A rightwing-backed move to deport foreign criminals more readily has come under fire from the head of the Federal Migration Office who says it's “disproportionate”. Director Alard du Bois-Reymond said in an interview published on Saturday that committing even relatively trivial crimes would be reason enough to expel up to four times as many foreigners as today. Currently about 350-400 foreign criminals get sent home each year. Du Bois-Reymond said a counterproposal that made its way through the House of Representatives last week would deport only those foreign criminals guilty of more serious offences. Estimates say the number of expulsions under that measure would probably be double today’s rate. The counterproposal would also take more preventative steps by working to integrate foreigners better into society. “Unfortunately foreigners are often associated with crime,” de Bois-Reymond said. “But Switzerland also benefits a lot from foreigners, too.” The Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which collected more than 210,000 signatures starting in 2008 to force a vote on the issue, says the counterproposal is too watered down. “It opens up the way for numerous appeals and complaints,” the party said on a website created for the initiative. “For this reason the SVP stands fully behind the people’s initiative, because only it guarantees a consistent expulsion of criminal foreigners.”
Swiss Info
Sunday, 6 June 2010
RIGHTIST GROUP JOLTS SWEDEN'S TOLERANT SELF-IMAGE
Akesson, the clerkish 31-year-old leading the Sweden Democrat charge, insists voters are more disenchanted with liberal immigration laws than they admit out loud. "In Sweden, if you voice criticism against the immigration policy, you are viewed as a racist or xenophobe," Akesson said. "It's difficult to get people to stand up and say 'Here's what I think.'" "Our self-image is that of a tolerant country," said Lena Sundstrom, a Swedish writer who has studied the hardening attitudes toward immigrants in neighboring Denmark. Swedes, she says, draw national pride from such achievements as gender equality, and the brand names they have exported worldwide - Volvo cars, Ikea furniture. And even though one in every four residents or their parents were born in a foreign country, and an estimated 300,000 Muslims live in the otherwise Christian but secularized country of 9.35 million, it hasn't swept any nationalist movements to prominence. Denmark, by contrast, has a minority nationalist party whose king-maker power imposed curbs on immigration, making it a role model for the Sweden Democrats. The other Nordic neighbors, Norway and Finland, also have such parties in their legislatures, advocating strong controls on immigration. So do other western European countries including Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Swedes occasionally debate the pros and cons of banning burqas or minarets, or pressuring immigrants to learn Swedish, as has happened in some European countries, but these ideas have never gone beyond talk. "Swedes in general are a very tolerant people," Akesson acknowledges. "But I'm convinced that a large part of the Swedish electorate believes that the immigration policies have been too lax and far too generous." Over the years, that generosity has given jobs to migrants from southern Europe; haven to victims of Chilean dictatorship; escape from Iran's ayatollahs; safety for Kurds, Bosnians and Kosovars, and more recently, Iraqis and Somalis. Sweden now has more immigrants from Iraq than from neighboring Norway and Denmark combined, according to government statistics. Last year alone it admitted more than 100,000 immigrants, including 10,000 Thais, 8,700 Somalis and 8,500 Iraqis, those statistics show. A survey of 9,000 people by the SOM institute at Goteborg University last month showed the proportion of Swedes who believe the country has admitted too many immigrants fell from 52 percent in 1993 to 36 percent last year. No margin of error was given. In some cities immigrants are nearly 40 percent of the population, and in certain neighborhoods nearly 90 percent.
What worries many Swedes is the clustering of immigrants in neighborhoods with nicknames such as "Little Baghdad." Few native Swedes ever set foot in these districts, viewing them as dangerous slums infested with criminal gangs and Islamic fundamentalists. Critics say the extent of those problems are often exaggerated by the Sweden Democrats, but there is no doubt that Sweden is becoming increasingly segregated. In the Stockholm suburb of Rinkeby, aka "Little Mogadishu," a 20-year-old Somali woman in a black head scarf says: "Not even a non-Muslim dares to walk around with a short skirt in Rinkeby." She doesn't give her name for fear of neighbors' reaction. The Sweden Democrats say immigration has become an economic burden, draining the welfare system and channeling jobs to newcomers who work for lower wages. Akesson says he fears Sweden is adapting to the Muslim minority instead of the other way around and has written of Islam's impact on Swedish society as "our biggest foreign threat since World War II." He mentions cases of public schools that have stopped serving pork and no longer celebrate the end of the school year in church.
