15,000 mostly male youth marched and carried flags with Celtic crosses and white power fists, chanted racist, nationalist slogans. The march was organised by two of the most prominent far-right organisations in the country, the All-Polish Youth and the National-Radical Camp. Participants attacked two squats in the centre of Warsaw (Syrena and Przychodnia) and burnt down a rainbow installation in Plac Zbawicela, an artistic installation standing for diversity. The aggression marks the steady rise of the far right in Polish politics. The Independence Parade was made up of thousands of teenagers and young men with no better options for belonging and expressing their feelings than joining football hooligan groups and eventually far-right actions.
Many observers of Polish society share a feeling that far-right attacks in the country have been growing, accompanied by a sense of impunity of the perpetrators. According to Nigdy Wiecej, a group monitoring racism in the country, between the start of 2011 and the middle of this year, over 600 hate crimes have been committed, and numbers are rising. Over the past years, four people have been killed in hate crimes. Chechens, one of the largest migrant groups in Poland, are being attacked and harassed. The Polish far right often targets sexual minorities, feminists and leftists groups ("communists" are still the biggest "enemy" in Central and Eastern Europe). Leftist organisations and individuals who carry progressive messages are often dismissed as "communists".
The second strongest political force, Kaczynski's Peace and Justice, has a track record of being close to the far right. Between 2006 and 2007, it governed together with the League of Polish Families, which in its turn brought prominent figures of the far right to governmental posts. The biggest party in Poland, Tusk's Civic Platform, which is the political choice of most liberals in the country, is also leaning to the right. Over the past year, they have been close to tightening Poland's already very strict anti-abortion law and they refuse to get behind the legalisation of civil partnerships for gay couples. The Catholic Church’s conservatism appears to have increased over the past years, continues to have a staggering grip on public life. Conservative and Catholic media are numerous and influential - Radio Maryja is an infamous example. Despite the Polish constitution and penal code containing provisions that allow for prosecution of hate crimes and of organisations promoting national and racial hatred, this legislation is hardly ever used.
Research conducted by Michal Bilewicz, a sociologist at Warsaw University, indicates that it is socio-economic factors more than anything that make people turn to racism and xenophobia. His research shows that since the 1990s peaks of anti-Semitism among the general population for instance were directly correlated with intense economic hardship. While Poland is supposed to have weathered well the European economic crisis, many never had access to the fruits of post-1989 economic growth and employment conditions here are some of the most precarious in the EU.
In the two squats attacked, free concerts and language courses are organised; there is a food cooperative which brings cheap food from a deposit in the north of the city; there is a non-monetary exchange system which allows getting goods and services without having to pay cash; and there is even an initiative to fight against the eviction of poor families. At the same time, the rainbow burnt down was a symbol of an imagined Poland where all kinds of people, no matter their sexuality, religion or economic status can live together and respect each other.
It is unlikely that any of Poland's current main parties are going to take up the issue of the socio-economic roots of racism and far-right growth, particularly since it is their own economic policies which caused inequality and unemployment to begin with. The only hope is that the Poles would realise that nationalist rhetoric does not put bread on the table, nor does it create real socio-economic opportunities for the young generation.
Click here for full unedited article from Al Jazeera
Many observers of Polish society share a feeling that far-right attacks in the country have been growing, accompanied by a sense of impunity of the perpetrators. According to Nigdy Wiecej, a group monitoring racism in the country, between the start of 2011 and the middle of this year, over 600 hate crimes have been committed, and numbers are rising. Over the past years, four people have been killed in hate crimes. Chechens, one of the largest migrant groups in Poland, are being attacked and harassed. The Polish far right often targets sexual minorities, feminists and leftists groups ("communists" are still the biggest "enemy" in Central and Eastern Europe). Leftist organisations and individuals who carry progressive messages are often dismissed as "communists".
The second strongest political force, Kaczynski's Peace and Justice, has a track record of being close to the far right. Between 2006 and 2007, it governed together with the League of Polish Families, which in its turn brought prominent figures of the far right to governmental posts. The biggest party in Poland, Tusk's Civic Platform, which is the political choice of most liberals in the country, is also leaning to the right. Over the past year, they have been close to tightening Poland's already very strict anti-abortion law and they refuse to get behind the legalisation of civil partnerships for gay couples. The Catholic Church’s conservatism appears to have increased over the past years, continues to have a staggering grip on public life. Conservative and Catholic media are numerous and influential - Radio Maryja is an infamous example. Despite the Polish constitution and penal code containing provisions that allow for prosecution of hate crimes and of organisations promoting national and racial hatred, this legislation is hardly ever used.
Research conducted by Michal Bilewicz, a sociologist at Warsaw University, indicates that it is socio-economic factors more than anything that make people turn to racism and xenophobia. His research shows that since the 1990s peaks of anti-Semitism among the general population for instance were directly correlated with intense economic hardship. While Poland is supposed to have weathered well the European economic crisis, many never had access to the fruits of post-1989 economic growth and employment conditions here are some of the most precarious in the EU.
In the two squats attacked, free concerts and language courses are organised; there is a food cooperative which brings cheap food from a deposit in the north of the city; there is a non-monetary exchange system which allows getting goods and services without having to pay cash; and there is even an initiative to fight against the eviction of poor families. At the same time, the rainbow burnt down was a symbol of an imagined Poland where all kinds of people, no matter their sexuality, religion or economic status can live together and respect each other.
It is unlikely that any of Poland's current main parties are going to take up the issue of the socio-economic roots of racism and far-right growth, particularly since it is their own economic policies which caused inequality and unemployment to begin with. The only hope is that the Poles would realise that nationalist rhetoric does not put bread on the table, nor does it create real socio-economic opportunities for the young generation.
Click here for full unedited article from Al Jazeera
No comments:
Post a Comment