The home secretary has banned an English Defence League (EDL) march through a Shropshire town amid fears of disorder.
Theresa May she had stopped the march in Telford to protect "communities and properties".
She said the ban would not stop an EDL presence in Telford on Saturday.
Telford and Wrekin Council had made the request under the Public Order Act on the advice of West Mercia Police.
Mrs May said: "I have given my consent to a ban on marches in Telford this weekend. It is clear that a ban is needed to ensure communities and properties are protected."
'Remain peaceful'
However, she said there would be a "significant number" of police deployed on Saturday.
"I encourage all local people to work with the police to ensure community relations are not undermined," she said.
Church Street in Wellington is to be the location of any protest by the EDL.
The council welcomed the ban but said security measures would remain in place.
Councillor Shaun Davies said: "People can be reassured that both organisations (police and the council) have the resources available and the experience to deal with any incidents on the day."
Chief Inspector Keith Gee of West Mercia Police said the ban did "not prevent any static assemblies taking place, which are still lawful provided they remain peaceful and we have no legal powers to prevent them".
He added: "We shall do everything possible to ensure that any assembly on Saturday remains peaceful and poses the least amount of disruption possible for those not involved in the assembly."
The EDL said it was going to Telford because "local people's voices deserve to be heard".
"We are not coming to Telford to inconvenience anyone, and we certainly do not intend to cause any trouble," a spokesman said.
BBC News
Friday, 12 August 2011
UK Muslims Use Prayer, Not Revenge in Response to Hate Crime
The three victims had been standing with other local residents in an effort to protect their property from looters when a car plowed through the line of defense.
An estimated 300 Muslim and Sikh men gathered near the site of the killings, according to Guardian News. Some of the men were seeking revenge. As the crowd considered their options, Tariq Jahan, whose son was among those dead, appealed to the crowd not to avenge the crime.
Mustafa Khalili, a Guardian editor, said the deaths had “heightened” tensions, and people began calling for revenge. The father appealed for calm several times since.
The crowd of Muslims and Sikhs decided not to hold a march, which could have led to further violence. Instead, the father and other members of the community led an ethnically-mixed candlelight vigil for the three young men killed. Khalili says the vigil was calm and that those who assembled reflected in their grief.
Basharat Nazir, a spokesman for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the United Kingdom, said the father’s response was in “the true spirit of Islam.” He said the father’s calm demeanor let “common sense” prevail. He added Islam teaches in “the face of atrocity” and "excesses done against us, we should respond back in a thoughtful manner and should rely on the authorities to take the necessary measures.”
Police said they have a suspect in custody and have begun an investigation of possible murder charges.
Nasser Khan, vice president of the Ahmadiyya Association in the United Kingdom, stressed that the deaths were a tragic crime and that they should not be considered “sectarian or religious” incidents. “They were purely defending their communities and their country, which is what Islam teaches you.”
Khan said a handful of Muslim extremists might sometimes catch the media spotlight, but incidents like this prayer vigil should be publicly recognized.
Nazir said, “Responsible people within all the communities should stand up and hold hands and stand up against the extremists.” He said that those who bring violence to society should know that no community will tolerate people that create disorder in this world.
“It goes against all religious teachings. And the Muslim community should be no different to any other,” said Nazir.
Voice of America
'Drop racism from Swiss elections' demand
Swiss human rights groups have called on political parties to avoid racist campaigning during the upcoming October elections.
The head of the Independent Federal Commission Against Racism, Georg Kreis, told AFP that Swiss elections were usually periods of racist and xenophobic agitation.
"There is a certain seductiveness during elections in using xenophobia or defamation as a political tool", he said.
The commission is spearheading the 'Fairplay in Elections' campaign, which is backed by nearly 30 organizations, including human rights group Amnesty International.
During election campaigns, controversial themes should be brought to the table, he conceded, but debates should stick to the facts.
Kreis's call has received press backing: “Those Swiss who are against smear campaigns, exclusion and the ’concept of the enemy’, have gained a voice. With an online signature, they can speak out“, the NZZ newspaper writes.
Switzerland's biggest political party, the far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) has consistently sparked controversy with its campaigns.
The SVP, which already holds around a quarter of the seats in the federal assembly, is expected to make further gains during the October elections.
“Parties and politicians are not the focus of the campaign, rather the general public“, Kreis, explained to the media in Bern. “The iniative should show that in Switzerland there is a solid base of decent people. And there are more of them than one would assume from media reports.“
"The 'Fairplay in election campaigns' (Fairplay im Wahlkampf) project should alleviate their feeling of helplessness“, he said.
The campaign calls for parties to avoid racist and defamatory language against immigrants, asylum seekers, the socially disadvantaged and those who think differently.
“An open dialogue is a pre-condition for a democracy. That does not mean that everything should be allowed“, said Emine Sariaslan, president of the Forum for the Integration of Immigrants (FIMM), one of the organizations involved in the campaign. “People should not be made responsible for problems that have totally different cause because of their origin, religion or lifestyle.“
“The campaign is about the protection of different strands of society living alongside one another. Damage occurs when individual groups are shut out and defamed. “Those who really stand up for for Switzerland should sign the iniative,“ said Kreis.
The Local Switzerland
The head of the Independent Federal Commission Against Racism, Georg Kreis, told AFP that Swiss elections were usually periods of racist and xenophobic agitation.
"There is a certain seductiveness during elections in using xenophobia or defamation as a political tool", he said.
The commission is spearheading the 'Fairplay in Elections' campaign, which is backed by nearly 30 organizations, including human rights group Amnesty International.
During election campaigns, controversial themes should be brought to the table, he conceded, but debates should stick to the facts.
Kreis's call has received press backing: “Those Swiss who are against smear campaigns, exclusion and the ’concept of the enemy’, have gained a voice. With an online signature, they can speak out“, the NZZ newspaper writes.
Switzerland's biggest political party, the far-right Swiss People's Party (SVP) has consistently sparked controversy with its campaigns.
The SVP, which already holds around a quarter of the seats in the federal assembly, is expected to make further gains during the October elections.
“Parties and politicians are not the focus of the campaign, rather the general public“, Kreis, explained to the media in Bern. “The iniative should show that in Switzerland there is a solid base of decent people. And there are more of them than one would assume from media reports.“
"The 'Fairplay in election campaigns' (Fairplay im Wahlkampf) project should alleviate their feeling of helplessness“, he said.
The campaign calls for parties to avoid racist and defamatory language against immigrants, asylum seekers, the socially disadvantaged and those who think differently.
“An open dialogue is a pre-condition for a democracy. That does not mean that everything should be allowed“, said Emine Sariaslan, president of the Forum for the Integration of Immigrants (FIMM), one of the organizations involved in the campaign. “People should not be made responsible for problems that have totally different cause because of their origin, religion or lifestyle.“
“The campaign is about the protection of different strands of society living alongside one another. Damage occurs when individual groups are shut out and defamed. “Those who really stand up for for Switzerland should sign the iniative,“ said Kreis.
