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Neo Nazis in IsraelEurotrash

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EditorialAs 2007 draws to a close, it is perhaps a time to sum up thestate of anti-fascism here in Ireland. While I was growingup, I recall my Dad often telling me that history is full ofthose that underestimated and were ultimately destroyedby their enemies. Flawless wisdom it must beacknowledged, but difficult to remain true to whenconfronted by the Aryan warriors that have come frothing tothe surface of the urinal of right-wing politics in this country.

In recent times, AFAs contact with Irish fascists haspointed only to evidence that these lead the sad anddelusional lives of the fantasist, sitting alone in their roomsgazing at their tattered but lovingly restored portraits ofHitler, pausing only to type a petulant missive to one of thewebsites that gives host to their cries of martyrdom andself-pity.These however are the detritus of fascism, their nihilistic

ideology retained for their own consumption and not thewealthy industrial ists that fascist doctrine truly serves. The,"I don't give a damn" approach then, is the battle cry of theself destroying fool, emerging from the militarist traditionsthat serve fascist growth and serve as a means toideologically disarm the working class. Promoting thisculture of self-pity and cult of the forgotten hero, there arenumerous claims of aspirations to die in battle, plumbingthe depths to find imagined injustices that can replace thereal problems of society.

Karl Liebknecht, not living to see the full fruition of thefascist ideology, in discussing the uses of militarism in classsociety, observed: "That proper "military spirit," also called"patriotic spirit" ... signifies in short a constant readiness topitch into the exterior or the interior enemy whenevercommanded to do so. Taken by itself the most suitablecondition for its production is a state of complete stupidity,or at least as Iowan intelligence as possible which enablesone to drive the mass as a herd of cattle in whateverdirection is demanded by the interest of the "existing order".And so AFA has encountered these in their many forms, at

least those that have attempted to leave their computers tobecome the foot-soldiers of big business. One, having beenknocked unconscious at the top of the lecture theatre inUCD, came round actually crying and protesting hisinnocence of fascist ideology before begging the universitysecurity for protection. Four more sat sullen and trembling inthe taproom of the Sean O'Casey, offering no resistance astheir photographs were taken. One bizarre individualamused himself by wandering around Limerick putting upposters bearing slogans that no-one could possibly support.The limitation of the Irish fascist's, 'warrior's honour'

however, was also shown when, a new recruit, desertedand alone by the "true" but craven representatives of "WhiteNationalism", felt moved to renounce Hitler and his works.He at least allowed experience to educate him as to whatfascism offers.

It is difficult then to muster class hatred for these of avolume reserved for the mutant rat in a suit that is JustinBarrett. A promoter of the powerful class interests that seekto weaken the working class through feeding them rightwing populist delusion, Barrett does so for rationalreactionary reasons. It is sad to note then, that the sadlosers of the Celtic Wolves, devoid of any true fascistleadership, consciously seek to delude themselves.

If you have any information on fascist orracist activity in your areaplease forward it to us at the following

address:

Website: www.geocities.com/irishafa

ContentsIRISH NEWSNEO-NAZIS IN ISRAELFROM THE DEPTHS -Michael J McgrathRECLAIM THE STREETS 6Madrid Anti FascistsBRIGIDISTABook ReviewEUROTRASHA look at some of the partiesFianna Fail are allied to in theEuropean Union.VOLTAIRE'S BASTARDOFFSPRINGV FOR VENDETTAMICHAEL 0 RIORDANBIG BROTHER ISJUDGING YOUWE CALL THEM THEMASTER RACE ...A BRIEF HISTORY OFIRISH ANTI - FASCISM

Anti-Fascist Action,Po.Box 3355,Dublin 7,Ireland.

E-mail: afa@ireland.com

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LimerickOn the night of Friday the 2nd of February 2007 onhoardings and abandoned buildings allover Limerick citycentre anti-immigration posters were pasted up by a groupcalling themselves the Movement to Save Ireland. Wewere worried at first about how an anti-immigration grouphad sprung up so quickly in Limerick without us hearingabout it. Very shortly afterwards, in fact that Saturday soonafter we had first seen the posters, we found out that itwas the work of David Noone, a person who we havebeen aware of for many years due to his Holocaust denialactivities in Cork. This was a relief, firstly because it wasclear from the website that the Movement to Save Irelandwas essentially a one-man show, despite Noone'spretence of support at home and abroad, and secondlybecause we know that Noone's strange grab-bag ofconspiracy theories could never attract a large following.David Noone is the pseudonym of Brian Wallace who hasbeen writing and distributing Holocaust denial material inCork for many years. He is a White Supremacist amongother things, and believes that anti-racism campaigns bythe Government and immigrant support groups in thiscountry are part of the Zionist plot to wipe out the WhiteRace.

On the morning after the posters were put up, a coupleout walking in town bumped into Noone/Wallace and afriend of his handing out a flyer version of the poster onO'Connell Street, Limerick. The man who was handed aflyer did not take kindly to its contents and a small scuffleensued. Noone/Wallace fled immediately and watchedfrom the other side of the street. His friend stayed andfaced the member of the public, shouting "AIDs, faggot,nigger, homosexual!" like a racist Father Jack.A few digs were traded, and though "Jack" did end up

gaining the upper hand in the scuffle, MSI retreated in theend and left the couple to stuff half their posters in the bin.MSI later wrote on their blog how they were "outnumberedagain" in this incident, but we are at loss to say how twopeople out doing their shopping outnumber two nazis.Later that day members of AFA, political parties and

concerned unaffiliated individuals met to discuss removingthe posters should they reappear, and otherwise dealingwith MSI. AFA were happy to note that physicallyconfronting them was not discounted as a possible optionby anyone there.That was to be the beginning of several months of

postering by MSI which everyone involved in posterremoval had to admit was dedicated to say the least!The posters started off with innocuous enough anti-

immigration slogans such as "Multiculturalism Is Evil. TheIrish People Reject It" and 'The Government Wastes YourTax Money On This" indicating some Government anti-racism campaign. Very quickly they became moreobnoxious - "The Government Cares More About AfricansThan It Does About Irish" and "Immigration Is Hurting YouAnd Your Children". Every day people in our group tookdown posters on our way to and from work and college.Groups went out taking them down at night too.Sometimes Noone/Wallace would go on two posteringforays in one night. Several lone females wereapproached by Noone/Wallace while taking down hisposters and he either threatened them or tried to engagethem in debate, presumably depending on his mood. Henever approached males.A turning point was a day when we went out and saw

posters so ridiculously loopy that we were unsure as towhether to take them down or not. One poster suggestedthat a Jewish lecturer in Trinity College intended to wipeout the Irish race. Another comedic gem from that periodurged us to "Smash Feminism! Lets Make The Babies WeNeed Now!" With these types of posters the slogans wereleft up but the MSI's contact details removed.At one point it appeared as though Noone/Wallace was

gaining a bit of a following. He told stories on his blog ofnew Eastern European members of MSI. He did havesome posters in Polish, which a Polish friend assured ushad either been written by someone with a disastrouslypoor grasp of the language or more likely had been writtenby Noone/Wallace and put through a translating program.In the end, around July the law caught up with MSI. The

Trinity lecturer didn't appreciate her picture appearing ona poster, particularly one suggesting she intended mass-homicide of the Irish, and the litter warden didn'tappreciate the state the town was in with all the hoardingscovered in half-ripped posters. Noone/Wallace's computerand books were seized. He got them back a month or twolater but his postering campaign seemed to have lost itsmomentum. Either that or he got tired of going it alone.The one other member of MSI in evidence now is a personknown as Limerick Pit online, and he has since turnedagainst his erstwhile comrade. The website is still goingstrong with Noone's strange observations and theories,and more and more taken up with infighting. As far as wecan tell he has left Limerick and the postering has stoppedfor now.It was very encouraging to us that a large group of

people from different backgrounds and ideologiesgathered together in a such a short time, and continued inthe months that followed to remove the posters quickly.Many of us were also complimented by passers-by as wetook them down. One of Noone/Wallace's most cherishedbeliefs is that his extreme ideas about Keeping Irish Whiteare held by a large silent majority of people in this country,but that they are kept silent by the malign forces of politicalcorrectness. Forces which of course for him stem from avery sinister source. The reality is that though plain oldracism might be annoyingly common, people generallyhave little time for fascism, and many are even willing toleave their warm houses of an evening to stop it spreadingits message.

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'Zionazism' or just thesame old tune?

Controversy has been raging in Israel with the arrest andcharging in recent weeks of 8 neo-nazis for suspectedmembership of a neo-nazi cell. They are thought to havebeen involved in a spate of attacks on jews and arabsalike, as well as homeless, gay, and elderly residents indowntown Tel Aviv. Raids on their homes turned up arange of Nazi paraphernalia, including pistols andhomemade explosives, according to police. A video wasposted by the gang members on a Russian neo-nazi siteof them beating up a homeless drug addict in the ShukHaCarmel district of Tel Aviv demanding: "Stand on yourknees and ask forgiveness from the Russian people forbeing a Jew and a drug addict".The mother of the alleged gang leader, Eli Buanitov

(19), blamed the authorities for neglecting Russianimmigrants and discriminating against them. "My son is acharity case, he has nothing against the State. He finishedjunior high and stopped attending school after Arabsstabbed him and the police did nothing about it," she said."The case of this particular Nazi gang is not a newphenomenon in Israel. In 2005, an Israeli Defence Forcessoldier, Vladimir Tranorotzki, (20) who immigrated to Israelfrom Russia was arrested for membership of a neo-Naziorganization. The soldier's mother, who immigrated toIsrael with her son four years previously, also professedsupport for neo-Nazi groups and hatred for Israel. "Weimmigrated for the absorption package," the soldier'smother said when challenged. According to Zionist 'Centrefor the Victims of Anti-Semitism', in the years 2000-2003,over 500 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in whichRussians were arrested for spraying anti-Jewish graffiti,desecrating synagogues and attacking Jews.

