Islamic veil ban in Dutch coalition deal

A ban on wearing the full Islamic veil in the Netherlands will be part of the government's programme under a pact to form a coalition, party leaders say.

The Liberals and Christian Democrats have had to make concessions to anti-Islamist Geert Wilders to gain his support for their minority coalition.

The deal ends months of deadlock but still needs to be ratified by Christian Democrats in a meeting on Saturday.

The pact includes plans for budget cuts of 18bn euros ($24bn; £15bn) by 2015.
It also tightens rules on immigration and boosts the number of police officers.

"Important reforms will be carried out in the Netherlands," Liberal party leader Mark Rutte said in presenting the pact, titled Freedom and Responsibility.

"We want to give the country back to the working Dutch citizen."

The Liberal party (VVD) and the Christian Democrats (CDA) have 52 seats between them in the 150-seat parliament and propose to form a minority government. They would rely on the Freedom Party's 24 seats to pass legislation by a tiny margin.

Under the deal, VVD leader Mr Rutte would become prime minister, forming a cabinet with the CDA, led by Maxime Verhagen.

Mr Verhagen described the deal as a "very good governing agreement".
"I am convinced that it is an agreement that every Christian Democrat will be able to identify with," he said.
Marathon talks
 
The deal has angered some CDA MPs who do not want to work with Mr Wilders.
CDA MPs decided after marathon talks on Wednesday to leave the final decision on joining the coalition to a special conference on Saturday.

Mr Wilders is well known for his controversial far-right views.

He has campaigned to stop the "Islamisation of the Netherlands" and is due to stand trial next week on hate speech charges for allegedly insulting Islam.

The Netherlands has been run by a caretaker government since February when a coalition led by the CDA's former leader, Jan Peter Balkenende, collapsed after a row over military involvement in Afghanistan.

June's general election delivered a surge of support for the Freedom Party, which won the third biggest share of the seats.

BBC news

Police scour CCTV as net closes in on protest yobs (UK)

Police have warned that the net is closing in on anyone who broke the law during demonstrations in Bradford city centre at the end of August.

Officers are trawling through hours of CCTV footage from Saturday, August 28, when members of the far-right English Defence League and supporters of the rival Unite Against Fascism group protested in the city centre.

On the day, about 700 EDL supporters were corralled by police into the Bradford Urban Garden while about 300 UAF followers arrived at Crown Court Plaza.

At least 1,400 police officers were on hand to ensure that missile-throwing by EDL supporters did not escalate into the type of terrifying disturbances that rocked the city nine years ago.

During the day, 13 people were arrested for public order offences – eight of them being from Bradford and the others from Wakefield, Leeds, Wolverhampton, Walsall and Birmingham.

One female police officer suffered a minor injury when the EDL tried to surge through the police ranks.

Now police have moved to reassure the public that the detailed investigation is continuing to bring to justice those who committed offences but were not arrested on the day.

Chief Superintendent Alison Rose, Divisional Commander of Bradford South Police, said: “As we said at the very beginning of this operation, those who involved themselves in disorder during the demonstrations will not go unnoticed.

“Although the policing of the day was a success and went extremely well, some individuals were seen to be committing offences and were captured on CCTV.

“Like any large-scale operation, it is not always possible to tackle every single incident at the time and this is where our follow-up inquiries begin.

“No-one is above the law and we will be using the CCTV footage to pick this minority out and deal with them.

“Anyone found to be part of the disorder will be identified and we will be working with the Crown Prosecution Service which will take the appropriate action.”

Police have now been able to collate all the CCTV footage from the event and a dedicated team is scrutinising the images to seek out those responsible.

Ch Supt Rose said: “It will take some considerable time to complete this work. I would therefore ask members of the public to take this on board and be confident that the police will investigate matters fully.”

Bradford Council leader Councillor Ian Greenwood said: “The excellent police operation on the day of the protests maintained public safety.

“I have every confidence that the police will investigate thoroughly any incidents of disorder captured on CCTV footage.”

Coun Greenwood said he would like to thank the police and the wide range of organisations which helped to manage the protests.

He said: “Their hard work, co-operation and positive influence were magnificent. I would also like to thank all local people who showed their opposition – in a peaceful, positive and dignified way – to people from outside the district using their city as a venue for protests.”

Telegraph and Argus

Mum fears for family after racist hate mail campaign (UK)

Police are investigating racist hate mail including death threats sent to a mother-of-four in the Capital during a three-year campaign of abuse.

The 36-year-old mum, who lives in Stenhouse, today told the Evening News she fears for her safety after being sent more than 30 cards and letters racially abusing her two mixed-race children and saying she will end up "6ft under".

Police have collected the letters and are investigating the incidents, but so far the culprit remains at large.

