The leader of Dudley Council has condemened today's "pointless" protests, which are expected to have cost borough taxpayers a further £150,000.
Councillor Anne Millward,said: “We are extremely saddened that Dudley has again been targeted by the English Defence League. Yet again this group of outside extremists have shown they are incapable of demonstrating peacefully and have brought public disorder and violence to our town.
“While the number of EDL protesters was significantly fewer than their protest in April, those that did come appeared to be intent on causing trouble.
“I hope the drop in numbers from around 1,500 to less than 500 is a result of more people seeing the EDL for what they are and recognising that they have no place in Dudley and make no positive contribution to local issues."
Mrs Millward added: "Dudley Council does not have the powers to ban this protest but we have made it clear from the outset that we are opposed to the EDL and have worked closely with the police to do all we could to protect, reassure and support local people.
“People from all backgrounds across Dudley get on well together and I am sad that many have felt intimidated and had their weekend affected by these outside extremists.
“Honest, hard working people who run local shops and businesses have again been hit as hard as anyone by the EDL’s pointless protest. While we were encouraged to see some open for business, many were again forced to close for the day.
“The local authority fully share their frustrations and expect the protest will have again cost the council in excess of £150,000. This was the same when the EDL protested in April and is clearly a complete waste of local taxpayers money.”
Stourbridge News
Saturday, 17 July 2010
HUNGARY PM VOWS TO OUTLAW FAR-RIGHT GUARD MOVEMENT
Hungary's prime minister said on Thursday he would outlaw the radical nationalist Hungarian Guard, a movement backed by the far-right Jobbik party, describing it as an agent of disorder. The Hungarian Guard, whose members stage marches in black uniforms in areas where they say security is low, was dissolved by a court ruling last year only to be resurrected recently under a different name. It seeks to protect what it calls national values, being criticised for staging anti-Roma marches. Its opponents say its uniform and insignia are reminiscent of the Nazi era. The Guard is backed by the Jobbik party, which became the third-biggest force with 47 lawmakers in parliament at elections in April and whose leader, Gabor Vona, took the oath of office wearing the movement's black waistcoat. Speaking at a news conference after meeting Jobbik MPs, Prime Minister Viktor Orban -- whose centre-right Fidesz holds a two-thirds majority in parliament -- said he opposed not just the movement but the philosophy behind it as well. Orban said the resurrection of the movement under a different name, the Hungarian National Guard, was the abuse of a right and that he would not accept any organisation challenging the state's monopoly on maintaining order. "This manner of interpreting the law points towards disorder. The Hungarian Guard itself sweeps Hungary towards a lack of order as opposed to order," Orban said. "I will not rest until legal regulation exists which unequivocally rules out the possibility of this game of hide and seek that we are now experiencing." "This is not worthy of a democracy and a constitutional system," Orban said. Fidesz had 66 percent support among decided voters in early July according to a recent poll, while Jobbik scored 12 percent.
Reuters
Reuters
Warsaw prepares to stage big gay rights rally
Tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in a landmark European gay rights rally in Poland's capital Warsaw.
It is the first time the annual EuroPride parade is being held in Central and Eastern Europe.
The event has attracted controversy in staunchly Roman Catholic Poland.
Several counter-demonstrations have been scheduled to coincide with the parade in the city.
Warsaw's authorities have also received a petition with more than 50,000 signatures from anti-gay groups demanding the event be cancelled.
The EuroPride parade's organisers say they expect a minimum of 20,000 people from across Europe to take part in what should be a noisy and colourful event.
This is huge by Polish standards but small compared with more than a million people who attended the march in Madrid three years ago, the BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw reports.
Our correspondent says that is partly because it is so much more difficult to be openly gay in Poland, where both the influential Roman Catholic Church and politicians regularly say homosexuality is not normal.
In a recent survey, almost two-thirds of respondents said homosexual couples should not be open about their sexuality.
It is extremely rare to see gay couples holding hands even in Warsaw, the country's most cosmopolitan city, our correspondent says.
Those who do face verbal or physical violence, such as Ryszard Giersz, 25, from a small town near the German border.
He won a small amount of damages in court last year after neighbours repeatedly verbally abused him and threw tomatoes and stones at him.
Such behaviour is common in Russia, where gay pride marches are often banned and anyone attempting to defy a ban face arrest, our correspondent adds.
BBC News
It is the first time the annual EuroPride parade is being held in Central and Eastern Europe.
The event has attracted controversy in staunchly Roman Catholic Poland.
Several counter-demonstrations have been scheduled to coincide with the parade in the city.
Warsaw's authorities have also received a petition with more than 50,000 signatures from anti-gay groups demanding the event be cancelled.
The EuroPride parade's organisers say they expect a minimum of 20,000 people from across Europe to take part in what should be a noisy and colourful event.
This is huge by Polish standards but small compared with more than a million people who attended the march in Madrid three years ago, the BBC's Adam Easton in Warsaw reports.
Our correspondent says that is partly because it is so much more difficult to be openly gay in Poland, where both the influential Roman Catholic Church and politicians regularly say homosexuality is not normal.
In a recent survey, almost two-thirds of respondents said homosexual couples should not be open about their sexuality.
It is extremely rare to see gay couples holding hands even in Warsaw, the country's most cosmopolitan city, our correspondent says.
Those who do face verbal or physical violence, such as Ryszard Giersz, 25, from a small town near the German border.
He won a small amount of damages in court last year after neighbours repeatedly verbally abused him and threw tomatoes and stones at him.
Such behaviour is common in Russia, where gay pride marches are often banned and anyone attempting to defy a ban face arrest, our correspondent adds.
BBC News
Black Country couple who hurled racial abuse at neighbour jailed for four months
A Midland couple who hurled racial abuse at their neighbour have been jailed for four months.
Michelle and Gary Devey, of Stephenson Avenue, Beechdale, Walsall, admitted racially aggravated public disorder at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Mum Carol Hilton was “terrified” during the two-and-a-half hour verbal attack the couple, who have children, launched on her.
Gary Cook, prosecuting, said that the Deveys woke Mrs Hilton in the middle of the night by standing in their front garden and shouting racist insults to her.
He said 53-year-old Gary Devey then went into his house and came back out with a fishing rod which he used to tap the bedroom window of Mrs Hilton’s home while shouting further abuse.
Mr Cook said the couple then proceeded to come out of their house every ten minutes for two-and-a-half hours to continue their verbal attack.
He said the insults left Mrs Hilton feeling “very scared and nauseous”.
Michael Anning, defending Gary Devey, said the couple were angry because they believed their son had been threatened by Mrs Hilton and her family.
He added: “The language was deeply offensive and he accepts it was not warranted.”
Blondelle Thompson, defending 47-year-old mother-of-four Michelle Devey told the court she was totally ashamed of her actions.
Judge Michael Mott told the couple: “I don’t know whether you are inherently racist or not, but it is hard to believe you are not when the thing you latched onto when you were drunk and angry was this lady’s colour.”
Birmingham Mail
Michelle and Gary Devey, of Stephenson Avenue, Beechdale, Walsall, admitted racially aggravated public disorder at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Mum Carol Hilton was “terrified” during the two-and-a-half hour verbal attack the couple, who have children, launched on her.
Gary Cook, prosecuting, said that the Deveys woke Mrs Hilton in the middle of the night by standing in their front garden and shouting racist insults to her.
He said 53-year-old Gary Devey then went into his house and came back out with a fishing rod which he used to tap the bedroom window of Mrs Hilton’s home while shouting further abuse.
Mr Cook said the couple then proceeded to come out of their house every ten minutes for two-and-a-half hours to continue their verbal attack.
He said the insults left Mrs Hilton feeling “very scared and nauseous”.
Michael Anning, defending Gary Devey, said the couple were angry because they believed their son had been threatened by Mrs Hilton and her family.
He added: “The language was deeply offensive and he accepts it was not warranted.”
Blondelle Thompson, defending 47-year-old mother-of-four Michelle Devey told the court she was totally ashamed of her actions.
Judge Michael Mott told the couple: “I don’t know whether you are inherently racist or not, but it is hard to believe you are not when the thing you latched onto when you were drunk and angry was this lady’s colour.”
Birmingham Mail
EUROPEAN COURT RULES IN FAVOUR OF SLOVENIA'S 'ERASED' PEOPLE
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Slovenia did not effectively implement two Constitutional Court decisions concerning the rights of the country's so-called 'erased' residents. In its decision issued on Tuesday, the court found that "the Slovenian authorities had persistently refused to regulate the applicants’ situation in line with the Constitutional Court’s decisions. "In particular, they had failed to pass appropriate legislation and to issue permanent residence permits to individual applicants and had thus interfered with their rights to respect for their private and/or family life, especially where the applicants were stateless." In their application filed in 2006, the initial 11 applicants argued that they had been deprived the right to acquire citizenship or preserve their permanent residence status in 1991, and has suffered serious and negative consequences since that time.
The applicants, like thousands of others who faced similar situations, were mainly citizens of other former Yugoslav republics who were living as permanent residents in Slovenia at the time it declared its independence in 1991. The applicants either did not file for permanent resident status or citizenship within the deadline, or their requests were denied. As a result, their names were 'erased' from the Slovenian Register of Permanent Residents in 1992. While the court said that it would not determine remedial measures, it noted that Slovenia must adopt general and individual measures to remedy the violations, in particular by issuing retroactive residence permits. In its press release, the court noted that several thousand people are still believed to be in the category of the "erased".