The latest arrests have again turned the spotlight onIsrael's "law of return" and, arguably by extension, thevery nature of the Israeli state. Under the law of return,anyone who can claim Jewish ancestry to one of theirgrandparents is automatically granted Israeli citizenship.This was the case with all but one of the eight arrested,the remaining one living in Israel on a temporary visa. Thefact that 7 of the 8 neo-nazi's can trace Jewish ancestryhas appalled respectable society in Israel, liberal andconservative alike.

Unparalleled in any other nation-state, Israel is definedby its citizens' religious identity, with all claims tonaturalisation, to social citizenship, and the full rights andentitlements we normally associate with this, dependenton Jewish identity. The post-1948 dispossessedPalestinians within Israel know this fact very well, beingemployed traditionally in unskilled and menial jobs. Overrecent decades, and with the increased marginalising ofthe Palestinian population within Israel (for reasons asmuch economic as ideological, it could reasonably beargued), this is now also increasingly the case for a largeproportion of the Russian and other former Eastern blocimmigrants who make up Israel's army of cheap labour.For this group, Israel's "grandfather rule" is an easy passto what they presuppose to be a better life. For theyounger ones especially, the religious observance of theirgrandparents represents an economic opportunity-a freepass into a country where official government policy still

insists on fulfilling a Biblical prophecy of creating andexpanding 'Eretz Israel' (or Greater Israel). Little wonder,then, that the 'factory fodder' from Eastern Europe feelalienated from their new surroundings. For readersfamiliar with the conflict in Israel/Palestine, or who mayhave visited Israel and witnessed the sometimes starkpoverty on display in the bigger cities such as Tel Aviv, itis understandable why some workers housed in a poorsuburb there, or in subsidised housing in some isolated(illegal) settlement in Palestine might be somewhat lessthan eager to play out the role of pioneering frontiersmansimply to bolster the ambitions of the Israeli governmentand the religious right, when they get shat on in return.

It doesn't require a massive leap of faith, then, for asmall minority of these economic immigrants to progressfrom alienation from mainstream Israeli society to openhostility and violent attacks against it, and Judaism byextension, as a result of their new found status at thebottom rung of the ladder in the host nation.The outrage and hysteria sparked by the arrests of

Neo-Nazis from across the political establishment and inthe Israeli media has been seen almost exclusivelythrough the prism of Jewish identity and the history ofJewish suffering at the hands of the Nazis in World War II.Some commentators have even called for the "law ofreturn" to be scrapped entirely because it has opened thefloodgates to the 'wrong kind of Jew' being grantedcitizenship rights. Others helpfully suggest that, sincethese people have chosen to identify with Nazism, theyare not in fact Jewish in any sense of the word- half,quarter or otherwise- and scurry off indignantly towherever it is they bury their heads in the sand.

This kind of analysis is clearly misguided, and wilfullynegligent of the fact that it is not religion itself that is at theroot of the sporadic and isolated (for now) attempts atfascist organising within Israel, but the skewed economicand political privileges that accrue from religion as adefining identity.

For progressives and anti-fascists, in Israel andelsewhere, the recent arrests might more properly beused as the starting point of a more critical examination ofa state that was established, and continues, to attractimmigrants using the criteria of religious heritage. Thehistory of fascism in Europe in the twentieth century hastaught us well that religion and race are usefulsmokescreens for fomenting racism and advancing fascistambitions when the economy becomes destabilised.From the depths - a lookat the deranged antics of

Ireland's Nazi-druidMichael McGrath

A good example of the kind of lowlife attracted to fascismis the Kilkenny based veteran mentalist and Nazi, MichaelMcGrath. Despite being armed with a negligiblerelationship to-sanity, McGrath is responsible for the mostserious attempt to kick start an openly Nazi political partyin the 26 counties since the Blueshirts. He has a longrecord of miserable failure in all his political efforts, be theyin the guise of wannabe Fuhrer, local "independent"

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election candidate, or the self-proclaimed Arch-Druid ofTara and Ireland. Recently however, he seems to havereturned to his Nazi origins as his recent discovery of theinternet has allowed him full reign to unleash his fantasiesand release his bile on anyone who crosses wands withhim.

Nazi activistMcGrath's love affair with Nazism stretches back to his

teenage years and his love of Teutonic disciplineprompted him to sign up for a stint in the Irish army. Soonturfed out on a disability pension, McGrath was unleashedon the unsuspecting populace of Kilkenny city, andbecame a well known local drunk whose views weretreated as the ravings of an entertaining if well-dodgycrank. However, in the late 1980's McGrath upped hisNazi activities from the occasional unprovoked ashtray-armed assault on any fellow drunk deemed guilty of

McGrath in royal ~ druid mode (left) .. ~ANNE_OBY pueu(: VOTEMembers of oneinternet forumapply noplatform policy(right)

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Marxist sympathies to an attempt to organise an openlyNazi party. McGrath had made contact with Irish andEuropean Nazis via the American Nazi front organisation,the NSPADAO, and was soon being supplied with Nazimaterial and other information for his planned movementvia a PO Box.Although largely a solo-run effort, McGrath had a few

Dublin contacts and began his recruitment offensive withpublicity-seeking press releases call ing for a "Smash AidsBlitzkrieg", placing copies of David Irving's HolocaustNews in library reading rooms and adding INSWP contactcards into book and record sleeves in shops. Quicklydrawing attention from anti-fascists, the heroic Aryanwarrior fought back with regular visits to the local Gardastation to grass up and pass on fabricated stories abouthis enemies. His grandiose and sectionable plans for aNazi movement in Ireland, outlined in correspondence toan English Nazi were obtained by anti-fascists, providingdetailed and hilarious information of his plans andorganisation, right down to the very helpful advice on howto enter his gaff if he was absent! Eventually the press andthe Seanad also caught on to McGrath and his fourthReich did not long survive the heat and spotlight resultingin an announcement of his "retirement" from Nazi politics.

"Independent" CandidateDespite McGrath's well-documented activities, he was

given a regular forum for his ingratiating lunacy in the"Letters to the editor" page of local rag the KilkennyPeople which cynically turned a blind eye to his not-so-hidden agenda in return for the free copy and offbeatentertainment value of his letters. Provided with thisplatform, despite his previous achievement of receivingthe grand total of 42 votes in the 1985 local election,McGrath resurfaced as an "independent" candidate in theKilkenny city council local elections in 1994. His candidacyprompted local anti-Nazi's to launch a campaign against

him and issued flyers with details of a public meeting to beheld in a local pub. McGrath's response was to makeanother of his grassing trips to the local garda station andto use his newspaper forum to blame this activity on "thisRed Action Front also known as A.N.L" who "aresupported by about 80 members of the Union of Studentsin Ireland (USI)" - McGrath's Sicherheitsdienst obviouslyspot on the mark!True to form however, McGrath could not confine his

reaction to mere grassing and dissembling as, a few daysbefore the meeting was to take place, a goose-stepping,drunken McGrath entered the pub predicting all kinds ofGotterdammerung if the meeting went ahead. Promptlybundled through the door, this was not to be the last ofMcGrath's counter offensive as, later on that night, a rockcame through the pub window and despite the jackbootshe must have been fairly handy runner as he did not stayabout to claim his victory. Following his inevitable defeat atthe polls, he announced another of his bogus"retirements" and later in another letter used the excuse ofthe 50th anniversary of the Generals July 20th plot againstHitler to cloud his Nazi beliefs. Although even here hecould not entirely avoid glowing references to the generalspart in the "heroic struggle" against Bolshevism.

Step forth thearch-druid

Celtic culture seems to be cursed with the fascination offascist and Nazi scum, so next up on McGrath's radar wasthe fringe world of Celtic druidry. McGrath founded his"Order of Irish Druids" and rapidly began to sowdissension in the scene by his willingness to providefabricated lurid tales about rivals to the tabloids in an effortto garner publicity for his outfit and undermine perceivedcompetitors. His efforts only succeeded in galvanisingopposition and in 1997 his attempt to crown a "High King"of all-Ireland with a few acolytes at Tara was stopped by adisparate group of outraged anti-monarchists.Nevertheless, McGrath persevered in his attempt tocontrol the druid scene by using his recent discovery ofthe internet to open up a new front against his rivals whohe smeared as "red" and grassed on to fascist websites ina pathetic attempt to get some of his cyber Nazi buddiesto do his dirty work.

