West Bromwich Albion legend Cyrille Regis has hit out at this offensive banner directed at the club’s £2 million new striker, Peter Odemwingie.
A huge white sheet sprawled behind goals at the ground of the 29-year-old player’s former Russian club, Lokomotiv Moscow, depicted a banana with the words “THANKS WEST BROM”.
The picture reference is believed to be a spiteful throwback to the abuse suffered by black players, such as Liverpool winger John Barnes, who broke through in the English game in the last century. It was also suffered by Albion legend Regis, who also played for Villa and Wolves.
Famously, he teamed up with two other black players, Laurie Cunningham and Brendon Batson, to tear through defences in the late 1970 and early 1980s.
Today, he branded the banner “cowardly” and said Odemwingie, who has a Russian mother and a Nigerian father, would be treated with respect by Black Country fans.
“It’s not only racist but cowardly,” said Regis. “Did they ever target him when he was there or did they wait until he was gone?
“How will we ever get rid of racism in football when things like this happen?
“Peter has come to the right club, where he will be judged on his ability to play football.”
Baggies fans have also hit back at the banner and set up a Facebook page supporting Odemwingie.
Hawthorns regular Martin Greenwood, 25, from Oldbury, said: “I thought the banner in Russia was disgusting and there’s a general feeling that we should do something about it because racism shouldn’t be tolerated in the sport.”
A spokesman for West Bromwich Albion said: “We deplore any suggestion of racism, both in football and every walk of life.
“Beyond saying this, we do not intend to dignify these reports with any further comment.
“Peter made a fine debut for Albion on Saturday, scoring the winning goal against Sunderland, and has become an instant hit with our supporters, who have welcomed his signing with enthusiasm,” he added.
Lokomotiv Moscow declined to comment.
Birmingham Mail
Thursday, 26 August 2010
Women jailed for attacking disabled man in Gloucester (UK)
Zena-Cheri Gormley, 21, and Laura Ramsey, 23, admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent at a previous hearing at Gloucester Crown Court.
The court heard Gormley, of Lorne Street in Kidderminster, and Ramsey, of The Green, Ashleworth, Gloucester, had been on a night out with the victim.
It heard the 43-year-old was left with life-changing injuries.
Both women had been drinking heavily and said they had little memory of the assault, which took place in Pitt Street in the early hours of 17 June.
Det Ch Insp Rachel Williams said: "The CCTV from this case was one of the most disturbing pieces of footage I have seen.
"These women launched a totally unprovoked and vicious attack on a vulnerable man who was not able to defend himself.
"The impact on the victim and the list of the injuries he received is shocking - he currently needs permanent care and can't remember anything from the last few years, let alone the night of the attack."
BBC News
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Police warning to Bradford-bound protestors (UK)
West Yorkshire Police chiefs have warned protesters that anyone involved in violence, disorder or racist behaviour in Bradford this weekend is liable to be arrested and prosecuted.
The warning was issued today as police confirmed the locations of two protests and a community celebration event to be held in the city on Saturday.
The protest by the far-right English Defence League will be held in the Bradford Urban Garden, on the site of Westfield’s mothballed shopping development.
Yesterday, the urban garden was closed to the public as work to prepare it for the EDL protest intensified. Asphalt has been laid over the garden’s previously-unmade pathways, while seats and bins have been removed from the area.
It has also been confirmed that a counter-protest by Unite Against Fascism and We Are Bradford will be held at Exchange Square by Bradford Crown Court.
Meanwhile, a community celebration event, called Be Bradford – Peaceful Together, will be held at Infirmary Fields in Manningham.
The celebration was originally planned to be held in the city centre but has been moved following concerns that its presence there might increase the possibility of violence.
Police said the two protests and one civic event, all of which start around lunchtime, will draw large numbers of people into the city from the morning onwards.
While West Yorkshire Police and Bradford Council are working to keep disruption to a minimum, it will mean a busier than usual city centre this Saturday, said a spokesman for the force.
Some traffic restrictions will be in place throughout the day and there will be a highly visible police presence, in order to reassure the public and ensure that attendees get to and from their events as quickly as possible, with minimum disruption.
Extensive fixed and mobile CCTV will also be in operation to further reassure the public and prevent and detect any criminal activity.
West Yorkshire Police said that, along with the Council, they had in a planning process with partners for many weeks and had detailed plans and sufficient resources to manage the events.
The spokesman said: “West Yorkshire Police’s role is to facilitate peaceful protest. Anyone involved in violence, disorder or racist behaviour which is unlawful will be liable to arrest and prosecution.”
THE POLICE ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS
Does the ban mean that there will be no protests in Bradford on August 28?
No, there will still be protests in Bradford on August 28. Even though the Home Secretary has given her consent it does not prevent any static demonstrations taking place, which are still lawful provided they remain peaceful, as we have no legal powers to prevent them.
What events are planned for August 28?
Two groups, the English Defence League and Unite Against Fascism have indicated they wish to protest in Bradford. A further event is now taking place at Infirmary Fields, Manningham.
What are the police doing about it?
West Yorkshire Police have considerable experience in planning for and managing such events. They are working with the Council and other partners to plan for all eventualities.
What is the Council doing about it?
The Council is working closely with the Police and other local organisations to plan and manage the protests. It is also listening to the views of local groups.
Why has the march been banned?
The Home Secretary has given her consent for the Council to impose an order banning any public processions, including marches, in Bradford District over the bank holiday weekend. The Council by itself has no powers to ban such protests without the consent of the Home Secretary. The Council sought permission after receiving a letter from the Chief Constable asking it to do so. The Chief Constable had to consider carefully all the public safety and human rights issues arising from any march, including the understandable concerns of the community, before deciding to apply to Bradford Council for an order prohibiting the holding of a public procession on August 28. The Council and the Police also listened to the views and concerns of a wide range of local groups and organisations before contacting the Home Secretary.
Will Bradford be safe on August 28?
The Police and the Council have been working together closely to plan for and manage any static demonstrations. Local people can have confidence in the Police and the Council maintaining public safety on the day and can be reassured that the city will be returned to normal very quickly.
Should I come into Bradford on August 28?
If you are coming into Bradford to shop or as part of your normal business, you should expect some disruption to the city centre. It will be busy and some roads will be affected, but as far as possible we wish to see business as usual. We do not want people to come into the city intent on confronting any protesters. Let the police handle the events.
I am worried about my own safety - what should I do?
If you are concerned now, before the event, please speak to your local police who will update you on the current situation. The Police and the Council want to reassure and support all communities and encourage them not to be provoked into reacting to the protests. There will be plenty of local police officers working on the day to reassure and assist you.
What will happen to those who commit damage or disorder?
West Yorkshire Police’s role is to facilitate peaceful protest. If anyone commits a criminal offence they will be dealt with fairly but firmly. The Police will not tolerate damage or acts of violence.
The Telegraph and Argus
The warning was issued today as police confirmed the locations of two protests and a community celebration event to be held in the city on Saturday.
The protest by the far-right English Defence League will be held in the Bradford Urban Garden, on the site of Westfield’s mothballed shopping development.
