Neo-Nazi clothing label Thor Steinar sues satirical copycat

German clothing brand Thor Steinar – a known favourite among neo-Nazis – is suing satirical copycat label “Storch Heinar” for libel and violating trademark laws.
Since December 2008 Storch Heinar, or “Stork Heinar,” has mocked the neo-Nazi scene with t-shirts and other products bearing the image of an awkward cartoon stork with a Hitler-style moustache and hairdo. The label funds the Social Democratic activist organisation Endstation Rechts, which aims to fight right-wing extremism in the state of Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania.

The tongue-in-cheek label has apparently done so well that now Thor Steinar’s parent company MediaTex is taking them to court on June 23 in Nürnberg-Fürth.
Storch Heinar organisers don’t deny the label apes Thor Steinar’s identity.

“We want to highlight that the brand ‘Thor Steinar’ has a high status and symbolic significance in the scene,” said one of the project’s initiators, Mathias Brodkorb, a Social Democrat and Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania state parliamentarian.
Brodkorb says he has frequent run-ins with parliamentarians for the neo-Nazi NPD party, which has had six seats in the state legislature in Schwerin since 2006.

The t-shirts, mugs, and even dog outfits bearing Storch Heinar’s image have sold throughout Europe, Brodkorb said, describing the silly stork as a “poor bastard.”

MediaTex, based in the Brandenburg city of Zeesen, apparently tried to trademark the Storch Heinar name soon after the t-shirts appeared, but was rejected and followed up with a lawsuit against the activist group.

The company, known for being litigious, acknowledged it had initiated the lawsuit but refused to comment on the case.
But Brodkorb said Endstation Rechts won’t bow to the legal pressure, and has instead launched a new t-shirt series to boost funding for legal costs. The shirts indicate that the purchaser is a Weltkriegsverliererbesieger, or “World War loser conqueror.”

“However the trial goes, we’ll figure out how to keep the clothing shop open,” he said.

The Local Germany

Police issue web warning following hate crime attack (UK)

Police have issued a warning about meeting people through internet chat rooms after a man was attacked in Leicestershire
Police have issued a warning about meeting people through internet chat rooms after a man was attacked in Leicestershire.

The 50-year-old victim had arranged to meet a man at a park in Burbage on Sunday evening after initially meeting him via an internet chat room for gay men, the Peterborough Telegraph reported.
But when he got to the park in Colts Close he was approached by four men who demanded he hand over his money.
The victim was then hit a number of times until he told his assailants he did not have any cash, police said.

He had suffered injuries to his face and head and was taken by ambulance to Leicester Royal Infirmary for treatment.
After the attack it was discovered that his car had been damaged and the front driver’s side window smashed.
Leicestershire Police said they believe the man was set up by the suspects via the chat line for gay men that he had been using and that he was targeted because of his sexual preference.

Officers hope to interview the occupants of two cars in the nearby car park after the attack who asked the victim if he was OK before driving off.
Detective Constable Pete Watson said: “It is appalling to think that this man was purposely targeted because of his sexual orientation and we want the suspects to know that it is not something that we will tolerate.”

He added: “We are determined to find the four men responsible and are appealing to members of the public for their help in finding and identifying them.”

Pink Paper

HOLOCAUST-DENYING BISHOP FINED BY GERMAN COURT

A renegade British bishop has been fined 10,000 euros (£8,750) for denying the Holocaust in a case that has acutely embarrassed the Vatican. The case went ahead in a German court without Richard Williamson, whose breakaway Catholic fraternity told him not to testify, his lawyer said. Denying that the Holocaust took place, or questioning key elements, is illegal in Germany. The bishop acknowledged the offending comments in a statement read in court. Williamson, 70, was convicted by the court in the southern German city of Regensburg of inciting racial hatred for stating in a TV interview aired in January 2009 that only "200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps". He also denied the Nazis had used gas chambers. Imposing the fine in the high-profile proceedings on Friday, presiding judge Karin Frahm said: "The statements by the accused represent a denial of the actions taken under the National Socialist regime. "Bishop Williamson must have assumed that his remarks would draw attention. Williamson knowingly accepted that attention." Williamson was fined 12,000 euros (£12,500) earlier this year for giving the interview in Germany to a Swedish broadcaster. The latest trial was ordered after Mr Williamson, who lives in London, refused to pay. He faced a sentence ranging from a fine to up to five years in prison. Williamson's lawyer, Matthias Lossmann told the court: "Bishop Williamson would gladly have come, but the Saint Pius X Society suggested he did not - to be precise, they forbade him from coming."


