The exact date of hearing on the ban will not be known until a new president of the Constitutional Court is elected, which is expected by mid-February, Balkan Insight has learned from the Constitutional Court. "I doubt a final decision on extremist soccer fan groups will be made even after the president is elected," a court source warned Balkan Insight. The court has discussed the issue of violent groups several times since the Public Prosecutor called on it to ban them, but has failed to reach a decision. At the court's last meeting in December, judges reportedly claimed it was not in the court's jurisdiction to ban groups that are not registered. Not all the 14 groups mentioned by the State Prosecutor are registered. The Deputy State Prosecutor, Slobodan Radovanovic, said it was within the court's power to outlaw the groups, regardless of whether they are registered. "If the court's final decision is not to ban them, it will have to say under whose jurisdiction the banning of such groups comes, so we can get to that institution," he told Balkan Insight. According to the court source, the March session may end up simply with a request for a new report to be written on the issue. Serbia's domestic football league has been plagued with violence in recent years, with both clubs and the authorities seemingly powerless to control closely knit groups of hooligans. Many are alleged to have close links to organised crime and far-right nationalist organisations. The request to ban the groups followed a series of violent incidents, including the cancelation of a Belgrade Gay Pride parade and the murder of French football fan Brice Taton in September 2009.
Balkan Insight
Saturday, 29 January 2011
Friday, 28 January 2011
French gay marriage ban upheld by constitutional court
The French constitutional court has upheld a ban on gay marriage, which was challenged by a lesbian couple with four children.
The court ruled that the ban, challenged by Corinne Cestino and Sophie Hasslauer, was in keeping with the constitution.
Activists had hoped France would join states like Spain and Belgium in legalising same-sex marriage.
An opinion poll suggests most French people are in favour.
The TNS Sofres survey of 950 people suggests that 58% of French people approve while 35% oppose gay marriage.
Fifteen years together
The court, or Constitutional Council as it is formally known, reached its decision through a panel of eight judges, six men and two women.
While many European states recognise homosexual civil unions, only Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Norway and Iceland legally acknowledge same-sex marriage.
Ms Cestino and Ms Hasslauer have lived together 15 years, are raising four children together, and already benefit from a French law recognising their partnership, but they cannot marry.
"It is not so much about getting married but about having the right to get married," Ms Cestino, a paediatrician, told the Associated Press news agency.
"So, that is what we are asking for: just to be able, like anyone else, to choose to get married or not."
At issue for the court were two articles in the civil code stipulating that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
The couple's lawyer had been hoping that the court would force the conservative government to sponsor a bill on gay marriage to send to parliament.
After a Green Party mayor in the south-western town of Begles officiated over a wedding of two gay men in 2004, France's highest court annulled the marriage.
Under their civil union, the lesbian couple have tax benefits and other financial advantages, their lawyer Emmanuel Ludot explained.
But marriage, he added, confers "the responsibility to help each other in times of sickness or financial difficulty, inheritance rights and the joint custody of goods - and that's without talking about the benefit for children, who are what we call 'legitimised by marriage'".
BBC News
The court ruled that the ban, challenged by Corinne Cestino and Sophie Hasslauer, was in keeping with the constitution.
Activists had hoped France would join states like Spain and Belgium in legalising same-sex marriage.
An opinion poll suggests most French people are in favour.
The TNS Sofres survey of 950 people suggests that 58% of French people approve while 35% oppose gay marriage.
Fifteen years together
The court, or Constitutional Council as it is formally known, reached its decision through a panel of eight judges, six men and two women.
While many European states recognise homosexual civil unions, only Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Norway and Iceland legally acknowledge same-sex marriage.
Ms Cestino and Ms Hasslauer have lived together 15 years, are raising four children together, and already benefit from a French law recognising their partnership, but they cannot marry.
"It is not so much about getting married but about having the right to get married," Ms Cestino, a paediatrician, told the Associated Press news agency.
"So, that is what we are asking for: just to be able, like anyone else, to choose to get married or not."
At issue for the court were two articles in the civil code stipulating that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
The couple's lawyer had been hoping that the court would force the conservative government to sponsor a bill on gay marriage to send to parliament.
After a Green Party mayor in the south-western town of Begles officiated over a wedding of two gay men in 2004, France's highest court annulled the marriage.
Under their civil union, the lesbian couple have tax benefits and other financial advantages, their lawyer Emmanuel Ludot explained.
But marriage, he added, confers "the responsibility to help each other in times of sickness or financial difficulty, inheritance rights and the joint custody of goods - and that's without talking about the benefit for children, who are what we call 'legitimised by marriage'".
BBC News
Muslims and Jews join forces to tackle religious hatred (UK)
One of those with first-hand experience of religious hatred is Yassir, who as a student in 2004 was abused as he set off for his mosque in London. Four teenagers spat at him and called him "Bin Laden".
Shortly afterwards, he was beaten up, which left him in a coma for days. He is now paralysed on the left side of his body, and will need care for the rest of his life.
His story was recorded by the Islamic Human Rights Commission in a report in December 2006. It is not an isolated incident.
Ambassadors
Safia, 35, from London, was eating at a restaurant in 2004 when a man started to taunt her because she was wearing a jilbaab and scarf.
He then grabbed her, and started hitting her. Eventually a police officer intervened, and the attacker was arrested.
Safia has told researchers the physical scars have gone, but the mental ones are still with her.
The Muslim community is not alone in facing such attacks.
Two men wearing balaclavas threw eggs at some Jews walking to a synagogue in Manchester, according to a Jewish charity called the Community Security Trust.
In another incident reported to the charity a Jewish student was attacked in Leeds in 2009 by a group of men, who shouted "Get the Jew", before throwing snowballs at him.
In an effort to prevent more of these attacks, Jewish and Muslim students have come together to unveil Campus Ambassadors.
This team of Muslim and Jewish students will work on campuses around the country to try to improve relations between the two faiths.
The scheme has been put together by a charity called the Coexistence Trust.
One of the managers is 23-year-old Shahnaz Ahsan. She used to be a student at Oxford University, and believes there is a lot of tension between the two groups because of the Middle East conflict.
"What we are hoping to do through the Coexistence Trust is actually create a platform where Muslim and Jewish students can get a chance to interact with each other, get to know each other on the basis of students being students," she says.
Each of the ambassadors will undergo a one-year leadership development programme, and also get training in conflict resolution.
Bleak picture
Mark Robins, 20, went to a Jewish secondary school. He had virtually no contact with Muslim students while he was growing up.
That all changed when he arrived at Birmingham University. He hopes he can change opinions in his own community about Muslims.
"From time to time you'll talk to other Jews, and you'll talk about the Islamic Society and there'll be negative responses. I want to change all that," he says.
A survey produced in 2005 by Fosis, the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, found that almost half of Muslim students had experienced Islamophobia, mostly defined as "direct and verbal".
It also found that a quarter of these incidents had taken place on university campuses.
It is in the process of putting together a new survey which will be out this year.
The Community Security Trust reported 97 incidents of anti-Semitism in higher education in 2009, up from 68 the previous year.
Of those, 79 were on campuses. There were four assaults and other incidents ranged from verbal abuse to attacks on property.
All of this seems to paint a pretty bleak picture for both communities.
Away from tensions around the Middle East, inviting speakers on to campuses is also leading to problems.
Carly MacKenzie from the Union Of Jewish Students (UJS) says: "Hate speakers that spout anti-Semitism invited on to UK campuses by Islamic societies are one of the biggest perpetual problems currently facing Jewish students and one that UJS is working with the higher education sector to alleviate."
Major effect
On the Muslim side, the London-based Islamic Human Rights Commission believes the current set of anti-terror laws is fuelling Islamophobia.
Chairman Massoud Shadjareh says it is essential to separate security issues from the "politics of fear" and warned that Muslims were already more likely to be stopped by police than other communities.
Dressed in a black hijab, white blouse and black trousers, 20-year-old Aliya Din is a second-year student at King's College London.
She has decided to become a Campus Ambassador, and is in a positive mood at the launch of the scheme
"I'm not expecting the whole world to change, but even if you can change the perspective slightly of some people, it will make a major effect in their future lives, because that is what happens in history."
BBC News
Attack on EDL man's Luton home probed (UK)
Reports of an attack on the home of a leading English Defence League (EDL) member are being investigated by police in Bedfordshire.
Officers were called to Kevin Carroll's home in Bolingbroke Road, Luton, late on Thursday after reports an object was thrown against the window of the house.
Mr Carroll said he went to investigate and saw a man who appeared to be holding a shotgun. No shots were fired.
Officers carried out a search of the area, but no offender was found.
Police said they were trying to establish what happened and wanted to talk to anyone who saw anything suspicious.
BBC News
Officers were called to Kevin Carroll's home in Bolingbroke Road, Luton, late on Thursday after reports an object was thrown against the window of the house.
Mr Carroll said he went to investigate and saw a man who appeared to be holding a shotgun. No shots were fired.
Officers carried out a search of the area, but no offender was found.
Police said they were trying to establish what happened and wanted to talk to anyone who saw anything suspicious.
BBC News
JEWISH GROUP COMPLAINS TO EU PRESIDENCY ABOUT HUNGARY'S FAR-RIGHT
Jobbik, which gathered 16.7 per cent of votes in national elections last year and is currently in the opposition, refutes accusations of being anti-Jew as 'absurd,' but acknowledges its sympathy for the Palestinian cause in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Kantor said that calls for sanctions or a boycott on Israel over its settlement policy on occupied Palestinian land 'should be seen as unacceptable,' and official organizations supporting them 'should be outlawed.' He charged that such appeals amounted to a 'new anti-Semitism.' The EU's official policy is that Israel's continued settlement building is in breach of international law, but the bloc has stopped short of reacting with diplomatic sanctions. Last month, a group of ex-EU leaders, including the bloc's former foreign policy chief Javier Solana, called for a freeze in talks to upgrade EU-Israeli relations and for excluding Israeli produce from occupied Palestinian land from preferential trade treatment.
DPA
TORIES IN TURMOIL OVER EU FAR-RIGHT LAUNCH (Poland/uk)
The Tories are in turmoil after the moderate leader of David Cameron's EU conservative grouping resigned yesterday in protest at a lurch to the far-Right within its Polish ranks.
Michal Kaminiski, a Polish MEP, sent a letter of resignation as chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group after accusing key Tory allies in Poland of driving him out as part of a "far-Right takeover" campaign.
Mr Kaminski has accused Poland's Law and Justice (PIS) party, the ECR's second biggest national section after the Tories, of subjecting him to "aggression" and "hatred" after he formed a moderate breakaway party last year.
"I want this to happen in as calm a way as possible. I underline that I do not want a Polish-Polish war and I think we shouldn't want one in the European Parliament either," he said.
In a move that will deeply embarrass the Prime Minister, he is expected to quit the Eurosceptic grouping to join the pro-EU, mainstream centre-right European People's Party, which Mr Cameron ordered Tory MEPs to leave before creating the ECR in 2009.
The Conservative exit from the EPP provoked controversy and led to the expulsion of a senior Tory MEP who accused the Poles of harbouring racists and anti-Semites.
The Polish split has triggered fierce infighting within the ECR because Mr Kaminski clung on to leadership for three months, with the support of senior Conservatives before he stepped because the row threatened to break up the group.
Conservative MEPs said that Mr Kaminski was expected to seek refuge in the EPP. "He's most likely to join the EPP. It's a bit embarrassing but not as damaging as the backbiting has been," said a senior MEP. "With a new leader as early as next week, we hope this negative chapter will be closed."
The row, and likely departure of Mr Kaminski will put PIS under increased scrutiny after claims that the party, led by Jarolslaw Kaczynski, the brother of the late Polish president killed in an air crash last year, is careering to the far-Right.
Marek Migalski, a Polish MEP aligned with Mr Kaminski, has warned that Mr Cameron's Polish allies in Europe have fallen under the control of the owner of a controversial radio station, infamous for its anti-Semitic and xenophobic outbursts.
Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, the owner of Radio Maryja, has struck a deal with PIS in which his supporters make up 50 per cent of all the party's candidates in Poland's general election, which is due this year, in return for his backing.
Radio Maryja, just one arm of Father Rydzyk's media empire that includes a television station and a national newspaper, has been condemned by the Council of Europe and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for anti-Semitism.
Glenis Willmott, Labour's leader in the European Parliament, said: "It is deeply disturbing that the Conservative's Polish allies are seen to be moving even further to the extreme with Kaminski's departure."
An ECR spokesman said the resignation letter had not yet been received.
"Our understanding is that Mr Kaminski will propose a solution to the tensions caused by the Polish domestic situation. Until he does so, no decisions on the matter will be taken by the Conservative delegation," he said.
The Telegraph
Michal Kaminiski, a Polish MEP, sent a letter of resignation as chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group after accusing key Tory allies in Poland of driving him out as part of a "far-Right takeover" campaign.
Mr Kaminski has accused Poland's Law and Justice (PIS) party, the ECR's second biggest national section after the Tories, of subjecting him to "aggression" and "hatred" after he formed a moderate breakaway party last year.
"I want this to happen in as calm a way as possible. I underline that I do not want a Polish-Polish war and I think we shouldn't want one in the European Parliament either," he said.
In a move that will deeply embarrass the Prime Minister, he is expected to quit the Eurosceptic grouping to join the pro-EU, mainstream centre-right European People's Party, which Mr Cameron ordered Tory MEPs to leave before creating the ECR in 2009.
The Conservative exit from the EPP provoked controversy and led to the expulsion of a senior Tory MEP who accused the Poles of harbouring racists and anti-Semites.
The Polish split has triggered fierce infighting within the ECR because Mr Kaminski clung on to leadership for three months, with the support of senior Conservatives before he stepped because the row threatened to break up the group.
Conservative MEPs said that Mr Kaminski was expected to seek refuge in the EPP. "He's most likely to join the EPP. It's a bit embarrassing but not as damaging as the backbiting has been," said a senior MEP. "With a new leader as early as next week, we hope this negative chapter will be closed."
The row, and likely departure of Mr Kaminski will put PIS under increased scrutiny after claims that the party, led by Jarolslaw Kaczynski, the brother of the late Polish president killed in an air crash last year, is careering to the far-Right.
Marek Migalski, a Polish MEP aligned with Mr Kaminski, has warned that Mr Cameron's Polish allies in Europe have fallen under the control of the owner of a controversial radio station, infamous for its anti-Semitic and xenophobic outbursts.
Father Tadeusz Rydzyk, the owner of Radio Maryja, has struck a deal with PIS in which his supporters make up 50 per cent of all the party's candidates in Poland's general election, which is due this year, in return for his backing.
Radio Maryja, just one arm of Father Rydzyk's media empire that includes a television station and a national newspaper, has been condemned by the Council of Europe and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for anti-Semitism.
Glenis Willmott, Labour's leader in the European Parliament, said: "It is deeply disturbing that the Conservative's Polish allies are seen to be moving even further to the extreme with Kaminski's departure."
An ECR spokesman said the resignation letter had not yet been received.
"Our understanding is that Mr Kaminski will propose a solution to the tensions caused by the Polish domestic situation. Until he does so, no decisions on the matter will be taken by the Conservative delegation," he said.
