With attention firmly focussed on subduing Islamist terrorism, right-wing extremism has broken out from the shadows to exact a reminder of the danger it still constitutes to global harmony. In a brazen moment, a young right-wing terrorist openly attacked a Jewish synagogue in Halle, eastern Germany, in which he shot dead two persons outside the building. The assault by Stephan Balliet, 27, coincided with the annual celebration of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism. Although Balliet did not succeed in his main mission, his misguided attack speaks volumes about the dangers of far-right extremism.
Just as Trenton Tarrant streamed his attacks that left 51 people dead in two Christchurch, New Zealand mosques in March 2019, Balliet also streamed his operation live for 35 minutes on Twitch, a popular site with online gamers. Outrageously, he also published a far-right manifesto online to reiterate his mission as he launched his deadly offensive on the Jewish congregation, ostensibly because of racism. The little comfort was that, as violent as he was, Balliet could not gain entrance into the synagogue, where he planned to massacre the scores of worshippers present.
To a certain extent, the gunman’s assault was not very surprising. For long, anti-Semitism – prejudice, hatred or discrimination against Jews – has bedevilled the German society. During World War II, Adolf Hitler and those who embraced his cause reportedly exterminated about six million Jews around Europe. As is now obvious, anti-Semitism has been silently brewing again in Germany, nurtured by an army of right-wingers and a distracted nation. These days, German-Jews face harassment on the streets of the country. With the European Union policy of admitting migrants into the continent, the resurgence of right-wing extremism is unlikely to ebb.
Not surprisingly, Europe is now a hotbed of racism, xenophobia, segregation and hate speech. In Montenegro, Italy, Spain, Russia, Croatia and other countries, extremists are spreading hatred and monkey chants in football and rugby stadia. In December, Kalidou Koulibaly of Senegal left the pitch in anger during Napoli’s game against Inter Milan after he suffered repeated racist monkey chants. Instead of rising to his defence, the Italian football federation punished him with a two-match ban.
In the past few days, that continent has been embroiled in a racism scandal. In Sofia, black England players suffered atrocious racist abuse in their European Championship qualifier against hosts Bulgaria last week. The match was stopped twice because of monkey chants directed at players like Tyrone Mings and Raheem Sterling. Following the shameful incident, Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov, called for the president of the Bulgaria Football Union, Borislav Mihaylov, to resign. He had no choice but to step down. Under pressure, the police identified 15 of the ringleaders, arrested six of them and declared others wanted.
On Wednesday, Europe’s football governing body – UEFA – imposed a partial stadium ban on Lazio FC for the racist behaviour of their fans during an October 3 Europa League match against Rennes of France. In addition, the Italian club was fined €20,000 and would be handed a full stadium ban if it re-offended within a year.
Nevertheless, Germany might have now recognised the threat this hotheaded group poses. “That on the Day of Atonement, a synagogue was shot at hits us in the heart,” Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, posted on Twitter. “We must all act against anti-Semitism in our country.” According to the country’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution or BfV, far-right wingers have committed 10,105 violent crimes in the 10 years to 2019. They have also perpetrated 83 murders since 1990. In contrast, Islamist extremists killed 17 people in the same period.
It is a similar experience in the United States, particularly since Donald Trump assumed office in the White House. In 2018, while jihadists killed only one person on the US soil, violence by right-wingers led to 16 deaths. Robert Browers murdered 11 worshippers at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018, citing Jewish support for migrants entering the US. Dylam Roof slaughtered nine black congregants at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. Described as the second-bloodiest terrorist attack in US history, Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people.
In June, the United Kingdom authorities declared far-right extremism as the fastest growing brand of terrorism. Since the Brexit vote, the country has witnessed a rise in hate speech and racial discrimination, including the murder of a Muslim worshipper near a north London mosque in 2017.
The task before the political leadership in Europe, America, Australia, New Zealand and other parts of the world experiencing this vice is to wake up urgently to the double incendiary that Islamist and right-wing terrorism represent. Although the Taliban, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, the Islamic State and al-Shabaab have created a ubiquitous global terror brand, right-wing extremism is equally as deadly. Both phenomena deserve unswerving global response.
These governments should sensitise the ordinary people in their countries through freshly-drawn-up policies, education/awareness campaign and enforcement of laws, as they are the ones mostly responsible for racist acts. The offenders should be made to face punishment for their behaviour. Leaders like Trump should stop their divisive rhetoric that stokes anti-Semitism and racism.
Racism is already fast tainting sports. Therefore, the national football federations, UEFA, the International Football Federation and the Court of Arbitration for Sports should re-examine the legal underpinnings of the current punishment regimes and review them. Clubs and countries with prevalent racist behaviour could be docked points, fined heavily, thrown out of competitions or banned for a number of years.