The Local Switzerland
DANISH RIGHT-WING INFILTRATED
A secret network called ORG , which has sought to ‘clean’ Denmark of immigrants and have a showdown with ‘traitors’ who have made immigration possible, has been active in infiltrating political and right-wing organisations, according to documents Politiken has obtained. ORG, which has some 100 members, was started by a small group of men, several of whom have held leading positions in the Danish People’s Party, or been candidates for the party, while at the same time taking part in Ku Klux Klan-type events and exerting influence on extreme right-wing organisations. Several ORG members have said they are willing to use violence against immigrants, and have praised the Hells Angels support group AK81 for ‘beating provocative wogs’. Jesper Nielsen, who is the head of ORG, has refused to be interviewed about the organisation. “ORG has not wanted the publicity concerned as we assume that the non-public character of the association will be misconstrued and misused to ascribe surreptitious motives to its closed nature,” ORG’s Board says in a message.
Confronted with Politiken’s information, Danish People’s Party’s Party Secretary Poul Lindholm Jensen says that ORG’s Chairman Jesper Nielsen has been part of the party leadership in Aarhus and that another ORG member has been a parliamentary candidate for the Danish People’s Party. “I have not heard of ORG before. But I can see that neither of the two are with us anymore. They both solved the problem by withdrawing from the party,” Lindholm Jensen says. While ORG has managed to keep the organisation secret for more than 20 years, Politiken has obtained internal ORG documents. The documents include ORG’s organisational setup and tasks, several years of communication between the network’s leading members on a closed Internet forum as well as examples of the network’s extensive ‘traitor archive’, which is called ‘The Great Memory’. The documents show that ORG monitored political opponents, certainly until 2009, and was ready to share its information with the Den Danske Forening association, which is vehemently opposed to immigration.
The secret network’s Copenhagen leader, known as PUJ, received a suspended sentence in 2009 for having abused his position as a policeman to gather information on political adversaries. A search of his home turned up correspondence with ORG’s Leader Jesper Nielsen, but the lead was not developed during his court case. “Our view was that he had contacts with other people who shared his views,” says Copenhagen Public Prosecutor Liselotte Nilas. This particular aspect of the case was handed over to the Danish Security and Intelligence Service PET, whose chief Jakob Scharf says in a written response: “PET has been involved in investigating this case, which led to a police employee being sentenced for illegally collecting personal information from police registers. The fact that the information was seemingly collected for an extreme right network was, and remains, the object of PET’s attention,” Scharf says.
Politiken.dk
Confronted with Politiken’s information, Danish People’s Party’s Party Secretary Poul Lindholm Jensen says that ORG’s Chairman Jesper Nielsen has been part of the party leadership in Aarhus and that another ORG member has been a parliamentary candidate for the Danish People’s Party. “I have not heard of ORG before. But I can see that neither of the two are with us anymore. They both solved the problem by withdrawing from the party,” Lindholm Jensen says. While ORG has managed to keep the organisation secret for more than 20 years, Politiken has obtained internal ORG documents. The documents include ORG’s organisational setup and tasks, several years of communication between the network’s leading members on a closed Internet forum as well as examples of the network’s extensive ‘traitor archive’, which is called ‘The Great Memory’. The documents show that ORG monitored political opponents, certainly until 2009, and was ready to share its information with the Den Danske Forening association, which is vehemently opposed to immigration.
The secret network’s Copenhagen leader, known as PUJ, received a suspended sentence in 2009 for having abused his position as a policeman to gather information on political adversaries. A search of his home turned up correspondence with ORG’s Leader Jesper Nielsen, but the lead was not developed during his court case. “Our view was that he had contacts with other people who shared his views,” says Copenhagen Public Prosecutor Liselotte Nilas. This particular aspect of the case was handed over to the Danish Security and Intelligence Service PET, whose chief Jakob Scharf says in a written response: “PET has been involved in investigating this case, which led to a police employee being sentenced for illegally collecting personal information from police registers. The fact that the information was seemingly collected for an extreme right network was, and remains, the object of PET’s attention,” Scharf says.
Politiken.dk
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Right-wing yobs linked to night of violence (UK)
Far-right groups have been linked to the rioting in Manchester and Salford. Police say thugs connected to extreme political groups may have helped orchestrate serious disorder and looting in both cities.
Chief Constable Peter Fahy said he believed that organised crime groups were behind the most violent trouble in Manchester and around Salford Shopping City, in Pendleton.
But officers and community leaders also believe right-wing activists were involved.
One Salford councillor, who asked not to be named, said: "It is common knowledge that elements of these organisations were on the streets, in the thick of it, when it was happening."
In Manchester, the yobs’ main aim seemed to be wanton looting.
But in Salford, officers came under particularly ferocious attack.
Six officers were injured, including a superintendent, who was struck by a brick.
Around 200 youths chased officers, looted shops and torched cars a supermarket and a council office.
Mr Fahy claimed the attacks on officers in Salford could be a backlash against recent operations to disrupt ‘untouchable’ criminals in the city.
Mr Fahy said: "Salford seemed to have a lot more organisation around it.
"It was of a different tone. We have given a hard time to persistent criminals and organised crime outfits – no doubt some of those saw this as an opportunity to get back to us.
"If they see an opportunity to bait local police, they will take it."
He described how in both cities there was clear evidence of criminal planning
"You could see some people on mobile phones outside shops calling their mates saying ‘come to this one, we’ve managed to break in’."
It was the worst disorder in Salford has seen since the summer of 1992 when scores of cars, a carpet warehouse, and the unemployment office in Ordsall were set on fire. Firefighters and a police dog handler were shot at.
That was triggered by a police crack down on criminals and the seizure by officers of a Sierra Cosworth car belonging to one criminal.
Manchester Evening News
Chief Constable Peter Fahy said he believed that organised crime groups were behind the most violent trouble in Manchester and around Salford Shopping City, in Pendleton.
But officers and community leaders also believe right-wing activists were involved.
One Salford councillor, who asked not to be named, said: "It is common knowledge that elements of these organisations were on the streets, in the thick of it, when it was happening."
In Manchester, the yobs’ main aim seemed to be wanton looting.
But in Salford, officers came under particularly ferocious attack.
Six officers were injured, including a superintendent, who was struck by a brick.
Around 200 youths chased officers, looted shops and torched cars a supermarket and a council office.
Mr Fahy claimed the attacks on officers in Salford could be a backlash against recent operations to disrupt ‘untouchable’ criminals in the city.
Mr Fahy said: "Salford seemed to have a lot more organisation around it.
"It was of a different tone. We have given a hard time to persistent criminals and organised crime outfits – no doubt some of those saw this as an opportunity to get back to us.
"If they see an opportunity to bait local police, they will take it."
He described how in both cities there was clear evidence of criminal planning
"You could see some people on mobile phones outside shops calling their mates saying ‘come to this one, we’ve managed to break in’."
It was the worst disorder in Salford has seen since the summer of 1992 when scores of cars, a carpet warehouse, and the unemployment office in Ordsall were set on fire. Firefighters and a police dog handler were shot at.
