Spanish police have arrested four suspected members of the armed Basque group ETA, Spanish media reported Tuesday.
The two men and two women were detained in raids carried out in the early hours of Tuesday in and around Bilbao, the online editions of El Pais and El Mundo reported citing unnamed anti-terrorism sources.
Police suspect the four, who had no prior criminal record, were part of an ETA cell that carried out several attacks, including one that killed the head of an anti-terrorism police unit in June 2009, the nespapers said.
Eduardo Puelles died instantly when a limpet bomb attached to his car exploded at a car park near his home in Arrigarriga, near Bilbao.
The police operation carried out on Tuesday was linked to the arrest in May 2010 in Bayonne in southwestern France of the suspected military leader of ETA, Spanish national Mikel Kabikoitz Karrera Sarobe, known as Ata.
During Sarobe's arrest police found documents linking the four detained on Tuesday to ETA, the newspapers said.
ETA on January 10 declared a "permanent and general ceasefire" to be verified by the international community.
It was the first unilateral declaration of a permanent ceasefire in ETA's campaign of bombings and shootings for a homeland independent of Spain, which has claimed the lives of 829 people.
But Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero rejected the declaration, saying he wants nothing less than ETA's dissolution.
ETA had announced a ceasefire in March 2006 within the framework of negotiations with Madrid. But nine months later, it set off a bomb in the car park of Madrid's airport, killing two men.
Spanish authorities believe their campaign against ETA in recent years, with dozens of arrests made in cooperation with forces in other countries, particularly France, has seriously weakened ETA's operational capacity.
The group has not staged an attack on Spanish soil since August 2009.
Google Hosted News
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Man jailed for creating extremist videos (UK)
Admin Comment : Once again this story disproves the claims of on-line UK based hate promoters that anything can be posted on-line and there is no legal way that they can be held accountable if its on a foreign owned website.
Please read and bookmark our guide’s to reporting hate and abuse on the internet to UK law enforcement agencies and our guide to reporting extremist race hate content on You Tube.
Both guides can be found in our pages section on the right of this blog page.
A terrorist who created extremist videos and uploaded them onto the Internet was jailed for five years today, Friday 25 February, following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Mohammed Gul, 23, of Elm Park Avenue, Hornchurch, posted movies he had created, as well existing extremist videos, on YouTube.
He also made a compilation video on his laptop by editing footage of attacks on coalition soldiers together with logos of terrorist groups and extremist commentary. Gul then used the family computer to put the clip on the web before posting links to on an online chat room.
On Thursday 24 February Gul was found guilty of five counts of dissemination of terrorist publications contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006 following a trial at the Old Bailey. The jury heard he transmitted terrorist publications which could have encouraged the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.
The jury found him not guilty of one count of dissemination of terrorist publications contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006.
Gul was sentenced to five years in prison for each count to run concurrently. He is also subject to a 15 year notification order under the Counter Terrorism Act 2008 for 15 years.
Between March 2008 and February 2009 Gul uploaded extremist videos to You Tube under four different accounts, three of which were subsequently suspended by You Tube due to the content of the movies.
Under accounts named ‘marinetargetcorp’, ‘marinetargetinc’, ’35marines’ and ‘marinetargetboy’ he posted videos including footage of attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, the making of and detonation of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), terrorist training camps and footage of the 9/11 attacks in New York.
He then moved on to creating a compilation video of extremist material relating to the situation in Gaza following the conflict with Israel in December 2008.
The movie file, Liiamara.mov, created by Gul from available audio and video media, depicted images from Gaza and then of IED explosions of cars and tanks with a red circle superimposed to highlight the bodies falling out of the vehicles. It also included images from other conflicts around the world, including IED attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a sniper attack on a coalition soldier.
Arabic scripture and chanting (Nasheeds) were used out of context and added to these images to promote terrorist ideology.
Gul was arrested at his home address on Tuesday 10 February 2009.
Officers searched the premises and recovered two computers and a number of storage devices containing the extremist material.
A large amount of extremist material was also found including footage of executions and martyrdom videos by suicide bombers.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne, Senior National Co-ordinator Terrorist Investigations, said: “The videos posted on the internet by Gul were inflammatory and clearly had the potential to incite terrorism.
“The clips graphically showed acts of terrorism and the logos of known terrorist groups.
“This is one of the first successful prosecutions relating to disseminating terrorist publications via the Internet and shows our commitment to tackling those who support and encourage terrorism whatever means they use.”
TKKN.com
Call for blockade of neo-nazi march in the town of Novy Bydzov (Czech Rep)
Admin Comment : The Neo-Nazi’s in the Czech Rep are extremely violent and dangerous and have carried out many attacks against the Roma people that have resulted in deaths.
Please publicise and circulate this Call to Action and support the Roma people’s plight.
Call for blockade of neo-nazi march in the town of Novy Bydzov
Novy Bydzov is a small town of around 7.000 people located on the east from Prague, about one hour driving away. Recently it hit news because of the so-called racial tension between Roma population and white inhabitants, followed by the official statement of the Major of the town saying „Roma people rape, steal and loot in the middle of the day“. Neo-nazis smelt their chance and call for a march through the town.
