Europe and its far-right politics

The continent should try Srebrenica as a lesson. By Mirnes Kovac

SARAJEVO (gm). It might be good advice that with Auschwitz, where young Austrians were taken to historic lessons, they visit Potočari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. For, if they failed to connect the Holocaust with the extreem right political trends in their homelands, then a regular organized excurisons to Potočari Memorial, wehere thousands of victims of the genocide commited in the heart of Europe lie, would be helpful to eliminate this confusion.

According to Israel daily Haaretz Austrian teenagers who visited the largest symbol of human suffering in Europe failed to connect the Holocaust with choosing Austrian far-right political option. «It was in fact those who were most interested in learning about the Holocaust were the ones who led this trend... The group's counsellors tried to stress in their discussions the relationship between the lessons of the past and judgments on the present - but were unsuccessful. The youngsters were unable to make the connection," the activist reported with regret.

It might be good advice that with Auschwitz, where young Austrians were taken to historic lessons, they visit Potočari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. For, if they failed to connect the Holocaust with the extreem right political trends in their homelands, then a regular organized excurisons to Potočari Memorial, wehere thousands of victims of the genocide commited in the heart of Europe lie, would be helpful to eliminate this confusion.

It seems that European far-right parties found excellent way to attract followers through anti-semitism and islamophobia. "What should be done to confront the trend of building premisises of the future on the hatred and prejudicies of the past?" - is today's urgent question.

The success of far-right parties of Heinz-Christian Strache and Jorg Heider (killed in car accident few days ago) that won 29 percent of electoral body is mainily achieved because of «strangers.» More striking is the fact that huge portion (one third) of young people (recently voting age has been lowered to 16) opted for far-right parties. Analysts are interpreting the trend by the failures of the great parties to address core problems of Austrians and maintain some of the key issues in domestic politics. Recent global economic breakdown only added fuel to the fire of worriness of ordinary Europeans struck with ever increasing number of emigrants. These issues are possible explanation of the rise of right-wing politics that apart from Austria, recently have taken good standing in Switzerland, Belgium, Denmark and Italy.

However, it might be the best explanation of these trends last month poll conducted by Pew Global Attitudes Project, that found: 46% Spaniards, 36% Pols and 25 % Germans having negative stances toward Jews. More shocking figures we find when anti-Muslim sensitivities are shown: 52% Spaniard, 50% Germans, 46% Pols and 38% French have negative attitudes toward Muslims. In most countries that vere covered by the polls evident is the rise in negative attitudes toward these volnurable groups.

Apart from alarming state of affairs many now see the failures of earlier approaches when ritght-wing politics was tried to be confined by giving it chance to enter political processes. Their egnagement with real-politics, it was thought, would calm their rethoric and rasist, but the opposite results showed up. Far right parties won even more electoral support. Nither the attempts for exclusion and isolation of these political options were fruitful. Clear exaple is Belgian Vlaam Belang which prospered even more, and same happened in Austria, Germany and Netherlands. Recent attacks againsts emigrants in Itally are additional warning of the trend. For the first time ever, a member of the far-right British National Party has been elected to the London Assembly.

It seems that most obvious reasons of the rise of popularity of extreme right are the mistakes and failures of great parties that failed to address core issues. It is, however, most worrying that the issues of immigration as well as anti-semitism and islamophobia are filling the gap of unsolved domestic problems and the pressure from the global financial mess. «One common electoral platform for all parties of the extreme right is propagating the idea that Muslims are a problem community; a community to be feared; that they are outsiders, and followers of a fixed and outdated faith; and that their sacred book is a mediaeval manual that has no place in the modern world,» observes British author Ehsan Masood in his recent report for the very ambitious project of British Council «Our Shared Europe.» In the realm of practial domestic attitude toward Muslims the parties of extreme right are actively opposing planned mosques in Berne, London, Cologne and Amsterdam, among many other European cities.

Europe, as historicaly proven, is the most fertile place for the prejudicies to grow and anti-semitism had materialized as the Holocaust - the worst and most systematically organized crime commited against human spiece in the known history. Can we allow playing a dangereous game of the prejudicies against «the Other» in the ambient like this? Can we left anti-(European)Muslim sentiment to grow and bring us new kinds of materializations of some new «Holocausts.»

Isn't Bosnia and Herzegovina a classical example of the powerlessness of modern-day European policy based on prejudicies. The war ended some 13 years ago. The most wanted criminal Karadzic is finally in the Hague but still his project of ethnicaly clean teritories survives - against all odds of Dayton Peace agreement according to whcih all displaced persons have a right of return? In reality it did not happen! Can the European Union tolarate that one part of its prospective future member is being created and, more importantly, sustained on stringent results of genocide and ethnic cleansing? Do we wittnes a new «Palestine» being created in the heart of Europe? How is it that Europe still waits to officially proclaim the July of 11 the European Union Day of Mourning? For on July the Eleventh more than 8 thousand Muslims were slaughtered in Srebrenica by then Serbian army and what is today regular police of Serb entity, peril of Karadzic's mind? Many questions are left unanswered when we face brutal reality of appeasement to the politics and ideologies that grow on the basis of fear and hatred against the Other and the Deferent!

Srebrenica with all its tragedy doesnt need the recognition of the colossal crime for itself, neither Bosnian Muslims do! On the contrary a day of mourning to commemorate victims of the greatest unresponsibility is needed by Europe to secure its own prospects and ideas. Europe should have clear reminders of to encourage its poeples to fight xenophobia, rasism and genocide.