'Remarks are unacceptable'
The court on Friday heard an excerpt of the interview, in which Williamson is heard telling the interviewer: "Be careful, this is against the law in Germany." The bishop was told the interview would be aired only in Sweden, Mr Lossmann told the court. He said Williamson could not be held criminally responsible for its release in Germany. "That will be the crux of the case here," he said. "We do not even need to discuss the fact that these remarks are unacceptable, that is completely beside the point." Mr Lossmann read a statement by Williamson in which the cleric acknowledged casting doubt on the Holocaust. "I was aware that it is against German law to express such doubts, so I expressed these doubts for exclusive broadcast on Swedish television" where such remarks are legal, he said. The Saint Pius X Society, an ultra-conservative, Swiss-based Catholic fraternity, appointed Williamson a bishop without the pope's blessing after it broke away from Rome over the Vatican II reforms of 1965. Among the reforms rejected by the organisation was a declaration, Nostra Aetate, which ended a Church doctrine by which the Jews were held responsible for killing Jesus Christ. The trial comes at a difficult time for Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican as a sexual abuse scandal rocks the Catholic church. Hundreds of people have come forward in Germany and other countries around the world, saying they were molested by predatory priests. Bishop Williamson's case prompted a rare comment on religious matters by the German chancellor. Angela Merkel called on Pope Benedict to "clarify unambiguously that there can be no denial" that the Nazis killed six million Jews. Williamson has said he wished to apologise to anyone offended by his comments but has refused to retract his assertions, saying only that he would re-examine the historical evidence.

BBC News

NEO-NAZI CUTS DEAL WITH PROSECUTION (Serbia)

A Member of the neo-Nazi organization Nacionalni Stroj has admitted to attacking participants of an anti-fascist forum in Novi Sad. The man, named as Dolf Pospiš, thus made a deal with the prosecution and will spend 16 months in prison. Pospiš admitted to participating in the attack on the forum in Novi Sad in October 2007. According to the deal, which has been accepted by a Novi Sad court with jurisdiction in the case, he will spend 16 months in prison, Public Prosecution Spokesman Tomo Zoriæ confirmed for B92. Several persons sustained minor injuries and several neo-Nazis, including the organization’s leader Goran Davidoviæ, were arrested during the 2007 incident. Davidoviæ is a fugitive recently arrested in Germany, where he was hiding. Serbia has requested his extradition.

B92

Smear complaint by BNP Sedgefield candidate

The BNP candidate for Sedgefield in County Durham has claimed he is the victim of a smear campaign.

Mark Walker said that details of an unemployment tribunal were leaked to the press in a bid to blacken his name.
He was dismissed from his teaching job at Sunnydale Community College in 2008 because of his absenteeism.
He maintained he was sacked because of his BNP membership but an employment tribunal rejected his claim for unfair dismissal in January.
Mr Walker was suspended from his post at Sunnydale Community College in March 2007, after an allegation of misuse of a school computer.

About 18 months later he was sacked on the grounds of his sick record.
He said that he was being discriminated against because he was a member of the BNP and the resultant stress had made him ill.
His case went to an employment tribunal, which ruled in favour of his employers, Durham County Council.

No details were released at the time and Mr Walker described it as "strange" that they should have surfaced in the press so close to the election.

"It is absolutely politically motivated," he said.

"They want to smear my name for the election because I'm standing in Tony Blair's old constituency.

"It's gutter politics."

He added: "I could appeal against the [tribunal's] decision but I've lost my job so cannot afford justice."

Other candidates for Sedgefield so far announced are:

Labour: Phil Wilson; Conservative: Neil Mahapatra; Liberal Democrats: Alan Thompson; UK Independence Party: Brian Gregory.
BBC News

BNP candidate's husband in drugs arrest

THE husband of a BNP Parliamentary candidate is on police bail after being arrested over an alleged drugs offence, The Sentinel can reveal.

Unemployed Clifford Baddeley, aged 49, of Holehouse Road, Abbey Hulton, who is a BNP member, was arrested last month on suspicion of possessing cannabis.

Days later, police also searched the semi-detached house he shares with his wife Melanie.
She is a BNP city councillor who is standing as the party's Parliamentary candidate for the Stoke-on-Trent North constituency.

Mr Baddeley has not been charged with any offences, but remains on police bail while officers complete their investigation.
His wife said yesterday that she was aware of her husband's arrest, but had not told party chiefs about the situation.

The Abbey Green ward member said: "I haven't told the party, because it's nothing to do with me; it's his problem, not mine. I was very upset and annoyed with him when I found out about his arrest, and I still am because I wasn't aware what was happening at the time.

"He is on police bail at the moment and the police did come and search my house, but didn't find anything."

She added: "My husband did smoke cannabis for medical reasons, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm carrying on as normal with my election campaign."
Mr Baddeley admitted that he used to smoke the drug to relieve the pain of chronic arthritis.

He said: "I know that the BNP disapproves of drug use, but I'm more worried about my wife, who is very anti-drugs.

"She works tirelessly for this community, and it's embarrassing for her that I'm in this situation.

"I've stopped using cannabis, and I'm back on medication, although it doesn't work as well."

Stoke-on-Trent City Council's BNP group leader, Councillor Michael Coleman, was shocked to learn of Mr Baddeley's arrest.
But he said the party would still be backing Mrs Baddeley in the run-up to the General Election.

After being contacted by The Sentinel yesterday, he said: "It is shocking and disappointing. Mr Baddeley is a party member.