Their march is organized by the same people as the serious attempt to mass attack on Roma population in Litvinov two years ago. Translated call for action follows:
On Saturday March 12th neonazis are trying to march through the town of Novy Bydzov. The aim of their march is not to propagate nazi ideology in open or more hidden way nor it is to commemorate the death of one of the
nazi leaders. Their aim is to directly terrorize, chicane and to try to attack the Roma population of the town.
History and current praxis of neonazi movement teach us that we have to face it any time it tries to stand up. „Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee!“, Ernest Hemingway quoted English poet John Donne and in this quote he precisely described the essence of the coming neo-nazi attack on Roma population of Novy Bydzov. Because tomorrow any of you could be the target of their perverse hate; spectrum of their enemies is really wide in the end: Roma people, homeless people, trade unionist, homosexuals, Jews, communists, social democrats and other leftists, alternative youth, feminists, unemployed, anarchists, immigrants...
We are not saying that there are no troubles in the town of Novy Bydzov. But neonazis are coming with the final solution; perverse, inhuman idea which manifested itself with gas chamber during the World War II. We saw
how their solution looks like in praxis two years ago, when the same people marched in the town of Litvinov attacking with Molotovs, home made grenades and bricks. Antifascist movement ignored the event which
we regard as our fault. Short time after that the group of people attending this kind of events attacked Roma family in the town of Vitkov, burning small Roma girl almost to death...
Every time nazis attacked some majority without any resistance, they are stronger. Every time they marched without being faced by the much bigger group of those who they want to eliminate, they are a step further. In
their heads the self-esteem for some similar attack is growing. So never ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee!
We call all antifascists to come and block the place of gathering of the nazi demo. The meeting point is Masarykovo namesti in the town of Novy Bydzov at 11:00 (two hours before announced nazi assembly on the same
place).
There would be no organizers on the place as this action could only be describe as something like „civil disobedience“. So have a talk with your friends and come together in bigger or small groups. Have a talk
about to what extend do you want to resist the neo-nazi demo and to what extend are you ready to resist police. The diversity of tactic doesn’t prevent the unity in our aim to block the nazi march. Sit-in blockade, human chain or street barricade do not eliminate each other, but support each other. Just stick to one simple rule: do not criticize actions of other antifascists whatever their tactic is.
Stay united.
Antifascist solidarity group
Map of the place here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=cs&geocode=&q=Masarykovo+n%C3%A1m%C4%9Bst%C3%AD,+Nov%C3%BD+Byd%C5%BEov,+%C4%8Cesk%C3%A1+republika&aq=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.724817,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Masarykovo+n%C3%A1m%C4%9Bst%C3%AD,+504+01+Nov%C3%BD+Byd%C5%BEov,+%C4%8Cesk%C3%A1+republika&t=h&z=16
Please publicise and circulate this Call to Action and support the Roma people’s plight.
Call for blockade of neo-nazi march in the town of Novy Bydzov
Novy Bydzov is a small town of around 7.000 people located on the east from Prague, about one hour driving away. Recently it hit news because of the so-called racial tension between Roma population and white inhabitants, followed by the official statement of the Major of the town saying „Roma people rape, steal and loot in the middle of the day“. Neo-nazis smelt their chance and call for a march through the town.
Their march is organized by the same people as the serious attempt to mass attack on Roma population in Litvinov two years ago. Translated call for action follows:
On Saturday March 12th neonazis are trying to march through the town of Novy Bydzov. The aim of their march is not to propagate nazi ideology in open or more hidden way nor it is to commemorate the death of one of the
nazi leaders. Their aim is to directly terrorize, chicane and to try to attack the Roma population of the town.
History and current praxis of neonazi movement teach us that we have to face it any time it tries to stand up. „Never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee!“, Ernest Hemingway quoted English poet John Donne and in this quote he precisely described the essence of the coming neo-nazi attack on Roma population of Novy Bydzov. Because tomorrow any of you could be the target of their perverse hate; spectrum of their enemies is really wide in the end: Roma people, homeless people, trade unionist, homosexuals, Jews, communists, social democrats and other leftists, alternative youth, feminists, unemployed, anarchists, immigrants...
We are not saying that there are no troubles in the town of Novy Bydzov. But neonazis are coming with the final solution; perverse, inhuman idea which manifested itself with gas chamber during the World War II. We saw
how their solution looks like in praxis two years ago, when the same people marched in the town of Litvinov attacking with Molotovs, home made grenades and bricks. Antifascist movement ignored the event which
we regard as our fault. Short time after that the group of people attending this kind of events attacked Roma family in the town of Vitkov, burning small Roma girl almost to death...
Every time nazis attacked some majority without any resistance, they are stronger. Every time they marched without being faced by the much bigger group of those who they want to eliminate, they are a step further. In
their heads the self-esteem for some similar attack is growing. So never ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee!
We call all antifascists to come and block the place of gathering of the nazi demo. The meeting point is Masarykovo namesti in the town of Novy Bydzov at 11:00 (two hours before announced nazi assembly on the same
place).