Almost 26,000 people, mainly nationals of other Yugoslav republics, were deleted from Slovenia’s permanent residence registry in 1992. Many of the erased, including people who had lived in the country for years, either left Slovenia after their records were erased or were deported. Official data show that the erased include 14,775 men and 10,896 women, 5,360 of whom were children. According to the Slovenian Interior Ministry, about 7,300 of these people acquired Slovenian citizenship by January 2009, while around 3,600 received permanent residency status. There are no data on the status of more than 13,000 people affected by the erasure. The deletion of thousands of people from the country's permanent residence registery is considered one of the gravest human rights violations in independent Slovenia.
The Constitutional Court ruled the erasure illegal twice, once in 1999 and again in 2003, and said that that those affected should have their status of permanent resident reinstated retroactively from the day the records were deleted. A 2003 law which aimed to allow the retroactive reinstatement of status to the erased was rejected in a 2004 referendum called by the opposition. The Interior Ministry then started reinstating the status to the erased based directly on the Constitutional Court ruling and managed to issue some 4,000 decisions. In its ruling yesterday the court noted that in March 2010 the Slovenian parliament adopted amendments on the law on the "erased", which aimed to enable thousands of people whose records were deleted in 1992 to apply for permanent resident status. However, at the time the court considered this judgement, the amendments had not yet entered into force.
Balkan Insight
The applicants, like thousands of others who faced similar situations, were mainly citizens of other former Yugoslav republics who were living as permanent residents in Slovenia at the time it declared its independence in 1991. The applicants either did not file for permanent resident status or citizenship within the deadline, or their requests were denied. As a result, their names were 'erased' from the Slovenian Register of Permanent Residents in 1992. While the court said that it would not determine remedial measures, it noted that Slovenia must adopt general and individual measures to remedy the violations, in particular by issuing retroactive residence permits. In its press release, the court noted that several thousand people are still believed to be in the category of the "erased".
Almost 26,000 people, mainly nationals of other Yugoslav republics, were deleted from Slovenia’s permanent residence registry in 1992. Many of the erased, including people who had lived in the country for years, either left Slovenia after their records were erased or were deported. Official data show that the erased include 14,775 men and 10,896 women, 5,360 of whom were children. According to the Slovenian Interior Ministry, about 7,300 of these people acquired Slovenian citizenship by January 2009, while around 3,600 received permanent residency status. There are no data on the status of more than 13,000 people affected by the erasure. The deletion of thousands of people from the country's permanent residence registery is considered one of the gravest human rights violations in independent Slovenia.
The Constitutional Court ruled the erasure illegal twice, once in 1999 and again in 2003, and said that that those affected should have their status of permanent resident reinstated retroactively from the day the records were deleted. A 2003 law which aimed to allow the retroactive reinstatement of status to the erased was rejected in a 2004 referendum called by the opposition. The Interior Ministry then started reinstating the status to the erased based directly on the Constitutional Court ruling and managed to issue some 4,000 decisions. In its ruling yesterday the court noted that in March 2010 the Slovenian parliament adopted amendments on the law on the "erased", which aimed to enable thousands of people whose records were deleted in 1992 to apply for permanent resident status. However, at the time the court considered this judgement, the amendments had not yet entered into force.
Balkan Insight
Town braces itself for EDL return
A large scale police operation is currently under way in Dudley this morning as the town braces itself for yet another English Defence League (EDL) protest.
Over a thousand EDL supporters are expected to begin arriving in the town centre from around noon while a counter demonstration, also set for today, from Unite Against Fascism, is also expected to attract significant support.
Dudley Council has sealed off roads around the two protest sites – Stafford Street and Tower Street - and police are stationed around the town centre.
Many town centre traders have shut up shop for the day, alongside the market, as businesses – many which have been boarded up - prepare to lose yet another day’s trade.
Last time the EDL and UAF protested in Dudley, the town centre lost thousands of pounds of Saturday trade and Dudley taxpayers were left with around a £500,000 bill.
Today’s protests will take place between 1.30pm and 3.30pm.
Dudley News
Over a thousand EDL supporters are expected to begin arriving in the town centre from around noon while a counter demonstration, also set for today, from Unite Against Fascism, is also expected to attract significant support.
Dudley Council has sealed off roads around the two protest sites – Stafford Street and Tower Street - and police are stationed around the town centre.
Many town centre traders have shut up shop for the day, alongside the market, as businesses – many which have been boarded up - prepare to lose yet another day’s trade.
Last time the EDL and UAF protested in Dudley, the town centre lost thousands of pounds of Saturday trade and Dudley taxpayers were left with around a £500,000 bill.
Today’s protests will take place between 1.30pm and 3.30pm.
Dudley News
Far right gains ground in pluralistic Europe
Whether the recent approval of the ban on burqa-style Islamic veils by the French lower house will work towards greater equality for women in French society is debatable, but experts have already started seeing it as a step to woo voters from the far right.
That’s a pointer to the fact that the right wing is acquiring political traction and not just in France. Global developments like the increasing number of immigrants, and the post 9/11 and post-London bombing Islamophobia have alarmed many political theorists who fear that these could result in a possible rise of far right support in traditionally pluralistic Europe.
That changing demographics can cause insecurity in sections of the native population is hardly surprising. Those living in conditions similar to the immigrant workforce may see the newcomers as competitors and become susceptible to far right ethno-nationalist propaganda. Operating as protest parties to gather populist support, the far right typically offers simple solutions for complex economic and social problems. For instance, immigrants are the reason of poor living conditions, Islam is responsible for all terrorism and crime rates will drop if gypsies are driven out of the country, and so on.
Hence, in any crisis situation the immigrants and ethnic minority can become the first target of these radicals. What’s changed from the past is that rather than peddling a theory of biological race supremacy, the far right now typically plays the fear card, claiming that immigrants not only pose an economic threat for the natives, but can also damage the traditional culture of their homogenous society.
Incidents like Prophet Muhammad’s cartoon row, the 2004 attacks on mosques and churches after the murder of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh, race riots in French suburbs and skinhead parades are evidence of these new social tensions, but does this sentiment really translate into votes in elections? The jury is out on that one.
In spite of having a pan-European presence with traditional strongholds in some specific areas, these parties have seldom managed a vote substantial enough to have a strong national presence. The rise of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s radical right National Front in France alarmed several experts when Le Pen polled over 16 per cent of the votes cast in the first round of the French presidential elections. Similarly, in 1999, the Freedom Party of Austria won one-fourth of the popular vote and became part of the coalition government. However, both parties have seen their vote banks eroded in recent years.
At present, the Freedom party (Austria), Danish People’s Party (Denmark), Lega Nord (Italy) and Party for Freedom (the Netherlands) are the only far right parties which poll nearly 10 per cent or more votes in national elections. The National Front (France), Slovak National Party (Slovakia), Greater Romania Party (Romania), Freedom Party of Switzerland and League of Tessins (Switzerland) have either lost their vote share or have an extremely low support base.
The results of the 2009 European Union elections hit international headlines when for the first time the so-far liberal Britons elected two MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) belonging to the extreme nationalist Nick Griffin’s BNP (British National Party). There were 30 other far right MEPs from 10 countries. However, the xenophobia that characterises most of these parties makes it unlikely that will be able to form a far right block.
The Times of India
That’s a pointer to the fact that the right wing is acquiring political traction and not just in France. Global developments like the increasing number of immigrants, and the post 9/11 and post-London bombing Islamophobia have alarmed many political theorists who fear that these could result in a possible rise of far right support in traditionally pluralistic Europe.
That changing demographics can cause insecurity in sections of the native population is hardly surprising. Those living in conditions similar to the immigrant workforce may see the newcomers as competitors and become susceptible to far right ethno-nationalist propaganda. Operating as protest parties to gather populist support, the far right typically offers simple solutions for complex economic and social problems. For instance, immigrants are the reason of poor living conditions, Islam is responsible for all terrorism and crime rates will drop if gypsies are driven out of the country, and so on.
Hence, in any crisis situation the immigrants and ethnic minority can become the first target of these radicals. What’s changed from the past is that rather than peddling a theory of biological race supremacy, the far right now typically plays the fear card, claiming that immigrants not only pose an economic threat for the natives, but can also damage the traditional culture of their homogenous society.
Incidents like Prophet Muhammad’s cartoon row, the 2004 attacks on mosques and churches after the murder of Dutch film maker Theo van Gogh, race riots in French suburbs and skinhead parades are evidence of these new social tensions, but does this sentiment really translate into votes in elections? The jury is out on that one.
In spite of having a pan-European presence with traditional strongholds in some specific areas, these parties have seldom managed a vote substantial enough to have a strong national presence. The rise of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s radical right National Front in France alarmed several experts when Le Pen polled over 16 per cent of the votes cast in the first round of the French presidential elections. Similarly, in 1999, the Freedom Party of Austria won one-fourth of the popular vote and became part of the coalition government. However, both parties have seen their vote banks eroded in recent years.
At present, the Freedom party (Austria), Danish People’s Party (Denmark), Lega Nord (Italy) and Party for Freedom (the Netherlands) are the only far right parties which poll nearly 10 per cent or more votes in national elections. The National Front (France), Slovak National Party (Slovakia), Greater Romania Party (Romania), Freedom Party of Switzerland and League of Tessins (Switzerland) have either lost their vote share or have an extremely low support base.
