Alexander Baron & Gilad Atzmon- A Mutual Admiration Society
It seems Atzmon is getting even bolder in his open anti-semitism. In a blog post dated the 27th December (http://www.gilad .co.uk/writings/alexander-baron-gilad-atzmon-wipes-israel-off-the-map.html) he links to a supportive article from the homophobic plagiarist Alexander Baron.
Baron is one of the lesser known figures on the far right, so a bit of background. He’s openly antisemitic and a holocaust denier as this quote from his website shows (http://www. infotextmanuscripts.org/ITMA.html) shows:
I have published on the Holocaust and Holocaust Revisionism – what is known pejoratively and inaccurately as Holocaust Denial. I have published a book length exposé of Zionist agent and sexual deviant David Irving.
He uses the traditional antisemite tactic of blaming Jews for antisemitism. He describes the “Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion” as:
Organized Jewry’s Deadliest Weapon
Baron isn’t just a lone crank, he has operational links with the Evolian think-tank “New Right”, set up by the veteren far-right activist and founder of “National Anarchism”, Troy Southgate. Southgate acts as secretary of the group, which has Jonathan Bowden (who used to be in the Monday Club, the Revolutionary Conservative Caucus, the Freedom Party and the BNP) as its chairman. So, much like Southgate, this is someone with a long history of neo-fascist activism. Another person involved with the New Right is the veteran fascist and Holocaust denier Lady Michelle Renouf. Baron thanks her in his writing up of the 2010 conference so he obviously knows her relatively well. Baron himself spoke at the 2005 launch of the group and the 2010 and 2011 conferences.
Considering this is all easily available on Baron’s website (which is where the article Atzmon links to is from), there is no way Atzmon won’t have seen at least some of it.
So why might Atzmon be attracted to Baron and by extension the New Right?
I’d say it’s an ideological convergence. Despite the claims from some quarters, while Atzmon is undoubtedly on the far right, his particular allegiance isn’t to Neonazi interpretations of fascism. (The fact some are pushing this merely illustrates the lack of serious anti-fascist analysis around at the moment. Nobody with even a basic understanding of far-right ideology would be arguing this). His is more a kind of ‘post-modern’, cultural take on far right themes. So he’s going to be attracted to the likes of Baron who present themselves as “beyond left and right”. And the founding statement of the New Right could come straight from Atzmon himself:
We are opposed to liberalism, democracy and egalitarianism and fight to restore the eternal tsunami that have become submerged beneath the corrosive tsunami of the modern world.
(For a more in-depth analysis of this specific strand of neofascism, see Co-opting the Counter Culture: Troy Southgate and the National Revolutionary Faction) by Graham D. Macklin).
Some conclusions.
While it might have been previous possible to claim that, while a racist, Atzmon wasn’t a fascist, that is definitely no longer the case. Atzmon is now openly linking to the organised far right, which makes him one of them. As such, no platform is the correct position to take, whatever that may entail.
And those like Roy Bard/FreeThePeeps (who was behind the Indymedia coup) and Lauren Booth who are still defending Atzmon have to be treated as fascists themselves at this point. Even if they don’t actively follow far right ideologies, they are now overtly collaborating with fascists. At this point, it doesn’t make any difference whether this is deliberate or is the product of stupidity and wilful ignorance. While not quite at the same level yet, Mikey Ezra of Harry’s Place also needs watching carefully. While he may see getting his books signed by fascists as some kind of jolly public school jape, I beg to differ.
You are either anti-fascist or you are pro-fascist. There is no middle ground and none will be accepted.