There would be no organizers on the place as this action could only be describe as something like „civil disobedience“. So have a talk with your friends and come together in bigger or small groups. Have a talk
about to what extend do you want to resist the neo-nazi demo and to what extend are you ready to resist police. The diversity of tactic doesn’t prevent the unity in our aim to block the nazi march. Sit-in blockade, human chain or street barricade do not eliminate each other, but support each other. Just stick to one simple rule: do not criticize actions of other antifascists whatever their tactic is.
Stay united.
Antifascist solidarity group
Map of the place here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=cs&geocode=&q=Masarykovo+n%C3%A1m%C4%9Bst%C3%AD,+Nov%C3%BD+Byd%C5%BEov,+%C4%8Cesk%C3%A1+republika&aq=0&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=34.724817,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Masarykovo+n%C3%A1m%C4%9Bst%C3%AD,+504+01+Nov%C3%BD+Byd%C5%BEov,+%C4%8Cesk%C3%A1+republika&t=h&z=16
Black KOMO4 News reporter saves White Supremacist from ass kicking (USA)
Admin: We just had to post this video.
Geert Wilders: Anti-Islam wave unstoppable (Netherlands)
In an interview with Dutch news channel NU.nl, Freedom Party (PVV) leader Geert Wilders has said that the PVV’s ideas are striking a chord with increasing numbers of people across Europe.
Mr Wilders spoke of an unstoppable ‘anti-Islam’ wave. “We are having our own little revolution down here,” he said.
Mr Wilders believes that some of the measures he wants to take in collaboration with the ruling Dutch coalition will eventually be introduced across Europe. Some critics say many of the current cabinet’s intended measures are in violation of European legislation. However, Mr Wilders argues that many people in other European countries support the measures.
A party similar to the PVV has been created in Germany: Die Freiheit (Freedom), led by Rene Stadtkewitz. Mr Wilders says another PVV-type party may be launched in the United Kingdom, filling the gap between the allegedly racist British National Party and the Conservatives.
"The time that the CDU (German Christian Democrats) and the CDA (Dutch Christian Democrats) could ignore the problems is definitively over. It is not a temporary comet or something like that. The genie is out of the bottle and it will never be put back in again. Never again.” Mr Wilders says the fear of new PVV-type parties will ensure that many of the Dutch government’s anti-immigration policies will find widespread support throughout Europe.
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Mr Wilders spoke of an unstoppable ‘anti-Islam’ wave. “We are having our own little revolution down here,” he said.
Mr Wilders believes that some of the measures he wants to take in collaboration with the ruling Dutch coalition will eventually be introduced across Europe. Some critics say many of the current cabinet’s intended measures are in violation of European legislation. However, Mr Wilders argues that many people in other European countries support the measures.
A party similar to the PVV has been created in Germany: Die Freiheit (Freedom), led by Rene Stadtkewitz. Mr Wilders says another PVV-type party may be launched in the United Kingdom, filling the gap between the allegedly racist British National Party and the Conservatives.
"The time that the CDU (German Christian Democrats) and the CDA (Dutch Christian Democrats) could ignore the problems is definitively over. It is not a temporary comet or something like that. The genie is out of the bottle and it will never be put back in again. Never again.” Mr Wilders says the fear of new PVV-type parties will ensure that many of the Dutch government’s anti-immigration policies will find widespread support throughout Europe.
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Tourist arrested after giving Hitler salute (Berlin, Germany)
Admin Comment : Anti-Nazi laws across Europe vary considerably and Britain is considered one of the most tolerable.
Canadian tourist's fun and games taken seriously by local authorities after an attempt to stage a Monty Python-esque sketch in front of Reichstag leads to arrest.
Hundreds of the tourists who visit Berlin's Reichstag every year seem to believe that if they impersonate Adolf Hitler and his henchmen, as done by the Monty Python crew with incredible success, they too will receive applause from adoring crowds.
What they fail to understand is that impersonating any Nazi gestures or using any Nazi regime symbols is illegal in Germany and is considered a severe crime with a punishment that includes imprisonment.
A 30-year-old Canadian tourist who visited the Reichstag and had apparently overlooked German laws and regulations and wished to make other visitors to the popular tourist attraction laugh, asked his girlfriend to film him while he gave a Heil Hitler salute.
It took less than a minute before policemen walked up to the Quebec resident and proceeded to handcuff and arrest him. The police also confiscated his digital camera's memory card Britain's Daily Mail reported on Monday.
The Canadian tourist now stands to be prosecuted for carrying out a 'forbidden gesture' and if convicted could be imprisoned for up to six months. Nevertheless, it is estimated that he will not be prosecuted but will be forced to pay a fine. Local media later reported that the tourist was released on bail a few hours after his arrest.
'You can call him a b*****d and you can give him the finger, but you cannot do that,' a German police officer said in response to the arrest.
Arresting foreign citizens over Nazi salutes has occurred in the past in Germany. Three years ago a British businessman gave the salute to a Cologne airport employee and was arrested within 90 seconds by police at the scene.
YNetNews
Canadian tourist's fun and games taken seriously by local authorities after an attempt to stage a Monty Python-esque sketch in front of Reichstag leads to arrest.
What they fail to understand is that impersonating any Nazi gestures or using any Nazi regime symbols is illegal in Germany and is considered a severe crime with a punishment that includes imprisonment.
