Germany's First Lady Bettina Wulff has been reported to police for making what looks suspiciously like the banned Heil Hitler! salute on the steps of the presidential palace in Berlin.
Police are obliged to investigate the complaint against the wife of president Christian Wulff - even though it has been made by a neo-Nazi.
Franc Rennicke, a member of the far right NPD party who made an unsuccessful bid to become president himself earlier this year, sent the photo to prosecutors.
It shows 45-year-old Mrs. Wulff with her right hand rigidly raised in what looks like the banned salute although aides say the camera has just caught her wave at the ``wrong angle.´´
“For decades the so-called German greeting has been outlawed and thousands of people have been taken to court for making it,“ wrote Rennicke. “The photo of her outside Scholss Bellvue in Berlin clearly
shows her making this banned gesture".
German Herald
Monday, 13 December 2010
Anti-Muslim US preacher Terry Jones could be banned from UK
The American preacher who planned a mass burning of the Qur'an on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks could be banned from entering Britain under incitement and national security laws.
Terry Jones, a pentecostal preacher, is to address the far-right group, the English Defence League (EDL), about "the evils of Islam" at a rally in Luton in February.
Theresa May, the home secretary, is under intense pressure to ban Jones and said she was "actively looking" at the case. She said Jones had "been on her radar for a few months" and, as home secretary, she could ban his entry if he was a threat to national security.
A statement on Jones's website said: "During the protest, Dr Terry Jones will speak against the evils and destructiveness of Islam in support of the continued fight against the Islamification of England and Europe." The EDL said it was "proud to announce" that Jones would be attending its "biggest demonstration to date".
The anti-racism movement Hope Not Hate launched a petition to ban Jones as "a preacher of hate". Nick Lowles, editor of Searchlight magazine, and the campaign's co-ordinator, said: "[His] presence in Luton will be incendiary and highly dangerous. He will attract and encourage thousands of English Defence League supporters to take to the streets of Luton.
"Like the EDL, Pastor Jones indiscriminately targets all Muslims and their actions can only lead to increased tensions and racism in our communities." During its last march in Luton, 250 EDL supporters rampaged through an Asian area, attacking people and damaging property. On Saturday, 500 marched in Peterborough, leading to 11 arrests. "The EDL march in February has the potential to be far worse," Lowles said. "Only extremists will benefit from his visit and, as we know, extremism breeds hatred and hatred breeds violence. Pastor Jones, a preacher of hate, must be stopped from entering the UK."
Jones's stunt – he called it international burn-a-Qur'an day, on 11 September – caused widespread alarm as he enacted a countdown. He then issued a two-hour deadline, on television, to Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam linked to the proposal to build an Islamic cultural centre near Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 attacks.
Barack Obama warned Jones that his actions would boost al-Qaida and put US citizens and soldiers at risk. The president's intervention is believed to have persuaded the head of the Dove World Outreach Centre church in Gainesville, Florida, to call off the stunt with just a day to spare.
Jones was also denounced by leaders of the Christian Community of Cologne, a church he founded in Germany in the 1980s and which subsequently dismissed him from the board after allegations he mistreated followers.
The home secretary has the power to exclude or deport Jones if his presence in the UK could threaten national security, public order or the safety of citizens, or if she believes his views glorify terrorism, promote violence or encourage other serious crime.
In June she banned Zakir Naik – a preacher who claimed that "every Muslim should be a terrorist" – from entering the UK.
However, any eventual decision by May could be reversed. Last year, the ban imposed by the Home Office on the Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders was overturned at an immigration tribunal.
The Guardian
President Nixon's racist views recorded (USA)
Then national security adviser Henry Kissinger, who is Jewish himself, also said it was no concern of the US if Soviet Jews were gassed, in conversations barely a year before Nixon was forced to quit over the Watergate scandal.
"The Jews have certain traits," Nixon said in a conversation with an adviser in February 1973, which was among 265 hours of recordings released by the Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in California.
"The Irish have certain ... for example, the Irish can't drink. What you always have to remember with the Irish is they get mean. Virtually every Irish I've known gets mean when he drinks.
"The Italians, of course, those people of course don't have their heads screwed on tight.
"They are wonderful people, but ... " he said before trailing off, in conversations highlighted by the New York Times on Saturday.
Kissinger dismissed calls for Washington to press Soviet authorities to allow Jews to emigrate to escape persecution.
"If they put Jews into gas chambers in the Soviet Union, it is not an American concern. Maybe a humanitarian concern."
"I know," Nixon responded. "We can't blow up the world because of it."
Nixon also suggested that many Jews were "deserters" for having moved to Canada to avoid being drafted for the Vietnam war.
"I didn't notice many Jewish names coming back from Vietnam."
"The deserters," he said.
Herald Sun
11 ARRESTS AT EDL'S PETERBOROUGH DEMONSTRATION (uk)
Supporters of the far right group, which opposes what it describes as the rise of militant Islam, have been involved in violent confrontations with anti-fascist campaigners at events across England in recent months. There were fears of a repeat today, prompting a large-scale police operation to keep the EDL protest and a counter-demonstration organised by the Peterborough Trades Union Council apart. Around 1,000 EDL supporters gathered at a site close to Peterborough United Football Club's ground to hear a speech by the group's founder Tommy Robinson, who is also known as Stephen Lennon. A large police presence as they dispersed helped to nullify the threat of large-scale disorder, but there were a small number of minor skirmishes. Two people were arrested for possessing an offensive weapon, two on suspicion of assaulting police officers, two for affray and a further five for minor public order offences. Superintendent Paul Fullwood of Cambridgeshire Police said the operation to protect the public, which involved more than 1,000 officers, had been a great success. 'Peterborough stood firm and the city should be proud of the way it has responded to today's events,' he said. 'There were some issues of disorder dealt with promptly and professionally to achieve a peaceful outcome. Some arrests have been made, but both protests have been generally peaceful.'
Metro
Metro
Russian football fans run riot in Moscow protest
Thousands of fans, supported by members of far-right groups, gathered in Manezhnaya Square near the Kremlin for the unauthorised protest, with some shouting slogans such as "Russia for Russians" and performing Nazi salutes, according to an AFP photographer.
They were protesting the death of Yegor Sviridov, a Spartak Moscow fan who was shot in the head last Saturday during a fight with men from the Russian Caucasus.
The incident has exposed the close links between Russian extremists and football supporters, and is a major embarrassment for the country so soon after it won the right to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018.
As many as 5,000 people, many wearing hoods and scarves to cover their faces, descended on the square, and fighting quickly broke out when protestors threw flares and objects at anti-riot police.
Several dozen supporters suffered injuries as they fought with police, while demonstrators also violently attacked at least five men of Caucasus origin, who were seen with bleeding faces.
A total of 65 people were arrested, according to police.
"Thirteen people including police officers have been hospitalised," said Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, who blamed the violence on "left-wing extremists".
Protestors beat up a cameraman of state news agency RIA Novosti and smashed his camera.
Security was reinforced in the Moscow metro system after demonstrators smashed a number of barriers, Russian news agencies reported.
