The population of African and Roma are discriminated against more often than minorities from the Balkans or Eastern Europe, according to a report released Wednesday by the Agency of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (FRA). The document notes that persons belonging to “visible minorities”, ie those who generally have a different appearance from the rest of the population feel discriminated against more often and for a greater number of reasons compared to other minorities. In particular, the Roma and African Americans have “more likely” to suffer discrimination that people from the former Yugoslavia, Russian-born and native of Central and Eastern Europe. In addition, people of “visible minorities” are more often subject to acts of “multiplediscrimination ” (for various reasons), such as age, sex and religion. For example, young men of immigrant origin tend to have higher levels of discriminatory treatment, according to survey conducted by the FRA.
The results show that one in four respondents from ethnic minorities or immigrants in the EU states have felt discriminated against by two or more grounds for the 12 months preceding the survey. 28% of North Africans claimed to have experienced discrimination on multiple grounds in recent months, compared with 18% of sub-Saharan Africans, 16% of Roma and 15% of Turks. In the case of immigrants from theBalkans or Central European countries, the figures are below 9%. Belonging to an ethnic minority or being an immigrant was the most common reason for multiple discrimination among respondents (93% for both men and women), followed by religion (72% for men and 56% among women ) and sex (24% and 44% respectively). Next, put the old (30 and 29%), other reasons (21% and 15%), disability (13% and 9%) and sexual orientation (11% and 9%).
Coffe Today
Friday, 4 February 2011
Retrial for neo-Nazi promoters in the Czech Republic
The trial of eight people charged in the Czech Republic with promoting and supporting a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms will have to be repeated. Judge Věra Bártová has had to recuse herself as the result of a motion filed at the end of December. Libor Vávra, president of the Prague 1 District Court, told the Czech Press Agency today that he will be presiding over the trial from now on. The case concerns allegations of promoting neo-Nazism and the group called National Resistance (Národní odpor - NO) and organizing neo-Nazi events.
Bártová's recusal is the result of criticisms voiced by the K213 association, which told the court her previous membership in the Communist Party was "incompatible with the fair trial of the so-called neo-Nazis". Bártová admitted to her previous membership in the party in her recusal, writing that as a result of the criticism that she would be incapable of objectivity "she feels so negatively influenced by the conclusions and opinions directed against her that she cannot responsibly guarantee the maximum degree of objective decision-making which is one of the fundamental principles of her work."
The case for the prosecution describes four crimes; the accused have told the court they are innocent. The first crime was allegedly committed by five people: Former chair of the Prague organization of the banned Workers' Party (Dělnická strana - DS), Patrik Vondrák; former DS party member Michaela Dupová; Richard Lang; DS candidate in the EP elections Petr Fryč; and Filip Vávra. They are said to have posted NO promotion materials in the center of Prague during the evening of 4 December 2008.
Six people (Vondrák, Dupová, Lang, the former chair of the DS regional organization in Vysočina, Milan Hroch, former DS member Martin Václavek and Daniel Zavadil) are also charged with organizing and holding a gathering and march on 6 June 2009 in Jihlava which town officials had to disperse immediately after it began. The event had been advertised as a memorial march to honor the memory of victims of the Second World War, but its real aim, according to the case file, was to honor the memory of the fallen soldiers of the Wehrmacht and SS. The prosecution charges that the event was planned by Hroch and Lang and announced to the town hall by Zavadil, whose deputy was Václavek. Lang allegedly arranged for a funeral wreath and was present at the event as an organizer, while Dupová agreed with Lang to provide drums and another wreath. Those scheduled to speak at the event were Herbert Schweiger, a veteran of Adolf Hitler's Leibstandarte SS division, and Austrian nationalist Gottfried Küssel. Vondrák is charged with inviting and transporting them to the Czech Republic.
Dupová is also charged with two other crimes. According to the case file, she participated in creating and running the website Resistance Women Unity (RWU), which police say is the women's branch of NO. The prosecution claims she was the administrator of the website and posted articles there authored by herself and others. The state prosecutor says those texts disseminated and promoted Nazi and neo-Nazi ideology. She is also charged with participating in organizing and holding a white power music concert to benefit neo-Nazis who were either being sought by the law or had been sentenced to prison. The concert took place in February 2009 in Srby (Kladno district) and was attended by about 120 people. The prosecution alleges Dupová was aware that the audience and performers would be disseminating the ideology of Nazism and neo-Nazism during the concert and celebrating the NO.
