Page 146 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 5-6: Radicalization, Violent Extremism and Conflicting Diversity, eds. Mitja Sardoč and Tomaž Deželan
P. 146
šolsko polje, letnik xxix, številka 5–6
time, their fascism had been used opportunistically for the purpose of dis-
semination of own Islamophobic, xenophobic and intolerant attitudes to-
wards the refugees.
In the users’ statements, the refugees are not necessarily identified
as a threat on a nationalist level through a kind of a patriotic discourse,
but have become that Other in a manner, similar to the erased in the past.
The difference being that the mythologization of being European is now
replaced by its defence: European, that is Judeo-Christian, roots must be
defended from the incursion of the alien Islam. The problem is not that
we are witnessing a “new racism” in hiding, spoken about by Van Dijk
(2000: p. 33), but that we are faced with a direct apology of old racism and
fascism.
Hate Speech, Fascism and the Refugee as the New-age Jew
Racism in Slovenia traditionally targets “non-Slovenians”, which is a term
usually used for the ethnic origin of people coming from the territories
of former Yugoslavia, with the standard addition of the Roma people and
immigrants (Trplan 2005: p. 226). Jalušič (2015: p. 40), has found that the
dominant understanding of racism today is that it represents an ideology,
or racist ideology, manifested through speech and the symbols of hatred
as one of the key reasons for the focus on hate crimes. A similar conclusion
can be drawn about fascism: its historical backdrop is the interpretation
of the Nazi totalitarianism and the holocaust as phenomena, whose ori-
gin can be traced directly to Nazi ideology (anti-Semitism and racism and
Hitler as the extreme irrational zealot), and not some separate new struc-
ture of authority that took root in the twentieth century Europe, but it
also follows from the thesis of “victory” over fascism in WWII.
Anti-Semitism was replaced by anti-Islamism during the refugee cri-
sis, and the hatred towards Jews by the hatred towards Muslim refugees.
The latter have become the new-age Jew. Refugees do not exist, they are
outside the realms of social and political subjectivity. Any emotion of em-
pathy is redundant in relationships with them, they do not require help;
on the contrary, they must be eliminated: gassed, shot, and murdered.
Presented as a homogenous ethnic, national and religious group, their or-
igin, political, or religious beliefs are irrelevant; their homogeneity is con-
structed and warranted by the simple fact that we need to get rid of them
and that Hitler will see to it. The casual epistemic fascism does not gen-
erate a discourse of exclusion; instead, it demands a clean, ultimate exclu-
sion in the form of extermination. The refugees as the Other, as opposed
to “us”, are no different from us, but represent an ultimate threat. Peaceful
co-existence and the intermingling of different racial and ethnic groups
144
time, their fascism had been used opportunistically for the purpose of dis-
semination of own Islamophobic, xenophobic and intolerant attitudes to-
wards the refugees.
In the users’ statements, the refugees are not necessarily identified
as a threat on a nationalist level through a kind of a patriotic discourse,
but have become that Other in a manner, similar to the erased in the past.
The difference being that the mythologization of being European is now
replaced by its defence: European, that is Judeo-Christian, roots must be
defended from the incursion of the alien Islam. The problem is not that
we are witnessing a “new racism” in hiding, spoken about by Van Dijk
(2000: p. 33), but that we are faced with a direct apology of old racism and
fascism.
Hate Speech, Fascism and the Refugee as the New-age Jew
Racism in Slovenia traditionally targets “non-Slovenians”, which is a term
usually used for the ethnic origin of people coming from the territories
of former Yugoslavia, with the standard addition of the Roma people and
immigrants (Trplan 2005: p. 226). Jalušič (2015: p. 40), has found that the
dominant understanding of racism today is that it represents an ideology,
or racist ideology, manifested through speech and the symbols of hatred
as one of the key reasons for the focus on hate crimes. A similar conclusion
can be drawn about fascism: its historical backdrop is the interpretation
of the Nazi totalitarianism and the holocaust as phenomena, whose ori-
gin can be traced directly to Nazi ideology (anti-Semitism and racism and
Hitler as the extreme irrational zealot), and not some separate new struc-
ture of authority that took root in the twentieth century Europe, but it
also follows from the thesis of “victory” over fascism in WWII.
Anti-Semitism was replaced by anti-Islamism during the refugee cri-
sis, and the hatred towards Jews by the hatred towards Muslim refugees.
The latter have become the new-age Jew. Refugees do not exist, they are
outside the realms of social and political subjectivity. Any emotion of em-
pathy is redundant in relationships with them, they do not require help;
on the contrary, they must be eliminated: gassed, shot, and murdered.
Presented as a homogenous ethnic, national and religious group, their or-
igin, political, or religious beliefs are irrelevant; their homogeneity is con-
structed and warranted by the simple fact that we need to get rid of them
and that Hitler will see to it. The casual epistemic fascism does not gen-
erate a discourse of exclusion; instead, it demands a clean, ultimate exclu-
sion in the form of extermination. The refugees as the Other, as opposed
to “us”, are no different from us, but represent an ultimate threat. Peaceful
co-existence and the intermingling of different racial and ethnic groups
144