Yesterday, the urban garden was closed to the public as work to prepare it for the EDL protest intensified. Asphalt has been laid over the garden’s previously-unmade pathways, while seats and bins have been removed from the area.
It has also been confirmed that a counter-protest by Unite Against Fascism and We Are Bradford will be held at Exchange Square by Bradford Crown Court.
Meanwhile, a community celebration event, called Be Bradford – Peaceful Together, will be held at Infirmary Fields in Manningham.
The celebration was originally planned to be held in the city centre but has been moved following concerns that its presence there might increase the possibility of violence.
Police said the two protests and one civic event, all of which start around lunchtime, will draw large numbers of people into the city from the morning onwards.
While West Yorkshire Police and Bradford Council are working to keep disruption to a minimum, it will mean a busier than usual city centre this Saturday, said a spokesman for the force.
Some traffic restrictions will be in place throughout the day and there will be a highly visible police presence, in order to reassure the public and ensure that attendees get to and from their events as quickly as possible, with minimum disruption.
Extensive fixed and mobile CCTV will also be in operation to further reassure the public and prevent and detect any criminal activity.
West Yorkshire Police said that, along with the Council, they had in a planning process with partners for many weeks and had detailed plans and sufficient resources to manage the events.
The spokesman said: “West Yorkshire Police’s role is to facilitate peaceful protest. Anyone involved in violence, disorder or racist behaviour which is unlawful will be liable to arrest and prosecution.”
THE POLICE ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS
Does the ban mean that there will be no protests in Bradford on August 28?
No, there will still be protests in Bradford on August 28. Even though the Home Secretary has given her consent it does not prevent any static demonstrations taking place, which are still lawful provided they remain peaceful, as we have no legal powers to prevent them.
What events are planned for August 28?
Two groups, the English Defence League and Unite Against Fascism have indicated they wish to protest in Bradford. A further event is now taking place at Infirmary Fields, Manningham.
What are the police doing about it?
West Yorkshire Police have considerable experience in planning for and managing such events. They are working with the Council and other partners to plan for all eventualities.
What is the Council doing about it?
The Council is working closely with the Police and other local organisations to plan and manage the protests. It is also listening to the views of local groups.
Why has the march been banned?
The Home Secretary has given her consent for the Council to impose an order banning any public processions, including marches, in Bradford District over the bank holiday weekend. The Council by itself has no powers to ban such protests without the consent of the Home Secretary. The Council sought permission after receiving a letter from the Chief Constable asking it to do so. The Chief Constable had to consider carefully all the public safety and human rights issues arising from any march, including the understandable concerns of the community, before deciding to apply to Bradford Council for an order prohibiting the holding of a public procession on August 28. The Council and the Police also listened to the views and concerns of a wide range of local groups and organisations before contacting the Home Secretary.
Will Bradford be safe on August 28?
The Police and the Council have been working together closely to plan for and manage any static demonstrations. Local people can have confidence in the Police and the Council maintaining public safety on the day and can be reassured that the city will be returned to normal very quickly.
Should I come into Bradford on August 28?
If you are coming into Bradford to shop or as part of your normal business, you should expect some disruption to the city centre. It will be busy and some roads will be affected, but as far as possible we wish to see business as usual. We do not want people to come into the city intent on confronting any protesters. Let the police handle the events.
I am worried about my own safety - what should I do?
If you are concerned now, before the event, please speak to your local police who will update you on the current situation. The Police and the Council want to reassure and support all communities and encourage them not to be provoked into reacting to the protests. There will be plenty of local police officers working on the day to reassure and assist you.
What will happen to those who commit damage or disorder?
West Yorkshire Police’s role is to facilitate peaceful protest. If anyone commits a criminal offence they will be dealt with fairly but firmly. The Police will not tolerate damage or acts of violence.
The Telegraph and Argus
White-supremacist group recruits in Lee County (USA)
Between 300-500 fliers from the white nationalist neo-Nazi group appeared in driveways across parts of the county this week.Ed Bell, 63, of Bonita Springs received a flier.
“I went to get my Sunday paper, and this was right next to it,” Bell said. “At least six or seven houses on my street had them.”
Bell said he was concerned about the hateful message in the fliers, and he wanted people to know about them.
“I know it’s free speech ... but it’s still very divisive,” he said.
The Lee County Sheriff’s Office, has received no complaints about the fliers, said spokesman Tony Schall.
The fliers were delivered in clear plastic with a small rock inside to keep them from blowing away.
The small flier contained an image of Benjamin Franklin and contains the following quote allegedly uttered by the Founding Father: “There is a great danger for the United States of America. This great danger is the Jew.”
Franklin, however, never said those words.
The quote, first published in 1934 in “The Franklin Prophecy,” has been used by anti-Semitic groups ever since, according to Andy Rosenkranz, the Florida regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.
“It’s a complete forgery,” he said. “They’re not concerned with the truth. ... I haven’t seen this in a long time.”
Rosenkranz said residents should report the fliers to his organization and law enforcement.
Paul Mullet, the national director of Aryan Nations, said the fliers went out as a recruitment tool.
“It’s to let people know the Jews are creating big problems in this country and the white race is slowly dying,” said Mullet, adding that there has been a good response to the fliers distributed in Bonita Springs and surrounding areas.
“I got several calls from people in that area,” he said.
Mullet complained about Jews, the proposed mosque near ground zero, a black president, the NAACP and the New Black Panther Party. Mullet also insisted Aryan Nations isn’t a hate group.
News-Press
LITHUANIA'S JEWS CONDEMN PIG'S HEAD ATTACK AT SYNAGOGUE
Lithuania's Jewish organisations on Monday condemned an apparent neo-Nazi attack in which a pig's head was left at the entrance of a synagogue by unknown perpetrators. "The Lithuanian Jewish community and the Religious community of Lithuanian Jews judge this as Nazi provocation aimed at insulting the ethnic and religious feelings of Lithuanian Jews," their leaders, Simonas Alperavicius and Chief Rabbi Chaim Burstein, said in a statement. The statement said that the pig's head was found on Saturday -- the Jewish holy day -- outside a synagogue in Lithuania's second city Kaunas. The use of a pig is particularly offensive because Judaism, like Islam, considers pigs unclean and bars the consumption of pork. Simonas Gurevicius, executive director of the Lithuanian Jewish community, told AFP the incident should be treated as an attack on all believers, not only Jews. "We hope that Lithuanian society will not be impassive, as this act of a few anti-Semitic vandals does not reflect the attitude of Lithuanian society," he added.
Kaunas police have launched a formal investigation but there are no suspects so far, officer Gintautas Dirmeikis told the Baltic News Service. Lithuania was once home to a 220,000-strong Jewish community, and Vilnius was a cultural hub and world centre for the study of the Torah, known as the "Jerusalem of the North". At the end of the 19th century, the number of synagogues in Vilnius exceeded one hundred. But 95 percent of Lithuania's Jews perished during the country's 1941-1944 German occupation at the hands of the Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators. Today there are no more than 5,000 Jews in Lithuania, of whom around 500 live in Kaunas, Gurevicius said.
