In a remarkable display of anti-communist hysteria, Fox News, the American media outlet notorious for its enthusiastic support of Donald Trump, has apparently uncovered a sinister international conspiracy behind the mass student protests in France. Among the alleged culprits? The Communist Youth of Greece (KNE).
Their shocking crime? Expressing solidarity with French students fighting for their rights!!
In an October 19 article, Fox News presented a list of 54 organizations supposedly connected to what it dramatically calls “Chaos Inc.” — an alleged international network of communists, trade unions and activists fueling unrest in France.
Among the names featured in this supposed exposé was the KNE, the youth organization of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). The evidence against it was truly devastating: Greek communists had publicly supported the French students' struggle against austerity and education cuts!
Apparently, in the bizarre, far-right universe of Fox News, internationalist solidarity is no longer a political principle but evidence of a shadowy conspiracy. Supporting protesting students becomes “fomenting chaos,” while the actual causes driving hundreds of thousands of young people into the streets conveniently disappear.
The Greek communist daily Rizospastis responded on October 27, ridiculing the Fox News report as an extraordinary display of absurdity and anti-communist provocation. As the newspaper pointed out, such lists seek to portray popular struggles as the work of mysterious international networks, smear communists and criminalize solidarity among working people.
There is, of course, a far less mysterious explanation for the protests: deteriorating living conditions, underfunded education, capitalist exploitation and governments that find billions for military spending while demanding sacrifices from the people.
But why bother with such inconvenient realities when a communist youth organization in Greece can be cast as part of a global conspiracy?
Fox News can keep hunting imaginary communist masterminds. The real scandal is not that young communists stand with protesting students. It is that the defenders of capitalism find such solidarity so terrifying.
Among the names featured in this supposed exposé was the KNE, the youth organization of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). The evidence against it was truly devastating: Greek communists had publicly supported the French students' struggle against austerity and education cuts!
Apparently, in the bizarre, far-right universe of Fox News, internationalist solidarity is no longer a political principle but evidence of a shadowy conspiracy. Supporting protesting students becomes “fomenting chaos,” while the actual causes driving hundreds of thousands of young people into the streets conveniently disappear.
The Greek communist daily Rizospastis responded on October 27, ridiculing the Fox News report as an extraordinary display of absurdity and anti-communist provocation. As the newspaper pointed out, such lists seek to portray popular struggles as the work of mysterious international networks, smear communists and criminalize solidarity among working people.
There is, of course, a far less mysterious explanation for the protests: deteriorating living conditions, underfunded education, capitalist exploitation and governments that find billions for military spending while demanding sacrifices from the people.
But why bother with such inconvenient realities when a communist youth organization in Greece can be cast as part of a global conspiracy?
Fox News can keep hunting imaginary communist masterminds. The real scandal is not that young communists stand with protesting students. It is that the defenders of capitalism find such solidarity so terrifying.