Reactivated NaziMcGrath has recently been posting on racist websitesunder the name "Druid Eire" and has left on the record his

willingness to participate in a new Irish "nationalist" party.While careful to avoid overt anti-Semitism and racism, headvocates a "no compassion approach towards everyvariety of Commie and Anarchist" (first they came for thecommunists), the imprisonment of asylum seekers, anti-gay legislation and other classic Nazi populist minority-targeting positions. In other internet forums McGrath failedto realise that they cannot be dominated by his usualpuerile ranting finding his Nazi history was thrown back inhis face and brought to the attention of a wider audience.One user summed up the essence of McGrath in arelatively understated rebuff;"Go back to your fascist buddies and discuss setting up

a new Neo-Nazi group why don't you Pretending to bea Druid and you with less skill and ability than a carnival

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tarot card reader. Get bent you numb-nutted old dry shite,you crusty old smelly pants. Disgraceful menacer of thegifted and open-minded."When confronted with his record nowadays, McGrath's

latest tactic to try wriggling off the hook this time is to claimthat the nazi Michael McGrath died 10 years ago and thathe is not the same individual. However, local sourcesinform us that somebody with the same address, samemental affliction, same record of attending court foralcohol related lunacy, same face which looks like itcaught on fire and was put out with a shovel is still residentin Kilkenny. Perhaps the current Michael J.McGrath is oneof the undead? Still, should fascists attempt to organizehere, it is to be hoped that one or both McGrath's play anactive role, as any organization with him on board isguaranteed to disappear down the shit-hole very quickly.

Anti-fascists reclaimthe streets of Madrid

from Franco(Taken from reports by Coordinadora Antifascista de

Madrid)Anti-fascists are long accustomed to the outrage of jelly-

arsed "liberals" whenever fascists are physically opposed.However, as we have often repeated, the tactics of militantanti-fascism are not confined to giving fascists a well-deserved boot up the hole when necessary but are variedand adoptable to confront the realities of each particularsituation. Anti-fascism has often had to fill the void causedby the usual failure of the likes of the aforementioned"liberals" and self-anointed democrats to do anythingexcept pontificate from their ivory towers. In the Spanishstate for example, in addition to confronting the relativelynumerous and organised fascist movement, members ofthe anti-fascist coordination group have recentlyconfronted the visible legacy of the Franco dictatorship byremoving some of the many street signs still honouring thefascist regime.The campaign kicked off on 18 July 2006, on the 70th

anniversary of the fascist attack against the popular andlegitimate government of the Spanish Republic with theremoval of the Falangist street sign "Arriba Espana" andreplacing it with an improvised sign of its original namePlaza de Blasco Ibanez. The name "Arriba Espana"

gloried in the blood spilled by the fascists and is an insultto the victims of the Franco regime, its equivalent inGermany would be a square named "Sieg Heil Platz".However there are 167 streets in Madrid still named afterleaders of the fascist coup d'etat, commemorating thoseresponsible for the deaths of almost one million peopleduring the1936-39 war, at least 200,000 between 1939-75and the imprisonment of more than a million during thesame period.Why is it that more than 30 years after the death of

Franco, monuments, symbols and streets in the Spanishstate are still dedicated to his fascist regime? The answerlies in the agreement made between the centre-left andthe reformist sector of the pro-Franco dictatorship duringthe post-Franco political transition to "democracy"between 1975-78. In return for "democratic" parties beingallowed access to institutional power, the thousands ofpeople assassinated during 40 years of terror wereforgotten and social rights subjugated to new businesspriorities. The monarchy and its flag (also a symbol of thedictatorship) were imposed on the people, the right of self-determination of regions denied and the originalaspirations of the Popular Republic completely ignored.

The dictatorship accepted this pact, but not before alsodemanding and receiving a "Law of Amnesty" so that notone of Franco's criminals was ever brought to justice. Onthe contrary, they still infest the institutions of state, thearmy, the police, in the judiciary, the boards of public andprivate companies.Eventually, on 3 November 2004, the Congress of the

Deputies approved a resolution to rid Spanish streets of allthe symbols of Francoism still remaining in Spanish mun-icipalities. However, over two years later the Madrid auth-orities have done nothing to remove these reminders ofpro-Franco terrorism from the streets. The only implicationthat can be drawn from this inaction is that by continuingto keep these symbols they must still somehow considerthe dictatorship of Franco as something legitimate.These actions were carried out by Madrid anti-fascists

because of the futility of waiting for any action by thepublic institutions; they have already demonstrated theirincompetence and inclination to do nothing for more than30 years. Only by actions such as this will the necessarypressure be placed on city councils to eliminate streetnames imposed by the pro-Franco dictatorship andrestore them to their true names.

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RIGADISTAAN IRISHMMI'S FIGHT AGAINST FASCISM

BOB DOYLE

Bob Doyle is now the the only surviving Irishman to havegone to fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War ofthe '30's. He was born in the slums of Dublin in 1916 andthe early parts of the book give a revealing insight into theclimate of poverty and religious hysteria that characterisedthe first half of the twentieth century in Ireland.Bob's hero and mentor was Kit Conway, who wasresponsible for recruiting him into the post civil war IRAwhere the military training he received was to proveinvaluable when facing the fascists on the battlefields ofSpain.Doyle was also part of the socialist Republican Congress

that split from the IRA along with Frank Ryan and others."Living in the slums as I did, the struggle over thequestion of the border became of secondary importance,

as it did for the more socially and politically conscious andprogressive elements in the leadership of the I.RA Thisdifference in priorities caused a build up of oppositionwithin the republican movement which led to the Athloneconference in '34 and the split that followed."

In the book, Doyle tells of daily street battles with theBlueshirts and Animal Gang, who often carried bicyclechains. To be a socialist or communist at the time you hadto be able to physically defend yourself."We learned our political theory in prison cells, or on theend of a blueshirt baton, the theory evolved out of thepractice for most of us."

Just over half of the book is written by Bob himself, theother by friends and family giving their take on a man whoeven at the age of ninety-one has never stopped fightingthe good fight. From the streets of Dublin to the war inSpain to Union organising, for Nicaragua and against thePoll Tax in the nineties, up to the present day.. There arealso 25 pages of background information and footnotes,which are very informative.Never a po-faced doctrine communist, he comes acrossas more of a man of action with a healthy sense of

humour.You really get the feeling you know the man from reading'Brigidista'. It's refreshing to read a first hand account ofthe War in Spain instead of some romantic or historicalrecord.One of the maddest stories in the book is how Doyle was

attending Mass one evening in the Pro- Cathedral whenthe priest let loose with a manic tirade of anti- communistoutrage. Bob was swept along with the angry mob whomarched to Connolly House and laid siege to the place,until eventually, they burned it to the ground three dayslater.

Though only present for the initial attack, he was soashamed of himself that the next day, he decided to findout for himself about these "vile creatures of communism"and ironically he ended up fighting alongside some of themen who had been under siege in Connolly House lateron in Spain!

The book also tells of the long road to recognition forthe Brigadista's in Ireland and Spain, where often theestablishment view is that these things are best forgottenabout. There was a huge turnout in Liberty Hall last yearfor the book's launch and although Bob was not up tospeaking that day, it was inspiring to see him.This is a great book and I'd recommend it to anyone.

'.. ou,Ie'slltetont h I f , . . .. .. .. . . . _ . . . . .... iIIspIntIIoot......,.... _ ........ ..w_ . .

BRI ISTABOB DOYLE

Nctez and oddit! n ~ re ~ I . J ~ H y )wtmS

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Camping it up in WicklowShambolic neo-Nazi outfit Celtic Wolves again find themselves introuble- for once not from anti-fascists, but this time feeling thelong arm of the law on their collars. Six of their number wereenjoying a camping trip in the Wicklow mountains, describedafterwards on an internet bulletin board by 'Blueshirt' as: "A greatweekend! ...cold beer... like-minded friends ...a nice campfire anda good BBO". Rum stuff chaps! A different version of events washeard at Wicklow District Court in recent weeks where all sixappeared on charges ranging from public disorder (failure tofollow Garda orders) and distribution of material which isthreatening and abusive (flags of Nordic imagery and of neo-nazigroups from South Africa and Scandinavia were in theirpossession as well as white power cd's).While the charges of disorderly conduct were ultimately

dismissed by the judge, three of the six were found guilty on thecharge of distribution of material which is threatening andabusive. (Three other defendants, from Eastern Europe, but withaddresses in Dublin had their charges dropped.) DavidKavanagh (32) of 58 Main Street, Wicklow Town, and KieranMcNeill (19), Clonthread, Moate, Co. Westmeath were both fined600 and sentenced to two months, suspended. The fate of athird, Jack Cummins (20) of Ballyfaskin, Ballylanders, Limerickresulted in a 500 fine at a later hearing.

Jack Cummins- Lupus Celticus

Jack is something of an old acquaintance of AFf:\s, so we wereanxious to see how he fared in court. Cummins wasaccompanied in court by his mother and his solicitor. DuringGarda evidence, a female member of the public appearing in aseparate case and sitting in the gallery was twice heard to utteraudibly the word "scurnbaq" in reference to Cummins- clearly notmuch support there, then. In fact, for all the talk on the internetby fellow boneheads of supporting the lads in court, not even hisco-defendant, who lives literally yards from the courthouse inWicklow town bothered to show up. Nice show of solidarity,comrades!So, another nail in the coffin for this, thankfully, small bunch ofmisfits then, it would appear. Their increasingly bizarre behaviour

is, by now, almost embarrassing for anti-fascists to be seriouslyengaged in counteracting, yet the comedy value they give is, attimes, strangely compelling. AFA believes, however, that theexample the Celtic Wolves attempt to set to young Irish workingpeople is mostly handicapped by the weak characters of itsmembership. Experience from other countries, though,particularly in Eastern Europe, point to the disastrousconsequences for a progressive working class movement thatsimilar groups can have. To ignore them, then, is to encouragethem.Neither does AFA believe that it is the task of the forces of law

and order to stymie the growth of such groups. Rather, this canonly come from an organised working class response. It is worthremembering that the use of trumped up charges against so-called 'dissidents' is a well-worn tactic of this state and manyothers. We do not celebrate the use of such legislation againstthe opposition, because while for now it may be their turn, it maybefore long become ours.

