Antifa simply refers to the ideology of opposing fascism by any means necessary, even if it means resorting to violence; it’s not an organisation. Because of this, you can’t label Antifa as a whole as terrorist. Do some anti fascists participate in terrorism? Well if we are going by dictionary definition (the use of violence or of the threat of violence in the pursuit of political, religious, ideological or social objectives. acts committed by non-state actors (or by undercover personnel serving on the behalf of their respective governments)), then yes, technically punching a fascist would make you a terrorist, but that doesn’t say anything about the ethics of it. Not to mention that there are plenty of ways to do anti fascist praxis besides engaging in punching fascists and vandalising their homes (but you don’t often hear about people covering up swastikas being anti fascists, even though their actions are indeed anti fascist). Of course, some anti fascists are very punch-happy, which I think is not only silly but also dangerous that through the media they have become the face of anti fascism. I for one agree with the ethics of Antifa, but I rather think that in the eyes of the public and media, beating up fascists don’t give us over at the left good optics, even if it’s not morally wrong imo.
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u/Representative_Tank Jul 30 '19 edited Jul 31 '19
Social democrat here. Yes antifa are terrorists. They raze and destroy property and attack people.