Welf Herfurth writes a letter to Crikey!, April 22, 2008: Re. “Torch protest: who’ll be there, from Amway up”.
As a Member of the National Anarchists, and a subscriber to Crikey for many years, I am disappointed that Crikey has not spent more time evaluating their articles by reactionaries like Cam Smith, who was quick to slander the Nationalist Anarchists, whilst at the same time over-looking the Nationalist implications of the Tibetan struggle. One is left with no other conclusion that a double standard exists for those fighting for freedom and self-determination is a struggle that those of European heritage have no right to exercise. The only thing Smith managed to correctly assess in his article about the ‘National Anarchists’ is that we are indeed planning on making an appearance at the Torch Relay in Canberra, in support of the Tibetan struggle for independence.
“[The] charter of human rights (guaranteed by international law), says that indigenous populations have the right to resist colonisation and immigration. So the Tibetans are justified – legally – in doing what they do. So are we in the West: after all, we are being colonised: the massive flood of immigration in Europe, North America, Australia, is neo-colonialism.” From the New Right Website – Tibet and the Lessons for the West
Every other comment is slanderous deceitful rubbish, used for intellectual repression of ideas that do not support Smith’s cultural Marxism. The New Right / National Anarchists are about freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and the right of national, ethnic self-determination for all peoples. I find it paradoxical that someone who preaches tolerance, diversity and racial harmony would use a racial epithet to criticise those he considers Nazis. The Australian people are intelligent enough to recognise Mr Smith’s hypocrisy. The National Anarchists are not Nazis, nor do we support Nazism, or supremacy of any race towards another, including Zionism. I cannot stress highly enough; violent racist action is as far from National Anarchist ideology as you could possibly be. For further information regarding the National Anarchists and the New Right, please have a look at our website. I would recommend Smith do so before writing any other articles about the New Right/National Anarchists.
Honorary Member of the Cultural Marxist Association, Advertising Dude, Anti-Racist Activist and THE BEST JOURNALIST IN THE WORLD!, Cam Smith writes a letter to @ndy!, May 6, 2008: Re. Welf’s letter.
Oh my stars and whiskers! I apologise profusely for upsetting Herr Herfurth and his kameraden with my accurate description of their political leanings. In future, I’ll try and employ some of the pure Aryan disingenuity that he has displayed so well here – it just looks so damn tasty. The fact is, the vast majority of the membership of the ‘National Anarchists’ in Australia have been members of, or currently are members of, neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups. Herfurth himself, even while he today attempts to disassociates himself publicly from the neo-Nazi movement, remains a senior figure within the local branch of Blood & Honour, an openly neo-Nazi group which is banned as a terrorist organisation in his native Germany. In his youth he was a member of the German NPD (neo-Nazis too, if you’d believe it!), and since coming to Australia he has addressed the Australian League Of Rights (holocaust deniers, if you’d believe it!) on a number of occasions.
As regards to the peaceable nature of the Australian ‘National Anarchists,’ I have had a number of conversations with members of his group in which they have bragged about acts of racial violence. Before they are punished too harshly for their loose lips, I should note that they may well have been under the impression that I was somebody else. I apologise for misleading them so. I have also been informed, by very reliable sources, that some members of NA have participated in acts of violence against members of the LGBT community. As they say in the classics, you are a liar liar whose pants are on fire, Herr Herfurth!
For more information on the links between ‘National Anarchism’ and neo-fascism, this analysis of the speakers at ‘National Anarchist’ events in the U.K. is particularly illuminating. (Quite a few neo-Nazis and holocaust deniers in there, if you’d believe it!) An essay by British historian Graham Macklin, ‘Co-opting the counter culture: Troy Southgate and the National Revolutionary Faction’ (PDF) provides a detailed account of the evolution of ‘National Anarchism’ and its principal architect, Troy Southgate, a former member of the British National Front (would you believe they were a neo-Nazi group? Amazing!)
On a more serious note:
Neo-Nazi attack puts spotlight on Italian militants
May 5, 2008
ROME, May 5 (Reuters) – A neo-Nazi attack in Verona that put a young man in a coma has thrown the spotlight on political militancy in Italy, prompting the opposition to question whether a right-wing sweep in April elections is feeding a climate of intolerance.
The victim, 29-year-old Nicola Tommasoli, appeared to be near death after being savagely beaten on May 1 by a group of youths identified by police as neo-Nazi soccer hooligans.
The beating was condemned across the political spectrum; police have so far ruled out any political motive for what appears to be an isolated act of violence.
Still, Italy’s centre-left portrayed it as a sign a growing intolerance in a country where fears about crime — particularly by immigrants — contributed to their resounding defeat by the right in last month’s national and municipal elections.
The incident has put right-wingers on the defensive over the suggestion that support by militants helped them to win the April elections, including the mayorship of Rome.
“The responsibility lies with right-wing populists,” said Paolo Ferrero, a leftist minister in the caretaker government expected to step down later this week.
He accused the far right of creating “scapegoats” for Italy’s social problems that “brings in votes in a climate of insecurity, but also sows a long trail of hate”.
The defeated centre-left candidate for prime minister, Walter Veltroni, said: “We are faced with a neo-fascist-style aggression that cannot and should not be underestimated”.
In an informal poll by one television station, 51 percent of respondents said they feared the Verona attack could herald the start of a new wave of violent intolerance.
CITY OF LOVE?
The mayor of Verona, from the anti-immigrant Northern League which backed Silvio Berlusconi as premier, rejected any link between his party and Tommasoli’s assailants. “There are millions of people that voted for us. It could be that one of them is a criminal,” Tosi, who is cracking down on illegal immigrants in Verona, a northern Italian city made famous by Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”.
But Tosi is not the only right-wing politician who had to distance himself from far-right elements.
Rome’s new Mayor Gianni Alemanno urged supporters to avoid “excesses” after a small group gave him the right-armed Roman salute associated with fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and chanted “Duce!” (leader), as Mussolini’s followers called him.
Alemanno, whose National Alliance is the successor to the post-war neo-fascists but is trying to become a mainstream conservative party, complained that the left tried to depict him as a fascist and anti-Semite during the campaign.
“We must condemn any form of ideological extremism regardless of where it comes from,” said Alemanno as he visited monuments in Rome to Jewish victims of Nazi occupation, Italian wartime resistance heroes and Rome’s synagogue.
“There are extremist fringes on the far right as well as the far left, but they are more an expression of urban marginalisation than actual politics.”
During the mayoral race, Alemanno came under attack for wearing a Celtic cross round his neck — a symbol of the far right in Italy comparable to the Nazi swastika. (Editing by Ralph Boulton)
According to another source, Tommasoli has died:
VERONA: ORGANS OF ASSAULTED YOUTH WILL BE DONATED
(AGI) – Rome, May 5 – The parents of Nicola Tommasoli expressed the wish to donate the young man’s tissues and organs.
Tommasoli died as a result of a savage assault in Verona on April 30. The announcement was made by the management of Verona’s hospital. His remains are being examined to ensure compatibility with donation. In such event clinical procedures to extract his tissues and organs will commence tonight. The youth was declared dead today at 6 pm following the mandatory 6 hour period set that follows death. Upon arrival in the intensive care unit of the ‘Ospedale Borgo Trento’ the conditions of Tommasoli were already critical. He had suffered blows to the head and had a brain haemorrhage.
Neo-Nazi killing puts spotlight on Italian militants, Phil Stewart / Reuters, May 5, 2008