Experts in right-wing extremism say Lang is linked to the NO, while police say Hroch is also actively engaged in its activities. Experts say Vávra, who recently invited former Ku-Klux-Klan leader David Duke to the Czech Republic, was also connected to NO. Vávra admitted to the court that he was a radical at the start of the 1990s, but is said to have gradually become more moderate.
Romea.Cz
Bártová's recusal is the result of criticisms voiced by the K213 association, which told the court her previous membership in the Communist Party was "incompatible with the fair trial of the so-called neo-Nazis". Bártová admitted to her previous membership in the party in her recusal, writing that as a result of the criticism that she would be incapable of objectivity "she feels so negatively influenced by the conclusions and opinions directed against her that she cannot responsibly guarantee the maximum degree of objective decision-making which is one of the fundamental principles of her work."
The case for the prosecution describes four crimes; the accused have told the court they are innocent. The first crime was allegedly committed by five people: Former chair of the Prague organization of the banned Workers' Party (Dělnická strana - DS), Patrik Vondrák; former DS party member Michaela Dupová; Richard Lang; DS candidate in the EP elections Petr Fryč; and Filip Vávra. They are said to have posted NO promotion materials in the center of Prague during the evening of 4 December 2008.
Six people (Vondrák, Dupová, Lang, the former chair of the DS regional organization in Vysočina, Milan Hroch, former DS member Martin Václavek and Daniel Zavadil) are also charged with organizing and holding a gathering and march on 6 June 2009 in Jihlava which town officials had to disperse immediately after it began. The event had been advertised as a memorial march to honor the memory of victims of the Second World War, but its real aim, according to the case file, was to honor the memory of the fallen soldiers of the Wehrmacht and SS. The prosecution charges that the event was planned by Hroch and Lang and announced to the town hall by Zavadil, whose deputy was Václavek. Lang allegedly arranged for a funeral wreath and was present at the event as an organizer, while Dupová agreed with Lang to provide drums and another wreath. Those scheduled to speak at the event were Herbert Schweiger, a veteran of Adolf Hitler's Leibstandarte SS division, and Austrian nationalist Gottfried Küssel. Vondrák is charged with inviting and transporting them to the Czech Republic.
Dupová is also charged with two other crimes. According to the case file, she participated in creating and running the website Resistance Women Unity (RWU), which police say is the women's branch of NO. The prosecution claims she was the administrator of the website and posted articles there authored by herself and others. The state prosecutor says those texts disseminated and promoted Nazi and neo-Nazi ideology. She is also charged with participating in organizing and holding a white power music concert to benefit neo-Nazis who were either being sought by the law or had been sentenced to prison. The concert took place in February 2009 in Srby (Kladno district) and was attended by about 120 people. The prosecution alleges Dupová was aware that the audience and performers would be disseminating the ideology of Nazism and neo-Nazism during the concert and celebrating the NO.
Experts in right-wing extremism say Lang is linked to the NO, while police say Hroch is also actively engaged in its activities. Experts say Vávra, who recently invited former Ku-Klux-Klan leader David Duke to the Czech Republic, was also connected to NO. Vávra admitted to the court that he was a radical at the start of the 1990s, but is said to have gradually become more moderate.
Romea.Cz
Neo-Nazi group denies it's racist (USA)
A neo-Nazi group planning a New Jersey statehouse rally denied it's racist, saying it wants to spotlight immigration and other political issues, the group said.
"We're basically speaking about the corruption here in New Jersey politics, the immigration problem that faces our nation, and the revolving-door criminal system," National Socialist Movement New Jersey representative Jason Hiecke told The Times of Trenton.
Other issues the April 16 rally will address are high state property taxes, child molesters and an alleged "double standard" in which only crimes by whites against minorities are described as "hate crimes," he said.
"We're all considered racists or white supremacists, but that's not what most of our members are about," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
He acknowledged the organization's symbol is a swastika, used by Nazi Germany during World War II.
"The National Socialist Movement is distinctive in that they will wear Nazi-style uniforms," state Anti-Defamation League regional Director Etzion Neuer told the newspaper.
"One will typically see them dressed in swastikas, even more than most white supremacists," he said. "The visual that we might see of neo-Nazis clad in uniforms on the steps of the Capitol will revolt most New Jerseyans."
He called the gathering "disturbing" and advised people to stay away from the rally.
NSM rallies often attract counter-protests that sometimes turn violent. A Nov. 13 rally and march in Phoenix turned into a rock-throwing melee in which two young men were arrested.