"I know he has a serious medical problem and is in pain, and that's why he used cannabis. But I don't approve, and the party doesn't approve of people using drugs in that way.

"We condemn these drugs in our communities and we have to condemn this. However, Melanie didn't know about it and we feel it doesn't affect her.

"It will be damaging for us to some degree, but we like Melanie and will be backing her."

Mrs Baddeley was unveiled as the BNP's Parliamentary candidate in Stoke-on-Trent North in January, when party leader Nick Griffin travelled to the city to unveil his election manifesto in Meir.

Staffordshire Police declined to comment on the investigation.
This is Staffordshire

CALL FOR EXCLUSION OF DUTCH ANTI-ISLAM PARTY

A former leader of the Dutch Christian Democrats, 87-year-old Willem Aantjes, has called on his party to rule out coalition talks with the extreme right Freedom Party. Mr Aantjes says the party, led by anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, is undemocratic and not fit to be in a coalition government with the Christian Democrats. The Freedom Party has no members and is accountable to nobody, according to Mr Aantjes. The former leader wants the congress of his party to discuss the issue next week. If it is not put on the agenda, and if the Christian Democrats do not rule out talks with the Freedom Party, Mr Aantjes said he would vote for the radical Christian Union party instead in the 9 June general election. No party is expected to gain an overall majority, so as usual in the Netherlands coalition talks will decide which combination of parties will form the next government.


RNW

HOLOCAUST-DENYING BISHOP WILLIAMSON ABSENT AS TRIAL BEGINS (Germany)

The trial of British bishop Richard Williamson for Holocaust denial began in Regensburg on Friday in a case that has deeply embarrassed the Vatican. The high-profile proceedings opened without Williamson after his breakaway ultra-conservative Catholic fraternity ordered the cleric not to testify, his lawyer said. "Bishop Williamson would gladly have come, but the Saint Pius X Society suggested he did not - to be precise, they forbade him from coming," defence attorney Matthias Lossmann told the court in this southern German city. He was fined 12,000 euros (17,000 dollars) earlier this year for giving an interview in Germany to a Swedish broadcaster in 2009 in which he argued that only "200,000 to 300,000 Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps." The bishop also denied there had ever been any gas chambers. A further trial was ordered after he refused to pay. Denying that the Holocaust took place, or questioning key elements, is illegal in Germany and Austria. Williamson, 70, who now lives in London, faces a sentence ranging from a fine to a prison sentence of up to five years if convicted.

Williamson belongs to the Saint Pius X Society, a Swiss-based Catholic fraternity, which appointed him a bishop without the pope's blessing after it broke away from Rome over the Vatican II reforms introduced in 1965. Among the points rejected by the organisation was a declaration, Nostra Aetate, which ended a Church doctrine by which the Jews were held responsible for killing Jesus Christ. Pope Benedict XVI unleashed a deluge of criticism for reversing the excommunication of Williamson and three other bishops in the Saint Pius X Society just days after the bishop made his remarks on the Holocaust. The case prompted a rare comment on religious matters by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who called on Pope Benedict to "clarify unambiguously that there can be no denial" the Nazis killed six million Jews. The pope later admitted mistakes in his handling of the case, saying he was unaware of Williamson's latest remarks and that it was "intolerable" to dispute the facts of the Holocaust.

The trial comes amid a ballooning sexual abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church, with hundreds of people coming forward in Germany and other countries around the world saying they were molested by predatory priests. Williamson has said he apologised to anyone offended by his comments but has refused to retract his assertions, saying only that he would re-examine the historical evidence. The court on Friday heard an excerpt of the interview, in which Williamson is heard telling the interviewer: "Be careful, this is against the law in Germany." The bishop was told the interview would be aired only in Sweden, Lossmann told the court, and said Williamson could not be held criminally responsible for the release of the remarks in Germany. "That will be the crux of the case here," he said. "We do not even need to discuss the fact that these remarks are unacceptable, that is completely beside the point." Lossmann added that the bishop had been surprised by a question on the Nazis' slaughter of European Jews at the end of the interview.

AFP

RACISM AND HOMOPHOBIA IN GAMING

It's not just cyberbullets that are exchanged during firefights on the XBox Live version of "Call of Duty." Many gamers also exchange hate speech over their headsets as they stalk each other across the virtual battlefields. Players trade racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic insults so frequently that game makers are taking steps to tone down the rhetoric. The comments would shock parents who may not realize their children are constantly exposed to language that might make a sailor blush. Most parental concerns have focused on violence, not language. One gamer told an opponent he presumed to be Jewish that he wished Hitler had succeeded in his mission. Many exchanges involve talk of rape or exult over the atomic bombing of Japan. There are frequent slurs on homosexuals, Asians, Hispanics and women. Such comments can be heard on all online video gaming systems, including PlayStation Network, Blizzard Entertainment (World of Warcraft) and others. "Personally, I don't do a lot of online gaming for that reason," said Flynn DeMarco, founder of the Web site GayGamer.net, which has worked with Microsoft and other companies on steps to clean up online gaming. "I don't play with anybody I don't already know." DeMarco said hate speech has been a problem for years.