"If the authorities don't change the policy on immigration, there will be a lot of bloodshed," said one demonstrator, whose face was hidden behind a black mask.
Moscow police chief Vladimir Kolokoltsev said he had been to the square to talk with demonstrators, and confirmed that police had kept force to a minimum.
This provoked criticism from rights activists, who say police rarely show such restraint when dealing with opposition protests.
The suspect in Sviridov's shooting, Aslan Cherkesov, who is from the Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, is under arrest and claimed he was acting in self defence.
The violence followed a protest on Tuesday evening in which around 1,000 people blocked a Moscow highway and shouted racist slogans.
Meanwhile in Saint Petersburg, around 1,500 supporters gathered for a similar unauthorised protest.
Police arrested about 60 people when fans broke through a police cordon and stopped traffic on several major roads.
Spartak Moscow is one of the top Russian premiership sides and it has an impassioned support base in the capital.
As Russia prepares to host the 2018 World Cup, its football fans -- some of whom model themselves on British hooligans, wearing the same fashion labels and calling themselves "firms" -- will be closely watched by the authorities.
In July another Spartak fan, telejournalist Yury Volkov, was stabbed to death in a fight with men from the Russian Caucasus in a central Moscow park. A Chechen man has been charged with the crime.
The killing prompted fans to brandish banners with Volkov's name at matches and to hold several public protests.
Tahoo News
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Vicious teens cried 'Jew, Jew' as they punched and beat rabbi unconscious during Thanksgiving attack (USA)
The victim of a Thanksgiving hate crime testified Friday his attackers screamed "Jew, Jew!" as they beat him unconscious on a Brooklyn street.
"They ripped off my clothes, my hat and my yarmulke. They were punching my face," said Joel Weinberger, 26, a Hasidic rabbi and father of four.
Weinberger ended up with numerous fractures and a broken eye socket. He had three steel implants in his cheek, he told the Daily News outside the courtroom.
"I was hit from the back; I lost consciousness," Weinberger testified at an evidence hearing.
He came to, tried to run away, but was hit repeatedly until he blacked out again, he said.
Two 15-year-old boys were charged with assault as a hate crime for the attack on Harrison St. in Williamsburg.
Two NYPD detectives testified that the teens said they attacked "the Jew" because "it was something fun to do."
Detective Nicole Carter said the boys claimed they "were bored," went to a park, bought a "$5 bag of weed, got high" and then decided to go to what they called "Jew town."
One of the teens is accused of later beating two other Orthodox Jews - one last Saturday and another on Monday as he left a Chanukah party.
Because the suspects were charged as juveniles, The News is not publishing their names.
Both are chronic truants and drug users who cannot be controlled by their parents, probation reports say.
One of the teens was laughing during the proceedings, prompting a warning from the judge to "treat the process with dignity."
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 17.
NY Daily News
"They ripped off my clothes, my hat and my yarmulke. They were punching my face," said Joel Weinberger, 26, a Hasidic rabbi and father of four.
Weinberger ended up with numerous fractures and a broken eye socket. He had three steel implants in his cheek, he told the Daily News outside the courtroom.
"I was hit from the back; I lost consciousness," Weinberger testified at an evidence hearing.
He came to, tried to run away, but was hit repeatedly until he blacked out again, he said.
Two 15-year-old boys were charged with assault as a hate crime for the attack on Harrison St. in Williamsburg.
Two NYPD detectives testified that the teens said they attacked "the Jew" because "it was something fun to do."
Detective Nicole Carter said the boys claimed they "were bored," went to a park, bought a "$5 bag of weed, got high" and then decided to go to what they called "Jew town."
One of the teens is accused of later beating two other Orthodox Jews - one last Saturday and another on Monday as he left a Chanukah party.
Because the suspects were charged as juveniles, The News is not publishing their names.
Both are chronic truants and drug users who cannot be controlled by their parents, probation reports say.
One of the teens was laughing during the proceedings, prompting a warning from the judge to "treat the process with dignity."
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 17.
NY Daily News
Swedish teacher keeps job after racist remarks
Political leaders in Landskrona in southern Sweden have condemned racist remarks made by a local teacher at one of the city's schools two years ago. However, the teacher continues to teach in the municipality.
Among other statements, the teacher questioned the rights of immigrants to have children, according to a recording made by a student.
"The statement is shocking. I am glad that the principal and human resources manager acted forcefully," said Landskrona children and youth committee chairwoman Lisa Flinth of the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet) to the TT news agency.
Educational broadcaster UR's Skolfront programme reported that the teacher's comment was not an isolated incident. According to a number of students, parents and former employees, several of the school's staff members had made xenophobic remarks to their students.
The municipality has condemned the utterances, but has not commented on how the teacher managed to escape any disciplinary action by transferring to another school.
Flinth views the incident as strictly a staffing-related matter that she would not get involved in.
At a Friday press conference called by Landskrona municipality following the UR report, Thomas Johansson, director of administration for the children and education committee in Landskrona, said that he only arrived in Landskrona in September of last year.
In addition, he claimed that none of the principals who now work at the school in question in Landskrona had anything to do with the incident.
As a result, he declined to comment on the particular case exposed by Skolfront, but said that if any teacher would express such an opinion now, he could not see how it would be possible for the teacher to continue teaching in Landskrona.
When asked if he would notify the police if he learned of these types of opinions being expressed, Johansson said, "We always notify [the police] if staff or students commit crimes. Here in Landskrona, we have absolutely zero tolerance for any insults against the students."
Regarding the news that the teacher in this case is still working in the municipality, Johansson said that it is impossible to take action against the teacher now for what may have happened two years ago.
The transfer was the result of a central bargaining agreement, he added.
The Local Sweden
Among other statements, the teacher questioned the rights of immigrants to have children, according to a recording made by a student.
"The statement is shocking. I am glad that the principal and human resources manager acted forcefully," said Landskrona children and youth committee chairwoman Lisa Flinth of the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet) to the TT news agency.
Educational broadcaster UR's Skolfront programme reported that the teacher's comment was not an isolated incident. According to a number of students, parents and former employees, several of the school's staff members had made xenophobic remarks to their students.
The municipality has condemned the utterances, but has not commented on how the teacher managed to escape any disciplinary action by transferring to another school.
Flinth views the incident as strictly a staffing-related matter that she would not get involved in.
At a Friday press conference called by Landskrona municipality following the UR report, Thomas Johansson, director of administration for the children and education committee in Landskrona, said that he only arrived in Landskrona in September of last year.
In addition, he claimed that none of the principals who now work at the school in question in Landskrona had anything to do with the incident.
As a result, he declined to comment on the particular case exposed by Skolfront, but said that if any teacher would express such an opinion now, he could not see how it would be possible for the teacher to continue teaching in Landskrona.
When asked if he would notify the police if he learned of these types of opinions being expressed, Johansson said, "We always notify [the police] if staff or students commit crimes. Here in Landskrona, we have absolutely zero tolerance for any insults against the students."
Regarding the news that the teacher in this case is still working in the municipality, Johansson said that it is impossible to take action against the teacher now for what may have happened two years ago.
The transfer was the result of a central bargaining agreement, he added.