Akesson also points to attacks against artist Lars Vilks, who drew the prophet Muhammad with a dog's body. Last month furious protesters chanting "God is Great" in Arabic disrupted Vilks' guest lecture at Uppsala University and vandals tossed firebombs at his home. The party's views have provoked fierce reactions. Some high schools have prohibited party members from handing out flyers on school grounds. In 2007 the party struggled to find a venue for its annual meeting when several conference centers turned it down, citing security concerns. Police say the party is exposed to "systematic threats" from activists, and the it keeps the address of the Stockholm office secret. The Sweden Democrats emerged from an explicitly racist movement called "Keep Sweden Swedish" in the late 1980s. They have since expelled extremist members, and made their first political mark in 2006 elections when they won seats on municipal councils and fell just short of getting seats in Parliament. "Swedishness is not in your skin color or in any part of the body. It's in your values and how you behave," Akesson said. The party has changed its logo from a burning flame to a liverwort flower. In Akesson's office, the most overt nod to national sentiment is the tropical fish in the aquarium. They are yellow and blue - the colors of the Swedish flag.
Associated Press
Far-right thugs menace Rome's tourist spots in wave of violence
Rise in race attacks is fuelled by drink and election of former neo-fascist as mayor
On the surface, the good times returned to the Coming Out bar in Rome last week. Music boomed as crowds of drinkers spilled out into what has been dubbed Gay Street to perch on the railings, inches from a brightly lit Colosseum.
But for many gay and lesbian revellers the atmosphere was soured by the memory of how, just days earlier, one drinker was badly beaten on his way home by a gang yelling: "Filthy faggot."
"We have been joking about the attack to cut the tension, but friends are warning us to take care," said Giovanni, a 33-year-old marketing man from Padua.
The attack was the latest in a string of assaults on gays, immigrants and even tourists that have been linked to extreme rightwing thuggery in the traditionally tolerant eternal city, fuelled by a spiralling consumption of alcohol and following the election of former neo-fascist, Gianni Alemanno, as mayor.
"These thugs don't get any support from the town hall, but they feel justified and encouraged by the political climate," said Flavia Servadei, who opened Coming Out in 2001.
The assault near "Gay Street" was the eighth incident of homophobic violence in Rome in just nine months, including a serious wounding of a gay man by a veteran neo-fascist, two attempts to burn down a gay disco, and the lobbing of a firecracker into the crowd outside Coming Out.
In March four men boarded a night bus in the trendy Trastevere district and methodically beat up a black man and a homosexual student.
"Young people in Rome who are joining extremist groups, and who are no longer being warned off violence against minorities, are increasingly deciding that such violence is legitimate," said Paolo Patanè, the president of Italian gay rights group Arcigay, which is pushing to make homophobia a crime.
With almost a third of young Italians out of work and immigrants now accounting for 7% of the population, racist attacks in Rome have also become a regular occurrence.
In March, 15 masked men armed with sticks destroyed a Bangladeshi-owned internet café, injuring four. In the tough neighbourhood of Tor Bella Monaca, immigrants from Moldavia, Senegal, Bangladesh, Albania, China and Tunisia have all been beaten up or stabbed in recent months. Last month four men were arrested in possession of machetes on suspicion of planning to assault the head of Rome's Jewish community.
Wearing jeans, polo shirts and sunglasses, the youths swigging lager and looking for trouble in piazzas today resemble their rightwing forebears like Alemanno, who battled young Communists during Italy's politically charged 1970s and 1980s. "The difference is that today they are less ideological and more interested in identity, in opposing anything and anyone who is different," said Michele Sorice, a sociologist at Rome's Luiss university.
The other generational shift is an emphasis on alcohol, as the old Italian fixation with maintaining a bella figura gives way to pride in losing control. City officials said they were considering a repeat of last summer's ban on drinking in Rome's piazzas to cut violence.
