Dudley protest collision 'not deliberate'

There was nothing to suggest a collision in which six people were hurt near an English Defence League protest was deliberate, police have said.

The ambulance service was called to the incident in King Street, Dudley, at 1605 BST on Saturday.

West Midlands Police said initial witness accounts had suggested that a family car had become caught up in a small pocket of protesters.

No-one received life-threatening injuries in the incident.

A force spokesman said the investigation was in its very early stages.

He added: "Whilst trying to work its way clear the car collided with some of the protesters as they left the protest area."

The force said on Sunday it was starting a separate post-event investigation into disorder and criminal offences which happened in Dudley on Saturday.

Twenty-one arrests were made during a police operation - 17 for violent disorder, two for affray, one for a public order offence and one for possession of an offensive weapon.

The force said it was starting inquiries into incidents reported, including criminal damage to buildings and incidents of disorder.

Anti-fascist group Unite Against Fascism held a counter-protest against the English Defence League, which says it is against Islamic extremism in the UK.

BBC News

Stasi files shed light on West German spy agency's Nazi past

It's one of the country's worst-kept secrets. Yet questions still surround the presence of former Nazis and war criminals in West Germany's police, secret service (BND) and politics. Who were those people, what positions did they hold in Nazi Germany and later in post-war West Germany?

Crucial information about the BND's past has long been hidden in the Stasi files - the vast archive of information meticulously gathered by former Communist East Germany's secret police, the Stasi. The aim was to either blackmail Western agents or to discredit its capitalist neighbor to the west.

After reunification some of those documents were made available, but parts of the archives remained locked away for reasons of data privacy.

Continuity between Nazis and West Germany
Recently, the last remaining documents from the Stasi files were released to the public. Journalist Andreas Foerster had requested them as early as the year 2000, but his request was turned down twice. After persisting for years, he was finally granted access.

Foerster outlined how one policeman climbed through the Nazi ranks and was ultimately employed after the war by West Germany's Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the domestic security service.

"In 1944, he became an SS member and worked in the Dachau concentration camp," Foerster said in an interview with Deutsche Welle. "The Nazi documents indicate he did such a good job that he was transferred to Auschwitz. There, he worked in the so-called department for pest control - that's where they ordered and received the Cyclon B gas which was then used in the gas chambers of Auschwitz."

The main task of West Germany's secret service after World War II was to work against the Soviet Union, and when it came to recruiting staff, a Nazi past was often overlooked if the recruit seemed capable of playing a useful role in the new struggle against communism.

The Nazi past of those cases was well known to their organizations, but it just didn't seem to matter, Foerster said.
Much of the information being released in Germany is already available in the United States. The 1998 Nazi War Criminal Disclosure Act led to the CIA releasing more than 700 files on Germans with whom the US had worked in the aftermath of World War II - even though they were known war criminals.

Reluctance to confront the past
West Germany's intelligence service had a relatively high number of former Nazis and war criminals in its ranks in its early years.
"Some 20 to 25 percent of the secret service were former SS men," Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, the head of a research institute that monitors intelligence services, told Deutsche Welle.

"But if you broaden this to include the generals and officers in the regular armed forces, the Wehrmacht, who'd been involved in war crimes - then this may add up to 50 percent of the Gehlen organization, which was initiated by the CIA and was the immediate predecessor to the secret service, being made up of war criminals," he added.

The BND itself was formed out of the Gehlen Organization, headed by legendary spymaster Reinhard Gehlen - a former German army general who worked as an intelligence officer on Hitler's eastern front.

Over the years, the BND has made several attempts to shed some light on its shady past. Between 1962 and 1965, an internal inquiry looked into its members' Nazi links. As a result, 70 people had to leave the secret service. But they were only a fraction of the number who should have been sent packing, critics have said. The domestic intelligence service did a similar internal inquiry and also let a number of people go.

"But these things were all only internal inquiries," Foerster said. "That's what these organizations still stand to answer for. Those who had to leave left quietly and, of course, still get their pension. Neither the BND nor the domestic intelligence service have to this day openly dealt with their Nazi roots"

The Stasi documents on the issue are now finally all open to research. What remains classified are archives of the organizations themselves.

In 2006, the BND said it would fund a research project into its own past, but little progress has been made. The historian chosen for the project quit in 2008 over what he said was a lack of support for his work.

 
DU World

Man with neo-Nazi ties leading border patrols (USA)

A surge in Border Patrol agents and a tough new immigration law aren't enough for a reputed neo-Nazi who's now leading a militia into the Arizona desert near the border.


Jason "J.T." Ready, a 37-year-old ex-Marine, is taking matters into his own hands, declaring war on "narco-terrorists" and keeping an eye out for illegal immigrants. So far, he says, his patrols have found only a few border crossers, who were given water and handed over to the Border Patrol. Once, a patrol found a decaying body in a wash and alerted authorities.

But local law enforcement officials are nervous given that Ready's group is heavily armed and identifies with the National Socialist Movement, an organization proclaiming that only non-Jewish, white heterosexuals should be American citizens and that everyone who isn't white should leave the country peacefully or by force.
Ready said he takes offense at the term "neo-Nazi" but admits he identifies with the National Socialist Movement.

"We're not going to sit around and wait for the government anymore," he said. "This is what our founding fathers did."