The results of the 2009 European Union elections hit international headlines when for the first time the so-far liberal Britons elected two MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) belonging to the extreme nationalist Nick Griffin’s BNP (British National Party). There were 30 other far right MEPs from 10 countries. However, the xenophobia that characterises most of these parties makes it unlikely that will be able to form a far right block.
The Times of India
Friday, 16 July 2010
Kick in the teeth for Liverpool BNP activist
Two vocal supporters of Eddy Butler’s challenge to Nick Griffin’s leadership of the British National Party have been suspended with immediate effect.
The Liverpool activists Peter Stafford and Tony Ward have received letters from Clive Jefferson, the party’s national organiser who acts as Griffin’s Rottweiler, suspending them “pending an investigation into alleged serious breaches of the BNP Code of Conduct”.
While suspended they are not allowed to take part in any party event. Failure to comply “could result in your expulsion from membership of the Party, and Civil or Criminal proceedings being taken against you”, as if Griffin has not got the BNP embroiled in enough expensive and hopeless legal actions already.
Tony Ward is a long-time activist whom party members held in esteem after he got hit in the head with a hammer when protesters objected to the presence of a BNP campaign trailer in Leigh, Greater Manchester, in March last year. Now, the hammer blow to his head has been followed by a kick in the teeth.
Stafford, who is openly gay and has attracted opprobrium in the BNP because of it, posted on Facebook that Jefferson had been kicked out of a Liverpool BNP meeting last night “when the membership demanded answers he wouldn’t give”.
Stafford continued: “He thought he could throw his weight about and destroy a strong branch and the members would roll over. He was mistaken!”
Hope Not Hate
The Liverpool activists Peter Stafford and Tony Ward have received letters from Clive Jefferson, the party’s national organiser who acts as Griffin’s Rottweiler, suspending them “pending an investigation into alleged serious breaches of the BNP Code of Conduct”.
While suspended they are not allowed to take part in any party event. Failure to comply “could result in your expulsion from membership of the Party, and Civil or Criminal proceedings being taken against you”, as if Griffin has not got the BNP embroiled in enough expensive and hopeless legal actions already.
Tony Ward is a long-time activist whom party members held in esteem after he got hit in the head with a hammer when protesters objected to the presence of a BNP campaign trailer in Leigh, Greater Manchester, in March last year. Now, the hammer blow to his head has been followed by a kick in the teeth.
Stafford, who is openly gay and has attracted opprobrium in the BNP because of it, posted on Facebook that Jefferson had been kicked out of a Liverpool BNP meeting last night “when the membership demanded answers he wouldn’t give”.
Stafford continued: “He thought he could throw his weight about and destroy a strong branch and the members would roll over. He was mistaken!”
Hope Not Hate
Arizona policeman challenges new state immigration law
An Arizona policeman has asked a federal court to overturn a state immigration law he says will force him to use racial profiling.The law requires police to question people about their immigration status if officers suspect the person is in the US illegally and if they have stopped them for a legitimate reason.
Officer David Salgado says the law would force him to break federal laws.
The case is one of many challenging the measure, which takes effect on 29 July.
The Obama administration's justice department has also challenged the legislation in federal court, arguing it usurps the federal administration's authority to set immigration policy.
The next hearing in that case is scheduled for 22 July.
Civil rights
Mr Salgado, a Phoenix police officer, said he did not intend to question people he stops about their immigration status because he believes he does not have the legal authority to do so, the Arizona Daily Star reports.
"If he refuses to enforce the act, he can be disciplined by his employer or subjected to costly private enforcement actions under the act," the lawsuit says, according to the newspaper.
"Conversely, if he enforces the act, he can be subjected to costly civil actions alleging the deprivation of civil rights of the individual against whom he enforces the act."
The law has also been challenged by the governments of Argentina, Ecuador and Mexico.
BBC News
Geert Wilders to spread anti-Muslim movement to UK
Geert Wilders, the controversial anti-Muslim Dutch MP, has said he is forming an international alliance to spread his message to Britain and across the West in a bid to ban immigration from Islamic countries
Mr Wilders will launch the movement late this year, initially in five countries: the US, Canada, Britain, France and Germany.
"The message, 'stop Islam, defend freedom,' is a message that's not only important for the Netherlands but for the whole free Western world," Mr Wilders said at the Dutch parliament.
Among the group's aims will be outlawing immigration from Islamic countries to the West and a ban on Islamic law.
Starting as a grass-roots movement, he hopes it eventually will produce its own lawmakers or influence other legislators.
Ayhan Tonca, a prominent spokesman for Dutch Muslims, said he feared Mr Wilders' message would fall on fertile ground in much of Europe, where anti-Islam sentiment has been swelling for years.
"So long as things are going badly with the economy, a lot of people always need a scapegoat," Mr Tonca said. "At the moment, that is the Muslims in Western Europe."
Mr Tonca called on "well meaning people in Europe to oppose this."
Mr Wilders has won awards in the Netherlands for his debating skills and regularly stands up for gay and women's rights.
But he rose to local and then international prominence with his firebrand anti-Islam rhetoric that has led to him being charged under Dutch anti-hate speech laws and banned from visiting Britain - until a court ordered that he be allowed into the country.
He said he hopes to position the alliance between traditional Conservative parties and far-Right wing groups, saying that in Britain there is "an enormous gap" between the ruling Conservative Party and the far-Right British National Party.
"The BNP is a party that, whatever you think of it, it's not my party - I think it's a racist party," Mr Wilders said.
Mr Wilders, who calls Islam a "fascist" religion, has seen his support in the Netherlands soar in recent years, even while he has been subjected to round-the-clock protection because of death threats.
His Freedom Party won the biggest gains in a national election last month, coming third with 24 seats in the 150-seat Parliament, up from the nine before the election.
However, mainstream parties will not form a coalition with Mr Wilders, leaving him on the margins of Dutch politics for the next parliamentary term.
Mr Wilders is due to stand trial in October on hate speech charges stemming from his short internet film "Fitna," which denounced the Quran as a fascist book that inspires terrorism. The film aroused anti-Dutch protests around the Muslim world, and he was banned for several months from entering Britain
The Telegraph
"The message, 'stop Islam, defend freedom,' is a message that's not only important for the Netherlands but for the whole free Western world," Mr Wilders said at the Dutch parliament.
Among the group's aims will be outlawing immigration from Islamic countries to the West and a ban on Islamic law.
Starting as a grass-roots movement, he hopes it eventually will produce its own lawmakers or influence other legislators.
Ayhan Tonca, a prominent spokesman for Dutch Muslims, said he feared Mr Wilders' message would fall on fertile ground in much of Europe, where anti-Islam sentiment has been swelling for years.
"So long as things are going badly with the economy, a lot of people always need a scapegoat," Mr Tonca said. "At the moment, that is the Muslims in Western Europe."
Mr Tonca called on "well meaning people in Europe to oppose this."
Mr Wilders has won awards in the Netherlands for his debating skills and regularly stands up for gay and women's rights.
But he rose to local and then international prominence with his firebrand anti-Islam rhetoric that has led to him being charged under Dutch anti-hate speech laws and banned from visiting Britain - until a court ordered that he be allowed into the country.
He said he hopes to position the alliance between traditional Conservative parties and far-Right wing groups, saying that in Britain there is "an enormous gap" between the ruling Conservative Party and the far-Right British National Party.
"The BNP is a party that, whatever you think of it, it's not my party - I think it's a racist party," Mr Wilders said.
Mr Wilders, who calls Islam a "fascist" religion, has seen his support in the Netherlands soar in recent years, even while he has been subjected to round-the-clock protection because of death threats.
His Freedom Party won the biggest gains in a national election last month, coming third with 24 seats in the 150-seat Parliament, up from the nine before the election.
However, mainstream parties will not form a coalition with Mr Wilders, leaving him on the margins of Dutch politics for the next parliamentary term.
Mr Wilders is due to stand trial in October on hate speech charges stemming from his short internet film "Fitna," which denounced the Quran as a fascist book that inspires terrorism. The film aroused anti-Dutch protests around the Muslim world, and he was banned for several months from entering Britain
The Telegraph
Labour blasted over BNP invite
WIGAN’S Labour council has been blasted by anti-racists – for inviting BNP leader Nick Griffin to town.
The boss of the far-right party, accompanied by six minders, was among guests who turned up at St James’s Church, Orrell, last Sunday morning for new Mayor Coun Mike Winstanley’s traditional civic service.
The British National Party has been routinely lambasted by politicians of varying hues in the Wigan council chamber to the point of passing motions condemning its electoral campaigns and successes.
But invitations were sent out from the town hall to all North West MPs and MEPs – and Mr Griffin numbers among the latter since the last Euro elections.
The authority would not be drawn today as to whether his inclusion was deliberate or an oversight.
But pressure group Wigan Against Racism today said the BNP boss should have been snubbed – and in not doing so, the local authority was helping to “normalise” his politics.
The organisation’s spokeswoman, Fran McCaul, said: “What on earth is going on? This is highly distasteful.
“Wigan Council makes pronouncements about being anti-racist and then goes and completely contradicts itself.
“You can’t treat Nick Griffin like anyone else. His party is not like any other party. Saying he is automatically on the guest list is a weak response.
“There are exceptions to every rule and there should be a discussion about who gets invited.
“Nick Griffin being welcomed to events like this undermines the anti-racist movement and helps to normalise his type of politics.”
But Wigan Council’s executive director of business support services, David Smith, said: “We would like to reiterate the council’s pledge on anti-racism.