EJP
Kaunas police have launched a formal investigation but there are no suspects so far, officer Gintautas Dirmeikis told the Baltic News Service. Lithuania was once home to a 220,000-strong Jewish community, and Vilnius was a cultural hub and world centre for the study of the Torah, known as the "Jerusalem of the North". At the end of the 19th century, the number of synagogues in Vilnius exceeded one hundred. But 95 percent of Lithuania's Jews perished during the country's 1941-1944 German occupation at the hands of the Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators. Today there are no more than 5,000 Jews in Lithuania, of whom around 500 live in Kaunas, Gurevicius said.
EJP
Bavarian cornfield swastika stokes fears of neo-Nazi resurgence
A photographer spotted the Nazi symbol, about half the size of a handball court, on Sunday during a sightseeing flight, and passed the photos on to police, daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Tuesday.
“We've never had something of this dimension,” Bavarian police investigator Gerhard Karl told the paper. “At the most someone has peed a swastika into the snow.”
The owner of the land in question, Erna Lechner, called the incident a “pigsty” and a “murderous injury” to farmers in the Upper Bavaria region.
The farmer who rents the land from Lechner did not wish to comment.
“The poor man will now be expected to do something, and in the worst case will have to destroy the crop,” she said.
Aßling Mayor Werner Lampl called the perpetrators “die hards” who were trying to make their mark.
Authorities believe the swastika was stamped into the field sometime on Saturday night, and Lampl did not rule out the possibility that it could have been done by guests at a nearby airfield festival, which drew hundreds from out of town.
But whoever the culprits may be, the accuracy of the formation indicates they weren’t joking around, criminal investigator Karl said, speaking of a very clear “right-wing extremist” motivation.
The use of Nazi symbols is illegal in Germany and carries a sentence of up to three years in jail, he added.
His department plans to take a helicopter out for further investigation in the next several days.
Aßling has already had problems with neo-Nazis in the past, the paper said. Some six years ago police raided a barn shed used as a meeting place, finding a Nazi imperial war flag, or Reichskriegsflagge, and other paraphernalia. Seventeen young people were questioned as possible suspects in the case.
While Mayor Lampl told the paper that efforts to rehabilitate the youths mean there is no longer such a problem in the region, landowner Lechner disagreed.
“Unfortunately the brown scene is managing to spread out,” she told the paper, referring to the colour associated with Nazi brownshirts.
Further evidence of the problem can be seen in frequent threats to a local immigrant aid organisation (Ausländerhilfe) and the district presence of the BJR Bavarian youth organisation’s coordination headquarters for work against right-wing extremism, the paper said.
The Local Germany
Neo-Nazis at an all time high on the Internet (Germany)
The number of websites with right-wing extremist content has reached a record high.Right-wing extremism on the Internet is on the rise. The number of neo-Nazi networks has tripled within a year to 90, according to the German youth protection organization, jugendschutz.net.
The number of websites from the NPD (the right-wing German National Democratic Party) rose 30 percent to 242. The extremists are even spreading their message via social networking communities like Facebook, and video sharing platforms such as YouTube.
The content is invariably xenophobic, anti-Semitic and racist. The form it takes varies: some sites rewrite children's songs into neo-Nazi anthems, others call openly for violence. Often it can be hard at first glance to tell the ideology behind the content.
How to tackle the problem?
Up to 10,000 internet users access neo-Nazi blogs and platforms every day according to jugendschutz.net. The organization is now working to combat the problem by raising awareness among young internet surfers.
Jugendschutz.net also targets the sites themselves, and has succeeded in banning four out of five cases of offensive content. Stefan Glaser is head researcher for right-wing activities at the organization. He is pleased with the success of this strategy, which relies on international partners to ban content.
"If we in Germany have a case that is based in Hungary or Romania, or has a provider that we cannot access, where there may also be language barriers, then we will contact our local partners," Glaser explained. "They contact the operator or try to get the content removed from the network via other means."
Another resource in the struggle against online neo-Nazism is an online advice forum led by graduate teacher Martin Ziegenhagen. He encourages people to seek advice over problems with neo-Nazis at school, in the workplace or at home. There is a closed chat room for parents worried about their children.
Ziegenhagen says online consultation can be an important factor in a successful turn-around:
"After over two years, a son left the NPD. The fact that the boy's mother survived the two years and has repeatedly dealt with the topic while remaining in contact with her son, that's largely thanks to the online consultation."
The President of the Federal Center for Political Education, Thomas Krueger hopes that the fight against neo-Nazis on the internet will be more focused in the future.
"I would like to see a bit more strength and creativity from the Internet community. The sort of demonstrations against the NPD which take place in the real world must also take place in the virtual world."
Author: Marcel Fuerstenau (Joanna Impey)
DW-World
Shop owner 'forced out' by racist attacks in Medway (UK)
 |
| Yusuf Boztepe |
Yusuf Boztepe, who is selling his store in Weedswood, Walderslade, said his shop and home had been attacked and he no longer felt safe in the area.
The incidents culminated in Mark Marchant being jailed for setting light to a homemade explosive on Thursday.
Kent Police praised Mr Boztepe for reporting the attacks and said they had dealt with the offenders.
'We always worry'
Mr Boztepe said: "Since we've been here they have turned our lives to hell.
"We not enjoy nothing, we always worry to walk in the street. We can't act like normal people."
His shop appeared to become a focal point for a group whose anti-social behaviour affected a number of local residents.
He said he was targeted with racial abuse and attacks on his property after he refused to accept their actions and reported them to the police.
Det Insp Ann Lisseman said: "Mr Boztepe has been a person that's stood up quite rightly and said I'm not going to accept that behaviour and he shouldn't do.
"He's reported it to us and we won't tolerate any kind of behaviour at all - anti-social, racial whatever the motive - and that's why we've taken a strong line and dealt with it."
Mark Marchant, of Pimpernel Way, Chatham, was jailed for five years at Maidstone Crown Court on Thursday.
He had denied causing an explosion likely to endanger life but was convicted following a trial.
The court was told he filled an airbed with an accelerant and then placed it on a fence and set it alight in Yarrow Road in July 2009 following a long running confrontation with Mr Boztepe.
Following the sentencing Kent Police said it was a "desperate attempt to cause harm and intimidate local residents".
BBC News
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
ROME: PROBLEM IS MANY ROMA POSSESS ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP (Italy)
As Italy is bracing to expel from the country all European Union (EU) citizens that had violated basic requirements for living in the country, the interior minister has complained that unlike in France, many Roma have Italian citizenship. "Yes, expulsions just like those for illegal immigrants, not assisted or voluntary repatriations," Roberto Maroni told the Corriere della Sera daily in an interview published Saturday. "Naturally just for those who violate rules on requirements for living in another (EU) member state: a minimum level of income, adequate housing and not being a burden on the social welfare system of the country hosting them. Many Roma are EU citizens but do not respect any of these requirements." The policy would apply to all non-Italian EU citizens who fail to meet certain criteria, not just Roma, said Maroni when asked if such a plan would be discriminatory. "If anything, the problem is something else: unlike in France, many Roma and Sinti here have Italian citizenship. They have the right to remain here. Nothing can be done." Maroni's comments were harshly criticized by the political opposition, which accused the minister’s policy of racism. "The government is making distorted, discriminatory and racist use of indisputable principles like the right to security and respect of law," Leoluca Orlando, spokesman for the Italy of Values, said in a statement. "Faced with a clearly discriminatory attitude towards Roma who are EU citizens, we're forced to talk about a false respect for legality and a degeneration of European rules."