Ready is a reflection of the anger over illegal immigration in Arizona. In April, Gov. Jan Brewer signed a controversial new immigration law that requires police officers to question a person's immigration status if they have a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally.

But Brewer hasn't done enough, Ready said, and he's not satisfied with President Barack Obama's decision to beef up federal security forces at the border.

Law enforcement officials said patrols such as Ready's could undercut the work of the thousands of officers on duty every day along the border, especially if the patrols try to carry out vigilante justice.

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said there haven't been any incidents with the group as it patrols in his jurisdiction.
But Babeu is concerned because an untrained group acting without the authority of the law could cause "extreme problems" and put itself and others in danger.

"I'm not inviting them. And in fact, I'd rather they not come," Babeu said. "Especially those who espouse hatred or bigotry such as his."

Statesman.Com

CRACKDOWN ON ‘HIDDEN’ HATE CRIMES AGAINST THE DISABLED (uk)

A ‘hidden’ crime is being targeted in Greater Manchester. Lawyers and police believe hundreds of cases of disability hate crime go unreported every year – from abusive name calling to theft or assault. Three years ago, just five people were successfully prosecuted in the region but last year the figure rose to 34. And this week an open day will be held at Bury police station and the town’s magistrates’ court to give victims the confidence to report crimes. Earlier this week, the M.E.N revealed how a bus driver was caught on camera refusing to help a woman in a wheelchair get off his single-decker. Award-winning disability rights campaigner Renu Duggal criticised the driver for ignoring her pleas to put a ramp out so she could alight. Her son, Arjun, filmed the incident on his mobile phone. Alison Mutch, chief crown prosecutor for Bury, Bolton, and Wigan, and lead lawyer on disability hate crime, said: “A conference was held in Manchester to which 80 people from disability groups were invited to discuss how the criminal justice system works in relation to this type of crime.” She said that as part of an action plan the open day is being put on – and around 45 people, with physical and learning disabilities, have signed up to attend. The day will focus on how the police and the justice system deal with hate crime cases and it will demonstrate how disabled victims can give evidence through video links and even take a break in the hearing if medication is needed. The prosecutor added: “The police station has full disabled access, but buttons and ramps don’t mean a thing if the attitude of staff dealing with complaints doesn’t give victims confidence.

Support
“We have had great support from the police but there is a lot of fear about reporting disability hate crime – people fear they will not be taken seriously. “We want to assure people that they will.” In 2007, Greater Manchester’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dealt with five defendants involved in disability hate crimes and all were successfully prosecuted. In 2008, 24 were prosecuted, 19 convicted, and last year there were 42 defendants dealt with, 34 of whom were convicted. So far this year 24 out 27 defendants have been convicted. Stacey Davis, community engagement manager for the CPS (north west), said: “We have spoken to disabled people who have suffered hate crimes. One lady was living at home being looked after by a carer and her food was being spat on. “She was warned that if she complained she would be taken into care.” In another case, a disabled man’s coat was set on fire and an able bodied girl was bullied at school because her parents are disabled. She added: “If a crime is not reported a situation can escalate. Sometimes a disabled person will not want a prosecution – a visit from a police officer and a caution – something to get the behaviour stopped will be enough.”

Manchester evening news

VANDALS DESECRATE GRAVE OF POLISH HOLOCAUST HEROINE (Poland)

Vandals have desecrated the grave of a Polish woman who saved about 2,500 Jewish children from death during World War II, the public TVP television channel announced. The words "Jews out" were sprayed on the Warsaw grave of Irena Sendler, who spirited out Jewish children from the city's Ghetto to Catholic institutions and convents to save them from death, images on television showed. Sendler, a Catholic, organised the smuggling of children out of the Ghetto, in boxes, suitcases and trolleys, under the pretext of conducting inspections of sanitary conditions during a typhoid outbreak. The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Israel recognised her as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, a special honour awarded to those who did most to help the Jews escape the Nazis. Sendler died in May 2008 at the age of 98.


AFP

BNP hate party face ruin over joke Marmite ad

Nick Griffin’s racist BNP is facing financial ruin after featuring Marmite in an ­election broadcast.

The party was hit with a massive claim – estimated at up to £170,000 – over the TV stunt, in which leader Griffin was ­pictured beside a huge jar of the spread.

The party then showed a jar of Marmite – slogan “Love it or hate it” – with its own motto “Love Britain Vote BNP”.
Griffin claimed he intended the film as a humorous dig at Marmite, who he ­believed had mocked the BNP in their online and TV ads featuring a “Love Party” and their rivals the “Hate Party”, whose leader appeared to be loosely based on Griffin.

But bosses at Marmite makers ­Unilever were furious at the BNP broadcast and began High Court proceedings for breach of copyright.

BNP caved in and the amount claimed is put by insiders at between £70,000 and £170,000.


Former National Organiser Eddy Butler has said the BNP is “on the brink of bankruptcy”.

And last night a ­spokesman for anti-racism group Searchlight said: “The Marmite fiasco has been a ­disaster from start to finish for ­Griffin.”

Unilever confirmed a settlement had been reached but said the terms were confidential.

Sunday Mirror

EDL UPDATE - Council leader condemns "pointless" protests

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Don’t let the door hit you on the ass as you leave Mr Barnbrook.

The news of the week has to be that the BNP’s poster boy Richard Barnbrook has been sacked.

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

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

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