The Local Sweden
Brighouse Facebook racist Kalum Dyson avoids prison term (UK)
Kalum Dyson, of Frances Street in Brighouse, created a group called ‘Pakis Die’ on the social networking website.
The 21-year-old also posted messages including one which said: “Help me shoot all the Pakis.”
One of his listed friends, who is believed to have had an Asian boyfriend, complained to police after he sent her an invitation to join the group.
He pleaded guilty to a charge of sending an offensive or indecent, obscene or menacing electronic communication at Calderdale Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Dyson, who has children aged two years and just five-weeks-old and works as a floor layer, was given a community order.
But chairman of the bench Tim Cole told him the offence was so serious it could have merited a jail term.
“We find this a very serious offence to which a custodial sentence could have been given,” he said.
The court heard Dyson was arrested in July – two months after setting up the group.
Jane Farrar, prosecuting, told the court one of his Facebook friends had reported the matter to the police after he sent her an invite to join.
She said: “She was utterly disgusted by the comments and was deeply offended by it.”
Dyson admitted setting up the site, which Facebook immediately removed, and told officers Muslims “should understand what the British Army was fighting for’’.
But he also said he was not racist, claiming he had “black” friends.
Michelle Flaga, mitigating, said her client was sorry.
She added: “It started out as a joke. People have different perceptions of what jokes may be.”
She added: “In hindsight, he appreciates people could have been offended by the nature of the comments.”
Dyson, who lives with his parents, was given a 12-month community order, to include 150 hours of unpaid community work, and a 30-day curfew. He must stay at home between the hours of 9pm and 5am.
He was also ordered to pay £85 court costs.
A West Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said hate crime was a serious offence.
She said: “West Yorkshire Police treat any reports of hate crime extremely seriously and will thoroughly investigate them and take firm action against those responsible.
“On top of the impact such incidents have on the victims themselves, hate crimes can have a corrosive effect on our communities and cannot be tolerated.
“We want victims of hate crime to feel confident that if they come forward they will be taken seriously and helped and supported by ourselves and our partner agencies.”
A spokeswoman for the charity Stop Hate UK added: “Stop Hate UK is extremely concerned that perpetrators believe they can get away with committing hate crime, especially when it’s done in such a public way.
“We hope that this case reminds people that racism and other types of hate crime, in whatever form it takes, is not acceptable and will not be tolerated.”
Hudersfield Examiner
CZECH POLL SHOWS ULTRA-RIGHT WINGERS MOSTLY FRUSTRATED, UNEMPLOYED MEN
A poll conducted by the STEM agency for the Czech Interior Ministry reports that roughly 6 % of Czechs agree with most of the ideology of the ultra-right and would be willing to actively support extreme right-wing efforts by participating in demonstrations or other events. Another 2 % of people would not go as far as to provide active support, but would at least be willing to vote for an ultra-right party. The poll shows that 20 % of Czechs expressed repugnance for extreme right-wing ideology, while 70 % of respondents identified with at least some ultra-right attitudes. Roughly 10 % of respondents agreed with most aspects of ultra-right ideology. The agency identified the attitudes of anti-Gypsyism, anti-Semitism, authoritarianism, homophobia, nationalism, racism and xenophobia as ultra-right wing. The poll shows that the 8 % of respondents who might actively support a particular ultra-right group, or who would at least vote for an ultra-right party, are less educated than those who would not and hold radical opinions, calling for "governing with a firm hand." Most of the 6 % of the population that the poll referred to as "significantly high-risk" with respect to right-wing extremism are male and unemployed.
"People falling into that group often say there is not enough law and order in society. They display signs of anomie, meaning that they feel the norms around them are falling apart, that society is out of control, and that they have been personally uprooted," the STEM agency reports. "Respondents falling into this category evidence strong frustrations in their assessment of how society operates, in their family lives, in the material resources available to them, and in their professional lives." Such people are said to often feel they are unable to apply their abilities in society. They are dissatisfied with their surroundings and believe others do not understand them. "That particular high-risk population group also frequently shows signs of personality disorders which often lead to unpremeditated emotional behavior," the agency says. As far as political attitudes go, such persons are most often conservatives who exalt the significance of nationality and demand the imposition of harsher punishments for crimes. A large number of them - more than one-third - stated they felt they had long been oppressed by minorities, primarily the Roma. According to the poll, the parts of the Czech Republic which are most at risk for a population espousing the ultra-right ideology are the Moravian-Silesian, Plzeò and Ústí regions. The poll was conducted between 17 September and 15 October 2010, among 2 056 respondents.
Romea
"People falling into that group often say there is not enough law and order in society. They display signs of anomie, meaning that they feel the norms around them are falling apart, that society is out of control, and that they have been personally uprooted," the STEM agency reports. "Respondents falling into this category evidence strong frustrations in their assessment of how society operates, in their family lives, in the material resources available to them, and in their professional lives." Such people are said to often feel they are unable to apply their abilities in society. They are dissatisfied with their surroundings and believe others do not understand them. "That particular high-risk population group also frequently shows signs of personality disorders which often lead to unpremeditated emotional behavior," the agency says. As far as political attitudes go, such persons are most often conservatives who exalt the significance of nationality and demand the imposition of harsher punishments for crimes. A large number of them - more than one-third - stated they felt they had long been oppressed by minorities, primarily the Roma. According to the poll, the parts of the Czech Republic which are most at risk for a population espousing the ultra-right ideology are the Moravian-Silesian, Plzeò and Ústí regions. The poll was conducted between 17 September and 15 October 2010, among 2 056 respondents.
Romea
CZECHS CRITICISED FOR HOMOSEXUAL 'SEXUAL AROUSAL' TESTS
In a report on homosexual equality, the Agency for Fundamental Rights said that phallometric testing, when men are shown both homosexual and heterosexual pornography while censors monitor the blood flow to the penis, "was questionable, since it is dubious whether it reaches sufficiently clear conclusions". The Czech Republic is the only country in the EU that uses phallometric testing in order to distinguish true asylum seekers from those that might use claims of homosexuality and subsequent persecution back home as ruse to get into the country. The EU agency also said that the test could fall foul of the European Charter of Human Rights, which prohibits degrading and humiliating treatment, adding that "this exam is particularly inappropriate for asylum seekers, given the fact that many of them might have suffered abuse due to their sexual orientation". The Czech Republic's human rights commission described the test as "undignified".
But the Czech interior ministry defended the method, saying that it was part of a "comprehensive" system to check the veracity of claims, that it was voluntary and had only been used in about ten cases. Vladimir Repka, a ministry spokesman, explained that the test was applied mainly to asylum seekers from countries "that severely punish homosexuality". "These are people from areas where Islamic Sharia law is applied, or from countries which have a strong Islamic influence," he explained, citing Iran, Syria, Azerbaijan and Nigeria as examples. But the Fundamental Rights Agency questioned the interior ministry's claims that the test was "voluntary", arguing that asylum seekers, fearing authorities might interpret their refusal to take the test as suspicious, may feel obliged to take it. The agency argued that other, less intrusive, ways of determining somebody's sexual orientation such as psychological testing should be used instead. Petr Khollovou, from Czech organisation People in Need, which provides support for asylum seekers, said that people who had undergone the examination had been "shocked" by the procedure.
