Introduction
The subject of my project is a picture and a thousand words, for my project I choose the topic "The rise of the far-right party, AFD, in Germany". I choose this subject because that after hearing about the success of the German far right, I got very worried, and haven't understood why people in Germany would give power again to far-right parties. Especially so after the hard lesson they got about the far right's dangers, that was the Holocaust. So, I wanted to get to the bottom of it and see what exactly caused it and if I really need to be worried.
After WW2, in Germany, there was a drastic change in the political attitude of the German people. The country that once was probably the most nationalistic, racist and human right abusing in the history of the world, became one of the strongest supporters of Democracy, equality and human rights. However, this German "trend" of support of the left is coming to an end. As Merkel, The German Kanzler loses support, and the far-right AFD grows stronger and stronger each election, Germany's future as a flourishing democracy and a beacon of human rights is in danger. Due to that, it worries some that the German political view might be going back in time to its dark and horrifying past. But, does Germans really want to go back to their Nazi era which brought them 6 million military and civilian casualties, 50 years of division between east and west, and eternal shame for their deeds in the holocaust? Or maybe there are other factors that make for the rise of the German far-right? I will be Exploring those questions in my work, by focusing- on:
- The picture I chose is
In the picture, we cn see Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and the German Kanzler Angela Merkel during a meeting in Jerusalem.
Body
- On the picture
In the picture, we can see Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and the German Kanzler Angela Merkel during a meeting in Jerusalem. While Benjamin Netanyahu is accidentally making a shadow with his finger on the face of the German Kanzler Angela Merkel, in a way that makes Merkel seems like she has a Hitler-like mustache.
I chose this picture because it symbolized the shadow that is being cast over Germany's current, Merkel lead, humanitarian and democratic administration, by the rise of the German popular far-right party, the AFD. In addition to that, the Hitler-like mustache symbolizes the danger of the far-right taking power. Which is being represented by the last time he took power in Germany, in the shape of the Nazi party.
- On The rise of the far-right party, AFD, in Germany.
In recent years it has become in the norm to see far-right populist political parties doing better than ever before. Those successes can be driven from a poor economic state in the country, destabilization of the country's demographics, corruption, and much more complex issues. Those successes, might bring some doubt in the future of the majorities of the pro-open-border, humanitarian, liberal political parties of the west. This theme can be seen all over the globe, in Brazil, Italy, the Philippines, and even Germany, where the mainstream liberal political parties lost more than 100 seats in the parliament, their worst result since world-war-2. Whereas the AFD, Alternative for Germany, a populist far-right party which was founded just at 2013, got 93 seats in the parliament. Which makes it the third largest political party in the whole of Germany.
who are the AFD's supporters? And is the AFD neo-Nazi? Well, the vast majority of the AFD's supporters, despite the AFD being far-right, aren't Neo-Nazi. furthermore, they strongly oppose the idea that the AFD is neo-Nazi. For them, the AFD stands for many of their concerns, which were ignored by mainstream political parties. Those concerns, like over immigration, and German Bailouts, finally got a voice. As a result, many Germans, that don't even identify as far-right, but deeply care about those issues, support the party. The sudden spike in the AFD's popularity can be explained by those Germans, who got alienated from politics and haven't even voted before, but now, when there is a political party which shares their concerns, the AFD, they choose to support it. But, in spite of the AFD's supporter's assurance that the AFD is not neo-Nazi, AFD members leave that at doubt. for example, A party member called Berlin's Holocaust memorial a "memorial of disgrace" and said that Germans should stop feeling so guilty over Nazi atrocities. In addition, some AFD members were caught on camera beside neo-Nazis in an anti-immigration rally, where protesters did Nazi salutes and shouted "Foreigners out!", and later AFD leaders defended the rally. But, in contrast to those shameful deeds, The AFD's leader told a German newspaper that his party is “one of the few political guarantors of Jewish life, even in times of illegal anti-Semitic migration to Germany”. Those contrasts in the AFD's behavior is very confusing, which makes it hard to determine if the party is actually the Jews' best friend, or neo-Nazi at a disguise.
