Banning Nazi salutes and media coverage only serves to reinforce and normalize neo-Nazis, writes Tom Tanuki.
I've noticed that the tone of the messages I receive about neo-Nazi activity changes a bit over the years.
If someone sees an individual or group engaging in neo-Nazi activism or displaying visible Nazi imagery in public (actions that are increasingly visible to the public these days), they often message me about it.
I am always grateful, but whereas before it was usually associated with a call for a local grassroots response, it now often comes with a discussion about the power they have left behind.
More or less this is what I usually hear now:
“That's the Nazi flag in this house. I contacted the police station about this because it is now illegal to display these things. But they don't seem interested. What should I do next? Which authority should I contact?
I am proud of my wealth of work and letters on this particular matter. So, I admit I was thinking to myself when I received this kind of stuff: people should know not to message me about this.
It is a sore point for me to have spent many years repeating that we should not adopt legal or bureaucratic solutions to social issues like the neo-Nazi grassroots groups and that doing so will only exacerbate the problem.
I'd like to tell the latecomer to call me again after they burned the flag and left its charred remains at the flagger's door soaked in urine.
And once you've said precisely that. But lately I've found myself thinking: peeing on things and burning private property is also illegal. So what if they cheat on me then? Or what if it was a police officer?
I don't like to think that way about my followers. It doesn't matter how many times I have written articles and made videos explaining, over and over again, that laws, bans and police will not stop neo-Nazis. It's not just about me. Political forces much larger than my limited voice have so far managed to consolidate a climate of evasion, backwardness and praise the police as the standard mediator of political marginality in this country.
Jacob Hersant of the National Socialist Network (NSN) was using Healing Victory the entire time because he had been worried about Hitler since before puberty.
He then made the usual gesture while standing with NSN leader Tom Sewell outside a court hearing in 2023. The ban on Nazi salutes had just been introduced, so he stopped his hand during the salute and joked with the group of journalists: “I almost did it”.
But the police decided he did it and now it looks like he's going to jail for it.
Through his legal battle, Jacob not only obtained a possible prison sentence, but also received more standardized press coverage for NSN (more than half of Sage Hill) than anything NSN has ever done.
An introduction to the NSN Activities Directory, leaked in 2021, states that its members are:
“…responsible for communicating the message of National Socialism to white Australians, organizing media provocations to raise awareness of the organisation, and recruiting suitably committed people to the organisation.”
In fact, I think Jacob wrote this guide. It could be argued that Jacob has done a better job than anyone at NSN in managing the second of these three core activities so far, having been embroiled in a lengthy media provocation that made him look as much like the average beleaguered Australian as possible. Make Nazism like this a reality.
While the system trying to stop it seems too arrogant and punitive. But in reality, this visual victory for NSN is due to press coverage in numbers and the approval of new laws. Jacob could not bring them this victory. The media and the government did it.
And now I get messages when someone is thought to have Sieg Heiled. There is almost equal use of this gesture by conventions: you know, when someone tries to tell the police that he is an authoritarian or fascist, for example (they draw his mustache with the other hand, sometimes in a theatrical goose step ). also).
Cooks are used to doing this a lot. This is very normal. Well, now I'm getting messages urging me to hand these people over to the police. The same goes for people who do it “as a joke,” whether we like their joke or not. (Many people are making this joke now that these ridiculous laws are a topic of discussion.)
The idea is that I can use their gestures to get them into trouble. I am anti-fascist and will use more or less any old tool to eliminate my enemies. But I don't see these harsh laws as my tool.
These are laws that, according to the human rights organization Freedom Victoria:
'…unlikely to have any substantial impact on preventing the rise of extremism (F) Extremists are likely to use them to attract attention in the public sphere.
Furthermore, they are tools that can also be used against me. Against all of us.
Because, of course, we are now prosecuting a Jewish person for carrying a sign that compares the genocidal State of Israel to the Nazis. Because that sign had a swastika on it. Another stupid ban. Oh my god. What an unexpected legislative overreach!
I never imagined that a complete logo ban would do exactly what it says on the tin!
In the end, this visual victory was handed to NSN by every group that fought to make this ban law. Lobbyists like Dvir Abramovich, who have now called for the criminalization of pro-Palestinian activists. That NSN is now in a better position to promote itself in the media does not affect these lickers. The only media they care about is the ones that put their faces and names in it. Damn Nanny State! They have the attention and financing to ensure it!
Their action will only further normalize swastikas and healing signs, while depriving every human being of the Australian legal and political process – exactly the climate that grassroots fascists exploit for recruitment.
Benefits of the NSN. Members continue to organize fake rallies across Australia for their own chambers, without any prior public announcement. They finish the flash mobs in enough time to record their promotional footage.
They will not appear with advance notice in the foreseeable future until they are older. The last two times they did this, they were embarrassed because they were yelled at, then beaten and chased. This is a bad promotion for them.
NSN did it one last time in Corowa that day, with roughly the same Flash Mob performance as the other times.
the age He published an article on the emergence of NSN in Koroa. It's an easy article to write: just say the same thing you said the last time they did it and call the same people. They even had a whole section on why NSN came about. (Which misses the obvious point: getting the age To write about them again for promotion.)
This is my opinion on the establishment media. We no longer need you to write about NSN. I know it's an easy task and I know you were once accused of ignoring them, but now you are a vital part of their promotion process.
Every time people like this do such tricks, like the one they did last time, they do it so that you will write about them. Therefore, you should not say anything about it. Unless, of course, you also intend to reveal their identity. Doxxing is what hurts them. Not those fluffy articles containing quotes from Zionists and opportunist politicians.
In the meantime, I'm getting more messages wondering what the best authority is to support these fast crowds. Here are my thoughts for those people – for the umpteenth time – because I recognize that I don't have to be highly valued for the most important job I can do here, which is repeat myself until I turn blue.
If you see a swastika, burn it, cut it up, or place something on top of it. If you see fascists in your local area, Sieg Heiling, in front of their cameras, gather your powerful friends and decide what to do. Become a crew.
And don't send me an email asking what salad to make next. I don't know. I'm not interested. Falling behind the police regarding Sieg Heils and swastikas encourages and strengthens fascists.
As does the mainstream Australian media.
Tom Tanuki is a writer, satirist and anti-fascist activist whose weekly commentary videos on the Australian political fringe appear on YouTube. You can follow him on Twitter. @tom_tanuki.
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