Youth wing of Alternative for Germany (AfD) regenerated in November
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has announced plans to found a new youth association in Gießen, with the inaugural meeting set to take place at the Gießen exhibition centre over two days. However, the decision to base the youth wing in Gießen and host the event at the exhibition centre has sparked resistance and calls for protest on social media platforms like Instagram.
The Gießen area has a history of hosting culturally and politically significant events, as evidenced by a digital exhibition at Kunsthalle Gießen addressing themes of political violence and social power structures. The AfD, a far-right party in Germany, has been a subject of ongoing academic and public attention, with scholars like Paul Kaletsch based in Gießen researching its appeal and mass support. This suggests that future AfD-related events could be politically sensitive locally.
Two years ago, the Gießen exhibition centre was the site of riots during an Eritrea culture festival. According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe, some troublemakers during these riots belonged to the "Brigade N'Hamedu," a violent Eritrean opposition group. The Eritrea culture festival was organized by Eritrean regime opponents and was a significant event that led to a state of emergency in Gießen, resulting in many police officers being injured.
In a move to exert stronger control and influence over the youth association, the AfD has decided that all members of the youth organization must also be regular members of the AfD. No new name or logo has been decided for the new youth association, and no candidates for the chairmanship have been announced yet. The predecessor organization, "Junge Alternative," dissolved following resolutions at an AfD party congress.
It is worth noting that "Junge Alternative" was classified as right-wing extremist by the domestic intelligence agency in 2023. The specific history of politically charged events at the Gießen exhibition centre, including clashes at an Eritrea culture festival or the founding of an AfD youth association, is not extensively documented in publicly accessible or indexed sources. For a comprehensive history, local news archives or official municipal sources in Gießen would likely provide more precise information.
Resistance to the AfD event is growing, with calls for "action training" to protest. The exact nature of these protests and the level of participation remains to be seen. As the date of the founding meeting approaches, the tension in Gießen is palpable, with the potential for more political discourse and possibly further unrest.
The upcoming formation of a new youth association affiliated with the AfD, a party previously associated with war-and-conflicts and politics, at the Gießen exhibition centre stirs debates and paves the way for general news coverage, given the region's history of hosting politically charged events and the recent clashes during the Eritrea culture festival. Local concerns about crime-and-justice escalations, as the "Brigade N'Hamedu," a violent Eritrean opposition group, was implicated in past conflicts, add to the tension surrounding the event.
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