Police launch investigation into anti-Semitic Facebook group

Police have launched an urgent investigation into a horrific Facebook group that gave graphic details of anti-Semitic incidents perpetrated by its members against Ilford's Jewish community.

The group, created by a student at Loxford School of Science and Technology, attracted more than 500 members in two weeks following its launch last month and featured teenagers boasting about engaging in anti-Semitic behaviour.
It featured messages from youths using language rife with spelling errors, profanities and teenag colloquialisms.

One girl wrote: "Jews are the ones that killed prophets in the past. Dirty filthy scum-bags. No wonder they have the curse of Allah upon them. Burn Jew burn."

Another stated: "OMG! ii Saw a Jew Todaii ii Swearr downn Weariingg Dahh Hatt He Lookedd At Me Liike Man Knowsz Me [sic]."

She went on to describe screaming obscenities at the man and rudely telling him to go away.

In a further disturbing post, a girl bragged about aggressively confronting

a Jewish woman in Argos after she was "looking at me". She wrote: "Looool i Had a Fight Wif 1 Urgh in Argos [sic]."

The Jewish News was informed about the group, created by a student at Loxford School, by a private investigator in Australia. It has since been removed from the popular social networking site.

The group was described by a Community Security Trust (CST) official as "one of the most shocking things I have ever seen".

A spokeswoman from Redbridge Council, speaking on behalf of Loxford School, said the school was contacted about the group and then immediately reported it to Facebook and the police.

The spokeswoman said: "The student concerned has been dealt with and the school has taken disciplinary action. There is an ongoing police investigation so we are unable to comment further."

Ilford police confirmed it had "received an allegation regarding anti-Semitic material being published on a social networking website".

A spokeswoman told the Jewish News that the police are investigating and inquiries continue.

Several comments on the vile Facebook site include misguided references to Islam and the Koran as justification for targeting Jews. #

One female youth wrote: "We hate Jews for the sake of Allah as he has told us to do in the Koran."

The group page included offensive jokes invoking pejorative stereotypes about Jews and money as well as an anti-Semitic cartoon. There was also a link to a YouTube video entitled "Kill All Christians and Jews".

In addition several members expressed anti-Israeli sentiment. There was a photograph of graffiti saying "Jihad 4 Israel" and a link to another YouTubev video of "a brave Palestinian girl standing up to Israeli soldiers".

Mike Gardner, director of communications at the CST, said he was left "utterly chilled" by the casual way that the youths displayed their anti-Semitism.

He said: "It shows how new media is now facilitating the most shocking anti-Semitism among groups of youngsters, as if hatred and violence and gross ignorance were all just a part of their normal lives.

"Anybody who wants to understand how anti-Semitism can be transmitted today should study this online group closely, but they will need a strong stomach to do so."

The CST, which is due to release its latest findings on anti-Semitism in the UK this week, has previously reported 609 incidents in the first six months of 2009, more than in any other entire year. A report released by the Jewish Agency last month revealed that there were more anti-Semitic incidents in Europe in 2009 than in any year since the Holocaust. Mike Gapes, the local MP for Ilford South, urged the authorities to take

"very strong action". Gapes told the Jewish News: "I am deeply concerned. Incitement to hatred is a crime and we must stand very firm and take action against anyone who incited racial or religious hatred. Anti-Semitism has to be opposed."

Lee Scott MP for Ilford North also denounced the site, saying: "It is shocking and I condemn it."

A Facebook spokeswoman said that the group was removed because it breached the company's policies. She said: "We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others." She added that users should report groups that they feel violate Facebook's rules.

Spencer Lewis, the headteacher of local Jewish high school King Solomon said: "We have had no problems at all with Loxford that I am aware of and we have a very good relationship with the school." Have you encountered anti-Semitism online?

Tell them about it by emailing newsdesk@thejngroup.com
TotalyJewish.com

American Nazi group adopts local highway

Along Highway 85 near 144th in Brighton, the Chapter of the National Socialist Movement, which calls itself America's Nazi Party, is participating in a state Adopt-A-Highway program - complete with a road sign.

The white supremacist group will be responsible for picking up trash on a one-mile stretch of the road.

The Colorado Department of Transportation says it allowed the highway adoption because the group's lawyers say it could violate free speech if they denied the request.

"Our initial inclination was to deny their application, then we got legal guidance," Stacey Stegman, a spokeswoman for CDOT, said. "We looked at what has gone on in other states. We talked with the Anti-Defamation League and found out that we really had no ground to deny them. "We were considering denying them based on the fact that there could be a potential for violence, not that there was," Stegman continued. "And so right now, we are giving them the benefit of the doubt."

Cpl. Neal Land, a spokesman for the movement, says his group stands for "white rights" and "purity of race" and should be allowed to clean the highway.
"Definitely, I want people to know we're in the state, we're active in this state, and most of all, we're doing good things in this state," Land said. "We're not a group that's out there selling drugs, running guns. We don't support any illegal activity of any sort."
The group, which Land says has six active members and several other followers, plans on picking up trash this weekend along the highway. Land says they plan to clean the stretch several times a year.
"We're going to be active with community service, yes, we're going to be active with demonstrations, flyers," Land said.
Stegman says US 85 is a major truck route through the state with a lot of industrial traffic.
"It's a dirty highway," Stegman said. "So it needs all the help it can get."
Stegman says any group is welcome to help keep highways clean.
"We're not the moral police," Stegman said. "We're not going to decide who's right and who's wrong. That's not our role."
Land says the group will not wear swastikas on its clothing while cleaning up this weekend, because it doesn't want to insight violence or distract drivers.
"Nothing wrong with trying to make our country a little cleaner," Land said.

We say " is this the first time white trash picks up trash"? seems to be.