ARE BETON NEO-FASCISTS?

Ukraine punk band Beton may not be all that they seem.

YESTERDAY I posted the video to 'Kyiv Calling' by Ukraine band Beton. The video has also featured prominently in the mainstream media including on the RNZ website.

Since I posted the video some concerning questions have been raised about the band's own politics. A number of people, not in New Zealand,  have alerted me to the fact that this band may not be all that they seem.

On further investigation I discovered that socialist historian and commentator Vijay Prasad has raised concerns about the band wearing t-shirts honouring neo-fascist Stepan Bandera. Prasad has tweeted that he was 'pretty sure' that the lead singer of The Clash, Joe Strummer, would of objected to his song 'London Calling' being reworked and sung by neo-fascists.

Strummer, who died in 2003, was a committed socialist and once commented that The Clash were all about 'trying to grope in a socialist way towards some future where the world might be less of a miserable place than it is." 

A contemporary of The Clash was singer Billy Bragg. He has also raised concerns about the Ukrainian band. In a Facebook post he writes:

'Stepan Bandera was a far-right Ukrainian politician who collaborated with the Nazis during the occupation of Ukraine and whose followers were complicit in the Holocaust. That he did these things in the name of Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union has led some present day far right nationalists to adopt his image in their decade long struggle with Russia. 

'The knock on effect of this has been to allow Putin to smear all those who want a democratic Ukraine free from Russian influence as neo-nazis. 

'The lionisation of Bandera explains his attempt to legitimise the invasion as a campaign of 'denazification', despite the fact that when, during the 2019 Ukrainian elections, all of the major far right Ukrainian parties formed a unified party for the national election, they gained just 2.15% of the vote and failed to secure a single seat in the national parliament. Compare that with the 2009 EU parliament election, where the BNP won 6% of the vote. 

'I left a message on the band's Facebook page asking them to explain why they were wearing t-shirts that appeared to support Bandera, but after 24 hours, I've had no response, so I've deleted my post.'

Although Beton may be inspired by the fact that Bandera fought for an independent Ukraine, his organisation still cooperated with the Nazis and was still deeply anti-semitic.  

In the circumstances, I've also decided to delete the video. 

For more on Stepan Bandera and the influence he still has on politics in Ukraine this article is worth a look.