A programme offering people persecuted by the Nazis a chance to visit their former hometown Berlin is slowly winding down. Julia Lipkins speaks with some of the last survivors.
The last time Margot Labi was in Berlin, the Nazis were rounding up Jews, defacing their shops and burning synagogues.
Labi was three years old on November 9th, 1938, a date now remembered as the Kristallnacht pogrom, when her family fled to the Dominican Republic. After narrowly avoiding the Holocaust, she was left with little interest to return to the city of her birth.
“I never wanted to come to Germany, never,” the 75-year-old Labi recently told The Local.
But after much deliberation and encouragement from her three sons in Florida, Labi and her husband Vittorio – a concentration camp survivor with his own reservations about visiting Germany – decided to take part in a programme offering former Berliners persecuted by the Nazis a chance to become reacquainted with the German capital.
The publicly funded initiative gives participants a one-week, expenses-paid tour of their old hometown. The majority of the ex-Berliners are Jewish, but the offer extends to anyone terrorised during the Third Reich.
After 41 years and more than 30,000 visitors (some 15,000 former Berliners and another 15,000 family members), the programme is drawing to a close as the final generation of Holocaust survivors slowly passes away.
During its penultimate tour in May, Labi explored her old hometown for the first time in over seven decades. She strolled along Jablonskistrasse, where her childhood apartment once stood and visited the Rykestrasse synagogue, where her family had worshipped.
“For me, I thought I'd come to Germany and it would be like going to Italy or Spain, you know, it wouldn’t have any impact,” said Labi, who speaks English with a distinct Spanish accent. “But it wasn’t like this. It had a lot of impact, I guess in my heart.”
Her husband, who was born in Libya and deported to Germany at the age of 10, enthusiastically added: “It was a surprise for me because I hated Germany, I hated Berlin….But this week here, changed my mind, I’m not kidding you. Really changed my mind. Beautiful country.”
Not making amends
Tucked away in the depths of Berlin’s city hall, stands an ageing stack of binders, each spine baring the handwritten label “Emigrierte Mitbürger,” or emigrated citizens.
Rüdiger Nemitz, a wiry Berliner in his early sixties, has been guardian of the binders since city parliament created “The Invitation Programme for Former Persecuted Citizens of Berlin” in 1969.
“It’s not trying to make amends, you can’t make it good again,” Nemitz told The Local. “It’s just to take their hand, and to show the Berlin, Germany of today is totally different from that what they have in their mind, when they emigrated.”
Although Berlin has evolved drastically since Reunification, the programme’s itinerary has remained consistent over the last 21 years: the seven-day journey includes a sightseeing tour via bus, a welcome reception by the mayor, a visit to the Jewish cemetery in the Weissensee district, a tour of the Reichstag, a cultural event such as “Carmen” this year and free time for the participants explore the city on their own.
Initially, the city government advertised the programme in Aufbau, a German-language newspaper, which was printed in New York for the Jewish diaspora.
“In the past we had thousands and thousands of applications and were not able to manage it,” said Nemitz, who began working with the programme as a student volunteer in 1969 and was promoted to its director in 1990.
Eventually knowledge of the sponsored visits spread by word of mouth and applications poured in from the United States, Israel, South Africa and Australia.
“We had waiting lists from the very first day,” said Nemitz.
At the height of the programme, the city allocated DM3.5 million annually (€1.7 million) to accommodate upwards of 240 participants and support an eleven-member staff.
This year, Nemitz has a budget of €560,000 for less than 120 visitors and his staff has dwindled to one part-time employee.
After the last group arrives in June 2010, “the waiting list will be history,” Nemitz remarked.
An emotional hurdle
On the final day of the tour in May, Rolf Schütte, a former career diplomat in the German Foreign Service and current Chief of Protocol for the state of Berlin, joined the group of 57 participants for a farewell soirée.
Schütte, who wrote the report, “German-Jewish Relations, Today and Tomorrow,” published by the American-Jewish Committee in 2005, said in a speech, “We know it’s not an easy step because this is of course the country of your ancestors, but it’s also the country that tried to kill your ancestors, and this emotional hurdle, this burden, is very large and that’s why we very much appreciate you accepting this invitation.”
Amidst the emotional trials of returning to Germany, many participants were also forced to re-examine their cultural and national identities.
"I feel now, I can recognise that in some ways I am German,” Karin Arlin told The Local.
Arlin’s father, who worked as chief engineer for Lufthansa, moved the family to the Netherlands in 1934 and ultimately to America in 1941.
“I certainly come from German Jews, and it enrages me when they put us into a separate category that we’re not really part of the Volk,” said Arlin, who continued to speak German with her parents after the family settled in the United States.
As with Arlin and Labi, most of the participants these days were children during the Nazi era and as a result, have little recollection of their lives in Berlin.
Ruth Cyzner was eight years old, when she left Berlin in 1939 on the Kindertransport refugee effort that brought Jewish children to Britain. Although Cyzner can recognise several words in German and street names in Berlin, she has but a few memories of her father, who died in Auschwitz, along with her mother.
Cyzner spent the week in pursuit of records, facts, anecdotes – any information – about her father.
After tangling with German bureaucracy, Cyzner was able to obtain original, handwritten documents concerning her father’s finances and service in the Austrian Army.
“That was very moving to see his writing on that piece of paper,” said Cyzner. “Then I was furious. The fact that they keep all these records and they kill the people, but they’ve still got the records and the records will always be there. So there was a whole mix of feelings about that.”
The next generation
Cyzner’s daughter Eve Wolfsohn accompanied her on the trip to the German capital and Nemitz said he has received thousands of requests from the children of former Berliners wanting to participate in the programme.
“It’s incredibly emotional because I feel like it’s the closest I’ll ever be to my grandparents,” said Wolfsohn, who would like to see the programme extended to children of survivors.
But Nemitz said due to Berlin’s serious budgetary woes, an extension of the program to future generations is unlikely.
“It’s really a monetary problem,” he said. “It’s not a problem of willingness
The Local Germany
Friday, 4 June 2010
Religious leaders denounce Arizona immigration law (USA)
Religious leaders in the US and Latin America have denounced Arizona's controversial new immigration law.
The law requires police to question people about their immigration status, if officers suspect the person is in the US illegally, and if they have stopped them for a legitimate reason.
Archbishop Rafael Romo Munoz, of Tijuana, Mexico, said it was "inhuman".
The criticism came as President Barack Obama, who says the law is misguided, met Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.
Mr Obama has made immigration reform a priority, amid pressure from US border states for action to help curb illegal immigration and drug violence.
Last month, he said he would seek more funding and deploy up to 1,200 extra troops to help secure the US-Mexico border.
'Anti-humanitarian'
Civil rights groups have said Arizona's new law paves the way for widespread discrimination against Hispanics.
The legislation, which is set to take effect on 29 July, will also make it a crime to be in Arizona without immigration papers.
Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, head of the US bishops' committee on migration, warned it could lead to racial profiling and create divisions between the police and immigrant communities.
Archbishop Munoz said the measure would "make it possible to detain someone based on their external appearance".
He added: "This law in Arizona is truly anti-humanitarian. It's inhuman."
During a half-hour meeting at the White House, Ms Brewer called for the completion of a fence between Arizona and Mexico and told Mr Obama that Americans "want our border secured".
Mr Obama emphasised his view that the law was discriminatory and that Arizona's move - and similar efforts by more than 20 other states - would interfere with the federal government's task of enforcing immigration policy.
He urged Ms Brewer to "be his partner" in overhauling the country's troubled immigration system.
In a press conference following the meeting, Ms Brewer said that although the two had had a "very cordial conversation", there were clearly issues on which they did not agree.
"We agreed to try to work together in order to find some solution" to issues like immigration and security, the govenor said.
She added: "We know we are not going to agree on certain issues until other issues are worked out."
Ms Brewer said the president had told her most of the 1,200 extra National Guard troops being sent to the US-Mexico border would be going to her state.
About 200 protesters waved signs and chanted "Jan Brewer, shame on you!" in front of the White House as the pair met.
Ms Brewer said in April that the new law would strengthen border controls in Arizona, which borders Mexico.
The governor also claimed that she was forced to act because the federal government had failed to tackle illegal immigration.
Mr Obama has called the new measure by Ms Brewer a "misdirected expression of frustration" at the federal government's inability to act.
BBC News
The law requires police to question people about their immigration status, if officers suspect the person is in the US illegally, and if they have stopped them for a legitimate reason.
Archbishop Rafael Romo Munoz, of Tijuana, Mexico, said it was "inhuman".
The criticism came as President Barack Obama, who says the law is misguided, met Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.
Mr Obama has made immigration reform a priority, amid pressure from US border states for action to help curb illegal immigration and drug violence.
Last month, he said he would seek more funding and deploy up to 1,200 extra troops to help secure the US-Mexico border.
'Anti-humanitarian'
Civil rights groups have said Arizona's new law paves the way for widespread discrimination against Hispanics.
The legislation, which is set to take effect on 29 July, will also make it a crime to be in Arizona without immigration papers.
Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, head of the US bishops' committee on migration, warned it could lead to racial profiling and create divisions between the police and immigrant communities.
Archbishop Munoz said the measure would "make it possible to detain someone based on their external appearance".
He added: "This law in Arizona is truly anti-humanitarian. It's inhuman."
During a half-hour meeting at the White House, Ms Brewer called for the completion of a fence between Arizona and Mexico and told Mr Obama that Americans "want our border secured".
Mr Obama emphasised his view that the law was discriminatory and that Arizona's move - and similar efforts by more than 20 other states - would interfere with the federal government's task of enforcing immigration policy.
He urged Ms Brewer to "be his partner" in overhauling the country's troubled immigration system.
In a press conference following the meeting, Ms Brewer said that although the two had had a "very cordial conversation", there were clearly issues on which they did not agree.
"We agreed to try to work together in order to find some solution" to issues like immigration and security, the govenor said.
She added: "We know we are not going to agree on certain issues until other issues are worked out."
Ms Brewer said the president had told her most of the 1,200 extra National Guard troops being sent to the US-Mexico border would be going to her state.
About 200 protesters waved signs and chanted "Jan Brewer, shame on you!" in front of the White House as the pair met.
Ms Brewer said in April that the new law would strengthen border controls in Arizona, which borders Mexico.
The governor also claimed that she was forced to act because the federal government had failed to tackle illegal immigration.
Mr Obama has called the new measure by Ms Brewer a "misdirected expression of frustration" at the federal government's inability to act.
BBC News
Defence League’s protests are “crude, dangerous and unhelpful” says Wales religious leaders
Two senior faith leaders in Wales are urging people not to support a planned demonstration by the English/ Welsh Defence League in Cardiff this weekend (June 5).
The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, and the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Wales, Saleem Kidwai, say the League’s protests are “crude, dangerous and unhelpful” as they undermine efforts to promote tolerance and diversity in Wales.
They are calling on people to attend the Peace Vigil organised by the Interfaith Council for Wales at the Senedd, Cardiff Bay, on Friday evening (June 4), instead, which aims to celebrate the city’s cultural diversity and to reject any attempts to harm community relations.
The League has already held protests in Newport, Swansea and Wrexham.
In a joint statement, Dr Morgan and Mr Kidwai said:
“As leaders in the Christian and Muslim Communities in Wales, we find the Defence League’s approach to the challenge of living in a diverse society to be crude dangerous and unhelpful. Crude because it does not meet real human contact and exchanges; dangerous because it ignores the real issues in favour of simplistic stereotypes and rumours which exploit people’s ignorance and fears; unhelpful because it seeks to reverse all that is good about the best of Welsh society where all are welcome and people are respected for who they are and what they contribute and bring to each other from different beliefs and cultures.
“We recognise that there is a continuing problem in some parts of Britain where extremist Muslims are still active and recruit vulnerable devout young Muslims to their anti Western, anti Christian, anti modernisation cause. But the Muslim Council of Wales rejects these behaviours and describes them as anti Islamic. The Defence League’s profound and dangerous mistake is to equate the behaviours of the minority with the majority of Muslims in Britain.
“We believe that patient work is needed to overcome suspicions and stereotypes. We have committed ourselves to that kind of work together. On June 16th we will be celebrating with the First Minister of Wales our series of consultations, called Finding A Common Voice, which aims at building trust and positive relationships between the Christian and Muslim communities and others in Wales.
“We invite all those who are tempted by the negative and distrustful approach taken by the Defence League to join in celebrating a more positive and rich experience of diversity.”
The Peace Vigil will be held at the steps of the Senedd on Friday, June 4, at 7.30pm.
For more information about the Finding A Common Voice event with the First Minister of Wales, please visit:
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/dynamic/press_releases/display_press_release.php?prid=4955
and in welsh
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/dynamic/press_releases/display_press_release.php?prid=4955&lang=cy_GB
Church in Wales
The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, and the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Wales, Saleem Kidwai, say the League’s protests are “crude, dangerous and unhelpful” as they undermine efforts to promote tolerance and diversity in Wales.
They are calling on people to attend the Peace Vigil organised by the Interfaith Council for Wales at the Senedd, Cardiff Bay, on Friday evening (June 4), instead, which aims to celebrate the city’s cultural diversity and to reject any attempts to harm community relations.
The League has already held protests in Newport, Swansea and Wrexham.
In a joint statement, Dr Morgan and Mr Kidwai said:
“As leaders in the Christian and Muslim Communities in Wales, we find the Defence League’s approach to the challenge of living in a diverse society to be crude dangerous and unhelpful. Crude because it does not meet real human contact and exchanges; dangerous because it ignores the real issues in favour of simplistic stereotypes and rumours which exploit people’s ignorance and fears; unhelpful because it seeks to reverse all that is good about the best of Welsh society where all are welcome and people are respected for who they are and what they contribute and bring to each other from different beliefs and cultures.
