06) THE SPECTRE OF FASCISM

 

People's Voice Editorial

 

            The governments of the NATO countries ‑ including Canada ‑ are ignoring the potential for disaster in Ukraine, as a macabre chorus of anti‑Russian boasting emanates from Washington, London and Ottawa. This bizarre political game even compares Russia with Nazi Germany, aiming to convince the public that the enemy of democracy and freedom in the Second World War was the Soviet Union. The truth is that Hitler fascism launched the war and slaughtered millions in its death camps, while the Soviet people, under the leadership of the Communist Party, played the decisive role in the military liberation of Europe.

 

            This history is relevant today, in light of the attacks against trade unionists, Communists, and members of minority groups in Ukraine. We draw particular attention to the attempt to ban the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU), a major political force in that country since the dissolution of the USSR, as a so‑called "threat to national security."

 

            Virtually the first act of the Nazi regime was to ban the Communist Party. That was followed by a reign of terror against social democrats, trade unionists, progressive religious leaders, the Jewish and Roma populations, homosexuals, and other "enemies" of the Third Reich, in Germany and then across occupied.

 

            Behind today's attack on the CPU is an attempt to deprive Ukrainian citizens of their right to freedom of speech, and to freedom of demonstrations and assembly. This effort to mute voices which oppose the ultra-nationalist agenda aims at blocking dialogue around restoration of peace and concord in Ukraine. Those who support the coup regime in Kiev ‑ and here we include the NDP and Liberal opposition parties in Parliament ‑ must be held to account. We urge all peace‑loving and democratic forces to call upon Parliament to speak out against the descent into fascism in Ukraine, before it is too late.

(The above article is from the June 1-15, 2014, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading socialist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)