A 30-year-old Canadian tourist who visited the Reichstag and had apparently overlooked German laws and regulations and wished to make other visitors to the popular tourist attraction laugh, asked his girlfriend to film him while he gave a Heil Hitler salute.
It took less than a minute before policemen walked up to the Quebec resident and proceeded to handcuff and arrest him. The police also confiscated his digital camera's memory card Britain's Daily Mail reported on Monday.
The Canadian tourist now stands to be prosecuted for carrying out a 'forbidden gesture' and if convicted could be imprisoned for up to six months. Nevertheless, it is estimated that he will not be prosecuted but will be forced to pay a fine. Local media later reported that the tourist was released on bail a few hours after his arrest.
'You can call him a b*****d and you can give him the finger, but you cannot do that,' a German police officer said in response to the arrest.
Arresting foreign citizens over Nazi salutes has occurred in the past in Germany. Three years ago a British businessman gave the salute to a Cologne airport employee and was arrested within 90 seconds by police at the scene.
YNetNews
Monday, 28 February 2011
Pipers unite against white supremacists (France)
 |
| Yannick Martin |
Hundreds of traditional musicians from Brittany's top pipe bands, known as Bagadoù, convened on the town of Brest for the region's most prestigious championships on Sunday.
They were joined by thousands of fans in showing their support for Yannick Martin, a 24-year old virtuoso of the bombard, a double reed instrument from the oboe family, who has twice been crowned Brittany's champion player.
Mr Martin has been the target of a hate campaign by a Houston-based white supremacist website called Breiz Atao (Brittany Forever), the name of a Breton nationalist journal that supported Nazism in the second world war.
In a post called "le biniou et la bombarde" (a play on words for bagpipe and "wog"), commentators claimed that "an extra-European will never be a real Breton. Whether it pleases people or not, we've never seen black Celts." The site also included a provocative video later removed.
Mr Martin, born in Columbia but adopted and raised by a Breton family, has filed for charges of "racial discrimination". His brother, adopted and raised by a different family is also a top pipe player. Both play in one of the region's most acclaimed bands, Kemper, which competed in Brest yesterday.
Read this item in full at Telegraph
Olympic Logo Is ‘Racist’, Claims Iran (UK)
“The use of the word Zion by the designer of Olympics logo…in the emblem of the Olympics Games 2012 is a very revolting act,” says Mohammad Aliabadi, head of the National Olympic Committee in Iran, in an official letter to the International Olympic Committee.
In the same way that some people see Christ’s body in a dog’s arse, or the Virgin Mary on toast, the Iranians claim to see the word ‘Zion’ in the already maligned logo. And, yeah, it’s kind of there if you read top-left, down, up-again, then down to bottom-right, and tilt your head a little, and try and put Lisa Simpson out of your mind. But if you read left-to-right it might be a product placement for 1980′s toy line ‘Zoids‘. And if it does say ‘Zion’, perhaps the designer was a closet Matrix fan rather than a proponent of the Jewish homeland.
According to the Guardian, Iran may even boycott the games unless the logo is changed. Which ain’t going to happen. London would love to welcome the Iranian athletes into our city, but if their official representatives are going to get so uppity over some unintended pareidolia, they’re going to have a difficult time fitting in.
The Londonist
EDL BLASTED FOR SICK GUN STUNT (UK)
And it has renewed worries the anti-Islam group is ready to bring bloody conflict to British streets.
Disturbingly, the hooded thugs pose in front of flags bearing the name and No Surrender slogan of the outlawed Ulster Volunteer Force.
The link to the UVF – a group responsible for at least 481 Catholic murders – has sparked fears factions of the anti-Islamic EDL could launch terror attacks against British Muslims.
The sinister snap was among a set posted on the web this month by men claiming to be from the EDL’s Birmingham Division.
In another, a man makes a sick Nazi salute.
Anti-fascist groups have slammed the EDL – led by ex-British National Party member Stephen Lennon, 28 – for not weeding out such extremists from their own ranks.
A spokesman from Searchlight said: “Time after time we hear from the likes of the EDL’s leadership how they are a non-racist organisation.
“Perhaps they would like to act now and tell us how they will deal with the further adulation of gun-toting extremists, in particular the UVF – an organisation that made its name in Ireland by murdering people whose sole crime normally was that they were born Catholics.”EDL leader Lennon – aka Tommy Robinson – and right-hand man Kevin Carroll, 41, are second generation Irish and have spoken in the past of their pride in their roots.
The EDL was formed in Luton, Beds, in 2009 and marches against Muslim extremism and Sharia law.
Around 1,500 people, many shouting racist chants, were at the latest protest in Luton on February 5.
Daily Star
Extremist British Muslim planning rally in front of White House is a ‘publicity whore,’ critics say (USA)
In his latest stunt, Choudary is calling for the United States to implement Sharia law and he plans to make the appeal at a rally in front of the White House Thursday. He told The Daily Caller in a phone interview that he is coming to Washington to explain to Americans “why Sharia is better for them.”
“I believe capitalism is dying a slow death right now, as you can see with the recession and with the credit crunch and with social and economic dismay the world as whole and the pandemic of promiscuity, drugs, alcohol and all the other diseases,” Choudary said. “That’s the worst and I believe it’s time for a change.”
Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, a research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College in London, told TheDC that while Choudary’s persona has become a “joke” in Britain, what he advocates for is quite radical.
“Here, now, he’s seen as a little bit of a joke,” Hitchens said. “But, really, I should caveat that because Choudary is a part of a movement that’s been going on in the U.K. for maybe 15 or so years, which specifically calls for the establishment of Sharia law in the U.K. They want an Islamic state.”
Choudary co-founded Al-Muhajiroun, an extremist Islamist group currently banned in Britain, with Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, who was convicted in absentia last November in a Lebanese court and given a life sentence for training al-Qaeda recruits. Choudary is rumored to be traveling to the United States with Abu Izzadeen, who served three and a half years in a British prison for terrorist fundraising and inciting terrorism overseas. Izzadeen was released in May 2009.
Hitchens says the problem is that while Choudary may not fully believe what he preaches, his followers do. And while Choudary and his followers are technically against acts of violence, including suicide bombings, they won’t denounce such acts of terrorism when they occur. Choudary and his followers have repeatedly rejected opportunities to denounce the 9/11 terrorist attacks or the July 7, 2005 subway bombings in London – and in fact have publicly praised them. Al-Muhajiroun, for instance, infamously labeled the 19 hijackers responsible for the carnage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks the “Magnificent 19.”
“They wouldn’t advocate acts of violence,” Hitchens said. “But, at the same time, they do actually glorify it.”
Hitchens said that Choudary’s worldview and mission is similar to al Qaeda’s, “it’s just that they’re not going to carry out a bombing campaign.”
Douglas Murray, the director of Britain’s Centre for Social Cohesion, told TheDC that Choudary’s legal education allows him to be a “chancer” or an “opportunist.” Murray said Choudary knows how to run right up against the line of what is legally acceptable. That’s how Choudary can use his extremist Islamic views to get attention and stay out of trouble.
“This is his way to gain some sort of public profile,” Murray said. “It’s a very strange thing. I think he says things that are deliberately inflammatory in order to get attention. The American media has fallen for it in the same way the British media fell for it.”
Despite his clownish behavior, Murray recommends Americans still take Choudary seriously. “He’s treated as a bit of a joke by some people,” Murray said in a phone interview. “And what I’ve just said would suggest that he is a joke. But he’s not.”
Murray points out that 1 in every 6 terrorism-related convictions in the last decade can be linked to Choudary’s Al-Muhajiroun organization – and, even though that group is currently banned, its members still meet under different banners.
“It doesn’t, in a way, matter whether Choudary believes or not in what he says,” Murray said in a phone interview. “The problem is there are people in his group who follow him and do believe it.”
Hitchens said Choudary is a “publicity whore” and will get people who disagree with him riled up on purpose. He can then, Hitchens explained, go back to his followers and say, “see, they hate Muslims.”
“He has chosen a very good time in America to come and do this,” Hitchens said. “Because of the Ground Zero Mosque and because of the ways things are going in American discourse about Islam, and Muslims, and homegrown extremism, he’s going to come in there and force fuel onto the flames. In fact, that’s what he wants. He wants to escalate tensions.”
Though there is some question whether the terrorist-glorifying radical will be permitted to enter the United States, Choudary told TheDC that since he is a British citizen, he doesn’t need a visa, which makes the process of getting through Customs and Border Protection easier. And since, he says, he has “never been convicted of any crimes or terrorist offenses,” he doesn’t “see how I should be restricted in anyway.”
Citing privacy laws, the Department of Homeland Security refused to comment on whether Choudary will be allowed to enter the country when contacted by TheDC.
Daily Caller
Sunday, 27 February 2011
Galliano arrest spotlights rise in anti-Semitism
The arrest and suspension of couture designer John Galliano, amid allegations of a booze-fuelled outburst this weekend in a Paris district known for its Jewish community, has reinforced reports of an alarming increase in anti-Semitism.
The French fashion house Christian Dior suspended the designer in the aftermath of what is being described as a drunken confrontation with a couple in the Marais district.
Claims by the pair, denied by Galliano, that he used anti-Jewish and racist slurs against them drew him into a welter of controversy which has most recently led to career trouble for the actors Charlie Sheen and Mel Gibson.
Galliano's representatives were last night trying to limit the damage caused by the controversy. His lawyer said the designer intended to claim for defamation and injury against his accusers and pronounced him shocked that Dior had suspended him.
The move came just days after the CBS television network pulled one of America's biggest comedy TV shows, Two and a Half Men. Although Charlie Sheen had tested the company's patience with cocaine and drink-fuelled binges, hotel-room orgies of violence and numerous tabloid eruptions, he overstepped the mark when he appeared to flirt with anti-Semitism in a radio broadcast, referring to the show's creator Chuck Lorre by the Hebrew name Chaim last Thursday.
Hollywood star Mel Gibson suffered another recent postponement of his latest film, The Beaver, capping nearly five years of serious career problems since he was recorded making anti-Semitic comments during a drink-driving arrest in 2006.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center last week highlighted what it suggests is an ongoing problem, with its list of the 10 most high profile anti-Semitic outbursts of 2010.