“We recognise that there is a continuing problem in some parts of Britain where extremist Muslims are still active and recruit vulnerable devout young Muslims to their anti Western, anti Christian, anti modernisation cause. But the Muslim Council of Wales rejects these behaviours and describes them as anti Islamic. The Defence League’s profound and dangerous mistake is to equate the behaviours of the minority with the majority of Muslims in Britain.
“We believe that patient work is needed to overcome suspicions and stereotypes. We have committed ourselves to that kind of work together. On June 16th we will be celebrating with the First Minister of Wales our series of consultations, called Finding A Common Voice, which aims at building trust and positive relationships between the Christian and Muslim communities and others in Wales.
“We invite all those who are tempted by the negative and distrustful approach taken by the Defence League to join in celebrating a more positive and rich experience of diversity.”
The Peace Vigil will be held at the steps of the Senedd on Friday, June 4, at 7.30pm.
For more information about the Finding A Common Voice event with the First Minister of Wales, please visit:
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/dynamic/press_releases/display_press_release.php?prid=4955
and in welsh
http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/dynamic/press_releases/display_press_release.php?prid=4955&lang=cy_GB
Church in Wales
UAF launce new website without so much as a fanfare. (UK)
As the BNP website problems continue to be a source of embarrassment to the party. Another nail in the coffin has been hammered home with a much needed modernisation of the United Against Fascism “UAF” website, which has largely gone unnoticed.
Gone is the badly designed site as the new one is much more user friendly and far more pleasing to the eye.
Support or not support the UAF is a personal choice but we welcome the new website as another formative tool in the fight against the far right in Britain.
to visit the site please click Here
MARSEILLE’S MUSLIMS WIN RIGHT TO BUILD MOSQUE (France)
A solitary stone, amid the dereliction and graffiti of an abandoned livestock market and abattoir, seems a flimsy foundation for the fulfilment of the greatest dream of Nourrédine Cheikh’s life. But as France, in common with much of Europe, stands at hazardous crossroads in its relations with the world of Islam, what the stone represents is enough to make Mr Cheikh a contented man. Before the end of next year, he hopes, it will be part of the grand mosque for which Muslims in the bustling Mediterranean port of Marseille have campaigned for decades but which he feared, at times, he would not live to see. The symbolic sign that work has at last begun also brings hope of a swift breakthrough in the task of raising the large sums of money still needed to produce a place of worship for up to 7,000 people. Algeria is the only country so far to commit itself to making a donation towards the €22 million (Dh98.5m) project and has promised an announcement within the coming months. After extensive lobbying of diplomats in France from all other Muslim countries, Mr Cheikh, president of the Grand Mosque association, is convinced their moral support will be converted into financial aid once Algiers declares its hand.
For French Muslims, but also for non-Muslims convinced of a need for the provision of modern facilities for those practising the country’s most popular faith after Catholicism, it cannot come a moment too soon. At a ceremony attended by 200 guests, the conservative UMP mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin, said earlier this month it was as logical that the city’s Muslims, no less than its Christians and Jews, should have a significant monument to mark their faith. Referring to persistent attempts by the far Right in Marseille to block the project, he said: “People have tried to stop us but we were able, using the laws and rules of the republic, to overcome difficulties. Marseille is a mosaic of communities and each must be at ease.” The development, described by Mr Cheikh as “historic and extremely moving”, comes at a difficult time for those promoting the interests of integration in a number of European countries. Last month, Belgium’s lower house voted in favour of prohibiting the full veil while in France, there is tension over the government’s proposed ban on the head-to-toe burqa. A Muslim woman was given an on-the-spot fine for driving her car while fully veiled in the western city of Nantes, and anti-Muslim feeling has also been aroused by news that the first gang suspect to be arrested, after a shoot-out near Paris that left a young policewoman dead, is Moroccan.
In Italy, another Muslim woman has been fined for wearing a burqa in public; she was on her way to a mosque near her home. And in the Netherlands, the anti-immigrant Freedom Party of Geert Wilders enjoyed success in local elections, and is expected to win extra seats – and possibly even a chance to join a coalition government – at next Wednesday’s general election. Mr Cheikh said negative media coverage and a tendency to blame immigrants for economic and social problems, makes integration harder to achieve. Community relations are also harmed, he argues, by the significant discrimination suffered by people of north African origin in jobs and housing. “My experience is that genuinely religious people, Catholics, Protestants and Jews, are much more tolerant than those with no real faith,” he said. He feels the image of Muslims generally is tarnished by the activities of extremists and said he is horrified when “acts of terrorism are claimed to have been carried out in the name of Islam when in fact they are contrary to the principles of the religion”. Yet he remains optimistic about the future, both in terms of the mosque project and in tackling causes of misunderstanding. “I certainly believe that non-Muslims will be among those offering donations to ensure this mosque is built,” he said.
Now 71, Mr Cheikh, an economist married with three grown-up children, arrived in France from Algeria 45 years ago. Marseille, for centuries a magnet for migrants, was already home to 100,000 Muslims, most from the Maghreb countries on the other side of the Mediterranean. It took a further 11 years for the city to have its first mosque, in a converted garage. Even now, among more than 60 places of worship, only four can truly be considered mosques, Mr Cheikh said, and far too many of the rest are in wholly inadequate premises. In a city of up to 250,000 Muslims, more than a quarter of the total population and 45,000 of them practising their faith regularly, there will still be a shortfall of 15,000 places when the Grand Mosque is complete, with a prayer hall measuring 2,500 square metres. “But it is a very emotional time for me, knowing that by the grace of God, I will see the project come to fruition,” he said. “There have been times when I doubted that I would see that day, and times when I have felt weary of the battle, the disputes. Other Muslim leaders looked me in the eye and told me I had been chosen for this mission and had to see it through.”
The National
For French Muslims, but also for non-Muslims convinced of a need for the provision of modern facilities for those practising the country’s most popular faith after Catholicism, it cannot come a moment too soon. At a ceremony attended by 200 guests, the conservative UMP mayor of Marseille, Jean-Claude Gaudin, said earlier this month it was as logical that the city’s Muslims, no less than its Christians and Jews, should have a significant monument to mark their faith. Referring to persistent attempts by the far Right in Marseille to block the project, he said: “People have tried to stop us but we were able, using the laws and rules of the republic, to overcome difficulties. Marseille is a mosaic of communities and each must be at ease.” The development, described by Mr Cheikh as “historic and extremely moving”, comes at a difficult time for those promoting the interests of integration in a number of European countries. Last month, Belgium’s lower house voted in favour of prohibiting the full veil while in France, there is tension over the government’s proposed ban on the head-to-toe burqa. A Muslim woman was given an on-the-spot fine for driving her car while fully veiled in the western city of Nantes, and anti-Muslim feeling has also been aroused by news that the first gang suspect to be arrested, after a shoot-out near Paris that left a young policewoman dead, is Moroccan.
In Italy, another Muslim woman has been fined for wearing a burqa in public; she was on her way to a mosque near her home. And in the Netherlands, the anti-immigrant Freedom Party of Geert Wilders enjoyed success in local elections, and is expected to win extra seats – and possibly even a chance to join a coalition government – at next Wednesday’s general election. Mr Cheikh said negative media coverage and a tendency to blame immigrants for economic and social problems, makes integration harder to achieve. Community relations are also harmed, he argues, by the significant discrimination suffered by people of north African origin in jobs and housing. “My experience is that genuinely religious people, Catholics, Protestants and Jews, are much more tolerant than those with no real faith,” he said. He feels the image of Muslims generally is tarnished by the activities of extremists and said he is horrified when “acts of terrorism are claimed to have been carried out in the name of Islam when in fact they are contrary to the principles of the religion”. Yet he remains optimistic about the future, both in terms of the mosque project and in tackling causes of misunderstanding. “I certainly believe that non-Muslims will be among those offering donations to ensure this mosque is built,” he said.
Now 71, Mr Cheikh, an economist married with three grown-up children, arrived in France from Algeria 45 years ago. Marseille, for centuries a magnet for migrants, was already home to 100,000 Muslims, most from the Maghreb countries on the other side of the Mediterranean. It took a further 11 years for the city to have its first mosque, in a converted garage. Even now, among more than 60 places of worship, only four can truly be considered mosques, Mr Cheikh said, and far too many of the rest are in wholly inadequate premises. In a city of up to 250,000 Muslims, more than a quarter of the total population and 45,000 of them practising their faith regularly, there will still be a shortfall of 15,000 places when the Grand Mosque is complete, with a prayer hall measuring 2,500 square metres. “But it is a very emotional time for me, knowing that by the grace of God, I will see the project come to fruition,” he said. “There have been times when I doubted that I would see that day, and times when I have felt weary of the battle, the disputes. Other Muslim leaders looked me in the eye and told me I had been chosen for this mission and had to see it through.”
The National
Jewish leaders condemn the English Defence League
They accuse the far right group of "bigotry" and "Islamophobia".
The Jewish Chronicle reports that the English Defence League has established a Jewish division. The far right, anti-Islam protest group whose violent nature was exposed by the Guardian last week (and covered by the NS here) has professed support for Israel in the past and is now urging British Jews to "lead the counter-Jihad fight in England".
But its advances have been swiftly rebuffed by Jewish leaders. Mark Gardner, communications director for the Community Security Trust, told the Chronicle:
"The EDL intimidate entire Muslim communities, causing tension and fear. Jews ought to remember that we have long experience of being on the receiving end of this kind of bigotry."
Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said:
"The EDL's supposed 'support' for Israel is empty and duplicitous. It is built on a foundation of Islamophobia and hatred which we reject entirely.
Sadly, we know only too well what hatred for hatred's sake can cause. The overwhelming majority will not be drawn in by this transparent attempt to manipulate a tense political conflict."
The New Statesman
The Jewish Chronicle reports that the English Defence League has established a Jewish division. The far right, anti-Islam protest group whose violent nature was exposed by the Guardian last week (and covered by the NS here) has professed support for Israel in the past and is now urging British Jews to "lead the counter-Jihad fight in England".
But its advances have been swiftly rebuffed by Jewish leaders. Mark Gardner, communications director for the Community Security Trust, told the Chronicle:
"The EDL intimidate entire Muslim communities, causing tension and fear. Jews ought to remember that we have long experience of being on the receiving end of this kind of bigotry."
Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said:
"The EDL's supposed 'support' for Israel is empty and duplicitous. It is built on a foundation of Islamophobia and hatred which we reject entirely.
Sadly, we know only too well what hatred for hatred's sake can cause. The overwhelming majority will not be drawn in by this transparent attempt to manipulate a tense political conflict."
The New Statesman
EDL step up their Jewish recruitment (UK)
The English Defence League, the extreme right-wing anti-Islamic-fundamentalism group, has launched a "Jewish division", encouraging members of the community to "lead the counter-Jihad fight in England".
It has signed up hundreds of followers on Facebook since the launch last week. Supporters include an ex-Community Security Trust volunteer who claims "a lot of Jewish guys want to get stuck in".
One follower wrote on Facebook "we are all Shayetet 13", in support of the IDF naval special forces unit involved in the Gaza flotilla incident.
But Jewish community organisations responded to the initiative with shock, saying the EDL intimidated Muslim communities and claiming its support for Israel was "empty and duplicitous".
The former CST member, Mark Israel, claimed Jews should back the EDL as an alternative to existing community groups.
He said: "I've been involved with groups like CST and the 62 Group for 40 years.
"At first I thought the EDL was an off-shoot of the BNP but I have been investigating them. They are very pro-active, unlike the Board of Deputies. They are our allies. We have a common cause. These guys want to have dialogue with the Jewish community.
"I know a lot of Jewish guys who want to get stuck in and want to support a physical presence. It is not your typical thing people want to be associated with, but in this day and age we need something like this. Is the CST enough?"
The EDL mission statement says the new division is for "Jewish supporters of the EDL, and supporters of Jewish people everywhere. We are non-racist/fascist and anyone is welcome if they want to live under English values and fully integrate into our way of life".
Last September the EDL brandished the Israeli flag at a demonstration and called on supporters to launch a counter-protest against a pro-Hizbollah march in Trafalgar Square.
Mark Gardner, CST communications director, said: "The EDL intimidate entire Muslim communities, causing tension and fear. Jews ought to remember that we have long experience of being on the receiving end of this kind of bigotry."
Jon Benjamin, Board of Deputies chief executive, said: "The EDL's supposed 'support' for Israel is empty and duplicitous. It is built on a foundation of Islamophobia and hatred which we reject entirely.
"Sadly, we know only too well what hatred for hatred's sake can cause. The overwhelming majority will not be drawn in by this transparent attempt to manipulate a tense political conflict."
The JC
Allgier's lawyers want neo-Nazi's tattoos covered during trial (USA)
So to ensure he gets a fair trial, they want the tattoos on the white supremacist's face, head, neck and hands covered up, even though that would "substantially change his appearance from what he looked like" on the day three years ago when he allegedly killed a Corrections officer during a visit to a Salt Lake City medical clinic.
Hiding the tattoos would potentially prejudice the state's case, but the defense argues the prejudice to the state is outweighed by prejudice to Allgier.
The defense motion, filed late last month, proposed covering the tattoos during trial but does not specify how they propose to do so.
Attorneys have told 3rd District Judge Paul Maughan they expect to be able to try the case in the spring of 2011.
But the recent loss of one of Allgier's public defenders -- Rudy Bautista, who left the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association to join a law firm -- could delay that trial expectation.
The last time one of the four-member defense team left the office, it delayed a planned preliminary hearing for five months.
Allgier's next court hearing is set for Sept. 1, when the judge hopes to resolve outstanding legal issues. No trial dates have been set.