The ex-care worker, who wants to remain anonymous, is currently looking after her newborn daughter, plus her two-year-old daughter, eight-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter.

She told how she has been getting a piece of hate mail every couple of months for more than three years.

She said: "At first the cards were just directed at me. The first one I got was a Rest In Peace card that had been bought from the shops.

"But since my two youngest daughters, who are mixed race, were born I've had several letters having a go at them. This person calls my babies 'f****** n******' and says 'I'd better keep my b****** daughter out of the back garden - or else.'

"The father of my two youngest is Gambian and I get cards asking me why I have been f****** n****** and they accuse me of sleeping with monkeys."

The terrified mum described how the racist hate mail nearly always comes in a greetings card, such as a birthday or congratulations card. Sometimes they are scrawled with red and blue ink, while at other times the sender cuts letters from newspaper headlines and pastes them together to form the vile messages.

The ex-care worker has taken a number of steps to try to prevent the threatening mail arriving, including replacing her front door so that it no longer has a letter box.

She sleeps with a fire extinguisher under her bed and has changed bedrooms with her two young daughters so they are away from doors and windows.

The mum said she had "no clue" who was sending the cards.

She said: "I had no idea such vile racism existed in Scotland.

"The police say they are doing what they can and they've sent the letters away for DNA testing, but because it's not a murder investigation there is only so much they can do. It seems my life is worth more if I'm dead."

Her 16-year-old daughter said it had been "heartbreaking" to see how much her mum had changed since the abuse began. She said: "Mum says everything is fine but I know it is eating her up inside. It's so sad that my sister has to go to her grandma's to play outdoors because somebody is watching her here.
 
My younger brother often stays with his dad, to keep him safe."


Lothian and Borders Police confirmed that they were collecting the hate mail and appealed for anyone with any information to come forward.

A spokesman said: "Officers launched a full inquiry as soon as these incidents, many of which are historic, were reported and are urging anyone with information to come forward."

Scotsman News

NEW COALITION INVESTIGATED TOUGH NEW CONTROLS ON IMMIGRATION (Netherlands)

The three parties on the verge of forming the Netherlands' next government asked civil servants to investigate a number of far-reaching measures to curb immigration during the negotiation process, the NRC reports on Wednesday. The aim of the measures was to ‘discourage immigration and, once in the Netherlands, slow down the build-up of rights’, the paper says. The paper bases its claims on talks with civil servants and coalition negotiation documents, it says. The right-wing VVD and anti-Islam PVV were behind most of the requests, the paper said.


Children
For example, civil servants were asked to look at the idea of refusing to grant residency permits to non-married partners or to people who did not have a ‘strong economic and social connection’ to the Netherlands. Stopping children over the age of 15 from joining their parents was another option. It is not yet known what measures the new government plans to adopt but it is clear immigration faces new curbs, the paper said. In terms of asylum policy, the parties discussed prioritising cases involving families with children. This is because the longer their cases take, the more likely they are to get a permit in the interests of the child, the paper said.

Dutch News

CRITICISM OF CONTROVERSIAL ESSAY ON ANTI-SEMITISM RULED UNCONSTITUTIONAL (Germany)

Germany’s high court ruled Tuesday that the Federal Agency for Civic Education’s (BPB) disparaging criticism of a controversial academic text on anti-Semitism during the Nazi era was unconstitutional. After distributing the essay, the agency disavowed its content and had further copies destroyed.


The political science professor, Konrad L., published an essay in the agency’s journal Deutschland Archiv in 2004 entitled, Deutsche Identität in Verfassung und Geschichte, or “The German Identity in Law and History.” In it he argued that the majority of German people during the Nazi era were not anti-Semitic and that there had been a “German-Jewish symbiosis beneath the swastika.” After the journal was released, the BPB sent out a written apology to subscribers stating their intention to pulp all remaining copies. They also apologised to any readers “who may feel vilified by this article.” Konrad L. took the case to court, calling the BPB’s actions slanderous. The case was unsuccessful in a North Rhine-Westphalia state administrative court, but his appeal to the high court resulted in a favourable ruling. The court ruled that the professor should be represented, and thus protected, in his place as an author and that destroying his work represented a “stigmatization” of him due to his handling of the “sensitive topic” of anti-Semitism. Furthermore, administrative courts “cannot make judgements on rights as personally fundamental as the freedom of opinion,” the statement said. The Cologne administrative court must now reconsider the professors’ claim against the BPB.


The Local Germany

EU to act against France on Roma

The European commissioner for justice has said that the European Union will begin infringement proceedings  against France over the expulsion of Roma citizens from its territory.

"As a guardian of the treaties, the European Commission must ensure that European legislation is applied and respected and that is true for all member states, big or small," Viviane Reding said on Wednesday.

