[D66] The political establishment and the Oslo massacre

[Antid Oto]

The political establishment and the Oslo massacre
27 July 2011

The establishment political parties and media have been busy covering their
tracks following the massacre in Oslo last Friday.

While it is still not clear whether the 32-year-old killer Anders Behring
Breivik acted alone, one thing is certain: there is a definite link between the
campaign of incitement against Muslims, which has been supported by all of the
parties of the US and European bourgeois establishment and by the media, and the
political motives of the fascist who murdered 76 people.

At his first court hearing on Monday, Breivik declared that he wanted to inflict
maximum damage on Norway’s social democratic Labour Party because, he claimed,
it had polluted Norwegian culture by allowing large numbers of Muslims to enter
the country. From his anti-Islamic blogs and 1,500-page manifesto, it is clear
that Breivik sought with his bloody act to strike a blow against Muslim
immigrants and everything he regarded as Marxist, left, multicultural and
“politically correct.” He chose to target the Norwegian Labour Party because he,
erroneously, considered it to be Marxist and pro-immigrant.

Despite—or, more accurately, because of—Breivik’s explicitly fascist agenda and
his known ultra-right associations, the media is at great pains to obscure the
political issues raised by his atrocity and portray him as nothing more than a
lone psychopath. His ideas, however, are not simply the creations of the
diseased brain of one individual, but rather the products of a diseased social
system.

Breivik largely copied the fascistic nostrums in his Internet postings not only
from anti-Muslim blogs and the ravings of the American Tea Party movement and
right-wing populist parties in Europe, but also from the propaganda of the major
bourgeois parties and bourgeois governments, public authorities and media
editorial offices.

It was only a matter of time before the incessant promotion of racial hatred,
national and anti-immigrant chauvinism and militarism engendered an act like
that which occurred in Oslo.

Parties which made anti-Islamic agitation the central axis of their program have
been, or currently are, in government in Austria, Italy, the Netherlands,
Denmark and Hungary. In France, the fascist National Front has been built up, as
the major parties echoed its racist and anti-immigrant policies, to the point
where it is a serious contender for the presidency. In Norway, the anti-Islamist
Progress Party, of which Breivik was a member for almost ten years, has been
integrated into the political establishment and emerged as the country’s second
party.

In his fight against a multicultural society, Breivik draws sustenance from the
heads of government of leading European states. German Chancellor Angela Merkel,
British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have
all publicly stated that “multiculturalism”—that is, the peaceful coexistence of
people from different cultures—“has failed.”

The bourgeois “left” has joined in the incitement against Muslims. In France and
Belgium, the social democrats—backed by so-called “far left” groups—have
supported discriminatory bans of Muslim headscarves and burqas. In the German
Social Democratic Party, the anti-Muslim rants of one of its prominent members,
Thilo Sarrazin, are regarded as a legitimate point of view.

In the immediate aftermath of Friday’s massacre, many of the anti-Muslim
bloggers, right-wing populist parties and champions of a “national culture” are
seeking to distance themselves from Breivik by condemning his actions. This is
merely a tactical maneuver. According to a blog in a forum posted by the German
PI (“Politically Incorrect”) web site, Breivik’s manifesto was excellent but his
assault was counter-productive.

The German journalist Henryk M. Broder, who is quoted in the Breivik manifesto
denouncing the submission of Europe to Islam, denies any connection between his
own anti-Muslim tirades and the Oslo massacre. In the mainstream German
newspaper Die Welt, he accuses his opponents of trying “to gain a moral
advantage by imputing responsibility for the mass murder to those who criticise
Islam.” Amongst these “critics of Islam” Broder includes himself along with
Sarrazin and the Dutch right-wing populist Geert Wilders.

For years, Broder has filled the pages of Der Spiegel and Die Welt as well as
various blogs and books with warnings against the “surrender” of Europeans to
Islam. When asked by one newspaper whether he regretted remarks that were quoted
by Breivik, Broder replied: “I would say the same again today.”

A short time later Broder published on his blog “The Axis of Good” long excerpts
from Breivik’s manifesto in which he is quoted. The quotes are originally from
another blogger, Fjordman, who features on web sites such as the ultra-right
Brussels Journal, Gates of Vienna and islam-watch. Fjordman was the main source
used by Breivik to draw up his manifesto.

If any proof were necessary of the links between ultra-right, anti-Muslim forces
and “serious” media such as Die Welt and Der Spiegel, Broder has provided it.

The growth of far-right anti-Islamic movements and their encouragement by
established bourgeois circles reflect the crisis and decay of capitalist
society. After some initial hesitation, the ruling class in Germany supported
Hitler in the 1930s, regarding the National Socialists as the most effective
instrument for crushing the workers’ movement and waging a new war which they
hoped would free the country from its economic impasse. Today, the putrefaction
of bourgeois society once again finds the capitalist class promoting fascistic
forces.

Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, anti-Islamic agitation has become a key
means of mobilizing support for imperialist wars—first in Afghanistan, then in
Iraq and now in Libya. When US President George W. Bush referred to the Iraq war
as a “crusade” he was not far removed from Breivik, who regards himself as a
modern reincarnation of the Crusaders.

At the same time, the incitement against Muslim immigrants is used to divide the
working class and direct anger over welfare cuts, unemployment and growing
social inequality into right-wing channels. All right-wing populist parties work
this way. They combine social demagogy with nationalism and xenophobia.

The main danger to the working class is not the immediate strength of fascistic
forces. They presently enjoy little popular support. It is rather the continued
political subordination of the working class to the bourgeoisie and its
parties—the official “left” as well as the right-wing parties—which paralyzes
the working class and enables the far-right agencies of the bourgeoisie to
exploit the confusion and demoralization of middle class layers and sections of
workers and youth.

The key role in blocking the emergence of an independent movement of the working
class against capitalism is played by the trade unions and their allies in the
middle class ex-left organizations. The horrific attack in Oslo is a warning of
the ultimate outcome of the suppression of the independent strength of the
working class.

Breivik sees himself as a martyr and a role model for a new, militant far-right
movement. To defeat the danger represented by such forces, workers must break
with social democracy and the trade unions and take up an independent fight
against social cuts, unemployment and wage-cutting on the basis of a socialist
program. New organizations of struggle must be forged to mobilize and unite the
working class, and a new revolutionary leadership must be built.

Peter Schwarz

http://wsws.org/articles/2011/jul2011/pers-j27.shtml