Meanwhile, the Utah Supreme Court is deciding whether a letter written by a former Utah State Prison inmate that contains information about Allgier can be unsealed and released to the public. The defense has expressed concern that publicity about the letter's contents, penned by Brent Mayon Cobb, would jeopardize Allgier's right to a fair trial.
Following a three-day preliminary hearing in March, Allgier was bound over on one count of capital murder, as well as charges seven other felonies connected to Allgier's short-lived escape, which ended when a citizen disarmed him during a struggle inside an Arby's restaurant.
Allgier's attorneys have said they hope to resolve the case short of a trial. But prosecutors have said that no plea negotiations have been held.
SLTRIB
'Neo-Nazi' fails in bid to clear court (Australia)
A Perth magistrate has rejected an application by an alleged neo-Nazi to clear the court during a hearing into the shooting of a suburban mosque.
Bradley Neil Trappitt, 25, of Greenmount, appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court on Friday charged with three counts of discharging a firearm and destroying property.
The charges were in relation to three shots fired into the dome roof of the Suleymaniye Mosque in Queens Park on February 4.
Trappitt was arrested with Marshall Jacob Hort, 24, of High Wycombe - who is charged with the same offences - after police conducted raids on homes across Perth.
Hort appeared in court alongside Trappitt.
A third man, Dominic Helmut Peter, 19, of Kalamunda, was arrested later and also appeared with Trappitt and Hort, charged with one count of possessing an unarmed firearm.
Police allege Peter supplied the other two men with a .303 calibre rifle used in the shooting.
All three are alleged to be members of the extreme nationalist group Combat 18 (C18), which police claim has effectively been disbanded in Western Australia due to the arrests.
Appearing before Magistrate Paul Heaney, Trappitt applied to have the court cleared during the hearing.
Mr Heaney rejected the application, stating: "We don't do that here.
"We have open courts in Australia," Mr Heaney summed up before granting all three men bail to reappear on July 2.
Outside the court, Trappitt refused to answer reporters' questions relating to his association with C18, which police have described as "an organisation specialising in hate crime and neo-Nazi affiliated".
Originally based in the UK, C18 has chapters all over the world and is based on the ideas of neo-Nazism and white supremacy.
The number 18 is derived from the initials of Adolf Hitler, with A and H being the first and eighth letters of the alphabet.
News SMH
Bradley Neil Trappitt, 25, of Greenmount, appeared in the Perth Magistrates Court on Friday charged with three counts of discharging a firearm and destroying property.
The charges were in relation to three shots fired into the dome roof of the Suleymaniye Mosque in Queens Park on February 4.
Trappitt was arrested with Marshall Jacob Hort, 24, of High Wycombe - who is charged with the same offences - after police conducted raids on homes across Perth.
Hort appeared in court alongside Trappitt.
A third man, Dominic Helmut Peter, 19, of Kalamunda, was arrested later and also appeared with Trappitt and Hort, charged with one count of possessing an unarmed firearm.
Police allege Peter supplied the other two men with a .303 calibre rifle used in the shooting.
All three are alleged to be members of the extreme nationalist group Combat 18 (C18), which police claim has effectively been disbanded in Western Australia due to the arrests.
Appearing before Magistrate Paul Heaney, Trappitt applied to have the court cleared during the hearing.
Mr Heaney rejected the application, stating: "We don't do that here.
"We have open courts in Australia," Mr Heaney summed up before granting all three men bail to reappear on July 2.
Outside the court, Trappitt refused to answer reporters' questions relating to his association with C18, which police have described as "an organisation specialising in hate crime and neo-Nazi affiliated".
Originally based in the UK, C18 has chapters all over the world and is based on the ideas of neo-Nazism and white supremacy.
The number 18 is derived from the initials of Adolf Hitler, with A and H being the first and eighth letters of the alphabet.
News SMH
Former BNP activist made Blackburn with Darwen's culture boss
A former British National Party activist has been put in charge of culture in a town hall reshuffle.
Eacrfoft councillor Trevor Maxfield used to be a local organiser for the far right party before being elected to Blackburn with Darwen Council three years ago, representing For Darwen.
Following last month’s local elections, he has been promoted to the role of executive member for leisure and culture, putting him in charge of the borough’s leisure centres, parks and cultural festivals.
Coun Maxfield said he no longer shared the views of the far-right party.
He said he accepted questions being asked about his involvement with the BNP, but added: “It was in the past. I no longer share the BNP’s views, and you can ask any of the Asian members of the council. I get on with them very well.
“I do not consider myself to be far-right. I am white working class, and it’s as simple as that. In fact my national politics are left wing.”
For Darwen currently shares control of the council with the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.
Labour Sunnyhurst councillor Dave Smith said: “To be fair to Trevor he’s quite a good bloke. I think his BNP stuff is in the past. ”
Tory council leader Mike Lee added: “I was not aware he had been involved with the BNP. I had heard murmurings, but when I’ve been with him he’s never said anything that would equate to a BNP comment so I can only take as I find.”
Coun Maxfield warned of spending cuts in his portfolio, which has recorded shortfalls in recent years, but said he had not yet seen a detailed budget breakdown.
His promotion means For Darwen Party leader Tony Melia is no longer on the executive board.
As part of the changes, Lib Dem Marsh House councillor Simon Huggill has been put in charge of housing.
In the past he has been a strong critic of the multimillion pound Housing Market Renewal scheme, which will form a key part of his new portfolio, and campaigned against demolition work to make way for Darwen’s new academy
Lancaster Teligraph
Eacrfoft councillor Trevor Maxfield used to be a local organiser for the far right party before being elected to Blackburn with Darwen Council three years ago, representing For Darwen.
Following last month’s local elections, he has been promoted to the role of executive member for leisure and culture, putting him in charge of the borough’s leisure centres, parks and cultural festivals.
Coun Maxfield said he no longer shared the views of the far-right party.
He said he accepted questions being asked about his involvement with the BNP, but added: “It was in the past. I no longer share the BNP’s views, and you can ask any of the Asian members of the council. I get on with them very well.
“I do not consider myself to be far-right. I am white working class, and it’s as simple as that. In fact my national politics are left wing.”
For Darwen currently shares control of the council with the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties.
Labour Sunnyhurst councillor Dave Smith said: “To be fair to Trevor he’s quite a good bloke. I think his BNP stuff is in the past. ”
Tory council leader Mike Lee added: “I was not aware he had been involved with the BNP. I had heard murmurings, but when I’ve been with him he’s never said anything that would equate to a BNP comment so I can only take as I find.”
Coun Maxfield warned of spending cuts in his portfolio, which has recorded shortfalls in recent years, but said he had not yet seen a detailed budget breakdown.
His promotion means For Darwen Party leader Tony Melia is no longer on the executive board.
As part of the changes, Lib Dem Marsh House councillor Simon Huggill has been put in charge of housing.
In the past he has been a strong critic of the multimillion pound Housing Market Renewal scheme, which will form a key part of his new portfolio, and campaigned against demolition work to make way for Darwen’s new academy
Lancaster Teligraph
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Taxi drivers plan strike over anti-Muslim rally (Cardiff, Wales)
TAXI drivers are preparing to strike on Cardiff’s busiest day of the year in protest at an anti-Muslim rally being held in the city centre.
As tens of thousands of people descend on the capital on Saturday to watch Wales take on South Africa at the Millennium Stadium, the Stereophonics play Cardiff City Stadium and Glamorgan take on West Indies A at the Swalec Stadium, some of the city’s 950 hackney drivers will withdraw their services.
Estimates of the numbers of black-and-white cabbies taking part in the strike against the Welsh Defence League’s (WDL) rally range from 80 to 700, but with large amounts of sport and music fans expected Mathab Khan, chairman of the Cardiff Hackney Association, told the Echo he has warned police of the potential for “worrying” disruption.
In addition, Cardiff Bus has said it cannot confirm at this stage whether extra services will be put on.
Service delivery manager Donna McDonald said the company would do its best to run a normal service to make sure everyone gets home safely.
But she warned revellers to allow plenty of time for their journeys “and be mindful there will be a great deal of pressure on the network”.
Rail bosses have also warned long queues could form at Cardiff Central Station even though services have been “strengthened”.
Mr Khan said he believed up to 700 drivers or more could join the strike, expected to run from 10am on Saturday to 10am Sunday.
But Robert Goddard, of Unite Against Fascism, which asked drivers to leave work and join its counter demonstration on Saturday, told the Echo he believed around 80 drivers would take part.
“We have been speaking to a number of taxi drivers that would normally work on that day, but won’t be working in support of the protest we are having,” he said.
“They are joining us in light of the WDL’s demonstration and also in light of the fact they experience racism.”
Hackney drivers on the rank outside Cardiff Central Railway Station yesterday confirmed some drivers were planning to strike.
One man, who did not wish to be named, said he feared he would be at risk of violence if he worked on Saturday and was therefore planning to take part in the strike.
“I have a wife and children to consider,” he said.
But another driver said he could not afford to pass up the opportunity to work on the busiest day of the year. He added he had few worries over his safety.
Mr Khan said as the Cardiff Hackney Association was a non-political organisation it had opted to take a neutral stance on the strike and had not encouraged or discouraged members to take part.
But he confirmed he would not be working on Saturday and would instead be joining the Unite Against Fascism counter demonstration in an individual capacity.
Wales Online
As tens of thousands of people descend on the capital on Saturday to watch Wales take on South Africa at the Millennium Stadium, the Stereophonics play Cardiff City Stadium and Glamorgan take on West Indies A at the Swalec Stadium, some of the city’s 950 hackney drivers will withdraw their services.
Estimates of the numbers of black-and-white cabbies taking part in the strike against the Welsh Defence League’s (WDL) rally range from 80 to 700, but with large amounts of sport and music fans expected Mathab Khan, chairman of the Cardiff Hackney Association, told the Echo he has warned police of the potential for “worrying” disruption.
In addition, Cardiff Bus has said it cannot confirm at this stage whether extra services will be put on.
Service delivery manager Donna McDonald said the company would do its best to run a normal service to make sure everyone gets home safely.
But she warned revellers to allow plenty of time for their journeys “and be mindful there will be a great deal of pressure on the network”.
Rail bosses have also warned long queues could form at Cardiff Central Station even though services have been “strengthened”.
Mr Khan said he believed up to 700 drivers or more could join the strike, expected to run from 10am on Saturday to 10am Sunday.
But Robert Goddard, of Unite Against Fascism, which asked drivers to leave work and join its counter demonstration on Saturday, told the Echo he believed around 80 drivers would take part.
“We have been speaking to a number of taxi drivers that would normally work on that day, but won’t be working in support of the protest we are having,” he said.
“They are joining us in light of the WDL’s demonstration and also in light of the fact they experience racism.”
Hackney drivers on the rank outside Cardiff Central Railway Station yesterday confirmed some drivers were planning to strike.
One man, who did not wish to be named, said he feared he would be at risk of violence if he worked on Saturday and was therefore planning to take part in the strike.
“I have a wife and children to consider,” he said.
But another driver said he could not afford to pass up the opportunity to work on the busiest day of the year. He added he had few worries over his safety.
Mr Khan said as the Cardiff Hackney Association was a non-political organisation it had opted to take a neutral stance on the strike and had not encouraged or discouraged members to take part.
But he confirmed he would not be working on Saturday and would instead be joining the Unite Against Fascism counter demonstration in an individual capacity.
Wales Online
Hain appeals for huge turnout to oppose ‘fascist’ weekend march
Fascism must be opposed in Wales this weekend when the Welsh Defence League (WDL) descends on the capital, according to anti-apartheid veteran and Labour MP Peter Hain.
The former Welsh Secretary and Neath MP insists that the league, which plans to demonstrate in Cardiff on Saturday, is a racist organisation. The league claims it is a “peaceful protest group” but Wales Unite Against Fascism will stage a rival march in the city.
Mr Hain, who is honorary president of the anti-fascist organisation, said the WDL would be “strutting its poison in an anti-Muslim demonstration”.
A peace vigil supported by Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan and the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Wales, Saleem Kidwai, will be held at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay tomorrow evening.
The two men have described the league’s protests as “crude, dangerous and unhelpful”. The Senedd event is organised by the Interfaith Council for Wales and will celebrate the different cultures in Cardiff.
Mr Hain called for a “big turnout of people” to join the anti-fascist march on Saturday.
A Facebook group organised by anti-racist Cardiff City supporters, Bluebirds vs the Nazis, yesterday had 122 members.
Mr Hain believes Wales must be vigilant against fascism at a time of economic difficulty.
“After the BNP’s utter failure to make electoral headway in the General Election, racists and fascists are increasingly resorting to their age-old tactic of violence they deployed during the 1930s when Mosley’s Blackshirts attacked Jews, and again in the 1970s and 1980s when the National Front went on the rampage against black Britons.
“Now they are focusing on their latest scapegoat: Muslims.”
He continued: “And this is a fertile period for scapegoat extremism, with all the classic hallmarks for racism and fascism: the aftermath of an economic recession and a new government bent upon big cuts in jobs and public services.
“In the 1930s Welsh miners and others volunteered to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War.
“In the 1970s and 1980s the Welsh anti-apartheid movement mobilised a broad section of Welsh society, and in the same period the Anti-Nazi League took on and destroyed the BNP’s predecessor, the National Front.”
Describing a recent EDL event in Stoke-on-Trent in January, he said: “Hooligans rampaged through the streets. Prominent British National Party activists, and an assorted bunch of racists and fascists, joined them. Marauding thugs tried to attack a counter-protest called by Unite Against Fascism, smashing their way through two police lines, overturning riot vans, but were blocked by a third police line.
“They then directed their anger on the Asian community, smashing up shops and attacking Asian people and a local mosque. Much the same happened in Dudley last month.”
