Race-row German banker quits post

A German banker at the centre of a row over comments he made about immigration and race has agreed to stand down, the country's Central Bank has announced.

Thilo Sarrazin, a board member of the Bundesbank, will leave his post at the end of this month.

He has said that Jews "share a particular gene" and has accused Muslims of failing to integrate.

Chancellor Angela Merkel was among several leaders who called for his removal from the board.

Mr Sarrazin, in his book entitled Germany Abolishes Itself, says that Muslim immigrants are a drain on German society.

"Most of the cultural and economic problems are concentrated in a group of the five to six million immigrants from Muslim countries," he stated in the book.

The issue has proved divisive in Germany, with right-wing groups claiming his views vindicate their own stances.

But advocates of improving integration say he has made it harder to hold an objective debate by polarising opinion and obscuring the facts.

Mrs Merkel's office said his controversial remarks were damaging the reputation of the Bundesbank.

And in a brief statement on Thursday, the Central Bank said: "With a view to the public discussions, both sides agreed to end their work together at the end of the month."

BBC News

French 'anti-Gypsy policy' denounced by European parliament

Liberal resolution with 337 majority rebukes Nicolas Sarkozy for deporting Roma and destroying their camps
Nicolas Sarkozy has been accused by the European parliament of stirring up racism through his anti-Gypsy campaign in a highly unusual vote against a leading EU country that has humiliated the centre-right dominating the politics of Europe.

A parliament resolution denouncing the French government's policy of deporting Roma families and demolishing their encampments was carried by a much bigger majority than expected – a vote of 337 to 245, bringing an uncommon victory for the centre-left and liberals in a chamber dominated by conservatives.

The resolution carried by the parliament also strongly criticised the European commission, which polices observance of European law, for appeasing the French and "failing to do its job".

The motion was proposed by social democrats, liberals, Greens and the hard left, and demanded an instant halt to the expulsions in France.

An opposing resolution from the centre-right European People's party, grouping Christian democrats and conservatives including Sarkozy's UMP, failed to criticise the French policy and was defeated.

Eric Besson, the French immigration minister, who was in Romania today pressing Bucharest to do more to integrate its large Roma/Gypsy minority, dismissed the parliament's attack. Paris would not bow to its "political diktat", he announced. "France has taken no specific measures against the Roma," he said.

Last month French police expelled 977 Roma, mostly to Romania, and demolished 128 camps, according to official French figures. The Gypsies from Romania are EU citizens and enjoy the right of freedom of movement in the union.

The French policy's contradictions were highlighted by the case of three Roma from Romania expelled from northern France. They received a deportation order, crossed the border into Belgium, walked a few metres, then turned around and legally walked back into France under the watching eyes of a French official.

"This is to demonstrate the absurdity of French government policy on the Roma," said their lawyers, Clément Norbert and Antoine Berthe.

The European parliament resolution is non-binding, purely a verbal rebuke. But it represents a big blow to French prestige, not least because the parliament sits in France, in Strasbourg. It is rare for the parliament to single out a big founding member of the EU for such a reprimand.

The result of the vote was also a fiasco for the centre-right EPP, the strongest caucus in the parliament representing Angela Merkel's Christian democrats from Germany, Silvio Berlusconi's deputies from Italy and Sarkozy's own UMP MEPs.

The voting figures indicated that many conservatives are deeply uneasy about the French policies, which have also split the Sarkozy cabinet and been denounced by the UN and the Vatican and the United Nations.

The parliament said it was "deeply concerned at the inflammatory and openly discriminatory rhetoric that has characterised political discourse during the repatriations of Roma, lending credibility to racist statements and the actions of extreme rightwing groups".

It accused the European commission of doing too little too late in considering whether France was breaking EU freedom of movement laws and anti-discrimination rules. "This places the commission under renewed pressure to begin legal action against the French authorities for failing to respect the rule of law in the way it has been targeting the Roma as an ethnic group," said Claude Moraes, the Labour MEP who helped draft the resolution.

In Paris on Monday, the European commission chief, José Manuel Barroso, and Sarkozy reached a truce on the Roma row, agreeing to play the matter down. "I've avoided entering the debate about France because it is not my role," Barroso said. "The subject is extremely politicised." He added, in reference to Jean-Marie Le Pen's far-right National Front party: "It's a mistake to say that freedom of movement must be absolute. Doing that, you'll create plenty of Le Pens."

The Guardian

Koran burning on or off?

BURNING THE KORAN WILL INFLAME WORLD

Barack Obama yesterday warned a pastor his plan to burn copies of the Koran would spark bloodshed across the globe.

The US president urged Terry Jones not to go ahead with his bonfire in protest at Muslim extremists on the ninth anniversary of 9/11 - fearing it will boost recruitment for terror groups and put US troops in Afghanistan at even more risk.

And Interpol warned if the controversial stunt is put into action, innocent people could be killed in revenge terror attacks throughout the world.

Mr Obama said: "This is a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda.

"You could have serious violence in places like Pakistan or Afghanistan.

"It could increase the recruitment of individuals willing to blow themselves up in American cities or European cities.

"I hope he understands that what he is proposing to do is completely contrary to our values as Americans."

Interpol added: "If the proposed Koran burning goes ahead there is a strong likelihood that violent attacks on innocent people would follow."

