Shortly after midday on Friday, 15 March 2019, a white supremacist open fired on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, during Friday prayers. While I am sickened and saddened by the attack, I am sadly not surprised. This is an attack that was long overdue considering the current political climate, hovering on the horizon somewhere in the distance for many years. There has been a perpetual demonisation of the different in our world for a long time and in the past years we have seen a shift in media, politics and on the streets whereby anti-Muslim racism, hatred and extremism are going unchallenged. By not speaking out it against this normalisation of racism and bigotry, it is perpetuating the status quo and validating these opinions by default. The far right have now been legitimised by our own global society.
Never forgotten: Utøya 2011
This Christchurch attack is the deadliest right-wing extremist attack since Anders Breivik killed 69 of our socialist comrades at Utøya during a summer camp of AUF – the youth wing of the Labour Party in Norway, plus another eight more by detonating a bomb near a government building in Oslo. Many of us know people who lost their lives at Utøya, several of our members were there on the island – both among the survivors and the deceased – and the atrocity will remain in our memories for the rest of our lives. An event like this in New Zealand no doubt sparks a reminder of 22 July 2011 for many in our community; only this time it another community that was targetted. The attacker in New Zealand, as part of his 74-page ‘manifesto’, stated he was inspired by Breivik’s actions.
When I visited Utøya in 2017 for a seminar on right-wing extremism – hosted by our member organisation, Framfylkingen – I was struck by a comment of one of the speakers, something he mentioned while we were chatting over a cup of coffee. He told me how far-right extremists still travel to Utøya on a pilgrimage to ‘celebrate’ the actions of Brievik and, for this reason, it is vital that Utøya remains a political place, a place where we can practice our socialist values. I felt sick to the pit of my stomach when he shared this information with me and I wondered how this could be – how could this be allowed? I wondered if this would be allowed to happen if it were a site where 69 people were killed by a so-called Islamic terrorist. I think not. So why don’t we treat far-right terrorist attacks in the same way as Islamic terrorism?
The media narrative is broken
Even the way that the discourse is framed in the media regarding far-right extremism and Islamic extremism is vastly different. I was perplexed to see one newspaper headline in the UK the day after the Christchurch attack entitled ‘Angelic boy who grew into an evil far-right mass killer’. Often when talking about terrorist attacks committed by white people, the perpetrator is described as having a mental health issue, having a troubled childhood, or described as being a victim of society – attempts to humanise the person. They are described as a ‘lone wolf’, rather than part of a systemic belief system that targets with convection certain vulnerable groups. More often than not it is even described as a terrorist attack when the perpetrator is white. Whereas, on contrast, a non-white perpetrator will be described as a radical, as someone who murdered ruthlessly based on their values part of an organised syndicate against democratic society. This narrative justifies the horrors committed, feeds into the hands of the far right, and frames the discourse in a racist manner. I find it truly appalling that an Australian senator, Scott Morrison, released a statement where he justified the Christchurch attack, blaming Muslims and Islam for the actions of a far-right extremist. I appreciate the public outcry in response, but it’s not being called out for what it is - hate speech in action.
Not a singular event but a global trend
So why am I not surprised by the atrocity that took place in New Zealand? Marginalised and vulnerable groups are being increasingly attacked throughout the world. What was once only uttered behind closed doors is now alive in our streets, on the internet and coming from the mouths of our decision-makers. And it’s going unchallenged. From the rise of the Alt Right in the USA and the explicitly racist policies from President Trump, to the President of Hungary, Victor Orbán, describing refugees as ‘Muslim invaders’ and stating that Islam is a threat to his country. The internet is offering an open platform for the extremists to share and spread white nationalist and extremist views – a safe space in which to operate and create support networks. This is highlighted acutely in this attack, as the perpetrator live streamed the attack on Facebook. It could be straight out of Black Mirror. There seems to be an echo chamber of voices saying we need to wait until real fascism shows its face. But it’s already here, it has been for a long time, it just has a different guise from the image many of us have when we speak about fascism in a historical sense.
Our responsibility: Speak up and call out
Many commentators on the Christchurch attack have focused a lack of security, questioning why the authorities did not know about this extremist and his plans. This shouldn’t be the question. It isn’t a matter of security – it’s a matter of far-right extremism. We need to look at the root causes of the problem, why bigotry and hatred have been left alone to fester and surface in this way throughout our world. Fascism is a global problem that needs global solutions. What we need is to call our hate speech for what it is, not allowing it to be endured under the facade of free speech. We must hold our decision-makers to account, to say no to their bigotry and racism. We need to challenge nationalism in all of the different ways we can – through education, activism, policy change and rule of law. We must push political systems to take far right extremism more seriously, to enforce existing legislation and crate new legislation to fill the gaps. We need to challenge the discourse in the media and in our daily circles that tries to justify extremism when it is enacted by a white person. We need to educate on the basis of acceptance of difference, diversity, understanding and empathy. We need to call out the hypocrisy of leaders such as Trump claiming to act in solidarity after attacks such as that in Christchurch while spreading hatred.
The rise of the far-right has been accepted for far too long – if this isn’t a wakeup call, I don’t know what is. We need to clearly say no to bigotry and hatred; not just in the aftermath of horrendous acts such a Christchurch and Utøya, but in our day-to-day dialogue and actions. While fascism and far-right extremism is a global dilemma and it can seem sometimes feel incomprehensible about how to challenge it, we also have our shared global values of solidarity, peace and equality, which are our core tools to fight against this hatred. I would like to finish with the words from Jacinda Ardern - Prime Minister of New Zealand and former member of our socialist youth family – who pronounced in response to the Christchurch attacks:
'For those of you who are watching at home tonight, and questioning how this could have happened here, we - New Zealand - we were not a target because we are a safe harbour for those who hate. We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we are an enclave for extremism. We were chosen for the very fact that we are none of these things. Because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those who share our values, refuge for those who need it. And those values, I can assure you, will not, and cannot, be shaken by this attack.'
By Carly Walker-Dawson, IFM-SEI Secretary General
Comments are closed