Game makers, despite some serious efforts, can only seek to limit the amount. "A lot of the problem lies within the players themselves," DeMarco said. The widespread use of the slurs is partly fueled by the same anonymity that provides cover for abuse throughout cyberspace. Players can compete with people thousands of miles away, and know them only by the fictional "gamertags" they use to identify themselves. After years of tolerating abusive players, gamers have become more diligent about noting the gametags of abusive players and reporting them to game companies. Abusive players can be punished or even banned, but the process is slow. "It's a baby steps kind of thing," DeMarco said. Microsoft, maker of the XBox 360, has taken numerous steps to clean up the language on its Live service, which is by far the biggest online gaming service with some has 23 million members. Stephen Toulouse, director of policy and enforcement for Microsoft's Xbox Live service, heads a team charged with providing a safe and enjoyable experience for customers. "There is always a subset of humanity that goes toward miscreant behavior," Toulouse said. With 1 million to 2 million players online at any one time, most of the policing falls to other users who report hate speech to the company, he said.
Those complaints are reviewed, and people who use hate speech can face punishments such as having their voice privileges suspended, making them unable to speak with other players in real time. They can also be banned temporarily or even permanently from the service, Toulouse said. Players whose conduct crosses into criminal behavior are reported to law enforcement, he said. The company has created a Web site to help parents control their children's gaming, http://www.GetGameSmart.com. Parents can learn how to limit the people their children play with, limit the time and type of games they play and find other tools, he said. Gamers always have the power to mute out any other player they find offensive, or can block an offensive player and not encounter him again, Toulouse said. But the notion of companies monitoring and cleaning up cyberspace is troubling to some. Joan Bertin, director of the National Coalition Against Censorship in New York City, said she is uncomfortable with game makers serving as "nannies." "They respond occasionally and erratically and incompletely," she said. "Some people who are doing what everyone else is doing get caught."

The coalition, which works to protect First Amendment rights, does not generally endorse actions to limit speech, she said. "The use of taboo language has a lot of different functions and they not all are evil," she said. "I don't think pulling the cover over it and hiding it makes it go away." Gamers themselves are also somewhat split on the issue. When Xbox Live banned the use of gamertags or profile information that revealed sexual orientation, in an effort to reduce taunting, some gays and lesbians were upset because they wanted to use such IDs, DeMarco said. A simple solution would be having gamers use their real names, but that presents a host of problems involving privacy and the protection of children from predators. "I don't want everybody out there knowing my name and looking me up on the Internet or Facebook," DeMarco said. Plus the fake names can be fun, DeMarco said, although they can also be offensive, making plays on ethnic slurs. Still, Toulouse said the use of real names is being studied as one possible solution. DeMarco said the best solution may just be continuing to educate people, especially parents of young gamers, about the problem. "I'd like to see parents being aware of what their kids being exposed to," he said
Star Tribune

Tory wife quits to stand for BNP

A former Conservative party member has defected to the BNP to stand in the local elections – while her husband stands for the Tories in another ward.

Sheila Spink is running for the far-right party in Heatons North, Stockport.

Her husband of 20 years, Conservative candidate Alex Raisbeck, is standing just a few miles down the road in Manor ward.
But Ms Spink said the decision had not caused tension in her marriage.

She said: “It’s absolutely no big deal. I was with the Conservative party. I have left the Conservative party.

“I don’t think they will do what is necessary to be done in this country. I don’t think they are tackling the big problem.
“My husband has not left the Conservative party and that’s his business.”

Speaking from the couple’s Heaton Mersey home, Ms Spink said she left the Tories because she felt they are not up to the job, particularly on immigration.

She said: “There’s no mention of immigration at all.

“They are just not dealing with that problem.”

The BNP has a policy of ‘firm incentives’ to force non-white people to leave Britain.

Ms Spink admits her husband, who stood for the Tories in the 2008 local elections in Heatons South, and came second, feels differently.
She said: “Alex is standing for the Conservatives in one ward and that’s his business. We are husband and wife and we have been married for 20 odd years – forever.

“There’s absolutely no animosity. It’s two professional adults. We are both in our 60s.

“We have lived a lot of life and look at things from a different angle.”
Mr Raisbeck, who has campaigned in the past with current Conservative parliamentary candidate for Stockport Stephen Holland, was not at home to comment.

A local Tory insider said the party had become aware of the situation in the last few days.

He said: “We are going to get slaughtered about this. We never realised she’d joined the BNP. He’s got some explaining to do. It’s gone past the date where we can withdraw the candidate without the candidate’s permission. In my view it’s not tenable. It’s come as a total and utter shock.”

The Conservative party did not respond to the our request for a comment.

Manchester Evening News

BNP can't count on Barking breakthrough

Nick Griffin has racialised housing issues but the area's problems aren't unique and BNP success can be rolled back.
A key contest in this election is in Barking, between the BNP's Nick Griffin and Labour's Margaret Hodge.

