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Fannar Bergsson's avatar

Enda mjög sorglegur stjórnmálaflokkur...

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Ian Mcdonald's avatar

Unfortunately, I have personally seen the consequences of dog-whistling populist rhetoric such as is now prevalent in Icelandic politics.

For a long time, British populists (and racists) such as Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson have seen themselves leading the vanguard against "invasions of immigrants" supposedly ruining Britain and turning it into some kind of apocalyptic wasteland.

This came to a head just this summer, when crowds of racists who have been whipped up into a frenzy by these characters, rioted and burned down hotels where they believed refugees and asylum seekers were staying.

These people were explicitly out for blood. To murder people who have been told that they are "invading their country and stealing their culture."

And was this storm caused by explicit racist language? No.

It was caused by politicians and prominent public figures "just asking questions" about immigration. "just raising concerns" about whether people can integrate into society, "merely protecting culture and heritage." The list goes on and on.

Now I do not know whether the current crop of Icelandic populists are willingly using the same rhetoric or just naively jumping on the bandwagon, as is their way. It does not matter which.

Whether tomorrow or in a decade, stoking anti-immigrant rhetoric only leads to division and violence. And it is the immigrants who suffer.

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