A BNP candidate has written to a Stoke mosque asking worshippers for their votes.
Mike Coleman, who is standing in Stoke-on-Trent South, said Muslims should vote BNP because it wants UK troops out of Afghanistan.
Other candidates dismissed the call. Liberal Democrat Zulfiqar Ali said the BNP was trying to scare Muslims.
Conservative James Rushton called it a publicity stunt and Labour's Rob Flello said it was not worth talking about.
'Not true'
In his letter Mr Coleman told worshippers at the Glani Noor mosque in Longton that victory at the general election for any of the three main political parties would spell "disaster" for the Muslim world.
"That's where we need a revolution in thinking and approach. I accept I've got to change my view on the Muslim community, they must accept they've got to change their view as well," he told BBC Stoke.
But Mr Ali said: "They're trying to scare them, that all the West is against Islam and Muslims, which is not true.
"All along we have been saying that we should stabilise the situation in Afghanistan and get our troops out, because our troops lives are at risk."
Mr Flello said: "I'd rather talk about the things that matter in Stoke-on-Trent South."
Mr Rushton said he was "totally bemused" by the letter, adding: "I think the letter is a cheap publicity stunt and will have very little impact on anybody's voting intentions."
The candidates announced for Stoke-on-Trent South are: Liberal Democrat: Zulfiqar Ali; UK Independence Party: Mark Barlow; Independent: Mark Breeze; British National Party: Michael Coleman; Labour: Rob Flello; Staffordshire Independent Group: Terry Follows; Conservative: James Rushton.
BBC News
Monday, 3 May 2010
The EMMA Trust project Swastika onto parliament to highlight the BNP danger
Campaigners against the far-right in Britain on Monday projected an image of a swastika on the side of parliament, amid fears extremists could be voted in at this week's general election.
The anti-fascist group, the EMMA Trust, beamed the picture of the red and white swastika onto the Houses of Parliament alongside the phrase: "Decision Time. Keep the far-right out."
"The rationale behind this projection is to protect this iconic building that is the bastion of our democratic values around the world against the invasion of the far-right," said a trust spokesman.
The far-right British National Party (BNP) is fielding about 330 candidates in Thursday's vote.
It made gains in elections to the European parliament in June last year, with two of its members - including leader Nick Griffin - winning seats in the legislature.
Please support The EMMA Trust in their campaign.
smh
At Dachau, German president warns about forgetting the past
Sixty-five years after the liberation of Dachau, President Horst Koehler has warned that the horrors of the Nazi era must never be forgotten. He attended a commemoration ceremony Sunday at the former concentration camp.
Sixty-five years after the liberation by US forces of the Dachau Nazi concentration camp, German President Horst Koehler spoke at a ceremony there, thanking former prisoners for their work in keeping the memory of the Nazis' crimes alive.
Some 650 former inmates of the camp took part in the commemoration ceremonies on Sunday, during which Koehler called Dachau an important reminder of Germany's darkest period.
Before giving his speech, Koehler laid a wreath at the site of the former crematorium. He is the first German president to visit the memorial, located near Munich in southern Germany.
Camp model
Dachau was set up in 1933 and was the only camp to operate for the entire 12 years of the Nazi regime.
It also served as a model for other camps later constructed across Germany and in countries occupied by Nazi forces.
The first inmates at the camp were political prisoners, but soon Dachau also held Jews, Sinti and Roma, gays and people classified as "asocial" and "criminal" by the regime.
In total some 200,000 people from across Europe were held at Dachau - more then 43,000 people died or were killed at the camp.
When US troops arrived on April 29, 1945, they found around 32,000 prisoners.
Two decades after its liberation, the site became a memorial thanks to the work of surviving inmates. The memorial and museum receive around 700,000 visitors each year.
DW World
Some 650 former inmates of the camp took part in the commemoration ceremonies on Sunday, during which Koehler called Dachau an important reminder of Germany's darkest period.
Before giving his speech, Koehler laid a wreath at the site of the former crematorium. He is the first German president to visit the memorial, located near Munich in southern Germany.
Camp model
Dachau was set up in 1933 and was the only camp to operate for the entire 12 years of the Nazi regime.
It also served as a model for other camps later constructed across Germany and in countries occupied by Nazi forces.
The first inmates at the camp were political prisoners, but soon Dachau also held Jews, Sinti and Roma, gays and people classified as "asocial" and "criminal" by the regime.
In total some 200,000 people from across Europe were held at Dachau - more then 43,000 people died or were killed at the camp.
When US troops arrived on April 29, 1945, they found around 32,000 prisoners.
Two decades after its liberation, the site became a memorial thanks to the work of surviving inmates. The memorial and museum receive around 700,000 visitors each year.
DW World
BREAKING NEWS: EDL stages rooftop protest
REPORTS are coming in that the English Defence League has occupied the rooftop of a derelict building in Dudley earmarked for a mammoth new mosque.
The group staged a daytime protest in the town on Easter Saturday to show their objection to the planned new place of worship - and almost immediately afterwards supporters said a return visit was already being planned.
Around 20 EDL members, with their faces covered, are reportedly involved in the protest, which has been advertised on the group's page on social networking site Facebook.
An eyewitness said: "They're waving England flags and blaring out Islamic music from a loud speaker."
The EDL's website says the protestors "have food and water to last them weeks, and a pa system to give speeches".
It adds: "I believe they even have a Playstation. They will be playing the call to prayer to let those who are not bothered by this mosque know what to look forward to."
Police and fire crews - however - have arrived at the scene and sealed off Hall Street in the hope of achieving a swift end to the protest.
Halesowen news
The group staged a daytime protest in the town on Easter Saturday to show their objection to the planned new place of worship - and almost immediately afterwards supporters said a return visit was already being planned.
Around 20 EDL members, with their faces covered, are reportedly involved in the protest, which has been advertised on the group's page on social networking site Facebook.
An eyewitness said: "They're waving England flags and blaring out Islamic music from a loud speaker."
The EDL's website says the protestors "have food and water to last them weeks, and a pa system to give speeches".
It adds: "I believe they even have a Playstation. They will be playing the call to prayer to let those who are not bothered by this mosque know what to look forward to."
Police and fire crews - however - have arrived at the scene and sealed off Hall Street in the hope of achieving a swift end to the protest.
Halesowen news
BNP leader Nick Griffin calls for his Weaver Vale candidate Colin Marsh to quit over displaying Nazi insignia on Facebook
With just days to go until the General Election, Griffin, appearing on BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine show today (Friday, April 30), said: “If that’s genuine and he’s put those on, he’s going to be thrown out because those organisations are proscribed to members of the British National Party.”
Nothing British About the BNP, an anti-BNP campaign group, also say the election candidate’s Facebook friends include a number of violent neo-Nazis.
The group’s deputy editor Maurice Cousins said: “Colin Marsh is a vile neo-Nazi sympathiser with values inimical to Britain’s liberal democratic way of life.”
