As Italy is bracing to expel from the country all European Union (EU) citizens that had violated basic requirements for living in the country, the interior minister has complained that unlike in France, many Roma have Italian citizenship. "Yes, expulsions just like those for illegal immigrants, not assisted or voluntary repatriations," Roberto Maroni told the Corriere della Sera daily in an interview published Saturday. "Naturally just for those who violate rules on requirements for living in another (EU) member state: a minimum level of income, adequate housing and not being a burden on the social welfare system of the country hosting them. Many Roma are EU citizens but do not respect any of these requirements." The policy would apply to all non-Italian EU citizens who fail to meet certain criteria, not just Roma, said Maroni when asked if such a plan would be discriminatory. "If anything, the problem is something else: unlike in France, many Roma and Sinti here have Italian citizenship. They have the right to remain here. Nothing can be done." Maroni's comments were harshly criticized by the political opposition, which accused the minister’s policy of racism. "The government is making distorted, discriminatory and racist use of indisputable principles like the right to security and respect of law," Leoluca Orlando, spokesman for the Italy of Values, said in a statement. "Faced with a clearly discriminatory attitude towards Roma who are EU citizens, we're forced to talk about a false respect for legality and a degeneration of European rules."
France continued with its controversial deportation of Roma migrants on Friday afternoon, when 130 passengers boarded a charter plane, bound for Romania, and the first group of thirteen Roma landed in Sofia on a flight from Paris. A day earlier French authorities deported 86 Roma from illegal squatting camps to Romania in the largest expulsion seen in France since President Nicolas Sarkozy called for tougher action against Roma living in the country illegally. A total of 850 Roma persons will have to leave France by the end of August. The next deportation is expected for next Thursday, when 160 persons will be deported. Meanwhile, the French government made it clear it is reluctant to style its actions as "deportation", saying that Roma people are leaving the country by mutual agreement and for a compensation (EUR 300 per adult, EUR 100 per child), and also retain the right to return whenever they might wish. Roma from Romania and Bulgaria are allowed free passage into France if they are European Union citizens. After that, however, they must find work, start studies, or find some other way of becoming established in France or risk deportation. The French government said those Roma being deported this week have overstayed the three-month limit.
Novinite
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
OPPOSITION GROWS AMONG CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS (Netherlands)
With cabinet negotiations entering their third week, a weekend poll shows that 39% of Christian Democrat party members are against any form of political cooperation with Geert Wilders' anti-Islam PVV. Negotiations are continuing this week to form a minority right-wing government of Christian Democrats and Liberal VVD with Wilders' party providing support on certain policies in parliament in return for getting some of his immigration policies accepted. The poll, carried out by TNS Nipo for the Algemeen Dagblad, also shows that 13% of the 67,000 party members would give up their membership if Wilders is involved in a new right-wing government. Fewer than half the members, 49%, are in favour of a right-wing government with the involvement of Wilders. In a reaction to the poll, the prominent Liberal Hans Wiegel told the paper on Monday that history is repeating itself. He was referring to the Christian Democrat-Liberal VVD government of 1977 under prime minister Dries van Agt. 'In my time too there was a lot of opposition to our joining a right-wing cabinet,' he said. That government took six months of negotiations to form and lasted until 1981. It was, however, a majority government.
Dutch news
Dutch news
'Joining the BNP was misguided and it's a racist party' (UK)
The wife of the city's former BNP leader has launched a scathing attack on the "racist" organisation after joining another political party.
Councillor Ellie Walker has become a member of Stoke-on-Trent City Council's new Community Voice group after several months spent as a non-aligned councillor.
Mrs Walker quit the British National Party in March, along with husband, and former group leader, Alby Walker.
But Community Voice leaders told Mrs Walker they would only accept her if she issued a public statement distancing herself from the far-right party.
And the Abbey Green ward member, who was elected as a BNP councillor in May 2007, has now said: "I was misguided to have ever been a member of the BNP and admit that I was part of an organisation that held racist views and that my association with the BNP reflected badly on me personally.
"During my time as a councillor, working closely with the community and all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, I have come to realise that the views of the BNP are wrong."
Mrs Walker also revealed her daughter-in-law is Sri Lankan, and that her grandchildren are of mixed race.