Due to many statements similar to the one said by the AFD's leader, among the AFD's supporters there can be found some Jews as well. A spike in anti-Semitic incidents is going underway in Germany, which many correlates with the massive immigration into it. As a result, the AFD, which strongly opposes immigration, is appealing to many German-Jews. However police statistics indicate that the vast majority of anti-Semitic incidents aren't even done by Muslims. Despite that, the AFD still capitalizes on Jews' fear of anti-Semitism with relative success. The AFD claims that is has a great number of Jewish supporters, and even sponsored several Jewish candidates for parliament. The AFD's success with Jews, despite some of their borderline neo-Nazi acts, can be attributed according to a sociology professor who is an expert in European nationalism and populism, to the logic that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, which makes the Jewish supporters turn a blind eye for the AFD's questionable acts.
In addition to the many Jews who are concerned about Muslim immigration, Many Germans are concerned about this issue as well. Many of them feel anxious about the social changes that immigrants bring to Germany. While even more think that the massive number of mostly-uneducated-Muslim refugees that Merkel's administration brought into Germany in 2015, one million of them, were just too much for Germany to absorb. As a result, many of them might support the strongly anti-Muslim-immigration AFD. In addition to that, as part of its anti-Muslim-immigration agenda, the AFD, as well as many far-right influencers, claim that Muslims are against the Germans' liberal values, and that Germans need to defend those. consequently, many Germans are coming to the point of being afraid of immigrants, and start seeing the immigrants as their enemy, what that leads to a further increase in AFD support. In addition to this direct political consequence of Merkel's immigration policy, according to experts, when people feel the kind of loss of control like the one created due to Merkel's open-borders and pro-immigration policy, they fell a need to balance it out. Their way to do so is strengthening their connection to their group identity. As a result, an increase in German nationalism occurs. So, it seems like Merkel's careless behavior in regards to immigration, might be one of the biggest causes of the rise of not only the AFD, but the entire far-right in Germany in general.
Another two big causes for the rise of the AFD's power is some Germans' mistrust in the German mainstream political parties and the disconnect they feel the parties have with the working class. The AFD was founded originally as a protest party over German bailouts to European countries like Greece, as well as over German tax money being spent in order to support other European countries. Many Germans from all over the political spectrum, see this as Merkel's administration is throwing their hard-earned tax money at causes that have no value for Germans whatsoever. Which might bring them to support the AFD. Even if they don't even lean right politically. For them, the subject of the economy is enough of a reason to support the AFD. In addition to the disconnect that some think the mainstream parties have, many Germans think that their politicians are corrupt and dishonest. And to prove this claim you need to look no further than the last German Kanzler, Schröder. who nowadays is an independent director of a Russian State-run oil company, where he is paid a salary of 350,000$ annually. He got nominated for this job, which is only his part-time job, by the Russian government. A gift he probably got due to his push for pro-Russia agendas in Germany, and his close ties to Putin during his role. Schroder's behavior infuriated the vast majority of Germans, considering Russia's aggressive behavior towards European countries and the west in general. Those signals of corruption make some Germans completely mistrust the mainstream political parties, and search for an alternative. So, then the AFD comes into play, which like their name suggest, is an alternative for Germany.
The AFD's success had affected Germany greatly. The mainstream parties, trying to cover for their loss of support, are starting to mimic some elements of the AFD's platform, elements which were absurd for them for many years. Therefore, the AFD's ideas are affecting the whole political spectrum, and making the whole of Germany more right leaning. But, the most drastic change is being felt in the solidarity of the German society. According to experts, the chaos in Germany that fueled the AFD so greatly, also fuels polarization. Left-leaning Germans see the right-leaning as an enemy, and vice versa. It's a norm for AFD rallies to be countered by a Left protest which is often much greater than the rallies themselves. while the only thing that prevents violence between them, is the empty space between, which is being held by riot-gear-clad cops.
In conclusion, we can see that it is the complicated reality in Germany that brought for the rise of the AFD. Not a new generation of neo-Nazis. From my point of view, although that the party's borderline neo-Nazi acts are very worrying, there is not a reason for panic just yet. The AFD, as I see it, is nothing but a tool of the people to show their resentment towards corrupt and out of touch politicians. And once the Germans will get proper leadership, that will listen to their needs, the AFD will become not relevant, and its support will dwindle heavily.
- bibliography -
Gedmini, J. (16.4.2018). Populist right's rise in Germany not (yet) a reason for panic.
Taub, A. (26.9.2017). What the Far Right’s Rise May Mean for Germany’s Future. The New York Times.
Samuel, S. (7.10.2018). Why a Small Jewish Group Is Supporting a German Party with Anti-Semitic Ties.
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