In the UK, the Community Security Trust, an advisory body for British Jews, warned of a steady increase in attacks in the UK since 1984, with 639 anti-Semitic incidents last year. This was the topped only by a freak jump in numbers the previous year during Israeli military operations in Gaza. Across Europe, monitoring groups report growing concern. On last year's 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, vandals marked at least 18 gravestones with swastikas when they desecrated a Jewish cemetery in France. France's main Jewish organisation, CRIF, said that 13 tombstones at the Cronenbourg cemetery in Strasbourg had also been overturned.
And in the former Soviet Union, anti-Semitic and ultranationalist skinheads increasingly profess themselves above the law. A judge withdrew from a politically charged Moscow murder trial this month involving fascists Nikita Tikhonov and Evgeniya Khasis, who are accused of killing human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova in January 2009.
The sentencing judge for the trial, Eduard Chuvashov, was shot dead in April last year.
Star's dilemma
For what she must hope is her crowning moment at tonight's Oscars for her role in Black Swan, Natalie Portman will have wished for anything but the last-minute fashion crisis she now faces.
She is among a gaggle of high-profile guests, who, having been painstakingly fitted with one of Galliano's frocks, face a daunting decision over which dress to wear to the ball.
Galliano's alleged rant could see both Portman and her peers obliged to answer the most untimely and unwanted questions on anti-Semitism.
Penélope Cruz wore Galliano at last year's awards, as did Cameron Diaz, while Charlize Theron, Slumdog Millionaire's Freida Pinto, and Heidi Klum are known to be a fans.
Meanwhile, the model Kate Moss recently revealed she asked Galliano to design the dress for her wedding later this year.
The Independant
Searchlight poll finds huge support for far right 'if they gave up violence' (UK)
Huge numbers of Britons would support an anti-immigration English nationalist party if it was not associated with violence and fascist imagery, according to the largest survey into identity and extremism conducted in the UK.
A Populus poll found that 48% of the population would consider supporting a new anti-immigration party committed to challenging Islamist extremism, and would support policies to make it statutory for all public buildings to fly the flag of St George or the union flag.
Anti-racism campaigners said the findings suggested Britain's mainstream parties were losing touch with public opinion on issues of identity and race.
The poll suggests that the level of backing for a far-right party could equal or even outstrip that in countries such as France, the Netherlands and Austria. France's National Front party hopes to secure 20% in the first round of the presidential vote next year. The Dutch anti-Islam party led by Geert Wilders attracted 15.5% of the vote in last year's parliamentary elections.
Anti-fascist groups said the poll's findings challenged the belief that Britons were more tolerant than other Europeans. "This is not because British people are more moderate, but simply because their views have not found a political articulation," said a report by the Searchlight Educational Trust, the anti-fascist charity that commissioned the poll.
According to the survey, 39% of Asian Britons, 34% of white Britons and 21% of black Britons wanted all immigration into the UK to be stopped permanently, or at least until the economy improved. And 43% of Asian Britons, 63% of white Britons and 17% of black Britons agreed with the statement that "immigration into Britain has been a bad thing for the country". Just over half of respondents – 52% – agreed with the proposition that "Muslims create problems in the UK".
Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP who fought a successful campaign against the British National party in his Dagenham and Rainham constituency in east London, said that the findings pointed to a "very real threat of a new potent political constituency built around an assertive English nationalism". The report identified a resurgence of English identity, with 39% preferring to call themselves English rather than British. Just 5% labelled themselves European.
Earlier this month David Cameron delivered a controversial speech on the failings of "state multiculturalism". The speech was seized on by the anti-Islamic English Defence League, which said that the prime minister was "coming round" to its way of thinking. BNP leader Nick Griffin also welcomed the speech as a sign that his party's ideas were entering "the political mainstream".
The poll also identified a majority keen to be allowed to openly criticise religion, with 60% believing they "should be allowed to say whatever they believe about religion". By contrast, fewer than half – 42% – said "people should be allowed to say whatever they believe about race".
The Guardian
WILDERS BOOK: ISLAM IS IDEOLOGY (Netherlands)
Populist MP Geert Wilders is writing a book about the history of Islam that argues it is not a religion but an ideology. The book, which was to be published in the first half of 2011, is now due to appear in the second half of the year, Mr Wilders told news website NU.nl. The initiative for the book, Mr Wilders says, comes from the United States, where it will appear first, to be followed by a Dutch translation. Mr Wilders also revealed he is working on a continuation of his short anti-Islam film but he couldn't yet say when it would be completed.
Regarding the unrest in the Arab world, the far-right politician claims that democracy will not take hold in the Maghreb and the Middle East unless people turn away from Islam. He warned that things could go either way and the future could see regimes that are even worse than those of ousted Presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia or that of Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
Regarding the unrest in the Arab world, the far-right politician claims that democracy will not take hold in the Maghreb and the Middle East unless people turn away from Islam. He warned that things could go either way and the future could see regimes that are even worse than those of ousted Presidents Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia or that of Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
Radio Netherlands Worldwide
ITALY ARRESTS MOROCCANS FOR INCITING HATRED OF POPE
Six Moroccan men have been arrested in northern Italy on suspicion of seeking to incite hatred of Pope Benedict among Muslims. Police in the city of Brescia said the suspects had allegedly banded together to stir up religious hatred. A note was found calling for the Pope to be punished for converting a Muslim journalist to Roman Catholicism. According to another source, the suspects are not suspected of planning attacks. Five of the men, who are all Brescia residents, were placed under house arrest while the sixth was taken into custody. The note found by police urges Muslim immigrants not to integrate into Italian society, Italian media report.