France continued with its controversial deportation of Roma migrants on Friday afternoon, when 130 passengers boarded a charter plane, bound for Romania, and the first group of thirteen Roma landed in Sofia on a flight from Paris. A day earlier French authorities deported 86 Roma from illegal squatting camps to Romania in the largest expulsion seen in France since President Nicolas Sarkozy called for tougher action against Roma living in the country illegally. A total of 850 Roma persons will have to leave France by the end of August. The next deportation is expected for next Thursday, when 160 persons will be deported. Meanwhile, the French government made it clear it is reluctant to style its actions as "deportation", saying that Roma people are leaving the country by mutual agreement and for a compensation (EUR 300 per adult, EUR 100 per child), and also retain the right to return whenever they might wish. Roma from Romania and Bulgaria are allowed free passage into France if they are European Union citizens. After that, however, they must find work, start studies, or find some other way of becoming established in France or risk deportation. The French government said those Roma being deported this week have overstayed the three-month limit.
Novinite
France continued with its controversial deportation of Roma migrants on Friday afternoon, when 130 passengers boarded a charter plane, bound for Romania, and the first group of thirteen Roma landed in Sofia on a flight from Paris. A day earlier French authorities deported 86 Roma from illegal squatting camps to Romania in the largest expulsion seen in France since President Nicolas Sarkozy called for tougher action against Roma living in the country illegally. A total of 850 Roma persons will have to leave France by the end of August. The next deportation is expected for next Thursday, when 160 persons will be deported. Meanwhile, the French government made it clear it is reluctant to style its actions as "deportation", saying that Roma people are leaving the country by mutual agreement and for a compensation (EUR 300 per adult, EUR 100 per child), and also retain the right to return whenever they might wish. Roma from Romania and Bulgaria are allowed free passage into France if they are European Union citizens. After that, however, they must find work, start studies, or find some other way of becoming established in France or risk deportation. The French government said those Roma being deported this week have overstayed the three-month limit.
Novinite
OPPOSITION GROWS AMONG CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS (Netherlands)
With cabinet negotiations entering their third week, a weekend poll shows that 39% of Christian Democrat party members are against any form of political cooperation with Geert Wilders' anti-Islam PVV. Negotiations are continuing this week to form a minority right-wing government of Christian Democrats and Liberal VVD with Wilders' party providing support on certain policies in parliament in return for getting some of his immigration policies accepted. The poll, carried out by TNS Nipo for the Algemeen Dagblad, also shows that 13% of the 67,000 party members would give up their membership if Wilders is involved in a new right-wing government. Fewer than half the members, 49%, are in favour of a right-wing government with the involvement of Wilders. In a reaction to the poll, the prominent Liberal Hans Wiegel told the paper on Monday that history is repeating itself. He was referring to the Christian Democrat-Liberal VVD government of 1977 under prime minister Dries van Agt. 'In my time too there was a lot of opposition to our joining a right-wing cabinet,' he said. That government took six months of negotiations to form and lasted until 1981. It was, however, a majority government.
Dutch news
Dutch news
'Joining the BNP was misguided and it's a racist party' (UK)
The wife of the city's former BNP leader has launched a scathing attack on the "racist" organisation after joining another political party.
Councillor Ellie Walker has become a member of Stoke-on-Trent City Council's new Community Voice group after several months spent as a non-aligned councillor.
Mrs Walker quit the British National Party in March, along with husband, and former group leader, Alby Walker.
But Community Voice leaders told Mrs Walker they would only accept her if she issued a public statement distancing herself from the far-right party.
And the Abbey Green ward member, who was elected as a BNP councillor in May 2007, has now said: "I was misguided to have ever been a member of the BNP and admit that I was part of an organisation that held racist views and that my association with the BNP reflected badly on me personally.
"During my time as a councillor, working closely with the community and all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, I have come to realise that the views of the BNP are wrong."
Mrs Walker also revealed her daughter-in-law is Sri Lankan, and that her grandchildren are of mixed race.
She added: "While a member of the BNP, I realised that it was not what I thought it was, with many individuals only interested in hate and lies.
"Stoke-on-Trent is a fantastic, diverse and tolerant place to live and represent [and], if it is to move forward, it must continue to be so."
Community Voice's lead spokesman, Councillor Mick Salih, said he had no problem accepting Mrs Walker's application to become the party's sixth member.
He added: "Community Voice despise and is totally opposed to the BNP and everything it stands for.
"Racism, indeed any discrimination, has no place in a modern, tolerant city like Stoke-on-Trent.
"Ellie has put all that behind her and earned admiration from all political parties across the city council when she not only left the BNP but exposed the hidden extremism."
The addition of Mrs Walker to the fledgling party makes it the fourth largest group on the council.
It is behind 26-member Labour, the nine-strong City Independent Group and the eight-member Conservative and Independent Alliance.
It is also now one place ahead of the five-member BNP group and the four-strong Liberal Democrats.
Current BNP group leader Councillor Michael Coleman said he was aware of Mrs Walker's move to Community Voice, but was sceptical about her denunciation of her former far-right connections.
He said: "This has to be the biggest political conversion in the history of Stoke-on-Trent – to go from hard right to hard left.
"I have known Ellie a long time and all I can say is that her views fitted in well with the BNP and she was an outstanding councillor for us.
"I wish her well in her new group, but I don't accept any of her accusations about our party.
"She was elected on a BNP ticket, and I do wonder whether voters in her ward will accept her conversion or feel betrayed by it.
"I suppose this shows that we are gradually gaining political acceptance, as until now no other party would have accepted a former BNP member."
This is Staffordshire
Councillor Ellie Walker has become a member of Stoke-on-Trent City Council's new Community Voice group after several months spent as a non-aligned councillor.
Mrs Walker quit the British National Party in March, along with husband, and former group leader, Alby Walker.
But Community Voice leaders told Mrs Walker they would only accept her if she issued a public statement distancing herself from the far-right party.
And the Abbey Green ward member, who was elected as a BNP councillor in May 2007, has now said: "I was misguided to have ever been a member of the BNP and admit that I was part of an organisation that held racist views and that my association with the BNP reflected badly on me personally.
"During my time as a councillor, working closely with the community and all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, I have come to realise that the views of the BNP are wrong."
Mrs Walker also revealed her daughter-in-law is Sri Lankan, and that her grandchildren are of mixed race.
She added: "While a member of the BNP, I realised that it was not what I thought it was, with many individuals only interested in hate and lies.
"Stoke-on-Trent is a fantastic, diverse and tolerant place to live and represent [and], if it is to move forward, it must continue to be so."
Community Voice's lead spokesman, Councillor Mick Salih, said he had no problem accepting Mrs Walker's application to become the party's sixth member.
He added: "Community Voice despise and is totally opposed to the BNP and everything it stands for.
"Racism, indeed any discrimination, has no place in a modern, tolerant city like Stoke-on-Trent.