The Chronicle contacted the BNP about the claims. Spokesman John Walker, who is himself a candidate in Alyn and Deeside, Flintshire, said there were no plans for Marsh to step down but confirmed there will be an investigation.
Runcorn and Widnes weekly news
OVER 100 RIGHT EXTREMISTS, 200 ANARCHISTS DEMONSTRATE IN PRAGUE (Czech Rep.)
During the march, some of the participants assaulted bodyguards of a TV crew as they might regard them ultra-right followers. After the meeting, the anarchists will probably attend the 3rd May Day festival in Prague organised by the Anti-fascist Action. Over 1000 policemen, both in uniforms and plain clothes as well as members of the riot team, were deployed to monitor the extremists' events in the capital. The DSSS is a successor to the scrapped extremist Workers' Party (DS). The Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) decided to dissolve the DS in February, complying with the proposal of the government saying the DS is extremist and poses a threat to democracy.
The court concluded that the DS's programme, ideas and symbols contain the elements of xenophobia, chauvinism, homophobia and a racist subtext. DSSS supporters today listened to a speech by party election leader Tomas Vandas, former DS chairman, and they carried flags of the DS and DSSS. Vandas said if the court abolished the DSSS as well, another successor entity would be established. In his speech he attacked all parties and pointed to the communist past of some current Czech politicians. He also rejected further EU integration and a possible adoption of the euro single European currency by the Czech Republic. "Our interest is the Czech Republic with its national government that will defend Czech citizens' interests," Vandas said.
Other speeches and music performances followed. Among the participants was Romany Jaroslav Suchy, the man who stroked U.S. President Barack Obama during his visit to Prague last April, and who unsuccessfully sought asylum in Canada. Some of DSSS supporters took a picture with him. Six people, including four DSSS election leaders - Vandas, deputy chairmen Jiri Stepanek and Petr Kotaba and Delnicke listy paper editor-in-chief Martin Zbela, were recently charged over their racist manifestations at the May Day celebrations in Brno last year that were attended by some 500 supporters of the DS.
Prague Monitor
HUNGARIAN DISILLUSION BOOSTS FAR-RIGHT PARTY
Founded in 2003, Jobbik initially struggled on the political fringes. But in 2006 Ferenc Gyurcsány, prime minister, was taped admitting that the Socialists had lied “morning, noon and night” about the state of the economy to get re-elected, leading to violence on the streets of Budapest. Jobbik has since capitalised on disillusion with Hungary’s political elite, after a succession of high-level corruption scandals. “Their political credo is strongly anti-establishment,” says András Lánczi, a political scientist at Corvinus University in Budapest. The economic crisis adds tinder to the flames, swelling nationalist opposition to foreign investors and banks. Jobbik’s stronghold remains the deprived, north-east of Hungary where social tensions between ethnic Hungarians and the Roma are rife. Jobbik’s political breakthrough came last year in elections to the European parliament when it won 15 per cent of the vote. And an extensive grass-roots campaign, involving hundreds of rallies and an extensive online presence has helped Jobbik mount a nationwide challenge, garnering support particularly among the young. Gabriella Kristó worked in senior financial roles for General Motors and Italy’s UniCredit before standing as Jobbik’s candidate in Hódmezovásárhely. “I’d never been involved in politics before,” she says. “But I saw Jobbik as a party that is not corrupt, a young party, that wants something different.” “When I told friends in Spain that I was standing, they said, are you crazy? They said Jobbik were Nazis and fascists, but I replied, ‘Am I a fascist? Am I a Nazi?’” Many Hungarians insist Jobbik is simply a protest movement that will run its course. But analysts say it embodies a pan-eastern European strain of xenophobic, anti-establishment radical nationalism that shows little sign of weakening. “Demand for rightwing extremism is deeply rooted in society,” says Krisztian Szabados at the Political Capital think-tank. Much will depend on whether Viktor Orban, Hungary’s new prime minister, can tackle graft and set Hungary on surer economic footing. In the meantime Jobbik’s ambitions are clear: “Jobbik will win the next election,” says Mr Vona, with not a hint of self-doubt.
Financial Times
BNP attack David Cameron twice in one day
David Cameron was twice forced to run the gauntlet of racist BNP supporters yesterday - and avoided a confrontation with its leader Nick Griffin.
Around 75 BNP members chanted "traitor" as the Tory leader arrived for an election rally meeting in Dagenham, East London.
Minutes earlier Griffin had told supporters: "We don't want any violence against him when he comes in... though he might deserve it."
Cameron had a meeting with health workers at Rush Green Medical Centre in the new seat of Dagenham and Rainham, which Labour's Jon Cruddas is likely to win.
But Cameron ignored protesters, including Griffin, by sweeping past them to his meeting in a chauffeur-driven limo.
Earlier the Tory leader was heckled by a few BNP supporters at a hospital in Stevenage, Herts.
The Mirror
Around 75 BNP members chanted "traitor" as the Tory leader arrived for an election rally meeting in Dagenham, East London.
Minutes earlier Griffin had told supporters: "We don't want any violence against him when he comes in... though he might deserve it."
Cameron had a meeting with health workers at Rush Green Medical Centre in the new seat of Dagenham and Rainham, which Labour's Jon Cruddas is likely to win.
But Cameron ignored protesters, including Griffin, by sweeping past them to his meeting in a chauffeur-driven limo.
Earlier the Tory leader was heckled by a few BNP supporters at a hospital in Stevenage, Herts.
The Mirror
Sunday, 2 May 2010
Southend West BNP candidate boasts of violence and drug use on Facebook profile
Mr Gladwin (left), a single 26 year old builder, lives in Billericay with his mother. He is known to have worked as security for BNP leader Nick Griffin, and stood as an Essex County Councillor in the last round of elections.
In October 2009, when Nick Griffin was due to appear on the BBC’s Question Time programme, anti-fascists and other opposition groups held protests at the studio where the debate was to take place.
Mr Gladwin was present with Mr Griffin at this clash, and demonstrated his eagerness to fight protestors. He wrote:
“CANT WAIT TILL 2MORRA! LOOK 4 ME ON THE NEWS STOMPIN SUM PATHETIC RED SCUMBAG’S HEAD IN!
“but coz of the old bill doin der job 4 once in der traitorous lives, i might not b able 2 play with dem.”
In January this year, the Muslim organisation Islam4UK claimed that it would hold a march through the streets of Wooton Bassett to commemorate the Muslims killed in the Afghanistan conflict.
Senior BNP members Nick Griffin, Andrew Brons MEP and Richard Barnbrook claimed that they would “use their own bodies to physically block the street” if the march took place.
The march did not take place, but before this, Mr Gladwin expressed his excitement at the possibility of a clash between BNP supporters and Islam4UK. In response to a comment posted on his wall that said “see you at wooton bassett” on his Facebook profile, Mr Gladwin wrote:
“cheers m8 hope u ad a white xmas and a red free new year!