The Telegraph
FBI will consider recent neo-Nazi activity in Spokane bomb discovery (USA)
The FBI will consider recent local neo-Nazi activity in its investigation of a backpack bomb found this week along a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade route in Spokane, Washington, but it has no evidence of any connections, the agency told CNN on Thursday.
Frank Harrill, special agent in charge of the FBI's Spokane field office, said authorities know of no link to "any specific group or individuals" and called reports linking the bomb to recent neo-Nazi activity in a nearby Idaho town "premature."
The bureau is looking into the incident as "an act of domestic terrorism," Harrill said.
"Every square millimeter of the backpack will be subjected to every kind of analysis, every component will be taken apart. It will be a laborious process, taking days if not longer," Harrill told CNN.
"It is too early to announce that we have a link to any specific group or individuals. We continue to investigate all possibilities, all avenues. There is no focus yet. Reports of a link are premature," he said.
Authorities are awaiting an analysis of the backpack and bomb materials at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, Harrill said.
Tony Stewart, one of the founders of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, told CNN he found the timing of the planted bomb and two recent neo-Nazi activities in Coeur d'Alene "just too overwhelming" and suggested hatred was also behind the Spokane bomb. Coeur d'Alene is 35 miles east of Spokane.
But Stewart had no evidence tying the Spokane bomb to the two activities in Coeur d' Alene. On Friday, a handful of neo-Nazis protested two Mexican restaurants with signs saying, "This is white land" and "We want you out of here," he said. His group held a King holiday activity with 1,400 fifth-graders that day, he said.
During the evening of Monday's King holiday, about 15 neo-Nazis demonstrated outside the Human Rights Education Institute in downtown Coeur d'Alene, Stewart said. The same evening, his group held a holiday gala at another location, he said.
About the Spokane bomb discovery, Stewart said: "It's clear that it was an attempt to end the march and attack human rights advocates.
"All three events were going on when there was a reaction by the white supremacists or hate groups in some way," specifically at the two Coeur d'Alene events, Stewart said. "We don't know who did it, but there was certainly a reaction to human right events. They were individuals who didn't like what we were doing."
The Coeur d'Alene area had been a hotbed of neo-Nazi activity through the Aryan Nations and Order II hate groups since at least the 1970s, though the groups were disbanded through criminal convictions and civil lawsuits by 2000, Stewart said.
Several bombings in Coeur d'Alene in the 1980s, including at the home of a Catholic pastor and priest who was also serving as president of the human relations task force, were blamed on the Order II, Stewart said. The priest wasn't injured in that bombing, he said.
The gray backpack was found Monday on a bench at the northeast corner of North Washington Street and West Main Avenue in downtown Spokane.
No threat was received before the device was found, nor was a note found with the backpack, Harrill said.
"Clearly it's not coincidence that it's placed along the march route," he said. "But it's too early to ascribe a motive, whether it's racial or political or something else."
The FBI released photos of the Swiss Army-brand backpack and two T-shirts found in it. One shirt says "Treasure Island 2009" and the other reads "Stevens County Relay For Life June 25th-26th 2010."
The device was discovered Monday morning by three parade workers before the event, Harrill said.
According to local media reports, the bomb was designed to be detonated by remote control and was packed with shrapnel.
"We won't comment or try to rate the device," Harrill said, declining to provide details on the components or how it was constructed. "But preliminary analysis reveals this device had the potential to be pretty lethal."
March organizer Ivan Bush said he didn't want to envision what would have happened had the backpack not been found.
"We have 2,000 people that participated in the march," Bush said. "Right on the front lines are kids. One of our high school drum lines was leading the march. We had preschoolers holding banners with 'Happy birthday, Dr. King' on it.
"Again, we are talking about folks' lives; we are talking about kids' lives," he said.
Bush said city leaders in Spokane had taken steps to improve the city's image by recently naming a street in honor of King.
Agents have leads in the case, Harrill said, but he would not provide details on the investigation.
A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. The FBI is asking the public for information on who might have been seen with the backpack from about 8 to 9:25 a.m. Monday. It also is asking for photos or videos taken in the area.
One of this week's march observers, Lindsey Resiwig, told CNN that authorities used a robot to investigate the backpack.
"We were standing on the balcony up there and watching with little binoculars and they came and started messing with the package and started pulling things out, and this took a very long time," Resiwig told CNN. "The robot came and went three or four times. It took hours."
Janet Hutchinson, who works next to where bomb was found, said FBI agents interviewed her "to see if I had seen anything strange or suspicious -- people coming in with backpacks which they do in a store all the time," she told CNN.
"But it had been a really quiet morning so I had nothing to report to them," Hutchinson said.
kaj18
Frank Harrill, special agent in charge of the FBI's Spokane field office, said authorities know of no link to "any specific group or individuals" and called reports linking the bomb to recent neo-Nazi activity in a nearby Idaho town "premature."
The bureau is looking into the incident as "an act of domestic terrorism," Harrill said.
"Every square millimeter of the backpack will be subjected to every kind of analysis, every component will be taken apart. It will be a laborious process, taking days if not longer," Harrill told CNN.
"It is too early to announce that we have a link to any specific group or individuals. We continue to investigate all possibilities, all avenues. There is no focus yet. Reports of a link are premature," he said.
Authorities are awaiting an analysis of the backpack and bomb materials at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, Harrill said.
Tony Stewart, one of the founders of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, told CNN he found the timing of the planted bomb and two recent neo-Nazi activities in Coeur d'Alene "just too overwhelming" and suggested hatred was also behind the Spokane bomb. Coeur d'Alene is 35 miles east of Spokane.
But Stewart had no evidence tying the Spokane bomb to the two activities in Coeur d' Alene. On Friday, a handful of neo-Nazis protested two Mexican restaurants with signs saying, "This is white land" and "We want you out of here," he said. His group held a King holiday activity with 1,400 fifth-graders that day, he said.
During the evening of Monday's King holiday, about 15 neo-Nazis demonstrated outside the Human Rights Education Institute in downtown Coeur d'Alene, Stewart said. The same evening, his group held a holiday gala at another location, he said.
About the Spokane bomb discovery, Stewart said: "It's clear that it was an attempt to end the march and attack human rights advocates.
"All three events were going on when there was a reaction by the white supremacists or hate groups in some way," specifically at the two Coeur d'Alene events, Stewart said. "We don't know who did it, but there was certainly a reaction to human right events. They were individuals who didn't like what we were doing."
The Coeur d'Alene area had been a hotbed of neo-Nazi activity through the Aryan Nations and Order II hate groups since at least the 1970s, though the groups were disbanded through criminal convictions and civil lawsuits by 2000, Stewart said.
Several bombings in Coeur d'Alene in the 1980s, including at the home of a Catholic pastor and priest who was also serving as president of the human relations task force, were blamed on the Order II, Stewart said. The priest wasn't injured in that bombing, he said.
The gray backpack was found Monday on a bench at the northeast corner of North Washington Street and West Main Avenue in downtown Spokane.
No threat was received before the device was found, nor was a note found with the backpack, Harrill said.
"Clearly it's not coincidence that it's placed along the march route," he said. "But it's too early to ascribe a motive, whether it's racial or political or something else."
The FBI released photos of the Swiss Army-brand backpack and two T-shirts found in it. One shirt says "Treasure Island 2009" and the other reads "Stevens County Relay For Life June 25th-26th 2010."
The device was discovered Monday morning by three parade workers before the event, Harrill said.
According to local media reports, the bomb was designed to be detonated by remote control and was packed with shrapnel.
"We won't comment or try to rate the device," Harrill said, declining to provide details on the components or how it was constructed. "But preliminary analysis reveals this device had the potential to be pretty lethal."
March organizer Ivan Bush said he didn't want to envision what would have happened had the backpack not been found.
"We have 2,000 people that participated in the march," Bush said. "Right on the front lines are kids. One of our high school drum lines was leading the march. We had preschoolers holding banners with 'Happy birthday, Dr. King' on it.
"Again, we are talking about folks' lives; we are talking about kids' lives," he said.
Bush said city leaders in Spokane had taken steps to improve the city's image by recently naming a street in honor of King.
Agents have leads in the case, Harrill said, but he would not provide details on the investigation.
A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible. The FBI is asking the public for information on who might have been seen with the backpack from about 8 to 9:25 a.m. Monday. It also is asking for photos or videos taken in the area.
One of this week's march observers, Lindsey Resiwig, told CNN that authorities used a robot to investigate the backpack.
"We were standing on the balcony up there and watching with little binoculars and they came and started messing with the package and started pulling things out, and this took a very long time," Resiwig told CNN. "The robot came and went three or four times. It took hours."
Janet Hutchinson, who works next to where bomb was found, said FBI agents interviewed her "to see if I had seen anything strange or suspicious -- people coming in with backpacks which they do in a store all the time," she told CNN.
"But it had been a really quiet morning so I had nothing to report to them," Hutchinson said.
kaj18
Anti-racism group demands ban on far right demonstration (UK)
An anti-racism group has called on the British Government to ban the proposed far-right English Defence League (EDL) demonstration in Luton on February 5.The group known as ‘One Society Many Cultures’ in a media release said it is deeply concerned for the safety of the community, as the EDL have indicated they intend to march into the heart of the Muslim locality.Previous EDL demonstrations have led to attacks on mosques and other places of worship in Asian and other minority communities.
At a demonstration in Preston, north west England, in November 2010, the EDL were caught on camera chanting ‘burn down a mosque’.
The group said the demonstration goes against the Public Order Act and incitement to racial and religious hatred legislation.
Luton Council has also called for the EDL march to be banned.
The EDL, made up of self proclaimed football hooligans, has previously held demonstrations in Luton which escalated into clashes with protestors from anti-fascist groups.
ftpapp
At a demonstration in Preston, north west England, in November 2010, the EDL were caught on camera chanting ‘burn down a mosque’.
The group said the demonstration goes against the Public Order Act and incitement to racial and religious hatred legislation.
Luton Council has also called for the EDL march to be banned.
The EDL, made up of self proclaimed football hooligans, has previously held demonstrations in Luton which escalated into clashes with protestors from anti-fascist groups.
ftpapp
Celtic midfielder Ki Sung-Yueng ignites racism row with 'monkey' celebration for South Korea in Asian Cup semi-final with Japan
Celtic midfielder has courted controversy following a provocative celebration after scoring for South Korea against arch-rivals Japan in the semi-final of the Asian Cup.
The 21-year-old scored the opening goal from the spot and then sprinted towards a camera and proceeded to pull at and scratch his face in a monkey-like fashion.
The incident caused considerable offence in Japan, where it has been perceived as a racist taunt, although South Korean officials have claimed that it was in retaliation to alleged taunting by St Johnstone fans during a Scottish Premier League game in October.
A Japanese military flag – an inflammatory item in many former Japanese colonies – was held aloft in Doha during the semi-final match, and Ki stated after the game that he has cried in his his mind when he saw it, leading to speculation that his celebration was deliberately offensive.
Goal.com Korea's Yonghun Lee describes why Japanese viewers would have seen Ki's reaction as offensive.
"It's not racial, as Korean and Japanese people are both Asian," says Lee, "but it is a historical celebration."
He added that the flag is viewed as a symbol of Japanese fascism and militarism: "So he did that celebration to Japan supporters who held that flag."
Controversy has engulfed Ki in Korea, with many believing that he had wrongly reacted to the flag, although some have expressed sympathy for how the player felt, according to Lee, who believes that the player should not behaved as he did, but the offending flag should not have been in the stadium.
"I think the flag of the army should not be allowed in [a] football stadium in the first place," Lee said.
"And I also think that Ki's celebration was not proper either. He should have acted more maturely."
The Korean football association quickly denied that the celebration was a racial taunt aimed at Japanese viewers, and instead officially told English-speaking media that the Celtic player's celebration was in retaliation to racial abuse endured in the SPL.
An official said: "The treatment he got in the Scottish league, especially from the away fans, the people who made noises like the sounds of the monkey in Scotland while he played away games, is something he wanted to highlight.
"They call him a 'monkey' as an Asian – he wanted to show how strong they are in Asia and that was the main attention."
Ki himself claimed in the aftermath of the game that he is first a footballer "but more importantly, I'm Korean".
The Asian Football Confederation confirmed that Fifa had not contacted them over the incident, and tournament director Tokuaki Suzuki admitted no legal action would take playing, saying that the respective national associations had already discussed the matter.
South Korea were knocked out on penalties by Japan, who will face Australia in Saturday's final, after the game finished 2-2 in extra-time.
Goal.Com
The 21-year-old scored the opening goal from the spot and then sprinted towards a camera and proceeded to pull at and scratch his face in a monkey-like fashion.
The incident caused considerable offence in Japan, where it has been perceived as a racist taunt, although South Korean officials have claimed that it was in retaliation to alleged taunting by St Johnstone fans during a Scottish Premier League game in October.
A Japanese military flag – an inflammatory item in many former Japanese colonies – was held aloft in Doha during the semi-final match, and Ki stated after the game that he has cried in his his mind when he saw it, leading to speculation that his celebration was deliberately offensive.
Goal.com Korea's Yonghun Lee describes why Japanese viewers would have seen Ki's reaction as offensive.
"It's not racial, as Korean and Japanese people are both Asian," says Lee, "but it is a historical celebration."
He added that the flag is viewed as a symbol of Japanese fascism and militarism: "So he did that celebration to Japan supporters who held that flag."
Controversy has engulfed Ki in Korea, with many believing that he had wrongly reacted to the flag, although some have expressed sympathy for how the player felt, according to Lee, who believes that the player should not behaved as he did, but the offending flag should not have been in the stadium.
"I think the flag of the army should not be allowed in [a] football stadium in the first place," Lee said.
"And I also think that Ki's celebration was not proper either. He should have acted more maturely."
The Korean football association quickly denied that the celebration was a racial taunt aimed at Japanese viewers, and instead officially told English-speaking media that the Celtic player's celebration was in retaliation to racial abuse endured in the SPL.
An official said: "The treatment he got in the Scottish league, especially from the away fans, the people who made noises like the sounds of the monkey in Scotland while he played away games, is something he wanted to highlight.
"They call him a 'monkey' as an Asian – he wanted to show how strong they are in Asia and that was the main attention."
Ki himself claimed in the aftermath of the game that he is first a footballer "but more importantly, I'm Korean".
The Asian Football Confederation confirmed that Fifa had not contacted them over the incident, and tournament director Tokuaki Suzuki admitted no legal action would take playing, saying that the respective national associations had already discussed the matter.
South Korea were knocked out on penalties by Japan, who will face Australia in Saturday's final, after the game finished 2-2 in extra-time.
Goal.Com
Thursday, 27 January 2011
European leader calls for 'zero-tolerance' for antisemitism
Europe should have "zero tolerance" for far-right parties that spew antisemitism, European Jewish Congress president Moshe Kantor said in a press conference here today, ahead of ceremonies marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Mr Kantor and other Jewish leaders met today with right-populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who now holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, to discuss problems with the antisemitic far-right Jobbik party and to urge him to overturn his controversial new media law, which subjects news reporting to a litmus test. Mr Orban has come in for severe criticism over the law, which critics consider anti-democratic.