"In the case we are faced with today, we note that in our judicial analysis France did not correctly transpose the rules on free movement of European citizens and, as a result, she has robbed these citizens of essential procedural guarantees.

"This must be corrected and that is why the commission has acted firmly," Reding told reporters at her office in Brussels.

The European Commission also said on Wednesday that it was sending an official letter to France for not transposing EU laws on freedom of movement but that it had until October 15 to launch a clear timetable to show when and how it would.

"It is of the utmost importance that we make sure that the procedural and the substantive safeguards laid down in the 2004 directive on free movement of citizens is properly transposed in its entirety," Pia Ahrenkilder Hansen, spokeswoman for the European Commission president, said.

"The commission currently believes that France has not transposed the directive on free movement into its national laws in such a way as to make its implementation properly effective and transparent.

Therefore the commission has taken a decision here today to send an official notification letter," she added.

France welcomes decision
In its response, the French foreign ministry said it would provide Brussels with whatever other information it requests, and welcomed what it said was the Commission's acceptance that Paris'
expulsion policy is not racist.

"The Commission accepted France's assurances that the measures taken have neither the aim nor the effect of targeting a specific 'minority' and that French authorities apply EU law in a non-discriminatory fashion," it said.

"France notes no procedure has been undertaken in terms of the application of EU free movement rules and in particular in terms of measures taken to move on EU citizens detained during the evacuation of illegal camps.

"France will, of course, provide all necessary additional information, as it has already done up until now," the statement, issued by Bernard Valero, the foreign ministry spokesman, read.

Reding caused a storm when she attacked France for expelling Roma migrants this summer saying it
contravened the EU's rules of integration.

More than 8,000 Roma were expelled earlier this year, mostly to Romania and Bulgaria, and Reding expressed concern that they were singled out over other ethnic groups.

France denied the accusation but faced widespread criticism form EU parliamentarians, human rights groups and the Catholic Church.

An EU government can expel citizens of another EU state from its territory if they pose a risk to public security or are a burden on social assistance but measures have to be proportional to the risks and a government cannot target a particular ethnic group.

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, says the expulsions were part of a general crackdown on crime and vagrant camps which did not target the Roma specifically.

English Aljazeera

Hip Hop Group Confronts Rise of Islamophobia in Music Video (USA)

Native Deen, one of the most well-known and respected Muslim hip-hop groups in the international community, today released a music video in response to the rising tide of Islamophobia facing America, especially in the wake of the New York Islamic cultural center controversy.

The music video, released as part of the "My Faith My Voice" campaign from which it takes its title, highlights many of the concerns Muslims have regarding the vilification of Islam and the heavy-handed focus given to extremist voices.

"As American Muslims, we feel like our voices have been drowned out by the extremists on both sides," said Abdul Malik Ahmad, one of three young African-American Muslim men who comprise Native Deen. "We have always called to the middle path, but moderate voices like ours don't make headline news. As musicians, we know the power of music and hope to reach out to our fellow Americans through this song."

In the opening verse, Ahmad sings: "They're saying we are savages, uncivilized/ Me, my community we work hard, / Every opportunity to break walls, / The fight, the lunacy that they cause, …"

Later in the song, Ahmad adds: "Go use the same steam, for youth to stay clean,/ Our earth to stay green, we want the same thing,/ 'Stead of burning books, extinguish disease,/ Help spark the flame to help children in need."

Native Deen, a fusion hip-hop group, has inspired millions of people of all ages and ethnicities from around the world. It has toured more than 60 cities in America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, promoting Islam and positive interfaith relations. Over 4 million people have viewed its videos on YouTube, and its album, "Not Afraid to Stand Alone" is ranked #2 in the DC area on independent music site cdbaby.com. In October 2010, Native Deen will release its newest album, "The Remedy." For more information, visit http://www.nativedeen.com/.

Link to the website. My Faith My Voice



.

Bishop of Leicester leads a call for solidarity ahead of protest by EDL (UK)

The Bishop of Leicester has led a call for faith groups to stand together in "solidarity" ahead of a protest by the English Defence League.


Bishop Tim Stevens is a founder member of the Leicester Faith Leaders Forum, which yesterday issued a declaration condemning the English Defence League (EDL) in "the strongest terms".

The EDL – which says it campaigns against Islamic extremism – is planning a protest in the city on Saturday, October 9.

Police expect counter demonstrators, who accuse the EDL of using violent tactics, to swell the numbers involved to several thousand. The forum includes representatives of the Christian, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh faiths and other religious groups.

Bishop Tim said: "Over the years, the faith groups have said an attack on one is to be regarded an attack on us all. The EDL's tactic is to single out the Muslim community and we are clear that will not be allowed to happen in Leicester because we are all standing together in solidarity.

