UN Human Rights Chief Urges Action Against Western 'Demagogues'
Comparing the likes of Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, and Geert Wilders to ISIS, UN's Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein implores: "Speak out and up...Draw the line!"
United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein condemned Western "demagogues" like Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, and Geert Wilders and urged people to "draw the line" against their far-right rhetoric before it leads to "colossal violence."
Zeid spoke at the Hague in the Netherlands on Monday, about a week after Wilders, founder of the increasingly popular Dutch right-wing Party for Freedom, released an 11-point plan to ban the Koran, close Muslim schools and mosques, and shutter asylum centers around the country. And while polls show Wilders is poised to do well in the Netherlands' elections in March, Zeid said, his incendiary tactics are similar to those used by the Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh).
"All seek in varying degrees to recover a past, halcyon and so pure in form, where sunlit fields are settled by peoples united by ethnicity or religion--living peacefully in isolation, pilots of their fate, free of crime, foreign influence, and war," Zeid said. "A past that most certainly, in reality, did not exist anywhere, ever."
"The formula is therefore simple: make people, already nervous, feel terrible, and then emphasize it's all because of a group, lying within, foreign and menacing," he said.
"History has perhaps taught Mr. Wilders and his ilk how effectively xenophobia and bigotry can be weaponized."
--Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein
"Then make your target audience feel good by offering up what is a fantasy to them, but a horrendous injustice to others. Inflame and quench, repeat many times over, until anxiety has been hardened into hatred."
In addition to Wilders, Trump, and Farage, Zeid criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech Republic President Milos Zeman, Wilders' Party for Freedom colleague Norbert Hofer, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, and conservative French politician Marine Le Pen.
Zeid described ISIS as "monstrous and sickening," and clarified that he was not comparing the actions of the far-right leaders to the militant group, but added, "in its mode of communication, its use of half-truths and oversimplification, the propaganda of Daesh uses tactics similar to those of the populists."
Promises to return to that non-existent utopian past "is fiction; its merchants are cheats," he said. "Clever cheats."
He concluded his speech with a call to action, stating, "History has perhaps taught Mr. Wilders and his ilk how effectively xenophobia and bigotry can be weaponized. Communities will barricade themselves into fearful, hostile camps, with populists like them, and the extremists, as the commandants. The atmosphere will become thick with hate; at this point it can descend rapidly into colossal violence. We must pull back from this trajectory."
"We must guard [human rights] law passionately, and be guided by it," he said. "Speak out and up, speak the truth and do so compassionately, speak for your children, for those you care about, for the rights of all, and be sure to say clearly: stop! We will not be bullied by you the bully, nor fooled by you the deceiver, not again, no more; because we, not you, will steer our collective fate. And we, not you, will write and sculpt this coming century. Draw the line!"
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein condemned Western "demagogues" like Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, and Geert Wilders and urged people to "draw the line" against their far-right rhetoric before it leads to "colossal violence."
Zeid spoke at the Hague in the Netherlands on Monday, about a week after Wilders, founder of the increasingly popular Dutch right-wing Party for Freedom, released an 11-point plan to ban the Koran, close Muslim schools and mosques, and shutter asylum centers around the country. And while polls show Wilders is poised to do well in the Netherlands' elections in March, Zeid said, his incendiary tactics are similar to those used by the Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh).
"All seek in varying degrees to recover a past, halcyon and so pure in form, where sunlit fields are settled by peoples united by ethnicity or religion--living peacefully in isolation, pilots of their fate, free of crime, foreign influence, and war," Zeid said. "A past that most certainly, in reality, did not exist anywhere, ever."
"The formula is therefore simple: make people, already nervous, feel terrible, and then emphasize it's all because of a group, lying within, foreign and menacing," he said.
"History has perhaps taught Mr. Wilders and his ilk how effectively xenophobia and bigotry can be weaponized."
--Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein
"Then make your target audience feel good by offering up what is a fantasy to them, but a horrendous injustice to others. Inflame and quench, repeat many times over, until anxiety has been hardened into hatred."