"To some developments we should show zero tolerance in Europe," said Mr Kantor, who was joined in the press conference by Israeli Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein.
According to a press release following the private meeting with Mr Orban, Mr Kantor described the meeting as positive. He reported that Mr Orban agreed that some verbal attacks on Israel are comparable to classic antisemitism, and that both are unacceptable. He expressed opposition to what Mr Kantor described as a campaign assaulting Israel's legitimacy.
The EU parliament and its president, Jerzy Buzek, former prime minister of Poland, hosted tonight's Holocaust memorial ceremony organised by the EJC, marking the 66th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by Red Army soldiers on January 27 1945.
Several survivors, and the son of a rescuer, were among those who lit candles in honor of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
The event featured an exhibition on Auschwitz presented by Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, and addresses by Rabbi Lau, Mr Buzek, Mr Kantor and Mr Edelstein.
World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald Lauder said that his family's visit to the Auschwitz camp memorial in Poland more than 20 years ago changed all of their lives.
"I saw the ruins, and the human hair and shoes. Everything was deteriorating," he said. "And I realized that someday there would not only be no more survivors, but also nothing remaining" as proof of history.
He subsequently raised $40 million from governments and private individuals, together with Holocaust survivors Ernest Michel, WJC senior vice president, and Kalman Sultanik, honorary WJC vice president, to help ensure the preservation of the infamous site for posterity.
The Jewish Chronicle
Mr Kantor and other Jewish leaders met today with right-populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who now holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, to discuss problems with the antisemitic far-right Jobbik party and to urge him to overturn his controversial new media law, which subjects news reporting to a litmus test. Mr Orban has come in for severe criticism over the law, which critics consider anti-democratic.
"To some developments we should show zero tolerance in Europe," said Mr Kantor, who was joined in the press conference by Israeli Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Yuli Edelstein.
According to a press release following the private meeting with Mr Orban, Mr Kantor described the meeting as positive. He reported that Mr Orban agreed that some verbal attacks on Israel are comparable to classic antisemitism, and that both are unacceptable. He expressed opposition to what Mr Kantor described as a campaign assaulting Israel's legitimacy.
The EU parliament and its president, Jerzy Buzek, former prime minister of Poland, hosted tonight's Holocaust memorial ceremony organised by the EJC, marking the 66th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by Red Army soldiers on January 27 1945.
Several survivors, and the son of a rescuer, were among those who lit candles in honor of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
The event featured an exhibition on Auschwitz presented by Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, chairman of Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, and addresses by Rabbi Lau, Mr Buzek, Mr Kantor and Mr Edelstein.
World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald Lauder said that his family's visit to the Auschwitz camp memorial in Poland more than 20 years ago changed all of their lives.
"I saw the ruins, and the human hair and shoes. Everything was deteriorating," he said. "And I realized that someday there would not only be no more survivors, but also nothing remaining" as proof of history.
He subsequently raised $40 million from governments and private individuals, together with Holocaust survivors Ernest Michel, WJC senior vice president, and Kalman Sultanik, honorary WJC vice president, to help ensure the preservation of the infamous site for posterity.
The Jewish Chronicle
Amren White supremacist gathering in NC in limbo (USA)
A planned gathering in Charlotte of a group known for its white supremacist and anti-immigrant views is in limbo after a hotel canceled the group's reservations.
The Charlotte Observer reports that the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel cited guest safety in making the decision.
The white nationalist magazine sponsoring the gathering next week, American Renaissance, says it's had no luck so far finding other accommodations in Charlotte.
Editor Jared Taylor says Charlotte City Councilman Patrick Cannon violated the group's First Amendment rights by contacting hotels about the upcoming conference.
Cannon says he was just finding information in response to a question from a constituent.
Anti-racist groups have said they plan to protest the conference on Feb. 5.
News Observer
The Charlotte Observer reports that the Sheraton Charlotte Airport Hotel cited guest safety in making the decision.
The white nationalist magazine sponsoring the gathering next week, American Renaissance, says it's had no luck so far finding other accommodations in Charlotte.
Editor Jared Taylor says Charlotte City Councilman Patrick Cannon violated the group's First Amendment rights by contacting hotels about the upcoming conference.
Cannon says he was just finding information in response to a question from a constituent.
Anti-racist groups have said they plan to protest the conference on Feb. 5.
News Observer
Admitted Ridgewood Neo-Nazi Arrested for Threatening New York Anti-Defamation League Head (USA)
Jacques Pluss, 57, an ex-adjunct history professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University and other universities, has ties to neo-Nazi organizations and is known to frequent neo-Nazi websites, New Jersey State Police say.
Pluss was fired from FDU in 2005 after it had been made public that he was a leader of the American Nazi Party, according to reports. He admitted his status as a neo-Nazi in 2007 to the History News Network and has called the unversity a "Jewish plutocracy" to the Associated Press shortly after being fired. The University said Pluss was fired not because of his political views but because he was absent for classes.
Pluss is alleged to have sent multiple threatening e-mails to the head of the Anti-Defamation League in New York, which were handed over to the New Jersey State Police, Acting Lieutenant Stephen Jones of the agency's Public Information Office said.
"At 6:30 this morning, State Police detectives with the assistance of our TEAMS Unit, Cyber Crimes Unit and K-9 Unit executed a search warrant at Heights Road," Jones said.
In addition to Pluss being taken into custody, "several" rifles were confiscated during the search of the apartment, Jones said.
The former history professor has been charged with bias intimidation, harassment, contempt of court and weapons possession. Because of a prior court action, Pluss was not allowed to possess weapons, State Police say.
Bail was set at $25,000 with a 10-percent option and Pluss was taken to Bergen County Jail.
Multiple agencies aided in the investigation, led by the NJ State Police's Central Security Unit, which handles threats made against public figures. The Division of Criminal Justice, State Police Crime Scene Investigators and the Ridgewood Police Department were involved in the investigation and arrest of Pluss, Jones said.
The New Jersey Attorney General's Office will likely be handling prosecution, Jones said.
Ridgewood Patch
Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society accuses English Defence League of stirring racial tension in Shotton (UK)
More than 100 activists from far-right group the English Defence League (EDL) marched through Shotton to protest against plans to build an Islamic cultural centre in the town.
North Wales Police officers were out in force to ensure the protest on Saturday – which saw EDL members from Chester, Stoke, Burnley, Manchester, Cardiff and Liverpool congregate – passed without incident.
The EDL vehemently opposes the plans for what it calls a ‘mosque’, which could be built on the site of the former Shotton Lane Social Club.
But Monchab Ali, chairman of the Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society, which is more than halfway to raising the money to buy the venue, insisted the proposal was for an Islamic cultural centre which would benefit the community.
He told the Chronicle: “The EDL has come from outside Shotton in an attempt to divide the community.
“I have been in business for more than 22 years and throughout that time I have not seen any signs of racial tension or problems in the community.
“We have been supporting local football teams, cricket clubs and primary schools – whatever opportunity we have had, we have been supporting the community.”
Mr Ali also attacked a leaflet campaign co-ordinated by BNP councillor John Walker to fight the proposed centre.
In the leaflet Cllr Walker said: “We strongly oppose a development of this kind in the heart of our community.
“Deeside has had its fair share of immigration over the years, but this is a step too far.
“The owner of the Shotton Bengal Dynasty restaurant (Mr Ali) is...seeking to open this Islamic centre.
“Please bear in mind if you dine at this establishment you may well be inadvertently funding this new development.”
Mr Ali countered: “That is completely untrue. Mr Walker lives in Mancot – what is his part to the community and why is he saying such unfounded allegations?”
The society currently rents the Queensferry Institute building for Islamic and Arabic classes, which are held twice a week.
Martin Smith, spokesman for campaign group Unite Against Fascism (UAF) said: “The UAF deplores the EDL’s protest against building a cultural centre.
“Instead of spreading lies and hate towards the Muslim community in Britain, we believe we should be able to celebrate anybody’s culture and live a life free of hate and bigotry.”
North Wales Police Superintendent Dave Owens, the senior officer at the protest on Saturday, said the parade passed without incident.
He said: “Our intention was to facilitate a peaceful protest and we were helped in achieving this by the organisers, who discussed their plans with us before the event and were fully co-operative throughout.”
Supt Owens said the Deeside neighbourhood police team, led by Sergeant Tony Heaword, will continue to work with community leaders ‘to address any ongoing concerns’.
Flintshire Chronicle
North Wales Police officers were out in force to ensure the protest on Saturday – which saw EDL members from Chester, Stoke, Burnley, Manchester, Cardiff and Liverpool congregate – passed without incident.
The EDL vehemently opposes the plans for what it calls a ‘mosque’, which could be built on the site of the former Shotton Lane Social Club.
But Monchab Ali, chairman of the Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society, which is more than halfway to raising the money to buy the venue, insisted the proposal was for an Islamic cultural centre which would benefit the community.
He told the Chronicle: “The EDL has come from outside Shotton in an attempt to divide the community.
“I have been in business for more than 22 years and throughout that time I have not seen any signs of racial tension or problems in the community.
“We have been supporting local football teams, cricket clubs and primary schools – whatever opportunity we have had, we have been supporting the community.”
Mr Ali also attacked a leaflet campaign co-ordinated by BNP councillor John Walker to fight the proposed centre.
In the leaflet Cllr Walker said: “We strongly oppose a development of this kind in the heart of our community.
“Deeside has had its fair share of immigration over the years, but this is a step too far.
“The owner of the Shotton Bengal Dynasty restaurant (Mr Ali) is...seeking to open this Islamic centre.
“Please bear in mind if you dine at this establishment you may well be inadvertently funding this new development.”
Mr Ali countered: “That is completely untrue. Mr Walker lives in Mancot – what is his part to the community and why is he saying such unfounded allegations?”
The society currently rents the Queensferry Institute building for Islamic and Arabic classes, which are held twice a week.
Martin Smith, spokesman for campaign group Unite Against Fascism (UAF) said: “The UAF deplores the EDL’s protest against building a cultural centre.
“Instead of spreading lies and hate towards the Muslim community in Britain, we believe we should be able to celebrate anybody’s culture and live a life free of hate and bigotry.”
North Wales Police Superintendent Dave Owens, the senior officer at the protest on Saturday, said the parade passed without incident.
He said: “Our intention was to facilitate a peaceful protest and we were helped in achieving this by the organisers, who discussed their plans with us before the event and were fully co-operative throughout.”
Supt Owens said the Deeside neighbourhood police team, led by Sergeant Tony Heaword, will continue to work with community leaders ‘to address any ongoing concerns’.
Flintshire Chronicle
St Ethelwold’s Church, Shotton, criticises BNP and EDL Islam centre opposition (UK)
A Church leader has criticised the British National Party’s (BNP) leafleting campaign against the proposed Shotton Islamic centre.
St Ethelwold’s Church was pictured in the leaflet co-ordinated by BNP community councillor John Walker without authorisation.
And vicar Rev Steven Green wants to make it clear the church does not support the far-right organisation’s opposition to the controversial plans.
Within the leaflet Cllr Walker said: “With declining church attendances and the local clergy falling over themselves to welcome other religions into the area, what future does Christianity have in Deeside?”
Mr Green said: “I would suggest the author of this letter should be better informed, as all the churches on Deeside work well together and are involved in many projects such as Fairtrade, community development and many other initiatives.
“The Christian communities are faithful and confident in their own faith, but that faith reflecting the love of Jesus seeks to welcome and offer hospitality.
“Church life on Deeside is in good heart, supported by loyal, faithful and generous Christians who stand for peace and tolerance on our streets and respect for all people of peace and goodwill.”
Mr Green also criticised the English Defence League’s town centre protest on Saturday.
“I find it difficult to believe such a demonstration has anything to do with the people of Deeside,” he said.
“Deeside people are warm, generous and tolerant people who have witnessed and adapted to many changes over the last 30 years.”
Flintshire Chronicle
St Ethelwold’s Church was pictured in the leaflet co-ordinated by BNP community councillor John Walker without authorisation.
And vicar Rev Steven Green wants to make it clear the church does not support the far-right organisation’s opposition to the controversial plans.
Within the leaflet Cllr Walker said: “With declining church attendances and the local clergy falling over themselves to welcome other religions into the area, what future does Christianity have in Deeside?”
Mr Green said: “I would suggest the author of this letter should be better informed, as all the churches on Deeside work well together and are involved in many projects such as Fairtrade, community development and many other initiatives.
“The Christian communities are faithful and confident in their own faith, but that faith reflecting the love of Jesus seeks to welcome and offer hospitality.
“Church life on Deeside is in good heart, supported by loyal, faithful and generous Christians who stand for peace and tolerance on our streets and respect for all people of peace and goodwill.”
Mr Green also criticised the English Defence League’s town centre protest on Saturday.
“I find it difficult to believe such a demonstration has anything to do with the people of Deeside,” he said.
“Deeside people are warm, generous and tolerant people who have witnessed and adapted to many changes over the last 30 years.”
Flintshire Chronicle
Mersey Police Authority awards £5,000 to tackle hate crime (UK)
Merseyside Police Authority has awarded £5,000 to an action group to assist their work tackling hate crime.
Homotopia’s "Project Triangle" works with young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to develop projects and resources promoting equality and diversity and challenging hate crime.
The police authority - a 17-strong public body made up of councillors from all five Merseyside councils as well as individuals from the community - presented Homotopia with the £5,000 to purchase film production and editing equipment.
Using this, the group has produced a new film: "Sex, Drags and Rock N Roll", which premiered at the Unity Theatre as part of the Homotopia festival.
The film has already been selected for the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and will feature in a Merseyside-wide youth hate crime conference being organised for February.
Bev Ayre, who manages the project, said the MPA cash: "has vastly increased our ability to work with young people and spread an anti-hate message locally, across the country and internationally.
"We are so grateful to Merseyside Police Authority for their continued support of our work tackling hate crime."
He said MPA's support means more than 20,000 young people across Merseyside have accessed diversity and equality resources.
In 2009, the police authority funded a trip for 12 young people from Project Triangle to visit Auschwitz and Warsaw to raise awareness of hate crime and increase people’s confidence in reporting it.
Following the visit, Project Triangle produced a hate crime education resource pack which has been endorsed by Sir Ian McKellen, the NUT and Merseyside Police Chief Constable John Murphy.
Those involved in the project will be visiting the authority on Thursday to talk to members about how the money is being spent.
For more information on how you can apply for a grant through the authority’s Police Property Acts Fund, click the first link below...
Wirral Globe
Homotopia’s "Project Triangle" works with young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to develop projects and resources promoting equality and diversity and challenging hate crime.
The police authority - a 17-strong public body made up of councillors from all five Merseyside councils as well as individuals from the community - presented Homotopia with the £5,000 to purchase film production and editing equipment.
Using this, the group has produced a new film: "Sex, Drags and Rock N Roll", which premiered at the Unity Theatre as part of the Homotopia festival.
The film has already been selected for the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and will feature in a Merseyside-wide youth hate crime conference being organised for February.