Muslims are said to be planning a number of protests across the world, including one in London, over Jones' book burning. There were angry demos in Afghanistan and Pakistan yesterday where rampaging protestors burned US flags.

Nato spokesman James Judge warned the Koran burning stunt is "precisely the kind of activity the Taliban uses to fuel their propaganda efforts".

Daily Mirror

Terror suspect who tried to blow up Bronx synagogues fired at teens: feds (USA)

They weren't always bungling terror thugs: One of the men on trial for trying to blow up Bronx synagogues  previously shot two Jewish teenagers with a pellet gun.
Federal prosecutors sought Wednesday to include Laguerre Payen's 2002 guilty plea in Rockland County as evidence of a longstanding hatred of Jews.

"Similar to this case, Payen drove out of his way to a predominantly Jewish neighborhood ... which strongly suggests that Payen's prior crime of assault had a racist or anti-Semitic motive," prosecutors said in court papers.

Both victims survived the shooting, though one still has part of a BB pellet in his eye, prosecutors said.

They argued yesterday that they should be allowed to reveal the earlier episode to jurors in Manhattan Federal Court to counter claims that Payen was entrapped, and too incompetent and timid to commit terrorism.

"Although different crimes, they are in many respects 'morally indistinguishable,'" prosecutors wrote. "Payen's prior conduct provides more insight into his violent character than the current offense."

Payen's lawyer asked District Judge Colleen McMahon to bar jurors from hearing evidence from the earlier case.

She gave him until Tuesday to file an objection.

Payen and his bumbling co-conspirators were busted in 2009 for a wildly incompetent alleged plot to blow up synagogues and shoot down military jets upstate.

Their trial has already featured numerous anti-Semitic screeds, mostly coming from the mouth of gang's leader, James Cromitie.

"These f---ing Jews get me sick," Cromitie said in a video played for jurors on Wednesday.

NY Daily News

Former Terry Jones church in Germany denounces Koran-burning plan

Pastor Terry Jones, whose call to "burn the Koran" has led to fears of global repercussions,  worked as missionary for decades in Germany. Here, too, he was known for his extreme convictions.

A German church founded and formerly led by Terry Jones, the American pastor who international attracted attention with controversial plans to stage a Koran-burning ceremony, expressly denounced those plans on Wednesday.
Stephan Baar, deputy chairman of the Christliche Gemeinde Koeln (CGD), the Christian Community of Cologne, told Deutsche Welle that Jones preached a strict, even fundamental understanding of the Bible, but that no direct comparisons could be drawn between his sermons there and the radical views he is currently espousing at his new church.

"We want to make it clear that our church is opposed to what Terry Jones is advocating at the moment and that the CGD, even though he is the founder, has no more contact with him," Baar said.

The community asked him to leave in 2008. Baar insisted that there were no controversies surrounding his departure.

"He just left; we did not witness any of the deeply disturbing things we are seeing now. Pastor Terry Jones was placing too much emphasis on himself and distracting our members from their Christian faiths. He and our church simply went their separate ways."

'Gate to Hell'
Brigitte Baetz, a Cologne journalist who is a regular contributor on German public radio, said Jones espoused radical Christian views while at the helm of the CGD.
Baetz told Deutsche Welle that Jones commonly referred to the city of Cologne as a "Gate to Hell" and emphasized that Christians were "persecuted" there and took on the role of "innocent victims who would be rewarded for their suffering."

"In his sermons Terry Jones often convinced the members that they were made to suffer hardships because they were part of the CGD. He said again and again that the members were the victims of persecution and that it led to them losing their jobs and social status, for instance."

Baetz said that Jones' sermons bordered on fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible. She singled out his vehement opposition to Cologne plans to construct a mosque in the city as an example of his extremist views.

"Terry Jones saw religion as wrong and right. He told his followers here in Germany that Christians, and especially members of his CGD, were the only ones who were right. This is the basis, I believe, for what he is doing right now with his new church in Florida," Baetz said.

US unable to prevent controversial burning
Leading figures around the globe have expressed fears that Jones' planned "International Burn a Koran Day" could seriously strain relations between Muslims and the West.

David Petraeus, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, warned that "burning the holy book of Islam provides propaganda for insurgents and could endanger the [Alliance's] overall effort." Petraeus' comments were echoed later by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

In response to Petraeus' words of caution, meanwhile, Jones said on Tuesday: "Why don't we send a warning to them? Why don't we send a warning to radical Islam and say, 'don't do it?' If you attack us, if you attack us, we will attack you."

The United States government appears unable to prevent Jones' September 11 commemoration plans on Saturday. Although Florida fire authorities have turned down Jones' application to stage the open-air burning ceremony, police will not be allowed to intervene until the Korans have actually been lit.

DW-World

Fidel Castro accuses Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of antisemitism

Fidel Castro has accused Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, of antisemitism, in a passionate defence  of Israel's right to exist. Cuba's retired president, a longtime critic of Israeli government policy, said Jews had been slandered and slaughtered for centuries whereas Muslims were not blamed for anything.

The 83-year-old comandante criticised Ahmadinejad for denying the Holocaust and urged Tehran to acknowledge the "unique" history of antisemitism and understand why Israelis feared for their existence.

The comments will sting Iran's president and could prove awkward for Venezuela's Hugo Chávez and Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, two presidents who revere Castro and have forged close ties with Ahmadinejad.