That was triggered by a police crack down on criminals and the seizure by officers of a Sierra Cosworth car belonging to one criminal.
Manchester Evening News
More people driven out by racists (Northern Ireland)
The number of households intimidated from their homes by racists in Northern Ireland has doubled in four years, it has been revealed.
The mass flight of Roma families from south Belfast in 2009 contributed to the dramatic increase in the number left homeless, said the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM).
A total of 100 Romanians fled their homes in the city following the spate of racist attacks.
The number of cases increased from 41 in 2006/7 to 96 in 2009/10.
The families who left in June 2009 were members of the Roma ethnic group. They said they felt frightened and vulnerable after their homes were targeted.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive later paid for them to return to Romania using emergency funds. The group had been living in south Belfast - the part of Northern Ireland which had the highest number of reported racist incidents.
An OFMDFM statement published this week said there has been some increase in the number of households presenting as homeless both as a result of sectarian and racial intimidation, the increase being more dramatic for those attributing their homelessness status to racism and likely to be linked to the attacks on Roma families in June 2009.
It added: "Collectively, there has been an increase of 63 such cases since recording began. The 2009/10 figures of 96 for those citing racial intimidation as the reason for their state of homelessness represents a rise for two consecutive years."
According to OFMDFM, the number of racially motivated hate incidents is down by a fifth from 1,047 incidents in 2006/07 to 842 in 2010/11.
Crimes with a racist motivation fell by a quarter between 2009/10 and 2010/11 (712 versus 531). The past five years has recorded a downward trend in this crime type, the OFMDFM written answer to DUP MLA Jonathan Craig said. The 2010/11 figure is the lowest since 2004/05 when they were first presented.
Belfast Telegraph
The mass flight of Roma families from south Belfast in 2009 contributed to the dramatic increase in the number left homeless, said the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM).
A total of 100 Romanians fled their homes in the city following the spate of racist attacks.
The number of cases increased from 41 in 2006/7 to 96 in 2009/10.
The families who left in June 2009 were members of the Roma ethnic group. They said they felt frightened and vulnerable after their homes were targeted.
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive later paid for them to return to Romania using emergency funds. The group had been living in south Belfast - the part of Northern Ireland which had the highest number of reported racist incidents.
An OFMDFM statement published this week said there has been some increase in the number of households presenting as homeless both as a result of sectarian and racial intimidation, the increase being more dramatic for those attributing their homelessness status to racism and likely to be linked to the attacks on Roma families in June 2009.
It added: "Collectively, there has been an increase of 63 such cases since recording began. The 2009/10 figures of 96 for those citing racial intimidation as the reason for their state of homelessness represents a rise for two consecutive years."
According to OFMDFM, the number of racially motivated hate incidents is down by a fifth from 1,047 incidents in 2006/07 to 842 in 2010/11.
Crimes with a racist motivation fell by a quarter between 2009/10 and 2010/11 (712 versus 531). The past five years has recorded a downward trend in this crime type, the OFMDFM written answer to DUP MLA Jonathan Craig said. The 2010/11 figure is the lowest since 2004/05 when they were first presented.
Belfast Telegraph
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
2 white supremacists accused of robbery, making terrorist threats (USA)
Two white supremacist gang members have been arrested on suspicion of stealing a woman’s makeup bag, some marijuana plants and a cellphone from a Hesperia home where one of the suspects once lived, authorities said Tuesday.
Joshua Anderson, 26, and Shawn Cavanaugh, 31, both of Hesperia, fled to a nearby home and were arrested by San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies late Monday on suspicion of residential robbery, making terrorist threats and participating in a gang.
The two suspects entered the home on Hemlock Avenue, confronting a man and his girlfriend inside, according to a statement released by the Sheriff’s Department. An altercation followed, and the man was able to call 911. The suspects then rummaged through the girlfriend’s car and also took a phone, her makeup bag and marijuana plants.
Deputies found Anderson and Cavanaugh hiding in a garage in the 1500 block of Aspen Street, along with “paraphernalia consistent with items belonging” to their white supremacist gang affiliation, the statement said.
LA Times
Joshua Anderson, 26, and Shawn Cavanaugh, 31, both of Hesperia, fled to a nearby home and were arrested by San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies late Monday on suspicion of residential robbery, making terrorist threats and participating in a gang.
The two suspects entered the home on Hemlock Avenue, confronting a man and his girlfriend inside, according to a statement released by the Sheriff’s Department. An altercation followed, and the man was able to call 911. The suspects then rummaged through the girlfriend’s car and also took a phone, her makeup bag and marijuana plants.
Deputies found Anderson and Cavanaugh hiding in a garage in the 1500 block of Aspen Street, along with “paraphernalia consistent with items belonging” to their white supremacist gang affiliation, the statement said.
LA Times
The wife of a neo-Nazi organizer pleads guilty to child abuse. (USA)
The wife of a neo-Nazi organizer allegedly shot and killed by his 10-year-old son pleaded guilty today to child abuse and was immediately sentenced to four months in jail and four years probation.
During a settlement hearing before Riverside County Superior Court Judge J. Thompson Hanks, Krista Faye McCary, 26, withdrew her previous plea of not guilty to the felony charge as well as another allegation of failing to secure a firearm in a household with children present. McCary's attorney, Leonard Valadez, negotiated a plea agreement with the District Attorney's Office just before the hearing that called for the dismissal of four charges of child endangerment and three charges of failure to store a firearm in exchange for McCary's guilty plea to the other two counts.
Hanks sentenced the Riverside woman to work release in lieu of jail time and ordered her to attend a 52-week child rearing program approved by the Department of Public Social Services.
Had McCary been convicted of all nine original felony charges, she could have faced around 30 years in prison.
Riverside police investigators allege McCary stood by and watched as her husband, 32-year-old Jeff Russell Hall, abused their five children, mainly the eldest boy, Joseph, who is McCary's stepson.
There were numerous guns, knives and swords in the house, easily accessible to any of the children, according to Riverside police Detective Greg Rowe.
Rowe wrote in an arrest warrant affidavit that McCary acknowledged seeing Hall beat and verbally abuse Joseph.
"Krista said that Jeffrey did these things to punish (him)," Rowe wrote. "Krista said that (the boy) would get punished for being too loud or getting in Jeffrey's way. Krista said Jeffrey would get out of control when he punished (his son), including punching and kicking him several times in the back."
Hall, a plumber, was the Southwest regional director of the Detroit- based National Socialist Movement, which advocates racial segregation. He was a visible presence at neo-Nazi rallies throughout the Inland Empire.
On May 1, Hall was sleeping on a front room sofa in his two-story Louder Court home when his son allegedly shot him in the head, using a Rossi .357 revolver that he'd pulled out of the master bedroom closet, according to investigators.
"The oldest child ... admitted during the interview that he was tired of his dad hitting him and his (step)mom," Rowe wrote. "(He) said he thought his dad was cheating on his (step)mom and thought he might have to choose which person he would live with."