On the face of it, all the ingredients for an electoral breakthrough by the BNP appear to be here: rising unemployment, housing problems, deep poverty, a growing proportion of immigrants and asylum seekers, and a local Labour party that has presided over decades of impoverishment.

The decline of industry in Barking and Dagenham, accelerated by Ford Dagenham's decision to cease car production in 2002, means the proportion of local people employed in manufacturing has fallen from 40% in the early 1990s to less than half that figure today. Unemployment in the borough now stands at close to 10% and average incomes are the lowest in London. The borough has some of the lowest literacy and numeracy levels in the country and more than a third of its children are born into poverty.

Is it increasing social deprivation, then, that has led to the rise of the BNP?

While it is undoubtedly a factor, eight of London's 33 boroughs are worse off than Barking, and 20 nationally, so this alone cannot account for the BNP's emergence as a political force locally.

Barking is also affected by demographic change. Although around 80% of residents are classed as white, 50% of school pupils are from ethnic minorities, as young upwardly mobile black and Asian families move into the borough. Has an influx of immigrants produced votes for the far right? The picture is not so simple. First, most of these new arrivals are not immigrants but "internal migrants" from other parts of London. Second, the proportion of non-white residents in Barking remains below the London average.

What is specific to Barking is the pace of change. Its overall population, not just its proportion of ethnic minorities, is one of the fastest growing in the country. This population competes for scarce resources. Council housing stock has fallen from 40,000 to 18,000 as a consequence of Margaret Thatcher's right-to-buy initiative in the 1980s, and the failure of Barking and Dagenham council to build any public housing for the past quarter of a century. There are now more than 28,000 people on the local social housing waiting list.

The BNP's achievement has been to racialise this issue and turn ethnic minorities into scapegoats for a complex process of political and social disintegration in the area. Its repeated claims about Labour's alleged "Africans for Essex" scheme, whereby ethnic minority families are supposed to have been given £50,000 relocation grants to shore up electoral support for the government in areas like Barking, are a typical example. The fact that these claims are completely untrue only makes them more effective, because that's how scapegoating works.
The BNP does not care about housing – the amount of casework taken up by its Barking councillors on the issue is derisory. But scapegoating works where there is little to counter it. The BNP has been able to insinuate its way into a community in crisis. Rapid social transformation and chronic social decay have left the area with fewer resources to resist the development of a fascist current. According to government reports, Barking's social cohesiveness is weak, with less participation in the local community (sports, recreation, museums, libraries, voluntary associations) than elsewhere – although the situation is beginning to improve.

The economic and social roots of the BNP's emergence in Barking are not unique to the area. This means that there is nothing inevitable about its success here. Whatever the havoc wreaked on Barking by the vagaries of the market, the party's ability to feed off the despair produced by social inequality and deprivation remains dependent on the outcome of political decisions and battles that are yet to be resolved. Neither, then, is its success irreversible.
The Guardian

Met inquiry into BNP’s ‘dirty tricks’ against Margaret Hodge

Police are investigating the British National Party for allegedly running a dirty tricks campaign against a rival candidate.

The Met confirmed it was looking into claims the far-right party had lied in literature about Margaret Hodge, the Labour hopeful in Barking.

BNP leader Nick Griffin is challenging the culture minister for the east London seat.

In a newsletter sent to residents, his party claimed Mrs Hodge had financial interests in a proposed new prison for Barking.
It also carried a cartoon suggesting she was personally behind a ‘racist’ housing allocation.

It also said a member of her staff hung up on an ex-soldier when he called her office.

Mrs Hodge said: ‘This is politics of the worst kind. Griffin creates a big lie, tells it often enough and it hopes it becomes a truth.’
Her lawyers have contacted the BNP over the claims. The BNP denies any wrong-doing.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Lewis, a BNP candidate, defended as ‘hilarious’ pictures of her wearing a burka and fishnet stockings at a party

Metro

Posthumous Award for the King Who Saved Jews (Bulgaria)

King Boris III of Bulgaria has received a posthumous award for saving his country's Jews during the Holocaust by refusing to surrender the 50,000 Jews in Bulgaria to the Nazi army despite heavy pressure from Adolf Hitler.

The award was given to his grandson, Toronto banker Hermann Leiningen, and Chabad organized the award ceremony. The award itself was presented by a group of Bulgarian Jews whose lives were saved when the king refused to deport them.
King Boris III previously has been honored by the Anti-Defamation League.

However, his legacy remains somewhat controversial: while he refused to hand Bulgaria's Jews over to Hitler's army, he did allow the deportation of Jews from Thrace and Macedonia, which at that time were under Bulgarian rule. In addition, some historians say the king expressed willingness to deport Jews, but was stopped by the heads of the Independent Orthodox Church.

Leiningen, the king's grandson, told the Canadian Jewish Press that King Boris III had remained firm in his insistence that Bulgaria's Jews not be deported. Whether or not the church intervened to save Jews as well, “the final decisions had to be made by [the king],” he noted.

Boris III was unable to save the Jews of Thrace and Macedonia because those territories, unlike Bulgaria, were occupied by the German army, Leiningen explained.

