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Our intention is to inform people of racist, homophobic, religious extreme hate speech perpetrators across social networking internet sites. And we also aim to be a focal point for people to access information and resources to report such perpetrators to appropriate web sites, governmental departments and law enforcement agencies around the world.

We will also post relevant news worthy items and information on Human rights issues, racism, extremist individuals and groups and far right political parties from around the world although predominantly Britain.

Saturday 10 April 2010

RISE OF ANTI-SEMITISM IN SCOTLAND (uk)

Attacks ranging from verbal abuse to vandalism of synagogues and cemeteries have coincided with events in the Middle East, says the report written by two Scots academics, due to be published in the journal of the Institute for Global Jewish Affairs next week. The document accuses the Scottish Trades Union Congress of bias after the STUC called for sanctions against Israel last year. The study was compiled by Ephraim Borowski, director of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities and former head of the philosophy department at Glasgow University, and Kenneth Collins, chairman of the Scottish Jewish Archives Centre and visiting professor at the medical faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They wrote: “There has been historically little anti-Semitism in Scotland, and in particular good relations with the churches. Recently there has been a significant increase, much of it associated with events in the Middle East. “Specifically, the Scottish trade union movement has pursued a policy of boycotting Israel despite a dialogue with the Jewish community aimed at understanding both sides of the conflict.” It is claimed that in 2008, 10 out of 541 anti-Semitic incidents recorded in the UK (1.8%) occurred in Scotland.

However, in 2009 this increased to 30, according to the Community Security Trust, a charity that “represents British Jewry to police, government and media on anti-Semitism and security”. The authors continued: “Events in the Middle East, often accompanied by popular conflation of Israelis and Jews, have a habit of leading to outbreaks of anti-Semitic activity. “These include anti-Semitic daubing at synagogues and cemeteries as well as threats and verbal abuse.” The study claims some Jews in Scotland believe community relations are deteriorating after the STUC opted to boycott Israel last year. The authors said: “The report of the STUC delegation [to Palestine] itself showed considerable bias in the way information was presented and their decisions were made. In fact, subsequent reports indicated that the STUC had already decided on a boycott and divestment policy and their visit was intended to confirm the decision.” David Moxham, deputy secretary of the STUC, said yesterday: “The study is a very partial account. It is out of context and attempts to show that we have approached this in a biased fashion. We are biased to the extent that we don’t consider the situation in the Middle East to be a conflict between equal partners. We do think that Israel does have an enormous responsibility to change its activities, as does the international community.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “There is no excuse for any form of hate crime; it is simply not acceptable and it will not be tolerated. That is why Scotland has tough legislation to prosecute those who carry out crimes based on discrimination. Only by working together can we all prosper in an equal, modern Scotland.” The document describes a long-standing Jewish community in Scotland which numbered 18,000 in the 1950s but is now around 10,000, largely due to emigration. About half live in the Glasgow suburb of East Renfrewshire. A further 1,119 Jews are living in Glasgow itself and 790 in Edinburgh. The study said the Jewish community in Scotland is more aged than wider Scottish society, and some 2.5% live in a medical or care establishment – the highest proportion of all religious groups in Scotland. Around 30% of Jews were of pensionable age, compared to 19% of the general population, and the study said: “In line with historical Jewish employment patterns, 27% of those working were self-employed, compared to a national proportion of 11%. Jews had higher educational qualifications, and more than twice the proportion of Jews were in higher managerial and professional occupations than in the wider community.”

Herald Scotland

ANOTHER MOLOTOV COCKTAIL FOUND IN ROMA HOUSE (Czech Rep.)

Another Molotov cocktail was found Thursday in a house in which Czech Romanies have been living and the local police said the liquid seems to be the same as that used in two cocktails thrown by unknown persons into another Roma house in Opava on Saturday night. None of the three Molotov cocktails burnt and nobody was injured. Sona Bradacova, spokeswoman for the regional police, said the police have been investigating the case. Nobody lived in the flat in which the bottle was found today and the windows of the room were permanently opened, she said. The incident was reported to the police by one of the house's residents. At night on March 14, unknown perpetrators threw a Molotov cocktail into a Romany house in Ostrava, which is the centre of the north Moravian region. The Molotov cocktail then fell into a room where a teenage girl was sleeping but it did not break. The girl woke up and managed to extinguish the burning wick and the carpet that had caught fire. The police investigate the case as an attempted murder.