"Ellie has put all that behind her and earned admiration from all political parties across the city council when she not only left the BNP but exposed the hidden extremism."
The addition of Mrs Walker to the fledgling party makes it the fourth largest group on the council.
It is behind 26-member Labour, the nine-strong City Independent Group and the eight-member Conservative and Independent Alliance.
It is also now one place ahead of the five-member BNP group and the four-strong Liberal Democrats.
Current BNP group leader Councillor Michael Coleman said he was aware of Mrs Walker's move to Community Voice, but was sceptical about her denunciation of her former far-right connections.
He said: "This has to be the biggest political conversion in the history of Stoke-on-Trent – to go from hard right to hard left.
"I have known Ellie a long time and all I can say is that her views fitted in well with the BNP and she was an outstanding councillor for us.
"I wish her well in her new group, but I don't accept any of her accusations about our party.
"She was elected on a BNP ticket, and I do wonder whether voters in her ward will accept her conversion or feel betrayed by it.
"I suppose this shows that we are gradually gaining political acceptance, as until now no other party would have accepted a former BNP member."
This is Staffordshire
Scots who fought aganst Franco remembered at Glasgow ceremony
Statue on the banks of the Clyde re-dedicated to the international volunteers who fought fascism in the Spanish Civil War.The sacrifices made by Scottish volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War are being remembered at a re-dedication ceremony at a monument in Glasgow.
The statue of La Pasionaria - with the inscription "Better to die on your feet that live for ever on your knees"- commemorates the British volunteers to the International Brigades who fought against Fascism in the war that was fought between 1936 and 1939. Over 2,000 volunteers went from the UK, and over 500 died in the conflict, 65 of whom came from Glasgow.
At part of the International Brigade, the volunteers fought for the democratically elected Republican Government which was eventually overthrown by authoritarian leader General Franco.
The statue, which was installed in the late 1970s on the banks of the Clyde, is in the figure of Dolores Ibárruri, known as La Pasionaria, with her arms outstretched. She was a leading politician, leader of the Spanish Communist Party, and a heroine and leader of the Spanish Republican movement. The sculpture was commissioned by the International Brigade Association of Scotland and produced by Liverpool-based sculptor Arthur Dooley.
The last surviving Scot who served in the war, Thomas Watters, 97, was among those attending the event in Clyde Street. Mr Watters served in the Scottish Ambulance Unit, which worked at the front line on the battlefields of Spain to aid wounded fighters and volunteers from across the world.
Mr Watters was a Glasgow bus driver who volunteered to go to Spain with the Scottish Ambulance Unit during the conflict. In his time during the war he witnessed many horrors, including an incident when German aircraft bombed a village, destroying his vehicle. Last year, 70 years after the conflict, he was awarded dual citizenship by the Spanish government in recognition of his service.
The statue had undergone a £10,000 restoration after its fabric had begun to deteriorate. The work was backed by Glasgow City Council, Glasgow City Heritage Trust, STUC and International Brigades organisations.
Councillor Gordon Matheson said: "With this memorial, we pay homage to a group of extraordinary men and women who, more than 70 years ago, gave up the certainties of their everyday lives to travel to a country in the grip of violent turmoil.
"We remember sons and daughters of Glasgow who stood in defiance of fascism and in defence of democracy and freedom.
"I am proud and humbled to have the opportunity to welcome one of them, Thomas Watters, back to Glasgow today.
"The humanity and courage of a man who not only thinks, 'if I can drive a bus, then I can drive an ambulance - I can help', is awe-inspiring."
Grahame Smith, STUC Assistant Secretary said: "We are delighted to welcome Thomas back to the city of Glasgow and the streets he knew so well before leaving for Spain serving with the Scottish Ambulance Unit, saving the lives of Brigadiers injured in the fight against Franco's fascists.
"In our office we have a memorial to those who left to fight and never returned and many of those who did return are no longer with us.
"Trade unions played a proud role in fighting fascists in the Spanish Civil War.
"We continue the fight to this day. Only last November, a march against the fascist Scottish Defence League paused here for a moment's silence to reflect on the bravery of those who gave so much - and for people like Thomas who seized the opportunity to do something good."
During the march against the far-right Scottish Defence League in 2009, a banner was held aloft with the words 'No Paseran' ("They shall not pass"), a quote from a famous speech by Dolores Ibárruri. Since the Spanish Civil War the words have continued to be used to express defiance to an enemy, particularly one from the political right.
STV
Erfurt, where Germany's oldest synagogue was discovered, requests World Heritage site status from UNESCO. 'We are keeping an eye on any activity near synagogue,' city official says
The German city of Erfurt, located in an area of the country traditionally known for having the highest support for the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NDP), with 5% voter support, is plagued with a severe neo-Nazi problem.
As part of their attempts to fight the phenomenon, city officials have requested that UNSECO add the city to its list of World Heritage sites due to its "Jewish past."
Erfurt's Jewish past was revealed almost by accident, when hundreds of valuable gold coins and silverware dating back to the Middle Ages were discovered during excavations in the city's old quarter. The phrase "Mazel Tov" was inscribed on one of the coins.
The treasure was buried at the site by Kelman von Viha, a Jewish money-lender who resided in the city. Von Viha decided to hide his treasure in 1349 for fear of pogroms after local Jews were accused of poisoning wells, which led to the spread of disease in the city.
And surely enough, on the March 21 of that same year, all of Erfurt's 900 Jews were butchered by angry mobs.
Three other German cities - Speyer, Worms and Mainz – are also looking to honor their Jewish history by becoming World Heritage sites.
But while the Jewish past of these three cities is well-known, a serious study of Erfurt's Jewish past only began with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then, archeologists working in the city discovered a synagogue from 1094, making it the oldest standing synagogue in Germany. An 11th century mikveh (bath used for the Jewish ritual of immersion), as well as Jewish tombstones, have also been uncovered.
Authorities in the state of Thuringia, where Erfurt is located, decided to convert the synagogue into a museum, which was opened in October.
Ingo Mlaynik, the Erfurt Municipality official who is in charge of the initiative, told Ynet, "Since UNSECO limits the number of requests to one a year, we teamed up with cities in other parts of Germany that are famous for their Jewish past.
"Erfurt's citizens appreciate the synagogue and are proud of the city's Jewish history, but we are keeping an eye on any activity near the synagogue," he said.
Erfurt's request to be named a UNESCO World Heritage site will be considered by the German Culture Ministry in 2012.
ynetnews
As part of their attempts to fight the phenomenon, city officials have requested that UNSECO add the city to its list of World Heritage sites due to its "Jewish past."
Erfurt's Jewish past was revealed almost by accident, when hundreds of valuable gold coins and silverware dating back to the Middle Ages were discovered during excavations in the city's old quarter. The phrase "Mazel Tov" was inscribed on one of the coins.
The treasure was buried at the site by Kelman von Viha, a Jewish money-lender who resided in the city. Von Viha decided to hide his treasure in 1349 for fear of pogroms after local Jews were accused of poisoning wells, which led to the spread of disease in the city.
And surely enough, on the March 21 of that same year, all of Erfurt's 900 Jews were butchered by angry mobs.
