Fight Dem Back, often abbreviated FDB, is a now defunct

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

anti-racist Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

internet group. It concentrated its attention on the Australian & New Zealand

white nationalist White nationalism is a type of racial nationalism or pan-nationalism which espouses the belief that white people are a raceHeidi Beirich and Kevin Hicks. "Chapter 7: White nationalism in America". In Perry, Barbara. ''Hate Crimes''. Greenwoo ...

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

and

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

scenes. The group is named after a reggae song by

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Politics

The group was founded by a collective of internet activists from across Australia and New Zealand in late 2004. In Sydney, these people included the lawyer Mat Henderson, generally known as 'Darp', who prior to starting the group was mainly known as a prolific

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

ger, winning best NSW blog in the 2005 Australian blogging awards. In Melbourne, the organisation was headed up by Cam Smith, a multimedia producer and radio journalist. In Perth, Donald Oorst, a part-time academic and author helped build the group up. In New Zealand, the public faces of the group were Robert Trigan and well known community activist and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

Asher Goldman from Wellington. Trigan left FDB and New Zealand in July 2005 for New Yor

By these criteria, Fight dem Back should be compared to the more moderate groups such as Searchlight, as it describes its operations as purely intelligence gathering and dissemination. However the split between moderate and radical anti-fascists does not seem to have happened in relation to the group. For example, they interviewed, with implied approval, two former members of the British

Anti-Fascist Action Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) was a militant anti-fascist organisation, founded in the UK in 1985 by a wide range of anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations. It was active in fighting far-right organisations, particularly the National Front an ...

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and there has been little or no criticism of the group from the left. They also ran an approving article marking the anniversary of the '

Battle of Cable Street The Battle of Cable Street was a series of clashes that took place at several locations in the inner East End, most notably Cable Street, on Sunday 4 October 1936. It was a clash between the Metropolitan Police, sent to protect a march by mem ...

Fight dem back officially espouse a non-sectarian platform. The group draws its membership from traditional left-leaning cliques but also directly from the various ethnic community groups who are affected by race-hate activism.

Membership policies

Compared to similar groups, FightDemBack gave a low priority to recruiting new members, and to 'screen' potential members more rigorously. A 2006 post on their discussion forum authored by Henderso

was "just a gentle reminder dear readers that being 'IN' FDB comes as a result of the senior and founding members voting you in", and stated that there were only thirteen members in Australia and New Zealand.

Activities

FDB conducted a number of disruption campaigns against allegedly racist organisations and their supporters. FDB's campaigns included attempts to reveal the identity of a person responsible for an anti-immigration campaign in Toowoomba, QLD; and general campaigning against the

Australia First Party The Australia First Party (NSW) Incorporated, often shortened to the Australia First Party (AFP), is an Australian far-right political party founded in 1996 by Graeme Campbell. The policies of Australia First have been described as ultranat ...

, the

Patriotic Youth League The Australia First Party (NSW) Incorporated, often shortened to the Australia First Party (AFP), is an Australian far-right political party founded in 1996 by Graeme Campbell. The policies of Australia First have been described as ultranat ...

and the

New Zealand National Front The New Zealand National Front was a small white nationalist organisation in New Zealand. History First formation in 1967 Mirroring developments in the UK, a group called the National Front evolved from the New Zealand branch of the League ...

. These campaigns resulted in a number of reprisals from radical organisations which have ranged from libel to vandalism and death threats.see The Age, 18 December 2005, "White Supremacists Hide in Quiet Suburbs."

/ref> The group has since been disbanded.

References

External links

FightDemBack website
Organizations established in 2004 Anti-racism in Australia Anti-racism in New Zealand Anti-racist organizations in Oceania

Politics

Membership policies

Activities

See also

References

External links