The most serious arson attack afflicted a Romani family in Vítkov near Opava April 2009 when three Molotov cocktails burnt the house down. Three people were injured. A baby girl suffered burns on 80 percent of her body yet doctors succeeded in saving her life. The police caught the perpetrators, all right-wing extremists from north Moravia. Charged with an attempted racially-motivated murder of several people, their trial will start at the Ostrava court on May 11. They face up to 15 years in prison, but even life imprisonment, if found guilty. Kumar Vishwanathan, an activist working with the Romani community in the region, said previously that no such attack should be underestimated. He said much will depend on the court verdict in the forthcoming trial of four right-wing radicals suspected of the arson attack in Vitkov.

Prague Monitor

HUNGARY PARTY TO FOLLOW EUROPEAN EXTREMISM'S MOVE AWAY FROM FRINGES

It has been a good few weeks for racists, populists and rightwing radicals across Europe. A comeback for Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front in French regional elections. Big gains in Italy for the anti-immigrant Northern League. The Islam-baiting campaign of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands has taken his Freedom party to 25% and poll position ahead of June's general election. And this weekend, Hungary is facing its biggest political earthquake in 20 years of democracy. On Sunday, the mainstream right and the neofascists are expected to take over the Westminster lookalike parliament on the banks of the Danube. It will be a landslide victory. The left and the liberals who have run the country for eight years, taking Hungary to the brink of bankruptcy and into the arms of the International Monetary Fund, will be reduced to a rump. The next prime minister, Viktor Orban, a combative populist, is leading his centre-right Fidesz party to a huge majority, running at more than 60% in the opinion polls. He may even secure a two-thirds majority enabling him to rewrite Hungary's constitution at will. But the biggest breakthrough will be for Jobbik, the extremist antisemitic and antigypsy movement "for a better Hungary", which will win seats in the parliament for the first time and may emerge as the second biggest party. "It's a flood that's coming. Everyone knows it's coming. We're just waiting for it. Will we drown or will we swim," said Pal Tamas, director of Budapest's Institute of Sociology. "People are trying to use the antifascist argument against Jobbik. But it's not working. It's being very poorly received." During the past week a rabbi's home in the capital has been attacked during Passover and a Holocaust memorial was defaced. Budapest Jews have taken to the streets to protest. The country's large and marginalised Roma and gypsy communities are bracing themselves for a surge in racism and harassment.

Roma solution
"In terms of the gypsy issue, the situation in certain parts of the country is akin to civil war," said Jobbik's young leader, Gabor Vona. "Now only drastic interventions are capable of helping ... we must produce an environment in which gypsy people can return to a world of work, laws and education. And for those unwilling to do so, two alternatives remain: they can either choose to take advantage of the right of free movement granted by the European Union, and leave the country, because we will simply no longer put up with lifestyles dedicated to freeloading or criminality; or, there is always prison." Though banned, Jobbik maintains a "Hungarian guard" of paramilitaries who dress in 1940s fascist paraphernalia. Vona wants this "gendarmerie" to police Roma "ghettos". "Jobbik is openly legitimising anti-Roma violence. It is openly antisemitic. And it will do very well on Sunday," said Anton Pelinka, an Austrian political scientist working in Budapest. Gaspar Miklos Tamas, a liberal and veteran anticommunist dissident, wrote this week that "a national tragedy" was befalling Hungary. "There are many factors, but the most important is the success of the post-fascist Jobbik party." Jobbik won 15% of the vote in last summer's elections to the European parliament and could repeat the trick on Sunday, threatening to push Hungary's governing socialists into third place. The breakthrough comes as the far right across Europe becomes more than a fringe presence. In France a fortnight ago, the xenophobic National Front won 11% of the vote in regional elections, with 20% of those who voted for Nicolas Sarkozy three years ago opting for the far right. Silvio Berlusconi's rightwing coalition coasted to victory in Italian regional elections last week, but the real winner was Umberto Bossi's Northern League which captured the regions of Piedmont and Veneto and made big inroads in the working-class areas of northern Italy, normally a stronghold of the left.