Castro made his comments to Jeffrey Goldberg, a journalist with The Atlantic, whom he summoned to Havana after reading one of his articles about the Middle East.

Goldberg brought Julia Sweig, a Cuba expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, and the two talked with Castro over three days last month. The journalist's blog on the encounters, posted today, revealed the first details of the encounter.

In recent months Castro has repeatedly warned that the US and Israel were edging the world towards a nuclear catastrophe in their confrontation with Iran. But he surprised his visitors by dwelling on the historic injustices suffered by Jews. Iran, he said, should understand the Jews were expelled from their land and mistreated all over the world as the ones who killed God. "The Jews have lived an existence that is much harder than ours. There is nothing that compares to the Holocaust."

Castro continued: "I don't think anyone has been slandered more than the Jews. I would say much more than the Muslims. They have been slandered much more than the Muslims because they are blamed and slandered for everything. No one blames the Muslims for anything." Asked what he would tell Ahmadinejad face to face, Castro replied: "I am saying this so you can communicate it."He reminisced about being a young boy and overhearing classmates saying Jews killed Jesus Christ. "I didn't know what a Jew was. I knew of a bird that was a called a 'Jew,' and so for me the Jews were those birds. This is how ignorant the entire population was."

The Cuban said nuclear powers, including Israel, should disarm and that he understood Iranian fears of Israeli-American aggression. "Iranians are not going to back down in the face of threats. That's my opinion."

Goldberg said Castro's body was frail but his mind was acute and energy levels high. "And not only that: the late-stage Fidel Castro turns out to possess something of a self-deprecating sense of humour. When I asked him, over lunch, to answer what I've come to think of as the Christopher Hitchens question – has your illness caused you to change your mind about the existence of God? – he answered, 'Sorry, I'm still a dialectical materialist.'"

Goldberg also asked Castro what he now thought about his recommendation to the Soviet Union to bomb the US during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. "After I've seen what I've seen, and knowing what I know now, it wasn't worth it all."

The Guardian

Protestors arrested at Swedish far-right meeting

Three people were arrested on Wednesday during a skirmish between supporters of the far-right Sweden Democrats party and demonstrators trying to disrupt a party rally, police said.

The Sweden Democrats had just started their meet in the central town of Joenkoeping when opponents showed up in the town square with whistles and horns.

"We had to arrest three people. Two of them were temporarily taken into custody because they disturbed (the rally) with whistles and horns," Niels Eriksson of the Joenkoeping police told AFP.

The third person was arrested for throwing an object at one of the speakers, he said. According to local media, the object was a paper cup filled with water.

Polls have showed the staunchly anti-immigration Sweden Democrats could for the first time obtain more than the 4.0 percent of votes required to enter parliament after the September 19 general elections in Sweden.

Police were present at the rally.

"It's unfortunate, but needed. We would be attacked by leftwing and immigrant groups if they weren't here," Kent Ekeroth, the party's international secretary, told local news website jnytt.se.

"People don't seem to have respect for freedom of speech," he said.

Swedish Wire

‘Neo-Nazi’ Campaign Against President Obama

Is there a connection between the neo-Nazi movement and the more mainstream American right? Incredulous, the press secretary of CIA-toppled Chilean President Salvador Allende complains that the only people that seem concerned about this are in … the CIA. One might also note that Chile was one of the destinations of choice for Nazis that survived World War II.

For Spain’s El Mercurio, former Allende press secretary Frida Modak writes in part:

The campaign in the United States unleashed against President Barack Obama is far from being just part of an electoral contest. It reflects the advance of the neo-Nazi movement, which has always been latent in the country to the North and has acquired new vigor since 2000 – coincidentally the year of George W. Bush’s arrival at the White House.
Racism in the United States surfaced with the colonization of its territory. Its victims were not only Native Americans, but Blacks who were purchased or kidnapped in Africa and taken to the American continent as slaves. The U.S. group most equivalent to what now amounts to Neo-Nazism is the Ku-Klux-Klan.
Bringing this precursor up to the current era, we find a President Barack Obama besieged by an opposition with all the characteristics of neo-Nazis. With Bush they felt represented, battling Muslims who had been declared the new enemies – added, of course, to the old ones: Blacks, Latinos, Jews, socialists and homosexuals.

There are other business-related groups that contribute to these demonstrations and the creation of entities opposed to policies put forward by Obama. They have succeeded in convincing 25 percent of U.S. people that their president is a Muslim and hence, not a Christian. The White House has had to deny the rumors.

But the campaign continues. The goal is for the U.S. right and ultra-right to win the upcoming legislative elections and reach a majority in the House of Representatives to prevent the passage of laws that affect the interests of large corporations. At the same time, all of this continues to generate movements and state laws that target minorities and migrants.

The Moderate Voice

Cracks appear at the heart of the EDL (UK)

A new wave of infighting and backbiting is engulfing the leadership of the English Defence League. At the centre of the growing discontent is the claim that EDL founder Tommy Robinson, aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon aka Paul Harris, is lining his own pocket through the sale of merchandise.


We have reported on these rumours for quite some time but now they have exploded publicly. A recent EDL meeting in West Yorkshire, shortly after their failed protest in Bradford, descended into recriminations and frustration at the Luton-based leadership.

