CAMPAIGN INFORMATION

Act Against Intolerance! 9 November 2007 International Day Against Fascism and Antisemitism

CONTENTS

1 What is the campaign about...

2 Join the Movement
2.1 Join the Campaign!
2.2 Planning a campaign activity
2.3 Practical tips

3 How UNITED can help

4 How you can help UNITED

5 Good Practices

6 Background Infromation

7 Definitions
7.1 antisemitism
7.2 rightwing extremism
7.3 fascism
7.4 hate crimes
7.5 nazism

8 Internet Resources

9 What is UNITED?

10 Joint Project 'Civil Society Against Rightwing Extremism'

11 Orderform ­ order campaign materials!

Nowadays, rightwing extremism is an increasing force in the entire continent. Hate crimes against vulnerable people are turning into a permanent and invisible Night of Broken Crystals. Official and unofficial reports show that the number of hate crimes has been growing enormously during the last years. According to the European Crime and Safety Survey of the Fundamental Rights Agency, 9 million people have experienced some form of hate crimes in 18 European countries in 2004. Extreme right political parties gain influence and are elected into democratic institutions. According to reports of the AntiDefamation League, a large number of Europeans express antiJewish attitudes and refer to the classical conspiracy theories that Jewish had to endure through the centuries. It seems that lessons of the past are not painful enough to avoid intolerance in the present. Thus, European citizens have to tackle hatred and intolerance with great determination.

UNITED has mapped out the situation in Europe and considers it extremely serious. Several UNITED member organizations are closely cooperating in the field of analyzing common trends of racism, antisemitism and rightwing extremism in Europe and sharing effective approaches on how to deal with these dangerous threats. Racism and antisemitism are not an ideologically legitimate option. They are a crime, and must be faced with clear and strict legislation. So let's join forces and build a strong movement capable of fighting intolerance in all its forms!



2 Join the Movement

What you can do
Each year around 9th November the UNITED network organizes a Europeanwide campaign to commemorate the "Kristallnacht" pogrom, to protest against intolerance and to build a better future of tolerance and respect.
The strength of UNITED campaigns is having a diverse European movement against racism and intolerance taking part in a common action, using
a common theme and slogan.
We use different approaches and methods and we have one common vision of intercultural understanding and peace. This poster is designed as a supporting tool you can use during your campaign activities. You can organize diverse events, such as public discussions, meetings with eyewitnesses, demonstrations, commemoration activities, conferences, poster and media actions, cultural events and much more.


2.1 Join the Campaign

Make sure your event is included in the European List of Activities! Inform UNITED about your planned activities (title, date, theme, place) and name, address and contact person of your organization.
Make use of this poster! Order (max. 100 posters) for free from the UNITED secretariat.


2.2 Planning a campaign activity

­ Keep in mind that most activities are organised on a low or nobudget basis. So 'no money' does not necessarily mean 'no action'
­ It is important to include the protection and empowerment of victims of totalitarianism and antisemitism in your campaign aims. Make use of our information leaflet 'Get Active The 'How to organise an activity?'. Look at www.unitedagainstracism.org under 'publications'.


2.3 Practical tips

­ Start your preparations in time.
­ Keep in touch with the UNITED secretariat to spread your new ideas to the network and to provide it with recent information.
­ Think about the message you want to communicate and what outcome you expect (shortterm/longterm)?
­ Use the resources you already have within your organisation.
­ Look for partners and alliances if appropriate also outside the NGO movement (schools, religious groups, community groups).
­ Try to involve as many people as possible already during preparation (volunteers, partners etc.) and divide tasks clearly.
­ Keep in mind that you can order campaign material at the UNITED Secretariat for free.


3 How UNITED can help

­ You can order campaign material; up to 100 posters are for free. But if you need more for special purposes, don't hesitate to contact UNITED
­ UNITED will produce a special list of all activities that will take place in Europe, which can help you to make contacts and generate ideas. It will be updated regularly on our website: www.unitedagainstracism.org under 'campaigns'.
­ Call UNITED if you cannot find a partner for your activities. We might know of other NGOs in your region or city who are planning an activity.
­ A media release will be sent to the UNITED network organizations and to all important European press agencies, newspapers, etc. Journalists who want to know more about specific activities are referred to the organizations involved in local actions.
­ UNITED will produce a European report after 9 November, including as many of the activities that took place as possible.