Seventy NSM members demonstrated against illegal immigration in front of Los Angeles City Hall April 17, 2010, drawing a counterprotest of hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators.
An Oct. 15, 2005, demonstration to protest alleged black gang activity in Toledo, Ohio, sparked a four-hour riot that prompted a 36-hour citywide curfew.
UPI
"We're basically speaking about the corruption here in New Jersey politics, the immigration problem that faces our nation, and the revolving-door criminal system," National Socialist Movement New Jersey representative Jason Hiecke told The Times of Trenton.
Other issues the April 16 rally will address are high state property taxes, child molesters and an alleged "double standard" in which only crimes by whites against minorities are described as "hate crimes," he said.
"We're all considered racists or white supremacists, but that's not what most of our members are about," the newspaper quoted him as saying.
He acknowledged the organization's symbol is a swastika, used by Nazi Germany during World War II.
"The National Socialist Movement is distinctive in that they will wear Nazi-style uniforms," state Anti-Defamation League regional Director Etzion Neuer told the newspaper.
"One will typically see them dressed in swastikas, even more than most white supremacists," he said. "The visual that we might see of neo-Nazis clad in uniforms on the steps of the Capitol will revolt most New Jerseyans."
He called the gathering "disturbing" and advised people to stay away from the rally.
NSM rallies often attract counter-protests that sometimes turn violent. A Nov. 13 rally and march in Phoenix turned into a rock-throwing melee in which two young men were arrested.
Seventy NSM members demonstrated against illegal immigration in front of Los Angeles City Hall April 17, 2010, drawing a counterprotest of hundreds of anti-Nazi demonstrators.
An Oct. 15, 2005, demonstration to protest alleged black gang activity in Toledo, Ohio, sparked a four-hour riot that prompted a 36-hour citywide curfew.
UPI
Landowner and BNP donor facing court on dog charge (UK)
A landowner who was one of the biggest individual cash donors to the British National Party is facing court action accused of failing to keep his dog under control after it is alleged to have bitten a woman.
Charles Wentworth, 53, who lives at Friston Hall, near Aldeburgh, had his case listed before magistrates in Lowestoft on Monday following the incident on November 17 last year.
It was reported to police that Hannah Burns, a 47-year-old woman from the local area, was bitten on the thigh by a Doberman dog on a footpath between Benhall and Friston.
Mr Wentworth, who also owns Friston Village Hall and the village green, is accused of “being the owner of a dog which was dangerous and was not kept under proper control”.
The complaint was made by Ms Burns, and an application has been made for an order that the dog is to be kept under proper control or destroyed.
The case was adjourned and is next listed for the magistrates’ court on February 28. No plea has been entered yet.
Richard Barker, of Barker Gotelee solicitors, who is representing Mr Wentworth, said his client would be denying the charge.
Mr Wentworth made headlines in 2009 when it emerged he was one of the largest individual donors to the BNP, having handed over more than £38,000 in six cash payments between October 2006 and October 2007.
The largest individual payment was for £9,763 and the smallest was for £5,000.
Speaking to a national newspaper in 2009, he denied being a racist and said he had joined and helped fund the party because he believed that Britain was “overloaded”.
The Wentworth name has links to the village of Friston and nearby Aldeburgh back to the 18th Century with the family having owned about 100 cottages and farmhouses in the area.
Mr Wentworth’s farm is about 660 acres. He is known to support events in the village and has thrown Christmas parties for the village’s children.
EADT
Charles Wentworth, 53, who lives at Friston Hall, near Aldeburgh, had his case listed before magistrates in Lowestoft on Monday following the incident on November 17 last year.
It was reported to police that Hannah Burns, a 47-year-old woman from the local area, was bitten on the thigh by a Doberman dog on a footpath between Benhall and Friston.
Mr Wentworth, who also owns Friston Village Hall and the village green, is accused of “being the owner of a dog which was dangerous and was not kept under proper control”.
The complaint was made by Ms Burns, and an application has been made for an order that the dog is to be kept under proper control or destroyed.
The case was adjourned and is next listed for the magistrates’ court on February 28. No plea has been entered yet.
Richard Barker, of Barker Gotelee solicitors, who is representing Mr Wentworth, said his client would be denying the charge.
Mr Wentworth made headlines in 2009 when it emerged he was one of the largest individual donors to the BNP, having handed over more than £38,000 in six cash payments between October 2006 and October 2007.
The largest individual payment was for £9,763 and the smallest was for £5,000.