Police said the six were accused of "setting up a group that aimed to incite discrimination, racial and religious hatred, violence and jihad against Christians and Jews". The Pope was condemned for converting Egyptian-born Magdi Allam, a former columnist for Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Mr Allam, an outspoken critic of Muslim militancy and strong supporter of Israel, was baptised by the Pope in March 2008.
BBC News
Police said the six were accused of "setting up a group that aimed to incite discrimination, racial and religious hatred, violence and jihad against Christians and Jews". The Pope was condemned for converting Egyptian-born Magdi Allam, a former columnist for Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Mr Allam, an outspoken critic of Muslim militancy and strong supporter of Israel, was baptised by the Pope in March 2008.
BBC News
Web giant Facebook axes sickening hate site that shows Celtic boss Neil Lennon covered in blood (UK)
The gruesome, mocked-up image of the Celtic boss sparked furious complaints to the social network giant.
And Labour last night said the hateful attack on Lennon proved that tougher controls were needed to curb "hate crimes" on the internet.
The sick page, titled "Bet I can get one million people to hate Neil Lennon", featured a doctored photo of the Parkhead manager in his playing days - with around 40 fake bullet wounds on his head and body and "dead man walking". written on his shirt.
Lennon and two of his Northern Irish players, Paddy McCourt and Niall McGinn, were sent bullets through the post last month. Loyalist bigots in Ulster were blamed.
Facebook began an inquiry last week after a complaint about the page.
But at first, they allowed the site to stay active if the offending photos were removed. Bosses said the site was not in breach of Facebook's rules because Lennon is a public figure.
At the time, their spokesman said: "We want Facebook to be a place where people can express their views.
"Just as in the offline world, this means we sometimes come across views different to our own."
The photos were taken off the page, but they 'Abusive comments on these sites should be treated just like any hate crime re-appeared later last week. And last night, Facebook confirmed: "The page has been removed from the site.
"We encourage people to use Facebook's reporting tools when they encounter offensive content. "If it breaches our terms, it will be removed once reported to us."
Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker MSP said: "The level of abuse being posted each day on these sites is simply not acceptable.
"We really need to legislate to bring this type of conduct under the criminal law.
"Abusive comments on social networking sites should be treated like any other hate crime."
Last night, Lennon told the Sunday Mail that the honour of being Celtic boss made it worth putting up with death threats.
He said: "These are things out with my control. I can only take advice from the security people.
"It's worth it, there's no doubt about it. It's not tough, not at all. The only time it's tough is when you're a goal down at Ibrox after three minutes.
"The dugout is a good place to be, it's the thing I love doing. It's important for the players to know I'm fully focused on them."
Daily Record
2,000 in Jerusalem rally against racism
Around 2,000 Israelis rallied against racism in the centre of Jerusalem late Saturday after the murder of a Palestinian and calls by rabbis on landlords not to rent apartments to Arabs.
The demonstration, called by several left-wing groups, featured many young people brandishing placards condemning racism.
They called for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, leader of ultranationalist party leader Israel Beitenu, who have been accused of engendering a climate of xenophobia.
Israeli police have arrested four young Israelis, including two settlers, on suspicion of involvement in the crime. According to a neighbour of the victim was stabbed in an unprovoked attack as he returned home from work in west Jerusalem.
The Edmonton Journal
The demonstration, called by several left-wing groups, featured many young people brandishing placards condemning racism.
They called for the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, leader of ultranationalist party leader Israel Beitenu, who have been accused of engendering a climate of xenophobia.
Israeli police have arrested four young Israelis, including two settlers, on suspicion of involvement in the crime. According to a neighbour of the victim was stabbed in an unprovoked attack as he returned home from work in west Jerusalem.
The Edmonton Journal
Supply teacher sacked for teaching teenager 'racist rhyme' to help him revise (UK)
A supply teacher was sacked for teaching a boy of 16 a racist rhyme to help him with his revision.
James Hersey, 68, recited: “Black boys rape our young girls, but virgins go without” to help the boy memorise the colour code for wiring electronic resistors. The code is black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, grey, white. He was sacked from Oriel High School in Crawley, West Sussex, and later found guilty of professional misconduct by the General Teaching Council.
The grandad-of-three, from Hove, East Sussex, denied being racist, claiming he was just an “old-fashioned teacher”.
Daily Mirror
James Hersey, 68, recited: “Black boys rape our young girls, but virgins go without” to help the boy memorise the colour code for wiring electronic resistors. The code is black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, grey, white. He was sacked from Oriel High School in Crawley, West Sussex, and later found guilty of professional misconduct by the General Teaching Council.
The grandad-of-three, from Hove, East Sussex, denied being racist, claiming he was just an “old-fashioned teacher”.
