German Greens take a leaf from Adolf Hitler’s book; “Der Einschüchterung der Gegner” (The Intimidation of Opponents)

One of the problems British Gazette Readers share with such as the unfortunate citizens of North Korea, is that the state funded propaganda machine (in our case the BBC) do not report news stories that do not conform to their editorial policy. One such was an attack in Bremen at around 3:00PM in the Bremer Bürgerpark on the 24th August 2013, at a public meeting held by the party “Alternative für Deutschland.”
The event was stormed in a hit-and-run-style by attackers. Watch the above video. Multiple persons were injured. At 3:00 PM, the campaign event started on an open air stage. During a speech by the chairperson of the ‘Alternative für Deutschland”, the event was suddenly stormed by 20 – 25 partially masked persons. Eight persons succeeded to get onto the stage. The attackers used pepper spray in the stage area. This led to 16 people being injured. When the police intervened the attackers fled the park. During the pursuit one helper of the “Alternative für Deutschland” was attacked with a knife. He was lightly injured to the hand as he defended himself. All persons who were injured by the pepper spray suffered irritated eyes and respiration. Among the injured were two children aged 7 and 11 and one police officer.
Firstly, British Gazette Readers may well ask, “Who and what is the Alternative für Deutschland?
Well let us start off by telling you what they are not. They are not an extreme right wing, racist, or neo-Nazi group. They are not like UKIP either. In political views, from a British perspective, they are most like the Tory Euroskeptics. Think Owen Patterson, Dear Reader.
Alternative für Deutschland, abbreviated to AfD, is a newly founded (early 2013) conservative, euro-currency-sceptic political party in Germany that is organising to compete in the German federal election in September 2013. The party states that it is anti-euro, but not anti-EU, and not against European unity. The party’s central argument is that the euro is a failed currency that threatens European integration by impoverishing countries with uncompetitive economies and burdening future generations.
In September 2012, Alexander Gauland, Bernd Lucke, Konrad Adam and Gerd Robanus founded the political group Wahlalternative 2013 (translated: “Election Alternative 2013”) with the aim of opposing the German government’s policies for dealing with the Eurozone crisis. Their manifesto was endorsed by a number of prominent economists, journalists, and business leaders. The group argued that the Eurozone had proven to be “unsuitable” and that states in southern European states were “sinking into poverty under the competitive pressure of the Euro”.
On 14th April 2013, the party announced its existence to the public when it held its first convention in Berlin. The convention elected the party leadership and adopted the party platform. The three elected speakers are the former World Bank economist Bernd Lucke, the entrepreneur Frauke Petry, and the publicist Konrad Adam (a former editor of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 1979 to 2000 and chief correspondent of Die Welt until 2008).
The party’s election platform contains broad goals on currency policy, European policy, the rule of law and democracy, public finance and taxes, pensions, energy policy, and immigration policy. The section on currency policy provides the main part of the program. With regards to other policy fields, the party’s main themes are to relocate some responsibilities back to national governments from the European level, to introduce elements of direct democracy, and to strengthen elements of ownership and self responsibility.
Specific goals include:
The no-bailout clause of the Maastricht Treaty must be respected.
Countries must be able to leave the eurozone to form alternative monetary unions or establish parallel currencies.
Secondary market interventions by the European Central Bank should stop.
The cost of bailouts should be borne primarily by the private sector.
All transfer of sovereignty to the European Union must be legitimized by plebiscite.
Party spokesman Bernd Lucke has stated that “Our condition for a coalition would be that our governing partner also wants to abolish the Euro.” In May Bernd Lucke had changed his approach somewhat stating “I could imagine cooperating with a center-right government if this coalition was prepared to accept significantly tougher conditions on aid from the European Stability Mechanism.” Unlike some other anti-euro movements in Europe, the AfD says it is neither nationalist nor anti-immigration. Its program calls for Canadian-style policies to entice more skilled foreign workers to Germany.
Leading supporters include Charles Blankart, Alexander Gauland, Wilhelm Hankel, Stefan Homburg (professor of public finance at the University of Hanover), Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider, and Joachim Starbatty (economics professor and author of Crime Scene Euro), many of whom are economists and/or former members of the Christian Democratic Union. Hankel and Schachtschneider have previously challenged the constitutionality of the German government’s Eurozone policies at the German Constitutional Court.
More than two-thirds of its initial supporters hold doctorates, 86% of whom are male, giving it the nickname the “professors’ party”.
The AfD check applicants for membership to exclude far-right and former NPD members who support the anti-Euro policy (as other mainstream German political parties do).
AfD has made it clear that it does not see itself as a sister party to, for example, the UK Independence Party (UKIP), but that it shares more in common with the British Conservatives. Party Leader Bernd Lucke said he declined an approach for a meeting with UKIP. Nigel Farage has described Alternative for Germany as “a bit academic, but very interesting.”