Ahead of the Dutch elections, Wilders appears to be going from strength to strength, while later this month in Austria, the far-right mother of 10, Barbara Rosenkranz (left), whose husband publishes a neo-Nazi newsletter, will contest the Austrian presidency with the support of the country's bestselling tabloid, the Kronen Zeitung. In Belgium the extreme right separatist Vlaams Belang party has been joined by mainstream rightwing parties, so secessionists now enjoy almost 50% support among Flemish voters, according to the polls. A conventional explanation for the breakthrough of the far right sees the success as a protest vote, waxing and waning depending on the performance of the mainstream parties of the centre-right and left. "This is not such a big victory for Jobbik and Fidesz, more a result of the failures of the previous government and its incredible incompetence," said Julius Horvat, head of European studies at Budapest's Central European University. But analysts detect a more durable pattern, particularly in western Europe, entrenching the far right as an established presence in politics.
"This is no longer a sudden surge that then vanishes. The far right has become a permanent fixture in our societies now," said Jean-Yves Camus, a specialist in European radical movements at the Paris thinktank the Institute of International and Strategic Relations. In France, Le Pen has been a major factor in politics for 25 years. In Austria, the far right has been a key player since the late Joerg Haider hijacked the political agenda in the 1990s. Today in Rome, the "post-fascist" National Alliance of Gianfranco Fini held a centre-right conference on whether Italy should be transformed into a presidential system modelled on France. This week Bossi held a "summit" with Berlusconi to push his agenda of federalising Italy, meaning his wealthy northern power base stops subsidising the south. The Northern League has been in government in Italy for seven of the past nine years. In Denmark the far right has long been propping up a conservative government in parliament, and in Switzerland it is the strongest party. The far right leaders are now central and not peripheral players in their national politics.
Disaffected conservatives
Political scientists note that while there is much talk of "neofascism", in western Europe some of the most successful parties are rooted less in 1930s European fascism than in disaffection with mainstream conservativism. Whether out of opportunism or conviction, many have shifted to the far right to exploit the potent issues of immigration and Islam and to broaden their electoral base. This has occurred in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Italy. "What's new is that some of the conservatives have moved to the radical right, rejecting multiculturalism, Islam and immigration," said Camus. "It's … a radical right that is disconnected from the traditions of European fascism." In colonising the far-right territory, these former conservatives are winning over traditional leftwing voters. Where previously their powerbase was made up from small businesses, shopkeepers, and lower middle class, they are now making inroads into the working-class vote among those hostile to immigration and worried about job losses. In Hungary and in the young democracies of central Europe, the situation is different. "In post-communist Europe, it's the old-fashioned far right. In Western Europe, it's the postmodern far right," said Pelinka. "In central Europe it's still the old enemies — the Jews, the gypsies, the national minorities." If wealthy societies of western Europe are seized by new phobias, in the east old prejudices die hard. While 55% of Hungarians do not want Romas as neighbours, half are opposed to a homosexual or lesbian next door and 22% are averse to having a Slovak, Romanian or a Jew for a neighbour,according to a poll by Pal Tamas, leading Hugarian sociologists.
The Guardian

BNP activist admits explosive charge (UK)

However, David Lucas, of South Road, Lakenheath, denied two further charges when he appeared before Ipswich Crown Court for a hearing into his case yesterday.

The 49-year-old pleaded not guilty to having an explosive substance under suspicious circumstances and possessing a prohibited weapon.
A fourth charge of possession of ammunition with intent to endanger life was withdrawn by the Crown Prosecution Service during the same hearing.
Lucas is due to stand trial for the two allegations he denies on July 26 at the Crown Court.

The charges relate to April 23 last year.

The charge of possession of explosives under suspicious circumstances can only be brought by police with the authorisation of the Attorney General.
Lucas is currently on conditional bail. He is required to live and sleep each night at his address in South Road, Lakenheath, or at a caravan at Hockwold, Norfolk.

Lucas must also not make contact with William Hudson or Robert Chipperfield and not take any steps to leave the country.

His passport remains with police.

eadt

CALLS FOR CONDEMNATION OF NEO-NAZI ATTACK (Slovenia)

The NGOs, civil initiatives and youth sections of coalition SocDems, Zares and LibDems associated in the campaign "For All Families" called on Thursday for a public condemnation of the attack of a group of neo-nazis on a student in the lobby of the Ljubljana Faculty of Arts (FF) on Tuesday. The campaign - which was set up in support for the new family law bill, which allows gay adoptions and is currently in parliamentary procedure - called on all who oppose the ideas of neo-nazism and neo-fascism to condemn all hate-based movements and actions. According to the campaign, organised forms of neo-nazism and neo-fascism are on the rise in Slovenia, with extreme rightist groups under false pretense of patriotism spreading hatred and intolerance based on nationality, race or creed.