"Alemanno is not responsible for the political climate in the city; he is a product of it," said Claudio Cerasa, author of The Taking of Rome, a book about the rise of the right. "Just look at the way student elections were going before he was elected in 2008." In student council elections in 2007, after decades of leftwing rule, a quarter of Rome's schoolchildren voted for Blocco Studentesco, an affiliate to the far-right Casa Pound.
Casa Pound leader Gianluca Iannone is described by Cerasa as a "fascist for the third millennium" who mixes eulogies to Mussolini with praise for Che Guevara and now counts on 2,000 recruits up and down Italy as well as sympathisers on Rome's city council.
But judging by the proliferating swastikas, the problem is that a number of Romans appear quite happy to stick to the old ideas.
"There is a simply a different atmosphere here to towns up north like Venice and Padua," said Piero, nursing his drink nervously at the Coming Out bar. "People on the far right here feel they have political
Guardian
But for many gay and lesbian revellers the atmosphere was soured by the memory of how, just days earlier, one drinker was badly beaten on his way home by a gang yelling: "Filthy faggot."
"We have been joking about the attack to cut the tension, but friends are warning us to take care," said Giovanni, a 33-year-old marketing man from Padua.
The attack was the latest in a string of assaults on gays, immigrants and even tourists that have been linked to extreme rightwing thuggery in the traditionally tolerant eternal city, fuelled by a spiralling consumption of alcohol and following the election of former neo-fascist, Gianni Alemanno, as mayor.
"These thugs don't get any support from the town hall, but they feel justified and encouraged by the political climate," said Flavia Servadei, who opened Coming Out in 2001.
The assault near "Gay Street" was the eighth incident of homophobic violence in Rome in just nine months, including a serious wounding of a gay man by a veteran neo-fascist, two attempts to burn down a gay disco, and the lobbing of a firecracker into the crowd outside Coming Out.
In March four men boarded a night bus in the trendy Trastevere district and methodically beat up a black man and a homosexual student.
"Young people in Rome who are joining extremist groups, and who are no longer being warned off violence against minorities, are increasingly deciding that such violence is legitimate," said Paolo Patanè, the president of Italian gay rights group Arcigay, which is pushing to make homophobia a crime.
With almost a third of young Italians out of work and immigrants now accounting for 7% of the population, racist attacks in Rome have also become a regular occurrence.
In March, 15 masked men armed with sticks destroyed a Bangladeshi-owned internet café, injuring four. In the tough neighbourhood of Tor Bella Monaca, immigrants from Moldavia, Senegal, Bangladesh, Albania, China and Tunisia have all been beaten up or stabbed in recent months. Last month four men were arrested in possession of machetes on suspicion of planning to assault the head of Rome's Jewish community.
Wearing jeans, polo shirts and sunglasses, the youths swigging lager and looking for trouble in piazzas today resemble their rightwing forebears like Alemanno, who battled young Communists during Italy's politically charged 1970s and 1980s. "The difference is that today they are less ideological and more interested in identity, in opposing anything and anyone who is different," said Michele Sorice, a sociologist at Rome's Luiss university.
The other generational shift is an emphasis on alcohol, as the old Italian fixation with maintaining a bella figura gives way to pride in losing control. City officials said they were considering a repeat of last summer's ban on drinking in Rome's piazzas to cut violence.
"Alemanno is not responsible for the political climate in the city; he is a product of it," said Claudio Cerasa, author of The Taking of Rome, a book about the rise of the right. "Just look at the way student elections were going before he was elected in 2008." In student council elections in 2007, after decades of leftwing rule, a quarter of Rome's schoolchildren voted for Blocco Studentesco, an affiliate to the far-right Casa Pound.
Casa Pound leader Gianluca Iannone is described by Cerasa as a "fascist for the third millennium" who mixes eulogies to Mussolini with praise for Che Guevara and now counts on 2,000 recruits up and down Italy as well as sympathisers on Rome's city council.
But judging by the proliferating swastikas, the problem is that a number of Romans appear quite happy to stick to the old ideas.
"There is a simply a different atmosphere here to towns up north like Venice and Padua," said Piero, nursing his drink nervously at the Coming Out bar. "People on the far right here feel they have political
Guardian
German neo-Nazi parties 'consider merger'
Germany's two main neo-Nazi parties are considering plans to merge in an attempt to gain popularity, according to reports.
