AlJazeera

On June 12, 2017, New Jersey's Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (OHSP) added a new name to its list of "domestic terrorist" threats: Antifa. The report characterises "Antifa" as a group of "anarchist extremists" who "focus on issues involving racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism, as well as other perceived injustices," a half-baked definition, while technically accurate, is far from comprehensive. Unlike the other American entities that have earned this dubious distinction (and despite what hysterical FOX News hosts like to shrill), Antifa isn't an organised group, a gang, or even a society.

Antifa - shorthand for anti-fascist - isn't an organisation at all; it's an idea, one that's been knocking around since the 1930s and that has found newfound relevance on our shores since the rise of Trumpism and the current administration's sharp pivot towards the far right. It's also one of the few bulwarks left against the rapid growth of America's white supremacist movement, a development that seems to leave the state, the authorities, and the police wholly unconcerned. [MORE]