“cant wait m8 should b fun 2 cleansing our streets hope the filthy media shows how peaceful and carin they r and their willingness 2 integrate with english culture
“just tink this is the only country in the world dat allows foreigners 2 shit on the graves of our war heroes in public (with a police escort!) and get away with it but if u shout out naughty words dat offends them u get banged up!
“u gota laugh or u’ll cry or become a serial killer lol”
At other points, Mr Gladwin makes comments about people born with birth defects due to the use of the controversial drug Thalidomide. Thalidomide was used worldwide between 1957 and 1961 and was linked to birth defects such as shortened limbs, in what was described as “one of the biggest medical tragedies of modern times.”
An estimated 20,000 people are known to have been affected by the drug in this way. In the UK, only 466 of the “Thalidomide babies” born with defects survived.
On Mr Gladwin’s profile, a friend joked about impotence, writing “Hello Mr Floppy” on his wall.
In response, Mr Gladwin wrote: “Its a disability you know, you wouldn’t ask a flidermite [thalidomide] to change a light bulb would ya?!! They look like sea lions.”
Mr Gladwin also makes comments on his page about casual drug use. After posting a new picture of himself online, he wrote: “Now don’t I look like an ordinary respectable member of society?”
In response, a friend wrote: “Hello mate, just short of pipe and slippers then uv cracked it.”
Mr Gladwin replied: “Cheers m8 but the only pipe ive got has got a ganja leaf on it, dont tink that will go down well with da local rag lol!”
At the time of publishing, BNP representatives had not responded to Councilbust.com requests for comment.
CouncilBust
RISING TORY STAR PHILIPPA STROUD RAN PRAYER SESSIONS TO 'CURE' GAY PEOPLE (uk)
A high-flying prospective Conservative MP, credited with shaping many of the party's social policies, founded a church that tried to "cure" homosexuals by driving out their "demons" through prayer. Philippa Stroud, who is likely to win the Sutton and Cheam seat on Thursday and is head of the Centre for Social Justice, the thinktank set up by the former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, has heavily influenced David Cameron's beliefs on subjects such as the family. A popular and energetic Tory, she is seen as one of the party's rising stars. The CSJ reportedly claims to have formulated as many as 70 of the party's policies. Stroud has spoken of how her Christian faith has motivated her to help the poor and of her time spent working with the destitute in Hong Kong. On her return to Britain, in 1989, she founded a church and night shelter in Bedford, the King's Arms Project, that helped drug addicts and alcoholics. It also counselled gay, lesbian and transsexual people. Abi, a teenage girl with transsexual issues, was sent to the church by her parents, who were evangelical Christians. "Convinced I was demonically possessed, my parents made the decision to move to Bedford, because of this woman [Stroud] who had come back from Hong Kong and had the power to set me free," Abi told the Observer. "She wanted me to know all my thinking was wrong, I was wrong and the so-called demons inside me were wrong. The session ended with her and others praying over me, calling out the demons. She really believed things like homosexuality, transsexualism and addiction could be fixed just by prayer, all in the name of Jesus." "T" said he moved to Bedford because he believed the church could help him stop having homosexual thoughts. "I was trying to convince myself that a change was possible but, at the same time, a part of me didn't believe it was possible," he said. "The church's approach was not that it was sinful to be homosexual but that it was sinful to act on it. The aim is to get a person to a position where they don't have these sinful emotions and thoughts." "T" said it was only after he "took a break" from the church that his depression lifted. "It was the church's attitude towards my sexuality that was the issue," he recalled. "My impression is that she genuinely cares about people," he said of Stroud. "Her personal beliefs may get in the way sometimes, but she is a positive person."
Stroud and her husband, David, a minister in the New Frontiers church, allied to the US evangelical movement, left the project in the late 1990s to establish another church in Birmingham. Angela Paterson, who was an administrator at the Bedford church, said: "With hindsight, the thing that freaks me out was everybody praying that a demon would be cast out of me because I was gay. Anything – drugs, alcohol or homosexuality, they thought you had a demon in you." Kacey Jones, a hostel resident, said she was told to end her lesbian relationship or leave the church. "Philippa was still around when I first moved in," Jones said. "There was a 'discipleship house' for Christians struggling with issues, including their sexuality. They told me my feelings weren't normal. I didn't want to be gay, I wanted to be like everybody else, get married, have kids and please my parents." Stroud wrote a book, God's Heart for the Poor, in which she explains how to deal with people showing signs of "demonic activity". Stroud, who declined to talk to the Observer, writes: "I'd say the bottom line is to remember your spiritual authority as a child of God. He is so much more powerful than anything else!" In the book she discusses the daily struggle of running the hostel. "One girl lived in the hostel for some time, became a Christian, then choked to death on her own vomit after a drinking bout. Her life had changed to some extent, but we wondered whether God knew that she hadn't the will to stick with it and was calling her home." One resident featured in the book, Mary, was in an abusive relationship. "We discovered further layers of the tangle when she admitted to previous lesbian relationships and to being on the receiving end of abuse from her family," Stroud writes, adding: "No wonder she was in such a mess!" The Conservatives have tried to win over gay voters after a string of controversial comments by party members. The shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, said owners of B&B accommodation should have the right to turn away gay couples. Julian Lewis, the shadow defence minister, said he was against lowering the age of consent from 18 to 16 for homosexuals. Revelations about Stroud's past are likely to make the party's task even more difficult. "This reinforces our long-held suspicions that those out of sight, but with their hands on the levers of power, have deeply reactionary ambitions," said Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society. Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the Stonewall group, said: "If Mrs Stroud has been praying to rid Britain of its homosexuality, she clearly hasn't been praying hard enough. It would be highly regrettable if someone who continued to hold these views held any significant office in government."
Observer Guardian
Stroud and her husband, David, a minister in the New Frontiers church, allied to the US evangelical movement, left the project in the late 1990s to establish another church in Birmingham. Angela Paterson, who was an administrator at the Bedford church, said: "With hindsight, the thing that freaks me out was everybody praying that a demon would be cast out of me because I was gay. Anything – drugs, alcohol or homosexuality, they thought you had a demon in you." Kacey Jones, a hostel resident, said she was told to end her lesbian relationship or leave the church. "Philippa was still around when I first moved in," Jones said. "There was a 'discipleship house' for Christians struggling with issues, including their sexuality. They told me my feelings weren't normal. I didn't want to be gay, I wanted to be like everybody else, get married, have kids and please my parents." Stroud wrote a book, God's Heart for the Poor, in which she explains how to deal with people showing signs of "demonic activity". Stroud, who declined to talk to the Observer, writes: "I'd say the bottom line is to remember your spiritual authority as a child of God. He is so much more powerful than anything else!" In the book she discusses the daily struggle of running the hostel. "One girl lived in the hostel for some time, became a Christian, then choked to death on her own vomit after a drinking bout. Her life had changed to some extent, but we wondered whether God knew that she hadn't the will to stick with it and was calling her home." One resident featured in the book, Mary, was in an abusive relationship. "We discovered further layers of the tangle when she admitted to previous lesbian relationships and to being on the receiving end of abuse from her family," Stroud writes, adding: "No wonder she was in such a mess!" The Conservatives have tried to win over gay voters after a string of controversial comments by party members. The shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, said owners of B&B accommodation should have the right to turn away gay couples. Julian Lewis, the shadow defence minister, said he was against lowering the age of consent from 18 to 16 for homosexuals. Revelations about Stroud's past are likely to make the party's task even more difficult. "This reinforces our long-held suspicions that those out of sight, but with their hands on the levers of power, have deeply reactionary ambitions," said Keith Porteous Wood, executive director of the National Secular Society. Ben Summerskill, chief executive of the Stonewall group, said: "If Mrs Stroud has been praying to rid Britain of its homosexuality, she clearly hasn't been praying hard enough. It would be highly regrettable if someone who continued to hold these views held any significant office in government."