The National Democratic Party (NPD) and the German People's Union (DVU), who have face flagging membership and money problems, are reportedly asking members their thoughts, according to sources at the NPD's party conference in Bamberg.
According to the newspaper Tagespiegel, the DVU in particular needs to merge in order to avoid being wiped out. The DVU has around 4,500 members, according to the German intelligence service, while the NPD has closer to 7,000.
While the NPD has had minor success in state parliaments, holding seats in Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, neither party has done well in the national parliament, with both failing claim the five per cent needed to hold seats.
The Telegraph
The National Democratic Party (NPD) and the German People's Union (DVU), who have face flagging membership and money problems, are reportedly asking members their thoughts, according to sources at the NPD's party conference in Bamberg.
According to the newspaper Tagespiegel, the DVU in particular needs to merge in order to avoid being wiped out. The DVU has around 4,500 members, according to the German intelligence service, while the NPD has closer to 7,000.
While the NPD has had minor success in state parliaments, holding seats in Saxony and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, neither party has done well in the national parliament, with both failing claim the five per cent needed to hold seats.
The Telegraph
BNP not ‘open and honest’ says East Midlands councillor
Graham Partner, who holds one of the party’s two seats on North West Leicestershire District Council, says the BNP is not “being managed in an open and honest way”.
Writing on his blog he comments: “I see people are being expelled for asking questions about the accounts and have to wonder what is there to hide. Therefore I conclude there is something to hide and I don’t like it.”
Drawing on his council experience, he notes: “Some good activists have been lost over recent years simply for speaking out. This is not acceptable to me either. I believe in people’s rights to challenge everything in the same way as Scrutiny operates on the council.
“The answers are not always what we hope for but we still ask and don’t get sacked for having the nerve.”
In a reference to the widespread accusations that the party is being run for the benefit of Griffin and his “consultant”, the anti-abortion extremist Jim Dowson, Partner declares: “How can I be expected to encourage people to join, knowing that it is run as a personal empire where the members are merely a source of income.”
Partner would welcome a challenge this year to Griffin’s leadership but believes the new constitution makes it impossible. “I am totally supportive of anyone who wants to challenge for the leadership on the grounds of democracy and if Nick wins again then so be it.
“The constitution is a farce and designed to make it near impossible to instigate regime change. Those who voted for the current version must be deluded if they think that is democratic.
“What is more, I haven’t got a clue who the Founders are and would think collecting the required number of nominees as impossible.”
Party members were required to vote for the new constitution at an EGM in February under extreme pressure to settle the action brought by the Equality and Human Rights Commission over the party’s discriminatory membership conditions. If the BNP had not agreed to admit non-white members, the resulting legal proceedings might have prevented the party contesting last month’s elections.
However Griffin used the party’s desperate position to insert clauses imposing onerous requirements on anyone wanting to challenge for the leadership. Members could only vote for or against the constitution as a whole, without amendment and without even seeing these clauses, which were not presented to the meeting.
Under the new BNP constitution candidates for the chairmanship, who must be “voting members” (members of two years’ standing who fulfil activist and ideological training requirements) with at least five years’ continuous party membership, must secure the signatures of 20% of all party members with at least two years’ membership and 20% of all voting members. They must also by supported by 10% of the members attending a general meeting of the “Founders’ Association”, a body that is separate from the BNP but in which all party assets are vested. The constitution does not define the Founders’ Association but it is understood to be people who were paid-up members before the constitutional changes and are still members.
Griffin has promised to resign from the chairmanship by the beginning of 2014 to concentrate on securing his re-election to the European Parliament in June that year. Partner says: “If Nick Griffin is to step down in three years time, there will be a leadership contest anyway so let him accept a challenge now and save the Party three more years of squabbling and membership losses”.
Partner himself will not be a candidate. Apart from the fact that he does not rate himself as a speaker, is not interested in being chairman and would not want “the workload or the travelling about that Nick does”, Partner would not qualify as his party membership has lapsed. “Belfast [the BNP’s purportedly efficient call centre run by Dowson] were supposed to ring me on May 28th but failed to do so, therefore my five years continuous has been broken, ruling me out as a candidate and voter.”