The lack of public condemnation of acts of violence, like Tuesday's attack on the 29-year-old, give extremists courage for new forms of hostility.

STA

Terreblanche laid to rest in South Africa

The funeral of South Africa's white supremacist Eugene Terreblanche, who was killed at his farm on Saturday, has taken place without major incident.

Several police and army units were deployed to prevent possible clashes between supporters of Mr Terreblanche and the local black population.

About 3,000 people commemorated his controversial life in the rural north-western town of Ventersdorp.

Mr Terreblanche led the Afrikaner Resistance movement, the AWB
The ceremony at the Afrikaner Protestant Church ended with some mourners performing Nazi-style salutes.

Following the ceremony, Mr Terreblanche's coffin accompanied by the mourners travelled to his farm, about 10km (six miles) away.

Thousands of AWB supporters gathered in the town, with the mourners including armed men in camouflage as well as young children, says the BBC's Karen Allen.
South Africa's trade union federation, Cosatu, held a mass meeting on the other side of the town.
Our correspondent says the effect of this meeting - called to discuss recent farm violence - was unclear.

On the one hand, it was a way of occupying black farm workers who otherwise might have turned up at the funeral, she says.
But on the other hand, it could be seen as a somewhat provocative gesture given the timing, she adds.
The church where the service was held is normally attended mostly by white South Africans.

Some had travelled long distances to take part in the funeral.
As a gesture of reconciliation, dignitaries from the local black community were invited to attend the service, our correspondent says.

But just a handful of them took up the offer.

Murder charges
Two of Mr Terreblanche's workers have been charged with his murder.
Although the authorities stress that the killing had more to do with money than politics, it has led to a period of heightened racial tension.
The death of Mr Terreblanche and the rising popularity of Julius Malema of the ANC Youth League are destroying South Africa's hard-won peace, opposition leader Helen Zille said.

White groups and opposition parties blamed Mr Malema for singing an apartheid-era song at rallies, that includes the lyrics "shoot the Boer [farmer]".

The ANC has rejected that link, but accepts that the song and the debate around it was polarising society.
It has now instructed its members to stop using it.

BBC News

'Racist motive' in Pole's murder (UK)

A Polish man was kicked about the head and had his throat stamped on during a suspected race-hate murder in Newry.

The claim was made in the High Court in Belfast during a challenge to grant bail to the teenager accused of killing Marek Muszynski.
Adrian Cunningham, 19, from Lisgullion Park, Newry, faces a charge of murdering Mr Muszynski at Upper Edward Street in the city in July 2009.

The challenge to bail failed, but the the bail conditions were tightened.
Prosecutors said Mr Muszynski, 40, was confronted by two men after leaving an off-licence and taken to an alleyway after they told him a suspicious car was following him.

It was alleged that he was knocked to the ground, beaten and robbed of some small change before his trousers were pulled down.
The court heard that after the fatal attack, Mr Cunningham, then bought drink and a takeaway meal to eat at a flat where he changed his clothing.

Emotions
A district judge granted him bail on Wednesday but on Friday the prosecution mounted a High Court appeal, claiming he may flee or be targeted for possible reprisals because emotions are still running high.
Crown counsel Gareth Purvis said: "Police would say this was an extremely violent, unprovoked and also, they believe, racially motivated attack."

He told the court the victim had been a vulnerable man who depended on a local soup kitchen for food.
A judge was told Mr Cunningham, who is charged along with two other men allegedly stood on the victim's throat with one foot and lifted his other leg so all the weight bore down on him.
According to the prosecution Mr Muszynski's head was kicked and bounced about from side to side.

Sociology
"Police are regarding this incident as a hate crime, purely because of the applicant's admissions of racial taunts made at the scene," Mr Purvis added.
Remarks allegedly shouted included: "Go back to your own country, you're not wanted in Ireland."

A defence lawyer claimed his client, represented the "most unlikely criminal".

He said Mr Cunningham hoped for a career in hairdressing and had undertaken a foundation degree in sociology while on remand.
The accused's father, a senior civil servant, gave evidence to stress how the family would monitor him if granted bail.
Upholding the original decision to release Mr Cunningham on bail, Lord Justice Girvan said that none of the prosecution's objections to bail could be sustained.

However, he imposed further conditions, including requirements for any passports to be surrendered and for Mr Cunningham to live with his parents.
He was also banned from going within half a mile of a city centre bar where witnesses in the case were located.
BBC News