Neither McCary or Joseph's siblings -- a 2-month-old, 3-year-old, 7-year- old and 9-year-old -- were injured.
Hall was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
The detective described the house as "filthy," with dirty clothes scattered everywhere, urine-stained and soiled bed sheets and floors that "didn't appear to have been vacuumed in a long time."
All of the youngsters are now in the care of child welfare workers.
Joseph is being held at Riverside Juvenile Hall. He's undergoing psychiatric evaluations, and another hearing in the case is set for next month.
If convicted of murder and a sentence-enhancing gun use allegation, the 10-year-old could be imprisoned until he is 25.
My Valley News
During a settlement hearing before Riverside County Superior Court Judge J. Thompson Hanks, Krista Faye McCary, 26, withdrew her previous plea of not guilty to the felony charge as well as another allegation of failing to secure a firearm in a household with children present. McCary's attorney, Leonard Valadez, negotiated a plea agreement with the District Attorney's Office just before the hearing that called for the dismissal of four charges of child endangerment and three charges of failure to store a firearm in exchange for McCary's guilty plea to the other two counts.
Hanks sentenced the Riverside woman to work release in lieu of jail time and ordered her to attend a 52-week child rearing program approved by the Department of Public Social Services.
Had McCary been convicted of all nine original felony charges, she could have faced around 30 years in prison.
Riverside police investigators allege McCary stood by and watched as her husband, 32-year-old Jeff Russell Hall, abused their five children, mainly the eldest boy, Joseph, who is McCary's stepson.
There were numerous guns, knives and swords in the house, easily accessible to any of the children, according to Riverside police Detective Greg Rowe.
Rowe wrote in an arrest warrant affidavit that McCary acknowledged seeing Hall beat and verbally abuse Joseph.
"Krista said that Jeffrey did these things to punish (him)," Rowe wrote. "Krista said that (the boy) would get punished for being too loud or getting in Jeffrey's way. Krista said Jeffrey would get out of control when he punished (his son), including punching and kicking him several times in the back."
Hall, a plumber, was the Southwest regional director of the Detroit- based National Socialist Movement, which advocates racial segregation. He was a visible presence at neo-Nazi rallies throughout the Inland Empire.
On May 1, Hall was sleeping on a front room sofa in his two-story Louder Court home when his son allegedly shot him in the head, using a Rossi .357 revolver that he'd pulled out of the master bedroom closet, according to investigators.
"The oldest child ... admitted during the interview that he was tired of his dad hitting him and his (step)mom," Rowe wrote. "(He) said he thought his dad was cheating on his (step)mom and thought he might have to choose which person he would live with."
Neither McCary or Joseph's siblings -- a 2-month-old, 3-year-old, 7-year- old and 9-year-old -- were injured.
Hall was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
The detective described the house as "filthy," with dirty clothes scattered everywhere, urine-stained and soiled bed sheets and floors that "didn't appear to have been vacuumed in a long time."
All of the youngsters are now in the care of child welfare workers.
Joseph is being held at Riverside Juvenile Hall. He's undergoing psychiatric evaluations, and another hearing in the case is set for next month.
If convicted of murder and a sentence-enhancing gun use allegation, the 10-year-old could be imprisoned until he is 25.
My Valley News
Trojan T-shirt targets German right-wing rock fans
Music fans who took souvenir T-shirts from a rock festival in Gera, eastern Germany, have discovered they hold a secret message.
The so-called Trojan T-shirts bore a design of a skull and right-wing flags and the words "hardcore rebels".
But, once washed, the design dissolves to reveal a message telling people to break with extremism.
Some 250 T-shirts were donated to organisers, who handed them out at the nationalist rock festival in Gera.
The stunt was organised by a left-wing group called Exit, which seeks to reduce the influence of the right-wing in Germany.
"What your T-shirt can do, so can you - we'll help you break with right-wing extremism," the message reads, and provides a contact number for the group.
On its website, Exit said it had made contact with the organisers of the Rock For Germany festival, in its ninth year, using a false name and had offered the T-shirts for free.
The group's founder, Bernd Wagner, said the group hoped its actions would raise awareness among young festival-goers.
"With these T-shirts, we aimed to make ourselves known among right-wingers, especially among young ones who are not yet fully committed to the extreme right," he said, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency.
The Rock For Germany festival had as its slogan "Never again communism - Freedom for Germany".
There was no official reaction from the festival's organisers but a text message was circulating among young people who attended warning them that the T-shirts were fake.
BBC News
The so-called Trojan T-shirts bore a design of a skull and right-wing flags and the words "hardcore rebels".
But, once washed, the design dissolves to reveal a message telling people to break with extremism.
Some 250 T-shirts were donated to organisers, who handed them out at the nationalist rock festival in Gera.
The stunt was organised by a left-wing group called Exit, which seeks to reduce the influence of the right-wing in Germany.
"What your T-shirt can do, so can you - we'll help you break with right-wing extremism," the message reads, and provides a contact number for the group.
On its website, Exit said it had made contact with the organisers of the Rock For Germany festival, in its ninth year, using a false name and had offered the T-shirts for free.
The group's founder, Bernd Wagner, said the group hoped its actions would raise awareness among young festival-goers.
"With these T-shirts, we aimed to make ourselves known among right-wingers, especially among young ones who are not yet fully committed to the extreme right," he said, according to the Agence France-Presse news agency.
The Rock For Germany festival had as its slogan "Never again communism - Freedom for Germany".
There was no official reaction from the festival's organisers but a text message was circulating among young people who attended warning them that the T-shirts were fake.
BBC News
Swedish queen's report denies father had Nazi links
Sweden's royal family has rejected allegations of links between the German-born queen's late father and the Nazi regime in Germany.
Queen Silvia has published a report she commissioned in response to claims her father took over a factory from a Jewish businessman.
The report concluded that Walter Sommerlath had in fact helped the Jewish man escape from Germany.
It found he had traded the factory for a coffee plantation in Brazil.
Last year, Swedish commercial broadcaster TV4 reported that Mr Sommerlath had taken advantage of the Nazi's "Aryanisation" programme to take over a factory belonging to Jewish businessman Efim Wechsler in 1939.
However, the new 34-page report, compiled by Swedish World War II expert Erik Norberg, indicated that Mr Sommerlath had allowed Mr Wechsler to escape from Germany by trading the plantation for the factory.
The report confirmed that Mr Sommerlath - who died in 1990 - went to Brazil in 1920, aged 20, where he met and married the queen's Brazilian mother Alice, whose family owned a large coffee plantation.
Queen Silvia has faced criticism in Swedish media for a number of years for not doing more to address the rumours of her father's role in Germany during World War II.
BBC News
Queen Silvia has published a report she commissioned in response to claims her father took over a factory from a Jewish businessman.
The report concluded that Walter Sommerlath had in fact helped the Jewish man escape from Germany.
It found he had traded the factory for a coffee plantation in Brazil.