"The forum represents all the faiths and has been together since the 9/11 attacks in the US.

"It has seen us through that time, the Iraq war and the London bombings. I'm sure it will further strengthen the bonds between us after this latest attack on community relations in Leicester.

"The English Defence League has a right to express its views, no matter how distasteful they are.

"However, we hope they are rejected by the vast majority of people, people who live side by side and at peace with their neighbours.

"We shall all be saying to our congregations 'don't be drawn into this, let the EDL say what they have to say and we can then move on'."

The forum wants congregations to stay away from the protests on October 9.

Leicester City Council and the police have asked the Home Office to ban the march – and any march by its opponents. However, the authorities are powerless to prevent the EDL from staging a static protest. Its opponents, including Leicester Unite Against Fascism, are expected to stage counter protests.

Instead, people are being asked to support a peace vigil in the city centre on the Friday before the planned protest and a "celebration" of the city on the Sunday.

The Federation of Muslim Organisations, which represents almost 200 mosques and community groups, has also urged people not take part in counter demonstrations on the day.

Spokesman Suleman Nagdi said: "It is humbling to see the faith leaders speaking with one voice in their opposition to the English Defence League."

This is Leicestershire.

Neo-Nazism: Spirit of Hitler Still Alive in Germany

Some 65 years after the fall of Nazi Germany, there's growing concern that the spirit of Adolf Hitler still lives in the country.

It's not a widespread phenomenon, but the neo-Nazi movement continues to exist in small pockets across Germany.

"Young men are attracted because there are no alternatives in the village except this group who are aggressive, who are male, chauvinist and dominating the scene," explained Hajo Funke, a neo-Nazi expert at the Free University of Berlin.

A Cult-Like Movement
A recent report revealed one out of twenty 15-year-old German boys belong to a neo-Nazi group -- a number no other political party can claim.

Matthias Adrian was one of those teens. Now, he helps others leave the movement with a group called Exit Deutschland.

"I was a neo-Nazi, 24 hours a day," Adrian recalled, comparing the movement to a cult.

He said he was convinced that Jews were an evil force that controlled the world. He added that neo-Nazi groups have hidden weapons caches across Germany.

"Our movement, Exit Deutschland, helps people leave the right-wing extremist scene safely, because everybody who leaves the scene is a traitor in the eyes of neo-Nazis," Adrian said.

Lessons of Deception
The legal and political arm of the neo-Nazi movement is the National Democratic Party or NPD. The group didn't agree to an interview with CBN News, but a former NPD figure said its goal is the restoration of the Third Reich.

He also said members are trained to talk moderately in public, but privately praise Nazi Germany and the Holocaust -- something Adrian said he experienced.

"We had schoolings about it, how to give quotes in public, how to do interviews with the media," Adrian said. "(Neo Nazi's say) 'We are not violent, we are nationalists, but we are not violent. We are nice guys.' In public they denied the Holocaust, but in private they glorified it."

"If you take into account also their presentations, their speeches, and their texts and their newspaper articles, then they're outright anti-Semitic, anti-foreigner, racist. and in some cases against Muslim persons for living here," Funke added.

Official membership in neo-Nazi groups is relatively small, but the number of Germans who agree with some neo-Nazi ideas is much larger. Some recent reports revealed that neo-Nazis in eastern Germany are trying to run their own kindergartens.

Turmoil in the Richest Nation?
After recent gains in state elections by the NPD, there have been new calls that the party be banned.

The neo-Nazi movement is also trying to cash in on the new bestselling book "Germany Eliminates Itself" by Thilo Sarrazin, an official at Germany's central bank.

Sarrazin writes that Muslim and Turkish immigration is wrecking Germany. The far right has seized on the popularity of the book, saying Sarrazin is right.

But how can the neo-Nazi movement persist in the richest, most successful nation in Europe -- once wrecked by Nazi ideas?

Jörg Drieselman, a former political prisoner in the old East Germany, says overall, Germans in the East -- once under the boot of communism -- resent the results of unification and feel controlled by what he describes as a politically correct nanny state.

"(The movement continues) because of the fragility of the democratic culture in eastern Germany," Funke explained. "The movement continues because of some economic miseries. But there won't be a big success (with the neo-Nazi movement). It's on the sidelines. It's subculture."

Adrian grew up in the wealthy American sector of West Germany and doesn't believe poverty has anything to do with neo-Nazi growth.

But the movement is still around in Germany -- meaning everyone is not happy living in Europe's wealthiest nation.

CBN News

Police called in by Letcombe Regis bed and breakfast owners over alleged online 'racist slur' (UK)

The owners of a five-star bed and breakfast establishment have complained to the police and threatened legal action after being branded racist in a review on an Internet site.