“The council is committed to respect for all ethnic groups and will encourage others to do the same.
“We are totally committed to an anti-racist future and we will support all those who suffer racism by doing everything in our power to tackle it
“We can confirm that our invitation list for the mayor’s Civic Sunday includes local constituency MPs and all North West MEPs.
“It was on this basis alone that Mr Griffin received an invitation.”
Charles Mather, Wigan and Leigh BNP group organiser, said: “I am not surprised Mr Griffin accepted the invitation as he is a hands-on MEP and takes his duties to his constituency seriously and would always endeavour to attend constituency functions if possible in spite of his busy schedule.
“I compliment Wigan Metro on this sudden concern for the democratic process in contrast to their previous use of council premises to attack our progress.
“Mr Griffin – as an elected MEP with over 7,000 votes in our area – has every right to receive and accept invitations to events such as this.
“We have a right to have our views represented and for our MEP to be invited to functions in our area.
“I take issue with the unelected Wigan Against Racism group’s definition of us as racist when our only aim is to protect and preserve the community and culture our forefathers worked and died to bequeath us.”
Mr Griffin also received support from a member of the St James’s congregation.
Local man Shaun Campbell was there with his young family when he saw Mr Griffin sitting near the front.
He said: “At first I thought it was someone who looked like him, but after mass we saw Mr Griffin’s bodyguards standing at the gates with the road blocked off by the police.
“Then I knew it had to be him so I waited for him to leave. Being a member of the BNP, I was chuffed to see him here in our village. He’s the last person I would have expected to see here.
“I had a little chat with him and he is a really nice bloke, had plenty of time to speak to us and even stopped for a picture. He and his bodyguards even took an interest in my baby son.”
Conservative Coun Winstanley, who did not draw up the guest list and who says he is trying to remain politically neutral during his year in office, declined to comment.
Wigan Today
The boss of the far-right party, accompanied by six minders, was among guests who turned up at St James’s Church, Orrell, last Sunday morning for new Mayor Coun Mike Winstanley’s traditional civic service.
The British National Party has been routinely lambasted by politicians of varying hues in the Wigan council chamber to the point of passing motions condemning its electoral campaigns and successes.
But invitations were sent out from the town hall to all North West MPs and MEPs – and Mr Griffin numbers among the latter since the last Euro elections.
The authority would not be drawn today as to whether his inclusion was deliberate or an oversight.
But pressure group Wigan Against Racism today said the BNP boss should have been snubbed – and in not doing so, the local authority was helping to “normalise” his politics.
The organisation’s spokeswoman, Fran McCaul, said: “What on earth is going on? This is highly distasteful.
“Wigan Council makes pronouncements about being anti-racist and then goes and completely contradicts itself.
“You can’t treat Nick Griffin like anyone else. His party is not like any other party. Saying he is automatically on the guest list is a weak response.
“There are exceptions to every rule and there should be a discussion about who gets invited.
“Nick Griffin being welcomed to events like this undermines the anti-racist movement and helps to normalise his type of politics.”
But Wigan Council’s executive director of business support services, David Smith, said: “We would like to reiterate the council’s pledge on anti-racism.
“The council is committed to respect for all ethnic groups and will encourage others to do the same.
“We are totally committed to an anti-racist future and we will support all those who suffer racism by doing everything in our power to tackle it
“We can confirm that our invitation list for the mayor’s Civic Sunday includes local constituency MPs and all North West MEPs.
“It was on this basis alone that Mr Griffin received an invitation.”
Charles Mather, Wigan and Leigh BNP group organiser, said: “I am not surprised Mr Griffin accepted the invitation as he is a hands-on MEP and takes his duties to his constituency seriously and would always endeavour to attend constituency functions if possible in spite of his busy schedule.
“I compliment Wigan Metro on this sudden concern for the democratic process in contrast to their previous use of council premises to attack our progress.
“Mr Griffin – as an elected MEP with over 7,000 votes in our area – has every right to receive and accept invitations to events such as this.
“We have a right to have our views represented and for our MEP to be invited to functions in our area.
“I take issue with the unelected Wigan Against Racism group’s definition of us as racist when our only aim is to protect and preserve the community and culture our forefathers worked and died to bequeath us.”
Mr Griffin also received support from a member of the St James’s congregation.
Local man Shaun Campbell was there with his young family when he saw Mr Griffin sitting near the front.
He said: “At first I thought it was someone who looked like him, but after mass we saw Mr Griffin’s bodyguards standing at the gates with the road blocked off by the police.
“Then I knew it had to be him so I waited for him to leave. Being a member of the BNP, I was chuffed to see him here in our village. He’s the last person I would have expected to see here.
“I had a little chat with him and he is a really nice bloke, had plenty of time to speak to us and even stopped for a picture. He and his bodyguards even took an interest in my baby son.”
Conservative Coun Winstanley, who did not draw up the guest list and who says he is trying to remain politically neutral during his year in office, declined to comment.
Wigan Today
Don’t let the door hit you on the ass as you leave Mr Barnbrook.
What incredible criminal act has he committed to warrant his racist ass being thrown out into the cold?
Try not to rupture a kidney laughing but…
He has shown support for Eddy Butler who is challenging Nick Griffin for the parties’ fuhrer status.
This is another lesson to all who support and follow the BNP.
You support a fascist ideology, you get a dictator.
For the full story please follow the link and mosey on over to Lancaster Unity.
Lancaster Unity
Thursday, 15 July 2010
Racist New Hampshire man, Ryan J. Murdough, uses hate to get elected to State House seat
A New Hampshire man is hoping racist hatred will help get him elected to state office.
Ryan J. Murdough, a 30-year-old who says he works with children with special needs at a youth center, is running for a seat on the State House in New Hampshire's 8th District.
And he's doing it as a Republican.
The self-professed "racist" is also supported by the American Third Position, a hate-spewing organization designed to "represent the political interests of White Americans, because no one else will."
"For far too long white Americans have been told that diversity is something beneficial to their existence," Murdough wrote in a letter to the Concord Monitor.
"New Hampshire residents must seek to preserve their racial identity if we want future generations to have to possibility to live in such a great state," he wrote.
The Republican party in New Hampshire has made all efforts to distance itself from Murdough.
"Mr. Murdough is a despicable racist," party spokesman Ryan Williams told the Union Leader. "His racist views are abhorrent and he is not welcome in the New Hampshire Republican Party."
Murdough has said he picked the GOP not because he considered himself a party member, but simply because it was the easiest way to get onto the ballot. It costs only a few dollars, while filing as an independent would require 150 signatures.
American Third Position, or A3P, has begun a fund-raising effort to finance Murdough's political endeavor, and the father of two has been an outspoken supporter of the group.
The A3P is run by several unapologetic racists, including Kevin B. MacDonald, a professor whose theories range from claiming Jewish people are genetically designed for greed, and African Americans and Hispanics are intellectually inferior to whites.
Another leader, Dr. Tom Sunic, has written essays critical of liberals and defends Nazi ideals.
James Edwards, another "director" of A3P, hosts a "pro-white" radio show which boasts it aims to "revive the White birthrate" and promotes "cultural conservative" ideals, which according to his website include hatred for feminism, homosexuality and the government.
The A3P claims it has already raised $1,340 in its goal to hit $2,500 by July 17 for Murdough's campaign.
The wanna-be state representative has said very little about what he hopes to accomplish as a politican, but has been very open about what he thinks.
"I don't want to force out all non-Whites," he wrote as a commentor on the Concord Monitor's website. "The American Third Position simply would offer immigrants a financial contribution IF they wanted to leave."
In another posting, Murdough wrote: "I think it makes perfect sense to pull over Hispanics in order to deport illegals. On the southern border the illegals are not light skinned Dutchmen. They are dark skinned hispanics, so why should we not target the people most likely to be an illegal immigrant?"
"Did you realize that the United States was intended to be a homeland for White/European people?" he wrote in May.
Other professed "pro-white" wanna-be candidates have used hate to try and get elected to state and federal offices. A Missouri man in March has used racist radio ads to run for the United States Senate, while a former Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan in Indiana posted hateful ads to run for the House of Representatives.
NY Daily News
Ryan J. Murdough, a 30-year-old who says he works with children with special needs at a youth center, is running for a seat on the State House in New Hampshire's 8th District.
And he's doing it as a Republican.
The self-professed "racist" is also supported by the American Third Position, a hate-spewing organization designed to "represent the political interests of White Americans, because no one else will."
"For far too long white Americans have been told that diversity is something beneficial to their existence," Murdough wrote in a letter to the Concord Monitor.
"New Hampshire residents must seek to preserve their racial identity if we want future generations to have to possibility to live in such a great state," he wrote.
The Republican party in New Hampshire has made all efforts to distance itself from Murdough.
"Mr. Murdough is a despicable racist," party spokesman Ryan Williams told the Union Leader. "His racist views are abhorrent and he is not welcome in the New Hampshire Republican Party."
Murdough has said he picked the GOP not because he considered himself a party member, but simply because it was the easiest way to get onto the ballot. It costs only a few dollars, while filing as an independent would require 150 signatures.
American Third Position, or A3P, has begun a fund-raising effort to finance Murdough's political endeavor, and the father of two has been an outspoken supporter of the group.
The A3P is run by several unapologetic racists, including Kevin B. MacDonald, a professor whose theories range from claiming Jewish people are genetically designed for greed, and African Americans and Hispanics are intellectually inferior to whites.