Speaking to a national newspaper in 2009, he denied being a racist and said he had joined and helped fund the party because he believed that Britain was “overloaded”.
The Wentworth name has links to the village of Friston and nearby Aldeburgh back to the 18th Century with the family having owned about 100 cottages and farmhouses in the area.
Mr Wentworth’s farm is about 660 acres. He is known to support events in the village and has thrown Christmas parties for the village’s children.
EADT
Luton braced for violence in far-right's 'homecoming' march (UK)
The EDL has invited its friends from the Dutch Defence League, and other far-right groups from France and Germany are also expected to march under the banner "No Surrender to Militant Islam". Counter-protests are being planned by Unite Against Fascism, and some 1,500 police officers will attempt to keep the sides apart. Bedfordshire Police warned: "The protests mean that there will be disruption to normal life in Luton on Saturday."
Luton is where the EDL was founded and the march is being promoted with the slogan "Back to Where It All Began". It was another homecoming march, by the Royal Anglian Regiment almost two years ago, that led to the group being set up in response to the actions of a small group of extremist Muslims, who had greeted the soldiers with placards reading "Butchers of Basra" and "Anglian soldiers go to hell".
Extremist politics and religious tension were added to Luton's claims to fame, alongside its international airport, the Vauxhall car factory and the town's links to the trade of millinery. That last tradition inspired the nickname of Luton Town Football Club, the Hatters, an institution that is suffering as much as any from the local rise of the EDL.
The far-right group has recruited heavily among football fans. The anti-racist group Searchlight has investigated links between the Luton division of the EDL and the MIGs (Men in Gear), a gang of Luton hooligans. Stephen Lennon, the founder of the EDL and the owner of a Luton sunbed shop, prefers to adopt the pseudonym of Tommy Robinson, the name of a notorious Luton hooligan and author of MIG Crew.
Luton Town have had enough difficulties in recent years. Once a top flight English team, they now find themselves outside the Football League. Their next fixture, against Gloucester City takes place this evening at the club's home at Kenilworth Road in the Bury Park district, which has a large community of Pakistani Muslims.
The club would have preferred to stage the game tomorrow but has been forced to reschedule the kick-off to distance it from the march. Gary Sweet, the managing director, has been deeply concerned by the attempts of the EDL to align the football club with its cause. "We are all very disappointed that the EDL has decided to target football and particularly Luton Town to recruit members. We would like to think that our supporters are a bit above that."
Mr Sweet also said that Luton Town was "disgusted about" the EDL's use of a customised version of the club crest in some of its promotional material. Luton Town has a proud record in overcoming prejudice within football and during the 1980s provided a platform for some of England's outstanding young black players, such as Ricky Hill and Brian Stein.
Meanwhile Mr Lennon summons his followers to Luton tomorrow. The news that Luton resident Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly was behind the Stockholm car bombing in December only strengthened his hand.
"This is the heart of militant Islam," he told a Newsnight reporter last week, posing in a bullet-proof vest which he claimed he needed for protection. Police will tomorrow attempt to ensure that others do not feel similarly at risk.
The Independant
Thursday, 3 February 2011
BNP registers in Northern Ireland for the first time (UK)
The BNP has for the first time registered as a political party in Northern Ireland.
This means it can now field candidates in the Assembly or council elections.
The move was confirmed on Wednesday by the Electoral Commission.
The right-wing party has in the past expressed an interest in contesting elections in Northern Ireland but has so far failed to do so.
BBC News
This means it can now field candidates in the Assembly or council elections.
The move was confirmed on Wednesday by the Electoral Commission.
The right-wing party has in the past expressed an interest in contesting elections in Northern Ireland but has so far failed to do so.
BBC News
Anti-Semitism in the UK remains high in 2010
The figure, from the Community Security Trust, is the second highest since it began its work in 1984.
The peak of 926 incidents came in 2009, and was attributed to a backlash against Israel's invasion of Gaza.
Most of last year's incidents happened near Jewish communities in London, Manchester, Hertfordshire and Leeds.
In its annual report, the charity said anti-Semitism had increased since the 1990s and, although said the total number of incidents for 2010 was almost a third less than the 926 recorded in 2009, that was still worse than 2008.
It said it recorded 114 acts of violence, but none of them could be classed as grievous bodily harm or life-threatening.
Some 59 of the incidents targeted synagogues and a further 52 were attacks on people coming or going from prayers.
Some 28 Jewish children suffered anti-Semitic incidents during their journey to or from school.
