Is neo-Nazism humanist?

John August, the President of the NSW Humanists, has issued a statement in response to an anti-fascist protest which took place at Humanist House in Chippendale. The protest took place on October 2, during the kourse of a meeting of a neo-Nazi group kalled ‘Klub Nation’ / ‘Klub Naziya’.

In his statement — which appears to be a personal, rather than official release endorsed by the Society — John expresses concern over the fact that during the course of the protest “some protesters went about striking Humanist House”, and claims that a local resident and member of the Society was “pushed and shoved”. He congratulates the police — including, presumably, the Public Order and Riot Squad — for their “commendable professionalism” in dealing with the 50–70 protesters. Finally, John notes that “police are contemplating charges of malicious damage”.

Statement regarding events of the 2nd October

The Humanist Society of NSW encourages a rational approach to human problems, and respect for universal human rights free from discrimination based on race, class, disability, gender, age, nationality or sexual orientation.

We try to ensure that those groups using the venue are consistent with Humanist values. As we are a volunteer run group which is run on committee process, it can be difficult for the whole committee to be aware of the associations of particular groups. In any case, we have been planning to make a review of those hiring the hall, according to our own democratic committee process, which we will be following through on.

A group was previously banned from Humanist House because of alleged racist associations, but through committee process and the desire to be fair at the time, access was again allowed. This is a consequence of committee process and the difficulty in being aware of all facts at issue.

As humanists, we believe in freedom of expression, provided it does not involve any form of racial vilification or the vilification of any other minority group. Such vilification is prohibited by the anti-discrimination Act of 1977.

We also believe in the democratic right of peaceful assembly, the right to demonstrate and protest in a non-violent manner. It seems the protest of the 2nd October 2009 went beyond the bounds of peaceful protest, something which I found very surprising.

Some protesters went about striking Humanist House, and when one of our members of long standing, a local resident with a long history of involvement in progressive causes, tried to point this out to them, she was pushed and shoved; the evening’s events caused her considerable distress.

The attack on Humanist House was stopped by police, who showed commendable professionalism. Humanist House has seen some minor damage; it could well have been a lot worse if the police had not intervened; we certainly appreciate their efforts.

Without commenting on the meeting inside, I can only imagine the experience would have been traumatic for those attending it. I endorse the right of peaceful protest, but am very disappointed at the violence which erupted.

Some protesters covered their faces, while others conducted themselves in a civilised manner. We hope that this means that not all protesters would endorse the violence that erupted.

In fact, at this stage I have no idea of the exact identity of the protesters, or any group affiliations, though what they were trying to achieve may become clearer if I have the opportunity to view videos of the event and am able to further investigate.

The building did indeed suffer minor damage, and police are contemplating charges of malicious damage. We find ourselves in a very difficult position. Nevertheless, in interests of a peaceful resolution of the problem, I invite anyone concerned to contact me and discuss the matter.

John August
President
NSW Humanists
Ph : 0419 683 353
October 10, 2009

In July 2007, Jason Rafty posted the following message on Stormfront — a site which, to the best of my knowledge, is unlikely to be described as humanist:

KLUB NATION :- June meeting

Klub Nation is the only continuous meeting place for white Nationalists in Sydney since 2003. [W]e invite those interested in attending our meetings to reply with your expression of interest by private message. We currently have a central branch and a Hills District branch with a Greater Western branch to be initiated soon.

Klub Nation is sponsored by the PIF Inc ([P]ublic [I]nformation [F]orum) and in essence is a networking and social point for Nationalists. [W]e present a range of guest and in house speakers covering the full gamut of political-economy, and other subjects of relevance to the Nationalist milieu.

The conveners of Klub Nation seek to cast an image as a survivor’s Klub.

Urban survival against the predations of the NWO–Globalist over class is less about arms caches, compounds and tin food stock, but rather having the knowledge, network and social capital to assail and prevail over everything this insidious over class throws at us. NWO tyranny and enslavement is predicated on the atomization of Anglo-Celtic people. Any brotherhood or Klan based unity is like a silver bullet[.]

Klub Nation promotes the “viable Nationalist”: – one who isn’t crest fallen, physiologically addled, impecunious or effeminate. Remaining viable is the linchpin to survival. Like hell, we’re going to become the white trash of South East Asia.

So come along to the next meeting for a bit of good cheer and company of fellow Nationalists.

Klub Nation provides generous food and beverages. It is general etiquette and protocol that entry requires a donation

JBR [Jason Rafty]

Jason Rafty operates the Klub in konjunction with Daevid Palmer.

Palmer, along with David Innes and John Drew, was profiled in Zoo magazine (Issue 75, August 6, 2007, pp.40-44) in an article titled ‘The Most Dangerous Men in Australia’:

Palmer calls himself ‘Der Führer’ and his ambition is to rid Australia of multicultural ‘mongrels’ and Jews…

“Jews and other races are destroying our nation by interbreeding. It destroys our Australian Anglo-Saxon European base culture. We call it multi-mongrelism.

The KKK appeals to people because the hoods provide anonymity to our members who are lawyers, policemen, teachers and tradesmen. We integrated KKK members with the Australian Nazi Movement, which I formed, to make the National Socialist Defence of Australian People. The NSDAP is against non-European immigration…”

In the past, the Klub also served as a meeting point for members of the ‘White Pride Coalition of Australia’ (WPCA), a coalition of the Australian Nationalists Movement (ANM), World Church of the Creator (WCOTC), Imperial Klans of Australia (IKA), New Zealand National Front (NZNF) and National Socialist Party of Australia (NSPA). Visitors to the site are greeted with the following message: “Welcome, My White Comrades, to the White Pride Coalition Australia. Heil Hitler! Hail Woden! Sieg Heil! Stay White Comrades 88”.

There is little doubt that both the NSW Humanist Society and the WPCA agreed — in both theory and practice — that the WPCA had a right to peacefully assemble in its meeting rooms. However, I suspect that there may be some slight tension between the WPCA’s commitment to neo-Nazism, on the one hand, and the Society’s commitment to nice things like the rational appreciation of human rights, on the other.

Note that, an IHEU Board meeting in 1993 issued a statement condemning ‘Any kind of racism and nazism’, claiming that “Humanists wish to take part in an active, public and social-ethical combat against racism and neo-nazism in our societies”. I’m inclined to think that, as part of this effort, the IHEU did not mean to suggest that humanists should combat racism and neo-Nazism by hiring out their meeting rooms to neo-Nazis and racists — but I could be wrong.

Presumably the question will be subjected to a thorough committee process.