Word has just arrived from Sweden about a counter-demonstration that is planned for Sunday November 30th — the anniversary of King Karl XII’s death — which is intended to block a demonstration by Swedish nationalists in the city of Lund.It’s important to remember that in Sweden all forms of nationalism are conflated with Nazism, so that elite opinion consigns the Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna) to the same basket as the real Nazis and all the other nationalists and non-Socialists.
I have no idea which of these groups will be present in Lund on Sunday — you can’t tell the players without a scorecard, and I don’t have one — but here’s the translation of a flyer that has been distributed to residents of Lund. It presumably originated with AFA (Antifascistisk Aktion, or Antifa) and its affiliates, the folks who intend to oppose all those Nazis on Sunday:
STOP
the NAZI DEMONSTRATION!
MOVABLE ANTI-RACIST BLOCKADE 30th NOVEMBER
RALLYING AT 14:30
Lund Railway StationInformational meeting
Monday 24 at 19:30
the Småland’s Students’ Club
We want you and your friends, working comrades, and family to join us in a blockade of the planned Nazi demonstration the 30th of November in Lund. We will never stand silently and just look. United we will block their way, showing them that they will never operate freely in our city.Lund’s citizens against racism
Here’s a photo of the site of the expected confrontation:
And this report comes from Sydsvenskan:
- - - - - - - - -
Counter-demonstration planned Nov. 30
Antiracists are going to try to prevent the nationalists from entering the Lund Centrum on Sunday. The 30-Nov association’s chairman Lars Hulthén is going to speak, but says he does not really know to whom he is going to speak.
LUND. Because of the nationalists have sought a demonstration permit in Lund on November 30, the Organization “Lund citizens against racism” last night held a briefing at Småland’s Student Club. Fifty people attended to hear about the plans for a counter-demonstration.
“The goal is to get several hundred people who stand in the way of the Nazis so that the police will have to bus them away. They will not be able to enter the Lund Centrum,” said the meeting chairman Malin, who did not want to disclose her last name.
[…]
On the site nordisk.nu, a gathering place for Nazis, nationalists and right-wing extremists, advice is given on how the blockade should be avoided. Nationalists are invited to come to Lund ahead of time on Saturday, or attempt to travel there by car and seek police protection if there are counter-demonstrators nearby.
It is unclear exactly which organizations are supporting the demonstration. According to “Lund Citizens against racism”, it is the “Free Nationalists of Scania” that was formed by members of the Nazi organizations “Activism Öresund” and “Helsingborg Campaign”. The call for the demonstration it is by the “nationalistic”. Kristoffer Dahlström, who applied for a demonstration permit; he has a background in the “National Democrats”.
A Swedish reader supplies some background on Karl II and the November 30th celebrations:
The Karl XII celebration in Lund has a long history. The celebration of his death was held annually (with some interruptions) on November 30 from 1853 until 1991.
Karl XII has a special place among Swedish kings with regard to his relationship with the city of Lund; namely, the king resided in the city during 1716-18, which actually made it to the capital of Sweden during these years.
In 1853 the future professor of aesthetics Gustaf Ljunggren, then chairman of the Academic Society’s social committee and a general driving force in the student world, proposed that the memory of Karl XII’s death should be celebrated in Lund.
The proposal was adopted and during the 1800s, and it was celebrated with ‘fine’ speeches at the Academic Society and then students marched in torchlight down to the Cathedral School, singing “Viken, tidens flyktiga minnen” by Geijer and the poem “Karl XII” (“Kung Carl den unga hjälte” = King Carolus the young hero) by Esaias Tegner.
Among the ceremonial speakers you can find that century’s prominent names, such as Albert Lysander and Martin Weibull.
Eventually it was decided that the procession should be held only if at least 150 student union members had declared their intention to participate. Although the total student number at this time amounted to only about 600 (today up to 10,000!), the minimum was always reached. Also, from 1873 the city of Lund’s non-academic citizens were invited to participate in the procession.
The torchlight procession continued through the years with a break around the First World War, but then the Student Union took exception and did not want to participate.
The “30-November Association” consisted of national and right-wing groups at the University.
Lars Hulthén became chairman during the 1960s.
During the 1970s counterdemonstrations started to take off.
At the end of the 1980s a growing number of neo-Nazi elements, Heil Hitler greetings, swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans were introduced. Skinheads formed an increasing part of the small torch-procession, and there was a huge police presence with blockade-containers, helicopters, road-blockings of Lundagård and an almost military presence. Lund resembled a city under siege at that time.