At the age of 19, Mr Hain became the chairman of Stop the 70 protest group which aimed to prevent the 1969-70 South African rugby and cricket tours of the UK. Saturday’s marches coincide with South Africa’s match with Wales at the Millennium Stadium.
He said: “If it were not so sinister it would be ironic.”
South Wales Police officers have attended EDL marches in Newcastle and Aylesbury to prepare for Saturday. Extra police will be on patrol but the force anticipates a peaceful day.
It has contacted people involved on both sides and wants to see a “family-friendly event”.
Mr Hain said: “It is vital that the decent progressive majority in Wales rejects the poison of the Welsh Defence League which does not speak for, let alone defend, Wales.”
The Unite Against Fascism march will start at 11am at Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff Bay and is supported by leading trade unions including Unite and the CWU.
The emergence of the English, Welsh and Scottish defence leagues has fascinated and appalled opponents of fascism who fear that an alliance of football hooligans and supporters of far-right politics could be about to bring violence and intolerance to British streets.
However, the English Defence League insists that people of all races and religions are welcome in its ranks and it is only opposed to militant forms of Islam.
The EDL’s website refers to our “Christian, Jewish, Sikh, and Hindu friends”.
It blames violence at marches on “self-proclaimed yet clearly misguided anti-fascists and gangs of Muslim youth”.
The sight of street protests descending into violence has alarmed observers who fear there is the potential for confrontations on a scale not seen since the days when the National Front clashed with the Anti-Nazi League.
Reports of former Welsh football hooligans joining a “ready-made army” in opposition to Islamist ideology will send a shiver down the spine of anyone who fears for social cohesion.
Anti-asylum badges are for sale on the Welsh Defence League website. Its Facebook page has a logo: “No More Mosques in Wales”.
These groups have harnessed the internet to communicate. The question is whether a group with bigger political ambitions will harness this growing number of people who feel their society is under threat.
Wales Online
The former Welsh Secretary and Neath MP insists that the league, which plans to demonstrate in Cardiff on Saturday, is a racist organisation. The league claims it is a “peaceful protest group” but Wales Unite Against Fascism will stage a rival march in the city.
Mr Hain, who is honorary president of the anti-fascist organisation, said the WDL would be “strutting its poison in an anti-Muslim demonstration”.
A peace vigil supported by Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan and the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Wales, Saleem Kidwai, will be held at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay tomorrow evening.
The two men have described the league’s protests as “crude, dangerous and unhelpful”. The Senedd event is organised by the Interfaith Council for Wales and will celebrate the different cultures in Cardiff.
Mr Hain called for a “big turnout of people” to join the anti-fascist march on Saturday.
A Facebook group organised by anti-racist Cardiff City supporters, Bluebirds vs the Nazis, yesterday had 122 members.
Mr Hain believes Wales must be vigilant against fascism at a time of economic difficulty.
“After the BNP’s utter failure to make electoral headway in the General Election, racists and fascists are increasingly resorting to their age-old tactic of violence they deployed during the 1930s when Mosley’s Blackshirts attacked Jews, and again in the 1970s and 1980s when the National Front went on the rampage against black Britons.
“Now they are focusing on their latest scapegoat: Muslims.”
He continued: “And this is a fertile period for scapegoat extremism, with all the classic hallmarks for racism and fascism: the aftermath of an economic recession and a new government bent upon big cuts in jobs and public services.
“In the 1930s Welsh miners and others volunteered to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil War.
“In the 1970s and 1980s the Welsh anti-apartheid movement mobilised a broad section of Welsh society, and in the same period the Anti-Nazi League took on and destroyed the BNP’s predecessor, the National Front.”
Describing a recent EDL event in Stoke-on-Trent in January, he said: “Hooligans rampaged through the streets. Prominent British National Party activists, and an assorted bunch of racists and fascists, joined them. Marauding thugs tried to attack a counter-protest called by Unite Against Fascism, smashing their way through two police lines, overturning riot vans, but were blocked by a third police line.
“They then directed their anger on the Asian community, smashing up shops and attacking Asian people and a local mosque. Much the same happened in Dudley last month.”
At the age of 19, Mr Hain became the chairman of Stop the 70 protest group which aimed to prevent the 1969-70 South African rugby and cricket tours of the UK. Saturday’s marches coincide with South Africa’s match with Wales at the Millennium Stadium.
He said: “If it were not so sinister it would be ironic.”
South Wales Police officers have attended EDL marches in Newcastle and Aylesbury to prepare for Saturday. Extra police will be on patrol but the force anticipates a peaceful day.
It has contacted people involved on both sides and wants to see a “family-friendly event”.
Mr Hain said: “It is vital that the decent progressive majority in Wales rejects the poison of the Welsh Defence League which does not speak for, let alone defend, Wales.”
The Unite Against Fascism march will start at 11am at Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff Bay and is supported by leading trade unions including Unite and the CWU.
The emergence of the English, Welsh and Scottish defence leagues has fascinated and appalled opponents of fascism who fear that an alliance of football hooligans and supporters of far-right politics could be about to bring violence and intolerance to British streets.
However, the English Defence League insists that people of all races and religions are welcome in its ranks and it is only opposed to militant forms of Islam.
The EDL’s website refers to our “Christian, Jewish, Sikh, and Hindu friends”.
It blames violence at marches on “self-proclaimed yet clearly misguided anti-fascists and gangs of Muslim youth”.
The sight of street protests descending into violence has alarmed observers who fear there is the potential for confrontations on a scale not seen since the days when the National Front clashed with the Anti-Nazi League.
Reports of former Welsh football hooligans joining a “ready-made army” in opposition to Islamist ideology will send a shiver down the spine of anyone who fears for social cohesion.
Anti-asylum badges are for sale on the Welsh Defence League website. Its Facebook page has a logo: “No More Mosques in Wales”.
These groups have harnessed the internet to communicate. The question is whether a group with bigger political ambitions will harness this growing number of people who feel their society is under threat.
Wales Online
Racist couples barred from adopting children in Italy
AN Italian couple's adoption bid was denied after they said in their application that they did not want "dark-skinned" children.
An appeal court in Sicily ruled that the couple were unfit to adopt children of any description, local media reported.
A child protection agency took the couple to court after they submitted an application in Catania, in eastern Sicily, saying they were "prepared to take in up to two children... regardless of sex or religion, but... not with dark skin."
The court ordered a magistrate who reviews adoption requests to ignore such specifications, then took things a step further, ruling that any such "racist" couple should not be allowed to adopt at all.
Daily Telegraph
An appeal court in Sicily ruled that the couple were unfit to adopt children of any description, local media reported.
A child protection agency took the couple to court after they submitted an application in Catania, in eastern Sicily, saying they were "prepared to take in up to two children... regardless of sex or religion, but... not with dark skin."
The court ordered a magistrate who reviews adoption requests to ignore such specifications, then took things a step further, ruling that any such "racist" couple should not be allowed to adopt at all.
Daily Telegraph
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
ORTHODOX PROTESTANT PAPER CONDEMNS MALAWI GAY PARDON (Netherlands)
Newspaper Het Reformatorisch Dagblad, which takes an orthodox Protestant line, has written an editorial in which it says it is a 'shame' the president of Malawi was so quick to 'kneel down' and pardon a gay couple who had been sentenced to 14 years in jail. 'If the citizens of Malawi want to know where this trail ends, they only need to follow political reporting in the Netherlands for a while,' the paper said. The paper is referring to efforts by D66 to close a loophole allowing religious schools in the Netherlands to refuse to employ gay teachers. 'A large majority in parliament support this proposal and this will not change after the election,' the paper wrote. 'It cannot be ruled out that here the opposite will happen to what has happened in Malawi: not people who are openly homosexual will be punished, but the Christians and Muslims who name that behaviour a sin.' The paper asks if UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon, who put pressure on Malawi to pardon the couple, will be prepared to address the Dutch parliament and support people who are religious against such intolerance.
Dutch News
Dutch News
French admit they are racist
One in seven French people admit to being racist and many have prejudicial views of immigrants, homosexuals, blacks, Arab and Jews, according to a survey released on Sunday.
A poll by the BVA institute for two anti-discrimination groups found, for example, that 30 per cent of the French agree with the idea that Jews have more influence on finance and the media than other groups.
Almost as many, 28 per cent, think that Arabs are more likely to commit crimes than members of other ethnic groups, a number that has more than doubled since a similar poll was conducted last year.
A significant minority of the French, 15 per cent, admit to being "rather or a bit racist", up one per cent on the previous study.
Almost half of respondents, 49 per cent, thought that immigrants are better able to exploit the social welfaresystem than are the native French, and 12 per cent said homosexuals were more obsessed by sex than others.
Meanwhile 28 per cent said they regarded blacks as more physically powerful than other groups.
And even among those who told pollsters they were not racist, a third said they did not react when they heard others use racist language.
"The French capacity for indignation is in decline," lamented Arielle Schwab, president of the Union of French Jewish Students, one of the groups that commissioned the survey.
The groups ascribed the increase in prejudicial views to the political climate in France, where the government has attempted to generate a debate on national identity which some see as encouraging racial stereotyping.
"In the past few months we're seen racist speech entering the mainstream," said Dominique Sopo of pressure groupe SOS Racisme, criticising the identity debate and the government's attempt to ban the full-face Islamic veil.
The BVA poll was carried out between May 21 and 22 on a representative sample of 1,029 subjects aged 15 or more.
The Telegraph
A poll by the BVA institute for two anti-discrimination groups found, for example, that 30 per cent of the French agree with the idea that Jews have more influence on finance and the media than other groups.
Almost as many, 28 per cent, think that Arabs are more likely to commit crimes than members of other ethnic groups, a number that has more than doubled since a similar poll was conducted last year.
A significant minority of the French, 15 per cent, admit to being "rather or a bit racist", up one per cent on the previous study.
Almost half of respondents, 49 per cent, thought that immigrants are better able to exploit the social welfaresystem than are the native French, and 12 per cent said homosexuals were more obsessed by sex than others.
Meanwhile 28 per cent said they regarded blacks as more physically powerful than other groups.
And even among those who told pollsters they were not racist, a third said they did not react when they heard others use racist language.
"The French capacity for indignation is in decline," lamented Arielle Schwab, president of the Union of French Jewish Students, one of the groups that commissioned the survey.
The groups ascribed the increase in prejudicial views to the political climate in France, where the government has attempted to generate a debate on national identity which some see as encouraging racial stereotyping.
"In the past few months we're seen racist speech entering the mainstream," said Dominique Sopo of pressure groupe SOS Racisme, criticising the identity debate and the government's attempt to ban the full-face Islamic veil.
The BVA poll was carried out between May 21 and 22 on a representative sample of 1,029 subjects aged 15 or more.
The Telegraph
Antifascist Targeted in Arson Attack (Russia)
Neo-Nazis are suspected of being behind an arson attack on the apartment of a prominent anti-fascist activist in Izhevsk, Russia, according to a May 23, 2010 article in the independent daily "Novaya Gazeta." On the evening of May 23, someone set Oleg Serebrennikov's apartment door on fire, while also shooting 11 bullets at it and leaving threatening graffiti behind. Police are investigating the incident. In February 2004, far-right thugs beat Mr. Serebrennikov, who was taking part in an anti-war demonstration. Four of the attackers were subsequently sentenced.
UCSJ
UCSJ
Relief as BNP pulls plug on annual Red, White and Blue festival
THE British National Party says its controversial annual Red, White and Blue festival will not return to Derbyshire this year.
People living near to the site of the three-day event, which cost Derbyshire Constabulary £500,000 to police last year, have spoken of their "considerable relief".
The festival has been held on fields off Codnor-Denby Lane, Denby, for three years.
But it attracted protests from anti-fascist groups across the country, with hundreds descending on the village to demonstrate. Several arrests have been made.
Officers were drafted in from Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and the Derbyshire force's Chief Constable said he feared the cost implications of it happening again.
But the BNP has now announced that it will have no national festival this summer and will instead focus on localised social events.
That has been welcomed by anti-BNP campaigners and people in Denby village.
Joe Osborne, 71, of Breach Road, said: "It will be a peaceful weekend again. Previously we have had a lot of noise and nuisance from people, both on the site and outside it.
"It has caused an inconvenience for the past three years for residents in Breach Lane and Codnor-Denby Lane – people are fenced in, in their own homes, when it takes place.
"Now they will get to enjoy a normal weekend again."
The BNP said one of its reasons was the cost associated with policing the festival.
The party said it would rather see the money spent on "counter terror" operations.
Amber Valley borough councillor Lewis Allsebrook, who is also the Amber Valley local organiser for the BNP, said he believed the cost could have risen to £1 million.
Mr Allsebrook said: "If missing one weekend of fun and enjoyment at the Red, White and Blue saves the police enough funds to prevent just one terrorist attack, I think it is a better use of police resources.
"Perhaps the Red, White and Blue needs to take place in a county where the police are not hugely under-funded and not a hotspot for terrorist plotters.
"There is absolutely no chance of it coming back this year, but that is not to say it won't in the future," he said.
He added: "Running and setting-up the BNP festival is very labour intensive and can consume whole months of key activists' time."
John Lumsden, neighbour of site owner Alan Warner, said the past three years had been a "total nightmare".
The 68-year-old said: "I think the village is relieved and highly delighted.
"I think the BNP has lost so much money in the past few years, because people have put up so much opposition to them, that it's no longer viable.
"They have also had so many arguments in their own camp and a disastrous election campaign."
Last year, the Red, White and Blue festival attracted hundreds of protesters and police officers made 19 arrests.
Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon said the force spent in the region of £500,000 on policing the event, plus £250,000 in 2008, when 36 arrests were made.
After last year's festival, Mr Creedon asked the Home Office for funding for the events but is yet to receive a reply.
Musician Baby J, a volunteer with Love Music Hate Racism who helped organise protests against last year's event, said: "After being smashed in the elections, the BNP knows it would be a very poor turnout, as last year figures were down on what it expected.