Tommy Robinson hit back furiously. “Who do people think they are when they slate others who have done nothing but put their hearts, their souls, their time and relentless effort into the defence of our country, much to the annoyance of their families, their partners and even themselves?

“And what do they get other than a constant barrage of unwarranted abuse, hostility and fabrications propagated to inflame those hostilities?”

He went on: “So I’ve made millions from merchandise have i? Iv skimmed monies from the EDL movement and basically shit on our grass roots members making a living off it? Im supposedly parasiting off EDL success to line my own pockets am i?

“How fucking sad are these people?”

And he concludes: “Seriously these so called and self styled “EDL Members” need to take a good long look at themselves and see the harm they are causing, to divide is to conquer but i know that sometimes something has to be broken so it can be fixed. People who need to break away because of rumour, hearsay, and lies are welcome to leave, i only want real people with the best intentions for this movement involved. I have no time for political platitudes, for massaging egos, for babysitting or wet nursing so called “members” who have hissy fit tantrums, members who are the cause of the majority of strife within the movement.”

The organiser of the West Yorkshire meeting was John ‘Snowy’ Shaw, one of the two EDL members who staged the Dudley rooftop protest. Stung by Tommy Robinson’s attack, he meekly rolled over like a sad puppy.

“I said two things on Saturday that were passed onto me that I now know 100% are totally untrue, firstly that Tommy had made thousands of pounds out of EDL and secondly that Kevin didn't use his real daughter in the documentary. I would like to offer my most sincere apology to both these men for bringing their good names into disrupt, by repeating these lies that were brought to my attention instead of what I should of done and spoke to them personally. That was a grave error on my part and believe me or not I never went to that meeting with any intention of saying those two things and regretted them when I did, we are all human and we make mistakes I should know I have made plenty. I feel that some people have used my passion and commitment to the cause to manipulate me for their own agenda, maybe the fact that I am fanatical about EDL was my down fall.”

He concluded: “I don't now or have never wanted to cause a division within EDL, I only want what's best for the cause.”

The problem for Snowy is that he has caused a division and despite the public apology Tommy Robinson is not in the mood to forgive.

Hope not Hate

Police admit ‘kettling’ on protest day (Wales, UK)

Police have admitted using a controversial containment tactic known as “kettling” during a demonstration by anti-fascist protesters against the English Defence League.

The disclosure by South Wales Police was made to Plaid Cymru AM Leanne Wood after she complained that the force publicly denied detaining Unite Against Fascism supporters in Cardiff city centre.

Following an internal investigation, the force has acknowledged keeping protesters in an area that Ms Wood said was ringed by a steel barrier at one end with police officers at the other.

“Kettling” is the name given to the police tactic of containing crowds in a limited area, notoriously used by the Metropolitan Police to contain demonstrators for a long period without access to food, water or toilet facilities during the G20 protests in London last year.

South Wales Police said it wrongly denied using the tactic following Ms Wood’s criticism of their handling of the opposing June 5 demonstrations near City Hall because the police commander had not been informed that a supervising officer at the scene detained protesters for operational reasons.

In a letter confirming Ms Wood’s complaint was upheld, Detective Chief Inspector Gary Osborne, of the professional standards department, said the event commander had not received a message due to “fast moving events that were ongoing”.

Ms Wood, AM for South Wales Central, who was part of the Unite Against Fascism protest, said: “While I accept their reasons for issuing a denial to the media, I find it surprising that a decision to contain a large number of people for more than an hour was not conveyed to the senior officer in charge of policing operations on the day.”

She claimed the containment of those opposing “the divisive and hate-filled politics of the English Defence League” was unnecessary.

“I intend to write again to the social justice minister, Carl Sargeant, to ask his views on the matter in light of this new information,” she added.

Assistant Chief Constable Nick Croft said officers had faced a “challenging” situation.

“I agree with Leanne Wood that lessons should, and will, be learned. We have already amended our strategies and tactics to reflect the lessons learned in this case,” he said.

“However, we must not forget that a public order ground commander appears to have made a decision in good faith that was intended to protect protesters and our communities.

“Ms Wood makes reference to protesters being contained for an hour, which is incorrect. The time period was far shorter and the decision was taken in response to officers’ assessment of the threat level at the time. Officers also facilitated the exit of some of the demonstrators.

“Overall the event passed off very peacefully, which cannot be said for other similar demonstrations elsewhere in the UK.”

Assistant Chief Constable Croft added: “The matter reported by Ms Wood is still being investigated thoroughly and that investigation is not complete. However, Ms Wood was recently provided with an update which, disappointingly, has led to this premature press release. I have offered to meet with Ms Wood.”

Wales Online

New Westminster to apologize to Chinese Canadians for historic racism (Canada)

New Westminster will be the first municipal government in Canada to offer a formal apology to Chinese Canadians for historic racism and discrimination.

The apology, which will be offered in English and Chinese on September 20, is part of an continuing reconciliation initiative undertaken by the city of New Westminster.

"Discrimination has been endemic in this province," said Bill Chu, Chair of the Canadians for Reconciliation Society.

"New West was not, by any means, the only city that had a policy that was discriminatory to the Chinese," said Chu, who calls this apology "historic and courageous."

Acknowledging the difficult history is part of developing a healthy relationship based on historical truth and a sense of justice, said Chu.

Mayor Wayne Wright said the city assigned senior staff to do historical research on Chinese history in the region.

