{"id":237858,"date":"2023-06-26T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T11:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=237858"},"modified":"2023-06-26T06:37:23","modified_gmt":"2023-06-26T05:37:23","slug":"far-right-extremist-ideology-spreading-like-an-oil-spill-in-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2023\/06\/far-right-extremist-ideology-spreading-like-an-oil-spill-in-europe\/","title":{"rendered":"Far-Right Extremist Ideology Spreading like an Oil Spill in Europe"},"content":{"rendered":"

22 Jun 2023 – <\/em>The abuse of human rights has sharply increased with the steady rise of the right and far-right parties in the wealthy industrialised countries, whose extremist ideology is now spreading faster than ever in Europe.<\/p>\n

\"Castellon,,Spain,-,October,2019:,Santiago,Abascal,,Leader,Of,The\"<\/p>\n

Santiago Abascal, leader of Spain\u2019s far-right Vox party. The party could soon be in government, after the 23 July 2023 general elections. Credit: Shutterstock<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Indeed, most of the European Union 27 member countries are now either formally ruled by or strongly influenced and supported by extremists and populist parties, which publicly negate basic human rights, while masking their policies of suppressing public services like health, education, pensions, and protection of workers.<\/p>\n

Life of citizens to be handled by private corporations<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Let alone, their negation of the existing deadly gender violence, the right of women to equal opportunities, and the devastating climate catastrophes which impact the very same Europe, let alone all international laws regulating the rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.<\/p>\n

And they are active in most European countries, from Scandinavian and Baltic States, to Italy and Greece, through Hungary, Poland, Czechia, France and Austria, let alone the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n

Spain is one of very few European countries still ruled by a progressive Government, although it is feared that the right and far-right parties will take over after the 23 July 2023 general elections.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s like a ladder of incremental extremism \u2013 You start at the bottom with a stereotype, move on to emojis and memes that lead to harmful speech. Harmful speech leads to hate speech, a torrent of hate builds up, and results in the incitement of violence. And then you have actual violence<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The myth of white supremacy<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Their trend to further promote the myth of \u2018white supremacy\u2019 is not new, but rather a reflection of what is being done by European descendents in the United States, Canada, and Australia.<\/p>\n

Such a myth goes against what they call \u2018minorities,\u2019 e.g., anybody who is not White and Christian.<\/p>\n

They call it \u201cthe defence of our national identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In short, the spread of hate speech, stigmatisation and racial discrimination is now being widely \u201cinstitutionalised\u201d in European countries, those whose governments signed \u2013and their Parliaments ratified\u2013 all international, legally-binding declarations, treaties and laws defending the protection of human rights.<\/p>\n

For such purposes, they further spread hate speech<\/a>, which reinforces \u201cdiscrimination and stigma and is most often aimed at women, refugees and migrants, and minorities,\u201d as described by the United Nations on the occasion of this year\u2019s International Day for Countering Hate Speech<\/a> (18 June).<\/p>\n

With hate \u201cspreading lightning fast on social media and mega spreaders using divisive rhetoric to inspire thousands, hate speech \u201clays the ground for conflicts and tensions, wide scale human rights violations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Dark age of intolerance\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

On this, Mita Hosali, Deputy Director of the UN Department of Global Communication (DGC<\/a>), said young people are often seen today as vectors of such toxic trends as online hate speech.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIncreasingly, we are entering this dark age of intolerance, fueled by polarisation and mis- and disinformation, and there are all kinds of \u2018facts\u2019 swirling out there,\u201d she cautioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a ladder of incremental extremism,\u201d Hosali said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou start at the bottom with a stereotype, move on to emojis and memes that lead to harmful speech. Harmful speech leads to hate speech, a torrent of hate builds up, and results in the incitement of violence. And then you have actual violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tech companies<\/strong> must now show effective leadership and responsibility around moderation to set up guard rails for respectful online discourse, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really boils down to leaders, whether they are political, business, faith, or community leaders,\u201d she said, emphasising that such efforts must also start within the family and ripple across all circles of influence so that ordinary people fight back against hate speech.<\/p>\n

According to the world\u2019s largest multilateral body \u2013the UN\u2013, the devastating effect of hatred is sadly nothing new.<\/p>\n

However, \u201cits scale and impact are amplified today by new technologies of communication, so much so that hate speech has become one of the most frequent methods for spreading divisive rhetoric and ideologies on a global scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

Social exclusion fuels terrorism<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

The consequences of such a growing social exclusion spreading in Europe and elsewhere are dire.<\/p>\n

On this, the UN Secretary-General, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, on 19 June 2023 stressed at the UN\u2019s Third Counter-Terrorism week<\/a> that terrorism affects every region of the world, while preying on local and national vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cPoverty, inequalities and social exclusion give terrorism fuel. Prejudice and discrimination targeting specific groups, cultures, religions and ethnicities give it flame.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one is born to hate<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Hatred, conspiracy theories and prejudice infiltrate our societies and affect all of us. We are flooded by information \u2013 and disinformation \u2013 more than ever before both on- and offline. \u201cBut no one is born to hate.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Nevertheless, \u2018toxic and destructive\u2019<\/strong> hate speech has now grown much faster and wider than anytime before.<\/p>\n

Migrants, the easiest victims<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

In the right and far-right campaigns in defence of what they call \u201cour freedom,\u201d \u201cour Western civilisation,\u201d \u201cour democracy,\u201d \u201cour values,\u201d and \u201cour Christian faith,\u201d they turn migrants, now more than ever before, into the easiest prey to chase.<\/p>\n

In fact, like the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, among other Western wealthy powers, the 27 members of the European Union on 8 June adopted a strongly criticised by major human rights organisations, which further restricts the basic human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Death of migrants, \u2018normalised\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

The number of migrants who died and are still hopelessly missing as a consequence of the 14 June shipwreck off Greece coast of a fishing vessel carrying between 450- and 750 migrants, is still unknown.<\/p>\n

Anyway, it just adds to a long series of migrant deaths in only one sea: the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

Although the number of dead migrants in the Mediterranean is far from being credibly counted, the International Organization for Migration (IOM)\u2019s Missing Migrants Project documented 441 migrant deaths in the Central Mediterranean in the first quarter of 2023, \u201cthe deadliest first quarter on record since 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most dangerous maritime crossing<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

The increasing loss of lives on the \u201cworld\u2019s most dangerous maritime crossing\u201d comes amidst reports of delays in State-led rescue responses and hindrance to the operations of humanitarian non-governmental organisations\u2019 search and rescue (SaR) vessels in the central Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

Not only that: Italy, like other South European States, still argues that the non-governmental, voluntary humanitarian vessels dedicated to search and rescue migrants in the Mediterranean, are involved in\u2026 human trafficking.<\/p>\n

_____________________________________________<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Baher Kamal, <\/i>a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a><\/span>, <\/em>is an Egyptian-born, Spanish national, secular journalist, with over 45 years of professional experience \u2014 from reporter to special envoy to chief editor of national dailies and an international news agency. Baher is former <\/i>Senior Advisor<\/i><\/a><\/span> <\/i>to the Director General of the international news agency <\/i>IPS (Inter Press Service<\/span>)<\/i><\/span><\/a> and he also contributed to prestigious magazines such as <\/i>TRANSCEND Media Service<\/a><\/span>, <\/i>GEO, Muy Interesante, and<\/i> Natura, Spain<\/i>. He is also publisher and editor of<\/i> Human Wrongs Watch.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 human-wrongs-watch.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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