Last year, Swedish commercial broadcaster TV4 reported that Mr Sommerlath had taken advantage of the Nazi's "Aryanisation" programme to take over a factory belonging to Jewish businessman Efim Wechsler in 1939.
However, the new 34-page report, compiled by Swedish World War II expert Erik Norberg, indicated that Mr Sommerlath had allowed Mr Wechsler to escape from Germany by trading the plantation for the factory.
The report confirmed that Mr Sommerlath - who died in 1990 - went to Brazil in 1920, aged 20, where he met and married the queen's Brazilian mother Alice, whose family owned a large coffee plantation.
Queen Silvia has faced criticism in Swedish media for a number of years for not doing more to address the rumours of her father's role in Germany during World War II.
BBC News
London riots: Neighbours mount anti-gang patrols amid fears of far-Right agitation (UK)
In Enfield, where a gang on Monday night torched a Sony warehouse, residents declared a ‘looter free zone.’
Nick Davidson, 27, a computer shop owner said: "Everybody supports the police but we can see their hands are tied. We're good people but we're not having this."
In Southall, west London, hundreds of Sikh men stood guard outside their temple and mounted street patrols, armed with baseball bats.
In Eltham, south east London, a crowd of 200 men gathered in the streets, promising to protect their neighbourhood from looters and arsonists following rioting in nearby Lewisham and Woolwich.
“We won't stand for it. If anyone wants to come down here and start looting tonight, let them try - we'll be ready for them,” said one.
"We're here to protect the town. What went on last night was a disgrace. It shouldn't be allowed. We're taking a stand."
On Monday night, the Turkish business owners in Stoke Newington, North London, chased a gang of rioters out the area and yesterday men stood guard last night with baseball bats and fire extinguishers. In Whitechapel groups of Muslim men gathered outside the East London mosque to defend it and repelled looters from a bank.
But there were concerns far-right groups were seeking to take advantage of the disorder.
Stephen Lennon, the leader of the far-right EDL, said he spent yesterday in Enfield and claim to have 100 supporters on the streets of the town.
Lennon said the group had encouraged all its members to take part in street clean-ups. He said members would launch street patrols in Bristol, Manchester, Luton and Leicestershire over the coming days in an attempt to talk young men out of rioting.
"If they tried to smash up Luton town centre I’d know every one of them. I can go into any working class community and talk to them.”
Footage emerged last night of a gang of white men chasing an alleged looter through the streets of Enfield. One bystander shouts: “We’re chasing blacks.”
Nick Griffin, the British National Party leader, claimed the men in Eltham had chanted ‘BNP’. He said the situation was in the town was a “race riot”.
The Telegraph
Monday, 8 August 2011
Sweden draws up plan to fight extremistss (UK)
Sweden has drawn up a plan to fight extremism in response to attacks in neighbouring Norway that killed 77 people last month, government ministers wrote in an opinion piece published Friday.
The national plan was needed to safeguard Sweden against similar attacks, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and two ministers wrote, describing the Norway killings as a “catastrophe of unimaginable dimensions”.
They identified the fringes of three extremist groups as the most dangerous: the white-power far-right, the far-left and Islamists.
“We need to have a broad concept of violent extremism and not limit our line of vision,” Reinfeldt, Justice Minister Beatrice Ask and Democracy Minister Birgitta Ohlsson wrote in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
“There are many similarities in the processes that lead individuals to use violence to reach political goals, regardless of the political or religious content of their extreme ideas,” they wrote.
The plan calls for close cooperation and expanded intelligence and information sharing between all strata of society, including police, national and local authorities, schools, social services and civil society.
The rightwing extremist who confessed to the twin July 22 attacks in Norway had much in common with the Islamic extremist behind the first ever suicide bombing in Sweden in December last year, the ministers said.
The Sweden attacker, 29-year-old Taimour Abdulwahab, was killed when apparently detonating his bomb by mistake in a deserted Stockholm side street. Two people were injured when his car exploded in an earlier blast.
Citing a report that around 20 percent of Swedish high school students showed intolerance towards minorities, the ministers emphasised the importance of reaching people who “risk making up the growth basis for future extremism.”
“It is important that vulnerable individuals who could be drawn to an anti-democratic message stand at the centre of our preventive work so they can be detected in time,” they wrote.
“Battling against violence-prone extremism is not just a task for the state. All of Sweden is needed to protect our democracy.”
They presented their plan two weeks after 32-year-old rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik bombed government offices in Oslo, killing eight people, and then shot dead 69 more on the nearby island of Utoeya where the ruling Labour Party's youth organisation was hosting a summer camp. - Sapa-AFP
IOL News
The national plan was needed to safeguard Sweden against similar attacks, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and two ministers wrote, describing the Norway killings as a “catastrophe of unimaginable dimensions”.
They identified the fringes of three extremist groups as the most dangerous: the white-power far-right, the far-left and Islamists.
“We need to have a broad concept of violent extremism and not limit our line of vision,” Reinfeldt, Justice Minister Beatrice Ask and Democracy Minister Birgitta Ohlsson wrote in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper.
“There are many similarities in the processes that lead individuals to use violence to reach political goals, regardless of the political or religious content of their extreme ideas,” they wrote.
The plan calls for close cooperation and expanded intelligence and information sharing between all strata of society, including police, national and local authorities, schools, social services and civil society.
The rightwing extremist who confessed to the twin July 22 attacks in Norway had much in common with the Islamic extremist behind the first ever suicide bombing in Sweden in December last year, the ministers said.
The Sweden attacker, 29-year-old Taimour Abdulwahab, was killed when apparently detonating his bomb by mistake in a deserted Stockholm side street. Two people were injured when his car exploded in an earlier blast.
Citing a report that around 20 percent of Swedish high school students showed intolerance towards minorities, the ministers emphasised the importance of reaching people who “risk making up the growth basis for future extremism.”
“It is important that vulnerable individuals who could be drawn to an anti-democratic message stand at the centre of our preventive work so they can be detected in time,” they wrote.
“Battling against violence-prone extremism is not just a task for the state. All of Sweden is needed to protect our democracy.”
They presented their plan two weeks after 32-year-old rightwing extremist Anders Behring Breivik bombed government offices in Oslo, killing eight people, and then shot dead 69 more on the nearby island of Utoeya where the ruling Labour Party's youth organisation was hosting a summer camp. - Sapa-AFP
IOL News
Twickenham BNP candidate booted out of party (UK)
Twickenham’s BNP parliamentary candidate has been booted out of the party after an undercover newspaper sting caught him giving a Hitler-style salute at a pop concert.
Chris Hurst, of Whitton, was said to have been warned by the BNP not to be seen saluting in public for fear of damaging its image.
However, he was pictured giving the gesture at a festival in Hungary as he watched far-right Swedish singer Saga, whose lyrics were said to have inspired Norwegian killer Anders Breivik.
Mr Hurst, who won 654 votes when stood against Vince Cable in last year’s general election, denied this week that he was a Nazi. He claimed he was drunk and had just copied everyone else in the crowd.
He did not answer his phone yesterday after the Sun revealed the BNP has expelled him.