She added: "While a member of the BNP, I realised that it was not what I thought it was, with many individuals only interested in hate and lies.
"Stoke-on-Trent is a fantastic, diverse and tolerant place to live and represent [and], if it is to move forward, it must continue to be so."
Community Voice's lead spokesman, Councillor Mick Salih, said he had no problem accepting Mrs Walker's application to become the party's sixth member.
He added: "Community Voice despise and is totally opposed to the BNP and everything it stands for.
"Racism, indeed any discrimination, has no place in a modern, tolerant city like Stoke-on-Trent.
"Ellie has put all that behind her and earned admiration from all political parties across the city council when she not only left the BNP but exposed the hidden extremism."
The addition of Mrs Walker to the fledgling party makes it the fourth largest group on the council.
It is behind 26-member Labour, the nine-strong City Independent Group and the eight-member Conservative and Independent Alliance.
It is also now one place ahead of the five-member BNP group and the four-strong Liberal Democrats.
Current BNP group leader Councillor Michael Coleman said he was aware of Mrs Walker's move to Community Voice, but was sceptical about her denunciation of her former far-right connections.
He said: "This has to be the biggest political conversion in the history of Stoke-on-Trent – to go from hard right to hard left.
"I have known Ellie a long time and all I can say is that her views fitted in well with the BNP and she was an outstanding councillor for us.
"I wish her well in her new group, but I don't accept any of her accusations about our party.
"She was elected on a BNP ticket, and I do wonder whether voters in her ward will accept her conversion or feel betrayed by it.
"I suppose this shows that we are gradually gaining political acceptance, as until now no other party would have accepted a former BNP member."
This is Staffordshire
Councillor Ellie Walker has become a member of Stoke-on-Trent City Council's new Community Voice group after several months spent as a non-aligned councillor.
Mrs Walker quit the British National Party in March, along with husband, and former group leader, Alby Walker.
But Community Voice leaders told Mrs Walker they would only accept her if she issued a public statement distancing herself from the far-right party.
And the Abbey Green ward member, who was elected as a BNP councillor in May 2007, has now said: "I was misguided to have ever been a member of the BNP and admit that I was part of an organisation that held racist views and that my association with the BNP reflected badly on me personally.
"During my time as a councillor, working closely with the community and all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, I have come to realise that the views of the BNP are wrong."
Mrs Walker also revealed her daughter-in-law is Sri Lankan, and that her grandchildren are of mixed race.
She added: "While a member of the BNP, I realised that it was not what I thought it was, with many individuals only interested in hate and lies.
"Stoke-on-Trent is a fantastic, diverse and tolerant place to live and represent [and], if it is to move forward, it must continue to be so."
Community Voice's lead spokesman, Councillor Mick Salih, said he had no problem accepting Mrs Walker's application to become the party's sixth member.
He added: "Community Voice despise and is totally opposed to the BNP and everything it stands for.
"Racism, indeed any discrimination, has no place in a modern, tolerant city like Stoke-on-Trent.
"Ellie has put all that behind her and earned admiration from all political parties across the city council when she not only left the BNP but exposed the hidden extremism."
The addition of Mrs Walker to the fledgling party makes it the fourth largest group on the council.
It is behind 26-member Labour, the nine-strong City Independent Group and the eight-member Conservative and Independent Alliance.
It is also now one place ahead of the five-member BNP group and the four-strong Liberal Democrats.
Current BNP group leader Councillor Michael Coleman said he was aware of Mrs Walker's move to Community Voice, but was sceptical about her denunciation of her former far-right connections.
He said: "This has to be the biggest political conversion in the history of Stoke-on-Trent – to go from hard right to hard left.
"I have known Ellie a long time and all I can say is that her views fitted in well with the BNP and she was an outstanding councillor for us.
"I wish her well in her new group, but I don't accept any of her accusations about our party.
"She was elected on a BNP ticket, and I do wonder whether voters in her ward will accept her conversion or feel betrayed by it.
"I suppose this shows that we are gradually gaining political acceptance, as until now no other party would have accepted a former BNP member."
This is Staffordshire
Scots who fought aganst Franco remembered at Glasgow ceremony
Statue on the banks of the Clyde re-dedicated to the international volunteers who fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War.The sacrifices made by Scottish volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War are being remembered at a re-dedication ceremony at a monument in Glasgow.