Observer Guardian
English Defence League protest leads to 12 arrests
Twelve people have been arrested during a protest which attracted more than 800 people organised by the English Defence League in Buckinghamshire.
The EDL, which says it opposes "militant Islam", organised the protest in Aylesbury's Market Square earlier.
A police spokesman said that "on the whole" the protest had been peaceful but there had been "some disorder".
Eight of the people arrested were being held on suspicion of carrying offensive weapons.
Police said there were fewer protestors than the EDL had anticipated.
The group has held demonstrations over recent months in Manchester, Bolton and Derby.
Counter protest
Supt Richard List, of Aylesbury police, said: "We made it very clear to the EDL at the outset that we would not tolerate any disorder on the day and that there would be a significant police presence.
"The police operation will continue until we are totally satisfied that there are no risks or threats to public safety."
A counter protest was held in Vale Park earlier, but has since dispersed.
BBC News
The EDL, which says it opposes "militant Islam", organised the protest in Aylesbury's Market Square earlier.
A police spokesman said that "on the whole" the protest had been peaceful but there had been "some disorder".
Eight of the people arrested were being held on suspicion of carrying offensive weapons.
Police said there were fewer protestors than the EDL had anticipated.
The group has held demonstrations over recent months in Manchester, Bolton and Derby.
Counter protest
Supt Richard List, of Aylesbury police, said: "We made it very clear to the EDL at the outset that we would not tolerate any disorder on the day and that there would be a significant police presence.
"The police operation will continue until we are totally satisfied that there are no risks or threats to public safety."
A counter protest was held in Vale Park earlier, but has since dispersed.
BBC News
BNP 'STAR' QUITS.. TO EXPOSE RACIST PARTY
Ex-soldier Simon Nicholson joined the party in 2007, believing leader Griffin's claim that the party was no longer racist and would campaign on local issues.
He was even praised by Griffin when Simon came within 16 votes of overturning a 1,000-vote Labour majority on Cumbria County Council.
But after growing disillusioned with the party's racism, Simon agreed to work with the Sunday Mirror just before and during this General Election campaign. For nearly three months he kept a diary exposing the sickening racist extremism of BNP members and the true face of the party's far-right views.
Simon, 37, got right to the heart of the B N P 's election machine, At one rally in the North West, he watched as Griffin branded women in burkhas "big, black crows".
At a meeting in Cumbria, BNP National Organiser Clive Jefferson hit out at plans for a Muslim school in Burnley, labelling the scheme "a breeding programme".
Other BNP activists criticised mixed marriages and branded an area of London which has a large black community as "C**n City".
Simon also secretly filmed senior figures admitting how Griffin had taken advantage of the generous expenses system for Euro-MPs, bragging that "we play them at their own game".
Simon told the Sunday Mirror: "What I found was a party dominated by thugs who were still obsessed by race - and Griffin was the worst of the lot.
"The British National Party is a shambles and Griffin is telling lies to voters when he says he has the answers to their problems."
The party quickly gained a reputation for racism, anti-semitism and intimidation of opponents but won its first council seat in 1993 in London's Tower Hamlets.
Under Nick Griffin, made leader in 1999, the party has made further gains and last year won two seats in the European Parliament.
In March the BNP was forced by the courts to allow non-whites to join the party.
REVEALED: THEIR SICK WORLD
'Muslims are going to fly the black flag of Islam over Downing St ' - NICK GRIFFIN in Blackburn
Here is a selection of entries from the diary kept by Simon Nicholson during his time in the BNP...
Saturday Feb 13
Drive overnight from Cumbria for "national day of action" in Barking, where "the boss" Nick Griffin is standing against Labour MP Margaret Hodge.
Arrive at hotel and see a couple of Orthodox Jewish men in the street. Regional Organiser Clive Jefferson mutters: "Look at those f***ing Yids." Three of us crammed into tiny room, Clive rants about Muslims gang-raping "our women" and mixed marriages making him sick.
Griffin puts a couple of leaflets in letterboxes but barely speaks to a single local voter. Chaperoned through a few empty streets with two security cars and his bodyguards.
Later 30 members, including Griffin and other ex-National Front members, gather at The Crown pub in Epping Forest.
A party veteran tells us he used to live in Edmonton but moved out after it became "C**n City". Hates Enfield - "they're breeding like rabbits" - and didn't think much of the BNP's target area of East London today: "They'll f***ing blow the place up. I couldn't wait to leave there after what I saw today."
Thursday Feb 18
At a pub in Sandwith, Cumbria. Clive Jefferson claims "teams of militant Asians and Islamics" will be trying to infiltrate the party. But makes clear new constitution allowing ethnic minority members will be phrased carefully so even those who pledge loyalty to the BNP will be outcasts.
When Sikh member Rajinder Singh's name comes up, one member shouts "black b*****d". Another asks: "What are we supposed to call them when they come to meetings? N*****s? They like being called n*****s, don't they?" Clive suggests putting local Muslims "under surveillance" at Friday prayers and claims Burnley has metal detectors because kids have been stabbing each other in race rows.
Has a go at plan for all-girl Muslim school there, falsely claiming it will house 5,000 Muslims. Calls it "a breeding programme".
Later communications officer Martin Wingfield admits Euro-MPs Griffin and Andrew Brons - despite slamming MPs over expenses - are gladly milking the generous EU system for all it's worth.
"We play them at their own game", he says, then reveals BNP support is dropping off a cliff ahead of General Election. He warns: "Suddenly our votes are tailing off. They're going down and we can't understand why."
Weds&Thur Mar 16-17 JUST 10 card-carrying members on big trip to see Griffin at EU parliament, with another 28 of the 50 seats filled by random crowd, mostly blokes picked up around Cumbria - some necking vodka.
Hellish journey. At Brussels hotel a few of our lot spot two dark-skinned men and start banging the window and making monkey noises. On way to parliament, bus stops at traffic lights near a mosque - hard-core members smash their fists against window shouting abuse.
Told that on a recent trip to Brussels a BNP official spent the night in a brothel. We give that a miss. But our group, many of them out of their minds on booze, still causes chaos - reports of naked women running from room to room at 3.30am.