4 How you can help UNITED

­ Help us to make the media release exciting! Announce your activities to us! Send us your ideas, invitations, leaflets and posters before the activities take place
­ Send us your media contacts
­ Help us to make the report complete! Make sure your activity report is included! Send us reports, newspaper articles, photographs, etc. directly after the event!



5 Good Practices

The rise of intolerance in Europe reveals the necessity of approaching this increasing danger by means of civil societal action. Several activities and methods have been developed and implemented by various organizations, serving as good practices in addressing issues of racism, Antisemitism and rightwing extremism. Some successful examples are presented here.

­ Educational activity "Kristallnacht Never Again" (Russia)
The Kristallnacht campaign in the frame of the "International Week on Educational Activities Russia" has been taking place since 2004 in more than 15 regions of Russia. During the week of 916 November, several NGOs organize activities, including minicinema festivals with followup discussions, opinion polls among the youth on tolerance and the dissemination of antifascist quotes within the project "Epigraph", to encourage the youngsters to learn more on the topic and the campaign. All results of the campaign are published in a printed and an online version and distributed through the hubs of the Youth Human Rights Movement, which counts more than 1000 individual and collective correspondents in Russia, CIS countries and Germany.
More information: www.9november.hrworld.ru

­ Teaching about Holocaust in schools (Spain)
Revisionism and denial are tools used by rightwing extremists to gain influence in Europe. Knowing about the past is a premise to prevent crimes against humanity. That's why holocaust education is the best way to warn about the destructive potential of hatred. In Spain, the Movement Against Intolerance organizes workshops in 1500 schools in Spain every year. The workshops aim at developing empathy with the victims of Holocaust by focusing on personal individual histories, raising awareness about old and new forms of antisemitism and encouraging students to become active in projects, demonstrations and performances. The methods we use are: teaching about Antisemitism and its historical roots; illustrating the most significant stereotypes; showing documentary videos and discussing arguments for an effective deconstruction of these biases.
More information: www.movimientocontralaintolerancia.com

­ Building coalitions & networks (Germany)
Networks and partnerships between NGOs and community actors are essential for achieving a sustainable impact in tackling intolerance. Since 2001, Kulturbüro Sachsen, a German NGO, has been initiating, advising and accompanying local networks in including anyone who is able and willing to fight against rightwing extremism and hatemotivated violence and for the strengthening of democratic values in their region. The network members are coming from civil society, state authorities as well as the private sector and cover local NGOs, politics, administration, mayor, church communities, police, school, youth clubs, companies and many more. Cooperation between all these partners enables the creation of synergies by connecting different skills. During this process, Kulturbüro Sachsen transmits relevant background information about local extreme right structures and hate groups, gives advice in developing specific responding strategies and transfers concrete tools how to start activities against the extreme right in the region.
More information: www.kulturbuerosachsen.de



6 Background information

The date of 9th November is of special importance to keep alive the memory of every single person murdered by the Nazis. The Kristallnacht pogrom is the symbolic beginning of the Holocaust, the darkest imaginable nightmare during which 6 million Jewish people were murdered together with 5,5 million "enemies of the German state": criminals and "asocial", people with mental disabilities, homosexuals, members of diverse religious communities, political "offenders" such as communists and socialists, Spanish republican refugees and minorities like Roma and Sinti. The Holocaust was a permanent and planned evolution since the beginning of the Nazi regime. The long history of antisemitism in Germany and Europe had extraordinary strong roots in people´s minds and social behavior, so the seeds of hate were the first step of institutionalization Nazis. Indolence and appeasement have been and will ever be
one of the best allies of hatred and intolerance.

Although Europe has overcome the experience of totalitarianism during the past century, today it has again reasons to be concerned. During the last years, the number of Neonazis and rightwing extremists has been strongly increasing all over Europe, using new sophisticated ways of expressing themselves within political structures, social movements and subcultural scenes. Although their forms of appearance and actions might be different in each European country, there are some common tendencies:

­ Neonazis have established well connected networks across Europe.
PanEuropean networks of Neonazis and rightwing extremists arise both in formal and informal ways, spreading a shared ideology throughout Europe. In the beginning of 2007, MPs of different extreme right parties from Western and Eastern Europe formed an own group in the European parliament ("Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty"). Another branch of this phenomenon covers the mutual participation in demonstrations and marches, as happened e.g. in Dresden on the occasion of the commemoration day of the bombing of the city by the Allies in 1945, when Neonazis from all over Europe gathered for a "mourning march".