The Telegraph
But the Czech interior ministry defended the method, saying that it was part of a "comprehensive" system to check the veracity of claims, that it was voluntary and had only been used in about ten cases. Vladimir Repka, a ministry spokesman, explained that the test was applied mainly to asylum seekers from countries "that severely punish homosexuality". "These are people from areas where Islamic Sharia law is applied, or from countries which have a strong Islamic influence," he explained, citing Iran, Syria, Azerbaijan and Nigeria as examples. But the Fundamental Rights Agency questioned the interior ministry's claims that the test was "voluntary", arguing that asylum seekers, fearing authorities might interpret their refusal to take the test as suspicious, may feel obliged to take it. The agency argued that other, less intrusive, ways of determining somebody's sexual orientation such as psychological testing should be used instead. Petr Khollovou, from Czech organisation People in Need, which provides support for asylum seekers, said that people who had undergone the examination had been "shocked" by the procedure.
The Telegraph
Friday, 10 December 2010
Suspected Israeli neo-Nazi arrested in Kyrgyzstan
Dmitri Bogotich was convinced he would be free forever. The ease with which he managed to slip out of Israel, and the law enforcement authorities' complete indifference to his escape and his new life, allowed the man described as "the first neo-Nazi soldier in Israel" to feel safe in his new home in the heart of Moscow.
Bogotich felt so secure that he focused on his law studies there, as if he was not the defendant in one of the most severe indictments ever filed in Israel.
Yesterday, however, the Justice Ministry confirmed that Bogotich had been arrested by Interpol in Kyrgyzstan, at the airport near that nation's capital.
When I met him in March of 2008 in Moscow, he was careful but also confident that the authorities in Russia would not extradite him to Israel, even if he was arrested. When he is finally extradited to Israel, Bogotich will be tried like the other members of his neo-Nazi gang - Patrol 36 - which terrorized the streets of Tel Aviv from 2006 to 2007.
The gang would go out a little after midnight and find a victim to abuse. Drunk with power and alcohol, they would kick, punch and break things - documenting everything on cell-phone cameras. They selected their victims on the basis of neo-Nazi propaganda: dark-skinned people, foreign workers, drug addicts, homosexuals and anyone else who was in their way.
Eight members of the gang were arrested in 2007; Bogotich, who is suspected of being the gang leader, was the only one who disappeared. By day he served in the Israel Defense Forces as a guard, and by night, according to the indictment, he would lynch people based on their ethnicity.
On July 18, 2007, police investigators went to the apartment he shared with his mother in Tel Aviv and brought him in for questioning. By the next day, he had already fled the country.
When I met with him eight months later, he said he did not have to work very hard to evade the authorities. The day after his questioning, he claimed, he managed to lower his military profile and was immediately released from the army. He then got on a flight to Athens.
While the Israeli authorities began to consider issuing a warrant to prevent him from leaving the country, Bogotich had already been in Moscow for some time. According to Russian law, the authorities do not extradite Russian citizens who have committed crimes in other countries. Truth be told, Israel did not even seek his extradition.
No one involved in the case in Israel knew where Bogotich was, and in practice no one bothered to look for him. When the investigative television show "Uvda" ("Fact" ) decided to try a little harder than the police, we managed to locate him fairly quickly in Moscow - free and happy.
Haaretz
Bogotich felt so secure that he focused on his law studies there, as if he was not the defendant in one of the most severe indictments ever filed in Israel.
Yesterday, however, the Justice Ministry confirmed that Bogotich had been arrested by Interpol in Kyrgyzstan, at the airport near that nation's capital.
When I met him in March of 2008 in Moscow, he was careful but also confident that the authorities in Russia would not extradite him to Israel, even if he was arrested. When he is finally extradited to Israel, Bogotich will be tried like the other members of his neo-Nazi gang - Patrol 36 - which terrorized the streets of Tel Aviv from 2006 to 2007.
The gang would go out a little after midnight and find a victim to abuse. Drunk with power and alcohol, they would kick, punch and break things - documenting everything on cell-phone cameras. They selected their victims on the basis of neo-Nazi propaganda: dark-skinned people, foreign workers, drug addicts, homosexuals and anyone else who was in their way.
Eight members of the gang were arrested in 2007; Bogotich, who is suspected of being the gang leader, was the only one who disappeared. By day he served in the Israel Defense Forces as a guard, and by night, according to the indictment, he would lynch people based on their ethnicity.
On July 18, 2007, police investigators went to the apartment he shared with his mother in Tel Aviv and brought him in for questioning. By the next day, he had already fled the country.
When I met with him eight months later, he said he did not have to work very hard to evade the authorities. The day after his questioning, he claimed, he managed to lower his military profile and was immediately released from the army. He then got on a flight to Athens.
While the Israeli authorities began to consider issuing a warrant to prevent him from leaving the country, Bogotich had already been in Moscow for some time. According to Russian law, the authorities do not extradite Russian citizens who have committed crimes in other countries. Truth be told, Israel did not even seek his extradition.
No one involved in the case in Israel knew where Bogotich was, and in practice no one bothered to look for him. When the investigative television show "Uvda" ("Fact" ) decided to try a little harder than the police, we managed to locate him fairly quickly in Moscow - free and happy.
Haaretz
Halesowen Tory suspended after racist joke gaffe (UK)
A Halesowen Conservative councillor is out in the cold after e-mailing a racist joke to every Dudley councillor.
Hayley Green and Cradley South councillor Ken Turner suspended his party membership yesterday after an almighty row erupted over the joke, with even Conservative Central Office – which condemned the e-mail – entering the fray.
The offending e-mail immediately ignited a furious backlash, which forced Mr Turner to issue an apology and face investigations from Dudley Council and Tory head office.
Labour Cradley councillor Tim Crumpton, who reported Mr Turner to the authority’s standards committee, said: “With everything that’s happened over the last two years in our borough, with the English Defence League and the mosque, to have a senior councillor sending this is beyond the pale.”
The e-mail, described as “maybe the best joke of the year”, refers to a Somalian immigrant in London who asks a series of people if they are British before being told by an African lady all the British are probably “at work”.
The same joke saw two Conservative councillors in the Ribble Valley suspended after Tory chiefs said it “had no place in the Conservative Party”.
Mr Turner issued an apology describing the gag as “a mild attempt to relieve the present strife we are all enjoying”.
A member of Dudley Council said: “It’s appalling and racist. If, in 2010, a councillor sends this and thinks it is in any way funny, it shows elected representatives in a very sad light.”
Mr Turner, who is a member of the council’s information and communications technology working group, will now be quizzed by the standards committee, which has the power to sack him.
The councillors’ code of conduct says members should “promote equality by not discriminating unlawfully against any person, and by treating people with respect, regardless of their race, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “We are happy that the issue has been handled locally and appropriately.
“Ken Turner has apologised for the insensitivity of his e-mail and has apologised for any offence it may have caused.