Three other German cities - Speyer, Worms and Mainz – are also looking to honor their Jewish history by becoming World Heritage sites.
But while the Jewish past of these three cities is well-known, a serious study of Erfurt's Jewish past only began with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Since then, archeologists working in the city discovered a synagogue from 1094, making it the oldest standing synagogue in Germany. An 11th century mikveh (bath used for the Jewish ritual of immersion), as well as Jewish tombstones, have also been uncovered.
Authorities in the state of Thuringia, where Erfurt is located, decided to convert the synagogue into a museum, which was opened in October.
Ingo Mlaynik, the Erfurt Municipality official who is in charge of the initiative, told Ynet, "Since UNSECO limits the number of requests to one a year, we teamed up with cities in other parts of Germany that are famous for their Jewish past.
"Erfurt's citizens appreciate the synagogue and are proud of the city's Jewish history, but we are keeping an eye on any activity near the synagogue," he said.
Erfurt's request to be named a UNESCO World Heritage site will be considered by the German Culture Ministry in 2012.
ynetnews
Neo-Nazism is dead in Western Australia: police
Bradley Neil Trappitt, who police claim is a member of supremacist group Combat 18, pleaded guilty in court to willfully and unlawfully damaging a Perth mosque and possessing an unlicensed firearm. He was fined $9750 in reparation and damage costs.
Trappitt drove three others to the Suleymaniye Mosque, in the south-eastern suburb of Queens Park, where they proceeded to fire three rounds at the mosque's roof on February 4.
His co-accused and ringleader in the shooting incident, Jacob Marshall Hort, had already pleaded guilty to similar charges and was sentenced to a seven-month suspended jail term.
Yesterday leaving court, Trappitt was flanked by two burly minders, who refused to comment about Combat 18 or the attack.
Trappitt's lawyer Curt Hofmann had earlier told the court the shooting wasn't racially motivated but just a stupid stunt by four friends who wanted to show off after they had been drinking.
However Combat 18 is globally renown for being founded on the ideology of neo-Nazism and white supremacy. The number 18 is derived from the initials of Adolf Hitler, with A and H being the first and eighth letters of the alphabet.
It was originally based in the United Kingdom and has chapters across the world.
In May, inspector Rob Anderson of the south-east metro district office said police had "more or less eliminated that faction within WA" after charging Trappitt and Hort.
Police specialists tasked to monitor the movements of racially motivated organisations, when contacted by WAtoday.com.au, said they would continue to investigate any individuals who breach the racial harassment and incitement section of the criminal code.
However "the information provided by Inspector Anderson on 26 May 2010 in relation to disbanding this group has not changed".
Members of Combat 18 have been contacted for comment.
WA Today
Monday, 23 August 2010
Hate crimes against the homeless (UK)
'Bum fight' videos and games have created a sickening culture that dehumanises and enables violence against the homeless.If you'd like some more laughs at the expense of "bums" then log on to www.bumrise.com, which proudly boasts being the 2008 browser game of the year with more than 3 million players. Here, you can establish your bum username, and then he – it's nearly always he – can collect cans or pickpocket pedestrians for money, which can be used to buy weapons to attack other homeless people. As one 10-year-old – who became a former player when he explained the purpose of the game to his dad – put it: "You are supposed to get in fights, beg for money and drink beer – to get more points!"
This might meet some people's definition of innocent fun (though not anyone I hope to know) until you read the 11th annual report released this week by the National Coalition for the Homeless, which documents over 1,000 vicious assaults on homeless persons. Of these attacks, 78% of which were carried out by males under the age of 25, the very demographic which is targeted by the creators of bumfight and bumrise and TV shows like South Park or American Dad where homeless people are continually portrayed, in the words of the report, as "contagious, walking dead zombies capable of only panhandling and fighting".
In 2009 alone, the report documents a total of 117 attacks on homeless people by non-homeless perpetrators: 43 of the attacks were fatal, and almost half of them were carried out by males under 20 years old. Some of the "highlights" of these attacks include a homeless man being beaten to death with a rock, a homeless man being doused with lighter fuel and set on fire by four teenagers, and a homeless man attacked by a hatchet-wielding youth.
One teenager, Jeffrey Spurgeon, who was sentenced to life in prison for killing a homeless man, claimed to have watched the bum fight videos hundreds of times. A group of pre-teens in Philadelphia created a game called "Catch and Wreck", the purpose of which is to rob and stomp on adults they believe to be homeless. Two of their victims ended up in hospital with footprints on the back of their heads and torsos. One victim remains in intensive care after suffering a heart attack as a result of the attack. When the kids were questioned by police, they described the game as "something stupid we do for fun".
Though it's impossible to measure any direct correlation between what the report describes as the "multimedia exploitation of homeless people" and the rising number of deadly and viscous attacks, clearly some impressionable young people are getting the message loud and clear that homeless people are a legitimate (and easy) target.
Obviously, there is an enormous need to raise awareness about how and why people fall into homelessness. There are currently around 3.5 million homeless Americans, many of whom are in this predicament because they became ill, lost a job or their job doesn't pay enough to cover market rents. They have enough to be getting on with, without being stereotyped as losers and degenerates.
The dictionary definition of a "bum", for example, is "an incompetent person; of poor, wretched or miserable quality; worthless". We should stop using that word, for starters.
Then, the bum fights videos should be banned for sale in the US, as they have been in the Canada, New Zealand and the UK, and more parents should follow the example of the father of the 10-year-old Bumrise enthusiast; he started a Facebook group called "Parents Against Bumrise", which is dedicated to having the game taken off the internet because of its negative depiction of homeless people.
Crimes against the homeless should also be officially acknowledged as hate crimes. Fatal assaults on the homeless more than double the total number of hate crime homicides against all other current protected classes combined, yet in the majority of states, these attacks and murders are not classified as hate crimes. A Hate Crimes Against Homeless bill has been introduced in congress by Senator Benjamin L Cardin, of Maryland, to "help determine what, if any, resources and tools are needed by local communities and law enforcement to protect our (homeless) citizens from such senseless, bias-motivated violence". Let's hope it passes.
The Guardian
Bradford still braced for confrontation despite go-ahead for march ban
The English Defence League (EDL) intended to march next Saturday while Unite Against Fascism were organising an opposing protest the same day.
Home Secretary Theresa May has now authorised a blanket ban on marches in the city following a major campaign to stop the event, including a 10,000-signature petition which was handed in to the Home Office earlier this month. But the move does not prevent demonstrations from being held.
A Home Office spokesman said: "Having carefully balanced rights to protest against the need to ensure local communities and property are protected, the Home Secretary gave her consent to a Bradford Council order banning any marches in the city over the bank holiday weekend.
"West Yorkshire Police are committed to using their powers to ensure communities and property are protected and we encourage all local people to work with the police to ensure community cohesion is not undermined by public disorder."
The proposed confrontation has raised fears of serious disorder and a possible repeat of the devastating 2001 riots. Some commentators said the clash was an attempt to provoke trouble in a city still recovering from the violence that followed an attempted march by the National Front nine years ago.