In one incident, a rabbi and his two sons were pelted with bottles. He was pushed over and needed eight stitches for a head wound.
Most incidents appeared to be random or opportunistic, said the charity, and a quarter referred to the Nazis or the Holocaust. Others related to the Middle East conflict.
In another incident, a builder who learned he was working on a Jewish family's home, told the householder: "Oh, I hate Jews, I'd like to kill the lot of you. If I had been in World War II, I would have gladly put you all in the gas ovens."
Among the acts of vandalism, homes or Jewish community property were daubed with swastikas. In Worcester, someone daubed the word "Jew" on a pavement, accompanied by an arrow pointing towards a drain.
The CST said that where it had established something of the perpetrator's identity, 47% were white, 29% were Asian, 10% were Arab, 7% were black and 6% were Eastern European.
Mark Gardner, of the CST, said: "Anti-Semitism is not the most important thing in British Jewish life, but there is clearly a significant problem.
"The CST, police, politicians and Government will keep working in close partnership to tackle anti-Semitism and its wider causes of bigotry and extremism."
The charity said there had been two spikes during the year - the first coming following the controversial Israeli Navy raid of a Gaza aid flotilla. Nine activists who were on board the vessel died in the May 2010 operation.
The second "trigger" had been prominent Jewish festivals later in the year, said the charity.
BBC News
National Socialist Movement to host April rally in city (USA)
A neo-Nazi organization whose events have attracted sometimes violent counterprotests will have a rally in front of the Statehouse on April 16, said the group's New Jersey representative Jason Hiecke.
The National Socialist Movement (NSM) will host a two-day conference in the area, including a rally of 75 to 150 people on the second day, Hiecke said. The State Police said the group has been issued an event permit.
Organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League describe the Detroit-based NSM as the nation's largest neo-Nazi group and say it promotes an anti-Semitic and racist ideology through rallies, a website and other online activities.
Etzion Neuer, director of the Anti-Defamation League's office in Teaneck, said the NSM group seems to be trying to raise its local profile.
"The group has had a presence in New Jersey for some time," Neuer said. "I'd be hard-pressed to find the last time we've seen a gathering of this sort in New Jersey. It's been several years. And it's disturbing."
Hiecke said Brian Holland, a presidential candidate in 2008 and NSM member from Virginia, may attend the gathering in Trenton. Hiecke described the event as a political rally. He disputed the characterization of his group as racist.
"We're basically speaking about the corruption here in New Jersey politics, the immigration problem that faces our nation and the revolving-door criminal system," he said. Other issues he cited were the state's high property taxes, child molesters who he said are allowed to go out in the public wearing ankle bracelets, an alleged "double standard" in which only crimes by whites against minorities are described as "hate crimes," overspending on foreign aid, and the shipping of jobs overseas.
"We're all considered racists or white supremacists, but that's not what most of our members are about," he said. At the same time, he noted that the organization's symbol is a swastika, the symbol used by Adolf Hitler and Nazis during World War II and the Holocaust.
While the NSM discusses issues that are part of mainstream political discourse, they clearly set themselves apart, Neuer said.
"The National Socialist Movement is distinctive in that they will wear Nazi-style uniforms," he said. "One will typically see them dressed in swastikas, even more than most white supremacists. The visual that we might see of neo-Nazis clad in uniforms on the steps of the capitol will revolt most New Jerseyans."
NJ.com
The National Socialist Movement (NSM) will host a two-day conference in the area, including a rally of 75 to 150 people on the second day, Hiecke said. The State Police said the group has been issued an event permit.
Organizations such as the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League describe the Detroit-based NSM as the nation's largest neo-Nazi group and say it promotes an anti-Semitic and racist ideology through rallies, a website and other online activities.
Etzion Neuer, director of the Anti-Defamation League's office in Teaneck, said the NSM group seems to be trying to raise its local profile.
"The group has had a presence in New Jersey for some time," Neuer said. "I'd be hard-pressed to find the last time we've seen a gathering of this sort in New Jersey. It's been several years. And it's disturbing."
Hiecke said Brian Holland, a presidential candidate in 2008 and NSM member from Virginia, may attend the gathering in Trenton. Hiecke described the event as a political rally. He disputed the characterization of his group as racist.
"We're basically speaking about the corruption here in New Jersey politics, the immigration problem that faces our nation and the revolving-door criminal system," he said. Other issues he cited were the state's high property taxes, child molesters who he said are allowed to go out in the public wearing ankle bracelets, an alleged "double standard" in which only crimes by whites against minorities are described as "hate crimes," overspending on foreign aid, and the shipping of jobs overseas.
