Call Them By Their Name

Nazis, hey? Can’t live with em, can’t keep Senator Fraser “Final Solution” Anning away from em.

This past weekend saw anti-racism protestors clash with human garbage at an anti-immigration “Reclaim St Kilda” rally. The rally was organised by alt-right poster boys and convicted criminals Blair Cottrell and Neil Erikson from the United Patriots Front. If you haven’t heard of the United Patriots Front it’s basically The Babysitters Club for racist incels.

Rally-goers wore SS memorabilia…and performed the Nazi salute.

The main targets of the rally were African immigrants due to the “African gangs” allegedly terrorising Melbourne according to Sunday Night, Rupert Murdoch and your uncle Dave. Basically mid last year the coalition needed a distraction from the epic clusterfuck they call a government and – what a shock – some brown people copped it.

Inaccurate and biased reporting pushed this agenda, demonising African communities, especially the Sudanese. This has generated undue fear of “African crime” and validated the racist bullshit espoused by the United Patriots and other groups.

Cottrell, Erikson and their band of merry dipshits were also kind enough to extend their contempt to other people of colour especially Muslims whom Cottrell has called “ violent pillagers” and Jews whom he calls “parasites”. He’s also claimed that Jews are funding feminism in which I case I am either owed a lot of money or I owe a lot of money. It’s unclear how this works.

You Know Who Else Hated Semites?

Of course, no far-right pissing contest is complete without a throwback to Hitler and some good old-fashioned anti-Semitism. Rally-goers wore SS memorabilia (the Schutzstaffel or SS was Hitler’s paramilitary arm and considered mostly responsible for the murder of millions of people in WWII) and performed the Nazi salute. And remember the old adage, “If you hate it then you better put a swastika on it”? Well, they do and they did.

…what exactly do these godless arseclowns have to do to qualify as “real” Nazis? I truly fear the answer.

The day of the rally several large stickers bearing swastikas were stuck on the walls of Emmy Monash, an elderly care facility that is home to many Holocaust survivors. The stickers bore the name of another group of brain-dead arsewipes, Antipodean Resistance, and no doubt served to upset and revictimise people who came to Australia post-war to avoid specifically this.

Side-note: I’d pay good money to see Antipodean Resistance and United Patriots Front in a dance battle except in this Step Up sequel the floor is literally on fire.

A Nazi By Any Other Name?

Since Saturday there’s been much debate about what we should and shouldn’t call these inbred nutjobs. The majority at least seem to agree that they’re despicable losers and the categorical worst. But while some believe that wearing SS garb, heiling Hitler, defiling Jewish property and CALLING THEMSELVES NAZIS means they are in fact Nazis, others are wrong.

Personally, I say if it looks like a cuck and talks like a cuck, it’s probably a Nazi. But what do I know? I’m just a second-generation Australian Jew raised with horror stories of what the Nazis did to her Polish grandparents who survived the Holocaust, and to the rest of their families who didn’t.

Why Are People Saying They’re Not Nazis?

Look, their hearts are in the right place. But they believe that if we ignore groups like United Patriots Front and Antipodean Resistance in a sort of mass ghosting, they’ll magically disappear. They think calling Cottrell and his trash ilk Nazis or neo-Nazis gives them a gravitas they’re not worthy of.

…judging them undeserving of the moniker “Nazi” will only radicalise them further as they strive to earn the title.

On The Drum last Monday night Caroline Overington said, “The idea that Blair Cottrell and his comrades could have any support among the mainstream Australian community is insane. In calling them Nazis we’re giving them the credibility they don’t deserve.”

While I agree that these piteous deadshits are unlikely to gain mass popularity, I proffer that judging them undeserving of the moniker “Nazi” will only radicalise them further as they strive to earn the title. And what exactly do these godless arseclowns have to do to qualify as “real” Nazis? I truly fear the answer.

I also think admitting that these redneck fuckwits are Nazis makes many Australians uncomfortable. Confronting prejudice isn’t exactly our strong suit and as a people, we’re more likely to be passive observers than active warriors. So, if we admit they’re Nazis, we might actually have to do something about it.

Why Does It Matter?

It matters because the Nazi party led by Adolf Hitler killed an estimated 15 million people and the world swore it would never happen again.

It matters because ignoring extremist groups has never gone well for any population and covering our ears, shutting our eyes and singing “LALALALALALALALALA”  is not a viable strategy.

It matters because a federal MP flew to Melbourne to attend and support a deplorable event on the taxpayers’ dime. A FEDERAL MP. Sure, he’s the dumbest one but that doesn’t invalidate the message his attendance signalled: That this shit is bananas/could potentially be normalised.

And it matters because Africans, Muslims, Jews, Indigenous Australians and other non-white communities targeted by these hateful cretins are telling you it matters. So check any privilege you have, shut the fuck up and listen.

These people are Nazis. They should be called Nazis and they should be condemned as Nazis.