"Historical facts came out," said Wright. "The Chinese community helped build our region, and we found out some of the things that went on that weren't so pleasant."

Wright said making a formal apology will be just one more step in the process of reconciliation and moving forward.

Chu cites the BC 150 celebrations in 2008 as a galvanizing moment for many in the Chinese community in B.C.

"We could not find anything that defines us in that celebration," said Chu.

So Chu, along with the CFRS, and aided by academics and aboriginal leaders, undertook a research project on the true history of the Chinese community in B.C.

The group discovered over a thousand sites of historical significance, only two of which are officially recognized by the province.

"It was very eye-opening," said Chu. "The Chinese did the railroad, yes. They were also mining for gold, farming, creating irrigation, restaurants."

In 1881, census data show that 20 per cent of the non-aboriginal residents in the province were Chinese. Nonetheless, there was widespread legal and institutionalized discrimination against the Chinese, including restrictions on voting, employment and wage-earnings.

Chu said Chinese Canadians must have a historical frame of reference within Canada in order to foster a sense of allegiance and national pride.

The CFRS hopes to see an accurate Chinese Canadian history included in the B.C. school curriculum.

"The big question now is whether B.C. as a province will take on the important task of acknowledging its own history."

The public is invited to attend the apology at 6:15 p.m., September 20 at the council chamber in New Westminster City Hall.

Vancover Sun

Homophobic teen has second anti-gay attack case dropped

A homophobic teenager - who was jailed for assault following the death of council worker Jim Kerr - has had a second case in less than a year dropped over a legal technicality.

A homophobic teenager - who was jailed for assault following the death of council worker Jim Kerr - has had a second case in less than a year dropped over a legal technicality.

Alexander Kindred, 18, was cleared of a vicious street attack in Perth, after a taxi driver failed to identify him during a trial.

Kindred was 15 when he started a homophobic attack on council worker Jim Kerr which eventually led to his victim being battered to death.

The schoolboy called in his friends to beat Kerr to death. He then callously passed his victim's lifeless body on his way to a party where he bragged he had hit 'a poof'. He was sentenced to one year in a young offenders' institute for assault.

At Perth Sheriff Court last week, taxi driver Brian Richards told the trial Kindred and his co-accused Steven Miller, 32, got out of his cab and assaulted Celtic-shirt wearing pedestrian Shawn McPhee, on August 9 last year.

Kindred and Miller, both from Perth, faced charges of repeatedly punching, kicking and stomping on McPhee to his injury in Rannoch Road, Perth.

Richards told the trial the men had been passengers in his car and climbed back in after the assault and he carried on taking them to their original destination.

Richards was asked to identify the two men in court. He pointed out Miller, but was unable to formally identify curly-haired Kindred.

As a result, fiscal depute Stuart Richardson said: “In light of the nature of the identification evidence given by Mr Richards I do not intend to proceed any further and invite the court to formally acquit the accused.”

Central Scotland Police today moved to reassure an unsettled gay community in Perth, telling PinkPaper.com that the force will “continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to crime motivated by hate."

A spokesman said: “One of the biggest challenges facing the police service is increasing the number of persons detected and then prosecuted for hate crimes.”

Kindred, who claimed he acted in self-defence and blamed Miller for the attack, smirked as he left the dock.

Pink Paper

Right-wing coalition back on the table as Wilders says 'I'm in'

Anti-Islam party leader Geert Wilders wants to resume talks on forming a right-wing coalition with the VVD Liberals and Christian Democrats, Nos tv reports on Tuesday.

Wilders pulled out of the talks after four weeks on Friday, saying he no longer had confidence in the CDA.

But now Ab Klink, the CDA's biggest critic of the right-wing alliance, has stepped down as an MP, Wilders says he would like to start talking again.

In an initial reaction, VVD leader Mark Rutte said he would be pleased to resume talks on a right-wing government.

And CDA leader Maxime Verhagen also wants to reopen the negotiations. My position is the same as it was on Friday, Verhagen said. 'The CDA wants to continue.'

Debate
MPs are due to debate the collapse of right-wing cabinet talks with the queen's negotiator Ivo Opschelten on Tuesday afternoon.

Meanwhile, queen Beatrix is currently consulting her advisors and party leaders about what should happen next in terms of forming a new government.

The Netherlands has been without effective government since the end of February when the cabinet collapsed over support for Afghanistan. The VVD emerged as the biggest party with 31 seats after the June general election. Labour has 30 and the PVV 24.

Dutch news.

Jewish groups step up efforts to combat anti-Muslim bigotry (USA)

Jewish groups have stepped up efforts to combat anti-Muslim bigotry, with several national initiatives announced this week and supporting statements coming in from a range of Jewish voices.

In Washington, officials from several Jewish organizations took part Tuesday in an emergency summit of Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders that denounced anti-Muslim bigotry and called for a united effort by believers of all faiths to reach out to Muslim Americans.

Also Tuesday, the Anti-Defamation League announced the creation of an Interfaith Coalition on Mosques, which will monitor and respond to instances of anti-Muslim bias surrounding attempts to build new mosques in the United States.

Meanwhile, six rabbis and scholars representing the Reconstructionist, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox streams have launched an online campaign urging rabbis to devote part of their sermons this Shabbat to educating their congregations about Islam.