Bev Ayre, who manages the project, said the MPA cash: "has vastly increased our ability to work with young people and spread an anti-hate message locally, across the country and internationally.
"We are so grateful to Merseyside Police Authority for their continued support of our work tackling hate crime."
He said MPA's support means more than 20,000 young people across Merseyside have accessed diversity and equality resources.
In 2009, the police authority funded a trip for 12 young people from Project Triangle to visit Auschwitz and Warsaw to raise awareness of hate crime and increase people’s confidence in reporting it.
Following the visit, Project Triangle produced a hate crime education resource pack which has been endorsed by Sir Ian McKellen, the NUT and Merseyside Police Chief Constable John Murphy.
Those involved in the project will be visiting the authority on Thursday to talk to members about how the money is being spent.
For more information on how you can apply for a grant through the authority’s Police Property Acts Fund, click the first link below...
Wirral Globe
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Jewish Defense Org. takes on another group (USA)
The Jewish Defense Organization is trying to block what it calls a neo-Nazi group from holding a conference in Charlotte, N.C.
The JDO has threatened to boycott any hotel that welcomes American Renaissance magazine, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday. On its Web site, it calls American Renaissance "a collection of Jew-Hating and racist neo-Nazi and KKK."
Jared Taylor, editor of American Renaissance, responds by calling the JDO "just goofy" and saying the group has a "bee in its bonnet."
Marilyn Mayo, director of the Center on Extremism of the Anti-Defamation League, thinks they are both at least partly right.
"You have one extremist group fighting another extremist group," she said. "In fact, the American Renaissance is not a neo-Nazi group. It's a racist group."
American Renaissance describes itself as believing in "race realism." It calls race "the most prominent and divisive fault line" in society.
The conference is scheduled Feb. 4-6. Taylor said the venue would be announced immediately beforehand for security reasons.
UPI.com
The JDO has threatened to boycott any hotel that welcomes American Renaissance magazine, The Charlotte Observer reported Tuesday. On its Web site, it calls American Renaissance "a collection of Jew-Hating and racist neo-Nazi and KKK."
Jared Taylor, editor of American Renaissance, responds by calling the JDO "just goofy" and saying the group has a "bee in its bonnet."
Marilyn Mayo, director of the Center on Extremism of the Anti-Defamation League, thinks they are both at least partly right.
"You have one extremist group fighting another extremist group," she said. "In fact, the American Renaissance is not a neo-Nazi group. It's a racist group."
American Renaissance describes itself as believing in "race realism." It calls race "the most prominent and divisive fault line" in society.
The conference is scheduled Feb. 4-6. Taylor said the venue would be announced immediately beforehand for security reasons.
UPI.com
Fugitive white supremacist calls supporters to attack (Canada)
A fugitive white supremacist facing a Canada-wide arrest warrant has called on his supporters to launch violent attacks on Jews and U.S. government installations, a U.S.-based terrorism monitoring group reported Tuesday.
Craig Cobb, 59, wrote from his U.S. hideout that he preferred his followers decide on "doing something they haven't yet done before" for the white supremacist cause -- rather than offer him help.
He cited three far-right extremists as having carried out acts that he urged should be seen as templates for future acts of violence, according to Washington-based SITE Intelligence Group.
"History may turn," Cobb wrote, if there were "just a few more" people such as Joe Stack, who in 2010 flew his Piper Dakota plane into a federal building in Austin, Texas, killing himself and an Internal Revenue Service manager, and injuring 13; James von Brunn, who perpetrated the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting in Washington, D.C., in 2009, killing a security guard; and Joseph Paul Franklin, a serial killer motivated by a pathological hatred of African Americans and Jews.
Cobb is believed to be in Montana, where he readily admits his home is a "hole in the ground" as he discusses getting by on minimal handouts from friends.
"Money doesn't motivate him at all; he only wants money to survive," said Terry Wilson of the RCMP's B.C. hate crime unit.
The message, posted by an intermediary, appeared on the extremist Vanguard News Network Jan. 8, according to SITE.
Canadian authorities have accused Cobb of operating his own hate web-site from Vancouver for 10 months before his arrest at the Vancouver Public Library last June following a six-month hate crime investigation.
Cobb fled to the United States after RCMP released him within 10 hours because of a delay in the police agency's ability to lay the federal hate-crime charge. Such charges require the provincial attorney-general's approval.
A warrant was issued for his rearrest after police on Dec. 30 laid a charge of wilful promotion of hatred.
Missouri-born Cobb, who gained Canadian citizenship in addition to U.S. citizenship after living in Canada in the 1970s, created his site in 2005, when he lived in Estonia.
He returned to Canada after the Estonian government deported him in August 2009.
Vancover Sun
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
THE FAR RIGHT’S REVIVAL IN FRANCE
One of the things that was taken out of the 2007 French presidential election was the collapse of the far right (the Front national or FN), the same far right which five years earlier had shocked the world and France by placing second in the presidential race with 16.9 percent of the vote. Its poor 10.4 percent showing in 2007 was followed by a drubbing in subsequent legislative elections and an equally weak showing in the 2009 European elections. It has rightfully been said that Nicolas Sarkozy took a lot of the far right vote in 2007 with his tough law and order platform and populist rhetoric. It helped him with working class voters, many of whom had supported the FN in 2002 despite their left wing roots. Following the party’s collapse, which put it on the verge of bankruptcy and forced it to sell off its headquarters in an affluent Parisian suburb, the far right was buried. Sarkozy and the traditional right had permanently integrated most of the FN’s electorate, and it would collapse following the inevitable retirement of its historical lider maximo, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
It turns out that the far right was buried far too early and the party that passed for dead or at least moribund four years ago is roaring back with a vengeance. The FN’s recovery started during the regional elections of 2010 in which the party won 11.4 percent of the votes in the first round, doing much better than polls had predicted. And now, a bit more than a year from the important 2012 elections, the party’s new leader, Marine Le Pen, daughter of Jean-Marie, is polling at roughly 17 percent of the vote. Given that, except for 2007, the FN’s vote has been underestimated, some wonder if those result hide a much higher reality. Despite all the warnings and bags of salt which must be applied, especially in France, to polling one year out from the actual election, the FN’s return merits analysis. In the history of the French far right since World War II, the FN has been, by far, the most successful group with the notable exception of the Poujadists in 1956. Founded as one among many tiny far right cells, the FN’s rise started with a shocking success in a 1983 local by-election and later during the 1984 European elections when it came out of nowhere to win a full 10 percent of the vote.
In the 1988 presidential election, Le Pen won 14.5 percent compared to just 0.8 in 1974. The number steadily increased from 15 percent in 1995 to 16.9 in 2002. Accompanying this rise in the polls was a shift in the party’s rhetoric. From a more sectarian and old style neofascist and antistatist platform in the 1970s, which attracted the support of only some pieds-noirs (French inhabitants of Algeria living in France since the 1960s), the FN adopted a more populist tone mixing law and order with a rejection of “global liberalism” in order to appeal to working class voters whom, during the recession of the first years of the Mitterrand presidency, were abandoning their traditional left wing solidarity in favor of the FN. By 2002, the FN was the largest party among this electorate. Part of the FN’s success came from its ability to move beyond the sectarianism and old style racism and xenophobia which characterizes perennial neofascist and other European far right movements, but Jean-Marie Le Pen’s personal appeal and charisma played an equally important role.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s message in 2007 integrated some of the most popular themes of the FN, which despite their association with a controversial and oftentimes despised party, still attracted much sympathy or at least attention among the wider electorate. His rhetoric about the “value of work” and the “meritocratic society” struck a chord with the boutiquiers (small businessowners, a traditional FN demographic) and much of the lower middle class. His tough talk on crime, justice and immigration appealed to the working class moreover, which had voted FN in droves in 2002, as well to part of a traditional conservative electorate that was increasing sympathetic toward Le Pen and his party. Sarkozy won roughly 31 percent of the vote in the first round—a very strong showing. Le Pen won 10.4 percent. To further add to the unambiguity of what happened to Le Pen’s vote, the correlation between the increase in the right’s vote and the decrease of the far right’s support was near perfect. The FN, which had weathered the exodus of a good part of its leadership and base in 1999 with the secession of the megretiste wing, seemed condemned to die out with the imminent retirement of its historical leader. That, however, may have been wishful thinking on the part of the mainstream right and others. The success in public opinion of the FN’s new leader, Marine Le Pen, plays a significant role.
The youngest of the FN’s patriarch’s three daughters, she was certainly not set to succeed her father until fairly recently. Her elder sister was Le Pen’s favorite until she joined the 1999 putsch and Marine was long unpopular with the FN’s leadership and office holders. Yet, as we learned in 1999 and more recently in 2009, splits from the FN may claim the support of a majority of the party’s office holders but will never be able to come close to the FN in the polls. Her lack of support with the FN’s traditional cadres is more than compensated by her strong support among the party’s membership and electorate. Because the FN is an expert in carpetbagging, with its main leaders often being elected in a region where they’re not actually from (especially in the case of Le Pen, whose native Brittany is one of the FN’s weakest regions), it is quite indispensable for a leader to have a region or turf of their own.
Marine always struggled to find her place in one, notably because she faced resistance from local leaders. In 2004, she tried her hand, without too much success, in the Paris region. Since 2007 though, she has found herself a solid base in the small city of Hénin-Beaumont in the old mining basin of northern France. There she managed to be the FN’s only candidate to qualify for the runoff in the 2007 election while the party was creamed in other places. In 2008, her list won a bit more than 28 percent of the vote in the municipal elections against an embattled socialist mayor. When that mayor was forced out in 2009 for particularly slimy corruption, the FN won 39 percent in the first round of the by-election, then lost narrowly in a runoff against a “republican front” spearheaded by the right, claiming a record 47.6 percent of the vote. Last year, Marine successfully implanted herself in the region as a whole. At the party’s congress earlier this month, she crushed her rival, Bruno Gollnisch, an old style sectarian far rightist, more than two to one.
Her leadership ushers in a change in rhetoric if not in ideology. Rather less controversial than her father, who throughout his career held peculiar opinions about the Holocaust and the German occupation, she has been able to frame the party’s traditional anti-Islamist message in the mantle of the defense of the republican value of secularism—a very important concept in French society. Reflecting partly her implantation in a municipality of the old mining basin devastated by unemployment and factory closures since the early 1990s, she is emphasizing a more statist and “social” anti-liberal stance. Her success does not stem from merely cosmetic changes in the party’s identity. She has been able to pick up considerable support among former Sarkozy voters who have been left more than dissatisfied with the president’s agenda. While high unemployment continues to plague France and government corruptions seems abound, the president has enacted unpopular pension and labor reforms, reducing his approval ratings to barely 30 percent.
In opposition to the liberal conservatism of the current government, the Front national manages to appeal to largely working class voters as the 2010 regional elections amply demonstrated. The example of the small, declining metalworking town of Gandrange in Moselle, northeastern France, is emblematic in this regards. During his 2007 campaign, Sarkozy came to the town and promised that its steel plant would not shutter. In a commune that had given Le Pen 25 percent of the vote in 2002 but was traditionally leftist, Sarkozy won 50.2 percent in the runoff election. The steel plant closed in 2009 however and in the most recent election, the president’s party won a meager 15 percent of the vote. The FN won 25 percent. Beyond the symbolic value, the dissatisfaction felt by the residents of Gandrange toward Sarkozy, the man they had helped elect in 2007, is typical of his deep troubles with the working class which may hurt his chances for reelection in 2012.
Sarkozy’s gains with the working class were crucial in 2007 but as crucial were his gains with the FN’s traditional, older electorate. These voters, largely lower middle class and small businessowners, were enamored by Sarkozy’s rhetoric in 2007. Today, they are widely unhappy with his policies and feel let down with the various corruption stories. Their economic position is threatened by the crisis, making them receptive to the Marine Le Pen’s more “social populist” message which she worked up to major success in Hénin-Beaumont since 2007. Allegations of government corruption further feed the FN’s insistence that all major establishment parties are rotten. And seemingly, these voters haven’t been bought over by the government’s tough immigration policies. They demonstrated that in 2010 when they gave the FN some very good showings.
The election is still a long time ahead and polls a year out can never give an even close approximation of the results. Yet, the far right is definitely back on its wheels and it hasn’t been killed by the retirement of its strongman. Sarkozy is facing serious competition not only from the left, but also from the far right which he was supposed to have killed for a generation four years ago. He may not be doomed yet, given that he remains a wily and skill campaigner, and given that everything political is subject to change. But with just a year to go before the next election, never has a French president been so weak and so threatened from all flanks.
The Atlantic Sentinel
It turns out that the far right was buried far too early and the party that passed for dead or at least moribund four years ago is roaring back with a vengeance. The FN’s recovery started during the regional elections of 2010 in which the party won 11.4 percent of the votes in the first round, doing much better than polls had predicted. And now, a bit more than a year from the important 2012 elections, the party’s new leader, Marine Le Pen, daughter of Jean-Marie, is polling at roughly 17 percent of the vote. Given that, except for 2007, the FN’s vote has been underestimated, some wonder if those result hide a much higher reality. Despite all the warnings and bags of salt which must be applied, especially in France, to polling one year out from the actual election, the FN’s return merits analysis. In the history of the French far right since World War II, the FN has been, by far, the most successful group with the notable exception of the Poujadists in 1956. Founded as one among many tiny far right cells, the FN’s rise started with a shocking success in a 1983 local by-election and later during the 1984 European elections when it came out of nowhere to win a full 10 percent of the vote.
In the 1988 presidential election, Le Pen won 14.5 percent compared to just 0.8 in 1974. The number steadily increased from 15 percent in 1995 to 16.9 in 2002. Accompanying this rise in the polls was a shift in the party’s rhetoric. From a more sectarian and old style neofascist and antistatist platform in the 1970s, which attracted the support of only some pieds-noirs (French inhabitants of Algeria living in France since the 1960s), the FN adopted a more populist tone mixing law and order with a rejection of “global liberalism” in order to appeal to working class voters whom, during the recession of the first years of the Mitterrand presidency, were abandoning their traditional left wing solidarity in favor of the FN. By 2002, the FN was the largest party among this electorate. Part of the FN’s success came from its ability to move beyond the sectarianism and old style racism and xenophobia which characterizes perennial neofascist and other European far right movements, but Jean-Marie Le Pen’s personal appeal and charisma played an equally important role.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s message in 2007 integrated some of the most popular themes of the FN, which despite their association with a controversial and oftentimes despised party, still attracted much sympathy or at least attention among the wider electorate. His rhetoric about the “value of work” and the “meritocratic society” struck a chord with the boutiquiers (small businessowners, a traditional FN demographic) and much of the lower middle class. His tough talk on crime, justice and immigration appealed to the working class moreover, which had voted FN in droves in 2002, as well to part of a traditional conservative electorate that was increasing sympathetic toward Le Pen and his party. Sarkozy won roughly 31 percent of the vote in the first round—a very strong showing. Le Pen won 10.4 percent. To further add to the unambiguity of what happened to Le Pen’s vote, the correlation between the increase in the right’s vote and the decrease of the far right’s support was near perfect. The FN, which had weathered the exodus of a good part of its leadership and base in 1999 with the secession of the megretiste wing, seemed condemned to die out with the imminent retirement of its historical leader. That, however, may have been wishful thinking on the part of the mainstream right and others. The success in public opinion of the FN’s new leader, Marine Le Pen, plays a significant role.