Sarah-Jane Ashman, 51, who runs the Brook Barn Country House at Letcombe Regis, said she was devastated after the posting on tripadvisor.com claimed she did not welcome ‘ethnics’.

The website, which promotes itself as the world’s most trusted, dismissed her original complaint, she said, but had taken down the posting because the reviewer had not actually stayed at Brook Barn.

The reviewer, ‘Ferdi’, posted on the internet site: “I think I will be staying away and would recommend to any other ‘ethnics’ to do the same. I do not think they like our sort around there.”

Mrs Ashman said: “I could be called a lot of things and not respond, but to be called a racist was absolutely appalling.

“A couple of Sundays ago, this man turned up totally out of the blue asking to be shown around. I told him I could not do that as I had guests. At which point he left and I did not think anything of it.

“Then on the following Friday, we happened to look at our reviews on tripadvisor and saw this new one saying something along the lines of ethnics are not welcome, which is just shocking.

“I was hugely upset by it, which is why I rang the police.”

She added: “But I feel much more strongly about tripadvisor than this guy.

“They should not have put this comment on the website — not only is it untrue, but it is libellous. What they have done is put this guy in a position where he could be sued for defamation.

“Everyone gets bad reviews, but defamation is not on.”

She is taking action through an online reputation management company, KwikChex.

It is gathering a set of the most serious cases to present to tripadvisor in a bid to get it to change the way it polices its reviews.

Co-founder Chris Emmins said Mrs Ashman contacted the firm after tripadvisor refused to remove the review as it fell within its guidelines.

He said: “She had the usual experience, which was there was an allegation against the business which she completely refuted.”

Mrs Ashman added: “I am not after money but an apology and an acknowledgement from tripadvisor and him that it was defamation.”

Tripadvisor spokesman Emma O’Boyle said the review was taken down as investigation revealed the guest had not stayed in the hotel and was not qualified to comment.

Police spokesman David Staines said: “We have received a complaint about the review and we are investigating the matter.”

The Oxford Times

Report shows racism in Montreal police ranks (Canada)

For the second time in as many months, a damning internal report has outlined the breakdown of policing in   Montreal’s most troubled neighbourhood, going so far as to accuse officers of “racism.”

The Montreal Police Service had intended to keep the newest report secret and the city is facing accusations that it was trying to suppress the study.
But the coroner heading up the ongoing inquest into the death of 18-year-old Fredy Villanueva is weighing whether to allow it into evidence, something the police union and city oppose.

Written by a psychologist with expertise in conflict and crisis management, it’s blunt in its assessment of policing in Montreal North, site of the 2008 riots sparked by the death of an unarmed Villanueva at the hands of a young officer.

“The youth say that the police officers say things they wouldn’t dare say in any other sector of the city,” writes the psychologist, Martin Courcy, who met with about 60 young people from the area and observed police operations there following the riots.

Some examples cited in the report: To a youth from North Africa, an officer allegedly said, “Why don’t you blow yourself up?” To another, “If you’re not happy, why not go back to your country?”

And even this: “We prefer to be colonizers than slaves.”

This isn’t racial profiling, Courcy explains, “but racism pure and simple.”

The Courcy report comes on the heels of another damning internal report, by researcher Mathieu Charest, outlining racial profiling by Montreal police, namely an “alarming” increase in identity checks of visible minorities. The police disavowed that report, calling the methodology biased.

The latest data, leaked to La Presse and Le Devoir, must lead the city to act, said Fo Niemi, executive director of Montreal’s Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations.

“These reports confirm what people have come to experience on the ground in the last 10 years,” Niemi said. “And the city, still to this day, is trying to use all sorts of tactics and procedures to deny the problem exists.”

He said the city continues to stall at human rights commission reviews and battle to keep these reports confidential.

“These are Nixon-like tactics to hide the Watergate tapes,” he ventured.

One civil liberties group, La Ligue des droits et des libertés, said in a statement it was “outraged” to learn the police has had in hand for two years a report outlining racist attitudes in the force. They kept it secret, even as city brass denied a systemic problem at human and youth rights commission hearings into racial profiling last spring.

“Enough hypocrisy and inaction,” said the league’s president, Dominique Peschard, calling on the mayor to act.

Courcy, for his part, said in an interview that he wasn’t sure why the department didn’t want the report made public. He was to give officers training following the report’s publication, but neither did that come to pass, he said.

Following Villanueva’s death, Courcy was given the mandate to determine how police interventions might avoid the same result, he explained.

The psychologist’s report concludes that the force’s anti-gang squads, prioritized under the previous chief, ended up alienating minority youth in general, who felt provoked by the police.

“They are often scared of being arrested without reason,” the report states. “This fear is shared by the majority.”

In this context, “it’s not surprising” that a riot broke out.