Twickenham MP Dr Cable said the Sun’s investigation was a “clear warning” to voters in his constituency.
He said: “I don’t have any illusions about the BNP, they are a thoroughly nasty party with links to the neo-Nazi right.
“Fortunately the BNP have very little support in Twickenham, but this is a clear warning to local residents to be aware.
“Six hundred votes is not very much, but if there’s about 600 then probably they need to be more careful who they are voting for.”
Mr Hurst, who was the BNP’s London regional secretary, said he travelled to Hungary alone and friends there invited him to the festival, which was believed to have been attended by thousands of neo-Nazi’s from across Europe.
He described his right-arm salute as “a storm in a tea cup”.
He said: “I went to a concert, I’m 22-years-old, I got drunk and I did what everybody else in the club was doing and put my arm in the air.”
But the BNP took the gesture more seriously and kicked him out, the Sun reported.
The party told the tabloid newspaper, which sent an undercover team to the Hungarian festival, that Mr Hurst had put the BNP in an embarrassing position.
Rrichmond and Twickenham Times
Chris Hurst, of Whitton, was said to have been warned by the BNP not to be seen saluting in public for fear of damaging its image.
However, he was pictured giving the gesture at a festival in Hungary as he watched far-right Swedish singer Saga, whose lyrics were said to have inspired Norwegian killer Anders Breivik.
Mr Hurst, who won 654 votes when stood against Vince Cable in last year’s general election, denied this week that he was a Nazi. He claimed he was drunk and had just copied everyone else in the crowd.
He did not answer his phone yesterday after the Sun revealed the BNP has expelled him.
Twickenham MP Dr Cable said the Sun’s investigation was a “clear warning” to voters in his constituency.
He said: “I don’t have any illusions about the BNP, they are a thoroughly nasty party with links to the neo-Nazi right.
“Fortunately the BNP have very little support in Twickenham, but this is a clear warning to local residents to be aware.
“Six hundred votes is not very much, but if there’s about 600 then probably they need to be more careful who they are voting for.”
Mr Hurst, who was the BNP’s London regional secretary, said he travelled to Hungary alone and friends there invited him to the festival, which was believed to have been attended by thousands of neo-Nazi’s from across Europe.
He described his right-arm salute as “a storm in a tea cup”.
He said: “I went to a concert, I’m 22-years-old, I got drunk and I did what everybody else in the club was doing and put my arm in the air.”
But the BNP took the gesture more seriously and kicked him out, the Sun reported.
The party told the tabloid newspaper, which sent an undercover team to the Hungarian festival, that Mr Hurst had put the BNP in an embarrassing position.
Rrichmond and Twickenham Times
Mosque Opens its Doors to English Defence League Members
The UKIM Islamic Centre and Khadijah Mosque (pictured) issued an invitation to local EDL members for a meeting to discuss the misconceptions about Islam.
The EDL styles itself as being against Islamic extremism and Sharia Law, and the mosque's invite drew interest from national leader Stephen Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.
But a spokesman for the Islamic Centre Fiaz Kauser made it clear that the invitation was for EDL members local to Peterborough, rather than members of the national group.
It follows information stalls the Islamic Centre put up in Peterborough city centre in recent weeks, which prompted debate between mosque members and members of the EDL who approached them, where the mosque sought to dispel some preconceptions people have about Islam.
Fiaz Kauser, spokesman for the centre, : "We held the stall in Bridge Street at the weekend where we gave out information about Islam and the Qur'an on Saturday.
"We have put up the stall across the region on a number of occasions to clear any misconceptions people have of Islam.
"We also hope that people can challenge themselves to learn more.
"We always have a lot of interest because of what is happening elsewhere in the world and reports people hear about what the Qur'an says."
Mr Kauser said a member of the EDL actually stopped to talk with mosque members at the stall on Saturday.
He said: "A member of the EDL approached us and it actually was a very positive incident.
"He was asking questions and listening to the answers we were giving.
"We had a similar incident in Wisbech previously, where a member of the EDL approached us to talk about Sharia law - he did not know what it was, but had a number of misconceptions.
"We were able to explain what Sharia law was and answer all his questions.
"When he left he actually apologised for some of his previous views.
"He was more polite than some other people who approached us, who kept interrupting and not letting us finish.
"Following the day we decided to invite EDL members in Peterborough to come to the mosque for a question and answer session and to learn more about Islam.
"We would also like them to join us for a meal during Ramadan when we open our fast."
The EDL held a large march in Peterborough on Saturday, 11 December last year, with more than 1,000 protesters in attendance.
The protest group was set up two years ago by a group of football fans in Luton to oppose what they perceive as the rise of extreme Islam and Sharia Law.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency)
The EDL styles itself as being against Islamic extremism and Sharia Law, and the mosque's invite drew interest from national leader Stephen Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.
But a spokesman for the Islamic Centre Fiaz Kauser made it clear that the invitation was for EDL members local to Peterborough, rather than members of the national group.
It follows information stalls the Islamic Centre put up in Peterborough city centre in recent weeks, which prompted debate between mosque members and members of the EDL who approached them, where the mosque sought to dispel some preconceptions people have about Islam.
Fiaz Kauser, spokesman for the centre, : "We held the stall in Bridge Street at the weekend where we gave out information about Islam and the Qur'an on Saturday.
"We have put up the stall across the region on a number of occasions to clear any misconceptions people have of Islam.
"We also hope that people can challenge themselves to learn more.
"We always have a lot of interest because of what is happening elsewhere in the world and reports people hear about what the Qur'an says."
Mr Kauser said a member of the EDL actually stopped to talk with mosque members at the stall on Saturday.
He said: "A member of the EDL approached us and it actually was a very positive incident.
"He was asking questions and listening to the answers we were giving.
"We had a similar incident in Wisbech previously, where a member of the EDL approached us to talk about Sharia law - he did not know what it was, but had a number of misconceptions.
"We were able to explain what Sharia law was and answer all his questions.
"When he left he actually apologised for some of his previous views.
"He was more polite than some other people who approached us, who kept interrupting and not letting us finish.
"Following the day we decided to invite EDL members in Peterborough to come to the mosque for a question and answer session and to learn more about Islam.
"We would also like them to join us for a meal during Ramadan when we open our fast."
The EDL held a large march in Peterborough on Saturday, 11 December last year, with more than 1,000 protesters in attendance.
The protest group was set up two years ago by a group of football fans in Luton to oppose what they perceive as the rise of extreme Islam and Sharia Law.
(Ahlul Bayt News Agency)
RIGHT-WING MP DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM ONLINE HATE SPEECH (Finland)
The chairman of a far-right political party in Finland has accused the opposition of using the Norwegian terror attacks as a tool to link his party with extremism. Timo Soini said that even though Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik referred to True Finn MP Jussi Halla-aho in his manifesto, it does not mean that the anti-immigration party shares the mass murderer’s views. “We’re talking about an individual fanatic, a psychopath and his murders,” argued Soini in the YLE report. “I understand that this topic has caused turbulence in Finland as well, but in Norway the tragedy has been kept in proportion quite nicely,” he added. “The tragedy has not been made a political bone of contention there, all the parties have come together to help their people through a difficult time.