In addition to Wilders, Trump, and Farage, Zeid criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech Republic President Milos Zeman, Wilders' Party for Freedom colleague Norbert Hofer, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, and conservative French politician Marine Le Pen.
Zeid described ISIS as "monstrous and sickening," and clarified that he was not comparing the actions of the far-right leaders to the militant group, but added, "in its mode of communication, its use of half-truths and oversimplification, the propaganda of Daesh uses tactics similar to those of the populists."
Promises to return to that non-existent utopian past "is fiction; its merchants are cheats," he said. "Clever cheats."
He concluded his speech with a call to action, stating, "History has perhaps taught Mr. Wilders and his ilk how effectively xenophobia and bigotry can be weaponized. Communities will barricade themselves into fearful, hostile camps, with populists like them, and the extremists, as the commandants. The atmosphere will become thick with hate; at this point it can descend rapidly into colossal violence. We must pull back from this trajectory."
"We must guard [human rights] law passionately, and be guided by it," he said. "Speak out and up, speak the truth and do so compassionately, speak for your children, for those you care about, for the rights of all, and be sure to say clearly: stop! We will not be bullied by you the bully, nor fooled by you the deceiver, not again, no more; because we, not you, will steer our collective fate. And we, not you, will write and sculpt this coming century. Draw the line!"
United Nations human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein condemned Western "demagogues" like Donald Trump, Nigel Farage, and Geert Wilders and urged people to "draw the line" against their far-right rhetoric before it leads to "colossal violence."
Zeid spoke at the Hague in the Netherlands on Monday, about a week after Wilders, founder of the increasingly popular Dutch right-wing Party for Freedom, released an 11-point plan to ban the Koran, close Muslim schools and mosques, and shutter asylum centers around the country. And while polls show Wilders is poised to do well in the Netherlands' elections in March, Zeid said, his incendiary tactics are similar to those used by the Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh).
"All seek in varying degrees to recover a past, halcyon and so pure in form, where sunlit fields are settled by peoples united by ethnicity or religion--living peacefully in isolation, pilots of their fate, free of crime, foreign influence, and war," Zeid said. "A past that most certainly, in reality, did not exist anywhere, ever."
"The formula is therefore simple: make people, already nervous, feel terrible, and then emphasize it's all because of a group, lying within, foreign and menacing," he said.
"History has perhaps taught Mr. Wilders and his ilk how effectively xenophobia and bigotry can be weaponized."
--Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein
"Then make your target audience feel good by offering up what is a fantasy to them, but a horrendous injustice to others. Inflame and quench, repeat many times over, until anxiety has been hardened into hatred."
In addition to Wilders, Trump, and Farage, Zeid criticized Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech Republic President Milos Zeman, Wilders' Party for Freedom colleague Norbert Hofer, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, and conservative French politician Marine Le Pen.
Zeid described ISIS as "monstrous and sickening," and clarified that he was not comparing the actions of the far-right leaders to the militant group, but added, "in its mode of communication, its use of half-truths and oversimplification, the propaganda of Daesh uses tactics similar to those of the populists."
Promises to return to that non-existent utopian past "is fiction; its merchants are cheats," he said. "Clever cheats."
He concluded his speech with a call to action, stating, "History has perhaps taught Mr. Wilders and his ilk how effectively xenophobia and bigotry can be weaponized. Communities will barricade themselves into fearful, hostile camps, with populists like them, and the extremists, as the commandants. The atmosphere will become thick with hate; at this point it can descend rapidly into colossal violence. We must pull back from this trajectory."
"We must guard [human rights] law passionately, and be guided by it," he said. "Speak out and up, speak the truth and do so compassionately, speak for your children, for those you care about, for the rights of all, and be sure to say clearly: stop! We will not be bullied by you the bully, nor fooled by you the deceiver, not again, no more; because we, not you, will steer our collective fate. And we, not you, will write and sculpt this coming century. Draw the line!"