Journey back hellish, drunkenness and couples copping off. One female member hands in her card in disgust a few days later.
Sunday March 28
In charge of Griffin's security at Moorclose Hotel, Workington.
He's massively paranoid, but his security team love all the cloak and dagger stuff. Would usually be hundreds here but only about 20 today. Reflects what people think - they feel cheated. Griffin's abandoned them and gone down South to campaign for a Westminster seat.
Griffin's answer to the scourge of knife crime: "Most of the disaffected youths carrying out knife crime and gun crime in London aren't ours at all - they're criminals from other countries. They can go back there." He claims Muslims "14 times more productive than us" and soon UK, Ireland, France and the Netherlands "will be Islamic".
In Blackburn, Griffin claims burkhas nothing to do with religion: "It's their way of saying, 'We're here, we're outbreeding you, your Government's paying us to take over and we're going to fly the black flag of Islam over your No 10 Downing Street'." Describes women in burkhas as "like big, black crows".
Thursday April 1
Civil war among the leadership. Total chaos. Jefferson says Mark Collett, the publicity director, has been sacked, because he was "a bad influence on the party". National organiser Eddy Butler and staff manager Emma Colgate have also left their posts - Clive getting Butler's job.
Bulletin for key staff later reveals allegations that officials plotted a "palace coup" against Griffin. Then Collett arrested over alleged threats to kill Griffin. All the talk is of a catastrophic split and massive dissatisfaction with Griffin.
Friday April 23
St George's Day in Sandwith - small event in local pub. Apparently there's been a massive cock-up with election leaflets and hundreds might be useless - Jefferson can't make the event because he's been up all night trying to sort it.
He's already in trouble for failing to take part in live web debate, answering questions from local voters.
Campaign up here is in disarray.
Wednesday
Unbelievable. Been asked to take a job at April 28 party's North West office in Wigton as well as standing in the next council elections.
Party is falling apart at the seams and unpopular Griffin struggling to keep it together. Cock-ups left, right and centre and they can't get respectable people to work for them or stand in elections.
No way I could say yes. Regret ever joining them. I want to stand against them next year because now I know how bad they will be for working class people like us.
The Mirror
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Police clash with anti-Islamist protesters in Buckinghamshire
Violence has between anti-Islamist protesters from the English Defence League and riot police at a May Day march in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
Demonstrators hurled coins, glass bottles, plastic flag sticks and cans at officers after the event.
Around 200 protesters burst through police lines and scuffled with officers armed with riot shields, batons and dogs.
Onlookers said there were no apparent serious injuries.
Around 1,000 members of the far-right group had marched to the town's Market Square, chanting and waving flags.
One onlooker said: "As the protesters came to leave the square members of the EDL thought they weren't been allowed out quickly enough and some began pushing and shoving.
"Soon missiles were been thrown and riot police had to be called in to calm the situation down.”
Local Area Commander Superintendent Richard List, of Thames Valley Police, strongly condemned the violence.
He said: "It is disappointing that the EDL has not continued to protest in a peaceful manner.
"Based on the experience of other towns, it was essential that the police, with the support of its partners, were geared up to deal with as many protesters as turned up.
"We made it very clear to the EDL at the outset that we would not tolerate any disorder on the day and that there would be a significant police presence.”
A Thames Valley Police spokesman said the violence lasted for only a "short period", adding: "EDL surged against police lines against wishes of their stewards. Officers contained them before allowing dispersal."
Around 75 members of the Unite Against Fascism group – who oppose the English Defence League – gathered in the town but later left.
The Telegraph
Demonstrators hurled coins, glass bottles, plastic flag sticks and cans at officers after the event.
Around 200 protesters burst through police lines and scuffled with officers armed with riot shields, batons and dogs.
Onlookers said there were no apparent serious injuries.
Around 1,000 members of the far-right group had marched to the town's Market Square, chanting and waving flags.
One onlooker said: "As the protesters came to leave the square members of the EDL thought they weren't been allowed out quickly enough and some began pushing and shoving.
"Soon missiles were been thrown and riot police had to be called in to calm the situation down.”
Local Area Commander Superintendent Richard List, of Thames Valley Police, strongly condemned the violence.
He said: "It is disappointing that the EDL has not continued to protest in a peaceful manner.
"Based on the experience of other towns, it was essential that the police, with the support of its partners, were geared up to deal with as many protesters as turned up.
"We made it very clear to the EDL at the outset that we would not tolerate any disorder on the day and that there would be a significant police presence.”
A Thames Valley Police spokesman said the violence lasted for only a "short period", adding: "EDL surged against police lines against wishes of their stewards. Officers contained them before allowing dispersal."
Around 75 members of the Unite Against Fascism group – who oppose the English Defence League – gathered in the town but later left.
The Telegraph
BNP to fight every ward in Barking & Dagenham election
The British National Party has revealed it is fighting for every ward available on Barking and Dagenham Council, fielding a list of 34 candidates.
In 2006 the party became the opposition with 12 councillors in the area.
Now the party, which wants to remove illegal immigrants from council houses, wants to win full control.
Labour denied Barking was a racist stronghold, while the Conservatives called the BNP "inept". The Liberal Democrats said Labour was the problem.
Richard Barnbrook, a senior BNP figure, is the man hoping to become leader of the council.
Outlining his policies to BBC London, Mr Barnbrook said: "If we find Labour putting people into council stock that haven't got the right to be here then those people - I'm terribly sorry - will be removed from their council houses into flats in tower blocks."
In the party's manifesto it says school trips to mosques will be banned.
Mr Barnbrook said: "What I'm saying, there will be no school visits to other religions other than the faith [of] that child's own denomination."
The party's message has struck a chord with some traditional voters who feel disenfranchised with the pace of change in the area.
One told BBC London: "There are a lot of foreigners here. You go on the bus and you don't know what they are saying."
Another said: "They are all getting jobs, money and flats. People born here are trying to get jobs - but we can't."
'Frustration with Labour'
But other parties have rallied round - with the Christian Party removing its candidates to avoid splitting the Labour vote.
Christian Party member Paula Watson said: "There's an old African saying that says when two elephants fight its the ground that suffers - and the people of Barking and Dagenham will suffer."
The Conservatives rubbished the BNP's chances. Tory candidate Terry Justice said: "If the people that voted for them went to assemblies and listened to their ineptness then I'm afraid they wouldn't have any backing at all in this borough."
And Terry London of the Liberal Democrats said: "I don't think that really the BNP are the main issue - Labour is the issue.
"The BNP only got in because of the frustration with Labour."
But Labour hit out at the use of the race issue in electioneering. Jon Cruddas, Labour parliamentary candidate for Dagenham, said: "I don't like the stigmatisation of the community in that this is a racist capital - it's not.
"There are a number of big issues here in terms of housing, in terms of immigration.
"But we need to have a calm thoughtful way through that."
BBC News
In 2006 the party became the opposition with 12 councillors in the area.