"They know they're not welcome. It's horrible for people in the village to have it and the protest that comes with it. It's not fair on a village that size."
A Derbyshire police spokesman said they had yet to receive official notification from the BNP about the event.
Amber Valley borough councillor for Denby Jean Gemmell said: "It was not very popular. People were worried about what was going to happen and I had phone calls about it."
This is Derbyshire
People living near to the site of the three-day event, which cost Derbyshire Constabulary £500,000 to police last year, have spoken of their "considerable relief".
The festival has been held on fields off Codnor-Denby Lane, Denby, for three years.
But it attracted protests from anti-fascist groups across the country, with hundreds descending on the village to demonstrate. Several arrests have been made.
Officers were drafted in from Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and the Derbyshire force's Chief Constable said he feared the cost implications of it happening again.
But the BNP has now announced that it will have no national festival this summer and will instead focus on localised social events.
That has been welcomed by anti-BNP campaigners and people in Denby village.
Joe Osborne, 71, of Breach Road, said: "It will be a peaceful weekend again. Previously we have had a lot of noise and nuisance from people, both on the site and outside it.
"It has caused an inconvenience for the past three years for residents in Breach Lane and Codnor-Denby Lane – people are fenced in, in their own homes, when it takes place.
"Now they will get to enjoy a normal weekend again."
The BNP said one of its reasons was the cost associated with policing the festival.
The party said it would rather see the money spent on "counter terror" operations.
Amber Valley borough councillor Lewis Allsebrook, who is also the Amber Valley local organiser for the BNP, said he believed the cost could have risen to £1 million.
Mr Allsebrook said: "If missing one weekend of fun and enjoyment at the Red, White and Blue saves the police enough funds to prevent just one terrorist attack, I think it is a better use of police resources.
"Perhaps the Red, White and Blue needs to take place in a county where the police are not hugely under-funded and not a hotspot for terrorist plotters.
"There is absolutely no chance of it coming back this year, but that is not to say it won't in the future," he said.
He added: "Running and setting-up the BNP festival is very labour intensive and can consume whole months of key activists' time."
John Lumsden, neighbour of site owner Alan Warner, said the past three years had been a "total nightmare".
The 68-year-old said: "I think the village is relieved and highly delighted.
"I think the BNP has lost so much money in the past few years, because people have put up so much opposition to them, that it's no longer viable.
"They have also had so many arguments in their own camp and a disastrous election campaign."
Last year, the Red, White and Blue festival attracted hundreds of protesters and police officers made 19 arrests.
Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon said the force spent in the region of £500,000 on policing the event, plus £250,000 in 2008, when 36 arrests were made.
After last year's festival, Mr Creedon asked the Home Office for funding for the events but is yet to receive a reply.
Musician Baby J, a volunteer with Love Music Hate Racism who helped organise protests against last year's event, said: "After being smashed in the elections, the BNP knows it would be a very poor turnout, as last year figures were down on what it expected.
"They know they're not welcome. It's horrible for people in the village to have it and the protest that comes with it. It's not fair on a village that size."
A Derbyshire police spokesman said they had yet to receive official notification from the BNP about the event.
Amber Valley borough councillor for Denby Jean Gemmell said: "It was not very popular. People were worried about what was going to happen and I had phone calls about it."
This is Derbyshire
EXTREMISTS ROUTED IN CZECH ELECTIONS
Prague Monitor
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
ANTI-IMMIGRATION WILDERS RUNS A MUTED CAMPAIGN (Netherlands)
As the Dutch election campaign centres on the economy, the populist Islam-basher Geert Wilders has lost momentum.
Geert Wilders makes clear choices about which media he talks to. He refuses to be interviewed by NRC Handelsblad, for example, and to give reasons for his refusal. Interviews with media that are, apparently, unacceptable to him don’t seem to fit into his campaign strategy. He also denied daily Trouw an interview and generally avoids public television, though he participates in their prime ministerial debates in the run-up to the June 9 election. When he does appear in the media, Wilders tries to send a clear message: Islam is a huge danger, mass immigration costs billions, and the average Dutch voter is best served by the left socio-economic programme of his PVV. Wilders, who until 2004 sat in parliament for the right-wing liberal VVD, promises the state pension age will not be raised, tax benefits on mortgages will remain intact, and there will be no cuts in unemployment benefit. But he turns every political debate to his core business. “Other parties want to slash unemployment benefits while seven billion euros are spent each year on mass immigration,” was one of his first contributions to last Wednesday’s TV debate on the economy. The remark was his attempt to regain lost ground in the final weeks of the election campaign. Six months ago, his party was leading some of the polls, but it has been overtaken by the right-wing liberals, Labour and the Christian democrats. When the government fell in February, Wilders proclaimed that the election battle would be between his party and Labour. But the real fight is now between the traditional left and right. Primary combatants are Job Cohen, the labour party leader, Mark Rutte, head of the right-wing liberal party VVD, and Jan Peter Balkenende of the Christian democrats. Wilders has been edged to the sidelines now the principal electoral issue is the economy rather than immigration.
Changed his tone
Wilders’ campaign has become remarkably muted. While Rutte, Cohen and Balkenende slug it out in the media, Wilders is ignored, making little impression with his usual one-liners such as, “prison inmates have it better than the aged in our care facilities”. The PVV is also less active in campaigning around the country. Wilders and his party candidates have only organised voter events about ten times. That is very little in comparison with the competition. Apart from the large, organised debates, they hardly appear in the media. This seems to be a result of Wilders’ tight control over the party. Candidates who speak publicly could make mistakes, seems to be his reasoning. The only visible PVV candidate is Hero Brinkman, who is pursuing his own campaign. As soon as he was assured of his position as a parliamentary contender, Brinkman launched a public battle for more democracy within Wilders’ party, calling on supporters to cast a vote for him personally. Brinkman wants a more democratic party with a youth wing, and an end to the single-issue focus. Unlike other political party’s, the PVV has no members, except for Wilders himself and all decisions are made by him. In recent years, Wilders rose to prominence with his condemnation of Islam. But after making his short film, Fitna, he seemed to have realised that he had to change his tone. He announced that he would broaden the party’s focus, adopted a left socio-economic programme, and trained his sights on defeating the traditional left-wing, particularly in the person of Job Cohen, the Labour party leader.
Does he want to be in government?
Recently, however, he has been adjusting his strategy, attacking the right as well. “Left up to the VVD, thousands more mosques will appear,” he warned his supporters last Tuesday. “Before the elections, the VVD copies a couple of our issues, but once the elections are over, the borders will be flung open.” The strategy shift makes it clear that Wilders is flailing. His proposal to impose a tax on headscarves didn’t go down well with all everyone in his party, insiders say. Two of his candidates, in whose training he had invested heavily, withdrew after some media furore. In Almere and Den Haag, PVV victories in local government elections did not lead to actual council responsibility. His opponents claim Wilders doesn’t really want to be in government. He has declared that he will not form a coalition with any party that intends to raise the pensionable age. That means he can only get together with the socialist SP. When presenting his election programme, Wilders stressed he was ready to rule the country, but he soon announced a secondary option, support for a minority government comprised of the right-liberals and Christian democrats. He seemed to be consciously courting a position like that of the Danish People’s Party, which has acquired considerable influence on immigration policy via supporting a centre-right minority government. If the election results permit, and the CDA and VVD can’t resist the temptation, Wilders could still exercise great influence and quietly work on developing his PVV. But with fewer people in parliament than he anticipated a couple of months ago.
Dutch News
Changed his tone
Wilders’ campaign has become remarkably muted. While Rutte, Cohen and Balkenende slug it out in the media, Wilders is ignored, making little impression with his usual one-liners such as, “prison inmates have it better than the aged in our care facilities”. The PVV is also less active in campaigning around the country. Wilders and his party candidates have only organised voter events about ten times. That is very little in comparison with the competition. Apart from the large, organised debates, they hardly appear in the media. This seems to be a result of Wilders’ tight control over the party. Candidates who speak publicly could make mistakes, seems to be his reasoning. The only visible PVV candidate is Hero Brinkman, who is pursuing his own campaign. As soon as he was assured of his position as a parliamentary contender, Brinkman launched a public battle for more democracy within Wilders’ party, calling on supporters to cast a vote for him personally. Brinkman wants a more democratic party with a youth wing, and an end to the single-issue focus. Unlike other political party’s, the PVV has no members, except for Wilders himself and all decisions are made by him. In recent years, Wilders rose to prominence with his condemnation of Islam. But after making his short film, Fitna, he seemed to have realised that he had to change his tone. He announced that he would broaden the party’s focus, adopted a left socio-economic programme, and trained his sights on defeating the traditional left-wing, particularly in the person of Job Cohen, the Labour party leader.
Does he want to be in government?
Recently, however, he has been adjusting his strategy, attacking the right as well. “Left up to the VVD, thousands more mosques will appear,” he warned his supporters last Tuesday. “Before the elections, the VVD copies a couple of our issues, but once the elections are over, the borders will be flung open.” The strategy shift makes it clear that Wilders is flailing. His proposal to impose a tax on headscarves didn’t go down well with all everyone in his party, insiders say. Two of his candidates, in whose training he had invested heavily, withdrew after some media furore. In Almere and Den Haag, PVV victories in local government elections did not lead to actual council responsibility. His opponents claim Wilders doesn’t really want to be in government. He has declared that he will not form a coalition with any party that intends to raise the pensionable age. That means he can only get together with the socialist SP. When presenting his election programme, Wilders stressed he was ready to rule the country, but he soon announced a secondary option, support for a minority government comprised of the right-liberals and Christian democrats. He seemed to be consciously courting a position like that of the Danish People’s Party, which has acquired considerable influence on immigration policy via supporting a centre-right minority government. If the election results permit, and the CDA and VVD can’t resist the temptation, Wilders could still exercise great influence and quietly work on developing his PVV. But with fewer people in parliament than he anticipated a couple of months ago.
Dutch News
Clerics condemn Welsh Defence League demo
Two of Wales’ religious leaders have issued a joint statement condemning a planned demonstration by Welsh Defence League as “crude and dangerous”.
The Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan and the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Wales Saleem Kidwai say Saturday’s protest in Cardiff will “undermine efforts to promote tolerance and diversity”.
The Welsh Defence League (WDL) has already held protests in Swansea and Wrexham earlier this year.
Last October around 200 people staged a counter demonstration to protest against the WDL march in Swansea.
About 200 police, some on horses, kept the groups apart. One man, 25, was arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence.
In Wrexham the protest last November went off largely without incident, but four people were arrested after scuffles broke out in the town centre as a counter demonstration was also held.
Unite Against Fascism (UAF) is also planning a demonstration that will march from the Senedd to Cardiff City hall on Saturday.
In their joint statement Dr Morgan and Mr Kidwai said: “As leaders in the Christian and Muslim Communities in Wales we find the Defence League’s approach to the challenge of living in a diverse society to be crude, dangerous and unhelpful.
“Crude because it does not meet real human contact and exchanges; dangerous because it ignores the real issues in favour of simplistic stereotypes and rumours which exploit people’s ignorance and fears.”
But the statement also recognised that “there is a continuing problem in some parts of Britain” with “extremist Muslims”.
Mr Kidwai said the Defence League’s “profound and dangerous mistake” was to equate the behaviours of the minority with the majority of British Muslims.
“We recognise that there is a continuing problem in some parts of Britain where extremist Muslims are still active and recruit vulnerable, devout young Muslims to their anti-Western, anti-Christian, anti-modernisation cause.
“But the Muslim Council of Wales rejects these behaviours and describes them as anti-Islamic.”
MP for Cardiff Central Jenny Willott said she abhors everything the WDL stands for.
The Lib Dem MP said: “The only thing that is very reassuring is that the WDL has very little support and they can’t do anything on their own without the English Defence League (EDL).”
But she conceded that concerns about radical Islam are fuelling support for extreme right-wing groups like the WDL and the EDL.
Last year the think tank Civitas claimed there could be as many as 85 sharia courts in Britain.
At the headquarters of the Islamic Sharia Council, in London, rulings are issued in matters of Muslim personal or civil law, including divorce, marriage, inheritance and settlement of dowry payments.
But Ms Willott said alongside people’s genuine concerns about radicalism there’s a misconception that sharia law is taking precedence over the British legal system.
Ms Willott said: “There are issues that people are concerned about and they have every right to be concerned about them, but I think things are being done to tackle them.
“But it needs a holistic approach – you need to tackle the areas where there are issues with rising fundamentalism, but also people’s lack of awareness and understanding as well.”
David Davies, MP for Monmouth, said there was a danger the issue of multiculturalism would be played out through violence unless political leaders have the courage to address the reasons why groups like the WDL and EDL are demonstrating. The Tory MP said: “The churches have not shied away from the fact that these protests have come about partly because of extremists within the Muslim community. They are right to try to discourage that form of extremism.
“Those of us who are not in the Muslim community should also discourage extremism. Otherwise we’ll see the debate about multiculturalism, immigration and integration played out in the form of violent street protests rather than discussed in a moderate way in parliament and through other bodies.”
Wales Online
The Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan and the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Wales Saleem Kidwai say Saturday’s protest in Cardiff will “undermine efforts to promote tolerance and diversity”.
The Welsh Defence League (WDL) has already held protests in Swansea and Wrexham earlier this year.
Last October around 200 people staged a counter demonstration to protest against the WDL march in Swansea.
About 200 police, some on horses, kept the groups apart. One man, 25, was arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence.
In Wrexham the protest last November went off largely without incident, but four people were arrested after scuffles broke out in the town centre as a counter demonstration was also held.
Unite Against Fascism (UAF) is also planning a demonstration that will march from the Senedd to Cardiff City hall on Saturday.
