nazism closely collaborated, yet for some reason they blame Bandera who was in a German concentration camp for declaring Ukrainian independence."
Timothy Snyder on consolidating Russo-fascism
Timothy Snyder has a cracing op-ed in the NY Times Sept. 20 on how Ivan Ilyin, a "prophet of Russian fascism," is being embraced as the ideological patriarch of Putin's Russia...
And Putin certainly seems to be putting these ideas into practice. As Russia holds national elections for 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, claims of election fraud are rife... raising prospects of a reprise of the protests similar to those in 2011, following the last Duma election. (Jurist, Sept. 18) We can only hope.
Russian bill to decriminalize domestic violence
Pending Russian legislation may weaken the country's protections against domestic violence, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Jan. 23. HRW is urging the Russian parliament to reject the legislation for the threat it posses to human rights obligations. The legislation will decriminalize the first offense in a matter of family violence so long as there is no serious harm that would require the hospitalization of the victim. Such offenses will be classified as "administrative offenses," which may result in fines against the offender, but the law eliminates the potentiality of a prison sentence. The law will undergo a second reading in parliament this Wednesday.
Domestic violence has recently become a point of contention in Russian politics. In July, parliament adopted legislation that criminalized violence against family members. Citing concerns over the impact this legislation has on "traditional family values," some Russian politicians introduced a bill to reverse the July legislation. Statistics show that 40% of all violent crimes in Russia are occurrences of domestic violence.
In March the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), a UN mandate created to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, called on Russia to amend, reduce and revise a list of restricted or prohibited occupations and sectors for women established by law, and to give women access to and appropriate compensation for jobs for which they are qualified. (Jurist, Jan. 23)
Russian decriminalizes domestic violence
Russia's parliament voted 380-3 to decriminalize domestic violence in cases where it does not cause "substantial bodily harm" and does not occur more than once a year. The move eliminates criminal liability in such cases, making a violation punishable by a fine of roughly $500, or a 15-day arrest, provided there is no repeat within 12 months. The bill now goes to the rubber-stamp upper chamber, where no opposition is expected. It then must be signed by President Vladimir Putin, who has signaled his support. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists that family conflicts do "not necessarily constitute domestic violence." (USA Today, Jan. 27)
Top Russian lawmaker baits Jews as anti-God
From JTA, Jan. 25:
No, ya think?