The youngest of the FN’s patriarch’s three daughters, she was certainly not set to succeed her father until fairly recently. Her elder sister was Le Pen’s favorite until she joined the 1999 putsch and Marine was long unpopular with the FN’s leadership and office holders. Yet, as we learned in 1999 and more recently in 2009, splits from the FN may claim the support of a majority of the party’s office holders but will never be able to come close to the FN in the polls. Her lack of support with the FN’s traditional cadres is more than compensated by her strong support among the party’s membership and electorate. Because the FN is an expert in carpetbagging, with its main leaders often being elected in a region where they’re not actually from (especially in the case of Le Pen, whose native Brittany is one of the FN’s weakest regions), it is quite indispensable for a leader to have a region or turf of their own.
Marine always struggled to find her place in one, notably because she faced resistance from local leaders. In 2004, she tried her hand, without too much success, in the Paris region. Since 2007 though, she has found herself a solid base in the small city of Hénin-Beaumont in the old mining basin of northern France. There she managed to be the FN’s only candidate to qualify for the runoff in the 2007 election while the party was creamed in other places. In 2008, her list won a bit more than 28 percent of the vote in the municipal elections against an embattled socialist mayor. When that mayor was forced out in 2009 for particularly slimy corruption, the FN won 39 percent in the first round of the by-election, then lost narrowly in a runoff against a “republican front” spearheaded by the right, claiming a record 47.6 percent of the vote. Last year, Marine successfully implanted herself in the region as a whole. At the party’s congress earlier this month, she crushed her rival, Bruno Gollnisch, an old style sectarian far rightist, more than two to one.
Her leadership ushers in a change in rhetoric if not in ideology. Rather less controversial than her father, who throughout his career held peculiar opinions about the Holocaust and the German occupation, she has been able to frame the party’s traditional anti-Islamist message in the mantle of the defense of the republican value of secularism—a very important concept in French society. Reflecting partly her implantation in a municipality of the old mining basin devastated by unemployment and factory closures since the early 1990s, she is emphasizing a more statist and “social” anti-liberal stance. Her success does not stem from merely cosmetic changes in the party’s identity. She has been able to pick up considerable support among former Sarkozy voters who have been left more than dissatisfied with the president’s agenda. While high unemployment continues to plague France and government corruptions seems abound, the president has enacted unpopular pension and labor reforms, reducing his approval ratings to barely 30 percent.
In opposition to the liberal conservatism of the current government, the Front national manages to appeal to largely working class voters as the 2010 regional elections amply demonstrated. The example of the small, declining metalworking town of Gandrange in Moselle, northeastern France, is emblematic in this regards. During his 2007 campaign, Sarkozy came to the town and promised that its steel plant would not shutter. In a commune that had given Le Pen 25 percent of the vote in 2002 but was traditionally leftist, Sarkozy won 50.2 percent in the runoff election. The steel plant closed in 2009 however and in the most recent election, the president’s party won a meager 15 percent of the vote. The FN won 25 percent. Beyond the symbolic value, the dissatisfaction felt by the residents of Gandrange toward Sarkozy, the man they had helped elect in 2007, is typical of his deep troubles with the working class which may hurt his chances for reelection in 2012.
Sarkozy’s gains with the working class were crucial in 2007 but as crucial were his gains with the FN’s traditional, older electorate. These voters, largely lower middle class and small businessowners, were enamored by Sarkozy’s rhetoric in 2007. Today, they are widely unhappy with his policies and feel let down with the various corruption stories. Their economic position is threatened by the crisis, making them receptive to the Marine Le Pen’s more “social populist” message which she worked up to major success in Hénin-Beaumont since 2007. Allegations of government corruption further feed the FN’s insistence that all major establishment parties are rotten. And seemingly, these voters haven’t been bought over by the government’s tough immigration policies. They demonstrated that in 2010 when they gave the FN some very good showings.
The election is still a long time ahead and polls a year out can never give an even close approximation of the results. Yet, the far right is definitely back on its wheels and it hasn’t been killed by the retirement of its strongman. Sarkozy is facing serious competition not only from the left, but also from the far right which he was supposed to have killed for a generation four years ago. He may not be doomed yet, given that he remains a wily and skill campaigner, and given that everything political is subject to change. But with just a year to go before the next election, never has a French president been so weak and so threatened from all flanks.
The Atlantic Sentinel
Police officer injured following racist incident (UK)
A police officer needed hospital treatment after trying to arrest a man following an incident in which racist comments were made to a young woman on a bus.
A man got on to a Wilts & Dorset bus in Devizes Road, Salisbury, at about 7.45pm on Friday (Jan 21) and made comments to the woman.
He was later asked to leave the bus at Westwood Road due to his behaviour, and continued to be abusive to another woman.
Police were called in but during attempts to make an arrest an officer had her ring finger broken in three places, which required an operation.
The 38-year-old local man who was arrested in connection with the offences has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Anyone with information is asked to contact DC Nick Ryan on 0845 4087000 or Crimestoppers 0800 555111.
Salisbury Journal
A man got on to a Wilts & Dorset bus in Devizes Road, Salisbury, at about 7.45pm on Friday (Jan 21) and made comments to the woman.
He was later asked to leave the bus at Westwood Road due to his behaviour, and continued to be abusive to another woman.
Police were called in but during attempts to make an arrest an officer had her ring finger broken in three places, which required an operation.
The 38-year-old local man who was arrested in connection with the offences has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Anyone with information is asked to contact DC Nick Ryan on 0845 4087000 or Crimestoppers 0800 555111.
Salisbury Journal
Monday, 24 January 2011
Amsterdam police win gay rights award (Netherlands)
This year’s Bob Angelo award for people who campaign for gay, bi-sexual and transsexual rights has been given to photographer Erwin Olaf and the Amsterdam police force.
Gay rights lobby group COC recognised Olaf for his campaign against anti-gay violence and the police organisation Roze in Blauw (pink in blue) for making it easier for people to report gay-bashing incidents.
Dutch News
Gay rights lobby group COC recognised Olaf for his campaign against anti-gay violence and the police organisation Roze in Blauw (pink in blue) for making it easier for people to report gay-bashing incidents.
Dutch News
Mencap to launch hate crime campaign during Learning Disability Week (UK)
This year's Learning Disability Week will take place from 20-26 June. During the week, Mencap will launch a three-year campaign against hate crime, 'Stand by me'.
David Congdon, Mencap's head of campaigns and policy, said: "Recently, three men who tortured a 17 year old with Asperger's syndrome walked away with a sentence of just 80 hours of community service. And in another high-profile case, Fiona Pilkington killed herself and her disabled daughter after police failed to stop the abuse they were subjected to by local youths. Cases like these show that hate crime is still not taken seriously enough by the authorities."
'Stand by me' will challenge the police, the criminal justice system and the courts to end hate crime against people with a learning disability within a generation.
The first year of the campaign will aim to persuade the police to take action. David Congdon says: "We want the police to take attacks against disabled people as seriously as racist incidents."
Mencap staff, local groups and supporters will be able to get involved in a range of activities and events to support the campaign. Currently, Mencap is looking for people who are willing to share their experiences of hate crime to support the campaign.
Mencap
David Congdon, Mencap's head of campaigns and policy, said: "Recently, three men who tortured a 17 year old with Asperger's syndrome walked away with a sentence of just 80 hours of community service. And in another high-profile case, Fiona Pilkington killed herself and her disabled daughter after police failed to stop the abuse they were subjected to by local youths. Cases like these show that hate crime is still not taken seriously enough by the authorities."
'Stand by me' will challenge the police, the criminal justice system and the courts to end hate crime against people with a learning disability within a generation.
The first year of the campaign will aim to persuade the police to take action. David Congdon says: "We want the police to take attacks against disabled people as seriously as racist incidents."
Mencap staff, local groups and supporters will be able to get involved in a range of activities and events to support the campaign. Currently, Mencap is looking for people who are willing to share their experiences of hate crime to support the campaign.
Mencap
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Religion must be in key school exam, insist faith leaders (UK)
Bishop of Oxford says anti-Islam protests make the subject essential for the English baccalaureate
Religious leaders and theologians have condemned the decision to leave religious education off the list of GCSEs that go towards the controversial new English baccalaureate.
The chairman of the Church of England's education board, the Bishop of Oxford, the Right Rev John Pritchard, said that failing to take the study of religion seriously was "highly dangerous" at a time when groups such as the English Defence League (EDL) were staging violent protests against British Muslims.
Annual league tables on schools' performance published last week measured the proportion of pupils obtaining the English bac, which is awarded to teenagers who achieve GCSEs at grade C or above in English, maths, science, a foreign language and a humanities subject (history or geography) – but not in RE.
Pritchard said: "The Church of England is pretty astonished at the omission of RE. I want to fire a warning salvo that there will be huge objection from the church and many other parts of society if it is not part of the core curriculum."
Pointing to claims last week by the Conservative party's co-chairwoman, Baroness Warsi, that Islamophobia had "crossed the threshold of middle-class respectability" and to the rise of the EDL, the bishop said: "RE is a real tool for creating that kind of cohesive community and society that we're looking for... we neglect it at our peril."
The subject, he said, was just as academic and rigorous as history and geography and was also extremely popular, with the number of students studying it to GCSE level climbing from 113,000 to 460,000 over the last 15 years.
Senior Jewish and Muslim figures backed the call for RE to be included on the English bac subject list. Many faith groups have written to the Department for Education expressing concern over its omission. The education secretary, Michael Gove, has indicated that he will look again at the area, without promising any change.
Until now the key measurement in league tables has been the proportion of pupils getting five A* to C grades at GCSE, including English and maths. But with success at the English bac now also being measured, many schools are likely to switch their attention to the traditional subjects that it demands. The recently published tables for last year's GCSE results revealed that fewer than one in six English students had qualified for the new certificate.
Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said he was particularly concerned about the impact of leaving RE off the list on students at Jewish schools, the vast majority of which make the subject compulsory.
"Religious studies has proven itself to be a valuable contribution to the academic curriculum, teaching students to respect themselves and others and, importantly, build identities which contribute favourably to all areas of society," he said.
"The multi-disciplinary nature of the subject, involving textual study, philosophical thinking, ethics, social understanding and the skills of analysis and reasoning, develops critical thinkers," said Benjamin.
Dr Hojjat Ramzy, vice-chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain's education committee, said he was "extremely worried" that RE was not being afforded a higher status, especially given the challenge posed by Islamophobia. "In our ever-growing multi-cultural and multi-faith society, it's very important that people, especially the younger generation, are aware of the religions and cultures of others," he said.
Members of the academic community joined calls for the humanities element of the English bac to be reconsidered, praising RE as a great developer of critical faculties as well as a key link to history, art, culture and politics.
"How can you understand Shakespeare without learning about the Bible, or understand the English civil war without understanding about disputes over how to interpret the Bible, or understand modern politics without understanding the difference between Islam and Christianity?" said Richard Swinburne, emeritus Nolloth professor of the philosophy of the Christian religion at Oxford University. "It's a mistake."
Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, the Oxford church historian who presented the BBC series A History of Christianity, said the decision was short-sighted. "Religion matters to most human beings in the world today," he added. "To leave religion to the religious extremists, outside a good education system, is to distort it."
The Guardian
Religious leaders and theologians have condemned the decision to leave religious education off the list of GCSEs that go towards the controversial new English baccalaureate.
The chairman of the Church of England's education board, the Bishop of Oxford, the Right Rev John Pritchard, said that failing to take the study of religion seriously was "highly dangerous" at a time when groups such as the English Defence League (EDL) were staging violent protests against British Muslims.
Annual league tables on schools' performance published last week measured the proportion of pupils obtaining the English bac, which is awarded to teenagers who achieve GCSEs at grade C or above in English, maths, science, a foreign language and a humanities subject (history or geography) – but not in RE.
Pritchard said: "The Church of England is pretty astonished at the omission of RE. I want to fire a warning salvo that there will be huge objection from the church and many other parts of society if it is not part of the core curriculum."
Pointing to claims last week by the Conservative party's co-chairwoman, Baroness Warsi, that Islamophobia had "crossed the threshold of middle-class respectability" and to the rise of the EDL, the bishop said: "RE is a real tool for creating that kind of cohesive community and society that we're looking for... we neglect it at our peril."
The subject, he said, was just as academic and rigorous as history and geography and was also extremely popular, with the number of students studying it to GCSE level climbing from 113,000 to 460,000 over the last 15 years.
Senior Jewish and Muslim figures backed the call for RE to be included on the English bac subject list. Many faith groups have written to the Department for Education expressing concern over its omission. The education secretary, Michael Gove, has indicated that he will look again at the area, without promising any change.
Until now the key measurement in league tables has been the proportion of pupils getting five A* to C grades at GCSE, including English and maths. But with success at the English bac now also being measured, many schools are likely to switch their attention to the traditional subjects that it demands. The recently published tables for last year's GCSE results revealed that fewer than one in six English students had qualified for the new certificate.
Jon Benjamin, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said he was particularly concerned about the impact of leaving RE off the list on students at Jewish schools, the vast majority of which make the subject compulsory.
"Religious studies has proven itself to be a valuable contribution to the academic curriculum, teaching students to respect themselves and others and, importantly, build identities which contribute favourably to all areas of society," he said.
"The multi-disciplinary nature of the subject, involving textual study, philosophical thinking, ethics, social understanding and the skills of analysis and reasoning, develops critical thinkers," said Benjamin.
Dr Hojjat Ramzy, vice-chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain's education committee, said he was "extremely worried" that RE was not being afforded a higher status, especially given the challenge posed by Islamophobia. "In our ever-growing multi-cultural and multi-faith society, it's very important that people, especially the younger generation, are aware of the religions and cultures of others," he said.
Members of the academic community joined calls for the humanities element of the English bac to be reconsidered, praising RE as a great developer of critical faculties as well as a key link to history, art, culture and politics.
"How can you understand Shakespeare without learning about the Bible, or understand the English civil war without understanding about disputes over how to interpret the Bible, or understand modern politics without understanding the difference between Islam and Christianity?" said Richard Swinburne, emeritus Nolloth professor of the philosophy of the Christian religion at Oxford University. "It's a mistake."
Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, the Oxford church historian who presented the BBC series A History of Christianity, said the decision was short-sighted. "Religion matters to most human beings in the world today," he added. "To leave religion to the religious extremists, outside a good education system, is to distort it."
The Guardian
NEO-NAZIS ATTEMPT TO DISRUPT COMMEMORATION FOR MURDER VICTIM IN CZECH TOWN PRÍBRAM (Czech Rep)
In the Czech town of Pøíbram, mourners convened at 18:00 local time today to commemorate the death of Jan Kuèera, who was murdered three years ago by neo-Nazi sympathizer Jiøí Fous.