Serious disorder has followed some EDL protests elsewhere, including in Bolton, and Stoke-on-Trent where 17 people were arrested and four police officers injured when EDL members tried to break through a cordon preventing them from clashing with members of anti-fascist groups.
Policing the protest and counter demonstration in Leeds last October, which resulted in nine arrests, cost taxpayers £345,000.
In a letter to Bradford Council, Crime Prevention Minister James Brokenshire said the Government "fully understands local concerns that such a demonstration has the potential to spark public disorder and to impact on community cohesion, particularly given the disturbances in Bradford in 2001".
He added: "The application from the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police is clear that the activities of some who attend English Defence League protests – and indeed counter protests – has little to do with freedom of expression.
"So while the Government has set out its commitment to restore rights to non-violent protest, we are equally clear that such rights do not extend to intimidation, harassment and criminality, and that rights to protest need to be balanced against the wider rights of local communities.
"Demonstrations should not and cannot be cover for violent, intimidating or criminal acts. The Government condemns those who seek to create distrust and divisions between communities and remains determined to stamp out racism and extremism."
Mr Brokenshire said the police had the power to impose conditions on the size, location and duration of a static protest if they believe it will result in serious public disorder.
Officers may also be needed to provide an escort for groups to the place where a protest is being held but "any such escort would be to safeguard local communities and should not be misinterpreted as a breach of the ban on marches".
A spokesman for the Hope Not Hate campaign said they would be holding a peace vigil in the city centre.
"In the event of the EDL holding a static protest, Bradford Together will organise a peace vigil in Bradford city centre on the Friday."
The secretive leader of the English Defence League was identified on Friday night as Paul Harris, of Luton.
Mr Harris, who has previously used "Tommy Robinson" as a pseudonym, made speeches at EDL demonstrations wearing a mask and hood.
In an interview on Channel 4 News, Mr Harris said: "I'm not fascist. I'm not racist. It's not about that.
"I understand they don't want us there because they are worried about what the hostile, violent, Muslim community is going to do.
"We do not want trouble.
"We want to exercise our democratic right to protest.
"We have a lot of support in Bradford.
"People are fearful of the Muslim community there and what they might do."
On their website, the EDL confirmed "Tommy Robinson" was Paul Harris, a white British man, of Luton.
Yorkshire Post
ROMA KILLINGS ACCUSED LINKED TO SECURITY SERVICES (Hungary)
Now, with the Hungarian Defence Ministry having made a timid admission to the allegations, conspiracy theorists are having a field day. Over the years, six Roma, including a five-year-old boy, have been gunned down by unknown assailants, striking terror into Hungary’s half a million Gypsies. Last week, after what some are calling an unconscionable delay, police closed their investigations into the serial Gypsy killings and transferred the cases of the four suspects to the Pest County Superior Court. At a press conference, a police spokesman named the alleged assassins as Istvan Cs, Istvan K, Arpad Sandor K, and Zsolt P, as under Hungarian law suspects cannot be named while in preliminary detention. The four are charged with murdering six strangers in nine predominantly Gypsy villages, and injuring another five. In the raids they allegedly fired 78 shots and threw four firebombs, endangering the lives of 55 others. They are facing charges of premeditated murder, arms control violations and stealing weapons. They all pleaded not guilty.
Given the prevalent antagonism towards the “thieving, workshy Roma”, as they are labelled by the far right, it is widely assumed that the alleged murderers are neo-fascist activists. But in a startling twist to the emotive race-hate issue, further exacerbated by lynchings of Hungarians by Gypsy mobs, the possible involvement of state security organs for political ends has been unearthed. The Hungarian Defence Ministry admitted last week that the murder suspect Istvan Cs. had served in the Military Intelligence Office’s counter-intelligence section, but had left the service before the Gypsy murders. According to investigation sources, he was the driver at two separate Gypsy murders. A second accused, Istvan K, formerly a security-service informer, has been charged with three Roma murders, involvement in eight other attacks and masterminding an arms theft. Here the plot thickens because, after being on the radar of the civilian secret services for years, Istvan K was inexplicably removed from their watchlist just when he began to acquire illegal guns prior to the attacks.
According to Magyar Hirlap, a right-wing Budapest daily, the third serial murder suspect had family ties with the forces of law and order. His brother-in-law is a serving policeman and his sister is the personal assistant to the Hajdu-Bihar County’s police commissioner, a county in which several Roma shootings have taken place. In an extraordinary open letter on a far-right website, Arpad Sandor K, the fourth accused, charged the National Investigations Office with “once again impudently claiming ‘seamless intelligence work’ but failing to look at its own backyard [in the Roma murders]”. He accused his fellow murder suspect Istvan Cs of being a military intelligence officer and “a plant in the Debrecen cell, who ratted on his comrades”. In his letter, published on Barikad, an internet website sympathetic to the far-right Jobbik Party, Arpad Sandor K analysed and refuted all the police evidence in the case, including the DNA samples, foot and wheel marks, and spent cartridges found at the Tatarszentgyorgy murder site.
Last year, in response to a parliamentary inquiry, the Defence Ministry categorically denied any link to Istvan Cs. Last week, however, it admitted that the man had been one of its officers who worked, among other assignments, as a field intelligence officer in Kosovo. Last week, Ervin Demeter, the Orban government’s overseer of the security services, offered a reality check. He said that “the intelligence services could have prevented at least some of the [Gypsy] murders”, thus pointing an accusing finger at the previous Socialist administration’s national security track record. And at this point, conspiracy theories and a murderous reality appear to meld. The emerging picture reveals, in view of the Defence Ministry’s admission of one of the key accused’s links to military intelligence, the previous Socialist government’s exploitation for party-political ends of the country’s anti-Roma feelings.
The killings were to apparently discredit the ascendant neo-fascists with the Gypsy murders, appease public opinion and boost the Socialists’ standing in the popularity charts. Simple really: one ploy promising to kill three birds with one stone, with the added bonus of cowing the “criminal Gypsies” who were allegedly “getting above themselves with their human rights”. It is, of course, always possible that what the country is being presented with as facts are massaged images in a hall of mirrors, both from the left and from the right. At the same time, the possibility cannot be excluded that the four arraigned men slaughtered the Gypsies because of their own hate “of this inferior race”, or on behalf their party “cells” without the help of some or other secret service, but not without their knowledge.
The Herald Scotland
Given the prevalent antagonism towards the “thieving, workshy Roma”, as they are labelled by the far right, it is widely assumed that the alleged murderers are neo-fascist activists. But in a startling twist to the emotive race-hate issue, further exacerbated by lynchings of Hungarians by Gypsy mobs, the possible involvement of state security organs for political ends has been unearthed. The Hungarian Defence Ministry admitted last week that the murder suspect Istvan Cs. had served in the Military Intelligence Office’s counter-intelligence section, but had left the service before the Gypsy murders. According to investigation sources, he was the driver at two separate Gypsy murders. A second accused, Istvan K, formerly a security-service informer, has been charged with three Roma murders, involvement in eight other attacks and masterminding an arms theft. Here the plot thickens because, after being on the radar of the civilian secret services for years, Istvan K was inexplicably removed from their watchlist just when he began to acquire illegal guns prior to the attacks.
