German Democracy, Civic Ed Groups Under 'Open Attack' By RW Extremists, Warn Dems In Merkel Govt.
'German democracy under 'open attack,' says SPD chief.' Social Democrats in Chancellor Angela Merkel's government have renewed calls for a law to promote democracy inside Germany. Sixty civic groups have said their projects against the far-right need stable funding. DW, Nov. 23, 2020.
Saskia Esken, Social Democratic Party co-leader, on Monday renewed calls from her SPD that the federal parliament adopt a law promoting democracy to help foil what she said was a far-right in Germany intent on eroding society.
"We are currently experiencing how right-wing extremists openly attack our democracy," said Esken, accusing Merkel's conservatives of blocking a democracy bill long sought in the Cabinet by Family Affairs Minister Franziska Giffey and Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht, both members of the SPD.
That obstruction was "not only incomprehensible but dangerous," Esken told the Berlin-based newspaper TAZ, ahead of a Cabinet committee meeting on Wednesday. The committee, formed after last February's Hanau terror killings, aims to draft anti-racism measures for Germany. "We must confront the enemies of democracy with determination," said Esken.
Last Friday, Steffen Seibert, spokesman for Merkel's government comprising her Christian Democrats (CDU) and Bavarian CSU party and the SPD, said the Cabinet committee would deliver its findings to federal parliament in the first quarter of 2021. Its deliberations began in March and in recent months Interior Minister Horst Seehofer of Bavaria's CSU had been vocal in objecting to German police force personnel being surveyed on attitudes held toward racism.
- 'Vital' education by civic groups: Esken told TAZ that pro-democracy civic groups across Germany — largely funded on a project-by-project basis for limited periods of time — performed "vital work and therefore deserve continual funding."
Read more: As hate speech rages, so to resistance
In a recent letter to Merkel's grand coalition government, cited by TAZ, some 60 civic groups warned that their work — typically based at youth centers — to uphold a liberal, open, democratic culture was being "attacked like never in years before."...https://www.dw.com/en/german-democracy-under-open-attack-says-spd-chief/a-55694548
_________________
- Identitarian Movement, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identitarian_movement
- Photo: UK members in Scotland. Identitarianism can be defined by its opposition to globalisation, multiculturalism, Islam and extra-European immigration; and by its defence of traditions, pan-European nationalism and cultural homogeneity within the nations of Europe. Scholars have described the essence of the Identitarianism as a reaction against the permissive ideals of the '68 movement, embodied by the baby-boomers and their perceived left-liberal dominance on society, which they sometimes label "Cultural Marxism".
The movement is most notable in Europe, and although rooted in Western Europe, it has spread more rapidly to the eastern part of the continent through conscious efforts of the likes of Faye. It also has adherents among North American, Australian, and New Zealander white nationalists. The United States–based Southern Poverty Law Center considers many of these organisations to be hate groups...
- After WWI, Hundreds of Politicians Were Murdered in Germany. Right-wing paramilitary groups killed political foes with no repercussions in Weimar Germany, https://www.history.com/news/political-assassinations-germany-weimar-republic
