The Role of Racism in Fascism

Sometimes it helps us gain a perspective on what is happening around us when we look at things from a different perspective. Isabel Wilkerson did this for us in her book, “Caste, The Origins of Our Discontents” and the movie “Origins” that followed. She showed that when we learn about the way that German society adopted Nazism, and how India continues to hold on to the caste system, we better understand the role of racism in America.

In the same way, what is happening in the war in Gaza illuminates fascism, what it is, how it is established, and how it functions. After World War II, the philosopher and historian Hannah Arendt wanted to understand what had happened that made Nazi Germany possible.

Arendt identified many characteristics found in fascist governments. From these we can extract three that are universal and sufficient to distinguish a fascist government from other forms of government.

• Fascist governments are able to come to power because they have a vocal, usually a minority, of citizens who believe that they belong to a group that is superior to all other humans. In Israel, this is Religious Zionism; for Hamas, it is Islamic Fundamentalism; in the United States, it is white Christian nationalism and racism.
• Providing for the protection and the preservation of the advantages of the superior group justifies any use of violence.
• The logic of fascism leads to a need to practice genocide.

The governments of both Israel and Hamas exhibit these three characteristics. Both governments are fascist.

In his book, “Politics,” Aristotle described five types of government, monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, oligarchy, and democracy. From the 4th century BCE until now, it is common for historians and political scientists to use this or similar classifications of governments. Today we might add the categories of theocracies and fascist regimes. But as Arendt points out, this is not helpful if we want history, and history in the making, to help us understand fascism. One of her insights was that the study of the history of government doesn’t make sense if it is just grouping together governments that are similar.

Arendt demonstrated that an examination of the ascension of fascism, and the social structures that allow and support it, provide lessons for us today. So, what is happening in the war in Gaza gives insight into fascism, what it is, how it is established, and how it functions.

Among the social conditions that Arendt discovered support the adoption of fascism are:

• people feel disconnected from one another,
• leaders manipulate public opinion and distort reality, and
• leaders demand loyalty.

Let’s start with the false equating of fascism with totalitarian governments. While fascist governments may aspire to tyranny, to use Aristotle’s word, Israel today illustrates that a fascist government can function within an environment that has many characteristics of democracies. In Israel, there are democratic structures that made it possible for Benjamin Netanyahu to become Prime Minister. Israel does not have a constitution that defines the structure of the government. Customs, Parliamentary laws, judicial decisions, and precedent work together to create a government structure. In 2023, protests in the streets illustrated another aspect of how Israel is governed. Netanyahu proposed a law that would reduce the authority of the courts and increase his political powers. Seen as anti-democratic and a play by Netanyahu to become a tyrant, Israelis went into the streets to protest. Netanyahu remained Prime Minister, but he withdrew the proposal. When it was later reintroduced, the Israel Supreme Court struck it down.

The fascist government of Hamas evolved from recent democratic roots. Gaza was created out of the Oslo Accords where Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization signed agreements in 1993 and 1995. It created limited self-governance in Gaza with a parliament. In 2005, Israel withdrew its military occupation of Gaza, and parliament elections were held in 2006. The two major parties were Fatah, led by Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas, led by Ismail Haniyeh. Hamas gained slightly more votes overall than Fatah, but neither party captured a majority of votes. Hamas was able to gain control of the Parliament because of a flaw in the structure of the government. Or, maybe it was because of the political discipline of Hamas.

Members of Parliament were elected from districts where multiple candidates were permitted to run. Hamas ran only one candidate in a district. They either won seats with a majority of the votes or because they won more votes than any other candidate. In the latter case, the Hamas candidate went off to Parliament from a district where the majority of voters did not support Hamas. Hamas won 74 of the 132 seats in parliament.

Fatah refused to turn the government over to Hamas, and any pretense of democratic government ended. For the next year and a half, there were political assassinations of leaders of both parties. More than 600 Palestinians were killed in politically motivated violence. Finally, Hamas prevailed and took over all the functions of government. Government directives were issued by Haniyeh. The road from democracy to fascism took less than two years and the deaths of many people.

So, today we have two fascist governments fighting each other and the World Court has charged leaders from both countries with war crimes. The takeover of the government by fascist leaders in both Gaza and Israel was swift. It took Hamas less than two years to solidify control over the government. In Israel, the far right coalition government of Netanyahu was elected in November of 2022. In less than a year, the Israeli government began the military incursion into Gaza that has resulted in charges of war crimes.

One of the lessons for Americans in watching what is happening in Gaza is that when the conditions are right, the transition to fascism can happen very quickly. Since the beginning of the 21st century, Americans have had experiences that are similar in some ways to what Gazans experienced under the government led by Fatah. In Gaza, this was corruption and poor management. In the United States, citizens have experienced the inability of the government to ensure a quality of life for all citizens that includes things like a living wage for all workers, affordable childcare, and quality schools. Americans are also experiencing political leaders who distort the truth. Another precondition for fascism that Arendt describes is that people feel disconnected from each other. This is in an advanced stage in America. We are afraid to talk to friends about politics, and families are divided by political loyalties.

In Gaza, Hamas was able to exploit the structure of the government, so those who were elected to Parliament did not represent the majority interests of the citizens. In recent years, George W. Bush became president although Al Gore won the popular vote. And Donald Trump became president although Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. In the U.S. Senate, 50 Senators represent one sixth of the citizens while the other 50 Senators represent the other five-sixths of Americans. These and other flaws in the U.S. Constitution increase our susceptibility to a fascist takeover of the government. Article V of the Constitution provides us with a nonviolent method of fixing the Constitution. This needs immediate attention or we may be surprised, like Gazans were, when a fascist government comes into power.

Another lesson we can learn from the Israelis and Gazans who ended up with fascist governments is that fascism is based on one group of people believing that their lives and the lives of their children are of more value than the lives of others. In America this is racism. Fascism is impossible without racism. So by working together to end racism, we can ensure that America will never have a fascist government.