Just after 15:00, about 40 neo-Nazis gathered to protest the commemoration. Both gatherings were monitored by 200 police officers, who prevented the antagonistic groups from clashing. After a two-hour wait, the neo-Nazis started marching through the town toward the Bøezové Hory neighborhood. Both groups approached one another on Thomas Garrigue Masaryk Square, where about 60 anti-fascists had gathered to honor Jan Kuèera's memory at 18:00. The neo-Nazis shouted slogans like "Nothing but the Nation." The mourners on the square were holding a funeral wreath and portraits of the murdered youth. Police did not permit the neo-Nazis to enter the square. The right-wing radicals then continued their march and reached Bøezové Hory at around 18:00. The group of anti-fascists on the square then grew significantly in numbers. Organizers used a megaphone to warn those arriving that the new law on assembly does not permit people to cover their faces. Many people were wearing either bandanas and scarves over their faces or sunglasses. About 150 anti-fascists then started marching. The demonstrators carried portraits of the murdered youth and banners reading "Autonomous Antifa Pøíbram", "Antifa Benešov" or "Always in Our Hearts". The march stopped for a moment near the restaurant where Kuèera was murdered three years ago. Several people laid the wreath and some flowers at the murder site. Police officers arrested two marchers for keeping their faces covered despite the warning.
During the commemoration for Kuèera, the antifascists held a minute of silence and then indirectly called on those assembled to fight the neo-Nazis. One organizer said they should discover where the neo-Nazis hang out and instill fear in them. The event ended on J. A. Alise Square. Some participants then left to attend a concert by three bands in the nearby Bøezové Hory neighborhood. Monika Schindlová, press attache for the police, said there were about 200 officers on the scene including an anti-conflict team and extremism specialists. Police arrested one person earlier in the afternoon. "They confiscated one knife, brought one person to the station in Prague, and issued an order for his arrest," Schindlová told news server iDNES.cz, which also reported that the person detained was a member of a security team for a television crew. The Czech Press Agency reported that the person detained was a right-wing radical. An invitation to the neo-Nazi event was posted on the National Resistance (Národní odpor) website. "We must get the red hoodlums off the street once and for all! If the police don't do it, then we will," reads the neo-Nazi call for a violent attack on the commemoration. Another neo-Nazi group, the Autonomous Nationalists of the Northeast (Autonomní Nacionalisté Severovýchod) distanced itself from the event, but published the following on its Facebook profile: "We wish everyone who wants to go to Pøíbram anyway a lot of luck in battle and we look forward to seeing them on the evening news."
Kuèera was stabbed by a neo-Nazi in the groin and back on 18 January 2008 in the Na Chmelnici restaurant in Pøíbram. A local CCTV video camera recorded the whole thing. The attack was preceded by provocations made by a group of young neo-Nazis given the Nazi salute. The assailant belonged to that group. The incident occurred on the restaurant stairs; video footage shows Jiøí Fous wearing a German military uniform and challenging those pursuing him to settle the argument physically. Kuèera let himself be provoked into running toward Fous and punching him. Fous then repeatedly stabbed Kuèera with a bayonet and Kuèera fell to the ground. He was transferred to the local hospital where he died as a result of his injuries two days later. Jiøí Fous received a 12.5 year sentence in a maximum security prison for murder. The court identified him as an adherent of the neo-Nazi movement, while Kuèera was identified as having belonged to a group called Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP). Neo-Nazis distanced themselves from Fous after the murder, claiming he has Roma ancestry. Some witnesses to the tragedy agreed that Fous paradoxically has a negative relationship toward the Roma minority.
Czech News Agency
Just after 15:00, about 40 neo-Nazis gathered to protest the commemoration. Both gatherings were monitored by 200 police officers, who prevented the antagonistic groups from clashing. After a two-hour wait, the neo-Nazis started marching through the town toward the Bøezové Hory neighborhood. Both groups approached one another on Thomas Garrigue Masaryk Square, where about 60 anti-fascists had gathered to honor Jan Kuèera's memory at 18:00. The neo-Nazis shouted slogans like "Nothing but the Nation." The mourners on the square were holding a funeral wreath and portraits of the murdered youth. Police did not permit the neo-Nazis to enter the square. The right-wing radicals then continued their march and reached Bøezové Hory at around 18:00. The group of anti-fascists on the square then grew significantly in numbers. Organizers used a megaphone to warn those arriving that the new law on assembly does not permit people to cover their faces. Many people were wearing either bandanas and scarves over their faces or sunglasses. About 150 anti-fascists then started marching. The demonstrators carried portraits of the murdered youth and banners reading "Autonomous Antifa Pøíbram", "Antifa Benešov" or "Always in Our Hearts". The march stopped for a moment near the restaurant where Kuèera was murdered three years ago. Several people laid the wreath and some flowers at the murder site. Police officers arrested two marchers for keeping their faces covered despite the warning.
During the commemoration for Kuèera, the antifascists held a minute of silence and then indirectly called on those assembled to fight the neo-Nazis. One organizer said they should discover where the neo-Nazis hang out and instill fear in them. The event ended on J. A. Alise Square. Some participants then left to attend a concert by three bands in the nearby Bøezové Hory neighborhood. Monika Schindlová, press attache for the police, said there were about 200 officers on the scene including an anti-conflict team and extremism specialists. Police arrested one person earlier in the afternoon. "They confiscated one knife, brought one person to the station in Prague, and issued an order for his arrest," Schindlová told news server iDNES.cz, which also reported that the person detained was a member of a security team for a television crew. The Czech Press Agency reported that the person detained was a right-wing radical. An invitation to the neo-Nazi event was posted on the National Resistance (Národní odpor) website. "We must get the red hoodlums off the street once and for all! If the police don't do it, then we will," reads the neo-Nazi call for a violent attack on the commemoration. Another neo-Nazi group, the Autonomous Nationalists of the Northeast (Autonomní Nacionalisté Severovýchod) distanced itself from the event, but published the following on its Facebook profile: "We wish everyone who wants to go to Pøíbram anyway a lot of luck in battle and we look forward to seeing them on the evening news."
Kuèera was stabbed by a neo-Nazi in the groin and back on 18 January 2008 in the Na Chmelnici restaurant in Pøíbram. A local CCTV video camera recorded the whole thing. The attack was preceded by provocations made by a group of young neo-Nazis given the Nazi salute. The assailant belonged to that group. The incident occurred on the restaurant stairs; video footage shows Jiøí Fous wearing a German military uniform and challenging those pursuing him to settle the argument physically. Kuèera let himself be provoked into running toward Fous and punching him. Fous then repeatedly stabbed Kuèera with a bayonet and Kuèera fell to the ground. He was transferred to the local hospital where he died as a result of his injuries two days later. Jiøí Fous received a 12.5 year sentence in a maximum security prison for murder. The court identified him as an adherent of the neo-Nazi movement, while Kuèera was identified as having belonged to a group called Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP). Neo-Nazis distanced themselves from Fous after the murder, claiming he has Roma ancestry. Some witnesses to the tragedy agreed that Fous paradoxically has a negative relationship toward the Roma minority.
Czech News Agency
Liverpool event remembers Holocaust and hate crime (UK)
The Holocaust and other genocides across the world are being remembered at an event in Liverpool.
Liverpool Remembers, on Sunday, is being held in the week of Holocaust Memorial Day to reflect on human rights tragedies and look at local hate crime.
Members of the Jewish community will be speaking at the event, at St Francis of Assisi Academy in Kensington.
Merseyside Police will also lead a discussion on tackling hate crime in the region.
'Make a difference'
Councillor Louise Baldock, Chair of Liverpool Remembers and Chair of Liverpool Hate Crime Reduction Forum, said: "It is vitally important that we continue to promote awareness and understanding about the Holocaust.
"This will be our fourth annual event to commemorate and reflect upon the millions of lives lost.
"We also reflect on other genocides and human rights abuses which have affected people worldwide who now live in communities in our city."
She added: "Racism, homophobia and other forms of hate crime still exist today, and if unchecked, lead to world tragedies like the Holocaust.
"We will be asking people to make a pledge to do something that will shine a small light and make a difference."
Holocaust Memorial Day is on 27 January, to coincide with the same day in 1945 when the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated.
BBC News
Liverpool Remembers, on Sunday, is being held in the week of Holocaust Memorial Day to reflect on human rights tragedies and look at local hate crime.
Members of the Jewish community will be speaking at the event, at St Francis of Assisi Academy in Kensington.
Merseyside Police will also lead a discussion on tackling hate crime in the region.
'Make a difference'
Councillor Louise Baldock, Chair of Liverpool Remembers and Chair of Liverpool Hate Crime Reduction Forum, said: "It is vitally important that we continue to promote awareness and understanding about the Holocaust.
"This will be our fourth annual event to commemorate and reflect upon the millions of lives lost.
"We also reflect on other genocides and human rights abuses which have affected people worldwide who now live in communities in our city."
She added: "Racism, homophobia and other forms of hate crime still exist today, and if unchecked, lead to world tragedies like the Holocaust.
"We will be asking people to make a pledge to do something that will shine a small light and make a difference."
Holocaust Memorial Day is on 27 January, to coincide with the same day in 1945 when the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was liberated.
BBC News
Saturday, 22 January 2011
Suspect arrested in mosque arson attacks case (Germany)
A 30-year-old man was arrested Friday evening in Berlin's Neukölln district on suspicion of arson, following a series of attacks on several mosques in the German capital, a police spokesman said.
Investigators apprehended the man at the Blaschkoallee U-Bahn station.
The arrest follows a wave of arson attacks on Muslim houses of worship in Berlin in recent months. No one was injured, but the fires caused property damage in every case.
The assailant or assailants routinely left messages behind at the scene. Police did not describe the notes in detail, but media reports said the messages were collages of newspaper articles.
Following a comprehensive investigation, state prosecutors reportedly obtained a warrant to search the offices of the Berlin daily newspaper B.Z. A police spokesman said investigators confiscated evidence that strengthened the case against the suspect.
According to the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Peter Huth, the suspect contacted B.Z. in mid-December under false pretenses, requesting a copy of a newspaper article. Huth said an employee received the inquiry.
"Wisely, she took down the name and the address and was able to inform police officers on Friday afternoon, which allowed for an arrest within a few hours," B.Z.'s editor said.
A police spokesman said the man arrested Friday is suspected of involvement in four of seven arson attacks on Berlin mosques since June of last year. Investigators are examining whether the suspect has any connection to the other incidents.
Most recently, the entrance of a mosque of the Ahmadiyya community in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin was set ablaze in the early hours of January 8. Mosques in the districts of Neukölln and Tempelhof were targeted in similar attacks in 2010.
The Local Germany
Investigators apprehended the man at the Blaschkoallee U-Bahn station.
The arrest follows a wave of arson attacks on Muslim houses of worship in Berlin in recent months. No one was injured, but the fires caused property damage in every case.
The assailant or assailants routinely left messages behind at the scene. Police did not describe the notes in detail, but media reports said the messages were collages of newspaper articles.
Following a comprehensive investigation, state prosecutors reportedly obtained a warrant to search the offices of the Berlin daily newspaper B.Z. A police spokesman said investigators confiscated evidence that strengthened the case against the suspect.
According to the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Peter Huth, the suspect contacted B.Z. in mid-December under false pretenses, requesting a copy of a newspaper article. Huth said an employee received the inquiry.
"Wisely, she took down the name and the address and was able to inform police officers on Friday afternoon, which allowed for an arrest within a few hours," B.Z.'s editor said.
A police spokesman said the man arrested Friday is suspected of involvement in four of seven arson attacks on Berlin mosques since June of last year. Investigators are examining whether the suspect has any connection to the other incidents.
Most recently, the entrance of a mosque of the Ahmadiyya community in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin was set ablaze in the early hours of January 8. Mosques in the districts of Neukölln and Tempelhof were targeted in similar attacks in 2010.
The Local Germany
Barnardo's ex-head says race issues threaten adoptions (UK)
The reluctance of some councils to arrange adoptions because of a child's race means the UK faces a collapse in adoption rates, the outgoing chief executive of Barnardo's has warned.
Martin Narey told the Guardian this "prejudice" was so entrenched that it would be difficult to reverse.
He said the adoption rate of babies must "quadruple" in the next few years.
Children's Minister Tim Loughton has said it is unacceptable to deny a child a home because of ethnic differences.
Children from ethnic minorities are over-represented among those seeking adoption, but it typically takes three times as long to place them.
Official figures show that 2,300 children were placed for adoption in 2009, compared with 2,500 the previous year, and down from 3,400 in 2005.
In about 20% of cases identified as suitable for adoption, no placement is found.
Mr Narey, who has run Barnardo's for more than five years, said the numbers of toddlers and older children placed with new families needed to increase dramatically.
The charity's outgoing chief executive, who is being replaced by Anne-Marie Carrie, accused local authorities and adoption agencies of showing a disregard for the law through a reluctance to allow white couples to adopt children from different ethnic backgrounds.
"The law is very clear. A child should not stay in care for an undue length of time while waiting for adoptive parents of the same ethnicity.
"But the reality is that black, Asian and mixed race children wait three times longer than white children," he said.
In November, in a letter to local authorities in England, the children's minister said he was "troubled" to hear that sometimes "there may be over sensitivity on the grounds of ethnicity when it comes to the matching of children with prospective adopters".
He wrote: "It is plainly unacceptable for a child to be denied loving adoptive parents solely on the grounds that the child and prospective adopters do not share the same background.
"The primary consideration must surely be whether the family can offer a strong, safe, stable and loving placement that can meet the child's needs."
And, in a speech last year, the minister also said: "We know that a child tends to do better if adopted by a family that shares their ethnic and cultural heritage.
"Although the law and guidance is clear that due consideration needs to be given to language, religion, culture and ethnicity, this isn't translating into practice.
"It is much better that a child is adopted by loving parents than left waiting for their future to be decided."
BBC News
Martin Narey told the Guardian this "prejudice" was so entrenched that it would be difficult to reverse.
He said the adoption rate of babies must "quadruple" in the next few years.
Children's Minister Tim Loughton has said it is unacceptable to deny a child a home because of ethnic differences.
Children from ethnic minorities are over-represented among those seeking adoption, but it typically takes three times as long to place them.
Official figures show that 2,300 children were placed for adoption in 2009, compared with 2,500 the previous year, and down from 3,400 in 2005.
In about 20% of cases identified as suitable for adoption, no placement is found.
Mr Narey, who has run Barnardo's for more than five years, said the numbers of toddlers and older children placed with new families needed to increase dramatically.
The charity's outgoing chief executive, who is being replaced by Anne-Marie Carrie, accused local authorities and adoption agencies of showing a disregard for the law through a reluctance to allow white couples to adopt children from different ethnic backgrounds.
"The law is very clear. A child should not stay in care for an undue length of time while waiting for adoptive parents of the same ethnicity.
"But the reality is that black, Asian and mixed race children wait three times longer than white children," he said.
In November, in a letter to local authorities in England, the children's minister said he was "troubled" to hear that sometimes "there may be over sensitivity on the grounds of ethnicity when it comes to the matching of children with prospective adopters".
He wrote: "It is plainly unacceptable for a child to be denied loving adoptive parents solely on the grounds that the child and prospective adopters do not share the same background.