King Boris III died in 1943 shortly after a meeting with Hitler. His body was never found.

Leiningen noted that his own father, Prince Karl, had moved to Israel in 1969 and had spent the last two decades of his life there, on a horse ranch in the Galilee. “No one could really figure out” why his father was drawn to Israel, he said.
novinite

BNP steals anti-BNP war veteran's words

Yesterday, WW2 veteran Kenneth Riley appealed for people to sign up to the Hope Not Hate campaign to fight the BNP.

Amazingly, within hours some of his own words were lifted verbatim and put into the mouth of the BNP's own claimed war veteran Bob Head.
Compare and contrast their two letters. It's both galling and depressing:

THE ANTI-BNP APPEAL

When I enlisted in the army 66 years ago, I did it for Britain.

Now I need you to do something for me.

The BNP is trying to strangle our great nation with the same extremist and fascist agenda that Hitler's Nazis threatened us with decades ago. Today, the war isn't being fought on the battlefield - but in the ballot box.

Hope Not Hate is on the front lines of our fight. They're organising to make sure modern-day Nazis aren't elected on 6 May and to preserve the Britain for which I fought so hard. If I had my health I would be out there with them. But I can't - so I'm writing to ask you to volunteer for me.

Please join Hope Not Hate's Day of Action this weekend - the campaign has laid on transport to help you get to the areas in which you are needed the most:

http://action.hopenothate.org.uk/fightthenazis

I was barely in my twenties when I went to fight for Britain. I left home with friends - all young lads like myself - and many never returned.

Today, the BNP salute and say "Heil Hitler" - and they support the same all-white Britain. They're proud of what the Nazis did to my friends, and what they did to millions of innocent people throughout Europe.

We didn't fight with our lives on the line years ago just to be right back here today.
We need to do everything we can to stop the BNP from being elected to local councils and to Parliament. Those boys lost to the war would proudly go door-to-door with Hope Not Hate to fight against the fascist BNP today.

There are no tanks and no guns in this fight - but we still need your courage to speak out.

Kenneth Riley. Normandy Veteran - Tank Division


THE BNP APPEAL
A message from Normandy Veteran Bob Head

Dear Fellow Patriot,
When I enlisted in the army in 1942, aged 18, I did it for Britain.
Now I need you to do something for me.

The old-gang parties and their fellow cohorts in the media are dismantling and destroying the Britain we fought so hard to defend and preserve. Today, the war isn't being fought on the battlefield - but in the ballot box.
The British National Party is on the front lines of our fight. Our party and our courageous activists are working around the clock to save the country that our War Heroes fought and died for. If I had my health I would be out there with them. But I can't - so I'm writing to ask you to volunteer for me.
.....
There are no tanks and no guns in this fight - but we still need your courage to propel the British National Party to its goals. Get active, leafleting, canvassing, speaking to people, get the word out!
Could you spare £20 towards our election campaign? £20 is not much, but it could be crucial to the BNP's chances of winning

------

Admin: Please help to fight this horrendous party that makes a mockery of our war heroes and the debt we owe them.

Please sign up and donate money to the Hope Not Hate campaign and show the world that the offensively racist BNP don’t speak in your name.

Arkansas man sentenced for Obama and African-Americans death plot

An Arkansas man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday for plotting to kill dozens of blacks, including then-Sen. Barack Obama, federal authorities said.

Paul Schlesselman pleaded guilty in January and was sentenced in an Arkansas federal court Thursday.

Federal officials said Schlesselman had threatened to kill Obama on October 23, 2008, shortly before the presidential election.

He also planned to "murder dozens of people with a focus on murdering African-Americans," the Justice Department said.
Schlesselman admitted planning the killing rampage for more than a month and had started to pile up weapons, including a short-barreled shotgun, the Justice Department said.

He planned to go on a series of robberies, burglaries and murders that would have ended with the killing of Obama, the Justice Department said.

"Our nation has made great progress in advancing civil rights, but this unthinkable conspiracy is a reminder that hate-fueled violence continues to be a very real problem in so many communities," said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division.

CNN

UEFA MUST GET TOUGH ON RACISM WITH £1M FINES, SAYS ANDERSON (uk)

England's first black international has condemned world football's attempts to rid the game of racism. Viv Anderson, who signalled a huge culture change within the English game when he was called up by Ron Greenwood in 1978 for the first in a 30-cap career, said: "We have our house in order in the UK. Nobody is allowed to chant. It is when we go to other countries. To get rid of it, the lead has to come from Uefa. The fines have to be more stringent." Anderson, who has just launched his autobiography, First Among Unequals, won back-to-back European Cups during his days at Nottingham Forest and became one of the few men to play under both Brian Clough and Sir Alex Ferguson when he was signed by Manchester United. He believes racism in European football has been allowed to fester for long enough. "When you are talking about a £14,000 fine for abusing England players, it is a nonsense. I know it is a minority but if the fines were £1 million, that would have an impact. "People would stand up and take notice about who was coming into the stadiums and what they were doing. I don't know what the answer is but the fines are ridiculous." Anderson does not believe the game's authorities have taken seriously black players' threats to take unilateral action in the face of abuse. Samuel Eto'o was the first in a succession of high-profile players to say they would be willing to walk off a pitch if they were isolated. "There are a lot of middle-class white people running football," he said. "This is 2010. We live in a multiracial world. If you had paid £30 to watch a match and someone like Eto'o or Thierry Henry walks off because of a few idiots, how would you feel? They have to clamp down on it. Racism should have been eradicated by now."