The efforts come in response to what organizers describe as a wave of anti-Muslim sentiment resulting from the impending ninth anniversary of 9/11 and the controversy surrounding efforts to build a Muslim community center and mosque near Ground Zero in Manhattan. Jewish bloggers and pundits, mostly on the right, have become more vocal in opposing the center and calling for greater scrutiny of American mosques.

Among the Jewish leaders at the emergency summit was Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

“As Jews, we could be nowhere else today,” said Saperstein, whose organization co-sponsored Tuesday's interfaith summit with the Islamic Society of North America.

“We have been the quintessential victims of religious persecution … and we know what happens when people are silent,” he said, explaining why clergy and believers of all faiths need to be more forceful in speaking out against anti-Muslim bigotry. “We have to speak more directly to the anti-Muslim bigotry in America today.”

Leaders of the mainstream Protestant, evangelical Christian, Baptist and Catholic churches, Muslim organizations and several Jewish streams issued a joint statement Tuesday after their summit “to denounce categorically the derision, misinformation and outright bigotry being directed against America’s Muslim community.”

In addition to the Religious Action Center, representatives from the Reconstructionist and Conservative movements, the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, an umbrella organization of more than 125 Jewish community relations councils and 14 national agencies, including the four major Jewish streams, also attended the summit.

The National Council of Jewish Women released a statement Tuesday denouncing Islamaphobia, decrying anti-Muslim bigotry and noting that “extremists who use Islam as a justification for their heinous acts of terrorism should not be allowed to dictate the character of the entire religion.”

The group of interfaith leaders met later in the day with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to coordinate parallel efforts with the government to combat anti-Islam sentiment.

The joint statement calls upon clergy of all faiths to denounce anti-Muslim bigotry and hate violence from their pulpits, and asserts that “leaders of local congregations have a special responsibility to teach with accuracy, fairness and respect about other faith traditions.”

In a similar vein, Jewish interfaith leaders in an online letter called upon pulpit rabbis to use part of their sermons on Saturday to address the need for understanding Islam. Professors and deans of the rabbinical seminaries of the Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements, as well as the independent Hebrew College, signed the letter.

“The proposal for the ‘mosque at Ground Zero’ that turns out not to be a mosque and not at Ground Zero has brought to light this simple fact: We Americans need to know a whole lot more about Muslims and their religion,” said Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, director of multifaith studies and initiatives at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and a main organizer of the appeal.

Organizers say a number of rabbis from various streams have indicated they will take part.

The ADL’s initiative underscores the shifting tide within the organized Jewish community.

Several weeks ago the organization generated national headlines when its national director, Abraham Foxman, came out against placing the Islamic center so close to Ground Zero. Foxman said the sensitivities of families who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks should be respected.

Its new coalition is focused on helping Muslim communities that face bigotry when they attempt to build local mosques.

Foxman told JTA that within two weeks, the Interfaith Coalition on Mosques will begin its work collecting details of incidents in which mosques are being challenged, determining whether bigotry is involved and, if so, whether public or legal responses are warranted. Mosques that are opposed due to zoning problems will be outside its purview.

The coalition's charter members, the ADL said, will include a diverse collection of religious scholars and leaders, including representatives of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Catholic Church.

Despite creating the coalition, the ADL has not changed its position on the Islamic center near Ground Zero, Foxman told JTA.

“Our position is very clear: They have a legal right, but the location is not sensitive to the victims,” he said, noting that not everyone in the coalition agrees with the ADL position.

One Jewish observer who rejected what he described as a strategy by Islamist groups to "cry Islamophobia" is Steve Emerson, who directs the Investigative Project on Terrorism that tracks such groups.

Noting that the most recent FBI list of hate crimes includes many more attacks against Jews than against Muslims, he suggests that talk of anti-Muslim hatred plays into the hands of anti-American radicals.

"Given this significant disparity in real world hate crime incidents, is there truly a 'surge of Islamaphobia' occurring, or is it more perception generated in and by certain media in cahoots with the Islamists?" he asked.

Foxman said that defending the rights of Muslims to build mosques “does not obviate” the need to continue to monitor mosques and churches for instances in which they preach hatred.

“We have to do that as well,” he said.

JTA

US church defiant despite condemnation of Koran burning

A small US church says it will defy international condemnation and go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Koran on the 9/11 anniversary.

The top US commander in Afghanistan warned troops' lives would be in danger if the Dove World Outreach Center in Florida went ahead.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the church's plan was "disrespectful and disgraceful".

Muslim countries and Nato have also hit out at the move.

And the US Attorney General, Eric Holder, called the idea "idiotic and dangerous".

But organiser, Pastor Terry Jones said: "We must send a clear message to the radical element of Islam."

The controversy comes at a time when the US relationship with Islam is very much under scrutiny.

There is heated debate in the country over a proposal to build a mosque and Islamic cultural centre streets from Ground Zero, site of the 9/11 attacks, in New York.

'Significant problems'

Speaking at a State Department dinner marking the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Hillary Clinton condemned Pastor Jones.

"I am heartened by the clear, unequivocal condemnation of this disrespectful, disgraceful act that has come from American religious leaders of all faiths," she said.

Despite having a congregation of just 50, the plans of Pastor Jones' church in Gainesville have gained worldwide notoriety, sparking demonstrations in Afghanistan and Indonesia.

