Statement on Roger Hallam’s Interview in Die Zeit
Today German newspaper Die Zeit published an interview with Extinction Rebellion (XR) co-founder Roger Hallam. In it, he refers to the Holocaust as ‘just another fuckery in human history.’ He further goes on to discuss how genocides have been a ‘normal’ part of our history, and that Germany’s attitude towards the Holocaust has held them back. These comments are wholly outrageous and hurtful, and display a fundamental misunderstanding of past as well as present society.
It should not have to be repeated in 2019 that the Holocaust was one of the greatest evils in human history. And while it is true that countless other genocides have been committed throughout history, it ought to be our duty with the gift of hindsight to be able to see them as aberrations and lessons to never be repeated, rather than to normalise them.
However many legitimate problems there may be with Germany’s handling of the history of the Holocaust, at least there was an effort made at genuine reconciliation, unlike in places like Britain and Belgium, where historical colonial atrocities are largely glossed over and rarely publicly scrutinised.
Hallam’s comments do little more than to dismiss the severity of the Holocaust, and worse still, closely mirror the rhetoric of the far-right, such as AfD leader Alexander Gauland, who referred to Germany’s Nazi past as a ‘bird shit on German history’. Unfortunately, this is only the latest in a long list of hugely irresponsible, if not downright dangerous, statements made by him.
At GJR, we strive to have an intersectional understanding of the climate crisis, and we recognise that one of the greatest threats facing us currently is eco-fascism, an ideology cited by both the El Paso and Christchurch shooters in the last year. As the consequences of climate change become clearer, right-wing governments will do their best to impose draconian policies of border control and domestic suppression citing ecological concern as justification. Appealing to base fears of resource scarcity, rather than delivering a hopeful message of how things could change for the better is the easiest gateway to eco-fascist modes of thinking.
In the face of this impending reality, we must always be hyper-vigilant of the threat of another such genocide happening. And when millions are being displaced by extreme weather and resource wars, when thousands are drowning in the Mediterranean or being held in cages indefinitely, we must realise that we are never too far from it actually transpiring again.
Fascism is not an accident, or ‘another fuckery’, and nor are its victims. It is the inevitable end-point of a collapsing capitalist status quo defending itself from its own self-destruction. It’s what happened during the Depression in the 30s, and it’s what is happening now post-2008. That same collapsing capitalist system is also what is destroying our planet. These two things are inextricable.
XR Germany have correctly distanced themselves from Hallam, and we do the same. His comments betray a complete lack of sociopolitical analysis, as well as basic human empathy, which is surely what we should be building our movement around. We urge XR UK to follow suit.