“He has voluntarily suspended his membership of the Conservative Party, has referred himself to the council’s standards committee and has agreed to attend a diversity awareness course at his own expense.”
Mr Turner sent the joke on December 2. The following day he circulated another e-mail saying: “I understand that it may have offended some of our members and I would apologise unreservedly and assure you all it was intended in a simply joking manner.”
When contacted by the News, Mr Turner refused to comment further.
Halesowen News.
Hayley Green and Cradley South councillor Ken Turner suspended his party membership yesterday after an almighty row erupted over the joke, with even Conservative Central Office – which condemned the e-mail – entering the fray.
The offending e-mail immediately ignited a furious backlash, which forced Mr Turner to issue an apology and face investigations from Dudley Council and Tory head office.
Labour Cradley councillor Tim Crumpton, who reported Mr Turner to the authority’s standards committee, said: “With everything that’s happened over the last two years in our borough, with the English Defence League and the mosque, to have a senior councillor sending this is beyond the pale.”
The e-mail, described as “maybe the best joke of the year”, refers to a Somalian immigrant in London who asks a series of people if they are British before being told by an African lady all the British are probably “at work”.
The same joke saw two Conservative councillors in the Ribble Valley suspended after Tory chiefs said it “had no place in the Conservative Party”.
Mr Turner issued an apology describing the gag as “a mild attempt to relieve the present strife we are all enjoying”.
A member of Dudley Council said: “It’s appalling and racist. If, in 2010, a councillor sends this and thinks it is in any way funny, it shows elected representatives in a very sad light.”
Mr Turner, who is a member of the council’s information and communications technology working group, will now be quizzed by the standards committee, which has the power to sack him.
The councillors’ code of conduct says members should “promote equality by not discriminating unlawfully against any person, and by treating people with respect, regardless of their race, age, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “We are happy that the issue has been handled locally and appropriately.
“Ken Turner has apologised for the insensitivity of his e-mail and has apologised for any offence it may have caused.
“He has voluntarily suspended his membership of the Conservative Party, has referred himself to the council’s standards committee and has agreed to attend a diversity awareness course at his own expense.”
Mr Turner sent the joke on December 2. The following day he circulated another e-mail saying: “I understand that it may have offended some of our members and I would apologise unreservedly and assure you all it was intended in a simply joking manner.”
When contacted by the News, Mr Turner refused to comment further.
Halesowen News.
Racism fears grow for 2018
A Tuesday night protest had 1,000 football fans blocking Leningradsky Prospekt as police stood by, raising questions about how law enforcement will ensure security for the championship, which is expected to attract millions of fans from around the world.
The unrest was sparked by the death of Yegor Sviridov, who was shot on the night of Dec. 6 in a mass street brawl between natives of the North Caucasus and local football fans.
Police initially released five of six detained suspects in the shooting, sparking an outrage in the Fratria, or Brotherhood, movement of Spartak club fans, who appealed to prosecutors to catch the culprits and called for a Dec. 7 rally.
The protest was ostensibly planned as a peaceful memorial in honour of Sviridov, but turned more aggressive as fans blocked the busy highway and started shouting “Russia for Russians!” and “Moscow for Muscovites,” according to videos posted on YouTube.
Some fans were seen smashing kiosks and ad signs, news agencies reported. In contrast, Moscow police spokesman Viktor Biryukov insisted that there were no reports of violence or vandalism.
Football fans were planning several rallies over the weekend in wake of Sviridov’s shooting. Meanwhile, Spartak fans in Zilina, Slovakia, disrupted their team’s European Champions League match with flares and fireworks on Wednesday.
The outcry has led police to take a more active stance.
Six people were detained, including Aslan Cherkesov, from the North Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. Police initially decided to release everyone but Cherkesov, but issued a warrant to detain the other men on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Investigative Committee was questioning the police “in connection to their inaction,” according to a statement published on the Committee’s web site.
Meanwhile, Cherkesov, who claimed that he was shooting in self-defence, was charged with murder on Wednesday.
“He was attacked, with his face pressed against a car bumper, and he was shooting back blindly without seeing where the gun was pointed. He didn’t want to kill anybody,” Cherkesov’s lawyer, Vera Goncharova, was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying.
Official response
Russia’s official football organisations – the Russian Football Union and the All-Russian Union of Supporters – issued a joint statement criticizing police inaction in the Sviridov murder but also condemning rowdy fans for unsanctioned rallies.
[We understand] the indignation of Spartak fans over the rather strange behaviour of prosecutors,” a statement said. “At the same time we find yesterday’s behaviour of Spartak fans unacceptable.”
The organisations were both concerned that activists from DPNI – the ultranationalist Movement Against Illegal Immigration – were intervening in the row.
World Cup preparations
The incidents underscore mounting concern over security and ethnic tensions ahead of the World Cup, reflecting a link that still remains between football fans and nationalist groups.
But while officials said a mix of tolerance programmes and security measures are being developed, it wasn’t clear to what extent these would target racial tensions specifically.
“A large number of [tolerance] measures were outlined in the World Cup bid,” a source in the bid team told The Moscow News.
The Russian Football Union adopted a memorandum last month that would launch a tolerance programme for football fans starting in 2012. On Thursday, it held a conference with police, FSB officers and fans to develop security measures ahead of the games. But representatives of the Union could not immediately elaborate on the programmes.
“It’s eight years until the Championship, and a new generation of football fans will grow up by that time,” Alexander Shprygin, head of the All-Russian Union of Supporters, told The Moscow News. He was sceptical that ethnic tensions would be a problem at that point, but indicated that football organisations were taking the matter seriously.
“Of course there are targeted programs by the Football Union and there will be programs by the Youth Ministry, because this is a government priority, and the government gave FIFA certain guarantees in its bid,” he said.
Independent experts say there is a strong link between violent football fans and racist groups in Russia.
“There is a direct connection between these incidents and the World Cup bid,” Galina Kozhevnikova, an expert with Sova, a group that monitors hate crimes, told The Moscow News. She noted that this week’s incidents were practically identical to an episode this summer, when fans protested over the murder of Spartak fan Yury Volkov.
“During the rallies [this summer] it was strictly forbidden to shout any Russian nationalist slogans,” she said. “Ultranationalists were present, but as soon as they started shouting slogans, they were immediately kicked out.”
Kozhevnikova believes this was the result of an agreement between these fans and the Moscow police, precisely because Russia was still a bidder for the World Cup. Now, “we have already won the bid, so why make agreements and deny that racism exists?” she said.
Kozhevnikova was sceptical that official tolerance programs would work, saying that police would most likely resort to extra-judicial measures of warning or threatening fans and groups that they are in contact with.
Noting a number of beatings of police by football fans, she said that fear, and not ideological support, was behind police inaction during this week’s unrest.
The Moscow news
Thursday, 9 December 2010
Anti-fascists and British National Party members arrested after Liverpool clash (UK)
An investigation is underway after anti-fascist campaigners and British National Party supporters clashed in Liverpool.
Ten people were arrested following a violent fracas in Church Street on Saturday morning.
The far-right party was collecting signatures on the city’s busiest shopping street when trouble flared.