The Independant

ITALY'S TOP COURT REJECTS GAY MARRIAGE

Italy's Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected legal recognition of gay marriage, saying arguments in its favour were either "unfounded" or "inadmissible." Courts in Venice and Trento in the northeast sought the court's opinion after gay rights groups questioned whether the bar to same-sex marriage was a violation of human rights enshrined in the constitution. They also argued that the bar may flout European and international obligations, and that the constitution does not explicitly prohibit same-sex marriage. The Italian Forum of Family Associations hailed the ruling, saying the court had "chosen in favour of the good of society." But a group advocating gay marriage vowed to continue the struggle, "carrying it forward, both in the courts and in society, until the full equality of homosexuals is recognised in civil marriage law." The Constitutional Court will issue a detailed opinion in the coming days.

AFP

Waddon byelection: BNP candidate Charlotte Lewis's secret criminal past

admin : Well its not really that secret is it?

A candidate for the Waddon byelection sent death threats to a drugs company involved in animal testing.

Charlotte Lewis was jailed for six months in 2001 for her ongoing harassment of staff at the Huntington Life Sciences (HLS) centre in Cambridgeshire.

Miss Lewis, of Thornton Heath, is now standing as the British National party (BNP) in the Waddon byelection on February 12.
She appeared at Peterborough Crown Court on January 31, 2001 where she admitted four charges of harassment.
The 36-year-old was implicated in offensive mail sent to HLS staff when saliva on the envelopes matched her DNA.
The letters began “Dear Animal Abusing Scum” or “Dear Scum” and contained threats such as “If you don’t quit HLS then your life will not be worth living. You will always have to be looking over your shoulder”.
Miss Lewis also penned, “This is a warning. Your life is in grave danger if you don’t stop working at HLS ...

“You will find yourself having a gun aimed at your stupid ugly head.”

The court heard how Miss Lewis had not intended to carry out the threats and did not have “a violent bone in her body”.
But the victims of the threats were oblivious to this, with Charles Owen, a recipient of the mail, convinced the threats would be realised.
Jennifer Howlett, who had not worked at the centre for two years, said she was left “hysterical and very scared”.
And Mark and Julie Farrance, who received some 50 letters from animal rights activists, were also the targets of a late-night animal rights demonstration outside their home, with a brick thrown through their window.
They then received Miss Lewis’s letter which said: “I was there when a brick was put through your window. If you don’t quit HLS you can expect more of the same.”

Mrs Farrance feared for her family’s safety.
Sentencing Miss Lewis, Judge Richard Pollard said the six-month jail term would have been longer if she had not pleaded guilty and shown remorse.

He also issued a restraining order against Miss Lewis, a member of Stop Animal Rights Cruelty, banning her from harassing HLS staff.

It was revealed the BNP candidate had a history of psychological problems and suffers depression. The judge said the “chilling letters” had brought “fear and anguish to people going about their peaceful and lawful business”.
Miss Lewis told the Croydon Guardian this week that her time in jail, six weeks in total, was “utterly horrible” and she never wanted to spend another day in “that awful place”.

She said she got involved in animal rights in 1999 having been a vegetarian since she was 14. She said she began to read animal rights activist magazines.
She said: “I was not really involved in an extreme level, I just decided to write these letters. Unfortunately I was caught. I regret being caught.”

Last week the Croydon Guardian revealed how Miss Lewis had also had a brush with the law in 2006 when she was questioned over possible election fraud but was released without charge.

Croydon Guardian

White supremacist group 'considered itself most racist'

A white supremacist group considered itself the most racist and extreme neo-Nazi movement in Britain, a court heard today.

Members of the Aryan Strike Force believed groups like the notorious far-right Combat 18 and Blood and Honour did "f*** all" and were more interested in raising money than fighting "scum".

The shocking revelation emerged during the trial of ex-milkman's assistant Nicky Davison, 19, who is charged with possessing terrorism manuals.
Newcastle Crown Court has already heard that the teenager was one of the founders of the Aryan Strike Force, an online far-right group set up by his father, Ian.

Ian Davison, 41, a former pub DJ, has already admitted six charges related to this case, including producing ricin, one of the world's deadliest substances.
The aim of the group was to carry out "ops" and overthrow the Government, which it believed had been taken over by the ZOG - the Zionist Occupied Government.

After studying videos, messages posted online and logs of internet chat, Dr Matthew Feldman, a lecturer at the University of Northampton, said the Aryan Strike Force considered itself the most extreme right-wing group in Britain.
"Some of these groups like Blood and Honour and Combat 18 are seen as not being 'active' enough," Dr Feldman, an expert in the ideology of post-war fascism and neo-Nazism, told the jury.