Anger over Villanueva’s death led to the August, 2008 riot, during which cars were burned and dozens of stores looted.

A spokesperson for the Montreal police said the force wouldn’t comment on the report since it’s under debate at the inquest.

However, Sgt. Ian Lafrenière said the public should know the service has been training officers on racial profiling. “We’ve always been clear,” he offered, “it’s not a practice the Montreal Police Service condones.”

Courcy took pains to note that the department isn’t entirely racist. The racism was seen among a few officers — “exceptions” — he told the Star.

Courcy, who has worked with police forces in the past, added that the new police chief, Marc Parent, who was sworn in earlier this month, wants to improve relations with the youth of Montreal North.

Indeed, during his swearing in ceremony, Parent said he wants the police to be closer to cultural communities, more “inclusive.”

Mayor Gérald Tremblay urged him to deal with discriminatory practices, including racial profiling.

Niemi is also optimistic about Parent. “I think the chief recognizes the problems and the need to solve them,” Niemi said.

“But there is more than the chief. What is city council doing to ask for answers about this?”

The Star

UpRise Anti-racism festival comes to Finsbury Park (London, UK)

UpRise is a new FREE festival born out of the ashes of the former Rise festival.


Taking on the spirit and ideals of Rise, the UpRise Anti-racism festival will use the universal language of music and the arts to celebrate the commonalities of London's rich cultures and at the last count, the 250 languages spoken in the capital.

Come and celebrate - be part of the first UpRise ever!! We'll have live music, yummy food, thought provoking art and inspirational speakers, what more could you ask for?

The UpRise musical lineup promises to be sweeter than strawberries and cream and have more kick than a bombay mix. Some of the artists performing at UpRise 2010. are Ty, United Vibrations, Nathan 'Flutebox' Lee, & Wandan, Natty, Jally Kebba Susso, Jimmy Screech, Aruba Red Soothsayers and Yaaba Funk Shri .

UpRise

3/10/10
12.30 ' 7.30pm
Finsbury Park, London


For more details about this event please click UPrise

Richard Barnbrook reported for 'bullying' (BNP, UK)

A former staff member for Richard Barnbrook, the BNP’s former London leader and London Assembly member, says she has reported him to the GLA’s standards watchdog for his “unreasonable” and “bullying” behaviour towards her.

Tess Culnane, the “Nazi Granny” who was the BNP candidate for mayor of Lewisham this year, tells me she has made an official complaint to the City Hall standards officer, Ed Williams, calling for Mr Barnbrook’s suspension.

She says: “Richard Barnbrook failed to respond to requests for help from members of the public. When I did tell him about people who had come forward, he very often adopted a resentful manner towards me and threatened me with dismissal.

“His continual bullying manner and threats to sack me became intolerable. He would fall into a strop. He would make faces behind our backs when we were talking. He was a total embarrassment to those of us in his office.”

Mrs Culnane also says that Mr Barnbrook took out his anger on other members of his office, including another staffer, Emma Colgate. “She was forced to resign due to Richard’s perpetual hectoring manner,” she said. “At one point he followed her into the ladies’ toilet hectoring her.” Mrs Culnane says her complaint also alleges that Mr Barnbrook has been drunk during Mayor’s Questions.

Mr Barnbrook didn’t return repeated calls and text messages today to answer these allegations. They should be seen, of course, in the context of the fact that he has been in dispute with the BNP for some time. There may be an element of revenge here.

He resigned the BNP whip on the Assembly last month after the re-election of Nick Griffin as leader. Yesterday, he was thrown out of the party. He was also sacked as the BNP’s Barking and Dagenham organiser after the racists lost all their seats – his included – on the local council in the May elections.

A spokesman for the London Assembly said the procedure with complaints was for a sub-committee to decide whether they had enough merit to be considered by the full standards committee. Until then, he said, he could not confirm or deny whether any complaint had been received.

Originally posted
by Andrew Gilligan in the Daily Telegraph Blogs

HUNGARIAN RIGHT-WING EXTREMISTS FACE TERRORISM CHARGES

Hungarian prosecutors on Monday charged 17 right- wing extremists with involvement in terrorist activities, including arson attacks on politicians' homes, the severe beating of a television presenter and bomb-making, the MTI news agency reported. The terrorist group had called itself the Hunnia Movement and the Hungarian Arrows National Liberation Army. Among those charges is the nationalist leader Gyorgy Budahazy, who has been in custody for a year along with three other right-wingers. Budahazy has close ties to the far-right Movement for a Better Hungary, which entered parliament after snagging 17 per cent of the vote in April elections. The political party, also known as Jobbik, has tried to portray the accused as 'victims of a political justice.' Krisztina Morvai, a Jobbik member who is a member of the European Parliament, regularly makes appearances in Brussels with a T-shirt reading 'Freedom for Budahazy!'


