Commentary by Nida Khan
It’s that time again; the gathering of world leaders for the G20 summit. This year’s forum, held in Argentina on November 30th and December 1st, will focus on many things from the global economy, trade and transatlantic relations to a U.S./China showdown, various regional tensions and much more. But what will likely not appear on the agenda, in a bilateral meeting, nor in a sideline discussion, is one of the greatest challenges the world faces right now: the rise and consolidation of power of right-wing nationalists.
All across Europe, the United States and the west at large, there is a recurring theme where societies are becoming increasingly diverse and simultaneously there is a rise in xenophobia and hate crimes. It’s no coincidence that at the same time, there are significant gains that right-wing and nationalist parties/individuals have made globally and there is cause for great alarm. The question is, what are we going to do about it?
In Italy, the Five Star Movement and right-wing League recently formed a coalition government. Part of their program includes ‘mass deportations for undocumented migrants’, and Italy’s new Interior Minister has made outrageous statements like ‘we must stop being the refugee camp of Europe’. In Austria, the right-wing anti-immigrant conservative Freedom Party (which was formed in 1956 by a former officer in the SS by the way), won 26 percent of the vote last year — 26 percent.
The right-wing nationalist Alternative for Germany party won 12.6 percent of that nation’s most recent election. Like many other nationalist parties in Europe, their platform is heavily anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim with proposed policies that reflect those sentiments. Over in Hungary, the far-right won 19 percent of the vote in their last election, and strongman Victor Orban secured yet another term as Prime Minster. He has been a vocal opponent of Muslim migrants, warning of a Europe with a ‘mixed population and no sense of identity’.
From Denmark and Sweden to Finland and Switzerland (where the right-wing Swiss People’s Party won a whopping 29 percent in 2015), the move of these nationalist groups into the mainstream and into positions of power should keep everyone up at night. Over in Brazil, the recent election of Jair Bolsonaro marks another dangerous point in the rise of the global far right. The world’s fourth largest democracy now has a former paratrooper in power who embraces misogynist, racist and homophobic rhetoric/ideas to the point where the attorney general previously charged him with inciting hatred and discrimination against blacks, women, indigenous communities and the LGBTQ community.
Here in the United States, there’s no dancing around the fact that Donald Trump and his administration have emboldened racist, right-wing groups that were previously relegated to the outskirts of society. In addition, this administration and current federal government have enacted policies that back up their dangerous and divisive rhetoric like the Muslim ban, child separation at the border and more.
A Trump administration appointee to the State Department even disputed the idea that leaders have a duty to condemn hate speech and incitement, and he tore into standard UN documents that condemn racism as a threat to democracy according to CNN and others. The United States also withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council earlier this year. Many former and current members of the Trump administration from Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka to Stephen Miller and others have ties to troubling groups/individuals to say the least.
It’s no surprise that as the browning of America, Europe and elsewhere takes place, those that were on the fringes have found themselves front and center with greater power and a much greater megaphone. As this plays out, at the same time, minorities and marginalized groups within these countries are being further suppressed and attacks against them are on the rise across the board.
In the United States alone, hate crimes rose for the third straight year in a row according to the FBI’s own stats. In fact, 2017 saw a 17% increase, and hate crimes based on race, ethnicity or ancestry made up about 60 percent of the total. Of those that were race or ethnicity-based incidents, about half targeted African Americans. Religious-based hate crimes made up about 20 percent of incidents, with anti-Semitic attacks accounting for the majority, followed by Islamophobic attacks.
According to the latest numbers, hate crimes stemming from racial bias rose 18 percent, those based on religious animosity rose 23 percent and attacks against LGBTQ individuals rose about 5 percent. It’s important to note that the FBI’s stats are far below the reality on the ground as many police departments fail to participate in reporting on hate crimes, and many victims don’t report attacks for a variety of reasons including language barriers or inability to navigate the system.
All across the country (and the world), attacks are taking place with a regularity that is dangerously close to normalcy. Most of these incidents receive very little (if any) media coverage, many go unreported or under-reported, and often times there isn’t enough pressure/follow through on police to go after the perpetrators. These are the silent victims; the ones who don’t receive breaking news chyrons, the ones whose names aren’t trending on Twitter or Facebook, the ones whose terrifying ordeal most people will never even know.
Back in May, the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino released a report that contained this glaring stat: hate crimes in the nation’s 10 largest cities increased by 12 percent last year. It was the highest level in more than a decade. In fact, hate crimes in the biggest cities have increased for the past four years even as the overall crime rate has decreased for decades now.
Across the pond, the number of recorded hate crimes for England has more than doubled in the last five years according to the Home Office’s annual report. More than three quarters of those were racially motivated. Religious hate crimes surged by 40 percent, with 52 percent of those crimes targeting Muslims. In Italy, hate crimes motivated by racial or religious bias rose more than tenfold from 2012 to 2016 according to police stats. Over in Germany — yes Germany — there were an average of four anti-Semitic attacks per day in 2017 according to a police report, and around 950 attacks on Muslims in the same year according to government figures. This is truly frightening.
When people like Donald Trump ran for office on a platform stoking fears of immigrants, Muslims and ‘others’, it wasn’t by accident. Somehow much of the media, politicians and punditry class deemed him a joke, and treated him as such without realizing how much of his messaging and ideas resonated with a significant segment of the population. And in their effort to represent ‘both sides’, they actually ended up giving him the largest platform ever and normalized him to a level that can never be reversed. It is the same dynamic we are seeing play out in many other places.
In their desire to placate to nationalists and the right-wing, many leaders have already begun changing their stance on key issues like immigration. German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently delivered a speech where she said that the humanitarian exception of 2015 would not be repeated, while the French National Assembly passed a tough new immigration law earlier this year that tightens rules around asylum — it was supported by President Emmanuel Macron.
As world leaders gather once again for G20, there is no shortage of global challenges to tackle. For the many minority and disenfranchised communities in places like Europe, Russia, the United States, Israel, Brazil and elsewhere, the dangers of an increasing rise of right-wing nationalism is a reality they cannot ignore. For all people that yearn to coexist and live in peaceful harmony, it is something that we must collectively push back against. Ignoring the problem isn’t the answer, and neither is trying to appease their supporters. To cite an infamous
talking point of the right: if you can’t name the problem, then you can’t solve it.
It’s time for world leaders to name right-wing nationalism what it is — an existential threat to us all.
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Nida Khan
Independent journalist/analyst.
Bylines include: Huffpost, U.S. News & World Report, Essence Magazine, NY Daily News, CNN & more. Open Line Online 107.5 WBLS NY
