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The Xenophobic Campaign That’s Rattling Germany

Posted on
September 21, 2017
by Agree Staff
Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to retain power after Germany's 2017 parliamentary elections on September 24. But the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, whose candidates have been called "real Nazis" by Germany's foreign minister, are expected to gain seats in Parliament for the first time.

Many are crediting AFD's overtly anti-Islam and anti-immigrant "Trau Dich, Deutschland" campaign for its rise. (According to a German media psychologist interviewed by Deutsche Welle, "It isn't clear what ['Trau Dich'] means. On the one hand, it could be interpreted as be 'courageous' but on the other, it's like a call to take action. It's what you hear parents telling their children when they're struggling on the climbing frame.")

An Ad Campaign "Reminiscent of Nazi-Era Propaganda"

The ad campaign is mainly executed with placards, as is common in Germany. But online video versions of the posters have been created as well.

In one video, large German text runs over an Arabic symbol that reads "Merkel says Islam belongs to Germany." Then the image flips to the behinds of three scantily clad young white women. The text snidely responds to Merkel. "We say: Burkas? We prefer bikinis."

Another video begins with "Merkel says we need the immigrants." Over an image of a pregnant white woman laying on the grass, the screen offers, "We say: New Germans? We will make them ourselves."

Sky News characterizes the campaign as a "blend [of] nationalist sentiment, xenophobia and misogyny in a way that defies the stodgy, staid conventions of political campaigning in Germany ... For many, the imagery and message is unmistakably reminiscent of Nazi-era propaganda urging 'Aryan' German women to reproduce in order to advance the so-called 'master race.'"

AFD May Become Germany's Official Opposition

How effective is the campaign. In one sense, the political appeal is relatively limited. Polls show the AFD winning about 12 percent of the vote.

But if the top two parties form a governing coalition and AFD comes in third, the far-right party would become the official opposition and a toehold in Parliament. All indications are that catering to bigotry has enough niche appeal to win seats and unnerve a people that has spent decades putting their Nazi past behind them.
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