Afterthoughts on the Unmasked

Afterthoughts.

Unmasked provokes more questions than it answers. Does Antifa have a puppet master or is it a sprawling network of autonomous groups bound by the same ideology, akin to global jihadists. Despite the numerous instances cataloged by Ngo, Antifa’s strategies evidently avoid lethal violence, instead opting for intimidation, doxing, harassment, and mob tactics that hover on the edge of legality. The rare fatalities associated with their actions often involve mentally unstable individuals who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Here are questions that arose while reading Andy Ngo’s book:

  1. Does Antifa have a monolithic ideology? Do their views differ among themselves?
    • Antifa isn’t a monolithic group. Some members might hold more critical views of Islam, while others actively support Muslim rights.
    • Some critics accuse Antifa of tolerating anti-Semitism within their ranks, which can be seen as contradictory to opposing Islamophobia.
    • Hence Ngo’s argumentation to apply RICO statutes to disjoined Antifa groups.
  2. Does Antifa support Palestinians in the current conflict with Israel? Do they feel strongly defending Muslim rights?
    • Antifa feels strongly against those who are Islamophobic.
    • Some members do support Palestinians in the current struggle.
  3. Does China and Russia have any ties to Antifa?
    • It seems only to the extent of sowing discontent in the American society.  

For further research check out these links:

  1. Andy Ngo’s article in the New York Post on how Antifa gets paid.
  2. Interesting take on the Antifa’s support of Palestine by Neeraj Kumar on Quora.com.
  3. Book review in The New Yorker of “Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook”, which was written by the leftist historian Mark Bray.
  4. Straight from the horse’s mouth. Mark Bray’s article on the “Five Myths About Antifa”.
  5. Blog post published on the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) website.