On Nov 30 1991, in connection with the neo-Nazi offensive in Sweden, a broad anti-racism coalition decided to stop the march. There was a big blockade on the Big Southstreet to hinder the torch-procession, and barricades all over the central city and “traveling BZ” (AFA scum-of-the-earth) activists from Denmark. Central Lund was a battlefield!
The police gave in and the torch-procession was stopped.
This was effectively the end the Karl XII celebrations
Now they say ‘30/11’ counts as an anti-racist red-letter day in Lund.
Since then, no disturbances have been reported.
Ten years later, on the site of what happened in 1991, a monument was placed with the inscription “Here racism was stopped 1991-30-11”.
For those who want to delve into even more detail, here’s additional information from Anna-Lena Lodenius on her blog:
Reawakening of the 30th of November in Lund
In recent years there has been calm in Lund on November 30, Karl XII’s death-day. Which many surely have been grateful for, remembering the annual riots on this date in the early 1990s. But now the Free Nationalists of Scania are planning to shake life into the celebration again. I note that the Liberal Nationalists had invited Marc Abramsson, leader of the National Democrats, as a speaker at the meeting launching the event.
The National Democrats take another step closer to the national movement, says Robert Boström, a Sweden Democrat in Örebro, on his blog. ND has also been a longtime participant in the annual Salem Demonstration alongside, among others, “Info14” and the Swedish Resistance Movement. Now all that is missing is that they also turn up at the People’s March in conjunction with the National Day, writes Boström. Free Nationalists Scania is part of the nationwide network of Free Nationalists. The Skåne branch of this network was formed in early November (see ‘Info 14’).
The November 30 celebration this year is supposed to be the biggest since the early 1990’s when the tradition petered out much because of the fracas with Danish BZ and other activists who sabotaged the parades. The return to tradition was apparently supposed to be accompanied by Lars Hulthén, an old celebrity in this context who used to waltz around in the media in his capacity of chairman for 30 November Association of Lund… Despite repeated questions, Hulthén could never point out any single major characteristic of Karl XII, except that he lived in Lund, which he happened to do during the short span of years 1715-1718, which may not be the first thing people think of when they hear of Karl XII.
There are a lot of things you can say about Karl XII. Something I never understood is why nationalists celebrate the ruler responsible for the collapse of the giant Swedish empire. On the other hand, celebrating the fact of his death — does anyone even know when his birthday was?
Stay tuned. We’ll see what happens in Lund on Sunday.
15 comments:
Voltaire wrote a whole book prasing King Karl XII.
I guess Voltaire was a Nazi too...
I would stay away from this if I were you mate.
"free nationalists" are anti-antifa groups popular in some areas of continental europe. In France they are called 'identitaires'.
They dress the same way as antifa, and use their tactics, not something I have a problem with.
But in Germany the movement is closely linked with the NPD [the neo-nazi party].
They are notorious for accepting ANYONE regardless of views [rampant anti semitism, anarchist tendencies.. etc]
They are the angry young male street fighters, the opposite numbers of the 'antifa'.
Also I am very sceptical of the national democrats, the SD seems sensible. the ND seems over the top and a little too brownshirtish if you know what I mean.
Also the Salem march they talk about is a giant memorial march hel every year for a skinhead murdered by communists, the new Horst Wessel. Its the largest regular far right march in europe and inevitably ends in rioting on both sides.
Casapound:
The guy beaten to death in Salem was like 17 years old and while perhaps a skinhead (bonehead) he wasn't organized or documented to have any nationalist views. The group of people who killed him was a youth gang made up by some born swedes and some immigrants. It had nothing to do with politics, and there where no communists involved.
Its allways bad when someone gets killed but especially bad this time since the swedish nazis were a shattered movements with many internal clashes. By the death of this young man they found something to gather around.
Since then theyve been holding this memorial march as a disguise to spread their hatemongering, you just need to listen to the speeches from previous Salem marches to understand what its all about in reality.
For the past few years the number of participants have become fewer and fewer. Mainly beacuse all the antifas showing up each year to raise hell.
CS, could you comment on these Karl XII people? I am under the impression that they are skinhead-type persons, not sensible ones like SD.
I might be wrong and would like to know.
Interesting comments. By following the blog identity links it tells us that we first have a BNP supporter (Casapound) who is concerned about the brownshirtish groups mentioned in this article ("I would stay away from this if I were you mate."). And then we have a follow-up answer from an Antifa supporter (Babekabmut).