Gen David Petraeus, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said on Monday that the action could cause problems "not just in Kabul, but everywhere in the world".

"It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems," he said in a statement.

The Vatican, the Obama administration and Nato have also expressed concern over the plan.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday that "any type of activity like that that puts our troops in harm's way would be a concern".

Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen blasted the plans, telling reporters that burning Korans violated the Nato alliance's "values".

Pastor Jones - author of a book entitled Islam is of the Devil - has said he understands the general's concerns but that it was "time for America to quit apologising for our actions and bowing to kings".

Another pastor at the church told the BBC that members intended to burn several hundred copies of the holy book on Saturday evening, the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, in defiance of an order by the city not to hold an open air bonfire.

Muslims consider the Koran to be the word of God and insist it be treated with the utmost respect. Any intentional damage or show of disrespect to the holy book is deeply offensive to them.

An interfaith group of evangelical, Roman Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim leaders meeting in Washington on Tuesday condemned the proposals as a violation of American values and the Bible.

"I have heard many Muslim Americans say they have never felt this anxious or this insecure in America since directly after 11 September," said Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America.


Claims that US soldiers have desecrated the Koran in both Afghanistan and Iraq have caused bloodshed in the past.

There were deadly protests in Afghanistan in 2008, when it emerged that a US soldier deployed to Iraq riddled a copy of the holy book with bullets.

And further lives were lost in Afghan riots in 2005 when Newsweek magazine printed a story alleging that US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had flushed a copy of the Koran down a toilet.

The story later turned out to be false and was retracted by the magazine.

BBC News

North Idaho marks 10 years since Aryan Nations verdict (USA)

Ten years ago, on Sept. 7, 2000, a Kootenai County jury rendered a $6.3 million verdict against the Aryan Nations and its leader, Richard Butler.

That action bankrupted the racist organization, severely diminishing its influence in North Idaho.

On Tuesday, civil rights leaders joined with leaders from Coeur d’Alene, Kootenai County, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and law enforcement to celebrate the victory at the Kootenai County veterans’ plaza. The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations unveiled a monument made of black marble to commemorate the day.

“What a great day this is. Ten years ago and more, we had people living in this community and in this area that were full of fear,” said Coeur d’Alene Mayor Sandi Bloem. “We had many people that lived outside of this community that wouldn’t come here because they were afraid. And today, because of the heroes standing here, we can celebrate the fact that we don’t live in fear and people come to this community from all over the world.

“Silence never did win any rights,” Bloem said. “Silence never did pick up and make us a better place. And silence certainly wouldn’t have done it 10 years ago.”

On July 1, 1998, Victoria Keenan and her son, Jason, were driving past the Aryan Nations compound near Hayden when they were attacked by the organization’s security guards after their car backfired. Bullets hit their car and they were driven off the road. The guards threatened to kill them if they reported the incident. When the Keenans contacted the task force, its attorney, Norm Gissel of Coeur d’Alene, recruited renowned human rights lawyer Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center to represent the Keenans in the civil trial.

Coeur d’Alene attorney Ken Howard also joined the legal team. On Tuesday, Howard said that for years, Butler and the Aryan Nations used their notoriety to “embarrass and define this beautiful North Idaho homeland of ours as a place inhospitable to all of those who were not of the white Christian race.” For years, he said, they held parades along Sherman Avenue, and followers of Butler acted out “hatred and intolerance” by engaging in bombings, shootings and murder, but none of the violent acts could be tied to Butler.

Butler survived in this community, Howard said, because people here believed in the constitutional protections of freedom of speech and religion, despite being “deeply troubled” by the reputation of hatred and intolerance brought upon the area.

“On Sept. 7, 2000, this community’s tolerance of Butler came to an end,” Howard said. “This verdict was, in part, directed to compensate the Keenans, but largely to punish Butler and his followers and to serve to deter similar conduct in the future.”

Following the jury’s civil verdict, Butler and the Aryan Nations declared bankruptcy in federal court. The Keenans were awarded the compound, which they sold to philanthropist and human rights activist Greg Carr. He destroyed the compound and turned it into a “peace park,” which he donated to the North Idaho College Foundation.

“What I love most about this victory is the way the local community handled it,” said Carr, also among Tuesday’s speakers. “You didn’t take away the free speech of the other side; you just made your own voices louder. And because your cause was just, you won the argument.”

The stone for the monument unveiled Tuesday was donated by Da Vinci Stone Design of Post Falls. Artist Julie Wood contributed her services designing and engraving the stone. The monument will be displayed permanently either at the Coeur d’Alene Public Library or at the North Idaho College library, following a decision by the task force’s board of directors.

Paul Mullet, the self-described national director of the Aryan Nations, contacted the media two weeks ago when he heard about the planned ceremony. He said that although he has moved to Ohio due to a death in the family, the Aryan Nations will never leave North Idaho.

Spokesman

Dutch anger as fertility clinics accept neo-Nazi sperm donor's request to only promote 'strong white race'

Holland is considering tightening up regulations governing sperm donors after clinics accepted the offerings from a prominent neo-Nazi who said he wanted to promote ‘a strong white race’.

Patrick de Bruin attached the condition that his sperm should ‘only be used for white couples' infertility treatment’.

De Bruin wrote on an extreme-right web forum that he was donating his ‘Aryan seed’ in order to compensate ‘for the high birth rate among Muslims’.

