'Antifascism': the dark origin of a crude disguise for far-left thuggery

The violent attacks perpetrated yesterday by far-left separatists in Catalonia had a common characteristic: accusing the victims of being "fascists".

Vídeo: así han agredido los separatistas a pacíficos manifestantes en Barcelona
Europa: la ultraizquierda cometió 27 veces más atentados que la ultraderecha en 2016

A member of parliament inciting violence under the guise of 'antifascism'

According to some politicians and media outlets, a thug who uses violence to impose his opinions on others is a folk hero if he commits his attacks in the name of "antifascism," even if he demonstrates the same fanaticism, intolerance, and aggression as fascists. Just yesterday, Member of Parliament Gabriel Rufián, from the far-left and separatist party ERC, praised the aggressive counter-protesters by invoking "antifascism," in a clear display of incitement to violence.

That's the magic word the left uses to justify violence for political ends, even if those ends are as hateful and intolerable as those of the fascists. In fact, ERC is a party that has supported the Cuban communist dictatorship, a regime that has been violating human rights for decades. But of course, it violates them in the name of antifascism.

Fanatics who attack anyone who disagrees with them are called 'antifascists'

In many countries, the left uses "antifascism" as a pretext to justify any aggression. To do so, it relies on an argument as fallacious as it is dangerous: that anything goes against fascism. But who decides that a particular person is a fascist? The far left itself. In Spain, we have many examples, and one of them has often been seen in Catalonia. The left and the separatists call "fascists" people and organizations that defend such democratic things as linguistic freedom and freedom of education, simply because the left and the separatists defend the opposite: the imposition of languages ​​and ideological indoctrination in schools. In this way, the far-left uses "antifascism" as an excuse to label as "fascists" all those who contradict it and justify violence against them. Just look at the video of yesterday's attacks: demonstrators expressing their opinions legally and peacefully were attacked with shouts of "fascists" by fanatics who cannot tolerate anyone disagreeing with them.

Stalin: the promoter of 'antifascism' as a cover for communism

One only needs to consult history books to see that one of the first rulers to use "antifascism" as a rallying cry was the dictator and genocidal Stalin. With his "Third Period" strategy, the communists even went so far as to call the social-democrats "social-fascists." In Germany, this facilitated the rise of Nazism by weakening the Weimar Republic. As a consequence, Stalin decided to adopt another strategy: to unite the entire left under the banner of "antifascism." Thus, the Popular Fronts were born. The English historian Norman Davies wrote the following about this in his book "Europe at War 1939-1945: No Simple Victory" (2006):

"Needless to say, ‘anti-Fascism’ did not offer a coherent political ideology. In terms of ideas, it was an empty vessel, a mere political dance." (...) "It gave the false impression that principled democrats believing in the rule of law and freedom of speech could rub along fine with the dictators of the proletariat, or that democratic socialists had only minor differences with Communism." (...) "Only in the background was the unspoken dialectic that, if Fascism was to be Bad, the Good had to lie with the originator of anti-Fascism - Joseph Stalin’s USSR."

'Antifascism' as an excuse for coups and terrorism

In the spring of 1933, just months after Hitler's rise to power in Germany, the Communist Party of Spain formed an armed group called the "Antifascist Workers' and Peasants' Militias" (MAOC). This paramilitary organization, with its own uniforms (a light blue shirt and a red tie), grew to have around 2,000 armed members, primarily based in Madrid. The irony is that fascism had barely made its presence felt in Spain. The JONS (National-Syndicalist Offensive Juntas), created in 1931, was still a marginal organization, and the Spanish Falange would not appear until October 1933. The MAOC's main objective was to prepare a coup d'état following the tenets of the Communist International, but they also carried out assassinations in the period leading up to the outbreak of the Civil War. As always, "antifascism" was an excuse that served for everything, from terrorism to the formation of paramilitary groups for coup purposes.

War criminals still glorified today under the guise of 'antifascism'

The Popular Fronts, conceived by Stalin, came to power in 1936 in Spain and France. In Spain, the wave of violence unleashed by the left after its rise to power culminated on July 13, 1936, with the assassination of one of the leaders of the right-wing opposition, the deputy José Calvo Sotelo, an event that many historians consider the trigger for the Spanish Civil War, which began a few days later. During the war, the leftist side—aided by Stalin and with agents of his secret police, the NKVD, as advisors—committed tens of thousands of murders and carried out one of the most brutal religious persecutions of the modern age. But because it did so under the pretext of "anti-fascism," even today the Spanish left continues to praise that leftist side and even href="https://gaceta.es/noticias/pasionaria-carrillo-companis-stalin-los-asesinos-izquierda-conservan-calles-08032017-1915/">dedicating streets to war criminals.

Gunning down unarmed and defenseless people in the name of 'antifascism'

After World War II, communism continued to use "antifascism" as a pretext to subject millions of people to a regime of terror. In 1961, communist East Germany christened the Berlin Wall the "Antifaschistischer Schutzwall" (Antifascist Protection Wall), which turned the eastern part of the city into a vast prison: 192 people died trying to cross it on their way to freedom. They were gunned down in the name of "antifascism."

Following in the footsteps of the MAOC's gun violence, two communist terrorist groups emerged in Spain during the 1970s, murdering in the name of "antifascism." In 1973, the Revolutionary Antifascist and Patriotic Front (FRAP) was formed, with a Marxist-Leninist ideology, responsible for three murders (two police officers and a Civil Guard). In 1975, the First of October Antifascist Resistance Groups (GRAPO) appeared, also with a communist ideology, responsible for 39 murders. Their last victim to date was a businesswoman from Zaragoza, Ana Isabel Herrero, shot dead on February 6, 2006, when terrorists from that group attempted to kidnap her and she resisted. The perpetrators of the crime coldly confessed three years later, without showing the slightest remorse. The shooter even bluntly stated: "I fired until the revolver's cylinder was empty. If I'd had 15 bullets, I would have fired all 15." But since they are "anti-fascists,"in Spain there are still left-wing extremists who glorify the GRAPO, for Take, for example, the rapper Valtonyc, who has been supported by MP Gabriel Rufián. It seems anything goes in the name of "antifascism."