In their joint statement Dr Morgan and Mr Kidwai said: “As leaders in the Christian and Muslim Communities in Wales we find the Defence League’s approach to the challenge of living in a diverse society to be crude, dangerous and unhelpful.
“Crude because it does not meet real human contact and exchanges; dangerous because it ignores the real issues in favour of simplistic stereotypes and rumours which exploit people’s ignorance and fears.”
But the statement also recognised that “there is a continuing problem in some parts of Britain” with “extremist Muslims”.
Mr Kidwai said the Defence League’s “profound and dangerous mistake” was to equate the behaviours of the minority with the majority of British Muslims.
“We recognise that there is a continuing problem in some parts of Britain where extremist Muslims are still active and recruit vulnerable, devout young Muslims to their anti-Western, anti-Christian, anti-modernisation cause.
“But the Muslim Council of Wales rejects these behaviours and describes them as anti-Islamic.”
MP for Cardiff Central Jenny Willott said she abhors everything the WDL stands for.
The Lib Dem MP said: “The only thing that is very reassuring is that the WDL has very little support and they can’t do anything on their own without the English Defence League (EDL).”
But she conceded that concerns about radical Islam are fuelling support for extreme right-wing groups like the WDL and the EDL.
Last year the think tank Civitas claimed there could be as many as 85 sharia courts in Britain.
At the headquarters of the Islamic Sharia Council, in London, rulings are issued in matters of Muslim personal or civil law, including divorce, marriage, inheritance and settlement of dowry payments.
But Ms Willott said alongside people’s genuine concerns about radicalism there’s a misconception that sharia law is taking precedence over the British legal system.
Ms Willott said: “There are issues that people are concerned about and they have every right to be concerned about them, but I think things are being done to tackle them.
“But it needs a holistic approach – you need to tackle the areas where there are issues with rising fundamentalism, but also people’s lack of awareness and understanding as well.”
David Davies, MP for Monmouth, said there was a danger the issue of multiculturalism would be played out through violence unless political leaders have the courage to address the reasons why groups like the WDL and EDL are demonstrating. The Tory MP said: “The churches have not shied away from the fact that these protests have come about partly because of extremists within the Muslim community. They are right to try to discourage that form of extremism.
“Those of us who are not in the Muslim community should also discourage extremism. Otherwise we’ll see the debate about multiculturalism, immigration and integration played out in the form of violent street protests rather than discussed in a moderate way in parliament and through other bodies.”
Wales Online
Danish court rules extradition to Germany for suspected neo-Nazis
A Danish court ruled that two men accused of distributing neo-Nazi music and inciting racial hatred should be extradited to Germany.
The judgment was made after the two men, who were granted anonmyity by the court, appealed an October 7 decision by the Danish ministry of justice to approve their extradition to face charges of distributing banned neo-Nazi material.
Danish authorities arrested a 33-year-old German man and a 32-year-old Danish man at the end of August as part of an international crackdown by federal German police to break up a production and distribution network of neo-Nazi recordings.
Frankfurt prosecutors allege they distributed the music in Germany through the Denmark-based record label Celtic Moon.
A police raid uncovered thousands of CDs and DVDs at the Danish suspect's house -- many of which contained inflammatory lyrics towards Jews and denying the Holocaust, contrary to German law on incitement to racial hatred.
The Danish suspect appeared in court this week and told judges that he had only been looking after the CDs for his German friend and had never listened to them.
He claimed he abandoned right-wing extremism following the birth of his daughter in 2002 and had little contact with his fellow accused.
The German suspect said he was in contact with British neo-Nazi organisation Blood and Honour, but told the court he had "done nothing illegal."
"In Denmark, we have a freedom of expression that we don't have in Germany," he told the court.
German prosecutors argue Celtic Moon and another Danish record label, Nordvind Records, are closely linked to Blood and Honour, which in the past sold neo-Nazi propaganda.
Mikael Skjoedt, a lawyer for the Danish suspect, told AFP that the two men would launch a fresh appeal.
EJ Press
Danish authorities arrested a 33-year-old German man and a 32-year-old Danish man at the end of August as part of an international crackdown by federal German police to break up a production and distribution network of neo-Nazi recordings.
Frankfurt prosecutors allege they distributed the music in Germany through the Denmark-based record label Celtic Moon.
A police raid uncovered thousands of CDs and DVDs at the Danish suspect's house -- many of which contained inflammatory lyrics towards Jews and denying the Holocaust, contrary to German law on incitement to racial hatred.
The Danish suspect appeared in court this week and told judges that he had only been looking after the CDs for his German friend and had never listened to them.
He claimed he abandoned right-wing extremism following the birth of his daughter in 2002 and had little contact with his fellow accused.
The German suspect said he was in contact with British neo-Nazi organisation Blood and Honour, but told the court he had "done nothing illegal."
"In Denmark, we have a freedom of expression that we don't have in Germany," he told the court.
German prosecutors argue Celtic Moon and another Danish record label, Nordvind Records, are closely linked to Blood and Honour, which in the past sold neo-Nazi propaganda.
Mikael Skjoedt, a lawyer for the Danish suspect, told AFP that the two men would launch a fresh appeal.
EJ Press
POLICE IN RACE ROW OVER 'POLISH RIOTERS' TRAINING (uk)
Daily Mail
POLLS SHOW RISE IN FRENCH 'RACISM'
Press TV
Monday, 31 May 2010
Man jailed for racist attack on children (UK)
A MAN who shouted racial abuse at Asian children and chanted "BNP" at them has been jailed for eight months.
Steven Moorhouse, 26, of Rushton Hill Close, Pellon, Halifax, admitted racially aggravated common assault and harassment between June and July last year.
The children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were aged between eight and 13.
Paul Williams, prosecuting, said Moorhouse made an inappropriate comment to a 12-year-old girl and her two younger brothers took exception.
Mr Williams said: "He said, 'Have you got an older sister? I need a woman to keep me off drugs'."
When the boys, eight and 10, objected, Moorhouse unleashed a tirade of racial abuse on them.
"He told them to go back to their own country," said Mr Williams, "While walking away he repeated the phrase, 'BNP, BNP'."
A week later, Moorhouse abused a 13-year-old white girl and her Asian boyfriend and threatened to return with a knife and stab one of them.
On July 4 he again used racist language towards the brothers from the earlier incident and swung out at one of them, clipping him with his finger.
Moorhouse – who has previous convictions for assault, threatening behaviour and harassment and committed the latest offences in breach of a suspended sentence – was overheard shouting that he would get the BNP to come and slit someone's throat.
Jailing him, Recorder Richard Mansell QC said: "You resort to violent, threatening, bullying behaviour when things don't go your way."
Halifax Courier
Steven Moorhouse, 26, of Rushton Hill Close, Pellon, Halifax, admitted racially aggravated common assault and harassment between June and July last year.
The children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were aged between eight and 13.
Paul Williams, prosecuting, said Moorhouse made an inappropriate comment to a 12-year-old girl and her two younger brothers took exception.
Mr Williams said: "He said, 'Have you got an older sister? I need a woman to keep me off drugs'."
When the boys, eight and 10, objected, Moorhouse unleashed a tirade of racial abuse on them.
"He told them to go back to their own country," said Mr Williams, "While walking away he repeated the phrase, 'BNP, BNP'."
A week later, Moorhouse abused a 13-year-old white girl and her Asian boyfriend and threatened to return with a knife and stab one of them.
On July 4 he again used racist language towards the brothers from the earlier incident and swung out at one of them, clipping him with his finger.
Moorhouse – who has previous convictions for assault, threatening behaviour and harassment and committed the latest offences in breach of a suspended sentence – was overheard shouting that he would get the BNP to come and slit someone's throat.
Jailing him, Recorder Richard Mansell QC said: "You resort to violent, threatening, bullying behaviour when things don't go your way."
Halifax Courier
Racism in Russia as Ghanaian Man is Murdered in Cold Blood
As lawlessness and racism grips Russia, Africans living in the Country have been victims of racist attacks time and again. The Russians are known to be systematically racist as their hatred for blacks goes unabated. Africans in Russia, Germany, France and Italy have been victims of racist attacks ranging from their houses and living areas being burnt down to them being stabbed on the streets by racist gangs and also being killed in cold blood. It has become very rare for governments in this countries to pursue would be perpetrators of such heinous crimes.
It has been reported that a group of unidentified attackers has stabbed to death a Ghanaian national in Russia’s second largest city of St. Petersburg, The 25-year-old man was taken to hospital in critical condition, with some 20 injuries to his head, neck, chest, kidney, stomach and limbs. He died several hours later. According to the Russian authorities, an investigation into the attack has been launched. Whether this investigation will be followed-up with a conviction is another matter. Russia has seen a wave of racially motivated crime since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Attacks by gangs of youths on foreigners and people with non-Slavic features are a routine occurrence in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Voronezh, which hosts many foreign university students.
newstimeafrica
It has been reported that a group of unidentified attackers has stabbed to death a Ghanaian national in Russia’s second largest city of St. Petersburg, The 25-year-old man was taken to hospital in critical condition, with some 20 injuries to his head, neck, chest, kidney, stomach and limbs. He died several hours later. According to the Russian authorities, an investigation into the attack has been launched. Whether this investigation will be followed-up with a conviction is another matter. Russia has seen a wave of racially motivated crime since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Attacks by gangs of youths on foreigners and people with non-Slavic features are a routine occurrence in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Voronezh, which hosts many foreign university students.
newstimeafrica
Lawyers body demand ban on English Defence League
The UK-based Association of Pakistani Lawyers (APL) has called for a ban on the far right wing English Defence League following report in the British media that it plans to stoke up racial disorder in Muslim dominated areas of Bradford and Tower Hamlets in East London this summer.In a statement APL chair Amjad Malik has demanded a ban on this organisation saying it poses a threat to public order and has sinister aims.
“If British society rightly so has no place for Al-Muhejeron, so must be the case with English Defence League which should be proscribed before it’s too late as it threatens the very fabric of British society which is built on ‘tolerance’ and ‘live and let live’ principle,” Barrister Malik said.
Malik declared that the EDL group’s decision to target some of the UK’s most prominent Muslim communities including Bradford is a an attempt to provoke Muslim youth to take law in their own hands as the youth is already feeling disillusioned by past 10 years of negative campaign and governmental actions and foreign policy concerns.
“British Muslim youth feel under the cloud due to a heavy stop and search figures and usage of terror legislation against them. English Defence League has only one agenda and that is to stir public hatred and community tensions turning into riots and create a worst law and order situation having far reaching consequences for future stability in the society.”
He said this agenda of hate and despair is a ploy to divide people and communities who are living peacefully in Britain irrespective of their faith and colour.
app.com.pk
“If British society rightly so has no place for Al-Muhejeron, so must be the case with English Defence League which should be proscribed before it’s too late as it threatens the very fabric of British society which is built on ‘tolerance’ and ‘live and let live’ principle,” Barrister Malik said.
Malik declared that the EDL group’s decision to target some of the UK’s most prominent Muslim communities including Bradford is a an attempt to provoke Muslim youth to take law in their own hands as the youth is already feeling disillusioned by past 10 years of negative campaign and governmental actions and foreign policy concerns.
“British Muslim youth feel under the cloud due to a heavy stop and search figures and usage of terror legislation against them. English Defence League has only one agenda and that is to stir public hatred and community tensions turning into riots and create a worst law and order situation having far reaching consequences for future stability in the society.”
He said this agenda of hate and despair is a ploy to divide people and communities who are living peacefully in Britain irrespective of their faith and colour.
app.com.pk
Sunday, 30 May 2010
White power groups set for election year push (Sweden)
White power groups were less active in Sweden in 2009 than the previous year, according to a new report. But the movement is expected to increase its efforts in the run-up to the autumn general election.
White power groups were less active in Sweden in 2009 than the previous year, according to anti-racism foundation Expo’s annual report. But the movement is expected to increase its efforts in the run-up to the autumn general election.
Last year an estimated 40 white power groups attracted members across Sweden, roughly the same number as the previous year. But there was a considerable dip in the number of visible activities carried out by these groups, including public demonstrations and the distribution of leaflets.
Expo and the Swedish Security Police, Säpo, share the view that extreme groups on the left and right are likely to become more active this year,with an election coming up in Sweptember.
“These groups’ activities generally do increase when there’s an election,” said Säpo spokesman Patrik Peter.
On Wednesday two people were stabbed while handing out flyers for Svenskarnas Parti (‘Party for Swedes’) in Hallstahammar, 130 kilometres west of Stockholm. Four people people from the extreme left were arrested for attempted murder.
Three days later a demonstration by Svenskarnas Parti in nearby Västerås attracted 150 to 200 supporters. Two people were injured when clashes broke out with around 100 counter-demonstrators.
Expo editor Anders Dalbro highlighted the fact that Svenskarnas Parti, unlike many of their counterparts, will be running for election this year.
“For them it’s going to be a very active year. But organisations not running for election also benefit from the fact that it’s an election year,” he said.
According to Expo’s annual report, set for publication this week, the white power movement was hit by internal divisions in 2009.
“This is most noticeable when it comes to common demonstrations, which previously attracted a lot of people,” said Dalsbro.
The Local Sweden
White power groups were less active in Sweden in 2009 than the previous year, according to anti-racism foundation Expo’s annual report. But the movement is expected to increase its efforts in the run-up to the autumn general election.
Last year an estimated 40 white power groups attracted members across Sweden, roughly the same number as the previous year. But there was a considerable dip in the number of visible activities carried out by these groups, including public demonstrations and the distribution of leaflets.
Expo and the Swedish Security Police, Säpo, share the view that extreme groups on the left and right are likely to become more active this year,with an election coming up in Sweptember.
“These groups’ activities generally do increase when there’s an election,” said Säpo spokesman Patrik Peter.