He added: ‘I want as many blond blue-eyed children to be born as possible.’

Although his offer was rejected by some clinics, two centres - the Rijnstate hospital in Arnhem and Sint Geertgen clinic in Elsendorp – allegedly agreed to the restrictions.

The scandal was unearthed during a joint investigation by public broadcaster VARA and the Kafka research group.

The Sint Geertgen clinic even allows donors to detail restrictions on admission forms.

Pim Janssen, head of the Rijnstate sperm bank, told the show the incident should not have happened and called for stricter guidelines governing sperm donation.

He said his clinic has since destroyed the sperm.

The case is particularly sensitive in Holland because the country, which was occupied by the Nazis during WWII, has recently seen the rise of far-Right politicians.

Geert Wilders, who leads the increasingly powerful Party for Freedom, has called to ban the Koran and stop further Muslim immigration.

Daily Mail

Schools 'must investigate all playground bullying for racism' after pupil left brain damaged in gang hammer attack

Every incident of playground bullying should be investigated by schools for racism, a review has urged.

The study, which focuses on events surrounding an attack on a white schoolboy by a Muslim gang, called on teachers to have more contact with police.

It also pushes for schools nationwide to record the ethnicity of bullies and victims and take urgent action should a pattern of racism arise.

The report, due to be released today, was the first serious case review into problems at a school.

It examined circumstances surrounding the attack on Henry Webster who suffered a fractured skull after being hit with a claw hammer in January 2007, when he was 15.

The 6ft 2in former rugby player was left brain damaged when he was ambushed by a group of Asian youths outside Ridgeway School, in Wroughton, near Swindon, where they all attended.

Afterwards, his attackers punched the air in triumph, shouting: 'That's what you call Paki bashing.'

In 2008, 13 people were convicted over their role in the attack.

Today’s review, which involved speaking to the school, police, council and other organisations, slams the school for failing to tackle the growing tensions between Muslim and white teenagers.

It claims opportunities to intervene to address escalating issues were missed – even after a riot on the school playing fields.

And it claims the school did not adequately prepare when about 20 Asian pupils joined in September 2005 – less than two months after the 7/7 London bombings.

According to the Telegraph, the review says: ‘[Ridgeway] knew well in advance that a significant number of British Asian pupils were joining the school in September 2005.

‘They did not prepare for this which was soon after the London bombings in July 2005. The likely influence of all pupils’ communities and families on pupil behaviour was not understood.’

However, Henry’s mother Liz Webster called the report a ‘whitewash’.

‘We are very concerned that the report has failed to address many of the failings which surrounded our family’s treatment throughout this terrible episode in our lives,’ she told the Telegraph.

‘The criticism of the local authority is tantamount to a whitewash as it is so minimal and limited.

‘The review doesn’t mention what needs to be done to improve race relations in Swindon which is an urgent concern considering the increase in the vote for the BNP.’

The Department for Education is expected to release an executive summary of the serious case review - not the entire report.

About 40,000 incidents of racism have been reported by schools every year since 2002 when they were placed under a legal obligation to monitor all racist incidents.

However, the review's 32 recommendations would further add to the ‘red tape’ facing schools which Education Secretary Michael Gove has planned to cut.

Daily Mail

Tories’ European allies in far-right pact with neo-Nazis

Key European allies of the Tory party have lurched to the far-right in a pact with nationalist elements of Latvian neo-Nazis.
Key European allies of the Tory party have lurched to the far-right in a pact with nationalist elements of Latvian neo-Nazis.

The deal means that the unashamedly neo-fascist “All for Latvia” group is now an official partner with the Tories’ Latvian allies. The group is inspired by Nazi ideology and imagery and its logo echoes the swastika.

The official Latvian section of the Tories’ European Parliament group is made up of the For the Fatherland/LNNK party – TB/LNNK, which has one MEP in the Parliament. The Latvian party has consistently been attacked for closely allying themselves with Waffen SS veterans who fought for Germany in the Second World War.

The British Conservatives have always sat uneasily in their political grouping in the European Parliament, the European Conservatives and Reformists. As well as the Tories, the group is made up of several factions of extreme right-wingers. In a televised election debate in April, then-leader of the Liberal Democrats in opposition Nick Clegg (now Deputy Prime Minister) accused David Cameron of aligning his party with a “nutters, homophobes, anti-Semites and people who deny climate change exists”.

Now Cameron’s Latvian allies have gone one step further and established a formal electoral alliance with the Latvian neo-fascists in the form of an electoral coalition. The All for Latvia party is led by Raivis Dzintars, a populist neo-Nazi who proclaims that the common interests of the state have a higher value that individual civil rights.

Eric Pickles, the Communities Minister, has previously defended the TB/LNNK party’s support for SS war veterans, claiming that they were Latvian patriots. He has accused critics of recycling “old Soviet smears” about the Latvians.

Foreign Secretary William Hague described criticism from his shadow David Miliband of the Latvian for Fatherland’s Nazi sympathies as “unfounded and outrageous”.

The Tories appear powerless to control their far-right allies in the EU, and because of parliamentary arithmetic it seems they cannot afford to break their ties. Financial support for political groups is generous in the EP but if the Tories were to expel their Latvian allies it would jeopardise the viability of the group and risk losing funding.

Tribune Magazine