Fianna Fail and the Alliance for Europeof the NationsFianna Fail's MEP's are currently in an alliance in the EuropeanParliament with some parties even dodgier than themselves. TheSoldiers of Destiny are members of the Alliance for Europe of theNations, which is a sub group within the larger Union for Europeof the Nations group.Some of their Brussels buddies are; the appropriately named

P.I.S. (Law & Justice) which was the leading member of therecently deposed coalition government in Poland. In the recent2007 elections, despite improving on their previous vote andgetting 32.1% of the ballot they were defeated by the CivicPlatform Party and are now thankfully in opposition with 166 outof 460 seats in the Sejm.The party is headed by the odd couple- Two identical twin

brothers, Lech and Jaroslav Kaczynski. They might look likeTweedleDum and TweedleDee, but they're sinister bastards! In anutshell their policies closely mirror the official policies of thecatholic church.One of their trademarks is extreme homophobia. As mayor of

Warsaw, Lech refused permission for several gay pride parades,despite this the 2005 parade took place anyway and wasattacked by right wing yobs affiliated to the "All Polish Youth"-the youth wing of their coalition partners- The League of PolishFamilies.

All Pol ish YouthA few weeks after this, Lech did however grant permission for

an anti gay "Parade of Normality" organised by the All PolishYouth.Lech wrote that he had no problem with gays being teachers,

but Jaroslav stated that "Homosexuals should not be teachers,but would not be persecuted.""The affirmation of homosexuality will lead to the downfall ofcivilisation. We can't agree to it."In September 2005, a member of Law and Justice said theyhave no clear policy on whether gays should be allowed workinvolving contact with children.In June 2006, the state prosecutor announced an investigation of8

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all gay groups for illegal financing, criminal connections andpaedophilia.This was in response to a letter from Wojciech Wierzejski, a

front bench member of parliament and vice president of theLeague of Polish Families.A copy of his letter was attached to the state prosecutors orderand the Ministry of Justice (headed by Zbigniew Ziobro) hasordered local prosecution offices to investigate if any crimes of apaedophile nature have been committed by homosexuals in theirrespective areas".In November 2005 the Law and Justice led government closed

Jan Kobylanskidown the Office of Government Representative for Equal Statusof Women and Men and replaced it with The Department ofWomen, Family and Counteracting Discrimination of the Ministryof Labour and Social Policy.The former Polish Government were warned by the E.C.

Commission that if Kaczynski continued to oppose gay rightsand keep pushing for the re-instatement of the Death Penalty,they could temporarily lose their voting rights in the E.U.One of the factors in the electoral success of Law and Justice

was the support of Catholic radio station 'Radio Maryja', whichhas a big influence on older conservative voters. P.I.S. politiciansregularly appear on it's broadcasts.Radio Maryja is owned by the church in Warsaw and financed

by it's audience - The Radio Maryja Family. Mostly elderly ruralfolk, dubbed "The Army of mohair berets" by it's opponents.The head of the station is Father Rydzyk, who independently

of the church owns a vast network of enterprises, including asister television station, newspaper, several foundations and hisown college of media studies.The station claims to have millions of listeners, but in reality

about 1.2 million tune in daily. That's about 2.5% of overalllistening.Due to an agreement with the Vatican, it is not bound by any

accountancy rules. This means they do not have to disclose theexact sources of their financing and are exempt from tax. RadioMaryja is generously funded by Jan Kobylanski, a Uruguaybased millionaire, reportedly barred from America forcollaborating with the Nazis during WW2.The station is infamous for it's xenophobic and anti-Semitic

broadcasts. On one programme, listeners were told how theJews fled from Poland with all the Jewish gold and how Jews arecurrently having a negative effect on the birth rate of the Polishpeople. In 2004, the station launched a campaign defendingFather Henryk Jankowski, a notorious anti-Semite accused ofpaedophilia.The station's cheerleaders claim that the anti Jewish

sentiments propagated by the station are few and far betweenand come mainly from the l isteners on phone-in shows. however

half the people ringing in are employees of Radio Maryja or oneof it's sister companies. According to the Vatican website: "RadioMaryja has become much more involved in spreading riskypolitics than in spreading the gospel".The station has claimed that the world is run by the Freemasons

and that the Jews will conquer the world. They have alsosupported the conspiracy theory that Jews working in the WorldTrade Centre knew of the plot before-hand and thus escaped: Inone broadcast it was claimed that Auschwitz was originallymerely a place of hard work and not mass extermination.Radio Maryja also campaigns for the introduction of the deathpenalty and is basical ly the media wing of Law and Justice ... The

official Catholic radio station in Poland, Radoi Jozef, in contrastrarely dabbles in politics.Law and Justice's former coalition partners and Fianna Fail 's

chums in the Euro parliament are The League of PolishFamilies (LPR) headed by Roman Giertych.Giertych resurrected the "All Polish Youth" organisation in1989 and remains honorary chairman. It's the militant youth wingof the League of Polish Families which he founded in 2001, justbefore the general election. During the 2005 elections, Giertychreplaced some party candidates with younger faces from AllPolish Youth.Thanks to the support of Radio Maryja and funding from good

ole Jan Kobylanski they gained 8% of the vote in the 2005elections, giving them 38 out of 460 seats, but in the most recent2007 elections they were decimated and lost all theirparl iamentary seats. They still hold their 10 seats in Europe.The LPR is rabidly homophobic.

The All Polish Youth has on manyoccasions turned up to confrontand intimidate gay rightsdemonstrations. During thebanned Warsaw Gay Prideparade, it was young men from AllPolish Youth who turned up tothrow eggs, stones and bottles atthe marchers, at least two peopleended up in hospital. They claimthey were merely there to preventan illegal march and that theviolence should be condemned. Roman GiertychDuring the 2004 controversy over the appointment of Rocco

Buttiglione, the LPR called for the European Parliament to bedissolved, claiming it was under too much influence fromhomosexuals.The previous All Polish Youth of the twenties was a nationalist

youth group and the largest youth organisation in the SecondPolish Republic. They favoured an economic boycott of Jewsand the curtailing of their access to higher education.The organisation forced the universities to introduce

'classroom ghettos', whereby Jewish students were forced to sitseparately in lectures. Although, during WW2, the group, whichopposed Nazi policies helped Jews when it could, membersfought in the army and the group was secretly recreated in '43,but later destroyed by the new communist regime.The current group's aims include indoctrinating young people

with their Catholic and patriotic ideology and it operates acrossPoland, targeting secondary school and college students.Membership stands at about 3,000 and members may engage inpolitics, but not in the name of the organisation, which apparentlyhas no formal political goals! Sounds like a handy get-out clauseto me.All Polish Youth's (official) activities include; historical and

political lectures, meetings with pre-war activists, sportingevents, concerts, visits to national landmarks and regularCatholic masses and pilgrimages, (sign me up now!). It's I LovePoland campaign, promotes 'modern patriotism' amongst theyoung, an anti-abortion hotline seeking information aboutunderground abortion activities and the 'Stop Pornography'campaign which aims to stop the display of porn in public.

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Homosexuals are referred to as "faggots", "perverts" and"degenerates" in public statements by the group and even on AllPolish Youth websites.

The organisation has resorted to political violence on manyoccasions-May 11th 2002 During a march in support of Poland joiningthe E.U. consisting of mostly school kids, members of AllPolish Youth shouted slogans like "Paedophiles andpederasts are Euro-enthusiasts", "Great Catholic Poland"and "Poland is for Poles".

Warsaw, March 8th, 2003 Members attacked anInternational Women's Day gathering, shouting insultingslogans and pelting the demonstrators with snow and ice.

Warsaw May 1st 2003 Disrupted a gay and lesbian paradeshouting offensive slogans.

June 21st 2003 All Polish Youth and the LPR attacked theWomen on Waves organisation, a group which providesabortions in international waters to women from countrieswhere it is illegal. During the several day action, LPR MPRobert Strak spoke in favour of the action repeatedly.

July 12th, 2003 A group of members of All Polish Youthattacked 21 year old Ewelina Salita, a sympathiser of theNational Polish Renaissance. She had acid poured on herby the local secretary of All Polish Youth. This resulted infirst degree burns to her face, neck and left eye. The attackwas supposedly sanctioned by the local All Polish Youthleader. The girl had been receiving death threats from amobile phone belonging to Grzegorz Sielatycki, a GdanskAPY leader and city councillor who worked in the offices ofa League of Polish Families politician.

There have been numerous cases of disrupting gay andlesbian meetings carrying placards featuring suchintellectual wisdom as ' Faggotry Prohibited' and 'Homo-sexuality is a sin, it can be cured', sometimes in thecompany of Nazi skinheads.