On Wednesday two people were stabbed while handing out flyers for Svenskarnas Parti (‘Party for Swedes’) in Hallstahammar, 130 kilometres west of Stockholm. Four people people from the extreme left were arrested for attempted murder.
Three days later a demonstration by Svenskarnas Parti in nearby Västerås attracted 150 to 200 supporters. Two people were injured when clashes broke out with around 100 counter-demonstrators.
Expo editor Anders Dalbro highlighted the fact that Svenskarnas Parti, unlike many of their counterparts, will be running for election this year.
“For them it’s going to be a very active year. But organisations not running for election also benefit from the fact that it’s an election year,” he said.
According to Expo’s annual report, set for publication this week, the white power movement was hit by internal divisions in 2009.
“This is most noticeable when it comes to common demonstrations, which previously attracted a lot of people,” said Dalsbro.
The Local Sweden
MONEY, NOT ISLAM, MATTERS MOST IN DUTCH ELECTIONS
For a decade, the Netherlands has been at the forefront of a Europe-wide crackdown on immigration and the debate over a perceived failure of Muslims to integrate. But with national elections less than two weeks away, issues like banning burqas and mandatory citizenship classes have been shouldered aside in favor of the debate over how to balance the budget. Part of the reason immigration issues are dropping on the political agenda is a national consensus that newcomers, especially from poor Muslim countries, should be limited. But it also reflects a concern shared with the rest of Europe over the continent's financial crisis, even though the Dutch have one of the soundest economies among the 27 members of the European Union. All political parties are pledging spending cuts, and whatever the result, the average Dutchman will either see his taxes rise or his government benefits shrink — probably both. A conservative candidate with strong pro-business credentials has opened up a commanding lead in polls, siphoning support from the populist anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders, who has nose-dived from first to fourth place. Mark Rutte of the Peoples Party for Freedom and Democracy, which goes by its Dutch acronym VVD, shone in a nationally televised debate Wednesday, defending a platform that includes building nuclear plants and cutting government jobs. "Windmills aren't powered by wind," Rutte jibed. "They're powered by subsidies." Along with aggressive spending cuts, Rutte's platform is almost as tough on crime and immigration as that of Wilders' Freedom Party — for instance, making immigrants ineligible for unemployment compensation for the first 10 years after they arrive.
Wilders is known for his film "Fitna," which offended many Muslims by linking Islam and violence. He is facing criminal prosecution under Dutch hate speech laws for comparing Islam to Naziism and calling for a ban on the Quran. Rutte's rise has left Wilders struggling to stand out. Earlier this week, Wilders released calculations he says show that nonwestern immigrants are a euro7 billion ($8.6 billion) annual drag on the Dutch budget because of higher criminality and unemployment rates. But his economic platform drew groans and laughter at Wednesday's debate for its single-minded focus on immigration. Health care costs, for example, can be cut by denying medical care to children of illegal immigrants. "You can all laugh about it, but it's about money," Wilders told a skeptical audience. "The Netherlands will have to decide. Are we an immigration country, or are we a country with social services?," he said. Recent polls show Rutte's VVD taking 36 seats in the 150-seat Dutch parliament, with former Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen's Labor the closest competitor at 29 seats. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats are third with 25 and Wilders' Freedom Party is fourth at 17. Balkenende has failed to capitalize on a relatively low unemployment rate of 5.9 percent and a budget deficit that at 3.4 percent is also far better than the European average. Political analysts say many voters are simply tired of Balkenende, who has been in power since 2002.
Meanwhile, Cohen, who was a popular executive in Amsterdam, led in national polls briefly before sliding. That is at least partly due to his poor performance in the debates. Voters often say they appreciate Wilders' speaking ability and his refreshing lack of political correctness, but see him as unfit to govern. "Wilders makes the best jokes, but I don't vote on that basis," said Johan Bosma, an Amsterdam city employee, who supports Labor. "The problem with Wilders is that he has no ideas how to fix things, or he has bad ideas. You can't blame everything on one religion," he said. Flea market worker Assef Yoquobi said he has voted Labor in the past but not seen any results, so would probably not vote this time. "Politicians are all liars," he said. "The VVD, it's for rich people." Asked about Wilders he shook his head, no. "Crazy," he said.
AP.org
Wilders is known for his film "Fitna," which offended many Muslims by linking Islam and violence. He is facing criminal prosecution under Dutch hate speech laws for comparing Islam to Naziism and calling for a ban on the Quran. Rutte's rise has left Wilders struggling to stand out. Earlier this week, Wilders released calculations he says show that nonwestern immigrants are a euro7 billion ($8.6 billion) annual drag on the Dutch budget because of higher criminality and unemployment rates. But his economic platform drew groans and laughter at Wednesday's debate for its single-minded focus on immigration. Health care costs, for example, can be cut by denying medical care to children of illegal immigrants. "You can all laugh about it, but it's about money," Wilders told a skeptical audience. "The Netherlands will have to decide. Are we an immigration country, or are we a country with social services?," he said. Recent polls show Rutte's VVD taking 36 seats in the 150-seat Dutch parliament, with former Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen's Labor the closest competitor at 29 seats. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's Christian Democrats are third with 25 and Wilders' Freedom Party is fourth at 17. Balkenende has failed to capitalize on a relatively low unemployment rate of 5.9 percent and a budget deficit that at 3.4 percent is also far better than the European average. Political analysts say many voters are simply tired of Balkenende, who has been in power since 2002.
Meanwhile, Cohen, who was a popular executive in Amsterdam, led in national polls briefly before sliding. That is at least partly due to his poor performance in the debates. Voters often say they appreciate Wilders' speaking ability and his refreshing lack of political correctness, but see him as unfit to govern. "Wilders makes the best jokes, but I don't vote on that basis," said Johan Bosma, an Amsterdam city employee, who supports Labor. "The problem with Wilders is that he has no ideas how to fix things, or he has bad ideas. You can't blame everything on one religion," he said. Flea market worker Assef Yoquobi said he has voted Labor in the past but not seen any results, so would probably not vote this time. "Politicians are all liars," he said. "The VVD, it's for rich people." Asked about Wilders he shook his head, no. "Crazy," he said.
AP.org
RUSSIAN GAYS ELUDE POLICE FOR FIRST CALM PROTEST
Gay and lesbian activists eluded Russian security services in a five-hour game of cat and mouse on Saturday to hold the first gay protest in Moscow not to be broken up by riot police.Gay and lesbian activists eluded Russian security services in a five-hour game of cat and mouse on Saturday to hold the first gay protest in Moscow not to be broken up by riot police.
After luring hundreds of riot police and undercover officers to a different location, a group of about 25 gay and lesbian activists unfurled a rainbow banner on Moscow's main Leningradsky Avenue, chanting "homophobia is Russia's disgrace." They said the subterfuge was needed to avoid a repeat of the violence seen in previous years when Moscow police, nationalists and ultra-Orthodox believers broke up similar protests. "It is very difficult to be openly gay in Russia: you can face serious problems at work and discrimination is very widespread," said Nikolai Bayev, a gay activist at the protest. "Russia is where most Western countries were in the 1970s when it comes to gay rights ... We are only just starting to really come out," he said. Police arrived soon after the brief protest, which the city of Moscow had refused to permit, but the activists scattered. Homosexuality could be punished with jail terms in the Soviet Union and though Russia decriminalized homosexuality in 1993, intolerance remains very widespread. Polls have shown more than 80 percent of Russians see homosexuality as immoral. Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has said gay protests are satanic and previous attempts to hold such events have ended in multiple arrests and clashes with ultra-Orthodox believers who say gays should be punished or treated in hospital for their "illness." Just days before last year's Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, police arrested at least 40 gay and lesbian activists at a similar protest. Gay activists had asked Western embassies to host the protest but they said their proposal was either ignored or turned down by envoys from the United States, Canada and major European Union states. "The EU and Western embassies are hypocrites," said British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell, who traveled to Moscow to join the protest. "We are being hounded and hunted by the police and the FSB Security Service all because we want to hold a peaceful gay rights protest." The Moscow police declined to comment. A spokesman for the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, also declined comment and asked for questions in writing which he said would not be answered before Monday.
Reuters
After luring hundreds of riot police and undercover officers to a different location, a group of about 25 gay and lesbian activists unfurled a rainbow banner on Moscow's main Leningradsky Avenue, chanting "homophobia is Russia's disgrace." They said the subterfuge was needed to avoid a repeat of the violence seen in previous years when Moscow police, nationalists and ultra-Orthodox believers broke up similar protests. "It is very difficult to be openly gay in Russia: you can face serious problems at work and discrimination is very widespread," said Nikolai Bayev, a gay activist at the protest. "Russia is where most Western countries were in the 1970s when it comes to gay rights ... We are only just starting to really come out," he said. Police arrived soon after the brief protest, which the city of Moscow had refused to permit, but the activists scattered. Homosexuality could be punished with jail terms in the Soviet Union and though Russia decriminalized homosexuality in 1993, intolerance remains very widespread. Polls have shown more than 80 percent of Russians see homosexuality as immoral. Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has said gay protests are satanic and previous attempts to hold such events have ended in multiple arrests and clashes with ultra-Orthodox believers who say gays should be punished or treated in hospital for their "illness." Just days before last year's Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow, police arrested at least 40 gay and lesbian activists at a similar protest. Gay activists had asked Western embassies to host the protest but they said their proposal was either ignored or turned down by envoys from the United States, Canada and major European Union states. "The EU and Western embassies are hypocrites," said British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell, who traveled to Moscow to join the protest. "We are being hounded and hunted by the police and the FSB Security Service all because we want to hold a peaceful gay rights protest." The Moscow police declined to comment. A spokesman for the FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, also declined comment and asked for questions in writing which he said would not be answered before Monday.
Reuters
EDL member seen kicking officer (UK)
A member of the English Defence League who was involved in the disorder which broke out at a rally in Stoke-on-Trent has been jailed for 16 weeks.
Jake Payne travelled up to the city from his home with friends to attend the event in Hanley city centre on January 23 this year.
Laura Jones, prosecuting, told North Staffordshire magistrates: "Payne was seen by officers at 3.20pm as part of a crowd in hostile confrontation with police.
"He was seen to kick out violently at one police officer, then encouraging some of the people in the crowd to behave in a disorderly fashion."
She said Payne admitted he was a member of the EDL and had previous convictions for public order offences.
Payne, aged 22 of Florey Gardens, Aylesbury, pleaded guilty to using threatening abusive or insulting words of behaviour with intent and failing to answer to his bail.
Lee Yates, defending, said: "He says he wishes to be sentenced and sent to prison forthwith because he knows from past experience he is unable to comply with community orders."
This is Staffordshire
Jake Payne travelled up to the city from his home with friends to attend the event in Hanley city centre on January 23 this year.
Laura Jones, prosecuting, told North Staffordshire magistrates: "Payne was seen by officers at 3.20pm as part of a crowd in hostile confrontation with police.
"He was seen to kick out violently at one police officer, then encouraging some of the people in the crowd to behave in a disorderly fashion."
She said Payne admitted he was a member of the EDL and had previous convictions for public order offences.
Payne, aged 22 of Florey Gardens, Aylesbury, pleaded guilty to using threatening abusive or insulting words of behaviour with intent and failing to answer to his bail.
Lee Yates, defending, said: "He says he wishes to be sentenced and sent to prison forthwith because he knows from past experience he is unable to comply with community orders."
This is Staffordshire
Saturday, 29 May 2010
English Defence League: Inside the violent world of Britain's new far right
Undercover Guardian investigation reveals plan by English Defence League to hit racially sensitive areas in attempt to provoke disorder over summer
MPs expressed concern tonight after it emerged that far-right activists are planning to step up their provocative street campaign by targeting some of the UK's highest-profile Muslim communities, raising fears of widespread unrest this summer.
Undercover footage shot by the Guardian reveals the English Defence League, which has staged a number of violent protests in towns and cities across the country this year, is planning to "hit" Bradford and the London borough of Tower Hamlets as it intensifies its street protests.
Senior figures in the coalition government were briefed on the threat posed by EDL marches this week. Tomorrow up to 2,000 EDL supporters are expected to descend on Newcastle for its latest protest.
MPs said the group's decision to target some of the UK's most prominent Muslim communities was a blatant attempt to provoke mayhem and disorder. "This group has no positive agenda," said the Bradford South MP, Gerry Sutcliffe. "It is an agenda of hate that is designed to divide people and communities. We support legitimate protest but this is not legitimate, it is designed to stir up trouble. The people of Bradford will want no part of it."
The English Defence League, which started in Luton last year, has become the most significant far-right street movement in the UK since the National Front in the 1970s. A Guardian investigation has identified a number of known rightwing extremists who are taking an interest in the movement – from convicted football hooligans to members of violent rightwing splinter groups.
Thousands of people have attended its protests – many of which have descended into violence and racist and Islamophobic chanting. Supporters are split into "divisions" spread across the UK and as many as 3,000 people are attracted to its protests.
The group also appears to be drawing support from the armed forces. Its online armed forces division has 842 members and the EDL says many serving soldiers have attended its demonstrations. A spokeswoman for the EDL, whose husband is a serving soldier, said: "The soldiers are fighting Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Iraq and the EDL are fighting it here … Not all the armed forces support the English Defence League but a majority do."
Following the British National party's poor showing in this month's local and national elections anti-racist campaigners say some far-right activists may be turning away from the ballot box and returning to violent street demonstrations for the first time in three decades.
Nick Lowles, from Searchlight, said: "What we are seeing now is the most serious, most dangerous, political phenomenon that we have had in Britain for a number of years. With EDL protests that are growing week in, week out there is a chance for major disorder and a major political shift to the right in this country."
