Davids Medienkritik - The Neo-Nazi Problem: German Government Wants to Curtail Freedom of Assembly
(By Ray D.)
The SPD: They can’t get enough of criticizing the United States. To them, the Patriot Act is a sign that America is sacrificing its democratic ideals to combat terrorism. German leftists in the SPD and Green parties have mercilessly criticized what they see as President Bush’s restrictions of democracy and civil liberties in the fight against terrorism.
But now the shoe is on the other foot: The SPD-led German government has a problem of its own: Neo-Nazis. Alarmingly, Neo-Nazi extremist groups have recently registered substantial growth in membership and even won seats in state elections. More specifically, thousands of skinheads have planned a march at the Brandenburg gate on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. The SPD’s solution? You guessed it…deny them their constitutional right to assemble at what the German government will define as “symbolic locations.”
The SPD's Transatlantic Double-Standards for Dealing with Extremists
SPD Interior Minister Otto Schily says that such a “temporary” suspension of basic civil liberties for Nazi extremists is necessary to control “provocative right-wing marches.”
SPD Chairman Franz Münterfering said of the proposed ban on the right for certain extremists to assemble at certain “symbolic locations”:
“The right to assemble is a valued article here in Germany and will not be affected in its substance. (…) There must be certain locations where such gatherings are not possible.”
So who will decide what “locations” are restricted? Who will decide what groups have access to these “locations” and which groups do not? How extreme is too extreme? Exactly how long will the “temporary” ban on the right to assemble last? Where does this stop? Today you don’t have the right to assemble at certain locations if you are a neo-Nazi…and tomorrow? Where will this curtailing of civil liberties end in Germany? Remember that in Germany, entire political parties can be banned if they are determined to be a threat to the constitutional order.
One thing is certain: Similar attempts to curtail the right to assemble would be met with cries of outrage in the United States. If Americans where more widely informed about the situation in Germany they would be outraged at the hypocrisy of the German left’s criticism of the Patriot Act.
Let's also not forget that In Germany all residents have to register their place of residence with a central government authority (Anmeldewesen). In addition, the national ID card has long been required for all citizens. Police can stop and search you for no apparent reason, (for example at the train station,) and ask to see whether you are legally in the country. In Nuernberg, for example, people with somewhat darker skin tones are particularly popular targets of such “controls.” Also in Germany, (where the leftist government supposedly cares so much more about civil rights than Bush,) there is absolutely no law protecting minorities from housing discrimination. Jim-Crow-like ads for apartments “for German families only” are still run in German newspapers on a regular basis…and it is 2005!
Essentially, the SPD’s logic boils down to this: It is OK for the German government to deny German lunatic extremists who want to march around the Brandenburg Gate fundamental democratic rights. However, it is not OK for George W. Bush to pass the Patriot Act to combat (primarily foreign) Islamo-Fascist terrorists who want to murder Americans by the thousands. For that Mr. Bush is to be mercilessly criticized and attacked for threatening basic democratic rights and principles.
It would appear that the SPD is living by the principle of "do as we say but not as we do." Apparently, they have forgotten how poor an idea it is to throw stones while living in a glass house... |