­ Rightwing extremism is established both in partypolitics and subculture.
In many European countries, extreme right parties are running for elections, achieving seats in parliaments and even in governments. Besides, there exist commercial distribution structures for music, fashion, labels and fanzines spreading racist and nationalist contents. Enormous financial profit is achieved by selling products in the "hate market". Also concerts and festivals are used to connect the rightwing extremist movement across Europe and to attract more people to join their movement.

­ The number of hate crimes is on the rise in all of Europe.
Both official and NGO data collection reveal an enormous increase of hate crimes in Europe. 30 hatred based murders have been reported in Russia by the end of May of 2007 (SOVA Centre). Official data in the UK pointed out almost 60.000 racist incidents in 2005. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution detected 1.047 politically motivated extreme right violent acts in Germany in 2006. In Spain, about 4000 hate crimes and incidents are reported in 200 cities (Movement Against Intolerance).

­ Violent hate groups are increasingly attacking new target groups.
Neonazis and rightwing extremists are directing their violent attacks on a wide variety of vulnerable collectives, including migrants, homosexuals, antiracist activists, homeless and youths belonging to nonrightwing extremist subcultures. Thus, "no go areas" are established that dominate the social environment and provoke a climate of fear and intimidation.

­ Rightwing extremist and mainstream discourses show alarming interconnections
A successful tactic of rightwing extremist groups and parties to attract sympathizers and followers is to include a variety of topics in their political agenda which are also addressed by the middle of society and even the leftwing, e.g. dealing with social problems and globalization protest. But also in the opposite direction, it appears that populist arguments which have been spread by rightwing extremists in the first place arrived in democratic political parties and media. An example for this warning threat to democratic values is the socalled "Russian project" of the majority political party in the parliament "Edinaya Rossia". By creating a specific website addressing crimes against Russians exclusively and connecting it to populist discussions about patriotism the majority party made this rhetoric legitimate.



7 Definitions
7.1 Antisemitism

Antisemitism is prejudice against Jewish people. Antisemites wrongly believe that Jews are fundamentally different from other people. They often believe that Jews want to rule the world and are trying to reach this goal through a worldwide conspiracy. This form of xenophobic intolerance leads to discrimination against individuals as well as the persecution of Jews as a group. The most horrific manifestation of antisemitism came with Hitler's rise to power and the Nazi ideology of racial purity. Millions of Jewish people, deported from all countries controlled by Germany, died in concentration camps during the Holocaust. However, antisemitism did not start nor end with the Holocaust. It is deeply rooted in European culture and still manifests itself today.


7.2 Rightwing extremism

Rightwing extremist ideology has its roots in nationalism and racism. It is governed by the idea that ethnic affiliation to a nation or race is of the utmost importance for an individual. All other interests and values, including civil and human rights, are subordinate to it. Rightwing extremists propagate a political system in which the state and the people amalgamate as an alleged natural order to form a unity ("ideology of the ethnic community"). Actually, this results in an antipluralistic system, leaving no room for democratic decisionmaking procedures and accepts violence as
a legitimate way of achieving political goals.
(www.verfassungsschutz.de)


7.3 Fascism

Fascism is a violent reactionary rightwing political movement, which manifests itself ultimately in an openly terrorist dictatorship. Fascism gains support among all social groups especially in times of political and economical crises, it destroys democratic liberties and discriminates members of specific (ethnic) minorities and people with different views. Fascists believe in the just leadership of a strong man, instead of parliamentary democracy. Fascism builds on a strong nationalism that often turns racist. The most brutal form of fascism was the nationalsocialist dictatorship in Germany 19331945, but this is by far not the only fascist dictatorship in history. The word 'fascism' was coined by the Italian dictatorship of Mussolini. We often speak of Fascism with a capital 'f' when we speak of this specific ideology in this specific historical context and about 'fascism' when we speak about the generic 'family of ideologies'. Those who believe in this ideology nowadays are called 'neofascists'.


7.4 Hate Crimes

Hate crimes are any criminal offences, both against persons or property, where the victim, premises or target of the offence are selected because of their real or perceived connection, attachment, affiliation, support, or membership in a group which is defined by race, national or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, age, political affiliation or social circumstances. It is an attack on one's physical self, but is also an attack on one's very identity.