Warsaw March 7th 2004 International Women's Day andYouth members made another appearance throwing stones,ice and tomatoes at the participants. Shouting trulyinspirational slogans like "Concentration camps for lesbians,euthanasia for faggots". Several protestors were beaten up,with one woman getting injured shielding her child in a pramfrom the missiles. Skinheads sporting KKK insignia wereamong the aggressors.

Krakow- May 8th 2004AP Youth and LOPFamilies membersattacked a gay rights march shouting more stupid slogansand throwing rocks, eggs and bottles at the marchers, thenattacking them on their way home. The police moved in,over 20 people were arrested and one copper had acidpoured on him.

Another member of the EU grouping and member of thegoverning House of Freedoms coalition in Italy is The NationalAlliance, with a membership reckoned to be around 250, 000.They hold 12% of the seats in the Italian parliament.The party was founded by Gianfranco Fini from the ashes of

the M.S.I., the ex- fascist party which disbanded in 1995. Alsoex- members of Christian Democracy and the Italian LiberalParty, but it's ranks are mostly ex-M.S.!. The new party logo evenincorporates the old M.S.!.one.

However, under Fini's leadership the party seeks to distanceitself from it's fascist past and he has condemned the Italianfascist regime of the past as "Infamous" and a period of"Absolute Evil". This led Alessandra Mussolini and some otherhardliners to leave the party, which is seeking a new respectableimage as a merely conservative party.The right wing of the party is opposed to Fini and still proud of

it's M.S.!' roots. The party commands roughly 10% supportacross the country with strongholds in various areas like Lazio(19%).The party holds strong Catholic views and doesn't stray far

from official Vatican positions. Law and Order is another priority,especially immigration control where it shares many views withit's coalition partner in the House of Freedoms government.The Northern

League (Lega Nord)is another member ofthe Union for aEurope of the Nationsgrouping. Lega Nordwas founded in 1991and is led by UmbertoBossi.The party originally

gained popularity inthe early 90'scampaigning for an independent autonomous state in the Northof Italy to be called Padania, exploiting widespread distrust of thecentral government and general hatred of the South, who manybelieve squander Northerners taxes on themselves. Howeversince serving in government, it's earlier plans for a breakawayNorthern state have been diluted and it's aim is federalistdevolution.Another factor in the League's early success was the widespreadcorruption among the then ruling parties, but Bossi himself waseventually convicted for receiving an illegal donation of 10,000.The party also does a good trade in racism and The League'sfortunes coincidentally(?) rose in direct proportion to the adventof large scale immigration from North Africa and Eastern Europe.They encourage immigration from non- Muslim countries in orderto protect the Christian identity of Italy and EuropeBossi dubbed African immigrants as Bingo-Bongos and said

they shouldn't receive housing from the regional authorities. Healso proposed opening fire on boats carrying illegal immigrantsto the shores of Italy. After public uproar he claimed he'd meantempty boats!A Norda Lega mayor of Treviso, Giancarlo Gentili contended

that "Immigrant slackers" should be "Dressed up like hares andbang-bang-bang" .The League takes a hardline stance on crime, illegal

immigration, and terrorism.Mario Borghezio, one of the League's MEPs is renowned as a

violent racist and ironically sits in the European Parliament'sCommittee on Civil Liberties & Justice.

PRIMA DOPa

Mario Borghezio- Before and after.In 1993 he was convicted of beating a Moroccan child andfined just 340. In 2005 he was found guilty of arson for settingfire to the belongings of some immigrants who were sleeping

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under a bridge in Turin during a vigilante attack. He was fined3,040. In another incident he busied himself by spraying trainseats that had just been vacated by Nigerian prosti tutes, in orderapparently to steril ise them.On another notable train journey, he unluckily bumped into someanti-globalisation protestors who broke his nose.Another member, Erminio Boso, urged the segregation of

immigrants from natives on public transport.Mogens Camre is the sole MEP

for The Danish People's Party. Theparty was founded in 1995 when it'sleader Pia Kjaers-gaard and othersbroke away from the Progress Party.By 2001 they became the third

largest party in Denmark andsupported the Conservative-Liberalgovernment in return for theadoption of their strong antiimmigration policiesPresently they command 13.3% of

votes and 24 out of 179 seats in the :0Danish parliament.Thanks to the DPP, Denmark now Mogens Camre

has some of Europe's strictest immigration laws. The new rulesincluded; cuts in social welfare for refugees, forcing them intoemployment and harsh restrictions on bringing foreign spousesinto Denmark.These new laws attracted criticism from Sweden and the

United Nations High Comm-issioner for Refugees and theCouncil of Europe's Human Rights commiss-ioner. In responseto the Swedes, Pia Kjaersgaard said "If they want to turnStokholm, Gothenburg or Malmo into a Scandinavian Beirut, withclan wars, honour killings and gang rapes, let them do it. We canalways put a barrier on the Oersund Bridge."

In 2003 Kjaersgaard lost alibel case against a communistopponent; Karen Sunds whosaid she held "racist views".The court based it's decisionon a wider meaning thantraditional racism, defining theword "racist as "discriminating"and "xenophobic".Party spokesman Soren

Krarup said "Muslim immigr-ation is a way for Muslims toconquer us, just as they havedone 1 ,400 years past."

"The Social Security Act ispasse, because it was tailoredto a Danish family tradi tion and

work moral and not to Muslims for whom it is fair to beprovided for by others, while the wife gives birth to a lot ofchildren. The child benefit grant is being taken advantage of,as an immigrant achieves a record income due to a smalldozen of children. New punishment limits must beintroduced for gang rapes, because the problem onlyarrived with the vandalism of the many anti-social secondgeneration immigrants" (Pia Kjrersgaard's newsletter(February 25, 2002)

Pia Kjaersgaard

"The Islamic political-religious movement deals with worldsupremacy, as did other fanatic political ideologies in history.This world supremacy they are not able to achieve bymilitary means, but try to achieve by flooding the world withpeople. All western countries are infiltrated by the Muslims -and some of them speak to us nicely, while they wait to bemany enough to have us removed - like in the Sudan,Indonesia, Nigeria and in the Balkans. ". (Mogens Camre,Danish People's Party's annual meeting (September 16,2001)).

Note: the written copy of Camre's speech, as handed out tothe press, has been claimed to state "kill us" in place of"have us removed"."It has been mentioned that September 11 became thebeginning of a fight between civilizations. I don't agree aboutthis, because a fight between civilisations would imply thatthere were two civilisations, and that is not the case. Thereis only one civilization, and that is ours. Our opponents can'tplead to belong to a civilisation, because a civilised worldwould never be able to carry out an attack which contains somuch hatred, so much savagery, so much abomination.With this, I regard September 11 as an attack on civilisationitself. On the civilisation which decent have built up duringdecades and centuries, and which is based on uprightnessand freedom. The others want to implement ferocity, theprimitive, the barbaric, the medieval". (Pia Kjrersgaard,during the opening debate of the Danish Folketing(October 4, 2001 )).

Following the Mohammed cartoons controversy last year theirpopulari ty soared, but dipped back to normal levels once the fussdied down.These then are some of the parties Fianna Fail has allied itselfto within the Parl iament. There has been li ttle outcry or coverageof these alliances. One small article in the Irish Times, a bit onan anarchist website and to my knowledge the only politician toraise the issue was Trevor Sergeant of the Greens who releaseda strongly worded statement against the alliance. The incidentwith the visiting Polish PM was also basically brushed under thecarpet after about a day in the news, considering how much dirtthere is to find if you just scratch the surface!So why is Fianna Fail in bed with these parties who range from

extreme right wing to thinly veiled Fascists to outright Neo

Brian Crowley and Muscard i (Nationa l Al liance)

Nazis?What's in it for them? Well, belonging to this group entitles

them to more staff and speaking time, a vice presidency in theparliament and extra representation on committees anddelegations. Like a working group in the Dai!. But, if this meansmore power for FF, these far right parties also reap the samebenefits, but with the added bonus of association with a relativelyrespectable partner like FF.More power and it doesn't matter how they achieve it, even if

they have to cosy up to parties that by any normal standardsshould be treated as outcasts.

Even though they have more in common with Fine Gael, theycan't and won't go into the same group as them, because theymust keep up the charade that they're the opposition and theirviews are totally incompatible.