DPA

The Rise of the far right in European Politics by riding the anti-Muslim Islamophobia wave.

A great news item has appeared on the German channel Speigel about the rise of the far right political parties in Europe and their anti-Islamic rhetoric.

I would urge everyone to read this.

The Rise of Europe's Right-Wing Populists

DUTCH RIGHT-WING PARTIES REACH AGREEMENT ON COALITION

Coalition talks in the Netherlands appear to have resulted in right-wing government supported by the far right. Negotiators reached agreement this evening on the details of a coalition agreement between the conservative VVD and Christian Democrats (CDA). A second agreement on parliamentary support by the Freedom Party has also been finalised. Today was 111th day of the formation. Earlier this evening, VVD leader Mark Rutte said the new cabinet will be named Rutte-Verhagen. Negotiators spent hours on the wording of the documents as the tone is particularly important to the Christian Democrats. VVD leader Mark Rutte announced that the three parties had reached agreement. CDA leader Maxime Verhagen declined to quote a motto for the new cabinet. He said he had faith that he could persuade his party to back the deal. Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders called it a historic moment. He said “who would have thought that the Freedom Party would have a huge amount of influence in government a couple of years ago.” Mark Rutte is set to become the first VVD prime minister since 1918.

Minority government
The minority VVD-Christian Democrat government will rely on parliamentary support from the far-right Freedom Party for a majority in the Lower House. On Wednesday, two agreements will be presented to the three parliamentary parties and the negotiators will report back to coalition broker Ivo Opstelten on Thursday. The details of the agreements will also be made public on Thursday. The Christian Democrat Party is holding a special congress on Saturday to seek approval from its members for the deal. All eyes will then be on the CDA, as many members of the party have expressed grave concerns about the cooperation with Geert Wilders' anti-Islam Freedom Party. Christian Democrat leader Maxime Verhagen has faced broadsides from a string of party elder statesmen, and two dissident CDA MPs threaten the coalition's flimsy one-seat majority. To complicate matters further, on Saturday Mr Wilders will be giving an anti-Islam speech in Berlin.

Right-wing
Negotiations for a right-wing cabinet headed by VVD leader Mark Rutte have been underway since 5 August, after the failure of talks on a possible 'purple' cabinet, comprising the 'blue' VVD and three 'red' left-of-centre parties. The talks for a rightwing cabinet were broken off in early September after the Freedom Party pulled out doubting CDA resolve to see the negotiations through. A letter by CDA co-negotiator Ab Klink voicing his reservations had been leaked to the press. After the resignation of Mr Klink, the Freedom Party agreed to come back to the negotiating table.

Ill-fated adventure
Earlier in the day, Labour Party leader Job Cohen has called the prospect of a right-wing government with support from the Freedom Party “the worst conceivable outcome of the coalition talks”. Socialist Party leader Emile Roemer says he is concerned about the measures in the agreements. Democrat D66 leader Alexander Pechtold called the development “an ill-fated adventure”. It was in the Freedom Party's interests to conclude the talks this week because as of Monday, Mr Wilders is due to appear in court in Amsterdam for a total of six days (over the course of a fortnight) on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims.

Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Darlington College aids hate crime victims

Victims of 'prejudice crime' who do not want to go to the police are being urged to report their grievances to staff at a Durham college.

Police are training staff at Darlington College to deal with victims of hate crime who can remain anonymous if they wish.

The college will be known as a third party reporting centre, police said.

Hate crime is an offence motivated by a dislike of race, colour, religion, gender, sexuality or disability.

A spokesman for Durham Police said: "The person reporting the offence does not have to leave their details and can remain anonymous throughout.

"If they request police to attend then an officer will make an appointment to meet them.

"If problems aren't reported to the police we have no chance of solving them."

BBC News

Toon stars join forces in fight against racism

Toon stars joined forces to help a Tyneside anti-racism charity gain national recognition.

Whitley Bay-based Show Racism the Red Card wants to be crowned Charity of the Year.

If given the accolade by the Football Association, the organisation would get a huge publicity boost, as well as a share of fundraising carried out by the governing body.

And the Newcastle United team lent their support when the squad took time out from their pre-match preparations at St James’ Park on Sunday to pose for photographs and outline their support for the campaign.

It comes as more than 60 MPs rallied behind the efforts to be named charity of the year.

Bosses of the organisation, founded 14 years ago, want to get the support of 100 MPs and will host a special event in October to encourage as many as possible to sign up.

Those already on board include South Shields MP David Miliband, who narrowly lost out to brother Ed in the Labour leadership election this weekend. It is Mr Miliband’s Blaydon colleague Dave Anderson who has arranged for Show Racism the Red Card chiefs to gain access to the House of Commons on October 19, when they will aim to convince as many people as possible to follow them.