Hope Not Hate
A gun in every household? (UK)
Nick Griffin, the British National Party leader, very properly expressed his condolences to all those affected by the shootings in West Cumbria, part of the North West region for which he is an MEP.
It seems that Derrick Bird was an ordinary man who suddenly snapped under pressure, whether from an impending tax investigation, arguments at the taxi rank where he worked, a family dispute or some other reason that has not yet come to light. We may never know the precise cause.
Unfortunately Bird was able to inflict such carnage because he had guns. Someone else in a similar situation might have killed a person or committed suicide and innocent people might have suffered in the process, but it is very unlikely there would have been so many deaths and so many people injured.
Britain’s gun laws are among the toughest in the world and further restrictions may not be the answer. There are legitimate reasons why some people should be allowed to own certain types of firearms. And whatever the criteria for granting an individual a gun licence, the police will never be able to detect every single applicant who might many years later “go postal”.
What is certain, however, is that were Griffin to have his way and every household required to keep “a standard-issue military assault rifle and ammunition” – BNP policy – there would be far more incidents such as the Cumbria tragedy, because far more people who suffer a momentary loss of control would have the opportunity to take it out on those whom they perceive as the causes of their problems.
That makes Griffin’s sympathies for Bird’s victims somewhat hypocritical.
Hope Not Hate
It seems that Derrick Bird was an ordinary man who suddenly snapped under pressure, whether from an impending tax investigation, arguments at the taxi rank where he worked, a family dispute or some other reason that has not yet come to light. We may never know the precise cause.
Unfortunately Bird was able to inflict such carnage because he had guns. Someone else in a similar situation might have killed a person or committed suicide and innocent people might have suffered in the process, but it is very unlikely there would have been so many deaths and so many people injured.
Britain’s gun laws are among the toughest in the world and further restrictions may not be the answer. There are legitimate reasons why some people should be allowed to own certain types of firearms. And whatever the criteria for granting an individual a gun licence, the police will never be able to detect every single applicant who might many years later “go postal”.
What is certain, however, is that were Griffin to have his way and every household required to keep “a standard-issue military assault rifle and ammunition” – BNP policy – there would be far more incidents such as the Cumbria tragedy, because far more people who suffer a momentary loss of control would have the opportunity to take it out on those whom they perceive as the causes of their problems.
That makes Griffin’s sympathies for Bird’s victims somewhat hypocritical.
Hope Not Hate
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Blog shutdown due to EDL demo
Apologies to everyone today as we are in Cardiff at the anti-EDL demo.
Full service will resume tomorrow.
Full service will resume tomorrow.
Friday, 4 June 2010
Muslim graves toppled in Scunthorpe cemetery attack (UK)
MUSLIM leaders have expressed their outrage and sadness after 11 graves in a North Lincolnshire cemetery were vandalised.
The attack was the second in 21 months on Muslim graves in the Brumby Cemetery in Scunthorpe's Cemetery Road.
The Deputy Mayor of North Lincolnshire, Councillor Mashook Ali, said: "We prayed this would never happen again – but it has."
Mr Ali said he felt the graves had been deliberately targeted as there are three sections of the cemetery designated for Muslims.
"We want those responsible brought to justice," he said. "The latest attacks have shocked the local Muslim community to the core. We shall be pressing for extra security measures on the site."
Mr Ali said the community rented areas of the Brumby Cemetery as burial ground under a 99-year-old lease agreement with North Lincolnshire Council and more than 100 Muslims were buried there.
In August 2008, police were called in after 24 headstones, some of them on children's graves, were attacked in two separate areas of the cemetery. No arrests were ever made.
Roj Rahman, 39, of Cliff Gardens, Scunthorpe, said: "We feel let down by the local authority.
"After the 2008 attack we were promised better lighting and pruning of trees to provide higher visibility in that section of the graveyard."
Fellow Scunthorpe Muslim, Saleem Ali, 30, said he called police after discovering the 11 gravestones had been uprooted and toppled over.
Mr Ali said: "It was a disgusting act of vandalism and heart-breaking for the families concerned."