In undercover footage shot by Guardian Films, EDL spokesman Guramit Singh says its Bradford demonstration "will be huge". He adds: "The problem with Bradford is the security threat, it is a highly populated Muslim area. They are very militant as well. Bradford is a place that has got to be hit."
Singh, who was speaking during an EDL demonstration in Dudley in April, said the organisation would also be targeting Tower Hamlets.
A spokesman for the EDL confirmed it would hold a demonstration in Bradford on 28 August because the city was "on course to be one of the first places to become a no-go area for non-Muslims". The EDL has already announced demonstrations in Cardiff and Dudley.
The former Home Office minister Phil Woolas said: "This is a deliberate attempt by the EDL at division and provocation, to try and push young Muslims into the hands of extremists, in order to perpetuate the divide. It is dangerous."
The EDL claims it is a peaceful and non-racist organisation only concerned with protesting against "militant Islam". However, over the last four months the Guardian has attended its demonstrations and witnessed racism, violence and virulent Islamophobia.
During the election campaign David Cameron described the EDL as "dreadful people" and said the organisation would "always be under review".
A spokesman for the Home Office said that although the government was committed to restoring the right to "non-violent protest … violence and intimidation are wholly unacceptable and the police have powers to deal with individuals who commit such acts. The government condemns those who seek to spread hatred."
He added: "Individual members of EDL – like all members of the public – are of course subject to the law, and all suspected criminal offences will be robustly investigated and dealt with by the police."
The Guardian
Watch the Guardian video report
Part 1
Part 2
Please support the You Tube user and his channel. Justavaragejoe
Undercover footage shot by the Guardian reveals the English Defence League, which has staged a number of violent protests in towns and cities across the country this year, is planning to "hit" Bradford and the London borough of Tower Hamlets as it intensifies its street protests.
Senior figures in the coalition government were briefed on the threat posed by EDL marches this week. Tomorrow up to 2,000 EDL supporters are expected to descend on Newcastle for its latest protest.
MPs said the group's decision to target some of the UK's most prominent Muslim communities was a blatant attempt to provoke mayhem and disorder. "This group has no positive agenda," said the Bradford South MP, Gerry Sutcliffe. "It is an agenda of hate that is designed to divide people and communities. We support legitimate protest but this is not legitimate, it is designed to stir up trouble. The people of Bradford will want no part of it."
The English Defence League, which started in Luton last year, has become the most significant far-right street movement in the UK since the National Front in the 1970s. A Guardian investigation has identified a number of known rightwing extremists who are taking an interest in the movement – from convicted football hooligans to members of violent rightwing splinter groups.
Thousands of people have attended its protests – many of which have descended into violence and racist and Islamophobic chanting. Supporters are split into "divisions" spread across the UK and as many as 3,000 people are attracted to its protests.
The group also appears to be drawing support from the armed forces. Its online armed forces division has 842 members and the EDL says many serving soldiers have attended its demonstrations. A spokeswoman for the EDL, whose husband is a serving soldier, said: "The soldiers are fighting Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Iraq and the EDL are fighting it here … Not all the armed forces support the English Defence League but a majority do."
Following the British National party's poor showing in this month's local and national elections anti-racist campaigners say some far-right activists may be turning away from the ballot box and returning to violent street demonstrations for the first time in three decades.
Nick Lowles, from Searchlight, said: "What we are seeing now is the most serious, most dangerous, political phenomenon that we have had in Britain for a number of years. With EDL protests that are growing week in, week out there is a chance for major disorder and a major political shift to the right in this country."
In undercover footage shot by Guardian Films, EDL spokesman Guramit Singh says its Bradford demonstration "will be huge". He adds: "The problem with Bradford is the security threat, it is a highly populated Muslim area. They are very militant as well. Bradford is a place that has got to be hit."
Singh, who was speaking during an EDL demonstration in Dudley in April, said the organisation would also be targeting Tower Hamlets.
A spokesman for the EDL confirmed it would hold a demonstration in Bradford on 28 August because the city was "on course to be one of the first places to become a no-go area for non-Muslims". The EDL has already announced demonstrations in Cardiff and Dudley.
The former Home Office minister Phil Woolas said: "This is a deliberate attempt by the EDL at division and provocation, to try and push young Muslims into the hands of extremists, in order to perpetuate the divide. It is dangerous."
The EDL claims it is a peaceful and non-racist organisation only concerned with protesting against "militant Islam". However, over the last four months the Guardian has attended its demonstrations and witnessed racism, violence and virulent Islamophobia.
During the election campaign David Cameron described the EDL as "dreadful people" and said the organisation would "always be under review".
A spokesman for the Home Office said that although the government was committed to restoring the right to "non-violent protest … violence and intimidation are wholly unacceptable and the police have powers to deal with individuals who commit such acts. The government condemns those who seek to spread hatred."
He added: "Individual members of EDL – like all members of the public – are of course subject to the law, and all suspected criminal offences will be robustly investigated and dealt with by the police."
The Guardian
Watch the Guardian video report
Part 1
Part 2
Please support the You Tube user and his channel. Justavaragejoe
Muslims must refuse to rise to EDL provocation
By ignoring planned EDL demonstrations and looking toward dialogue to dispel myths, Muslims can facilitate cohesion by Samia Rahman
The Guardian's investigation into the English Defence League (EDL) was a fascinating insight into the motivations and aims of the far-right anti-Islamic group. Some of the comments by individuals justifying their involvement with the EDL were hardly a surprise to those of us used to the mythologising and half-truths that get bandied about every time Islam is discussed. The level of hate and fear has, sadly, become a typical reaction from some who will use any excuse to roll up their sleeves and get stuck into a spot of Muslim-bashing.
That familiar cry of "we want our country back" has been directed over centuries against the Jews, the Irish, African-Caribbeans, South Asians, eastern Europeans and so on. Many of these groups continue to bear the brunt of casual racism exposed by the Guardian piece but Islam seems to be firmly on the frontline.
Only this week, a Facebook group whipped up a frenzy of anti-immigrant feeling, which rapidly metamorphosed into anti-Muslim ranting by claiming that the police were attempting to ban the flying of the English flag for fear of upsetting minorities. Of course, the rumour was complete nonsense and stemmed from a letter advising a pub in Croydon to ban football club shirts to minimise confrontation between fans of rival teams. Nothing to do with Muslims, immigrants or the flag, yet almost 160,000 people believed the story and were up in arms about them Muslims with their mosques and their burqas.
It's the ease with which a kernel of truth associated (or not) with Muslims can be blowtorched, twisted out of all recognition and sculpted into something quite unrecognisable from the original that is so disturbing. And it's such hysteria that serves to fuel the anti-Islamic sentiment expressed by those EDL members featured in the Guardian.
Islam, and consequently Muslims, seem to have become a dirty word – only a couple of weeks ago I was on a bus in south London on which a rather flustered weekend dad was trying to control his unruly young son. "You fucker," screamed the boy as his father attempted to stop him from licking the window of the bus. "Don't you dare swear at me you little shit," the dad spat back. "Muslim. You love Muslims you do, you Muslim," was the youngster's bizarre retaliation. I didn't know whether to laugh or despair as the father hissed at his child to "shut the fuck up".
It's fair to say that Muslims have a PR problem and I'm the first to admit that it's not as if some from our ranks haven't fuelled this anger and suspicion. Going all the way back to the Salman Rushdie affair, on to the London bombings, radicalisation, Danish cartoons, not to mention the cartoon-fest on Facebook, the actions of a few Muslims have proved severely damaging. Such notoriety has fomented and unified anti-Muslim sentiment unrestricted by race, background and political persuasion.
One particularly inflammatory incident involving Muslims in recent times involved a group of extremists protesting during a parade in Luton for soldiers returning from Iraq and is thought to have been a catalyst for the creation of the EDL. What was less widely reported was that the Muslim extremists numbered only a handful and were not representative of the views of the large Muslim community in Luton. In fact, the extremists were prevented from repeating their provocative demonstration by other Luton Muslims – who literally drove them out of town.
The EDL claim they are not anti-Muslim and merely anti-militant Islam, although the line is evidently blurred. However, if that really is the case perhaps they would wish to offer their support to the many Muslim grassroots initiatives, as well as intellectual and theological forums striving to challenge extremism. These positive steps rarely grab the headlines in the way that stories about reactionary Muslims do. Perhaps that is much of the problem.
The overwhelming majority of Muslims living in the UK have better things to do than pursue the Islamification of this country and certainly are not keen on the idea of replacing the British constitution with Shariah law by 2040, as if that was even remotely on the cards – considering only 3% of the population of the UK is Muslim. When the EDL faithful wax lyrical about the Islamisation of England I have some difficulty understanding what exactly they mean.
Once the old wives' tales and misinformation are stripped away from their arguments, it is hard to see how Islam is directly and negatively impinging upon their lives. Muslims are a pluralistic and eclectic community with a vast array of individual perspectives that cannot be reliably generalised, never mind brought together to form any sort of movement for Islamisation.
The fact that the EDL is planning a summer of anti-Islamic demonstrations in cities with significant Muslim populations, including Bradford where I currently live, is certainly worrying. The likelihood of counter-demonstrations heightening racial tension and stirring up trouble is also ominous. But Muslims must counter the anti-Islamic momentum by refusing to react, and turning their focus towards transparency and dialogue in an attempt to dispel myths, address concerns and facilitate integration and cohesion.
As troubling as the rise in anti-Islamic sentiment and the casual Islamophobia that comes with it is, there is some solace to be gained in the fact that the British National party performed poorly in the general election. If the EDL is heralding a sharp shift in the political mood to the right, present evidence may prove disappointing for them. If it's a summer of violence and clashes with local Muslims on the streets they are hoping for, let's disappoint them on that front too.
The Gurardian
That familiar cry of "we want our country back" has been directed over centuries against the Jews, the Irish, African-Caribbeans, South Asians, eastern Europeans and so on. Many of these groups continue to bear the brunt of casual racism exposed by the Guardian piece but Islam seems to be firmly on the frontline.
Only this week, a Facebook group whipped up a frenzy of anti-immigrant feeling, which rapidly metamorphosed into anti-Muslim ranting by claiming that the police were attempting to ban the flying of the English flag for fear of upsetting minorities. Of course, the rumour was complete nonsense and stemmed from a letter advising a pub in Croydon to ban football club shirts to minimise confrontation between fans of rival teams. Nothing to do with Muslims, immigrants or the flag, yet almost 160,000 people believed the story and were up in arms about them Muslims with their mosques and their burqas.
It's the ease with which a kernel of truth associated (or not) with Muslims can be blowtorched, twisted out of all recognition and sculpted into something quite unrecognisable from the original that is so disturbing. And it's such hysteria that serves to fuel the anti-Islamic sentiment expressed by those EDL members featured in the Guardian.
Islam, and consequently Muslims, seem to have become a dirty word – only a couple of weeks ago I was on a bus in south London on which a rather flustered weekend dad was trying to control his unruly young son. "You fucker," screamed the boy as his father attempted to stop him from licking the window of the bus. "Don't you dare swear at me you little shit," the dad spat back. "Muslim. You love Muslims you do, you Muslim," was the youngster's bizarre retaliation. I didn't know whether to laugh or despair as the father hissed at his child to "shut the fuck up".
It's fair to say that Muslims have a PR problem and I'm the first to admit that it's not as if some from our ranks haven't fuelled this anger and suspicion. Going all the way back to the Salman Rushdie affair, on to the London bombings, radicalisation, Danish cartoons, not to mention the cartoon-fest on Facebook, the actions of a few Muslims have proved severely damaging. Such notoriety has fomented and unified anti-Muslim sentiment unrestricted by race, background and political persuasion.
One particularly inflammatory incident involving Muslims in recent times involved a group of extremists protesting during a parade in Luton for soldiers returning from Iraq and is thought to have been a catalyst for the creation of the EDL. What was less widely reported was that the Muslim extremists numbered only a handful and were not representative of the views of the large Muslim community in Luton. In fact, the extremists were prevented from repeating their provocative demonstration by other Luton Muslims – who literally drove them out of town.
The EDL claim they are not anti-Muslim and merely anti-militant Islam, although the line is evidently blurred. However, if that really is the case perhaps they would wish to offer their support to the many Muslim grassroots initiatives, as well as intellectual and theological forums striving to challenge extremism. These positive steps rarely grab the headlines in the way that stories about reactionary Muslims do. Perhaps that is much of the problem.
The overwhelming majority of Muslims living in the UK have better things to do than pursue the Islamification of this country and certainly are not keen on the idea of replacing the British constitution with Shariah law by 2040, as if that was even remotely on the cards – considering only 3% of the population of the UK is Muslim. When the EDL faithful wax lyrical about the Islamisation of England I have some difficulty understanding what exactly they mean.
Once the old wives' tales and misinformation are stripped away from their arguments, it is hard to see how Islam is directly and negatively impinging upon their lives. Muslims are a pluralistic and eclectic community with a vast array of individual perspectives that cannot be reliably generalised, never mind brought together to form any sort of movement for Islamisation.
The fact that the EDL is planning a summer of anti-Islamic demonstrations in cities with significant Muslim populations, including Bradford where I currently live, is certainly worrying. The likelihood of counter-demonstrations heightening racial tension and stirring up trouble is also ominous. But Muslims must counter the anti-Islamic momentum by refusing to react, and turning their focus towards transparency and dialogue in an attempt to dispel myths, address concerns and facilitate integration and cohesion.
As troubling as the rise in anti-Islamic sentiment and the casual Islamophobia that comes with it is, there is some solace to be gained in the fact that the British National party performed poorly in the general election. If the EDL is heralding a sharp shift in the political mood to the right, present evidence may prove disappointing for them. If it's a summer of violence and clashes with local Muslims on the streets they are hoping for, let's disappoint them on that front too.
The Gurardian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)