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Voltaire's BastardOffspring

It was on the 30th January 1933 that Adolf Hitler, flushedwith the success of having been made Chancellor ofGermany and standing on the brink of what the Nazistermed the Machtergreifung, or 'Seizure of power' calledfor a great victory parade that evening in celebration of the'new era' that was unfolding.ln stage managing the event,Dr Goebbels ordered every SA and SS man to put on theiruniforms and take to the streets of Berlin.In the six weeks leading up to the elections in July 1932,

there had been 461 pitched street battles in which over200 people (mostly Nazis and communists) were killed,hundreds more being wounded. At the first cabinetmeeting, five hours after Hitler had been sworn in aschancellor; Goring gave clear warning of his intentions,stating that existing laws and police forces might not bestrong enough to maintain order. Using his powers asPrussian Minister of the Interior, Goring banned theprotest demonstrations in Berlin, planned for that eveningby the communists. This did not however, stop Nazismarching into red strongholds after the parade that nightas clear provocations. In one bloody battle with Red FrontFighters in Charlottenburg's Wallstrasse, the leader of thenotorious Murder Storm Unit 33, SA Sturmfuhrer HanneMaikowski, was shot dead along with a police sergeant.Goebbels, on hearing the news vowed to give the former,"a funeral befitting a king".With the Nazi ascension to power, violence dramatically

increased, the SA street-fighters now bearing the stamp ofstate authority. The tide was fast turning against the forcesof progress and Hitler, having escalated terror togovernment policy, was to admit that:"Only one thing could have stopped our movement - if

our adversaries had understood its principle and from thefirst day had smashed with the utmost brutality thenucleus of our new movement. "Stalingrad for Adolph was but a foreign city on some

distant horizon, and he had given the game away for newgenerations of fascists that had yet to be born. Fascismwas heading for a crushing defeat, but in years to come,Hitler's words would have more relevance to his swornenemies than for his followers. History can be a harshteacher, and if we don't learn the lessons, it will, as Marxsuggests, repeat itself, "first as tragedy, then as farce".Being an ideology that glorifies violence and combat as

part of a social Darwinist struggle for existence, theplunging of the globe into world war was a natural prog-ression from the original street confrontations. As anti-fascism turned to meet this new bloodier phase in thestruggle, Chinese republican Soong Ching Ling, fightingboth Japanese and Chinese fascism in her native countrywas to proclaim:"Labour is fighting in this war, and producing for it,

because its hope for a better life is bound up with thebeating down of blackest reaction, represented by fascism- fascism that begins by reducing its own workers tohelots and then goes on to reduce the people's of other

countries to slavery."Confounding any serious radical analysis of the here

and now however, is the promotion of the idea that classstruggle and indeed class itself has become an outdatednotion. On top of this, fascism itself is also now presentedas a thing of the past or a term describing thosemovements that had risen to prominence between theWorld Wars. Ultimately this viewpoint becomes part of anattempt to hide the true class nature of fascism and itsuses to bourgeois society.When liberal historians have tried to explain what

constitutes fascism, they have concentrated on the ideasof the movements rather than the factors that operated atthe level of material or historical reality. Fascism in itsgerminating phase takes the righteous anger of ordinarypeople, not the rich, and turns these against progressivedemocratic forces that are interfering in and limitingcapitalist profits. Fascist ideas for that reason rise toprominence at a time when finance capital feels the needto protect itself with whatever comes to hand. These ideasare consequently allowed to emerge when they areneeded by reactionary class forces.As the ideology of attack on progressive working classforces, fascism cannot be viewed as just another set ofideas, the pursuance of a tolerant agenda towards fascistgroupings then, ranks about as foolish as allowing a rabiddog to live in your home. Within the field of militant anti-fascism, the No Platform for Fascists policy was thereforeacknowledged as the one fit response to the prospect offascist growth. Throughout AFA's history however, it hasbeen the liberal left that has tended to be our harshestcritics, a consensus emerging within this constituency thatthe No Platform policy is nothing more than a means bywhich AFA members seek opportunities for violence.Although AFA does promote the use violence however,this is merely a means to an end and not a philosophy initself, the rationalisation of proletarian violence being setagainst the fascists' idealisation of violence. Frequentlydredged up however, and delivered with the piety of asaint and the certainty of a dogmatist, is Voltaire'sassertion that, "I disapprove of what you say, but I willdefend to the death your right to say it."The road from profound wisdom to mindless cliche can

be remarkably short and although words such as theseonce heralded the dawning of the Age of Reason, thosewho prefer absolutes to guides to action quickly relegatedsuch sentiments to the same stable as, "it's a funny oldworld". Borrowing the voice of another to hide one's owninability to reason however, is nothing new, andintellectual laziness has often been the hallmark of thosewhose self-perception of themselves is that of the well-educated and cerebral. This spirited defence of the rightsof fascists does tend to take the form of indignant emailsand postings on the internet, producing a low buzz ofwhite noise that is annoying to AFt>:s membership butnothing more.Ultimately what is given freedom of speech is decided

by power struggle, a working class agenda might win itselffreedom of speech, but will have to be prepared to beresisted every step of the way by powerful reactionaryforces. Of course, AFA has frequently received theindignant question, "who gives you the right to denyfascists their freedom of speech". This has a simple

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answer; No one. Around such questions, there are nodivine or interplanetary interventions leaving only powerstruggles between opposing class forces. In spite of thesmug claims and self-delusions however, no-one trulybelieves in unrestricted freedom of. speech. When thestate wishes to suppress the opinions of those that itdisapproves of, there is an attempt to depoliticise theissue beneath the disguise of bad taste or endangermentto law and order. The broadcasting restrictions that wereplaced on republicans in the liberal democracies that wereBritain and the 26 counties of Ireland were another, recentexample of this.We've also seen the limitations of these lofty ideals in

the world of Hip-Hop, whereby a middle class driven,moral panic was set in motion, the practitioners beingdemonised and, Tipper Gore, stepping out from herhusband's shadow to crusade on behalf of the "little ones",invoked her status as a parent to render her demandsinfallible. As part of this politically motivated crusade,Charlton Heston, who had appeared at an NRA meeting,holding aloft his rifle and reciting the redneck anthem of, "Iwill give up my gun when it is pried from my cold deadfingers" also felt the need to step forward. Ice T's protestsong against police brutality, 'Cop killer', we were told,moved him and many others, to resolutely condemn anddemand the censorship of this song, comparing the anti-police sentiments, bizarrely, with anti-Semitism. AlthoughHeston was happy to wave guns around in front of hisassociates, the prospect of black people from the projects,singing about using guns to protect themselves from bothracist and police brutality caused uproar. This was arecurring historical theme, Malcolm X himself oncecomplaining that,'''Malcolm X Advocates Armed Negroes!' What was

wrong with that? I'll tell you what was wrong. I was a blackman talking about physical defence against the whiteman. The white man can lynch and burn and bomb andbeat Negroes - that's all right: 'Have patience'... 'Thecustoms are entrenched'... 'Things are getting better.'Well, I believe it's a crime for anyone who is beingbrutalised to continue to accept that brutality without doingsomething to defend himself. If that's how 'Christian'philosophy is interpreted, if that's what Gandhianphilosophy teaches, well, then, I will call them criminalphilosophies."

Black working class culture then, is more threatening tothe likes of Heston and his class, than white racial murder.However, fear of the working class youth of whateverethnicity, has also led to numerous campaigns forrestrictions to be put on violent films and video games asthese supposedly could endanger the fabric of societywhen the lower classes are 'over stimulated'. Censorshipthen, no matter what the protagonists might think, alwayshas a distinct bias within it.The bourgeoisie in general and as a result, do not see

or acknowledge the antagonistic nature of class society,preferring to see only differences between those that arehaves and have-nots. Therefore, the middle class idealistssee only differences in ideology, the No Platform policybeing an example of intolerance of other people'sopinions. More important however, are the class forcesthat lurk beneath. As Mao Tse-tung observes:

"In class society everyone lives as a member of aparticular class, and every kind of thinking, withoutexception, is stamped with the brand of a class."Consequently, because every ideology has a class

character, and while fascism is the ideology of thebourgeois attack on the working class, militant anti-fascism is the ideology of working class self-defence. Inclass struggle there is no rulebook, nor indeed anyone toenforce any generally accepted rules, the state setting theparameters for mainstream debate depending on its ownclass character. Struggles for power between differentclass forces thus tend to be either in conjunction with, orin opposition to, the state.It was the Italian semiologist Umberto Eco that said, "I

see no real difference between the skinheads and neo-Nazis of today and the Nazis of a generation earlier ...There is the same kind of stupidity and determination todestroy; the same hatred of others and the will todestruction." This class prejudice that refuses to see thatall fascists are not ignorant working class skinheadscarries over to the working class opposition. Viewed bymost within AFA as nothing more than a flimsy guise tocloak inactivity, the aftermath of an AFA activity is alwayshallmarked by the previously mentioned, much postingacross the internet as many step forward to blindly gropein the darkness of inexperience and intellectual drudgeryfor a stick to beat AFA with.At the centre of the Nicaraguan city of Managua stands

a statue. Fashioned in the soviet style, it depicts a workerholding a pickaxe in one hand and brandishing aKalashnikov above his head. Etched in the statues plinthare the words of Augusto Sandino declaring, "Only theworkers and peasants will fight to the end". Sandino wasno socialist, being himself a revolutionary nationalistfighting US domination of his country. The cold reality ofpolitical struggle however, moved him to recognise andacknowledge this fundamental truth.The middle class idealists then; want the rain but fear

the thunder and lightning, clinging desperately to the ideathat harming another person devalues any struggle,irrespective of how much harm is inflicted by the statusquo. This however, issues from the reality that the causeof anti-fascism is not as important to the middle class asto the proletariat. This leads to laziness and a lack ofserious ambition, another result of its class make-up,ensuring that there is much theory with no real or effectivepractice. The upshot of this is that when one person'sidealised theory is set against another's practice, the latterinevitably bears birthmarks, errors and the scars of firstattempts. To the middle class liberals, their ideology is aprecious commodity, requiring protection from the realitiesof the world we all have to live in. Preferring then to pursuea 'less abrasive' path, whether or not this brings defeat;such forces, in their denunciations of AFA, ignore thecause and concentrate purely on the form that militantanti-fascism takes. This inherent fear of getting blood ontheir hands permeates the class character, and as anyonewho has avoided work may tell you, "If you do nothing, youdon't get your hands dirty".The field of liberal complaint as a result, becomes a

vocation more than an all-important struggle, the middleclass's generous attitude towards fascism and the13

