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The group's manifesto openly rejects free speech and defends assassinations
Keith Ellison, the deputy director of the Democratic National Committee and congressman from Minnesota, recently ignited a Twitter firestorm when
he tweeted out a picture of
Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, a book, he declared, that would "strike fear in the heart of" Donald Trump. Upon reading
Antifa, it's easy to see why the tweet generated so much controversy.
Since its release last August, the handbook, by Dartmouth lecturer Mark Bray, has garnered attention as one of the few windows available into the mind of the newly prominent Antifa movement. Bray makes clear from the beginning that the book isn't an attempt at a neutral rehashing of facts, but rather "is an unabashedly partisan call to arms" for the purpose of equipping activists "with the history and theory necessary to defeat the resurgent Far Right." He articulates clearly the revolutionary ideology of the far left and defends using violence in its service, from street brawls to kidnappings to assassinations. For those who do not desire to see the world reborn in the flames of global anti-capitalist revolution, the popularity of
The Anti-Fascist Handbook should prove alarming.
Comment: On February 11, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Fikri Işık didn't rule out the possibility of closing the NATO's Incirlik airbase in southern Turkey. According to the Turkish Ahval newspaper, Işık said that Ankara would not hesitate to close the airbase, if its long-term interests require it.