7.5 Nazism

Nazism is an ideology and policy of German fascism, which was characterised by racism, antisemitism, totalitarianism, social demagogy, aggression and claims of superiority over other nations. The word nazism is derived from the expression 'nationalsocialism', which was a political movement in Germany led by the NSDAP (German NationalSocialist Workers' Party). The Nazi regime was responsible for the deaths of millions of civilians. Some groups identify themselves with the ideals of nazism even today. These neoNazis sometimes manifest themselves as skinheads, but not all of them do and not all skinheads are neonazis.



8 Internet Resources

European Resources
­ UNITED for Intercultural Action
www.unitedagainstracism.org
­ Searchlight Magazine
www.searchlightmagazine.com
­ Anne Frank House Amsterdam
www.annefrank.org
­ European Resistance Archive
www.resistancearchive.org
­ AuschwitzBirkenau Memorial and Museum
www.auschwitzmuzeum.oswiecim.pl

Other useful resources
­ AntiDefamation League
www.adl.org
­ United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
www.ushmm.org
­ Centre for New Community
www.newcomm.org
­ Stephen Roth Institute
www.tau.ac.il/AntiSemitism
­ Yad Vashem
www.yadvashem.org



9 What is UNITED?

UNITED for Intercultural Action is the European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees. Racism, nationalism, fascism, discrimination, restrictive migration and asylum policiesthese issues have a European dimension. It is important to fight intolerance on all levels. Linked through UNITED, more than 560 organisations and youth organisations from a wide variety of backgrounds, from all European countries, work together on a voluntary basis. They base their cooperation on common actions and shared activities and on mutual respect. UNITED is and will remain independent from all political parties, organisations and states, but seeks an active cooperation with other antiracist initiatives in Europe. Through the UNITED network organisations meet each other, work on common actions and share information. Europeanwide action weeks and campaigns are planned and discussed at UNITED conferences. Likeminded organisations meet each other at such conferences and work together on specific projects and on specific topics. The workers in the secretariat are in constant contact with the network organisations, ensuring that information and proposals for action are transmitted rapidly. Information is received from more than 2000 organisations and mailings go out to about 2500 groups in Europe. If you want to get involved discuss the ideas and aims of the UNITED network within your organisation. Let us know that your organisation would like to join or to receive information. And add us to your mailing list!



10 Joint Project 'Civil Society Against Rightwing Extremism'

As a response to the alarming spread of deeply rooted racism, antisemitism and rightwing extremism in Europe, UNITED has established the project "Civil Society Against Rightwing Extremism Developing New Lifelong learning Strategies for NGOs" which is realized in the frame of the European adult education program GRUNDTVIG. Within this project, 9 partner organizations active within the UNITED network from Western and Eastern Europe are closely cooperating in analyzing occurrences, forms and strategies of rightwing extremism in Europe, sharing concepts how to deal with the increasing influence of rightwing organizations and actors in their respective countries and finding transferable approaches to push back the extreme right, at a local and regional level.

The project partners are
­ UNITED for Intercultural Action
www.unitedagainstracism.org

­ ARI Immigrant Association Rieti Italy
www.ariweb.it

­ Duha Rainbow Association Czechia
www.duha.cz

­ Kulturbüro Sachsen Germany
www.kulturbuerosachsen.de

­ Master on Immigration Program
University of Venice Italy
www.unive.it/masterim

­ Movement Against Intolerance Spain
www.movimientocontralaintolerancia.com

­ MTP Oradea Romania
www.mtporadea.ro

­ Never Again Poland
www.nigdywiecej.org

­ Norwegian's People's Aid Norway
www.antirasisme.no

­ People Against Racism Slovakia
www.rasizmus.sk



11 Orderform ­ order campaign materials!

orderform (rtf 12 KB)

The information contained herein does not necessarily reflect the position nor the opinion of our sponsors. Sponsors are not to be held responsible for any use that may be made of it.

This publication is part of the project 'Civil Society Against Rightwing Extremism' part funded and made possible by the support of the European Union Grundtvig Program.



UP

UNITED for Intercultural Action
European network against nationalism, racism, fascism
and in support of migrants and refugees
Postbus 413, NL1000 AK Amsterdam, Netherlands
phone +31206834778, fax +31206834582
info@unitedagainstracism.org, www.unitedagainstracism.org