Casapound,
You are right about these groups. It's self-described neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and criminal subcultures that have taken over the Salem march. The first year of the march the mother of the killed kid turned up, and also the Sweden Democrats. But once they saw who else that came, they have stayed away from it. (Nice commemoration of a killed child, when they mother does not want to participate any more...).
And as far as I can see it's the same groups coming to the streets of Lund (having a speaker from ND is an indicator of this).
However, the Baron's article properly describes neo-Nazis as neo-Nazis, and how the Karl XII celebration in the '80s degenerated with "a growing number of neo-Nazi elements, Heil Hitler greetings, swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans". That's not exactly an endorsement. The value of the Baron's article is to give historical perspective on the Karl XII celebration (which started in 1853) and how it degenerated at a very late stage.
Baron Bodissey wrote:
It’s important to remember that in Sweden all forms of nationalism are conflated with Nazism
How true. And both sides of this upcoming skirmish has bought into this lie.
The most disgusting thing of all is how it is now most likely illegal to publish and distribute a tract illustrating how Islam and Nazism have more in common than any of the anti-Islamization groups.
I am now convinced that "hate speech" laws of all stripes are the thin end of a Politically Correct wedge aimed at establishing Thought Crime and abolishing Freedom of Speech.
Someone needs to scatter flyers with the following information at the rally site:
(What follows are a dozen of the principal similarities and shared beliefs that I find Islam and Nazism have in common.
Foremost among them is the pursuit of genocide, no other single feature should overshadow the menace connoted by this filthy goal.)
1) The way Islamists seek to recreate Hitler’s “final solution” and routinely speak of “finishing the job” begun by the Nazis as reflected in connections between the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin el-Husseini, Yasser Arafat and Adolph Hitler. This vile goal and its complement, Holocaust Denial, represent a central feature of these evil ideologies.
2) To this day, Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” remains among one of the best-selling books in the Middle East.
3) Restoration of lost glory with respect to the Caliphate or the reconstruction of post-WWI Germany’s Reich both represent similar goals whose attainment would mean death on a massive scale for the globe’s population.
4) Assigning blame to the Jews for lack of success is used as a misdirection and scapegoat with regard to the actual faults of poor leadership or failed military adventurism.
5) Cultural purity as a dominant theme of philosophical chauvinism to elevate existing ideology above any possible dissent or questioning as personified by German “übermensch” or Islamic jihadist mentality.
6) The tacit approval shown by both moderate Muslims and WWII Germans for absolutism and the atrocities committed in its name despite any infrequent outward condemnation made by either of them.
7) The impossibility of negotiating with Nazis or Islamists due to their ideological mandates and pursuit of global dominance.
8) An absolute prohibition of apostasy or dissent under penalty of death.
9) The use of atrocities and crimes against humanity as legitimate tools of war.
10) Commingling religious tenets and fascist doctrine with the intent of disguising political ideology as theistic creed.
11) The imperative aspect of totally eliminating such a dire threat to world peace.
12) The totally unacceptable nature of appeasing or coexisting with such a dangerous mindset.
Babekabmut,
Since you express support for Antifa and their methods in your blog, I'd like to ask you the following:
It's one thing to say, as Casapound, that we should stay away from these groups, since they stand for distasteful opposites of what we do in most aspects. But it's another thing to say, like you, that they have no right to hold public meetings. "They deserve to be silenced" as you wrote in your blog. How did you come to that conclusion?
Also I wonder what is your view of Sverigedemokraterna? Is it your view that they need to be silenced too? (At least Antifa thinks so).
Henrik,
As you can see I was already writing an answer to your question when you posted it. And yes you assumed correctly.
If you remember there was a net skirmish about these groups between me and the Swedish bloggers Aloysius and Florestan. Where they had the "big tent" sort of idea, while I held the opinion that these groups should be ostracized (to use Erich' terminology).
The main person in question then was Jonas de Geer, who among other things wrote the foreword of the Swedish edition of a David Duke book. In the end Aloysius and Florestan decided to prefer Jonas de Geer's company before mine.
Jonas de Geer has been one of the speakers at the Salem march. And along with him they have had leaders of the National Socialist Front and the kind.
On a side note: Just this month someone put up several youtube clips of SD meetings and speeches back in 1989-1995. It is interesting to notice that SD never sounded like above mentioned groups, not even a tiny hint of anti-Semitism or neo-Nazism, never. I have to admit that I was not sure about the early years of this party, but now I am: It was essentially the same party back then as it is today.