Another leader, Dr. Tom Sunic, has written essays critical of liberals and defends Nazi ideals.
James Edwards, another "director" of A3P, hosts a "pro-white" radio show which boasts it aims to "revive the White birthrate" and promotes "cultural conservative" ideals, which according to his website include hatred for feminism, homosexuality and the government.
The A3P claims it has already raised $1,340 in its goal to hit $2,500 by July 17 for Murdough's campaign.
The wanna-be state representative has said very little about what he hopes to accomplish as a politican, but has been very open about what he thinks.
"I don't want to force out all non-Whites," he wrote as a commentor on the Concord Monitor's website. "The American Third Position simply would offer immigrants a financial contribution IF they wanted to leave."
In another posting, Murdough wrote: "I think it makes perfect sense to pull over Hispanics in order to deport illegals. On the southern border the illegals are not light skinned Dutchmen. They are dark skinned hispanics, so why should we not target the people most likely to be an illegal immigrant?"
"Did you realize that the United States was intended to be a homeland for White/European people?" he wrote in May.
Other professed "pro-white" wanna-be candidates have used hate to try and get elected to state and federal offices. A Missouri man in March has used racist radio ads to run for the United States Senate, while a former Grand Dragon of the Klu Klux Klan in Indiana posted hateful ads to run for the House of Representatives.
NY Daily News
BNP paedophile jailed
A paedophile who helped organise British National Party attacks on HOPE not hate leafleters has been sent to prison. Described as “every parent’s worst nightmare”, Darren Francis, 37, pleaded guilty to having a sexual relationship with an underage girl after becoming infatuated with the troubled teenager.
John Lloyd-Jones, prosecuting at Northampton Crown Court, said she was aged 13 at the time the relationship started, when Francis was in his mid-thirties, therefore 20 years older.
He said: “He had known her since she was 11 so was well aware of her age. She was something of a troubled soul and her parents were finding it very difficult to control her.
“In late 2007, she began absconding and would go to his flat where there was a supply of a drink and drugs, mainly cannabis, although she mentioned there was also cocaine. The defendant would take them as well in the company of these teenagers.
“He made a concerted effort to come between her and her parents and he simply became what we would say is every parents’ worst nightmare.
“In effect, from the age of 13 she fell under his spell, going round to his flat on a virtual daily basis and often she would not come home and, if she did, she was under the influence of drink and drugs.
“In summer 2009, she came to her senses and ended matters but he could not cope with the rejection and began harassing her.”
The girl, who cannot be named, revealed how she had consented to sex with Francis, although she was legally unable to do so as she was under 16.
Judge Charles Wide QC jailed him for four years and three months on two counts of sexual activity with a child and for assaulting her after the relationship ended. He said: “This is not a case of typical exploitation of a young girl as it seems there was some genuine affection from the girl concerned, although it was a wildly, wildly inappropriate relationship.”
Although the BNP denies that Francis was a party member, local antifascists recall how Francis would organise other BNP activists to attack and harass antifascists in Northampton.
Anjona Roy, who coordinates HOPE not hate activities in the town, told Searchlight, “This guy was responsible for harassing HOPE not hate activists, local councillors and a local MP and generally threatened and intimidated people, myself included.
“I’m not surprised that the BNP are denying he was their member, but everyone knows he was one of their number and one of their most regular activists.”
Francis was previously jailed in 2005 for repeated harassment of the former Labour MP for Northampton North, Sally Keeble. He has also served prison sentences for assault, burglary, affray and robbery.
Hope Not Hate
John Lloyd-Jones, prosecuting at Northampton Crown Court, said she was aged 13 at the time the relationship started, when Francis was in his mid-thirties, therefore 20 years older.
He said: “He had known her since she was 11 so was well aware of her age. She was something of a troubled soul and her parents were finding it very difficult to control her.
“In late 2007, she began absconding and would go to his flat where there was a supply of a drink and drugs, mainly cannabis, although she mentioned there was also cocaine. The defendant would take them as well in the company of these teenagers.
“He made a concerted effort to come between her and her parents and he simply became what we would say is every parents’ worst nightmare.
“In effect, from the age of 13 she fell under his spell, going round to his flat on a virtual daily basis and often she would not come home and, if she did, she was under the influence of drink and drugs.
“In summer 2009, she came to her senses and ended matters but he could not cope with the rejection and began harassing her.”
The girl, who cannot be named, revealed how she had consented to sex with Francis, although she was legally unable to do so as she was under 16.
Judge Charles Wide QC jailed him for four years and three months on two counts of sexual activity with a child and for assaulting her after the relationship ended. He said: “This is not a case of typical exploitation of a young girl as it seems there was some genuine affection from the girl concerned, although it was a wildly, wildly inappropriate relationship.”
Although the BNP denies that Francis was a party member, local antifascists recall how Francis would organise other BNP activists to attack and harass antifascists in Northampton.
Anjona Roy, who coordinates HOPE not hate activities in the town, told Searchlight, “This guy was responsible for harassing HOPE not hate activists, local councillors and a local MP and generally threatened and intimidated people, myself included.
“I’m not surprised that the BNP are denying he was their member, but everyone knows he was one of their number and one of their most regular activists.”
Francis was previously jailed in 2005 for repeated harassment of the former Labour MP for Northampton North, Sally Keeble. He has also served prison sentences for assault, burglary, affray and robbery.
Hope Not Hate
ANTI-SEMITISM VS. FACEBOOK
“They’re horrible and disgusting,” said Lila Mendelsohn, 16, of the events. After seeing one while browsing Facebook last week, the Los Angeles resident, a rising senior at Hamilton High School and n’siah — president — of her local B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO) chapter, reported the event to the Facebook administration but decided more needed to be done. With help from fellow BBYO member Elise Jackson, 17, Mendelsohn created an event titled “One Million Strong Against Kill a Jew Day.” Both girls invited all their Facebook friends to take action against the event and posted a link so that others could report it to Facebook. Within hours, hundreds of Facebook users had clicked that they were “attending” the “One Million Strong” event. By the next morning, the “Kill a Jew Day” event had been deactivated. In contrast, “One Million Strong” currently has over 10,000 listed as “confirmed guests.” Although Mendelsohn and Jackson acknowledge that they have already succeeded at their original goal, they believe that the sentiment behind their event still holds value. “Even though one has been taken down, many more pages and groups have been made,” Mendelsohn said. The “One Million Strong” event is just one of a number of Internet campaigns urging the removal of anti-Semitic content from the Internet or Facebook.
For the past two years, the Jewish Internet Defense Force (JIDF), a pro-Israel advocacy organization that cites a network of over 250,000 supporters, has worked to expose and remove anti-Semitic material online. “Our approach has always been to expose the material, get our network to report it, and call out the companies like Facebook and YouTube for their negligence in dealing with these issues effectively,” wrote JIDF founder David Appletree in an e-mail. The JIDF Web site features “Action Alerts” for various “Kill a Jew Day” events on Facebook and urges visitors to the page to report any existing events as well. Appletree believes that Facebook has failed to take a forceful enough approach toward these matters. “Their ‘enforcement’ of their own rules is inconsistent,” Appletree wrote. “Sometimes, they seem to react quickly; other times, they don’t react at all.” According to Axten, Facebook has a large team of professional investigators who review and respond “as quickly as possible” to reports from the over 400 million people who use Facebook. “The team prioritizes reports for the most serious violations, including those for nudity, pornography and harassment, which are typically handled within 24 hours.” Additionally, Axten said, Facebook disables the accounts of people who “routinely violate our policies.” Appletree believes Facebook should take a more proactive approach and immediately remove offensive material, instead of waiting for reports from users.
Other Facebook events that have sprung up include “Thrill a Jew Day,” as well as the group “We Are Disgusted by the Facebook Event ‘Kill a Jew Day.’ ” Although both the “One Million Strong Against Kill a Jew Day” event and the JIDF urge nonviolent action, other events list suggestions such as “kill a neo-Nazi” or “drown a Flotilla.” Jackson and Mendelsohn have discouraged users from posting counter-threats on their event. “We don’t want people to respond with threats of violence,” Jackson said. “It’s just as bad.” July appears to have marked an increase in Facebook events encouraging anti-Semitic violence. However, as early as last November, Haaretz reported a “Kick a Jew Day” event at a middle school in Naples, Fla., which resulted in the suspension of 10 students who had taken part in the event. “When people aren’t standing up for their rights or what they believe in, it only makes the other people stronger and allows them to step all over them,” Jackson said.
Jewish Journal
Butler threatens legal action over BNP election rules
Eddy Butler, who is challenging Nick Griffin for the British National Party leadership, has threatened legal action over Griffin’s unconstitutional election regulations announced earlier today.
Pointing out that Griffin does not have the power to change the section of the party constitution that governs elections to the chairmanship, he writes on his blog: “Today the current Chairman has seen fit to make up a whole raft of new rules. Some are not harmful, but some are a deliberate and blatant attempt to frustrate the democratic process within the Party. He is already a loser – a bad loser who is trying to save his skin by changing the rules.”
Maintaining his blog is itself one of the actions a leadership challenger is forbidden under the made-up rules but not under the party constitution.
Butler believes that a “spoiler” candidate will be put forward to ensure that no one can obtain the required signatures of 20% of the 4,200 people who have two years’ continuous membership of the party.
Pledging to ignore the new rules, Butler adds: “Mr Griffin is intent on steering his campaign on a deliberate collision course.