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tendency to cite Voltaire in the defence of the fascists'freedom of speech being due to the fact that they do notfeel under threat, either from racial attacks or class-basedpolitical oppression. With the same intonation as a teacherwould adopt when admonishing a young pupil who comes. to them complaining of bullying, the solution is "to justigrre them". Given what history has taught some of us,such advice would fall heavily on the shoulders of a near

. dead concentration camp victim.In attempting to foster a climate of tolerance, in a society

where racial frictions are rife, the same forces thatconcentrate on making the public at large feel sorry forrefugees also tend to be those that will condemn any whoattempt to resist their own or another's oppression throughviolence. Desiring victims with which to sympathise, ifthese do not peacefully make themselves into the passive,non-threatening victims that are required, interest rapidlywanes.Furthermore, the middle class also lacks the greater

tendency towards practicality inherent through necessity,within the working class. It is thus the maintenance of itsworking class perspectives that leads AFA to its position ofnot being content to participate in the 'good fight' againstfascism. Given the seriousness of the struggle, nothingshort of victory will suffice. In pursuit of concrete resultsrather than self created comfortable illusions, it isnecessary to reject the extreme idealism of liberal anti-racism. Sacrificing our own safety for someone else'sabstract principles and conscience is not a working classposition and so consequently, such notions must go to thewall. It would therefore be fair to say that it is exclusivelyto the working class that we appeal, as these, ultimatelyare the targets, and indeed the true enemies, of fascism.In AFA, we have in the past also taken some criticism for

our frequent denials of a platform to such racistorganisations as the Immigration Control Platform (ICP),usually in their formative stages. Such a position webelieve, has gone some way to allowing us to avoid havingto deny a platform to fascism itself at later stages. Thisdenial of a platform to the likes of the ICP therefore, mustnot be seen in the same light as our 'No Free Speech forFascists' policy. While we deny fascists a platform onprinciple, we will also deny a platform to racists forstrategic reasons when they are deemed to pose somekind of a threat.Another constant problem and indeed irritation has also

come from university student societies that will insist oninviting foreign fascists like David Irving, Jorg Haider andseveral BNP members to their meetings. The epitome ofVoltairesque poseurs, these tend to offer as justificationfor their attempts to provide platforms to suchcontroversial figures, the claim that the members of thesocieties will somehow overwhelm any reprehensibleideas that their exciting guests might espouse. There hasnever been any evidence that they would follow throughwith such a policing exercise however, suggesting that theclass-based interests of those involved are questionable.Although defensively claiming that they would treat anyfascist ideas harshly, this does not prevent many fromespousing right-wing elitist sentiments, giving them newnames and, among their favourites, expressing their"concerns about immigration".Defensively claiming that it is possible and desirable, to

criminalise those that have lost the brilliantly put across

arguments of the middle class liberal agenda, the theoryhere is that the intelligent will vanquish the ignorant. Thishowever, ignores the reality that not everyone seeks truthfrom facts, fascism itself being an avowedly irrationalphilosophy. Rather, certain class-based interest groupswill inevitably seek tautological evidence to support theirdesired conclusions. We in AFA however, do not wish tocriminalise our opponents; our opposition to fascism isquite clearly political.In any struggle it is then, always important to define who

your friends and who your enemies are. While thosewithin our ranks will have disagreements on how theworking class agenda may be put forward, thesecontradictions are non-antagonistic. AFA's contradictionswith fascism however, are antagonistic and consequently,our differences cannot be reconciled.Further complicating an analysis of contemporary times

however, is the widely promoted assertion of FrancisFukuyama that we are now at the 'end of history'. Thecollapse of the Eastern European regimes and the endingof the cold war struggle between alternative systems ledthe exponents of finance capital to declare themselves tobe the natural order and indeed the last phase in humandevelopment. A corporate controlled media was only tooeager to hail capitalism's victory, effectively over workingclass aspirations, as total, confirming the delusion that thefuture belongs to those that control the present. However,it is a long time since Marx made the observation, "everyshopkeeper is very well able to distinguish between whatsomebody professes to be and what he really is, ourhistorians have not yet won even this trivial insight. Theytake every epoch at its word and believe that everything itimagines about itself is true."The contradictory nature of class society remains

however, and it is a fact that the antagonistic classdifferences, far from being resolved, continue and willcontinue, to surface. In the words of Lewis Carroll, "It's apoor sort of mind that only works backwards" and thefuture, with all its struggles and counter-struggles, spansbefore us.The problem of racism and indeed fascism in Ireland

therefore, requires a willingness to stare cold-eyed at theproblem, drawing a line between the guilt-based middleclass liberalism with its tendency to substitute emotion forscientific analysis and the promotion of a genuine pro-working class agenda. As Georgi Dimitrov warns,

"Whoever does not fight the reactionary measures ofthe bourgeoisie and the growth of fascism at thesepreparatory stages is not in a position to prevent thevictory of fascism, but, on the contrary, facilitates thatvictory."There is of course no guarantee of how fascism may

manifest itself in the future, but the reality of past fascistregimes and the fact that these were orders of governanceconsciously pursued and created makes it foolish to playaccording to someone else's definition of fairness in ouropposition. We can all propagandise in theoretical ether,but ultimately, conscious of what happened before andaware of what may lie ahead, on the ground and in thehere and now, we pursue our policies resolutely in praxis.

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V for VendettaI remember in my youth, buying acopy of the Warrior, a short-livedperiodical that stood among the firstof the 'comics for mature readers'.Across its cover was the smiling maskof V and the caption, 'Fascist Britain1997: Everyone knows you can't beatthe system, everyone but V'. At thetime I loved the slogan, expressing asit did, the unquenchable spirit thatcould not be crushed beneath thejackboot. And so it was in the world ofV; in a country of millions of workingclass people it seemed, only theshadowy declasse figure of V hadthe answer.Given the fact that V is an exponentof terrorism, it did appear somewhat

incredible that the Wachowskibrothers, (those of "The Matrix" fame)should produce a film based on thiscomic-book tale. It is therefore, hardlysurprisingly that the film deviatesgreatly from the original book. Bigbusiness is notoriously lacking increativity. being interested only in themaximisation of profits. Intellectualachievements are consequentlytreated as little more thancommodities to be used. The film Vfor Vendetta also translates badly intoUS culture, the Guy Fawkesreferences alone requiring someexplanation, something the film did ina remarkably unsatisfactory manner.While the book uses the GunpowderPlot as a mere backdrop, Fawkes issomewhat promoted in the film tosomething of a visionary.The nature of the state is

dependant on the nature of the classthat it serves and while the idea ofblowing up the houses of parliamentof course creates a favourableemotional response, Fawke's attemptcame at a time when parliament,weak as it was, stood at the vanguardof reason over feudalism. Fawkestherefore, as the t-shirt said, was theman that entered Parliament withhonest intentions; but is that enough?V for Vendettas author, Alan Moore,

writing in 1988 clarifies the sources ofhis vision, "The simple fact that muchof the historical background of thestory proceeds from a predictedconservative defeat in the 1982General Election ... " That Thatcher's

Britain made the writer visualisefascism ahead is certainly food forthought, the Malvinas debacleultimately saving her government andpaving the way for the reactionarymisery that lay ahead. Falselyreferred to as the "ThatcherRevolution" this backdrop appears toimbue V with a more definitephilosophy as the story develops andprogresses. In Britain, after WWII, allgovernments tended to pursue socialdemocratic policies regardless ofwhat was claimed. A right wingbacklash followed 1979, nowfrequently referred to byrepresentatives of the dominant classas "the kick up the backside thatBritain needed", suggesting thelimitations of liberal democracy.Every tale then, to some degree is a

product of the time and environmentin which it was conceived. This isespecially true within the field ofpolitical satire, Orwell's 1984 beingbut an exaggerated interpretation of1948 England. Likewise, AnthonyBurgess, in his book The WantingSeed describes a world wherebyhuman society swings constantlybetween liberal permissiveness andfascist terror. The massesconsequently, endure fascism, securein the knowledge that eventually thependulum will swing back.A common strain however, runs

through all these works, the authors'class prejudices tending to come tothe fore. The people' hold noideologies or political aspirations thatmay be threatening to the utopianworld, preferring not to participate intheir own lives. In 1984, Orwellrelegates the working class to the70% prole population. In 'AnimalFarm', the masses become one entityin Boxer, the powerful and shapelessmass that is the easily fooled work-horse. The working class then, do notgo beyond the understanding thatfascism is horrible, the hidden hand ofcapitalism never revealing itself.The film however, emerging a long

time after the book, does attempt tomake one or two comments aboutmedia spin and the demonisation ofopponents, drawing its inspirationfrom the modern world. This attemptto put another stamp of contemporarytimes on the story, in the age ofGuantanamo Bay, sees Islamo-phobia being added to the morechronologically familiar reactionarymeasures pursued in the War on

