From the network Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), we find an Algerian feminist describing the “ingredients” of fascism in her context while drawing parallels to Nazi Germany fascism: In Hassi Messaoud, the assailants went to war against women shouting ‘Allah Houwa Akbar’ (God is the highest); they were also shouting slogans against the state (‘down with the hogra’ - ‘hogra’ being the term the Algerians have been using for decades to stigmatise the contempt and arrogance of governments vis a vis the people); they were also shouting against the women ‘foreigners’ who came to ‘steal the jobs’ of the local population. The blessing of God and religion (‘Gott mit uns’ i.e. ‘God is with us’ was engraved on the buckle of the SS belts), to the identification and demonisation of a ‘subhuman’ category of citizens that can and should be physically eliminated (the ‘untermensch’)... to the scapegoat ‘foreigner’ who is held responsible for social disarray. Fascism has always built on the legitimate protest of the dispossessed classes, backed by the middle class who fear that their share of the cake is not big enough or could be threatened. Fascism manipulates and subverts it and finally points at a scapegoat fragment of the population as THE cause of social disarray.16 Feminists have long scrutinized the patriarchal and gendered dimensions embedded in fascist and fundamentalist ideologies, particularly in how power and authority are framed as inherently masculine domains. Florencia Goldman notes that the “strong man” narrative is a recurrent tactic in these movements, exemplified by Bolsonaro, Modi and Duterte, who project a primitive, hyper-masculine image of dominance.17 THESE LEADERS USE MISOGYNY AS A TOOL TO ASSERT THEIR DOMINANCE AND MARGINALIZE THOSE WHO CHALLENGE THEIR AUTHORITY. Modi and Duterte illustrate this phenomenon vividly. Modi’s derogatory remarks about female politicians and his patronizing comments about women in general serve to reinforce traditional gender roles, where 16 Mahl. (pseudonym) (2000). “Algeria: Ordinary Fascism, Fundamentalism and Femicide”. P. 137, in Dossier 23/24. Published by Women Living Under Muslim Laws. https://www.wluml.org/wp-content/uploads/2003/07/D23-24.pdf 17 Goldsman, Florencia. (2021) A MINE-RIDDEN INTERNET AND SIX RULES FOR UNDERSTANDING ANTI-RIGHTS NARRATIVES. GenderIt, 23 September. https://genderit.org/feminist-talk/mine-ridden-internet-and-six-rules-understanding-anti-rights-narratives 15

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