A cold wind is blowing over the world. A xenophobic wind.
Where does it come from? And why does it start now?
Is the answer to this trend more police and more military
presence? That is not what I believe – but that is what I see.
Two examples. One from Sweden and one from South Africa.
I read in a local, Swedish newspaper – Hallands Nyheter –
about a public lecture where the author Mietek Grocher, 88 years old, talks
about his experiences as a holocaust survivor. Suddenly five to six men enter
the hall. They sit down on the front row. Some of them are dressed in so called
bomber jackets. One of them has had his head shaved. Everyone understands that
they are from a neo-Nazism organisation. They are there to intimidate and they succeed.
People are scared and the principal of the school does not know what to do
except to call the police. But the police cannot do anything. On the website of
the organisation called the Swedish Resistance Movement it is clear that they
were behind the action.
Xenophobia, which so often links to anti-Semitism. Mietek
Grocher says, according to Hallands Nyheter, that he is used to this.
Isn’t that terrible? He survived the holocaust and now he
has to go through similar things again? Sweden 2015.
South Africa 2015. I read this in Mail and Guardian:
The South African government has now called on the South African National Defence Force to “reinforce the work of police”, “exert the authority of the state” and “reclaim the streets” in areas where xenophobic violence has been reported.
When I read the article it describes how people, who are not
South African citizens, are being stabbed or even shot. It’s terrible!
This wind is of course also blowing in Nigeria, Syria,
Libya, Ukraine and in many other countries.
My point with this blog post is that more police and
military will not solve this. We as citizens have to stand up, united and say
no to xenophobia.
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