At around 10.45am, anti-fascist demonstrators and the BNP came head-to-head in aggressive scenes.
Three women and three men, who were holding a counter-rally against the political party, were detained.
They were held on suspicion of criminal damage, affray and assault and taken to police stations in Merseyside.
The women – 23, 22 and 21, from Aigburth, Toxteth and the city centre – and the men – 26, 25 and 24, from Birkenhead, Kensington and the city centre – were later released on bail pending further inquiries.
Two days later, three BNP activists were apprehended on suspicion of criminal damage and affray.
The suspects, identified by the far-right group itself, are Peter Tierney, 53, from Hale Village, his brother Andrew, 44, from Huyton, and a woman, 59, from Wirral, were all released on bail.
A man in his 50s or 60s was arrested shortly after the incident but will face no further action.
Both parties gave different accounts of the disturbance.
Liverpool Echo
Ten people were arrested following a violent fracas in Church Street on Saturday morning.
The far-right party was collecting signatures on the city’s busiest shopping street when trouble flared.
At around 10.45am, anti-fascist demonstrators and the BNP came head-to-head in aggressive scenes.
Three women and three men, who were holding a counter-rally against the political party, were detained.
They were held on suspicion of criminal damage, affray and assault and taken to police stations in Merseyside.
The women – 23, 22 and 21, from Aigburth, Toxteth and the city centre – and the men – 26, 25 and 24, from Birkenhead, Kensington and the city centre – were later released on bail pending further inquiries.
Two days later, three BNP activists were apprehended on suspicion of criminal damage and affray.
The suspects, identified by the far-right group itself, are Peter Tierney, 53, from Hale Village, his brother Andrew, 44, from Huyton, and a woman, 59, from Wirral, were all released on bail.
A man in his 50s or 60s was arrested shortly after the incident but will face no further action.
Both parties gave different accounts of the disturbance.
Liverpool Echo
ROMA IN CZECH TOWN PROTEST MAYOR'S GENERALIZATIONS ABOUT THEM (Czech Rep.)
On Sunday, 5 December a Czech Television report on the situation in the town of Nový Bydžov opened with local resident Petr Suchánek, the initiator of a petition against the Roma, saying, "A handful of residents is terrorizing the majority and radical solutions are desired." The broadcast also quotes Mayor Pavel Louda (ODS) claiming police would be supplying him with statistics on crimes committed by Roma, even though statistics on suspects disaggregated by ethnicity are not kept by the police. The report was broadcast as part of the "168 Hours" program. Louda's previous general condemnation of all Roma as criminals has particularly outraged members of the Roma community who have lived most of their lives in the town. Louda issued an official declaration in the immediate aftermath of allegations that a female resident of Nový Bydžov had been raped and that police suspected a local Roma youth was the perpetrator. Louda entitled the declaration "Gypsies are raping, town prepares special measures" and posted it to the town's web page. He later removed it in response to criticism from around the country.
The declaration included the following general condemnations of Roma: "The citizens' hatred of the Gypsies is boiling over." "There are only two state police officers serving in the town. Since their jurisdiction is broader than just the town itself, whenever they are called away, the town is left unprotected and the Gypsies merrily cause trouble by shouting in the streets, threatening people, including with knives, and committing theft and rape." "While all decent people are at work, the Gypsies hang out on the benches on the town square, contentedly shooting the breeze." "The citizens condemn all of these activities and do not want the Gypsies here - they want them to disappear, but how can this happen? The town's hands are bound, particularly by state legislation which does not make radical measures possible - otherwise, the town would be sued for discrimination." The Czech Television report summarized the mayor's claims into the following sentence: "The number of Roma has grown to more than 5 % of the population over the past five years, and they are rampaging through the town bothering people, stealing and raping."
Louda was also quoted as saying, "If someone rapes your daughter, you definitely won't say you love Gypsies." Roma residents contacted by Czech Television protested the mayor's remarks. Štefan Mital, a Roma entrepreneur, responded to the mayor's generalizations as follows: "One person raped that girl. I condemn that, and you cannot tar all of the Roma with the same brush." Mital was born in Nový Bydžov; now 33, he runs a construction business. He and his friends believe the mayor's remarks have harmed the majority of Roma people who are law-abiding - and not just in Nový Bydžov. Czech Television facilitated a meeting between Mayor Louda and the local Roma and filmed the results. "I work in a factory where that petition is being passed around... How do those people see me now?" Roma resident Miroslav Oláh asked at the meeting. "I believe, and I am convinced of this, that whoever does his work properly will not be harmed," responded Mayor Louda. In his previous remarks, Louda had given the impression that all Roma - including Roma employers and employees - were criminals who could not be compelled to "disappear" because of the risk of anti-discrimination lawsuits.
Milan Bajza reminded Louda of that statement: "You literally said all Gypsies steal, are loud, commit rape, things like that..." The mayor responded: "Do you not know that crimes are being committed here recently, burglaries, people being threatened?" "That's what the police are for," said the Roma residents. "Naturally that is what the police are for," Louda said, adding: "nevertheless, everyone who has complained has said it was the Roma." In response, Václav Tichý, the town's chief of police, said: "As far as violent crime is concerned the same standard still applies and we clear up 88 % of cases." When the mayor was asked whether he had requested statistics from the police on how many perpetrators of crime in the town are Roma, he said he had requested them and would have them by Friday. When a reporter asked whether it was even possible to create an inventory of suspects according to their ethnicity, Louda responded: "It's not registered according to ethnicity, it's a register of all attacks and I have asked the director to tell me the number of those incidents committed by Roma. There is nothing illegal about that."
The reportage then shows Václav Tichý saying, "You cannot tell from the police statistics whether a Roma person committed the illegal behavior." Crime statistics on the ethnicity of suspects have not been kept since the 1990s. During the meeting with local Roma, the mayor expressed amazement that (in his view) there were many new Roma residents in the town whom he had never seen before. "Where are they coming from, who is bringing them here?" the mayor asked, raising his voice, and turned to the Roma entrepreneurs present: "You're all in business...don't you know you need people? Who are you employing?" Zdenìk Mital responded that he employs all kinds of people, "black, white" and invited the mayor to come see for himself. Petr Suchánek, the initiator of the petition which has taken aim at all Roma without exception, then challenged the local Roma to "keep order among themselves". Štefan Mital responded: "I can't go visit a family I don't know and tell them what not to do, that's bad." "Why?" a reporter asked. "I am not a state body or the police who can address these things for someone," Mital answered.
According to the Czech Television report, it is not easy to get information on how many Roma have recently moved into the town. To confirm this, a clip is then shown of a Roma person railing against the reporter from the window of their home. The mayor is beefing up the municipal police force, wants to install more video cameras in problematic parts of town, and has already ordered police raids on video poker parlors. Anyone caught playing the machines who is also on welfare (support for material distress) will lose their benefits. According to recent reports, this tactic has paid off and local Roma who gamble on the machines have stopped going to game parlors there and have found others to visit in nearby towns. According to the reportage, the meeting with the mayor did produce some positive results. The longtime Roma residents told the mayor they would try to speak with Roma children and youth about the situation. The mayor responded by saying: "I will be happy to apologize to you, I will apologize to all the others who behave decently."