“If he attempts to frustrate the democratic process as laid out under the constitution then he will be legally challenged.”
Supporters have already offered to help Butler fund such legal action, which is likely to deepen the splits in the BNP. Whether the party, believed already to be insolvent, can afford more legal costs to fight a case is uncertain.
Hope Not Hate
Pointing out that Griffin does not have the power to change the section of the party constitution that governs elections to the chairmanship, he writes on his blog: “Today the current Chairman has seen fit to make up a whole raft of new rules. Some are not harmful, but some are a deliberate and blatant attempt to frustrate the democratic process within the Party. He is already a loser – a bad loser who is trying to save his skin by changing the rules.”
Maintaining his blog is itself one of the actions a leadership challenger is forbidden under the made-up rules but not under the party constitution.
Butler believes that a “spoiler” candidate will be put forward to ensure that no one can obtain the required signatures of 20% of the 4,200 people who have two years’ continuous membership of the party.
Pledging to ignore the new rules, Butler adds: “Mr Griffin is intent on steering his campaign on a deliberate collision course.
“If he attempts to frustrate the democratic process as laid out under the constitution then he will be legally challenged.”
Supporters have already offered to help Butler fund such legal action, which is likely to deepen the splits in the BNP. Whether the party, believed already to be insolvent, can afford more legal costs to fight a case is uncertain.
Hope Not Hate
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
Anti-Semitic Alliance (Germany)
Following an anti-Semitic attack in Hanover, German authorities have identified a new source of anti-Semitic hatred in Germany: young migrants from Muslim families. The ideological alliance has officials concerned.
It was supposed to be a carefree festival in Sahlkamp on the outskirts of the northern German city of Hanover. Billed as an "International Day" to celebrate social diversity and togetherness, the June celebration included performances by a multicultural children's choir called "Happy Rainbow" and the German-Turkish rap duo 3-K. Music from Afghanistan was also on the program.
But then the mood suddenly shifted.
When Hajo Arnds, the organizer of the neighborhood festival, stepped onto the stage at about 6:45 p.m. to announce the next performance, by the Jewish dance group Chaverim, he was greeted with catcalls. "Jews out!" some of the roughly 30 young people standing in front of the stage began shouting. "Gone with the Jews!"
The voices were those of children -- voices full of hate, shouted in unison and amplified by a toy megaphone. Arnds, the organizer, was shocked. He knew many of the children, most of them from Arab immigrant families in the neighborhood.
A social worker, Arnds tried using the tools of his profession -- words -- to save the situation. But his words were met with stones, thrown at the stage by people taking cover in the crowd. One of the stones hit a female Chaverim dancer in the leg, resulting in an angry bruise.
Inflammatory Propaganda and Criminal Violence
Arnds immediately cancelled the dance performance. Still speaking through the microphone, he said that he wasn't sure whether the festival could even continue after this incident. When adults walked to the front of the crowd to confront and talk to the children, they were verbally abused, and some of the teenagers ran away. The Jewish dance group was taken to a safe place, and the festival was allowed to continue. The last performance of the evening was by a duo singing Russian songs. "They're not Jews," one of the young people in front of the stage shouted, "so they can perform here." A criminal complaint was not filed with the police until several days later.
Until now, attacks on Jews, Jewish institutions and Jewish symbols have almost always been committed by right-wing extremist groups. In the first quarter of 2010 alone, the German Interior Ministry documented 183 anti-Semitic offences committed by right-wing radicals, including graffiti, inflammatory propaganda and physical violence.
The stone-throwing incident in Hanover, however, has finally forced the authorities to take a closer look at a group of offenders that, though largely overlooked until now, is no less motivated by anti-Zionist sentiments: adolescents and young adults from an immigrant community who are influenced by Islamist ideas and are prepared to commit acts of violence.
An informal and accidental alliance has been developing for some time between neo-Nazis and some members of a group they would normally despise: Muslim immigrants. The two groups seem to share vaguely similar anti-Semitic ideologies.
Right-wing extremists and Islamists, says Heinz Fromm, the president of the German domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), are united by "a common bogeyman: Israel and the Jews as a whole." While German right-wing extremists cultivate a "more or less obvious racist anti-Semitism," says Fromm, the Islamists are "oriented toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and support "anti-Zionist ideological positions, which can also have anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic overtones." Both extremist movements, says Fromm, "ascribe extraordinary political power to Israel and the Jews, and their goal is to fight this power."
'A Tree, a Noose, a Jew's Neck'
Although the BfV has not separately identified anti-Semitic crimes associated with Islamist groups until now, investigators are paying close attention to the development of anti-Jewish tendencies within the milieu.
Anti-Semitism from the two groups shows itself in different ways in Germany. On the one hand, there are the efforts of extremist right-wing groups, which tend to follow a certain pattern. During a football match in April, for example, supporters of SV Mügeln-Ablass 09, a district-league football club in the eastern state of Saxony, chanted "a tree, a noose, a Jew's neck" and "we're building a subway, from Jerusalem to Auschwitz," until the match was stopped.
According to the German government's response to a parliament inquiry by the Left Party politician Petra Pau, Jewish cemeteries in Germany are defaced, vandalized or destroyed about once every 10 days. Memorial sites are also frequently targeted. Last month, for example, extremists defaced a memorial plaque in the western city of Bochum, a Jewish cemetery in Babenhausen in the state of Hesse and a memorial in Beckum in the Münsterland region.
On the other hand, say BfV officials, Islamist ideologues are creating problems with their anti-Israeli tirades, which are being broadcast on the Internet and television. "You can expect this sort of propaganda to have an impact on certain social groups," says Fromm.
The Israelis' bloody military intervention against a flotilla of aid vessels off the coast of Gaza on May 31, in which nine Turkish activists where shot dead, has triggered a new wave of hate. The Jewish community in Berlin promptly reported "a rapid increase in anti-Semitic propaganda and death threats against Jews on the Internet." This is particularly the case on Facebook where, according to Jewish officials in Berlin, users like Ulubas L. are spreading their message of hate with statements like: "The only good Jew is a dead Jew."
Breeding Ground
TV productions like the Iranian series "Zahra's Blue Eyes," broadcast into the living rooms of immigrant families in Germany, only add to the problem. The program is based on a horror story in which a fictitious Israeli general has doctors remove the eyes of a Palestinian girl so that they can be transplanted into his blind son.
Such propaganda apparently serves as a breeding ground for anti-Jewish sentiments among poorly integrated members of the immigrant community -- sentiments which can quickly explode into violence. In late June, for example, two Israeli tourists made the mistake of conversing in Hebrew at a Berlin nightclub. Another guest, apparently of Palestinian descent, asked them where they were from. When one of the tourists, a 22-year-old man, replied, "from Israel," the man attacked him and his companion.
The situation escalated when a Turkish-born bouncer intervened and attacked the Israelis with pepper spray. The tourists were able to flee and required medical treatment. Law enforcement officials assume that the attack was the result of "anti-Semitic sentiment." The bouncer and the man who attacked the Israelis, whose identity is still unknown, are being investigated for aggravated assault and battery.
The Jewish community in Worms, located in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, was also the target of a recent attack. In mid-May, unknown assailants tried to set the city's historic synagogue on fire. Forensics experts later identified eight sources of fire at the crime scene. In addition, a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of the synagogue's library.
Understanding the Background
The community was lucky; the building did not go up in flames. Nearby, the police found letters claiming responsibility, written in broken German: "As long as you don't leave the Palestinians alone, we won't leave you alone." It is still unclear whether the pamphlets indicate that the perpetrators were Islamists or were left there as a red herring. According to the state's Interior Ministry, the authorities are "working hard to investigate all possible leads."
Meanwhile residents and social workers are trying to understand the background and motives of the adolescents who attacked Jewish dancers with stones at the "International Day" event in Hanover's Sahlkamp neighborhood.
There is no visible evidence of Jewish life in the district, which has about 14,000 residents. According to the police, the stone-throwing incident on June 19 was the first case of anti-Semitic violence in the area. So far, authorities have identified 12 possible suspects. They are between 9 and 19 years old, many are not yet old enough to be prosecuted, and 11 of them have an "Arab immigrant background," according to the public prosecutor's office in the city. No one has said anything yet on the possible motives for the attack. The only comments, so far, came from a little girl, perhaps 10 or 11 years old, who was addressed immediately after the attack by a woman attending the neighborhood festival.
"What's going on here?" the woman asked.
"The Germans say: Foreigners out!" the girl replied. "Why can't we say: Jews out?" Then she ran away.
Speigel
It was supposed to be a carefree festival in Sahlkamp on the outskirts of the northern German city of Hanover. Billed as an "International Day" to celebrate social diversity and togetherness, the June celebration included performances by a multicultural children's choir called "Happy Rainbow" and the German-Turkish rap duo 3-K. Music from Afghanistan was also on the program.
But then the mood suddenly shifted.
When Hajo Arnds, the organizer of the neighborhood festival, stepped onto the stage at about 6:45 p.m. to announce the next performance, by the Jewish dance group Chaverim, he was greeted with catcalls. "Jews out!" some of the roughly 30 young people standing in front of the stage began shouting. "Gone with the Jews!"
The voices were those of children -- voices full of hate, shouted in unison and amplified by a toy megaphone. Arnds, the organizer, was shocked. He knew many of the children, most of them from Arab immigrant families in the neighborhood.