Other MPs to have given their backing so far are Stephen Hepburn, Chi Onwurah, Ian Mearns and Ian Lavery, alongside Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn, Toon manager Chris Hughton and former England Manager Graham Taylor.

And every member of the Magpies squad, along with Wallsend-born Emmerdale actress Charlie Hardwick, herself a Toon fan, posed for snaps holding aloft campaign placards at St James’ Park.

The photo shoot took place ahead of United’s defeat to Stoke City, which saw the Toon take the lead through a Kevin Nolan penalty, before ex-Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones equalised and James Perch put through his own net to give the Potters the lead in front of the Sky TV cameras.

Ged Grebby, of the charity, said: “We have a great relationship with the club and, as ever, were thankful of their support.

“We hope we can push on now and be named charity of the year, which would mean a great deal to us.”

Chronicle Live

Police pledge swifter response to racism and homophobia than 'ordinary' crime

Police are looking to drive up reporting of hate crime by promising minorities will see a swifter and tougher response to offenders, than other victims.

The new hate-crime guidance manual is aimed at instigating a cultural change in policing and, as a result, throughout Scotland.

Police will stress to officers that victims from minorities suffer more when a crime is motivated by prejudice than a member of the general public would from the same offence.

Assistant Chief Constable Mike McCormick, of Lothian and Borders Police, said: "We wanted to make sure our own staff were aware of the impact hate crime has.

"If you punch me in the nose because you don't like me because of the colour of my skin, race, sexuality or whatever, that has a longer effect because I'm thinking that not only does this person not like me, but lots of other people won't like me either.

"If someone is already struggling with a disability then a hate crime can leave them thinking not only do I have a physical problem, but I also have a social problem because people don't like me.

"It has a much more significant effect on victims and I want people to pick up on that.

"If people say 'I had not meant any harm' it was just a bit of loose language, we're saying think hard before you say something. And we want victims of hate crime to know this is how we feel."

The new manual brings together best practice from the various eight Scottish forces that was put in place following the Stephen Lawrence inquiry in 1999.

The inquiry into the murder of the black teenager in 1993 found the Metropolitan Police to be "institutionally racist", a verdict has had repercussions that continue to affect UK policing.

The manual represents a promise to protect, not only ethnic minorities, but anyone who might be prejudiced against because of age, disability, gender including transgender, race including gypsy/travellers, religion or belief, and sexual orientation.

It is backed by new powers in the Offences Aggravated by Prejudice (Scotland) Act, which was passed in Scottish Parliament earlier this year.

Sergeant Martin White, of the diversity unit at Lothian and Borders Police, one of the officers who wrote the manual, said: "(Under the act] if someone is arrested for hate crime, we must look to put them before the courts as soon as possible, if not from custody then bailed to appear as soon as possible.

"In the courts, hate crime has to be recorded and reflected in the sentence. It gives the courts the chance to give an appropriate sentence.
That might mean restorative justice - addressing problems the victim might have within their community."

Mr McCormick added: "If it manifests again the court will take an even dimmer view of a person perpetrating homophobic or racist crimes."

Chief Constable Ian Latimer, chairman of the Acpos equality and diversity business area, said: "The manual, developed in consultation with partner agencies and victim support charities, gathers best practice and provides officers with guidance on how to recognise and investigate hate crime."

Justice secretary Kenny Mac-Askill said: "We live in a modern Scotland where there is no excuse for hate crime of any form. This new Acpos guidance has my full support."

Ros Micklem, National Director Scotland for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said: "Recognition of the corrosive impact of hate crime upon individuals and communities is clear in this manual, as is the determination to continue to work with communities to provide an effective response."


Scotsman news

Jobbik against setting up Tom Lantos Institute (Hungary)

Radical nationalist party Jobbik said on Monday that it objected to plans to set up a Tom Lantos Institute in Budapest to promote minority rights, insisting that the former US politician of Hungarian descent was a "Hungarophobe."

Hungarian President Pal Schmitt told a UN general assembly meeting in New York on Friday that Hungary plans to set up a centre to promote tolerance, to be named after Lantos.

Jobbik parliamentary group leader Marton Gyongyosi said on Monday that the initial idea for the centre came from former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, who announced plans to set up a Tom Lantos institute after the US politician's death in February 2008.

Gyongyosi said Lantos, a former politician of the Democratic Party, was a "Hungarophobe" and "best friends" with former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

"Hungarian right-wing people with patriotic feelings will never support this initiative," he said.

In addition to the naming of the institute, Gyongyosi also criticised the entire plan to set up such an organisation, adding that minority research and promoting tolerance were not among Hungary's most urgent tasks at the moment.

Politics Hu