Now the party, which wants to remove illegal immigrants from council houses, wants to win full control.
Labour denied Barking was a racist stronghold, while the Conservatives called the BNP "inept". The Liberal Democrats said Labour was the problem.
Richard Barnbrook, a senior BNP figure, is the man hoping to become leader of the council.
Outlining his policies to BBC London, Mr Barnbrook said: "If we find Labour putting people into council stock that haven't got the right to be here then those people - I'm terribly sorry - will be removed from their council houses into flats in tower blocks."
In the party's manifesto it says school trips to mosques will be banned.
Mr Barnbrook said: "What I'm saying, there will be no school visits to other religions other than the faith [of] that child's own denomination."
The party's message has struck a chord with some traditional voters who feel disenfranchised with the pace of change in the area.
One told BBC London: "There are a lot of foreigners here. You go on the bus and you don't know what they are saying."
Another said: "They are all getting jobs, money and flats. People born here are trying to get jobs - but we can't."
'Frustration with Labour'
But other parties have rallied round - with the Christian Party removing its candidates to avoid splitting the Labour vote.
Christian Party member Paula Watson said: "There's an old African saying that says when two elephants fight its the ground that suffers - and the people of Barking and Dagenham will suffer."
The Conservatives rubbished the BNP's chances. Tory candidate Terry Justice said: "If the people that voted for them went to assemblies and listened to their ineptness then I'm afraid they wouldn't have any backing at all in this borough."
And Terry London of the Liberal Democrats said: "I don't think that really the BNP are the main issue - Labour is the issue.
"The BNP only got in because of the frustration with Labour."
But Labour hit out at the use of the race issue in electioneering. Jon Cruddas, Labour parliamentary candidate for Dagenham, said: "I don't like the stigmatisation of the community in that this is a racist capital - it's not.
"There are a number of big issues here in terms of housing, in terms of immigration.
"But we need to have a calm thoughtful way through that."
BBC News
Hamburg sees first May Day clashes (Germany)
In the night before May Day, clashes between police and leftist demonstrators in Hamburg left 14 people injured. In Berlin, however, the feared violence did not materialize.
Friday night's violence in Hamburg was centred around the city's Schanzenviertel neighborhood, where according to police some 150 left-wing demonstrators lit a bonfire in a street outside a youth centre, threw bottles and stones at police, and damaged a bank branch.
At least 14 people were injured in the clashes, including a passer-by who was taken to hospital after being hit on the head by a flying rock. In addition, thirteen police officers and three police dogs sustained injuries. Seven rioters were arrested.
Hamburg's Schanzenviertel neighborhood has been the scene of similar May Day clashes in recent years.
In Berlin, however, the night passed comparatively uneventfully, despite fears that the levels of May Day violence could be high this year. Berlin police reported that the around 4,000 people celebrating Walpurgis Night in the streets of the German capital did so relatively peacefully.
At Berlin's Boxhagener Platz in the Friedrichshain neighborhood, a few bottles and beer cans were thrown at police, but the large contingent of officers on the scene kept the situation under control. Several inebriated people were arrested but no injuries were reported.
The situation thus far has been markedly calmer than in 2009, when violence on the May Day weekend returned to the capital with a vengeance. Last year some 500 officers were injured and just under 300 people arrested.
For May Day itself, Saturday, police have prepared several large-scale operations aimed at heading off possible violence. A march by around 3,000 neo-Nazis is planned while some 10,000 left-wing anarchists are expected to gather in Berlin's Kreuzberg, an ethnically diverse, left-leaning neighborhood.
Police will try to keep the two demonstrations separate and are deploying 6,000 officers in the streets. Police reinforcements from other federal states have been sent to the capital.
The Local Germany
At least 14 people were injured in the clashes, including a passer-by who was taken to hospital after being hit on the head by a flying rock. In addition, thirteen police officers and three police dogs sustained injuries. Seven rioters were arrested.
Hamburg's Schanzenviertel neighborhood has been the scene of similar May Day clashes in recent years.
In Berlin, however, the night passed comparatively uneventfully, despite fears that the levels of May Day violence could be high this year. Berlin police reported that the around 4,000 people celebrating Walpurgis Night in the streets of the German capital did so relatively peacefully.
At Berlin's Boxhagener Platz in the Friedrichshain neighborhood, a few bottles and beer cans were thrown at police, but the large contingent of officers on the scene kept the situation under control. Several inebriated people were arrested but no injuries were reported.
The situation thus far has been markedly calmer than in 2009, when violence on the May Day weekend returned to the capital with a vengeance. Last year some 500 officers were injured and just under 300 people arrested.
For May Day itself, Saturday, police have prepared several large-scale operations aimed at heading off possible violence. A march by around 3,000 neo-Nazis is planned while some 10,000 left-wing anarchists are expected to gather in Berlin's Kreuzberg, an ethnically diverse, left-leaning neighborhood.
Police will try to keep the two demonstrations separate and are deploying 6,000 officers in the streets. Police reinforcements from other federal states have been sent to the capital.
The Local Germany
Police file charges against chapter of outlawed Hungarian Guard
An investigation found the "New Hungarian Guard Movement" - which changed its name to avoid being identified with its banned predecessor - amounted to a continuation of the Hungarian Guard's activities, said Eva Kelemen. The Hajdu-Bihar county chapter of the new movement in the east of Hungary has been implicated.
The Hungarian Guard Movement is the uniformed wing of the radical nationalist Jobbik party.
The investigators argued that the organisation "in its accessories and value system can be regarded as synonymous [with the outlawed Hungarian Guard], its activities helping the banned organisation live on."
The police declined to state what particular incident had triggered the legal action, but Edit Pocsai, Deputy Prosecutor-General for Hajdu-Bihar county, told MTI that the charges were raised as the consequence of a demonstration attended by Guard members in Debrecen, also in eastern Hungary, on October 22 last year.
Poiltics Hu
BNP claim 'window of opportunity' from Brown bigot slur
The BNP has said the incident in which Gordon Brown called a pensioner a "bigoted woman" has opened a "window of opportunity for the party".
Mr Brown apologised over his comments caught on tape about Gillian Duffy.
In an e-mail to supporters, BNP leader Nick Griffin said his party would appeal to working class voters who have been offended by the comments.
Meanwhile, he has admitted manifesto claims that Britain is the most densely populated country in Europe are wrong.
In the e-mail, Mr Griffin revealed the party's funds were "stretched to the limit" and called for donations to fund newspaper adverts in key areas such as Barking and Dagenham, Stoke-on-Trent, Leicestershire, Manchester and Barnsley.
He wrote: "Our activists are already at full stretch and we have no spare finances to fund extra campaign material, so what we want to do is to raise enough extra funds to place newspaper adverts in a whole range of key target areas up and down the country."
Meanwhile, Mr Griffin admitted on BBC Radio 4's World At One claims over how heavily populated Britain was were wrong.