The statue of La Pasionaria - with the inscription "Better to die on your feet that live for ever on your knees"- commemorates the British volunteers to the International Brigades who fought against Fascism in the war that was fought between 1936 and 1939. Over 2,000 volunteers went from the UK, and over 500 died in the conflict, 65 of whom came from Glasgow.
At part of the International Brigade, the volunteers fought for the democratically elected Republican Government which was eventually overthrown by authoritarian leader General Franco.
The statue, which was installed in the late 1970s on the banks of the Clyde, is in the figure of Dolores Ibárruri, known as La Pasionaria, with her arms outstretched. She was a leading politician, leader of the Spanish Communist Party, and a heroine and leader of the Spanish Republican movement. The sculpture was commissioned by the International Brigade Association of Scotland and produced by Liverpool-based sculptor Arthur Dooley.
The last surviving Scot who served in the war, Thomas Watters, 97, was among those attending the event in Clyde Street. Mr Watters served in the Scottish Ambulance Unit, which worked at the front line on the battlefields of Spain to aid wounded fighters and volunteers from across the world.
Mr Watters was a Glasgow bus driver who volunteered to go to Spain with the Scottish Ambulance Unit during the conflict. In his time during the war he witnessed many horrors, including an incident when German aircraft bombed a village, destroying his vehicle. Last year, 70 years after the conflict, he was awarded dual citizenship by the Spanish government in recognition of his service.
The statue had undergone a £10,000 restoration after its fabric had begun to deteriorate. The work was backed by Glasgow City Council, Glasgow City Heritage Trust, STUC and International Brigades organisations.
Councillor Gordon Matheson said: "With this memorial, we pay homage to a group of extraordinary men and women who, more than 70 years ago, gave up the certainties of their everyday lives to travel to a country in the grip of violent turmoil.
"We remember sons and daughters of Glasgow who stood in defiance of fascism and in defence of democracy and freedom.
"I am proud and humbled to have the opportunity to welcome one of them, Thomas Watters, back to Glasgow today.
"The humanity and courage of a man who not only thinks, 'if I can drive a bus, then I can drive an ambulance - I can help', is awe-inspiring."
Grahame Smith, STUC Assistant Secretary said: "We are delighted to welcome Thomas back to the city of Glasgow and the streets he knew so well before leaving for Spain serving with the Scottish Ambulance Unit, saving the lives of Brigadiers injured in the fight against Franco's fascists.
"In our office we have a memorial to those who left to fight and never returned and many of those who did return are no longer with us.
"Trade unions played a proud role in fighting fascists in the Spanish Civil War.
"We continue the fight to this day. Only last November, a march against the fascist Scottish Defence League paused here for a moment's silence to reflect on the bravery of those who gave so much - and for people like Thomas who seized the opportunity to do something good."
During the march against the far-right Scottish Defence League in 2009, a banner was held aloft with the words 'No Paseran' ("They shall not pass"), a quote from a famous speech by Dolores Ibárruri. Since the Spanish Civil War the words have continued to be used to express defiance to an enemy, particularly one from the political right.
STV
Erfurt, where Germany's oldest synagogue was discovered, requests World Heritage site status from UNESCO. 'We are keeping an eye on any activity near synagogue,' city official says
The German city of Erfurt, located in an area of the country traditionally known for having the highest support for the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NDP), with 5% voter support, is plagued with a severe neo-Nazi problem.
As part of their attempts to fight the phenomenon, city officials have requested that UNSECO add the city to its list of World Heritage sites due to its "Jewish past."
Erfurt's Jewish past was revealed almost by accident, when hundreds of valuable gold coins and silverware dating back to the Middle Ages were discovered during excavations in the city's old quarter. The phrase "Mazel Tov" was inscribed on one of the coins.
The treasure was buried at the site by Kelman von Viha, a Jewish money-lender who resided in the city. Von Viha decided to hide his treasure in 1349 for fear of pogroms after local Jews were accused of poisoning wells, which led to the spread of disease in the city.
And surely enough, on the March 21 of that same year, all of Erfurt's 900 Jews were butchered by angry mobs.
Three other German cities - Speyer, Worms and Mainz – are also looking to honor their Jewish history by becoming World Heritage sites.
