What is Antifa? Explained!

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Since the beginning of this world, there has been racism and fascism. People are dealt differently depending on their race, color, status and region.

Similarly, there has been a considerable fascism due to the difference of power among people.

What is the Antifa Flag?

What is Antifa
An Antifa flag. Black Lives Matter demonstration in Cologne, Germany – 06.06.2020

Antifa is basically a short for anti-fascism. Anyone who is determined to stand against fascism can be considered as a part of this antifa movement.

Different ideologies are connected to this movement. But it wholly surrounds resistance against fascism. This movement is against any extreme beliefs that lead to differentiation among people.

Origin of Antifa Movement

The actual start of the Antifa movement was before the 2nd world war and it was against Nazis in Germany. The Antifa Movement is said to have a significant role against the Nazis of Germany.

In recent times, we have seen this movement getting recognized and involved at a larger scale in countries like the USA. One of the key roles Antifa Flag plays in the US is against the white supremacy.

The Antifa Movement is not actually an organization but just a movement or you may call it an ideology. The people in any country or region, who are against open fascism, get themselves associated with this movement.

Antifa Flag

The significance of the Antifa Flag includes three major points. One is resistance against fascism, the other is the resistance against racism and the third one is the resistance against far-right ideologies.

The Antifa Flag is the representation of the resistance against fascism. It also represents unity among the people of the same ideology and point of view.

Tactics used by Antifa

There are different tactics the Antifa movement uses to stop and deal with fascism or any other right-wing ideologies.

The Antifa movement not only protests to combat the fascist moments but also uses the online platforms. Antifa very vocally uses online platforms to inform people about any ongoing hate speech and aware them about their next moves.

The tactics and ways are different in each region and depend mainly upon the issue.

The movement aims to educate and aware people against hate speech, racism, fascism and far-right ideologies. It helps to make people understand about their rights and how they can take a stand against any fascism they are facing.

Concerns raised associated with Antifa

Although Antifa is a movement which is supposed to be for the betterment of people and human right protection, it does not always end up positive.

Sometimes it has bad consequences. For example; sometimes it leads to violent protests. The movement is mostly not organized and is not under any organization. It leads to the association of anyone to this movement.

The involvement of non-serious and violent people results in protests with violence. This results in a bad environment and bad reputation for the Antifa movement in front of the government rather than helping people against fascism.

As a result of these raising concerns, we have seen Donald Trump in his tenure, raising concerns against this movement. The US government has called Antifa an extremist movement a dozen times.

The point is, the movement itself is not extremist or violent. But as the movement is not associated with any organization, it leads to the rise of some issues including violent and blind protests.

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