He said: "In fact it's England and Wales. England and Wales are more overcrowded than anywhere in Europe except for Malta," he said.
"It's a fault in the manifesto. I blame the proof reader."
He also said he could not tell if a caller to a BBC radio phone-in was British because he could not see what he looked like.
He told the man, who said three of his grandparents were born outside Britain, that he could class himself as "civically British" but not "indigenous British".
BBC News
Mr Brown apologised over his comments caught on tape about Gillian Duffy.
In an e-mail to supporters, BNP leader Nick Griffin said his party would appeal to working class voters who have been offended by the comments.
Meanwhile, he has admitted manifesto claims that Britain is the most densely populated country in Europe are wrong.
In the e-mail, Mr Griffin revealed the party's funds were "stretched to the limit" and called for donations to fund newspaper adverts in key areas such as Barking and Dagenham, Stoke-on-Trent, Leicestershire, Manchester and Barnsley.
He wrote: "Our activists are already at full stretch and we have no spare finances to fund extra campaign material, so what we want to do is to raise enough extra funds to place newspaper adverts in a whole range of key target areas up and down the country."
Meanwhile, Mr Griffin admitted on BBC Radio 4's World At One claims over how heavily populated Britain was were wrong.
He said: "In fact it's England and Wales. England and Wales are more overcrowded than anywhere in Europe except for Malta," he said.
"It's a fault in the manifesto. I blame the proof reader."
He also said he could not tell if a caller to a BBC radio phone-in was British because he could not see what he looked like.
He told the man, who said three of his grandparents were born outside Britain, that he could class himself as "civically British" but not "indigenous British".
BBC News
German court ruling paves way for release of Eichmann files
A German court has found no legal basis for keeping the files on infamous Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann secret. Chancellor Angela Merkel's office had argued the files could hinder Germany's foreign policy.
A German court said Friday the government had no legal basis to keep under wraps secret files on Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi architect of the Holocaust, potentially paving the way for their release.
"After examining the files, the Federal Administrative Court has decided that the decision of the chancellor's office to block them is unlawful," the court said in a statement.
Following a lawsuit by a freelance Argentinian journalist, the court ruled as "invalid" the government's argument that releasing archives on Eichmann would jeopardize Berlin's foreign policy.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's office had also argued that publishing the 3,400-page files could endanger relations with foreign intelligence agencies.
However, the court also said it would give Merkel's office a chance to present further arguments against the publishing of the files, which were compiled during the 1950s and 1960s.
Israeli agents kidnapped Eichmann, one of the main executors of Adolf Hitler's "final solution" - the plan to exterminate the Jews - in Buenos Aires in 1960.
He was taken to Jerusalem for proceedings in an Israeli court, where he was caged in a special bullet-proof glass enclosure.
Eichmann was convicted of crimes against humanity and hanged in 1962.
DW-World
A German court said Friday the government had no legal basis to keep under wraps secret files on Adolf Eichmann, the Nazi architect of the Holocaust, potentially paving the way for their release."After examining the files, the Federal Administrative Court has decided that the decision of the chancellor's office to block them is unlawful," the court said in a statement.
Following a lawsuit by a freelance Argentinian journalist, the court ruled as "invalid" the government's argument that releasing archives on Eichmann would jeopardize Berlin's foreign policy.
Chancellor Angela Merkel's office had also argued that publishing the 3,400-page files could endanger relations with foreign intelligence agencies.
However, the court also said it would give Merkel's office a chance to present further arguments against the publishing of the files, which were compiled during the 1950s and 1960s.
Israeli agents kidnapped Eichmann, one of the main executors of Adolf Hitler's "final solution" - the plan to exterminate the Jews - in Buenos Aires in 1960.
He was taken to Jerusalem for proceedings in an Israeli court, where he was caged in a special bullet-proof glass enclosure.
Eichmann was convicted of crimes against humanity and hanged in 1962.
DW-World
COUNCIL OF EUROPE PUSHES BOSNIA TO CHANGE CONSTITUTION
The Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly, PACE, warned Bosnia on Thursday that it must urgently take measures to change its constitution, notably to end discrimination against minorities, or face serious consequences.
“Bosnia and Herzegovina must urgently launch an institutionalized process for preparing a comprehensive package of amendments to the Constitution – in particular to end the discrimination in elections to some bodies,” the PACE said in a resolution unanimously approved Thursday. The assembly warned Bosnia that its failure to reform the constitution could lead to a number of measures being taken against it, including suspending its delegation from PACE or suspending its voting rights. Bosnia's constitution, part of the Dayton peace agreement which ended the country’s 1992-95 war, allows only Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Croats and Serbs to run for the parliament and the presidency. Under the peace agreement, the country was divided into two highly autonomous parts – Serb dominated Republika Srpska and Bosniak-Croat federation. The two are linked by weak central institutions. Serbs from the Federation and Bosniaks and Croats from Republika Srpska are also banned from running for the posts reserved for their respective ethnic groups in the central institutions. Last December, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Bosnia’s constitution discriminated against minorities by barring them from running for highest offices based on their ethnic identity, ordering that it be changed.
The binding decision was issued in response to a complaint filed by Dervo Sejdic, an official of an umbrella body for Roma in Bosnia, and Jakob Finci, Bosnia's ambassador to Switzerland and the leader of the country's Jewish community. The international community has pushed Bosnia to adopt necessary changes before it officially calls general elections planned for October 5, but the country’s bickering ethnic leaders have failed to agree on the model for or the extent of changes. PACE said on Thursday that the adoption of amendments before the calling of the elections on May 5 was “rather unlikely”. It said there was a serious risk that the elections will be held “in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights and its Additional Protocols, as well as of the judgment of the Court.” As a result, the democratic legitimacy of the members of the presidency and deputies in the central parliament will be questioned. However, PACE said that the constitutional reform process must continue after the elections. “If, after the election, there is a continued persistent failure by Bosnia and Herzegovina to honor its obligations and commitments, the Assembly could – as a last resort – recommend the country’s suspension from the Council of Europe,” it said in a statement.
Balkan Nights
“Bosnia and Herzegovina must urgently launch an institutionalized process for preparing a comprehensive package of amendments to the Constitution – in particular to end the discrimination in elections to some bodies,” the PACE said in a resolution unanimously approved Thursday. The assembly warned Bosnia that its failure to reform the constitution could lead to a number of measures being taken against it, including suspending its delegation from PACE or suspending its voting rights. Bosnia's constitution, part of the Dayton peace agreement which ended the country’s 1992-95 war, allows only Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Croats and Serbs to run for the parliament and the presidency. Under the peace agreement, the country was divided into two highly autonomous parts – Serb dominated Republika Srpska and Bosniak-Croat federation. The two are linked by weak central institutions. Serbs from the Federation and Bosniaks and Croats from Republika Srpska are also banned from running for the posts reserved for their respective ethnic groups in the central institutions. Last December, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Bosnia’s constitution discriminated against minorities by barring them from running for highest offices based on their ethnic identity, ordering that it be changed.