Daily Mirror
Saturday, 26 February 2011
The website of a left-leaning public broadcaster has removed a cartoon depicting a plan by the far-right PVV party as a Nazi death camp following serious threats to its staff. (Netherlands)
The cartoon, by Adriaan Soeterbroek and posted on the VARA’s Joop.nl site, ridiculed a PVV plan to create "hooligan villages", likening them to a Nazi concentration camp with PVV leader Geert Wilders showing the inmates into a shower. In World War II millions of people, mostly Jews and Roma gypsies, were killed in Nazi gas chambers disguised as showers.
The VARA says it removed the cartoon after careful consideration, saying that while freedom of expression is a key right some of its staff felt too threatened to continue working. The broadcaster has reported the incident to the police.
Due to its initial refusal to remove the cartoon, PVV top candidate Machiel de Graaf refused to participate in a debate the VARA broadcast on 16 February ahead of the 2 March provincial elections.
Radio Netherlands News
Pamela Geller's Anti-Islam Org Labelled A 'Hate Group' (USA)
Manhattan blogger Pamela Geller, the fiery and offensive Atlas Shrugs blogger who organizes vehemently anti-Islamic protests, is not just a far right-winger, but is actually now part of a 'hate group'.
That's coming from the Southern Poverty Law Center, who classified Geller's organization, Stop the Islamization of America, in the same class as the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists.
Atlas Shrugs has posted such stories as the one where Geller said Obama was actually the son of Malcolm X, while others are devoutly anti-union, anti-left and anti-Islam. She calls the organizers of Park51 "bloodsuckers" and whenever a Mosque goes up in the city, it is spun into a paranoid conspiracy theory.
In May, Geller purchased bus ads urging moderate Muslims to leave their faith. The ads read "Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you?"
Recently Geller made headlines with her fight against Park51, the proposed Islamic centre near ground zero, and went so far as to create weird posters that somehow meshed Wal-Mart in with Islam.
Geller herself shrugged off the dubious honour of being labelled part of a "hate group." From The Daily News:
Geller, who runs a blog called Atlas Shrugs, dismissed the Law Center as an "uber left" group that has "failed to address the greatest threat to our national security." "My group is a human rights group," she said. "And these people are taken seriously? This is the morally inverted state of the world."
Huffington Post
That's coming from the Southern Poverty Law Center, who classified Geller's organization, Stop the Islamization of America, in the same class as the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists.
Atlas Shrugs has posted such stories as the one where Geller said Obama was actually the son of Malcolm X, while others are devoutly anti-union, anti-left and anti-Islam. She calls the organizers of Park51 "bloodsuckers" and whenever a Mosque goes up in the city, it is spun into a paranoid conspiracy theory.
In May, Geller purchased bus ads urging moderate Muslims to leave their faith. The ads read "Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you?"
Recently Geller made headlines with her fight against Park51, the proposed Islamic centre near ground zero, and went so far as to create weird posters that somehow meshed Wal-Mart in with Islam.
Geller herself shrugged off the dubious honour of being labelled part of a "hate group." From The Daily News:
Geller, who runs a blog called Atlas Shrugs, dismissed the Law Center as an "uber left" group that has "failed to address the greatest threat to our national security." "My group is a human rights group," she said. "And these people are taken seriously? This is the morally inverted state of the world."
Huffington Post
Controversy over comments about Roma by Hungarian far-Right leader
During a parliament session on the 14th February, he said that a major problem in Hungary was the fast reproductive rate of the gypsy community.
The Speaker of the Hungarian National Assembly László Kövér made no objection to this remark. When the Socialist chairman Attila Mesterházy later advised Kövér to take action against similar behaviour in the future, he was told by the Speaker to not commentate on how the session was being led or else he would not be allowed to speak.
Vona also spoke about the way in which gypsy crime, especially in the Borsod county, was causing people to live in a state of fear.
Whilst in parliament, the Jobbik leader was wearing the banned uniform of the Hungarian Guard, a paramilitary-style organisation he formed in 2007 but which was disbanded by the Metropolitan Court of Budapest in 2009 for activities that were deemed in contravention of the human rights of minorities.
This is not the first time that Vona has made such comments. At a speech at the end of January outlining the future strategies of his party, he expressed his view that it was essential to ‘slow the reproduction’ of Roma, promoting the idea of food stamps instead of financial benefits as a means to do so. This forms part of Jobbik’s intention to increase the number of Hungarian families and avoid Roma becoming ‘a majority in Hungary,’ even though the Romani community currently make up around 2% of the country’s total population.
In addition, he said that gypsy children should be educated in special boarding schools to break the cycle of crime that is passed on through generations in the gypsy community.
There have been strong reactions to Vona’s statements on the birth rate of Roma, with the current Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declaring that ‘unnecessary life has never been born.’ Green party Politics Can Be Different added that such comments against Roma or other groups like Jews cannot be tolerated in today’s Hungary.
At present, Jobbik is Hungary’s third largest party, with 3 seats in the European Parliament. It describes its aim as defending the interests of Hungary, with support for Hungarians living in bordering countries to achieve self-determination. Jobbik has faced allegations of being fascist and anti-Semitic but these have been denied by the party.
Romea.az
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