Haq Kataria, 48, of Doncaster Road, Scunthorpe, said: "We feel sure this latest attack was racially motivated. But the dead of any religious denomination need to be respected."
Police have started door-to-door enquiries in the Cemetery Road area following the attack.
North Lincolnshire police's community cohesion officer, Amanda Atkin, said: "I would urge anyone with information to come forward.
"This is pure mindless vandalism and not only do the families have to pay for any damage caused but there is the added upset of their loved ones' graves being disturbed.
"Neighbourhood policing teams are currently working with members of the local Muslim community and will do everything in their power to identify the offenders."
North Lincolnshire Council, which is responsible for the cemetery, has promised to further review security arrangements on the site with the help of the newly formed Friends of Brumby Cemetery community group.
A spokesman said: "Irrespective of race or religion, the council condemns any attack on burial places. It is extremely upsetting for relatives who have lost loved ones and the council wants to stop it happening again.
"A meeting was held shortly after the attack in August 2008 between members of the Muslim Community, the council, the police and the Multi Faith Partnership.
"At that meeting it was brought to our attention that a tree was obscuring some of the lighting in the cemetery.
"This tree was cut back a short time later and we will now look at it again.
"We also improved security by locking the cemetery gates other than those by the caretaker's cottage."
Anyone with information about the incident, between 9am and 2.24pm on Saturday, should contact Humberside Police on 0845 60 60 222 quoting BG/1759387/2010.
This is Scunthorpe
The attack was the second in 21 months on Muslim graves in the Brumby Cemetery in Scunthorpe's Cemetery Road.
The Deputy Mayor of North Lincolnshire, Councillor Mashook Ali, said: "We prayed this would never happen again – but it has."
Mr Ali said he felt the graves had been deliberately targeted as there are three sections of the cemetery designated for Muslims.
"We want those responsible brought to justice," he said. "The latest attacks have shocked the local Muslim community to the core. We shall be pressing for extra security measures on the site."
Mr Ali said the community rented areas of the Brumby Cemetery as burial ground under a 99-year-old lease agreement with North Lincolnshire Council and more than 100 Muslims were buried there.
In August 2008, police were called in after 24 headstones, some of them on children's graves, were attacked in two separate areas of the cemetery. No arrests were ever made.
Roj Rahman, 39, of Cliff Gardens, Scunthorpe, said: "We feel let down by the local authority.
"After the 2008 attack we were promised better lighting and pruning of trees to provide higher visibility in that section of the graveyard."
Fellow Scunthorpe Muslim, Saleem Ali, 30, said he called police after discovering the 11 gravestones had been uprooted and toppled over.
Mr Ali said: "It was a disgusting act of vandalism and heart-breaking for the families concerned."
Haq Kataria, 48, of Doncaster Road, Scunthorpe, said: "We feel sure this latest attack was racially motivated. But the dead of any religious denomination need to be respected."
Police have started door-to-door enquiries in the Cemetery Road area following the attack.
North Lincolnshire police's community cohesion officer, Amanda Atkin, said: "I would urge anyone with information to come forward.
"This is pure mindless vandalism and not only do the families have to pay for any damage caused but there is the added upset of their loved ones' graves being disturbed.
"Neighbourhood policing teams are currently working with members of the local Muslim community and will do everything in their power to identify the offenders."
North Lincolnshire Council, which is responsible for the cemetery, has promised to further review security arrangements on the site with the help of the newly formed Friends of Brumby Cemetery community group.
A spokesman said: "Irrespective of race or religion, the council condemns any attack on burial places. It is extremely upsetting for relatives who have lost loved ones and the council wants to stop it happening again.
"A meeting was held shortly after the attack in August 2008 between members of the Muslim Community, the council, the police and the Multi Faith Partnership.
"At that meeting it was brought to our attention that a tree was obscuring some of the lighting in the cemetery.
"This tree was cut back a short time later and we will now look at it again.
"We also improved security by locking the cemetery gates other than those by the caretaker's cottage."
Anyone with information about the incident, between 9am and 2.24pm on Saturday, should contact Humberside Police on 0845 60 60 222 quoting BG/1759387/2010.
This is Scunthorpe
Persecuted by the Nazis, former Berliners visit their hometown (Germany)
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
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
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
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