But while the Jewish past of these three cities is well-known, a serious study of Erfurt's Jewish past only began with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then, archeologists working in the city discovered a synagogue from 1094, making it the oldest standing synagogue in Germany. An 11th century mikveh (bath used for the Jewish ritual of immersion), as well as Jewish tombstones, have also been uncovered.
Authorities in the state of Thuringia, where Erfurt is located, decided to convert the synagogue into a museum, which was opened in October.
Ingo Mlaynik, the Erfurt Municipality official who is in charge of the initiative, told Ynet, "Since UNSECO limits the number of requests to one a year, we teamed up with cities in other parts of Germany that are famous for their Jewish past.
"Erfurt's citizens appreciate the synagogue and are proud of the city's Jewish history, but we are keeping an eye on any activity near the synagogue," he said.
Erfurt's request to be named a UNESCO World Heritage site will be considered by the German Culture Ministry in 2012.
ynetnews
As part of their attempts to fight the phenomenon, city officials have requested that UNSECO add the city to its list of World Heritage sites due to its "Jewish past."
Erfurt's Jewish past was revealed almost by accident, when hundreds of valuable gold coins and silverware dating back to the Middle Ages were discovered during excavations in the city's old quarter. The phrase "Mazel Tov" was inscribed on one of the coins.
The treasure was buried at the site by Kelman von Viha, a Jewish money-lender who resided in the city. Von Viha decided to hide his treasure in 1349 for fear of pogroms after local Jews were accused of poisoning wells, which led to the spread of disease in the city.
And surely enough, on the March 21 of that same year, all of Erfurt's 900 Jews were butchered by angry mobs.
Three other German cities - Speyer, Worms and Mainz – are also looking to honor their Jewish history by becoming World Heritage sites.
But while the Jewish past of these three cities is well-known, a serious study of Erfurt's Jewish past only began with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then, archeologists working in the city discovered a synagogue from 1094, making it the oldest standing synagogue in Germany. An 11th century mikveh (bath used for the Jewish ritual of immersion), as well as Jewish tombstones, have also been uncovered.
Authorities in the state of Thuringia, where Erfurt is located, decided to convert the synagogue into a museum, which was opened in October.
Ingo Mlaynik, the Erfurt Municipality official who is in charge of the initiative, told Ynet, "Since UNSECO limits the number of requests to one a year, we teamed up with cities in other parts of Germany that are famous for their Jewish past.
"Erfurt's citizens appreciate the synagogue and are proud of the city's Jewish history, but we are keeping an eye on any activity near the synagogue," he said.
Erfurt's request to be named a UNESCO World Heritage site will be considered by the German Culture Ministry in 2012.
ynetnews
Neo-Nazism is dead in Western Australia: police
Bradley Neil Trappitt, who police claim is a member of supremacist group Combat 18, pleaded guilty in court to willfully and unlawfully damaging a Perth mosque and possessing an unlicensed firearm. He was fined $9750 in reparation and damage costs.
Trappitt drove three others to the Suleymaniye Mosque, in the south-eastern suburb of Queens Park, where they proceeded to fire three rounds at the mosque's roof on February 4.
His co-accused and ringleader in the shooting incident, Jacob Marshall Hort, had already pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced to a seven-month suspended jail term.
Yesterday leaving court, Trappitt was flanked by two burly minders, who refused to comment about Combat 18 or the attack.
Trappitt's lawyer Curt Hofmann had earlier told the court the shooting wasn't racially motivated but just a stupid stunt by four friends who wanted to show off after they had been drinking.
However Combat 18 is globally renown for being founded on the ideology of neo-Nazism and white supremacy. The number 18 is derived from the initials of Adolf Hitler, with A and H being the first and eighth letters of the alphabet.
It was originally based in the United Kingdom and has chapters across the world.
In May, inspector Rob Anderson of the south-east metro district office said police had "more or less eliminated that faction within WA" after charging Trappitt and Hort.
Police specialists tasked to monitor the movements of racially motivated organisations, when contacted by WAtoday.com.au, said they would continue to investigate any individuals who breach the racial harassment and incitement section of the criminal code.
However "the information provided by Inspector Anderson on 26 May 2010 in relation to disbanding this group has not changed".
Members of Combat 18 have been contacted for comment.
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