Politicians are not blaming each other, or demanding statements from each other there.” Breivik, who had strong anti-Islamic and anti-immigration views, has admitted carrying out the double terror attacks in Norway on 22nd July that left 77 people dead. Shortly before the attacks he published a 1,500-page manifesto online, outlining his extremist beliefs. Soini has defended the right to exercise free speech online, but claims that he does not in any way condone Breivik’s actions. He also called for the use of real names in such online debates in order to encourage a moderate tone. “It is clear that I do not accept violence or threats of violence,” said Soini. “Hate is a destructive force, which first destroys the target of the hatred and then the hater himself. I do not accept hatred. It is dehumanising and brutalising and damages others’ human dignity.”
Ice News
Politicians are not blaming each other, or demanding statements from each other there.” Breivik, who had strong anti-Islamic and anti-immigration views, has admitted carrying out the double terror attacks in Norway on 22nd July that left 77 people dead. Shortly before the attacks he published a 1,500-page manifesto online, outlining his extremist beliefs. Soini has defended the right to exercise free speech online, but claims that he does not in any way condone Breivik’s actions. He also called for the use of real names in such online debates in order to encourage a moderate tone. “It is clear that I do not accept violence or threats of violence,” said Soini. “Hate is a destructive force, which first destroys the target of the hatred and then the hater himself. I do not accept hatred. It is dehumanising and brutalising and damages others’ human dignity.”
Ice News
Calls to ban far-right German party pose propaganda risk (Germany)
Right-wing extremist parties in Europe have come under fresh scrutiny in recent weeks, following the twin attacks in Norway which killed 77 people.
In Germany, the attacks re-launched a debate into the political legitimacy of the country's main nationalist party, the National Democratic Party (NPD). Politicians from the main opposition party, the SPD, have made fresh calls for the party to be banned.
But a spokesman for German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told Deutsche Welle that Friedrich could not support another attempt at a ban.
"He doesn't seek a renewed case to ban the NPD," said the spokesman. Friedrich justified his position on the basis that a ban had already failed in 2003.
In 2003, a high-profile case for banning the NPD party came before the Federal Constitutional Court. The case, however, was thrown out after it was revealed that a number of the NPD's inner circle were in fact undercover agents or informants of the German secret services.
Since the government bodies were unwilling to fully disclose their agents' identities and activities, the court found it impossible to reach a verdict and the case was dropped.
This item continues at DW World
In Germany, the attacks re-launched a debate into the political legitimacy of the country's main nationalist party, the National Democratic Party (NPD). Politicians from the main opposition party, the SPD, have made fresh calls for the party to be banned.
But a spokesman for German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told Deutsche Welle that Friedrich could not support another attempt at a ban.
"He doesn't seek a renewed case to ban the NPD," said the spokesman. Friedrich justified his position on the basis that a ban had already failed in 2003.
In 2003, a high-profile case for banning the NPD party came before the Federal Constitutional Court. The case, however, was thrown out after it was revealed that a number of the NPD's inner circle were in fact undercover agents or informants of the German secret services.
Since the government bodies were unwilling to fully disclose their agents' identities and activities, the court found it impossible to reach a verdict and the case was dropped.
This item continues at DW World
Friday, 5 August 2011
Neo-Nazi shoots self as police find his dead son (Germany)
Authorities are conducting an autopsy on the son of a known neo-Nazi after his body was found with a gunshot wound to the head – next to his father who shot himself as the police approached the scene.
Anton Pfahler, 65, one of Germany’s best-known neo-Nazis, shot himself in the stomach as officers approached the scene near Ried in Bavaria on Wednesday afternoon, but did not kill himself.
He was operated upon in hospital and is recovering, although he is not yet in a fit condition to be questioned, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Thursday. The body of his 23-year-old son, who has not been named by the media, was found next to him with at a gunshot wound to the head.
Officers found Pfahler sitting outside a hut in the woods after an acquaintance called for help, saying something strange was happening, according to public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk.
As they approached Pfahler, he aimed a gun against his own stomach and pulled the trigger, badly injuring himself, they said.
Now an investigation has been launched to determine under what circumstances Pfahler’s son died.
Anton Pfahler was involved with Gundolf Köhler, the neo-Nazi who carried out the 1980 bomb attack on the Munich Oktoberfest, which killed 13 people including Köhler.
Pfahler and Köhler were members of the banned neo-Nazi organization Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann. Also during that period, Pfahler belonged to the far-right Viking Youth group.
His property in Oberhausen-Sinning was for years used as a meeting place for German neo-Nazis and a publishing centre for the extremist Deutsche Stimme newspaper. He had said he wanted to establish a community of similarly thinking Germans in the area, who would lead ‘species-specific’ lives.
In 1999, the Bayerischer Rundfunk reported, he was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for breaking weapons laws after he was discovered trading with hand grenades and machine guns.
The Local Germany
Anton Pfahler, 65, one of Germany’s best-known neo-Nazis, shot himself in the stomach as officers approached the scene near Ried in Bavaria on Wednesday afternoon, but did not kill himself.
He was operated upon in hospital and is recovering, although he is not yet in a fit condition to be questioned, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Thursday. The body of his 23-year-old son, who has not been named by the media, was found next to him with at a gunshot wound to the head.
Officers found Pfahler sitting outside a hut in the woods after an acquaintance called for help, saying something strange was happening, according to public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk.
As they approached Pfahler, he aimed a gun against his own stomach and pulled the trigger, badly injuring himself, they said.
Now an investigation has been launched to determine under what circumstances Pfahler’s son died.
Anton Pfahler was involved with Gundolf Köhler, the neo-Nazi who carried out the 1980 bomb attack on the Munich Oktoberfest, which killed 13 people including Köhler.
Pfahler and Köhler were members of the banned neo-Nazi organization Wehrsportgruppe Hoffmann. Also during that period, Pfahler belonged to the far-right Viking Youth group.
His property in Oberhausen-Sinning was for years used as a meeting place for German neo-Nazis and a publishing centre for the extremist Deutsche Stimme newspaper. He had said he wanted to establish a community of similarly thinking Germans in the area, who would lead ‘species-specific’ lives.
In 1999, the Bayerischer Rundfunk reported, he was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison for breaking weapons laws after he was discovered trading with hand grenades and machine guns.
The Local Germany
FEARS RAISED ABOUT HATE GROUPS IN BRITISH SOCCER (uk)
The head of British soccer’s anti-racism body warns that extremists are trying to infiltrate the game, citing the massacre in Norway as a wake-up call.