A social worker, Arnds tried using the tools of his profession -- words -- to save the situation. But his words were met with stones, thrown at the stage by people taking cover in the crowd. One of the stones hit a female Chaverim dancer in the leg, resulting in an angry bruise.
Inflammatory Propaganda and Criminal Violence
Arnds immediately cancelled the dance performance. Still speaking through the microphone, he said that he wasn't sure whether the festival could even continue after this incident. When adults walked to the front of the crowd to confront and talk to the children, they were verbally abused, and some of the teenagers ran away. The Jewish dance group was taken to a safe place, and the festival was allowed to continue. The last performance of the evening was by a duo singing Russian songs. "They're not Jews," one of the young people in front of the stage shouted, "so they can perform here." A criminal complaint was not filed with the police until several days later.
Until now, attacks on Jews, Jewish institutions and Jewish symbols have almost always been committed by right-wing extremist groups. In the first quarter of 2010 alone, the German Interior Ministry documented 183 anti-Semitic offences committed by right-wing radicals, including graffiti, inflammatory propaganda and physical violence.
The stone-throwing incident in Hanover, however, has finally forced the authorities to take a closer look at a group of offenders that, though largely overlooked until now, is no less motivated by anti-Zionist sentiments: adolescents and young adults from an immigrant community who are influenced by Islamist ideas and are prepared to commit acts of violence.
An informal and accidental alliance has been developing for some time between neo-Nazis and some members of a group they would normally despise: Muslim immigrants. The two groups seem to share vaguely similar anti-Semitic ideologies.
Right-wing extremists and Islamists, says Heinz Fromm, the president of the German domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), are united by "a common bogeyman: Israel and the Jews as a whole." While German right-wing extremists cultivate a "more or less obvious racist anti-Semitism," says Fromm, the Islamists are "oriented toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and support "anti-Zionist ideological positions, which can also have anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic overtones." Both extremist movements, says Fromm, "ascribe extraordinary political power to Israel and the Jews, and their goal is to fight this power."
'A Tree, a Noose, a Jew's Neck'
Although the BfV has not separately identified anti-Semitic crimes associated with Islamist groups until now, investigators are paying close attention to the development of anti-Jewish tendencies within the milieu.
Anti-Semitism from the two groups shows itself in different ways in Germany. On the one hand, there are the efforts of extremist right-wing groups, which tend to follow a certain pattern. During a football match in April, for example, supporters of SV Mügeln-Ablass 09, a district-league football club in the eastern state of Saxony, chanted "a tree, a noose, a Jew's neck" and "we're building a subway, from Jerusalem to Auschwitz," until the match was stopped.
According to the German government's response to a parliament inquiry by the Left Party politician Petra Pau, Jewish cemeteries in Germany are defaced, vandalized or destroyed about once every 10 days. Memorial sites are also frequently targeted. Last month, for example, extremists defaced a memorial plaque in the western city of Bochum, a Jewish cemetery in Babenhausen in the state of Hesse and a memorial in Beckum in the Münsterland region.
On the other hand, say BfV officials, Islamist ideologues are creating problems with their anti-Israeli tirades, which are being broadcast on the Internet and television. "You can expect this sort of propaganda to have an impact on certain social groups," says Fromm.
The Israelis' bloody military intervention against a flotilla of aid vessels off the coast of Gaza on May 31, in which nine Turkish activists where shot dead, has triggered a new wave of hate. The Jewish community in Berlin promptly reported "a rapid increase in anti-Semitic propaganda and death threats against Jews on the Internet." This is particularly the case on Facebook where, according to Jewish officials in Berlin, users like Ulubas L. are spreading their message of hate with statements like: "The only good Jew is a dead Jew."
Breeding Ground
TV productions like the Iranian series "Zahra's Blue Eyes," broadcast into the living rooms of immigrant families in Germany, only add to the problem. The program is based on a horror story in which a fictitious Israeli general has doctors remove the eyes of a Palestinian girl so that they can be transplanted into his blind son.
Such propaganda apparently serves as a breeding ground for anti-Jewish sentiments among poorly integrated members of the immigrant community -- sentiments which can quickly explode into violence. In late June, for example, two Israeli tourists made the mistake of conversing in Hebrew at a Berlin nightclub. Another guest, apparently of Palestinian descent, asked them where they were from. When one of the tourists, a 22-year-old man, replied, "from Israel," the man attacked him and his companion.
The situation escalated when a Turkish-born bouncer intervened and attacked the Israelis with pepper spray. The tourists were able to flee and required medical treatment. Law enforcement officials assume that the attack was the result of "anti-Semitic sentiment." The bouncer and the man who attacked the Israelis, whose identity is still unknown, are being investigated for aggravated assault and battery.
The Jewish community in Worms, located in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, was also the target of a recent attack. In mid-May, unknown assailants tried to set the city's historic synagogue on fire. Forensics experts later identified eight sources of fire at the crime scene. In addition, a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of the synagogue's library.
Understanding the Background
The community was lucky; the building did not go up in flames. Nearby, the police found letters claiming responsibility, written in broken German: "As long as you don't leave the Palestinians alone, we won't leave you alone." It is still unclear whether the pamphlets indicate that the perpetrators were Islamists or were left there as a red herring. According to the state's Interior Ministry, the authorities are "working hard to investigate all possible leads."
Meanwhile residents and social workers are trying to understand the background and motives of the adolescents who attacked Jewish dancers with stones at the "International Day" event in Hanover's Sahlkamp neighborhood.
There is no visible evidence of Jewish life in the district, which has about 14,000 residents. According to the police, the stone-throwing incident on June 19 was the first case of anti-Semitic violence in the area. So far, authorities have identified 12 possible suspects. They are between 9 and 19 years old, many are not yet old enough to be prosecuted, and 11 of them have an "Arab immigrant background," according to the public prosecutor's office in the city. No one has said anything yet on the possible motives for the attack. The only comments, so far, came from a little girl, perhaps 10 or 11 years old, who was addressed immediately after the attack by a woman attending the neighborhood festival.
"What's going on here?" the woman asked.
"The Germans say: Foreigners out!" the girl replied. "Why can't we say: Jews out?" Then she ran away.
Speigel
BNP election process gerrymandered to exclude challenger
The British National Party has announced rules that will make it near impossible for Eddy Butler to challenge Nick Griffin for the party leadership.
The party’s “elections department”, otherwise known as Clive Jefferson, the rapidly promoted North West regional organiser and part-time member of Griffin’s European constituency staff, has outlined “leadership contest regulations”, which it claims are based on the party’s constitution.
Claiming that the party and individual candidates must be “protected from any attempt to use dishonesty and faction-building to advance one candidate at the expense of another”, the statement continues: “There is a clear dividing line between passionately held opinion and legitimate criticism on the one hand, and character assassination and dishonesty on the other. For the sake of the party, and the ability of the members to make a properly informed choice, everyone must stay on the right side of that line – and understand that a free and fair election can be secured only if anyone who crosses the line thereby loses his or her right to be involved.”
Where the line lies and who is to determine what comments fall on the wrong side of it are not explained, leaving an open door for Jefferson, at the bidding of Griffin and his consigliere Jim Dowson, to exclude Butler.
Turning to the nomination process, the statement, as widely expected, outlaws the use of the unofficial forms on which Butler is collecting signatures. Instead official, individually numbered forms will be sent by post to “all members eligible to nominate and vote in a leadership election”.
Members wishing to nominate anyone must sign the form and have their signature witnessed. This is a transparent attempt to make the process a bit harder for members who might be isolated from other members and might not want to tell potential witnesses among their friends, neighbours and relations that they are members of the racist party.
Those forms must be returned to the party’s so far unnamed “official scrutineer” to be received in the short period from 20 July to 10 August. Ridiculously, a member has to post the form personally “except in the event of sickness or infirmity”, in which case “they may ask their witness to post it for them”.
How the “official scrutineer” will know who posted the form is unclear, leaving yet another means for Jefferson to exclude nominations. And of course any attempt by Butler’s supporters to collect up forms and bring them to the official opening of envelopes, to ensure they are not somehow lost by the BNP’s “scrutineer”, is not permitted.
Although the BNP constitution does not provide for it, because in the event of there being no valid nominations for another candidate the incumbent automatically carries on, the form will also include a box for members to indicate that they wish Griffin to continue as leader. No doubt Griffin will ensure that there are more forms with that box ticked than nominations for Butler.
As widely expected after the closure of the two main anti-Butler attack blogs over the weekend, the regulations deny candidates the right to campaign other than by limited officially sanctioned methods. “Candidates and their supporters shall not produce, maintain, advertise or otherwise utilise, whether for promotion, criticism or report, any official or unofficial campaigning website or social networking facility (Face book, Twitter, etc).”
Candidates are also not allowed to give media interviews or raise money for their campaign.
The rules apply “with immediate effect”. The announcement was posted on the BNP website at 12.26 on 14 July. At the time of writing just over two hours later, Butler’s blog and website, both of which appeal for donations, were still in place, making it possible for Griffin immediately to institute disciplinary action against Butler and to exclude him from the nomination process.
The announcement declares that the basic guideline for the election under version 12.2 of the party constitution is: “A free, fully democratic election process which is fair to all potential candidates, from start to finish, and which protects the British National Party from attempt [sic] to abuse the process”.
The sentence appears in quotes in the announcement, giving the impression that it is taken from the constitution, but in fact it appears nowhere in that document. The rules for the nomination process and the ban on unofficial campaigning are likewise not sanctioned by the constitution, leaving the party open to legal action by Butler if he is thereby prevented from standing against Griffin.