Romea
The declaration included the following general condemnations of Roma: "The citizens' hatred of the Gypsies is boiling over." "There are only two state police officers serving in the town. Since their jurisdiction is broader than just the town itself, whenever they are called away, the town is left unprotected and the Gypsies merrily cause trouble by shouting in the streets, threatening people, including with knives, and committing theft and rape." "While all decent people are at work, the Gypsies hang out on the benches on the town square, contentedly shooting the breeze." "The citizens condemn all of these activities and do not want the Gypsies here - they want them to disappear, but how can this happen? The town's hands are bound, particularly by state legislation which does not make radical measures possible - otherwise, the town would be sued for discrimination." The Czech Television report summarized the mayor's claims into the following sentence: "The number of Roma has grown to more than 5 % of the population over the past five years, and they are rampaging through the town bothering people, stealing and raping."
Louda was also quoted as saying, "If someone rapes your daughter, you definitely won't say you love Gypsies." Roma residents contacted by Czech Television protested the mayor's remarks. Štefan Mital, a Roma entrepreneur, responded to the mayor's generalizations as follows: "One person raped that girl. I condemn that, and you cannot tar all of the Roma with the same brush." Mital was born in Nový Bydžov; now 33, he runs a construction business. He and his friends believe the mayor's remarks have harmed the majority of Roma people who are law-abiding - and not just in Nový Bydžov. Czech Television facilitated a meeting between Mayor Louda and the local Roma and filmed the results. "I work in a factory where that petition is being passed around... How do those people see me now?" Roma resident Miroslav Oláh asked at the meeting. "I believe, and I am convinced of this, that whoever does his work properly will not be harmed," responded Mayor Louda. In his previous remarks, Louda had given the impression that all Roma - including Roma employers and employees - were criminals who could not be compelled to "disappear" because of the risk of anti-discrimination lawsuits.
Milan Bajza reminded Louda of that statement: "You literally said all Gypsies steal, are loud, commit rape, things like that..." The mayor responded: "Do you not know that crimes are being committed here recently, burglaries, people being threatened?" "That's what the police are for," said the Roma residents. "Naturally that is what the police are for," Louda said, adding: "nevertheless, everyone who has complained has said it was the Roma." In response, Václav Tichý, the town's chief of police, said: "As far as violent crime is concerned the same standard still applies and we clear up 88 % of cases." When the mayor was asked whether he had requested statistics from the police on how many perpetrators of crime in the town are Roma, he said he had requested them and would have them by Friday. When a reporter asked whether it was even possible to create an inventory of suspects according to their ethnicity, Louda responded: "It's not registered according to ethnicity, it's a register of all attacks and I have asked the director to tell me the number of those incidents committed by Roma. There is nothing illegal about that."
The reportage then shows Václav Tichý saying, "You cannot tell from the police statistics whether a Roma person committed the illegal behavior." Crime statistics on the ethnicity of suspects have not been kept since the 1990s. During the meeting with local Roma, the mayor expressed amazement that (in his view) there were many new Roma residents in the town whom he had never seen before. "Where are they coming from, who is bringing them here?" the mayor asked, raising his voice, and turned to the Roma entrepreneurs present: "You're all in business...don't you know you need people? Who are you employing?" Zdenìk Mital responded that he employs all kinds of people, "black, white" and invited the mayor to come see for himself. Petr Suchánek, the initiator of the petition which has taken aim at all Roma without exception, then challenged the local Roma to "keep order among themselves". Štefan Mital responded: "I can't go visit a family I don't know and tell them what not to do, that's bad." "Why?" a reporter asked. "I am not a state body or the police who can address these things for someone," Mital answered.
According to the Czech Television report, it is not easy to get information on how many Roma have recently moved into the town. To confirm this, a clip is then shown of a Roma person railing against the reporter from the window of their home. The mayor is beefing up the municipal police force, wants to install more video cameras in problematic parts of town, and has already ordered police raids on video poker parlors. Anyone caught playing the machines who is also on welfare (support for material distress) will lose their benefits. According to recent reports, this tactic has paid off and local Roma who gamble on the machines have stopped going to game parlors there and have found others to visit in nearby towns. According to the reportage, the meeting with the mayor did produce some positive results. The longtime Roma residents told the mayor they would try to speak with Roma children and youth about the situation. The mayor responded by saying: "I will be happy to apologize to you, I will apologize to all the others who behave decently."
Romea
Fashion is still racist, says Naomi Campbell (UK)
The 40-year-old from Streatham said the industry had taken a step backwards, as she collected a special honour at the British Fashion Awards.
She told the Evening Standard: “We're all aware that we need to introduce more women [of colour].
But what I've seen recently is that I've seen it go backwards slightly. We need to raise awareness again and need to start using women of colour more. When I look at the shows this season, there weren't as many as a year-and-a-half ago. We've got to keep speaking out, so as boring as it may be, if you hear me saying it over and over again I have to stand up for my fellow comrades.
“It's not for myself, but the younger girls who come up to me and say, We didn't get used this season, we didn't do this, someone used 81 models and didn't use one of us.' In that respect if they come up and talk to me, and I'm able to speak on their behalf, then I will.”
Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue, admitted “classically pretty white girls” were favoured. She said: “I really admire Naomi for lobbying about the use of a models with a more varied ethnicity. The industry is changing and there are more top black and Asian models, and of course as the Far East becomes a huge economic factor, Asian models are getting large amounts of work in their home territories.
“It still remains that for most people in this country, classically pretty white girls are their beauty role models, like Kate Moss and Cheryl Cole.”
Campbell praised the British Fashion Council for helping ensure fairness in the industry. A spokesman for the organisation said: “London is one of the world's most multicultural cities and we encourage representation of that on the women's catwalk. Naomi is an incredible model who has had an amazing career, and we were thrilled to be able to honour that last night.”
At the ceremony at the Savoy, Campbell was moved to tears as she collected the Special Recognition Award in front of an audience including Samantha Cameron, Claudia Schiffer, Victoria Beckham and Yasmin Le Bon. The model thanked her mother, who was in the front row, and her partner Vladislav Doronin, who she said “puts up with a wild wild woman”.
Alexander McQueen received a posthumous award for outstanding achievement in fashion design. Lara Stone was named Model 2010 and Alexa Chung won the British Style Award.
This is London
Jerusalem protestors slam rabbis' 'racist' letter (Israel)
Around 150 people gathered outside Jerusalem's Great Synagogue on Wednesday to protest against a letter by rabbis forbidding Jews not to rent property to non-Jews, an AFP correspondent said.
The letter, which was signed by 50 rabbis and made public on Tuesday, provoked a wave of criticism, including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said "this kind of speech should be banned in a Jewish and democratic state."
The letter instructs that "it is forbidden in the Torah to sell a house or a field in the land of Israel to a foreigner," referring to the Pentateuch -- the first five books of the Bible.
