A few weeks ago, the football team AEK Athens won against Veria, which made Giorgos Katidis want to celebrate. He did this, using the Nazi salute. Katidis (20) says he had no idea what the gesture stands for. His coach Ewald Lienen states that Katidis is young and does not have any political views, so he absolutely did not mean any harm by doing it (BBC News). Now we are wondering, just as the rest of Europe, is it really possible? Are there people in Europe who do not have a clue about this?
The Human Rights Working Group, the International Politics Working Group and the Sports Working Group join their forces to take a closer look at the case.
It does not matter if the player knew what it meant. He used the sign, and the punishment is clear: Katidis is now banned from playing for the Greek national team for the rest of his life. It is a bit more complicated than it may seem at first sight though. Was he discriminating? Was he making a political statement? Sport players are role models, so how does this happening influence other people?
Maria Arends – Speaker of the HRWG
In Germany, the Nazi salute is illegal, but in other parts of Europe it is not. I would like to focus on the way this offends human rights, and also I want to share some thoughts on the difficult question whether the punishment is too harsh or not.
Stretching your right arm is a violation against human rights
To understand well what the Nazi salute stands for, we need to go back to the year 1926. Europe was in crisis, crying for change, and the Nazi Party made the Heil Hitler salute compulsory, because it showed commitment to the party and it functioned as a declaration to the outside world. Although it was compulsory, from 1933 on it became prohibited for inmates to use the salute, followed by Jews, Roma, and other ethnic groups, until it was only found acceptable for the Aryan race.
Even though nowadays most people see it as a very bad symbol, back then it represented some sort of privilege. One that many people were excluded from, which went from bad to worse.
As I said, people were excluded, and they were not allowed to do something because of their ethnic or religious background, when people from other backgrounds were allowed to do it. And because of that, it went from bad to worse. It went from quite small things to a holocaust Europe will not – and may never forget. As you see, stretching of your right arm to eye level is still very much related to this happening.
Nowadays, the salute is still used by neo-Nazis, who represent some elements of the Nazi regime back in the day, such as nationalism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and anti-Semitism.
Katidis states that he did not know about all this. He did not know that the salute was used during WWII, nor that it is still associated with this and with the beliefs of neo-Nazis. But would he have used it anyway, if he had known? If it were illegal? Would he have done it if he had known the consequences?
The consequences for Katidis
Katidis can never play again for the national team. The punishment is loud and clear. Yet, it leaves us a lot to discuss. Do we agree with this decision?
He violated human rights, which, especially as a role model, is unforgivable. But what if he really did not know what he was doing? What if he realises how wrong this was? Wouldn’t it be enough then to suspend him from the team for a limited time?
The Italian player Paolo di Canio also used the salute as well in 2005, and he was banned for only one match. According to the article in The Guardian, he did this solely to greet his comrades, as the Roman salute (on which the Nazi salute is based) was used to serve for in the ancient Roman empire.
Personally I cannot give an honest answer to this question. My gut feeling tells me that it was totally wrong, a bad violation of human rights, and the punishment seems very valid seeing it from this point of view. Also, because it explains to young people who do not know a lot about the WWII how seriously we still take this. On the other hand, if he really did not know, then who are we to judge? If he really, really had no clue, did not have proper education, then shouldn’t we blame the institutions that were supposed to teach him?
Can it be possible?
Ivan Bielik, Speaker of the IPWG
In my post I will examine the two claims of the footballer which he uses to advocate his innocence in the case. First, he claimed he was not a fascist. Second, he told he did not know what that salutation means. After a step-by-step rebuttal, I will conclude the strength of these claims.
In the first claim, Katidis proclaimed that he was not a fascist. This excuse is quite common when your behavior becomes an object of media coverage. Appealing to the non-political nature of the Greek footballer is however weak. Even if he is into any other kind of political affiliation (Christian, Social democrat or whatever) this fact does not mitigate his real actions. Why? The problem of Katidis is that he did that salutation in a public space under media coverage and fans’ presence. That means his action (salutation) has a direct impact on others who could see it. In this case, your action becomes public, which means you have the moral duty to observe some rules which govern the society you live in. A fascist salutation is linked throughout the European continent with the ideology of race hatred and mass extermination. It definitely has a bad connotation in people’s minds. It ought not to be shown in the public space. Thus, such salutation is not appropriate in a public space such as football stadiums, even if you are not a supporter of the fascist movement. The first claim by Katidis is therefore weak.
The second statement is more interesting. Claiming that you do not know what such salutation means shows two fundamental flaws. Firstly, your level of education is very poor. Probably you felt behind in school or you are very reluctant to learn new things. Secondly, the level of social learning is even poorer in this case. Many actions we do publicly are learnt from our social context. For example, if you show your middle finger to someone, that person will not respond in a very friendly manner. He/she will insult you or fight you. Afterwards, you have learnt that showing your middle finger is inappropriate, because of others’ reaction (in other words, the social context). The same applies to the Nazi salutation. You could see such actions only in the atmosphere of hatred and violence when supporters of such movement gather together. They often insult ethnic minorities and offer solutions that are too simple for complex problems of society. People respond very strangely to such actions. Thus, this salutation occurs in very specific circumstances which any ordinary human is capable to comprehend (it is bad sign). Therefore, the value of this action is predestined by social context where it occurs. If the footballer claims that he does not know what it means, he is showing a lack of knowledge and intelligence. Moreover, such claim is not very strong, because it transcends your responsibility to other institutions (in this case education or family upbringing). Therefore, the punishment for Katidis is justified, because it emphasizes the personal responsibility of a person who is showing inappropriate signs in public. Without personal responsibility such problem will occur again and again.
Patricia Anthony, Secretary and founder of the SWG
Katidis’ case might be rare but cases of nationalism, racism, xenophobia, and homophobia are unfortunately too common in the world in and outside of sports. A case like Katidis’ raises the question of how to deal with such cases in sports. How is it avoided? How tough of a punishment is needed? What does it take to combat nationalism, racism, xenophobia and homophobia?
The answer is not black or white, and a large number of solutions are needed. On top of the list the SWG finds it important to take a stand and raise your voice in the fight against different causes. The SWG especially focuses on the fight against racism, xenophobia and homophobia in the world of sports, hoping that the actions will extend beyond the world of sports and especially the world of AEGEE.
Katidis’ case shows not only the importance and potential of AEGEE’s Working Groups and Project Teams to create different projects that can have high relevance of what happens around Europe on a daily basis. The European-level bodies are collaborating more and more, and all ideas are always welcome. What does Katidis’ case mean for you? What does it mean for AEGEE? What does it mean for Europe? Is it really possible to salute in such a harsh way without knowing the meaning of stretching your arm like that?
Written by Maria Arends (AEGEE-Groningen), Patricia Anthony (AEGEE-København), & Ivan Bielik
Sources
1. BBC News. Who, what, why: Can you accidentally do a Nazi salute? Requested at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21829682 on 19-03-2013.
2. United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Requested at http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml on 20-03-2013.