What is Antifa? Top 5 things to know about the Antifa organization
5. Activities of the Antifa movement
As protests over police killing of George Floyd spread across the United States, President Donald Trump declared on Sunday May 31, 2020, that the “United States will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization”.
The Trump government has blamed the violent nature of some protest rallies on members of the very controversial group known as Antifa. Yet, the world has been wondering, “What is Antifa”? Who are they? So, let’s have some look about the Antifa movement.
1. Antifa, a group against the “system”
ANTIFA is a shortened form of the word anti-fascist. It is an anti-fascist movement that tends to hold anti-capitalist and anti-discriminatory views. Activists of the group blame some governments, including the United States government of being controlled by elites who do not care about the people. The movement also believes that those same elites who are controlling government bodies around the world, are also controlling the media. So that’s why the activists believe that it is necessary to take action to fight the “corrupt system”. Antifa groups are active in several countries around the world.
2. Antifa, Ideology of an anti-fascist society
Antifa is a movement against fascist factions and any form of discrimination. The Antifa movement comprises several autonomous activist groups. It is composed in a majority of various leftist groups, socialists, anarchists, some social democrats, etc. Members describe themselves as revolutionaries, and they campaign against racism, Neo-Nazism, Neo-fascism, white supremacists, as well as actions they view as xenophobic, authoritarian or homophobic.
3. Origin of the Antifa movement
The origin of some groups of the Antifa movement date back in the 1920s and 1930s. Activists of those groups were fighting against European fascist dictatorships that emerged in the era of World War II, including against Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini. Antifa in America is considered as the successor to anti-Nazi activists of the 1930s. According to Mark Bray, author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, the modern American Antifa movement emerged in the 1980s with a group known as “Anti-Racist Action”.
4. Who are the members or leaders of Antifa?
The Antifa movement is not established on a hierarchical leadership structure. The movement has no official leaders, and the exact number of members is also impossible to determine. The movement is considered secretive, and organized into autonomous cells.
Antifa groups use a variety of modern and traditional forms of actions to be heard, including public rallies. Members are often organizing rallies and protest marches, as well as actions to disrupt far-right militant events and their speakers. They also often engage in direct confronting against far-right activists on the streets during rallies. While some people consider them to be violent, many Antifa members consider themselves to be against the use of weapons and violent direct action. Yet, they don’t rule out violence or the need to participate in violent protests if necessary.
Antifa groups participated in protest rallies of the 2016 election of Donald Trump.
They are also accused by the Trump government of provoking chaos during the violent protests over George Floyd’s death.
Now the big question is, Can Trump declare Antifa a terrorist organization? As in June 2020, the answer is No, because the United States does not have a domestic terrorism law yet. Although several propositions for such a law have been made in the wake of recent attacks by domestic extremists, such as attacks by white supremacist extremist groups.
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