Denmark Featuring Youtube-Nazism

A smell of bacon. Around him a circle of people, mostly made up by teenage boys. They smile and film the event with their smartphones. Finally, the internet phenomenon that they have been following on Youtube for so long, have chosen their city for his show. Yes, it is a show. It has been well promoted on the internet and the crowd is getting bigger and bigger by the minute. It is the same show as every time. People are laughing and enjoying themselves. Laughing and enjoying the show, like it is Cirque du Soleil. No horses though, only pigs. Then, among the happy crowd, I spot a little boy. He does not look joyful at all. A woman is standing behind him, resting her hands on his shoulders. She is wearing a scarf and a worried expression on her face. The two of them look like they are in grief as the Koran, wrapped in bacon, is being burned. Burned on the playground belonging to their home, and their neighbours’ homes. The woman cries silently, but releases not enough water to conquer this fire. They are simply outnumbered. This is not a show. This is Rasmus Paludan. 

Rasmus Paludan and his political party Stram Kurs (Eng: Firm Direction) have been terrorizing the homes of Danish Muslims for a couple of years now. Armed with his degree in law in the one hand and the freedom of speech in the other, he pushes the boundaries of the rhetoric, in the public space, in order to achieve his final goal – a complete cleansing of Muslims in Denmark.

As the flames continues to increase, I take a look of the crowd and I feel discouraged. The people here are so young. They laugh and provokes Paludan and I think I know why. They have watched him several times on Youtube, saying absurd things when being provoked. To them he is not a thread, he is a meme and his performance entertaining. I turn from the young boys and look at him, at the “entertainer”. The SoMe-star. He looks smug and I can almost see the signs of Youtube-likes in his eyes. I know in my soul that he knows, that the teenage boys who follows him, are too young to understand his purpose. Yet, he defiantly has a purpose with them. they provide him with attention and salience, as they keep on filming him, posting him online and following him on Youtube. He is gaining relevance in the society, as his voice is getting bigger. I look down at the sandpit again. The Koran is still burning, like it is trying to make a point – you can try to delete me, but I will never disappear. 

The national election in Denmark has just finished. The election campaign and the debates has changed since the last time. In a radio debate Rasmus Paludan argued for a deportation of Muslims in Denmark by stating, that cultures are not equally worthy: “Hottentots would easily force their children to suck the semen out of the lower part of elderly men”^[1](My own translation). Even though his politician counterparts raised objections, it was said. It was said and listened to by millions.  

The flames are starting to decrease in volume. The smell of roasted pork is not. As Paludan keep on looking satisfied, his followers are starting to leave. They have got what they came for – fun internet content to watch and share. Rasmus Paludan turn his head from the embers and begins to walk away as well. He is, as always, been escorted by the Danish police. They protect him because they have to. Only the woman and the boy remain left. I catch eye-contact with the woman and I see the fear in her eyes. Who is protecting them?

As I leave the playground a feeling of total anxiety rises in me. I fear for the Muslims in our country and I fear for our teenagers, who cannot distinguish between severity and entertainment, as politics are becoming more and more a part of their home ground – social media. Most of all I fear for our language, the use of it and the actions who is carried out by it. 

We have to protect our young people and we have to protect our language. The freedom of speech should not legitimize the actions encouraged by the language at any price. Otherwise, we will end up with a human disaster, executed as a product of language, who is similar to earlier conditions in Europe. Let us do our best to prevent that part of our history to ever repeat itself. 

^[1]https://www.berlingske.dk/politik/dr-efter-paludans-hottentot-kommentar-det-aendrer-ikke-noget-at-det-er-et