Hope Not Hate
The party’s “elections department”, otherwise known as Clive Jefferson, the rapidly promoted North West regional organiser and part-time member of Griffin’s European constituency staff, has outlined “leadership contest regulations”, which it claims are based on the party’s constitution.
Claiming that the party and individual candidates must be “protected from any attempt to use dishonesty and faction-building to advance one candidate at the expense of another”, the statement continues: “There is a clear dividing line between passionately held opinion and legitimate criticism on the one hand, and character assassination and dishonesty on the other. For the sake of the party, and the ability of the members to make a properly informed choice, everyone must stay on the right side of that line – and understand that a free and fair election can be secured only if anyone who crosses the line thereby loses his or her right to be involved.”
Where the line lies and who is to determine what comments fall on the wrong side of it are not explained, leaving an open door for Jefferson, at the bidding of Griffin and his consigliere Jim Dowson, to exclude Butler.
Turning to the nomination process, the statement, as widely expected, outlaws the use of the unofficial forms on which Butler is collecting signatures. Instead official, individually numbered forms will be sent by post to “all members eligible to nominate and vote in a leadership election”.
Members wishing to nominate anyone must sign the form and have their signature witnessed. This is a transparent attempt to make the process a bit harder for members who might be isolated from other members and might not want to tell potential witnesses among their friends, neighbours and relations that they are members of the racist party.
Those forms must be returned to the party’s so far unnamed “official scrutineer” to be received in the short period from 20 July to 10 August. Ridiculously, a member has to post the form personally “except in the event of sickness or infirmity”, in which case “they may ask their witness to post it for them”.
How the “official scrutineer” will know who posted the form is unclear, leaving yet another means for Jefferson to exclude nominations. And of course any attempt by Butler’s supporters to collect up forms and bring them to the official opening of envelopes, to ensure they are not somehow lost by the BNP’s “scrutineer”, is not permitted.
Although the BNP constitution does not provide for it, because in the event of there being no valid nominations for another candidate the incumbent automatically carries on, the form will also include a box for members to indicate that they wish Griffin to continue as leader. No doubt Griffin will ensure that there are more forms with that box ticked than nominations for Butler.
As widely expected after the closure of the two main anti-Butler attack blogs over the weekend, the regulations deny candidates the right to campaign other than by limited officially sanctioned methods. “Candidates and their supporters shall not produce, maintain, advertise or otherwise utilise, whether for promotion, criticism or report, any official or unofficial campaigning website or social networking facility (Face book, Twitter, etc).”
Candidates are also not allowed to give media interviews or raise money for their campaign.
The rules apply “with immediate effect”. The announcement was posted on the BNP website at 12.26 on 14 July. At the time of writing just over two hours later, Butler’s blog and website, both of which appeal for donations, were still in place, making it possible for Griffin immediately to institute disciplinary action against Butler and to exclude him from the nomination process.
The announcement declares that the basic guideline for the election under version 12.2 of the party constitution is: “A free, fully democratic election process which is fair to all potential candidates, from start to finish, and which protects the British National Party from attempt [sic] to abuse the process”.
The sentence appears in quotes in the announcement, giving the impression that it is taken from the constitution, but in fact it appears nowhere in that document. The rules for the nomination process and the ban on unofficial campaigning are likewise not sanctioned by the constitution, leaving the party open to legal action by Butler if he is thereby prevented from standing against Griffin.
Hope Not Hate
ANTI-RACISM EXHIBITION FOR WORLD CUP FINAL (Poland)
On the day of the World Cup final, a diverse multicultural audience took part in a ‘Let’s kick racism out of the stadiums’ exhibition opening organised by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association in Warsaw’s Home Africa Bar. The event was co-hosted by Stanley Udenkwor, a Nigerian-born Polish citizen, an ex Polonia Warsaw player and an ambassador of the ‘Let’s kick racism out of the stadiums’ campaign. The exhibition presents the multicultural history of Polish football, the participation of ethnic minorities and migrants in the sport today as well as the problem of racism and xenophobia in Polish stadiums. Its other aim is to promote the ‘Let’s kick racism out of the stadiums’ campaign. The exhibition is also going to be shown during the large Polish Woodstock Festival later this summer.
The date for the opening ceremony was not accidental. ‘It’s the final of a World Cup held for the first time in Africa. South Africa is a country whose inhabitants experienced racism through many years of the apartheid. In this context the World Cup has been special. As co-hosts of the forthcoming EURO 2012 Championship, we should learn from the South African experience how to organise a multicultural event full of joy and respect’ says Jacek Purski, a spokesman for the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. - ‘However, not everybody in Poland seems to want this kind of event. For example, on the occasion of the World Cup, a group of neo-fascists hang racist posters in the streets of Sosnowiec, expressing their solidarity with South African apartheid supporters’ adds Dr Rafal Pankowski, a ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association member and coordinator of the East Europe Monitoring Centre.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-fascist organization which monitors racist incidents and conducts educational campaigns. It coordinates the FARE Eastern European Development Project supported by UEFA in the run up to the EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Never Again Association
The date for the opening ceremony was not accidental. ‘It’s the final of a World Cup held for the first time in Africa. South Africa is a country whose inhabitants experienced racism through many years of the apartheid. In this context the World Cup has been special. As co-hosts of the forthcoming EURO 2012 Championship, we should learn from the South African experience how to organise a multicultural event full of joy and respect’ says Jacek Purski, a spokesman for the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. - ‘However, not everybody in Poland seems to want this kind of event. For example, on the occasion of the World Cup, a group of neo-fascists hang racist posters in the streets of Sosnowiec, expressing their solidarity with South African apartheid supporters’ adds Dr Rafal Pankowski, a ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association member and coordinator of the East Europe Monitoring Centre.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-fascist organization which monitors racist incidents and conducts educational campaigns. It coordinates the FARE Eastern European Development Project supported by UEFA in the run up to the EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Never Again Association
Neo-Nazi in attack on church (New Zeland)
In a rage of hatred towards Christianity, a neo-Nazi and his accomplice smashed nine windows of a Feilding church on Easter Sunday, a court has heard.
Nearly $4000 worth of windows were smashed at the Lutheran Church on King St in the early hours of April 4, by the men who claimed to hate Jesus, the church and Easter.
Daniel Waring, 21, and his co-accused Nicholas Melrose, 18, pleaded guilty to a charge each of intentional damage in Feilding District Court yesterday.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Ricky Lewer said Waring smashed three windows with a wooden baton about 12.20am.
Less than two hours later he returned with Melrose and together they smashed a further six windows.
The pair fled when the church's pastor yelled at them from inside.
He had been cleaning up glass after the first attack.
When questioned, the men told police they were anti-Jesus, anti-Christ and hated Easter.
Waring told a probation officer he was part of the Blood and Honour New Zealand – a neo-Nazi music promotion network and political group – but later denied being a member of the organisation.
Waring's lawyer, Mike Ryan, said he had been depressed, angry, and drunk on the night he attacked the church.
"At the time the defendant's medication wasn't working and some of the side effects included depression and sleeplessness. He had also been evicted from his flat," Mr Ryan said.
Melrose's lawyer, Richard Bedford, said alcohol had been a factor.
"He did it because he thought it was funny at the time, but he said it wasn't that funny once he was sober. He is genuinely remorseful."
He said Melrose moved to Amberley, in Canterbury, after the incident to "move on with his life".
Judge Alistair Garland said the men's actions were unprovoked and mindless vandalism. "It appears it was a hate crime and on the most significant day. You did a substantial amount of damage."
Judge Garland convicted and sentenced Waring to 100 hours' community work and ordered him to pay reparation of $2548. Melrose was convicted and sentenced to 100 hours' community work, two months community detention and ordered to pay $1274.
The damage came to $3822.
Nearly $4000 worth of windows were smashed at the Lutheran Church on King St in the early hours of April 4, by the men who claimed to hate Jesus, the church and Easter.
Daniel Waring, 21, and his co-accused Nicholas Melrose, 18, pleaded guilty to a charge each of intentional damage in Feilding District Court yesterday.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Ricky Lewer said Waring smashed three windows with a wooden baton about 12.20am.
Less than two hours later he returned with Melrose and together they smashed a further six windows.
The pair fled when the church's pastor yelled at them from inside.
He had been cleaning up glass after the first attack.
When questioned, the men told police they were anti-Jesus, anti-Christ and hated Easter.
Waring told a probation officer he was part of the Blood and Honour New Zealand – a neo-Nazi music promotion network and political group – but later denied being a member of the organisation.
Waring's lawyer, Mike Ryan, said he had been depressed, angry, and drunk on the night he attacked the church.
"At the time the defendant's medication wasn't working and some of the side effects included depression and sleeplessness. He had also been evicted from his flat," Mr Ryan said.
Melrose's lawyer, Richard Bedford, said alcohol had been a factor.
"He did it because he thought it was funny at the time, but he said it wasn't that funny once he was sober. He is genuinely remorseful."
He said Melrose moved to Amberley, in Canterbury, after the incident to "move on with his life".
Judge Alistair Garland said the men's actions were unprovoked and mindless vandalism. "It appears it was a hate crime and on the most significant day. You did a substantial amount of damage."
Judge Garland convicted and sentenced Waring to 100 hours' community work and ordered him to pay reparation of $2548. Melrose was convicted and sentenced to 100 hours' community work, two months community detention and ordered to pay $1274.
The damage came to $3822.
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