"The primary consideration must surely be whether the family can offer a strong, safe, stable and loving placement that can meet the child's needs."
And, in a speech last year, the minister also said: "We know that a child tends to do better if adopted by a family that shares their ethnic and cultural heritage.
"Although the law and guidance is clear that due consideration needs to be given to language, religion, culture and ethnicity, this isn't translating into practice.
"It is much better that a child is adopted by loving parents than left waiting for their future to be decided."
BBC News
Police accuse far-right DM deputy head of Nazism promotion (Czech Rep)
The Czech police have accused a 21-year-old woman, who is Workers' Youth (DM) deputy head Lucie Slegrova, according to the Workers' Party of Social Justice (DSSS) server, in connection with her speech delivered at the DSSS's meeting in Litvinov on November 17, 2010.
In her speech the woman expressed her positive stance on the movements suppressing human rights and freedoms and her adherence to the ideology of German Nazism and she promoted German National Socialism, police spokeswoman Ludmila Svetlakova told CTK Thursday.
The woman is prosecuted without being taken into custody. If found guilty, she faces up to three years in prison.
According to the police, she spoke about the ideology of National Socialism and she called this ideology the only possible path to fight against the current situation in the government.
The police recorded the speech and asked political scientists to assess it, Svetlakova said.
The DSSS reports that Slegrova is also accused of carrying a flag with the logo of the banned Workers' Party (DS) at the DSSS's pre-election meeting.
The Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) decided to dissolve the far-right extra-parliamentary DS party last February, complying with the proposal of the government saying the DS is extremist and poses a threat to democracy.
Last November the DSSS met in Litvinov to commemorate a march of ultra-right supporters in 2008. They clashed with the police who prevented then from marching to the Romany-inhabited Janov housing estate.
Prague Monitor
In her speech the woman expressed her positive stance on the movements suppressing human rights and freedoms and her adherence to the ideology of German Nazism and she promoted German National Socialism, police spokeswoman Ludmila Svetlakova told CTK Thursday.
The woman is prosecuted without being taken into custody. If found guilty, she faces up to three years in prison.
According to the police, she spoke about the ideology of National Socialism and she called this ideology the only possible path to fight against the current situation in the government.
The police recorded the speech and asked political scientists to assess it, Svetlakova said.
The DSSS reports that Slegrova is also accused of carrying a flag with the logo of the banned Workers' Party (DS) at the DSSS's pre-election meeting.
The Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) decided to dissolve the far-right extra-parliamentary DS party last February, complying with the proposal of the government saying the DS is extremist and poses a threat to democracy.
Last November the DSSS met in Litvinov to commemorate a march of ultra-right supporters in 2008. They clashed with the police who prevented then from marching to the Romany-inhabited Janov housing estate.
Prague Monitor
* News * World news * Arizona Tucson teachers fight to overturn ban on Mexican American classes (USA)
Attorney general attacks anti-white 'brainwashing', but critics say he is pandering to xenophobic sentiment
Arizona is a state riddled with anti-government white militias, radio stations pumping out racist hate speech and politicians who wave guns as they denounce the oppressive rule of Washington. But Arizona's attorney general apparently believes the real threat to the stability of the US government is being fomented in a handful of high schools in a liberal corner of the desert state.
Tom Horne has declared classes in Mexican-American history and social studies in the city of Tucson illegal on the grounds that they are "propagandising and brainwashing" students into overthrowing the constitutional government and hating white people.
Horne has ordered schools to scrap the ethnic studies programmes under a law he wrote in his previous role as Arizona's education superintendent. He has not banned similar classes dealing with black or Native American history on the grounds that no one has complained about them.
Critics, including teachers of the classes he wants to scrap, accuse Horne of political opportunism by exploiting growing hostility to people of Hispanic origin in a state that recently passed controversial anti-immigrant legislation.
José Gonzalez, who lectures at a Tucson high school, is one of 11 teachers suing to prevent that ban from being enforced.
"If you were to look at the legacy of Tom Horne and his past eight years as the superintendent of instruction in Arizona, you will see that he has targeted Mexican-American people. He did away with bilingual education. He was very proud of that," said Gonzales. "He's a politician and, quite frankly, a very successful politician so he's pandering to these xenophobic sentiments here in Arizona and that's helping him get elected."
Horne began pushing to abolish Mexican-American studies after an incident in 2007 when a prominent trade unionist, Dolores Huerta, told high school students in Tucson that Republicans hate Latinos.
Horne, a Republican, sent an aide to the school to counter the message, only to have him met by a group of students who turned their backs and raised a fist.
Infuriated, Horne blamed the teachers and wrote a law barring Arizona schools from holding classes that breached any of four prohibitions: promoting the overthrow of the government, creating resentment toward a race or class of people, focusing on students of one ethnic group or promoting ethnic solidarity.
Teachers of the offending classes acknowledge that they deal with sensitive issues, such as the past and continuing discrimination against Hispanic people in the US. They also teach the role played by figures such as César Chávez, the Mexican-American civil rights activist and trade union leader who was instrumental in improving the lot of agricultural workers, many of whom were immigrants.
Among other things, state officials have objected to classes portraying Benjamin Franklin as a racist for owning slaves and for promoting a climate of "victimisation" by teaching that white people have been more privileged in the US.
The classes involve Latino literature, although Shakespeare is on the curriculum too, as well as books such as Rodolfo Acuña's Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, which Horne has described as fostering "ethnic chauvinism" and promoting separatism.
The book, which describes Mexican- Americans as "captives of a system that renders them second-class citizens", is in its seventh edition and used at universities across the US.
The teachers say that these books are the basis for robust discussion about the past and present, which inevitably touches on race in the US – particularly in a state where about 30% of Arizona's 6.5m people are of Hispanic descent and businesses once carried signs saying: "No Mexicans or dogs allowed."
"American history is supposed to teach the history of the United States and the United States is made up of immigrants," said Gonzales. "Everyone is an immigrant here with the exception of the indigenous people, so they all have their story. The narrative that's given is traditional so Mexican-Americans' contribution to this country have been omitted and their experience has not always been a good one. We should at least be able to talk about it."
Critics said that Horne's law could mean an end to teaching about slavery because of the resentment it might cause among black students toward whites. Despite this the Arizona legislature passed the legislation last year. It was put on the statute books at the beginning of this month, just as Horne took up his new job.
Within days, he told the schools that their Mexican-American studies classes breached all four criteria, and ordered them shut down. The classes continue while the issue is resolved in the courts.
Horne has been backed by some Tucson teachers such as John Ward, who is of Hispanic origin and said the classes indoctrinate "students, based primarily on ethnic divisions, in the belief that there is a war against Latino culture perpetrated by a white, racist, capitalist system".
The Tucson school board turned down Horne's request for every Mexican-American studies class to be videotaped. But teachers say the political attacks have forced them to watch what they say in class.
"There is a chilling effect," said Lorenzo Lopez. "There's a lot more pause in what we say. Because of the unprecedented scrutiny we are a lot more cautious how we raise issues, how we discuss them. It's really hampered the dialogue that takes place."
The Guardian
Arizona is a state riddled with anti-government white militias, radio stations pumping out racist hate speech and politicians who wave guns as they denounce the oppressive rule of Washington. But Arizona's attorney general apparently believes the real threat to the stability of the US government is being fomented in a handful of high schools in a liberal corner of the desert state.
Tom Horne has declared classes in Mexican-American history and social studies in the city of Tucson illegal on the grounds that they are "propagandising and brainwashing" students into overthrowing the constitutional government and hating white people.
Horne has ordered schools to scrap the ethnic studies programmes under a law he wrote in his previous role as Arizona's education superintendent. He has not banned similar classes dealing with black or Native American history on the grounds that no one has complained about them.
Critics, including teachers of the classes he wants to scrap, accuse Horne of political opportunism by exploiting growing hostility to people of Hispanic origin in a state that recently passed controversial anti-immigrant legislation.
José Gonzalez, who lectures at a Tucson high school, is one of 11 teachers suing to prevent that ban from being enforced.
"If you were to look at the legacy of Tom Horne and his past eight years as the superintendent of instruction in Arizona, you will see that he has targeted Mexican-American people. He did away with bilingual education. He was very proud of that," said Gonzales. "He's a politician and, quite frankly, a very successful politician so he's pandering to these xenophobic sentiments here in Arizona and that's helping him get elected."
Horne began pushing to abolish Mexican-American studies after an incident in 2007 when a prominent trade unionist, Dolores Huerta, told high school students in Tucson that Republicans hate Latinos.
Horne, a Republican, sent an aide to the school to counter the message, only to have him met by a group of students who turned their backs and raised a fist.
Infuriated, Horne blamed the teachers and wrote a law barring Arizona schools from holding classes that breached any of four prohibitions: promoting the overthrow of the government, creating resentment toward a race or class of people, focusing on students of one ethnic group or promoting ethnic solidarity.
Teachers of the offending classes acknowledge that they deal with sensitive issues, such as the past and continuing discrimination against Hispanic people in the US. They also teach the role played by figures such as César Chávez, the Mexican-American civil rights activist and trade union leader who was instrumental in improving the lot of agricultural workers, many of whom were immigrants.
Among other things, state officials have objected to classes portraying Benjamin Franklin as a racist for owning slaves and for promoting a climate of "victimisation" by teaching that white people have been more privileged in the US.
The classes involve Latino literature, although Shakespeare is on the curriculum too, as well as books such as Rodolfo Acuña's Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, which Horne has described as fostering "ethnic chauvinism" and promoting separatism.
The book, which describes Mexican- Americans as "captives of a system that renders them second-class citizens", is in its seventh edition and used at universities across the US.
The teachers say that these books are the basis for robust discussion about the past and present, which inevitably touches on race in the US – particularly in a state where about 30% of Arizona's 6.5m people are of Hispanic descent and businesses once carried signs saying: "No Mexicans or dogs allowed."
"American history is supposed to teach the history of the United States and the United States is made up of immigrants," said Gonzales. "Everyone is an immigrant here with the exception of the indigenous people, so they all have their story. The narrative that's given is traditional so Mexican-Americans' contribution to this country have been omitted and their experience has not always been a good one. We should at least be able to talk about it."
Critics said that Horne's law could mean an end to teaching about slavery because of the resentment it might cause among black students toward whites. Despite this the Arizona legislature passed the legislation last year. It was put on the statute books at the beginning of this month, just as Horne took up his new job.
Within days, he told the schools that their Mexican-American studies classes breached all four criteria, and ordered them shut down. The classes continue while the issue is resolved in the courts.
Horne has been backed by some Tucson teachers such as John Ward, who is of Hispanic origin and said the classes indoctrinate "students, based primarily on ethnic divisions, in the belief that there is a war against Latino culture perpetrated by a white, racist, capitalist system".
The Tucson school board turned down Horne's request for every Mexican-American studies class to be videotaped. But teachers say the political attacks have forced them to watch what they say in class.
"There is a chilling effect," said Lorenzo Lopez. "There's a lot more pause in what we say. Because of the unprecedented scrutiny we are a lot more cautious how we raise issues, how we discuss them. It's really hampered the dialogue that takes place."
The Guardian
Judge makes an example of vile bus yob (UK)
A man has been jailed for launching a tirade of racist abuse at a female bus passenger.
District Judge David Cooper wanted to make an example of Daniel Nixon, 37, after he and Michael Spidy’s foul-mouthed rant at a female student who boarded a Number 78 bus at the Hythe.
Sentencing Nixon to 42 days in prison, Judge Cooper said the bus passengers were “very brave” for confronting the “vile offenders”.
Yesterday, Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard Nixon, of Rosabelle Avenue, Wivenhoe, and Spidy, 20, also from Wivenhoe, were on the bus at about 7pm on December 8 when the student, from Essex University, boarded the bus at the Hythe’s Tesco store.
Tazmin Sharpe, prosecuting, told the court the pair subjected her to racist and sexual abuse from the backseat of the top deck of the bus, leaving her “shaken” and “scared”.
After asking the men to stop, the woman approached the bus driver for help. The two men then told her to “go home to her own country”.
The victim, a Cypriot national, was told to wait on the top deck of the bus while the men were dealt with.
After briefly getting off at the university, the pair got back and began barging into her, until getting off in Wivenhoe.
The court heard other passengers on the bus were shouting at the men to leave and the victim had suffered nightmares since the incident, and was frightened to use buses as a result.
Spidy was given a caution for causing harassment, alarm and distress by using threatening, abusive and insulting words or behaviour at an earlier hearing, but yesterday, Judge Cooper handed father-of-five, Nixon, a prison sentence.
Judge Cooper described the incident as “deeply depressing” and said he wanted to make an example of Nixon, who has ten previous convictions for a variety of offences, including criminal damage and possession of cocaine.
Judge Cooper said: “It is absolutely disgraceful people can not even get on a bus without being abused by someone like Nixon.
“People wanting to travel on public transport need to be protected. It is a disgrace the other chap only got a caution.”
Addressing Nixon in court, Judge Cooper, added: “There are families on buses and vulnerable women who need to be protected from this sort of thing.
“She now doesn’t feel able to get on the bus. ”
Daily Gazette
District Judge David Cooper wanted to make an example of Daniel Nixon, 37, after he and Michael Spidy’s foul-mouthed rant at a female student who boarded a Number 78 bus at the Hythe.
Sentencing Nixon to 42 days in prison, Judge Cooper said the bus passengers were “very brave” for confronting the “vile offenders”.
Yesterday, Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard Nixon, of Rosabelle Avenue, Wivenhoe, and Spidy, 20, also from Wivenhoe, were on the bus at about 7pm on December 8 when the student, from Essex University, boarded the bus at the Hythe’s Tesco store.
Tazmin Sharpe, prosecuting, told the court the pair subjected her to racist and sexual abuse from the backseat of the top deck of the bus, leaving her “shaken” and “scared”.
After asking the men to stop, the woman approached the bus driver for help. The two men then told her to “go home to her own country”.
The victim, a Cypriot national, was told to wait on the top deck of the bus while the men were dealt with.
After briefly getting off at the university, the pair got back and began barging into her, until getting off in Wivenhoe.
The court heard other passengers on the bus were shouting at the men to leave and the victim had suffered nightmares since the incident, and was frightened to use buses as a result.
Spidy was given a caution for causing harassment, alarm and distress by using threatening, abusive and insulting words or behaviour at an earlier hearing, but yesterday, Judge Cooper handed father-of-five, Nixon, a prison sentence.
Judge Cooper described the incident as “deeply depressing” and said he wanted to make an example of Nixon, who has ten previous convictions for a variety of offences, including criminal damage and possession of cocaine.
Judge Cooper said: “It is absolutely disgraceful people can not even get on a bus without being abused by someone like Nixon.
“People wanting to travel on public transport need to be protected. It is a disgrace the other chap only got a caution.”
Addressing Nixon in court, Judge Cooper, added: “There are families on buses and vulnerable women who need to be protected from this sort of thing.
“She now doesn’t feel able to get on the bus. ”
Daily Gazette
Friday, 21 January 2011
Gee Walker visits Southport's Birkdale High School to give speech on racism (UK)
Gee Walker, whose 18-year-old son was killed with an ice axe in 2005, forgave his killers and has built up a formidable reputation in the fight against racism.