The binding decision was issued in response to a complaint filed by Dervo Sejdic, an official of an umbrella body for Roma in Bosnia, and Jakob Finci, Bosnia's ambassador to Switzerland and the leader of the country's Jewish community. The international community has pushed Bosnia to adopt necessary changes before it officially calls general elections planned for October 5, but the country’s bickering ethnic leaders have failed to agree on the model for or the extent of changes. PACE said on Thursday that the adoption of amendments before the calling of the elections on May 5 was “rather unlikely”. It said there was a serious risk that the elections will be held “in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights and its Additional Protocols, as well as of the judgment of the Court.” As a result, the democratic legitimacy of the members of the presidency and deputies in the central parliament will be questioned. However, PACE said that the constitutional reform process must continue after the elections. “If, after the election, there is a continued persistent failure by Bosnia and Herzegovina to honor its obligations and commitments, the Assembly could – as a last resort – recommend the country’s suspension from the Council of Europe,” it said in a statement.
Balkan Nights
CLASHES FEARED AHEAD OF NEO-NAZI AND LEFT-WING LABOR DAY MARCHES (Germany)
Police in cities throughout Germany are gearing up for potentially violent clashes between rival extremists as neo-Nazis and far-left activists prepare to hold rallies as part of the Labor Day holiday on May 1.
In recent years, May 1, or Labor Day has seen violent clashes between far-right and far-left groups in some of Germany's major cities. This year the skirmishes are expected to intensify as extremist groups step up efforts to coordinate marches and counter-demos in cities like Berlin and Hamburg. "They meet here on May 1 in Berlin and it's like a contest of violence," said Olaf Sundermeyer, who co-authored a book on Germany's far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) and is an expert of the neo-Nazi movement. "First of all you have the official political arm of the right-wing movement, the NPD, and then you have the movement that is not organized party-wise," he told Deutsche Welle. "And this movement is not on the rise or decline, but is developing itself from within. It's going to a more radical side and is trying to copy the methods and strategy of the left-wing movement in Germany." Sundermeyer goes on to describe the far-right neo-Nazi movement as filled with "angry, young men." "And everywhere in the world, when angry young men gather together for extreme, fundamentalist ideas you have a lot of violence, a lot of power inside … and they try to channel their anger by following extreme right ideas," he said.
Fighting far-right extremism
This year, far-right extremists have organized marches in Berlin, Hamburg, Rostock and a handful of other cities. However a collection of moderate left-wing groups and political parties has also united behind a common cause: to disrupt the neo-Nazi rallies. As many as 10,000 counter-protesters from the Social Democratic Party, the Left party, the Green party and various trade unions are expected to turn out in Berlin to defy the far-right groups, who are expected to number between 1,000 and 3,000. Sebastian Wehrhahn works with the Mobile Advisory Team Against Right-wing Extremism in Berlin, which will have a presence at the counter-rally on Labor Day. The non-partisan organization monitors the activities of the right-wing scene and encourages people to take part in action against fascist movements. Wehrhahn says organizations such as his has had success in disrupting the activities of neo-Nazi groups in the past. "If we look at Dresden on February 13, we have a very good example of how a collective strategy of all-Democratic actors can lead to the success that the biggest right-wing extremist march in Europe couldn't take place," he told Deutsche Welle. "So we do have examples where alliances like this could make a great impact." Wehrhahn says he expects thousands of people taking to the streets of Berlin on Labor Day, "making a clear point for a democratic and open Berlin against right-wing extremism. And I very much hope not to see neo-Nazis marching through Berlin."
Far-left violence
But many of those who turn out on Saturday will also belong to the far-left scene, which has also been known to resort to violence to get its point across. Last year in the Berlin suburb of Kreuzberg more than 400 policemen were injured when left-wing demonstrators threw stones and bottles at them, leading to more than 200 arrests. In Hamburg, a heightened police presence is expected after previous Labor Day clashes between far-left and far-right groups ended in running street battles with police cars being torched and scores of arrests being made. The motto for May 1 demonstrations this year is "End the Crisis - Abolish Capitalism." "We're rallying against this society, which is based on profit, competition and property," said university student Bernd, who is a member of a left-wing group called Anti-Fascist Revolution Action Berlin. "We want a society in which people economize in solidarity and plan their lives together." According to Bernd, the state is inherently violent and therefore demonstrators are free to choose their methods of protest. He said this does not necessitate acts of violence but that he does not distance himself from violent means. "If police are attacked on May 1 then it's because they're standing there as a symbol for the capitalist implementation of competition and ownership," he said. "But the militancy that can be witnessed during May 1 demonstrations is also always a political statement."
DW-World
Fighting far-right extremism
This year, far-right extremists have organized marches in Berlin, Hamburg, Rostock and a handful of other cities. However a collection of moderate left-wing groups and political parties has also united behind a common cause: to disrupt the neo-Nazi rallies. As many as 10,000 counter-protesters from the Social Democratic Party, the Left party, the Green party and various trade unions are expected to turn out in Berlin to defy the far-right groups, who are expected to number between 1,000 and 3,000. Sebastian Wehrhahn works with the Mobile Advisory Team Against Right-wing Extremism in Berlin, which will have a presence at the counter-rally on Labor Day. The non-partisan organization monitors the activities of the right-wing scene and encourages people to take part in action against fascist movements. Wehrhahn says organizations such as his has had success in disrupting the activities of neo-Nazi groups in the past. "If we look at Dresden on February 13, we have a very good example of how a collective strategy of all-Democratic actors can lead to the success that the biggest right-wing extremist march in Europe couldn't take place," he told Deutsche Welle. "So we do have examples where alliances like this could make a great impact." Wehrhahn says he expects thousands of people taking to the streets of Berlin on Labor Day, "making a clear point for a democratic and open Berlin against right-wing extremism. And I very much hope not to see neo-Nazis marching through Berlin."
Far-left violence
But many of those who turn out on Saturday will also belong to the far-left scene, which has also been known to resort to violence to get its point across. Last year in the Berlin suburb of Kreuzberg more than 400 policemen were injured when left-wing demonstrators threw stones and bottles at them, leading to more than 200 arrests. In Hamburg, a heightened police presence is expected after previous Labor Day clashes between far-left and far-right groups ended in running street battles with police cars being torched and scores of arrests being made. The motto for May 1 demonstrations this year is "End the Crisis - Abolish Capitalism." "We're rallying against this society, which is based on profit, competition and property," said university student Bernd, who is a member of a left-wing group called Anti-Fascist Revolution Action Berlin. "We want a society in which people economize in solidarity and plan their lives together." According to Bernd, the state is inherently violent and therefore demonstrators are free to choose their methods of protest. He said this does not necessitate acts of violence but that he does not distance himself from violent means. "If police are attacked on May 1 then it's because they're standing there as a symbol for the capitalist implementation of competition and ownership," he said. "But the militancy that can be witnessed during May 1 demonstrations is also always a political statement."
DW-World
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