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Terror. In its greatly abridged versionof the story, many of the references toanarchism are removed and thestates fascist nature is somewhatunder-lit. Using real footage takenfrom the Poll Tax riot, the an_tiaf",marches and footage of wh-=-sreferred to as the historically familiar'American War', the reactionarypolicies that pave the way to theemergence of the Norsefire regime.The cinematic V is more hero thananti-hero; many of the all-importantcharacters from the book aredispensed with but the film does takea plot deviation that makes referenceto a pharmaceutical company thatdeals in biological weapons, whichmade many of the Norsefire partymembers rich. This at least points tothe lineage between fascism and bigbusiness.V first presents himself talking insoliloquy and carrying the idea of the

spectacular bombing to an extremeact of propaganda. Carrying out thebombing of the Houses of Parliament,V achieves Guy Fawkes mission,accompanying the act with afireworks display reminiscent of GuyFawkes Night.Within the book, the characters are

well drawn, the portrayal of the day-to-day lives and dysfunction andinternal turmoil's within the agents ofthe state in some cases show insightsworthy of Franz Fanon. Even Dr DeliaSurridge who oversees medicalexperiments in Larkhill ResettlementCamp through her diary allows thereader to empathise and understandwhat drives some to commit theunimaginable. It is from the medicalresearch unit of the concentrationcamp that V emerges. Significantlyaltered as a result of theseexperiments, V is created by a darkerversion of the radioactive spider thatcreated Spiderman. While we cometo know the fascists intimately, Vremains very much a mystery.The regime then had created the

gravedigger that was eventually tobury it. In contrast to the enigmaticand mystical V, the story presents uswith Evey, a character with which thereader may empathise. Artificiallyfashioning her in his own image byrecreating the life of a concentrationcamp victim and somewhat brutallysubjecting her to the experience of apolitical prisoner, henceforth, Evey isswept along as V wages war againstthe body-parts of the state. Showing a

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distinct taste for the theatrical, V'slong soliloquies, beginning asquotations from Shakespeare,inexplicably change to those ofanarchist theorists among others.Moore paints a picture of an

idic:!lised fascist state, known as theNorsefire Empire that is unstable tothe degree that it must exert fullcontrol over the population.Superimposing something akin toNazi Germany with much of itsimagery onto his perception of 1990sBritain, Moore's vision bears all thehallmarks of 'classical fascism'beneath the slogan of, "Strengththrough purity, purity through faith".It is however, not explicitly stated

that V is the only resister to theNorsefire regime, TV broadcasts thatprovide the backdrop to many of thescenes, giving an insight into what ishappening around Britain and withinthe field of culture. In between scenesfrom an overtly racist film thatappears to have drawn influence fromthe Turner Diaries, news reportsreveal that Scotland is fighting abrutal national-liberation struggle anda 'terrorist ring' has been broken up inBirmingham. As the newscasterexpresses the State's hopes for thereunification of the UK by the year2000, bland, senseless sitcoms full ofinnuendo all interconnect in the chaosof the newsroom, the tempo even-tually mellowing with reruns of Dixonof Dock Green.Packing a train full of explosives, V

succeeds in the aftermath of his owndeath in reducing Downing Street, or'the Head' to rubble, delivering thefinal killing blow to the Norsefireregime. This however might destroythe organs of the state, but the classstructure still exists and there is nological reason to conclude that thedestruction of The Head would meanthe final destruction of the controllingfascist system in total. As V sayshimself: "Thus destroyers toppleempires; make a canvas of cleanrubble where creators can then builda better world. Rubble, onceachieved, makes further ruins'irrelevant." The question remainshowever, who rebuilds and in theinterests of whom? The only explicitlyorganised force in Moore's world itappears would be that of the State.Having been relegated largely to theposition of spectators in V's avantgarde anti-fascist war, the next stepfor the masses appears to depend on

a last minute pitch invasion.Within his struggle, V is portrayed

as being completely in control ofevents, as he himself explains, "Thereis no coincidence, only the illusion ofcoincidence". V for Vendetta thereforerealises in fiction the aspirations of atradition that has its own historicalprecedent. V then, is the extremeegoist dreamed of by the Stirnerites,replacing partisan organisations withthe mystique of dramatic gesturesand romantic violence that leads tosensational terrorist acts.Implanting an image of anarchism

within the popular imagination thathas long since lost its justification, theself appointed judges and exe-cutioners of the 'propaganda bydeed', were a tiny minority of a widermovement. Motivated by austereidealism and apocalyptic passions,the terrorists were prompted bypersonal and not group decisions.Like V, the duty of the individual

terrorist was not so much to lead thepeople as to enlighten and giveexample. While many within theanarchist movement rejected suchkilling as the supreme form of power,those that killed on their ownresponsibility were condemned assurely the most irresponsible oftyrants. As some anarchistintellectuals formulated critiques ofstate power, the social unrest of the1880s drove many towards terror.Among these, Jean Grave was toopine: 'all the money spent topropose deputies would be morejudiciously used to buy dynamite'.This strategy that would supposedly

point the people towards theirliberation came to a head during theearly 1890s when Charles Gallo,threw a bottle of vitriol from the galleryof the Paris Stock Exchange and thenbegan firing his revolver randomly.Francois-Claudius Ravachol, whosename coined the term ravacholiser (toblow up); launched his own campaignthat, among other actions, includedthe placing of bombs in the houses ofrepressive judges. After Ravacholwas arrested and executed,Theodule Meunier not only bombed abarracks, but also the restaurant inwhich Ravachol was betrayed, killingboth the proprietor and a customer.Emile Henry, who threw a bomb intothe Cafe Terminus, killing one andwounding twenty, stated later that heregretted the explosion had notclaimed more victims. While each

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terrorist pursued the one greatgesture that would awaken men fromthe nightmare of bourgeois society, aseach was neutralised by the state,another seemed ready to appear.Henry at his trial declared,"You have hanged in Chicago,

decapitated in Germany, garrotted inJerez, shot in Barcelona, guillotined inMontbrison and Paris, but what youwill never destroy is anarchy... It iseverywhere, which makes itimpossible to contain. It will end bykilling you!"And so it went on, August Vaillant,

throwing a bomb from the gallery atthe Chamber of Deputies, wassentenced to death. In spite of thefact that no-one died, President of theRepublic Sadi Carnot refused to signa pardon for Vaillant. Carnot, inshowing no mercy to Vaillant, washunted down and stabbed by SantoCaserio, the blood avenger that inturn, showed him no mercy. It was tobe the last in a series of bloodyvendettas that failed to advance thecause of the 19th century massesand was ultimately snuffed out bygovernment repression. In thepropaganda war however, the stateneeded only to point to the ruins ofthe Cafe Terminus, just as the Nazislater pointed to the smoulderingReichstag and later still, the Bushregime pointed to the twin towers towin enough people to its programs ofrepression.Everything however, goes to plan in

an idealised tale and the reckless useof explosives, causes no collateraldamage. V then is nothing more thanthe revenge of a concentration campvictim upon the state that hadpersecuted him and his kind. Thestory however, promises nothing andV is not promoted purely as a hero.Ending with the death of V himself,the process continues through Eveywho becomes a Caserio to V'sVaillant. Unlike history, terrorism hereappears to triumph over governmentrepression.V does not provide a handbook on

how to fight fascism, his resistancebeing highly personalised and this iswhat makes it a non-threateningaberration. It is a strategy quiteclearly, doomed to failure in the realworld, the flaws that would confoundV's campaign being kept out of thetale. The individual terroriststhemselves are now more likely tofind their modern equivalents in the

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leaderless resistance strategies utilised by the extremeright. However, although genuine anti-fascist struggledoes not obey health and safety regulations, we areobviously all cheering for V in his guilt-free exterminationof the organs of fascism. In the final analysis, whencomparing the two, the film is an abomination, the book atimeless classic.While the film, desperately seeks a happy ending; a

population of uncounted citizens, all wearing V masks,march through London to demand 'a better future'. Anevent that is without historical precedent, the maskssupposedly create a first in a hundred approach, thespontaneously awakened large numbers overwhelmingthe armed forces of the state in that dignified and peacefulway that the middle classes are always demanding.Standing erect in the city's centre then, the oppresseddeign to turn into the terrifying unruly working class mobsthat the middle classes are so terrified of.The book however, did not end on so liberal a note, and

there the people of London had the decency to respond toyears of fascist terror with widespread rioting. As 10Downing Street is blown to pieces, all is rubble and chaosleaves us with a deeper question; Bearing in mind whatlife hasBig uB fTO the r Retu rnsA contestant on the latest series of Big Brother was

thrown off the show just days after bosses were forced toapologise for a racist row on the show's celebrity version.Channel 4 was ordered by the TV regulator Ofcom toissue an apology for its handling of that previous rowbefore the current, eighth series of the popular realityshow began.In this latest discord, student Emily Parr, 19, was

removed from the house after she was heard to say: "Areyou pushing it out, you nigger?" to black contestantCharley Uchea, 21. Parr later said that she did not meanthe comment to be offensive and Uchea, although she hadnot taken it personally, admitted that she was shocked bythe language used.At a time when media and politician driven Islamophobia

has led to actual physical attacks on Muslims, Channel 4moved quickly to appropriate the outrage that followed.Despite the fact that Parr was quick to reject her foolishwords, effectively renouncing anti-black racism and itsworks, Channel 4 felt moved to pursue a hard-line eventhough the incident itself did not provoke any racistincident