The protestors waved banners saying: "Racism is blasphemy" while others, some of them observant Jews wearing skullcaps, carried placards with religious slogans, reading: "The Holy One, blessed be He, is against racism."
"Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies!" they shouted as a small group of far-right protestors hurled insults and abuse at them.
Addressing the demonstrators, Israeli activist Sara Benninga said: "We have come to protest against racism, oppression and inequality. Wherever there is racism, we will be there!"
Signed mostly by state-employed rabbis, the letter warns that "he who sells or rents them (non-Jews) a flat in an area where Jews live causes great harm to his neighbours" suggesting that person be "cut off" from the Jewish community.
The letter, which is reportedly to be published in religious newspapers and distributed in synagogues across the country later this week, was largely understood to refer to Israel's Arab minority.
It also drew criticism from from Amnesty International, which said it was clearly aimed at Israel's Arabs.
Israel has 1.3 million Arab citizens, those who remained in the country after the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 and their descendants.
Associated Press
The letter, which was signed by 50 rabbis and made public on Tuesday, provoked a wave of criticism, including from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said "this kind of speech should be banned in a Jewish and democratic state."
The letter instructs that "it is forbidden in the Torah to sell a house or a field in the land of Israel to a foreigner," referring to the Pentateuch -- the first five books of the Bible.
The protestors waved banners saying: "Racism is blasphemy" while others, some of them observant Jews wearing skullcaps, carried placards with religious slogans, reading: "The Holy One, blessed be He, is against racism."
"Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies!" they shouted as a small group of far-right protestors hurled insults and abuse at them.
Addressing the demonstrators, Israeli activist Sara Benninga said: "We have come to protest against racism, oppression and inequality. Wherever there is racism, we will be there!"
Signed mostly by state-employed rabbis, the letter warns that "he who sells or rents them (non-Jews) a flat in an area where Jews live causes great harm to his neighbours" suggesting that person be "cut off" from the Jewish community.
The letter, which is reportedly to be published in religious newspapers and distributed in synagogues across the country later this week, was largely understood to refer to Israel's Arab minority.
It also drew criticism from from Amnesty International, which said it was clearly aimed at Israel's Arabs.
Israel has 1.3 million Arab citizens, those who remained in the country after the creation of the Jewish state in 1948 and their descendants.
Associated Press
Wednesday, 8 December 2010
Exposing The English Defence League's racist and violent nature, with panache and humour.
Yet anyone with any knowledge of the English Defence League will know that they are in fact a very racist and violent movement and that they do not oppose radical Islamists but all the followers of Islam.
Yet they and others often claim that this simple truth is indeed a lie.
If only there was a way to monitor the racist and violent nature of this so called “protest” group.
Well unfortunately for the EDL that has been going on for some time, as a Facebook group was created with this very objective in mind.
Which was to expose the racism and hatred of the members and supporters of the EDL and any other such like idiots.
And they have exposed it again and again and again and again etc.
This group has now decided to create a Blog to share their activity with the world.
And we are more than happy to recommend that anyone and everyone follow their Blog, their Facebook group and Twitter account to view the EDL’s bigotry and the incredible stupidity that many of their member’s demonstrate.
Honestly some of the things these people post should carry a stupidity health warning.
So here’s the link to the great new blog. And below it are the links to their Facebook page and their Twitter account.
A twitter account that is a “must follow” link to have when any EDL demos are occurring.
Exposing The English Defence League Blog
Exposing intolerance and racism online XVI, Their Facebook group.
Exposingtweets, Their Twitter account.
.
Threats over 'neo Nazi' baby in Germany
A spat over the president becoming honorary godfather to the seventh baby of parents with far-right sympathies in an eastern German village escalated on Monday after neo-Nazis threatened the mayor.
Lalendorf Mayor Reinhard Knaack, who is from the far-left Die Linke party, had refused to give a certificate to the family that was sent by President Christian Wulff's office in Berlin last week.
Police said that around 10 people, many of them known to authorities as belonging to the far-right scene, illegally entered Knaack's garden on Sunday, a police spokesperson said. Knaack was unharmed.
"The mayor phoned us and we went round," spokesperson Volker Werner said. "Appropriate measures have now been agreed with the mayor and charges of trespassing have been laid."
After World War II, West Germany did away with the Nazis' practice of awarding a "Mother's Cross" to women who provided multiple offspring for the Third Reich.
But in 1949, after the founding of the post-war republic, it established a new honour, the president's honorary godfather award, for any family having seven children. Since then, 76 440 such awards have been bestowed.
Wulff's office last week defended his decision to persist with the tradition in the case of Petra and Marc Mueller, saying that it was the child that counted.
Wulff has since sent the award, which also comes with €500, directly to the family, reports said.
The father of the child reportedly works for a "eugenics institute" while the mother belongs to a far-right women's group.
Norbert Nieszery, an MP in the state parliament, has written a letter - signed by lawmakers from other parties - to the president, just back from Israel, supporting the mayor and calling on Wulff to change his mind.
The former communist east of Germany is generally poorer than the west, with considerably higher rates of unemployment, and in recent years has proved a fertile ground for the far right.
News 24
Lalendorf Mayor Reinhard Knaack, who is from the far-left Die Linke party, had refused to give a certificate to the family that was sent by President Christian Wulff's office in Berlin last week.
Police said that around 10 people, many of them known to authorities as belonging to the far-right scene, illegally entered Knaack's garden on Sunday, a police spokesperson said. Knaack was unharmed.
"The mayor phoned us and we went round," spokesperson Volker Werner said. "Appropriate measures have now been agreed with the mayor and charges of trespassing have been laid."
After World War II, West Germany did away with the Nazis' practice of awarding a "Mother's Cross" to women who provided multiple offspring for the Third Reich.
But in 1949, after the founding of the post-war republic, it established a new honour, the president's honorary godfather award, for any family having seven children. Since then, 76 440 such awards have been bestowed.
Wulff's office last week defended his decision to persist with the tradition in the case of Petra and Marc Mueller, saying that it was the child that counted.
Wulff has since sent the award, which also comes with €500, directly to the family, reports said.
The father of the child reportedly works for a "eugenics institute" while the mother belongs to a far-right women's group.
Norbert Nieszery, an MP in the state parliament, has written a letter - signed by lawmakers from other parties - to the president, just back from Israel, supporting the mayor and calling on Wulff to change his mind.
The former communist east of Germany is generally poorer than the west, with considerably higher rates of unemployment, and in recent years has proved a fertile ground for the far right.
News 24
Ex-Nazi admits to Holocaust role says investigator - longtime Nazi hunters disagree with claims (USA)
Bernhard Frank, 97, was caught on tape saying he signed the 1941 document that is widely credited with laying the groundwork for Hitler's "final solution."
"He had no signs of remorse. He was proud. He said it was necessary and blamed the Jews," investigator Mark Gould said at a New York news conference announcing a lawsuit against Frank.
Leading Nazi hunters question the claim, saying it has long been known that Frank, a linguist, signed the document - but only to confirm its language conformed with Nazi ideology.
"He's attributed with far more responsibility and criminal guilt than he actually deserves," said Efraim Zuroff of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
NY Daily News
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