Herman Ouseley, chairman of Kick It Out and a member of the House of Lords, fears right-wing hard-liners could exploit the country’s economic troubles, with “massive deprivation” in parts of England having the potential to foment hatred and exclusion. The racial abuse of black players that blighted English soccer in the 1970s and ’80s has largely been eradicated thanks in large part to the work of the Kick It Out group. “Extremists are still trying to get back into football,” Ouseley told The Associated Press. “We’ve managed to push them off the terraces, away from grounds. But it’s still out in the community and it’s important that we understand that they are trying win over the minds of young, vulnerable people and a lot of football fans are young and vulnerable. “We must always use football as a basis to help young people have a better understanding to have open minds, to see the dangers lurking within those who are offering them easy solutions through hatred.”
Ouseley is concerned that confessed Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik could inspire disaffected people in Britain. He raised the issue while addressing top soccer officials at an anti-racism event at Wembley Stadium. Breivik says he carried out last month’s twin-attacks, which killed 77 people, to launch a revolution against a Europe that he contends has been spoiled by Muslim immigration. “Events in Norway over the last week reminds us that the hatred … exists not far from our shores,” Ouseley said. “Because, believe you me, there are people like that living among us in the U.K. and organizations that are very hateful.” The leader of the English Defense League, a far-right group mentioned by Breivik as an inspiration, was convicted last week of leading a brawl involving 100 fellow supporters of Luton Town in Aug. 2010. Stephen Lennon, who was chanting “EDL till I die,” was given a 12-month rehabilitation order. “Norway has happened on a big scale that is a phenomenal human tragedy,” Ouseley said. “It is a reflection of is what is going on in many countries within Europe. Some would say it’s worse in eastern Europe but it’s just as bad in western Europe.”
Ouseley said soccer can be a positive force by inspiring more black and ethnic minority coaches to become involved in the game. On Tuesday, he launched the first initiative backed by all of English soccer’s main governing bodies to ensure coaching is not a white-dominated preserve. When the Premier League season starts next week, not a single black manager will be in charge. “There’s no doubt that English football has been graced by some fantastic black players over the years—Viv Anderson, Cyrille Regis, Andrew Cole, Rio Ferdinand, John Barnes, Ashley Cole and Paul Ince,” said Football Association chairman David Bernstein. “But, for whatever reason, that talent just hasn’t transferred itself from the field of play to the dugout.” The only two black managers in the 72-team Football League are Chris Hughton of Birmingham City in the second-tier League Championship and Chris Powell of Charlton Athletic in third-tier League One.
The Associated Press
Herman Ouseley, chairman of Kick It Out and a member of the House of Lords, fears right-wing hard-liners could exploit the country’s economic troubles, with “massive deprivation” in parts of England having the potential to foment hatred and exclusion. The racial abuse of black players that blighted English soccer in the 1970s and ’80s has largely been eradicated thanks in large part to the work of the Kick It Out group. “Extremists are still trying to get back into football,” Ouseley told The Associated Press. “We’ve managed to push them off the terraces, away from grounds. But it’s still out in the community and it’s important that we understand that they are trying win over the minds of young, vulnerable people and a lot of football fans are young and vulnerable. “We must always use football as a basis to help young people have a better understanding to have open minds, to see the dangers lurking within those who are offering them easy solutions through hatred.”
Ouseley is concerned that confessed Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik could inspire disaffected people in Britain. He raised the issue while addressing top soccer officials at an anti-racism event at Wembley Stadium. Breivik says he carried out last month’s twin-attacks, which killed 77 people, to launch a revolution against a Europe that he contends has been spoiled by Muslim immigration. “Events in Norway over the last week reminds us that the hatred … exists not far from our shores,” Ouseley said. “Because, believe you me, there are people like that living among us in the U.K. and organizations that are very hateful.” The leader of the English Defense League, a far-right group mentioned by Breivik as an inspiration, was convicted last week of leading a brawl involving 100 fellow supporters of Luton Town in Aug. 2010. Stephen Lennon, who was chanting “EDL till I die,” was given a 12-month rehabilitation order. “Norway has happened on a big scale that is a phenomenal human tragedy,” Ouseley said. “It is a reflection of is what is going on in many countries within Europe. Some would say it’s worse in eastern Europe but it’s just as bad in western Europe.”
Ouseley said soccer can be a positive force by inspiring more black and ethnic minority coaches to become involved in the game. On Tuesday, he launched the first initiative backed by all of English soccer’s main governing bodies to ensure coaching is not a white-dominated preserve. When the Premier League season starts next week, not a single black manager will be in charge. “There’s no doubt that English football has been graced by some fantastic black players over the years—Viv Anderson, Cyrille Regis, Andrew Cole, Rio Ferdinand, John Barnes, Ashley Cole and Paul Ince,” said Football Association chairman David Bernstein. “But, for whatever reason, that talent just hasn’t transferred itself from the field of play to the dugout.” The only two black managers in the 72-team Football League are Chris Hughton of Birmingham City in the second-tier League Championship and Chris Powell of Charlton Athletic in third-tier League One.
The Associated Press
NORWAY: 'HATE-CAMPAIGN AGAINST MUSLIMS SIMILAR TO JEWS IN THE 1930S'
Erna Solberg, head of the Norwegian Conservative Party, says that the hate campaign against Muslims today is like the one Jews suffered in the 1930s. She wants Norwegians to confront the everyday racism we see around us, at work, in clubs and on the internet, reports VG. "The way the extreme, anti-Islamic groups talk of Muslims today is comparable to the way extreme, antisemitic groups spoke of Jews in the decades that led up to WWII," Solberg told VG. Solberg stresses that Muslim don't get the same brutal treatment Jews did, but still thinks that the extreme harassment of Muslims has obvious similarities to Jew hatred. She says that it gives pause for thought that you can't dismiss this as something coming from outside Norwegian society.
The feeling is quite strong. It would have been easier to dismiss the acts if that person hadn't been raised in Norway and was apparently quite normal. "In 2011 Norwegians are different than in 1960, and if Norwegians who have a slightly different background, who have parents from another place, constantly see a politician debate which asks if they're just as Norwegians as others, it contributes to them feeling more distanced," Solberg told VG.
Aftenposten
The feeling is quite strong. It would have been easier to dismiss the acts if that person hadn't been raised in Norway and was apparently quite normal. "In 2011 Norwegians are different than in 1960, and if Norwegians who have a slightly different background, who have parents from another place, constantly see a politician debate which asks if they're just as Norwegians as others, it contributes to them feeling more distanced," Solberg told VG.
Aftenposten
Griffin's day gets worse by Nick Lowles at Hope Not Hate (UK)
John Walker, former party treasurer and the host of the BNP's (awful) Red White and Blue radio station has today quit the party.
And in good old fashioned BNP style, he has not gone quietly. Using his Twitter account to address the BNP's Nazi shame exposed earlier today, Walker wrote:
#NickGriffin re Sun today, not so many years ago he attended similar events. What rank hypocracy, the clear out should start with HIM!
Griffin may have had other things on his mind however. It looks as if the ever diminishing BNP funds will be taking another hit. We're hearing that Griffin lost his appeal in court today against party rebels, known as the Decembrists, which could cost more than £100,000.
I think we'll sleep very well tonight!
Hope Not Hate
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