"Aryan Strike Force would regard itself as the pinnacle and the most uncompromising form of neo-Nazis groups available in the UK.

"The Aryan Strike Force regarded itself as the most active, rejectionist and unwilling to compromise on its principles.

"The other movements would be more concerned about finances rather than focusing on direct action or revolutionary tactics.

"It was an unmistakable example of neo-Nazis in Britain and this permutation is the most overtly hostile.

"Legion88, the Aryan Strike Force and WolfPack represented the most aggressive and dangerous form of neo-Nazism.

"One, moreover, which seems to be on the most extreme form of (the) neo-Nazi spectrum, and this group may be considered an exemplar of violent revolutionary neo-Nazism."

Earlier today, jurors were read messages Davison had posted on online forums and heard he was prepared to "die fighting" for his cause.
Andrew Edis QC, prosecuting, said Davison wrote: "I know my aims.

"I don't care if I am fighting a unwinnable battle.

"I would rather die fighting than let the scum of the earth walk over us."

Davison wrote of "taking control of national white countries by any means necessary and overthrow and see the downfall of the ZOG".

The court heard yesterday that in June last year police discovered copies of The Poor Man's James Bond and The Anarchist's Cookbook on computers at the home Davison shared with his mother and younger brothers and sisters in County Durham.
Davison, of Grampian Way, Annfield Plain, denies three charges of possessing a record containing information useful in committing or preparing acts of terrorism.

Last month his father, of Myrtle Grove, Burnopfield, County Durham, admitted preparing for acts of terrorism and producing a chemical weapon from June 1 to 3 last year.
He also admitted three charges of possessing a record containing information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing acts of terrorism relating to electronic copies of The Anarchist's Cookbook, the Mujahideen Explosives Handbook and Kitchen Complete on June 2.

He will be sentenced at the conclusion of his son's trial.
Ricin is a toxin that is extracted from the castor bean and exposure to small quantities can be fatal.

The US Centre for Disease Control suggests as little as 500 micrograms - about half a grain of sand - of the substance can be lethal if injected or inhaled. It has no known antidote.

The Independant

MACEDONIA ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAW CRITICISED

Macedonia has failed to adopt an anti-discrimination law that is completely harmonised with European norms and standards, with explicit protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation a crucial missing element, local human rights experts commented after the country’s parliament adopted its first law on the subject. Instead of promoting equality and justice, the law promotes homophobia and discrimination, Zarko Trajanovski, a human rights expert, told local media. “Generally speaking, the law does not meet the EU recommendations where the premise of different sexual orientation is mentioned as one of the six key bases for discrimination,” he told A1 TV. Macedonia’s controversial anti-discrimination law passed last week with the backing of the main ruling centre-right VMRO DPMNE party. The opposition left the session in protest after the majority remained deaf to the recommendations to include provisions barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Margarita Caca Nikolovska, a former judge at the European Court of Human Rights and founder of the Macedonian NGO Institute for Democracy, argued that the country might find itself under scrutiny from the EU for ignoring its recommendations. "A serious state must have this in mind and have a legal explanation for everything it does. Are our arguments going to be that people with different sexual orientation are sick, like some from the ruling party try to portray!?" Slavco Dimitrov from the NGO Macedonia without Discrimination told local media that this will most certainly be a “black stain” in the next European Commission report for Macedonia, which is due to be published in autumn. He said that the law will have to be changed “sooner or later”.

One day before the passing of the law the EU ambassador to the country, Erwan Fouere, urged legislators once again to gather strength and openly add this type of discrimination in the law. Many local NGOs and human rights movements share the same thoughts. "I appeal once again to the government and the parliament to use the chance on Thursday and vote for a comprehensive anti-discrimination law, harmonized with European norms and criteria," Fouere said. Trajanovski argued that the ruling conservative VMRO DPMNE party used the adoption of the law for its own political interests. “The fact that we witnessed a constant anti homosexual campaign prior to the passing of the law shows that in practice the party in power abused the law to boost its own popularity among its voters,” he said. Several VMRO DPMNE deputies were active in the past months in explaining to the public that they would not let a provision on sexual orientation be included in the law. “This provision would mean the first phase towards introducing homosexual marriages and letting homosexual couples adopt children,” VMRO DPMNE party legislator Vlatko Gjorcev said in late February during one of the open debates on the topic held in the parliament. The government has boasted that the law is one of the most comprehensive in Europe, and that failure to mention sexual orientation does not mean that homosexuals and other marginalized sexual groups will be left without protection as they are listed in the section “others”. Human Rights Watch sent an open letter to the Macedonian prime minister in February this year to push for the inclusion of sexual orientation in the anti-discrimination law. "Silence equals inequality," said Boris O. Dittrich, advocacy director in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender program of Human Rights Watch. "Vague references to ‘other grounds' simply aren't good enough."

Balkan Insight