The problem is however that whenever a nationalist mainfestation is made (by whoever) in Sweden, it attracts and is taken over by the nazi scum. Such is Sweden. And exactly for the reason stated by Baron B: that nationalism is conflated with Nazism in modern Swedish folkloric mythology.
But Henrik,
Please do not refer to them as "Karl XII people". You are sort of including Voltaire then (who must be spinning in his grave).
As a non-Swede I am puzzled by the present policies of the Swedish Social Democrats. In the early
1940s they were supporters of Nazi Germany. Whilst refusing Britain and France the right to transport troops across Sweden to help Finland they allowed Nazi Germany this right. They were also enthusiastic supporters of forced sterilisation. Just when did they turn into an anti-Nazi party?
Dagobert, they were also for forced lobotomization of people back then.
Alas, I already weep for Lund (I live little under half an hour by train from there). This beautiful town will probably be trashed november 30th.
I happened to be in Lund this day in the mid-90's, probably one of the last demonstrations before it all died out until now. I wasn't in Lund for this purpose, I actually had another appointment there. The whole inner-city was completelt blocked off, smaller streets with containers. I've never seen so many people there, not before this nor later. Nor have I seen so many cops either with helmets ,shields and all that. Luckily I managed to get to the train station without any problems. It probably only took a bit longer time than normal and then slip out of Lund and get back home. I have no memory of the town being smashed to smithereens so I think was a lot more peaceful than these demonstrations are today.
Where are these "brave" dumbasses when the Muslims come out and demand death of the European infidel
Conservative Swede:
If you would have read further posts on my blog you'd soon notice that I do think they have a right to have public meetings. I don't think that the swedish state or police should stop them from having meetings in public. But as long as they hold their meetings on streets and town squares that belongs to me as much as to them then I have a right to express my views as well. As long as their politics are a threat to me and my friends I will try to sabotage their public meetings.. they are trying to spread their hatepropaganda, and I want to stop them.
I dont think that it is enough, as Casapound said, to stay away from these meetings to show that we don't support them. We have to take action. If the choice is between not doing anything to stop them vs take (sometimes voilent) action to stop them I will make the latter choice. That is not to say that the most important struggle against racist ideals is fought by labour unions, teachers at schools and normal everyday people in conversations with one another. But when such a huge neonazi march is taking place, not being there to sabotage it is not an option if youre a antifacist.
"They deserve to be silenced" Deserve is perhaps a strange word to use. I was speaking of Folkfronten (former Nationalsocialist Front) and they do deserve to be silenced. There is no tolerance to be found for nazis. I dont know who the thinker was who coined the expression "the militant democracy" but I think thats where we're at when it comes to fighting un-democratic ideologies in a democratic society. (you can't be a democrat if you accept that people are of different value depending on religion, place of birth or genes)
It's hard to fight Sverigedemokraterna but I prefer that people try to instead of giving away to their populist semi-racist political views (that is not to say that people who vote for them are racists, but their politics certinly are)
As long as Moderaternas politics are to launch the idea of a "swedish contract" for immigrants I think they have done more to raise the acceptence of racist parties than a mob of angry antifas will ever do.
sorry for all that bad grammar in my last post.
Of course i meant that the perhaps the most important arena to fight nationalist, facist and racist ideals is the school, the work place and your closest community. A fight lead by good teachers, labour unions, voluntary organizations and normal people. It is important to speak on the roots of nationalsocialism and facism, and not just about Hitler and WW2.
But one very important part of the fight against nationalist-, facist- and racist POLITICAL PARTIES and organizations is to destroy their infrastructure and to sabotage their propaganda and marches.
Both parts are necessary, unfortunatly not many people participate in the later actions. Ideally I would like to see a large mass of normal people block their marches. But as long as the establishment and media tells us that it is undemocratic to participate in such actions it will be left to a few thousand youngsters and the amount of voilence will be higher.
Babekabmut,
"But one very important part of the fight against nationalist-, facist- and racist POLITICAL PARTIES and organizations is to destroy their infrastructure and to sabotage their propaganda and marches."
How many mosques have you destroyed? The nationalist-, facist- and racist POLITICAL PARTY
is called islam and the nation of islam is called umma. Whatever book of islam you open it comes out that you or me are underdogs.
In your schools you offer immigrants education in their native languages. So a sweet young girl teacher opens some Palestinian newspaper and teaches the kids WHAT? Some racist crap against the Jews. And the Jews in Sweden are already under threat, the imams gather their names and addresses.
What have you done to stop it and expose it? If you accept willingly your underdog status, why do you drag others with you to accept it?
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