She visited Jack Rodwell’s former school of Birkdale High, in Southport, with Everton FC’s educational team in a talk head teacher Gary Loveridge described as the one of the most emotional he had ever witnessed.
Liverpool Echo
Parliament crackdown as white supremacist and Jewish hater Darryl Potts faces the sack
An accused white supremacist could be banned from Parliament House as computer experts work to block the online posting of offensive material from within the nation's capital building.
The move follows new revelations Jew hating and other offensive posts were sent to websites from an IP address belonging to the Parliamentary Services Department, reported The Daily Telegraph.
The self-description and language in the posts matches that of parliamentary elevator technician Darryl Potts, exposed yesterday as a Holocaust-denying extremist who has just been granted a handgun licence.
The messages refer to Jews as living in "Satan's sewer" and visiting his family home posing as "Israeli art peddlers". Mr Potts did not deny he was the author of the posts when contacted yesterday.
Parliamentary Services acting head David Kenny said the posts were a clear breach of the rules and parliamentary technicians were working on a way to block the sender.
Mr Kenny also said he was in discussions with the company that directly employed Mr Potts about potentially banning him from the building.
The posts were written under the pseudonym Kinkyboy and written between 2006 and 2010.
In one traced to a parliamentary computer he says: "Jewish Fascists masquerading as 'Israeli Art Peddlers', likely inspired by the slippery reptiles at the B'nai B'rith, have visited the family home when the kids were in the house" - the exact same story and phrase Mr Potts told The Daily Telegraph.
Under another name on a white supremacist website he claims the Jewish holy book, the Talmud, allows sexual abuse of children.
In another post he describes himself as a "6'+ blue-eyed Anglo-Celt, who like some others, wears a kilt, blows the pipes, but refuses to defer to kikes". Mr Potts wears a kilt and plays in bagpipe band.
In yet another post on a white supremacist website he reveals himself to be "KinkyBoy" and likens Jews to flies and maggots.
Mr Potts declined to comment further yesterday.
News.com Au
The move follows new revelations Jew hating and other offensive posts were sent to websites from an IP address belonging to the Parliamentary Services Department, reported The Daily Telegraph.
The self-description and language in the posts matches that of parliamentary elevator technician Darryl Potts, exposed yesterday as a Holocaust-denying extremist who has just been granted a handgun licence.
The messages refer to Jews as living in "Satan's sewer" and visiting his family home posing as "Israeli art peddlers". Mr Potts did not deny he was the author of the posts when contacted yesterday.
Parliamentary Services acting head David Kenny said the posts were a clear breach of the rules and parliamentary technicians were working on a way to block the sender.
Mr Kenny also said he was in discussions with the company that directly employed Mr Potts about potentially banning him from the building.
The posts were written under the pseudonym Kinkyboy and written between 2006 and 2010.
In one traced to a parliamentary computer he says: "Jewish Fascists masquerading as 'Israeli Art Peddlers', likely inspired by the slippery reptiles at the B'nai B'rith, have visited the family home when the kids were in the house" - the exact same story and phrase Mr Potts told The Daily Telegraph.
Under another name on a white supremacist website he claims the Jewish holy book, the Talmud, allows sexual abuse of children.
In another post he describes himself as a "6'+ blue-eyed Anglo-Celt, who like some others, wears a kilt, blows the pipes, but refuses to defer to kikes". Mr Potts wears a kilt and plays in bagpipe band.
In yet another post on a white supremacist website he reveals himself to be "KinkyBoy" and likens Jews to flies and maggots.
Mr Potts declined to comment further yesterday.
News.com Au
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Two men accused of making racist phone calls and threats to takeaway owner (UK)
Two men accused of making racist telephone calls to the owner of a takeaway have appeared in court.
Mohammed Ali Noor, 20, and Joynal Ali, 25, are each accused of racially aggravated harassment between January 1 and June 14 last year.
It is alleged they made threatening and abusive calls to Ofiekur Khan, owner of the Burton Spice Indian Takeaway.
The Crown says the calls included threats to Mr Khan's life and that his business would be set on fire with him in it.
Noor, of Hunt Lea Avenue, off Boultham Park Road, Lincoln, and Ali, of Dixon Street, Lincoln, appeared at Lincoln Magistrates' Court.
They were granted unconditional bail until their trial on February 25. No pleas were entered.
This is Lincolnshire
Mohammed Ali Noor, 20, and Joynal Ali, 25, are each accused of racially aggravated harassment between January 1 and June 14 last year.
It is alleged they made threatening and abusive calls to Ofiekur Khan, owner of the Burton Spice Indian Takeaway.
The Crown says the calls included threats to Mr Khan's life and that his business would be set on fire with him in it.
Noor, of Hunt Lea Avenue, off Boultham Park Road, Lincoln, and Ali, of Dixon Street, Lincoln, appeared at Lincoln Magistrates' Court.
They were granted unconditional bail until their trial on February 25. No pleas were entered.
This is Lincolnshire
FAR RIGHT TARGETS ROMA GHETTO IN BULGARIA
The future of a Roma settlement in Sofia is in question, as hard-line nationalists demand its removal.
Nationalists from Bulgaria's VMRO party say they have gathered around 3,000 signatures in support of a referendum demanding the removal of a run-down Roma neighbourhood in the city’s Orlandovtsi district. The party maintains that the settlement, which is home to several hundred people, is illegal and should be demolished. “We support people’s demands for removal of the ghetto. They [Roma] are in conflict with their neighbours and often torture them,” Krasimir Karakachanov, leader of VMRO, told Balkan Insight. Todor Krastev, mayor of the city quarter where the Roma neighbourhood is located, said a commission was already checking on whether the Roma homes were illegal. The inspection started a few months ago and is about to finish, he said. Krastev told Balkan Insight that urban planning authorities are likely order removal of the homes, if they’re found to be illegal. “Although our inspection started months ago, VMRO is trying to politicize the issue,” Krastev said.
Human rights activists are closely monitoring the case. Krasimir Kanev, head of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, a non-governmental organisation, said the city authorities must carefully consider their actions. “Any evictions, even if the houses are illegal, would violate these people’s right to a home unless the city authorities either help them legalize their properties or provide alternative housing,” he said. This is not the first time that Roma housing problems have stirred controversy in Bulgaria. In 2008, the threatened destruction of another Roma settlement in Sofia was halted after the case was brought before the European Court of Human Rights. The Strasbourg court is expected to deliver a ruling on the case later this year. Many Roma communities around the country face similar housing problems. The ethnic minority were effectively segregated from the mainstream population during the Communist era.
Balkan Insight
Nationalists from Bulgaria's VMRO party say they have gathered around 3,000 signatures in support of a referendum demanding the removal of a run-down Roma neighbourhood in the city’s Orlandovtsi district. The party maintains that the settlement, which is home to several hundred people, is illegal and should be demolished. “We support people’s demands for removal of the ghetto. They [Roma] are in conflict with their neighbours and often torture them,” Krasimir Karakachanov, leader of VMRO, told Balkan Insight. Todor Krastev, mayor of the city quarter where the Roma neighbourhood is located, said a commission was already checking on whether the Roma homes were illegal. The inspection started a few months ago and is about to finish, he said. Krastev told Balkan Insight that urban planning authorities are likely order removal of the homes, if they’re found to be illegal. “Although our inspection started months ago, VMRO is trying to politicize the issue,” Krastev said.
Human rights activists are closely monitoring the case. Krasimir Kanev, head of the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, a non-governmental organisation, said the city authorities must carefully consider their actions. “Any evictions, even if the houses are illegal, would violate these people’s right to a home unless the city authorities either help them legalize their properties or provide alternative housing,” he said. This is not the first time that Roma housing problems have stirred controversy in Bulgaria. In 2008, the threatened destruction of another Roma settlement in Sofia was halted after the case was brought before the European Court of Human Rights. The Strasbourg court is expected to deliver a ruling on the case later this year. Many Roma communities around the country face similar housing problems. The ethnic minority were effectively segregated from the mainstream population during the Communist era.
Balkan Insight
White nationalists to meet in Charlotte (USA)
A magazine described as a platform for white nationalists plans to hold its annual conference in Charlotte next month, smack on the heels of an NAACP leader's description of the city as a "racist bastion."
American Renaissance, a magazine of the nonprofit New Century Foundation, plans a conference Feb. 4-6 at a site yet to be announced.
According to its website, the group advocates "race realism," a belief that race is "the most prominent and divisive" fault line in society.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks such groups, says at Renaissance conferences "racist 'intellectuals' rub shoulders with Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists."
Magazine editor Jared Taylor on Wednesday dismissed the criticism.
"They clearly have an axe to grind; we have perfectly ordinary people," said Taylor. "But that's their typical fearmongering. Their purpose is to paint us in the blackest language so people will contribute to them."
Taylor says the conference will be "at a first-class venue." But for security reasons, he won't announce it until 48 hours before.
"The last time the venue came under tremendous pressure," he said, "hundreds of telephone calls saying 'How dare you do business with these awful people?' We don't want to expose a hotel to that kind of pressure."
Monday, NAACP President Kojo Nantambu alluded to the conference at a rally to protest Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' decision to use the Martin Luther King holiday as a make-up day for students.
"To show you how wicked Charlotte is," he said, "there's going to be a white supremacists' meeting in Charlotte next month."
Many African-Americans disagreed with Nantambu's characterization of the city.
Taylor said he's unsure whether the event will be open to the media.
Charlotte Observer
American Renaissance, a magazine of the nonprofit New Century Foundation, plans a conference Feb. 4-6 at a site yet to be announced.
According to its website, the group advocates "race realism," a belief that race is "the most prominent and divisive" fault line in society.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks such groups, says at Renaissance conferences "racist 'intellectuals' rub shoulders with Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other white supremacists."
Magazine editor Jared Taylor on Wednesday dismissed the criticism.
"They clearly have an axe to grind; we have perfectly ordinary people," said Taylor. "But that's their typical fearmongering. Their purpose is to paint us in the blackest language so people will contribute to them."
Taylor says the conference will be "at a first-class venue." But for security reasons, he won't announce it until 48 hours before.
"The last time the venue came under tremendous pressure," he said, "hundreds of telephone calls saying 'How dare you do business with these awful people?' We don't want to expose a hotel to that kind of pressure."
Monday, NAACP President Kojo Nantambu alluded to the conference at a rally to protest Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' decision to use the Martin Luther King holiday as a make-up day for students.
"To show you how wicked Charlotte is," he said, "there's going to be a white supremacists' meeting in Charlotte next month."
Many African-Americans disagreed with Nantambu's characterization of the city.
Taylor said he's unsure whether the event will be open to the media.
Charlotte Observer
US pastor Terry Jones banned from entering UK
The pastor, who last year planned a Koran-burning protest in the US, had been invited to address right-wing group England Is Ours in Milton Keynes.
The Home Office said Mr Jones could not enter the UK as the government "opposes extremism in all its forms".
Mr Jones told BBC Radio 5 live he would challenge the "unfair" decision and his visit could have been "beneficial".
Mr Jones - who is pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, which has fewer than 50 members - came to prominence last September when he announced plans for his "International Burn a Koran Day" on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
His plan was internationally condemned and sparked many demonstrations around the world before he eventually called off his protest.
'Unacceptable behaviour'
A Home Office spokesman said: "Numerous comments made by Pastor Jones are evidence of his unacceptable behaviour.
"Coming to the UK is a privilege not a right and we are not willing to allow entry to those whose presence is not conducive to the public good.
"The use of exclusion powers is very serious and no decision is taken lightly or as a method of stopping open debate."
Mr Jones said he had not been planning to break any laws while in England.
"The whole object of the exercise is to have a discussion about the
Islamification of the UK and just have dialogue about the problems”
Quote Barry Taylor England Is Ours
Quote Barry Taylor England Is Ours
"I'm not against Muslims, we are not against their religion," he said. "We have, here in the West, freedom of religion and limited freedom of speech which we don't have in their countries.
"What I am against is the radical element. If I came to England we would expect Muslims to rally with us."
He added that the ban was also unfair on a "human basis" because his daughter lived in England and his grandchildren were English.
Mr Jones had accepted an invitation to speak to England Is Ours in February and was due to address a series of demonstrations against the expansion of Islam and the construction of mosques in the UK.
Barry Taylor, secretary of England Is Ours, said he was "very disappointed" by the decision.
"The whole object of the exercise is to have a discussion about the Islamification of the UK and just have dialogue about the problems," he said.
"The idea isn't to cause trouble or kick up a stink. These things do need addressing and people do need to speak about them. We shouldn't be frightened about them."
Sabotage of rights
He said he had expected about 100 people to attend events organised for Mr Jones, including about 30 members of England Is Ours.
"It's quite possible that other members of his outreach may be able to come," Mr Taylor said.
"I understand Pastor Jones is planning some visits to nearby European countries and we will be able to go and visit him there," he added.
A press release issued by Stand Up America - which is organising rallies addressed by Mr Jones - said the UK ban exemplified the sabotage of the basic human rights of freedom of speech and freedom of expression.
In December, Home Secretary Theresa May said she was "actively looking at" whether Mr Jones should be banned from entering the UK after the right-wing English Defence League (EDL) had invited him to share his views on Islam at a rally in Luton in February.
However the EDL later withdrew the invitation to Mr Jones. A spokesman said it was because of his critical views on homosexuality and race.
BBC News
Teens protest against racism in Israel
Members of left-wing youth movement gather in downtown Jerusalem to fight 'public's indifference' to acts of racism
Hundreds of members of the left-wing HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed (Working and Studying Youth) movement protested in downtown Jerusalem Wednesday evening against the growing racism in Israel.
The rally was organized by 11th and 12th graders who recently returned from a trip to Poland. "As teenagers who love this country we fear the racism that is seeping into people's hearts and the indifference displayed by the public and its leaders," youth movement member Tal Kedmi said.
"We've decided not to stand by and watch as darkness threatens to take over," she said.
The protestors waved signs reading, "Racism will destroy Israel" and "Jerusalemites are stopping racism".
Protestor Yoav Rimer mentioned the rabbis' letter calling on Jews not to sell or rent apartments to Arabs, violence acts perpetrated by Jewish teens against Arabs and the "discrimination against students of Ethiopian and Sephardic descent" as clear signs that racism is spreading.
YNet News
Hundreds of members of the left-wing HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed (Working and Studying Youth) movement protested in downtown Jerusalem Wednesday evening against the growing racism in Israel.
The rally was organized by 11th and 12th graders who recently returned from a trip to Poland. "As teenagers who love this country we fear the racism that is seeping into people's hearts and the indifference displayed by the public and its leaders," youth movement member Tal Kedmi said.
"We've decided not to stand by and watch as darkness threatens to take over," she said.
The protestors waved signs reading, "Racism will destroy Israel" and "Jerusalemites are stopping racism".
Protestor Yoav Rimer mentioned the rabbis' letter calling on Jews not to sell or rent apartments to Arabs, violence acts perpetrated by Jewish teens against Arabs and the "discrimination against students of Ethiopian and Sephardic descent" as clear signs that racism is spreading.
YNet News
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