According to Magyar Hirlap, a right-wing Budapest daily, the third serial murder suspect had family ties with the forces of law and order. His brother-in-law is a serving policeman and his sister is the personal assistant to the Hajdu-Bihar County’s police commissioner, a county in which several Roma shootings have taken place. In an extraordinary open letter on a far-right website, Arpad Sandor K, the fourth accused, charged the National Investigations Office with “once again impudently claiming ‘seamless intelligence work’ but failing to look at its own backyard [in the Roma murders]”. He accused his fellow murder suspect Istvan Cs of being a military intelligence officer and “a plant in the Debrecen cell, who ratted on his comrades”. In his letter, published on Barikad, an internet website sympathetic to the far-right Jobbik Party, Arpad Sandor K analysed and refuted all the police evidence in the case, including the DNA samples, foot and wheel marks, and spent cartridges found at the Tatarszentgyorgy murder site.
Last year, in response to a parliamentary inquiry, the Defence Ministry categorically denied any link to Istvan Cs. Last week, however, it admitted that the man had been one of its officers who worked, among other assignments, as a field intelligence officer in Kosovo. Last week, Ervin Demeter, the Orban government’s overseer of the security services, offered a reality check. He said that “the intelligence services could have prevented at least some of the [Gypsy] murders”, thus pointing an accusing finger at the previous Socialist administration’s national security track record. And at this point, conspiracy theories and a murderous reality appear to meld. The emerging picture reveals, in view of the Defence Ministry’s admission of one of the key accused’s links to military intelligence, the previous Socialist government’s exploitation for party-political ends of the country’s anti-Roma feelings.
The killings were to apparently discredit the ascendant neo-fascists with the Gypsy murders, appease public opinion and boost the Socialists’ standing in the popularity charts. Simple really: one ploy promising to kill three birds with one stone, with the added bonus of cowing the “criminal Gypsies” who were allegedly “getting above themselves with their human rights”. It is, of course, always possible that what the country is being presented with as facts are massaged images in a hall of mirrors, both from the left and from the right. At the same time, the possibility cannot be excluded that the four arraigned men slaughtered the Gypsies because of their own hate “of this inferior race”, or on behalf their party “cells” without the help of some or other secret service, but not without their knowledge.
The Herald Scotland
GERMAN-TURKISH POLITICIAN CALLS FOR BURQA BAN
The liberal parliamentarian Serkan Toeren has demanded a ban on the burqa in Germany. Toeren, who represents the Free Democratic Party (FDP) in the Bundestag, says it was time to have an open debate on the issue. Toeren, whose constituency is in Lower Saxony, said the full body covering worn by some Muslim women, obscuring the face, posed a threat to public security, and undermined the individuals. "Wearing a full-body veil like the burqa is a breach of human dignity." Toeren told the German daily Leipziger Volkszeitung. "Women who choose to wear the burqa voluntarily cannot be accepted either, because individuals cannot control human dignity."
A "mobile women's prison"
According to Toeren, the burqa robs women of their dignity and freedom: "It is supposed to make women more or less invisible, and not present. The burqa is a mobile women's prison." The FDP spokesman for integration, who is of Turkish origin, does not accept religious reasons as justification for wearing the full-body veil. "The burqa is not a religious, but rather a political symbol against our state order and a means of suppressing women," said Toeren.
Following a trend in Europe
A ban on the full-body veil is under discussion in a number of European countries. In July the National Assembly in France voted for a ban on the burqa. Belgium banned women from wearing the full-body veil in public earlier this year. Spain and the United Kingdom are currently discussing whether to introduce a ban. However, a number of German politicians from various parties are against such a ban. They point to the civil rights of the individual, and say there are very few women who wear the traditional form of Islamic dress in Germany.
DW-World
A "mobile women's prison"
According to Toeren, the burqa robs women of their dignity and freedom: "It is supposed to make women more or less invisible, and not present. The burqa is a mobile women's prison." The FDP spokesman for integration, who is of Turkish origin, does not accept religious reasons as justification for wearing the full-body veil. "The burqa is not a religious, but rather a political symbol against our state order and a means of suppressing women," said Toeren.
Following a trend in Europe
A ban on the full-body veil is under discussion in a number of European countries. In July the National Assembly in France voted for a ban on the burqa. Belgium banned women from wearing the full-body veil in public earlier this year. Spain and the United Kingdom are currently discussing whether to introduce a ban. However, a number of German politicians from various parties are against such a ban. They point to the civil rights of the individual, and say there are very few women who wear the traditional form of Islamic dress in Germany.
DW-World
MÁRIO MACHADO JAILED (Portugal)
Neo-Nazi leader Mário Machado has been jailed for seven years and two months this week, for the crimes of coercion, robbery, kidnapping and illegal possession of weapons. The leader of the nationalist far right party, the ‘Hammerskins’, was finally sentenced to seven years and two months at Loures Courts on Tuesday, after sentencing was postponed twice beforehand. A further two suspects, Rui Dias and Fernando Massas, were jailed for nine years and seven years and ten months, respectively. Nuno Cerejeiro (two years and two months) and João Dourado (ten months) received suspended sentences, whilst Bruno Ramos, Bruno Monteiro and Nuno Themudo were acquitted. Mário Machado had previously been convicted to four years and ten months in 2008 for racial discrimination, intimidation, damage and assault with intent to cause serious bodily harm, amongst other related crimes.
Portugal news
Portugal news
Sunday, 22 August 2010
Teen charged with hate crime in S.I. after yelling racial slurs, robbing Mexican boy at knifepoint (USA)
A Staten Island teenager was arrested Saturday for yelling racial slurs while robbing a 15-year-old Mexican boy at knifepoint, the latest in a surge of bias attacks in the borough, cops said.
Yashua Plair, who is black, split from a group of young men about 8 p.m. last Wednesday on N. Burgher Ave. in West Brighton and approached the victim, who was standing on the corner with two young black men, cops said.
Plair, 17, pulled out a blade and demanded the boy's iPod and shouted out racial slurs, police said.
The two friends were not robbed.
A witness recognized the young bandit and cops tracked Plair down Thursday night, sources said.
After he was fingered in a series of lineups, police charged the teen with robbery and menacing - both as a hate crime, sources said.
There have been at least 12 bias attacks in the borough since April, most of them occurring in nearby Port Richmond.
In the wake of those attacks, Archbishop Timothy Dolan will attend Mass today at St. Mary's of the Assumption Church in Port Richmond.
NY Daily News
Yashua Plair, who is black, split from a group of young men about 8 p.m. last Wednesday on N. Burgher Ave. in West Brighton and approached the victim, who was standing on the corner with two young black men, cops said.
Plair, 17, pulled out a blade and demanded the boy's iPod and shouted out racial slurs, police said.
The two friends were not robbed.
A witness recognized the young bandit and cops tracked Plair down Thursday night, sources said.
After he was fingered in a series of lineups, police charged the teen with robbery and menacing - both as a hate crime, sources said.
There have been at least 12 bias attacks in the borough since April, most of them occurring in nearby Port Richmond.
In the wake of those attacks, Archbishop Timothy Dolan will attend Mass today at St. Mary's of the Assumption Church in Port Richmond.
NY Daily News
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