"We're all considered racists or white supremacists, but that's not what most of our members are about," he said. At the same time, he noted that the organization's symbol is a swastika, the symbol used by Adolf Hitler and Nazis during World War II and the Holocaust.
While the NSM discusses issues that are part of mainstream political discourse, they clearly set themselves apart, Neuer said.
"The National Socialist Movement is distinctive in that they will wear Nazi-style uniforms," he said. "One will typically see them dressed in swastikas, even more than most white supremacists. The visual that we might see of neo-Nazis clad in uniforms on the steps of the capitol will revolt most New Jerseyans."
NJ.com
DUTCH JEWS WANT FAST PUNISHMENT FOR ANTI-SEMITISM
Jewish groups in the Netherlands called Wednesday for swifter punishment for Holocaust deniers as parliament debated how to combat rising anti-Semitism. Among other measures, a Jewish umbrella organization said it wants Holocaust deniers punished under rules usually reserved for drunk drivers, shoplifters, and football hooligans. Under the "snelrecht," or "fast justice" policy, police and prosecutors offer offenders a choice immediately after their arrest between a fine or a court appearance within two months. "I don't understand why it should be difficult for policeman to give a fine directly to perpetrators of these remarks," said Ronny Naftaniel of The Center for Information and Documentation on Israel, or CIDI, in a telephone interview. He added that he would support the same measure for anti-Moroccan discrimination, which is also on the rise in the Netherlands. Anti-Semitism has become a hot-button issue as many native Dutch blame anti-Semitism on the country's Muslim minority, while Muslims say there is a double standard and discrimination against those of Moroccan and Turkish ancestry goes unpunished.
A national police report in September found a 48 percent rise in anti-Semitic incidents to 209 in 2009. The same report found that anti-Moroccan incidents rose 17 percent to 103. After a wave of immigration in the 1990s Muslims make up around 1 million of the country's 16 million population. After being decimated during World War II, the Dutch Jewish population is estimated at 40,000-50,000. Rising anti-Semitism "can be attributed to the rise of influence of Islam in the Netherlands," said Freedom party member of parliament Joram van Klaveren during the debate. "The more Islam, the more anti-Semitism." Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, whose VVD party leads the country's ruling conservative coalition, was among several MPs who rejected those remarks. "It's not your belief that counts, but your behavior," she said.
The exchange reflects the state of politics in the Netherlands. A popular backlash against Muslim immigrants intensified in 2004 when filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered by an Islamic radical of Moroccan descent, over perceived religious insults. The 2008 European Commission against Racism and Intolerance found that there has been a "dramatic increase in 'Islamophobia' in the Netherlands" since 2001. In national elections last year, the explicitly anti-Islam Freedom Party finished in third place. It is not part of the country's minority government, but props up the administration by supporting it on key votes in parliament. Naftaniel of CIDI said his research showed Moroccan youth are disproportionately involved in anti-Semitic incidents targeting "visible" Orthodox Jews. However, he said anti-Jewish remarks on the Internet or in the workplace were usually made by Dutch Christians.
"We have the idea the taboo on anti-Semitism is diminishing," he said. In one recent high-profile case a Moroccan minor was interviewed by a shock news website saying he thought Jews should be "exterminated." The Utrecht District Court sentenced him to 40 hours of community service, including 16 at the Anne Frank House. Last April the same court acquitted Abdoulmouthalib Bouzerda, chairman of the Arab European League, of hate speech charges for publishing a cartoon on its website questioning the reality of the Holocaust. The group had intended to spur a public discussion about a perceived double standard: that European media are willing to publish cartoons mocking Islam's prophet Muhammad, while cartoons about the Holocaust are taboo.
Van Klaveren of the Freedom party was skeptical about the proposal of "fast justice" for anti-Semitic remarks: His party's leader Geert Wilders is on trial for alleged discriminatory remarks — including some equating Islam with fasciism and calling for a ban on the Quran. His trial resumes Monday after a two-month pause. Holocaust deniers "should be directed to psychiatrists, not judges," Van Klaveren said. Wednesday's debate frequently referenced remarks by one of the country's most prominent conservative thinkers, Frits Bolkestein, who was quoted in December as having said that "visible" Jews should consider emigrating to Israel or the United States because they have no future in the Netherlands. He later clarified that those remarks were intended as a warning about the failures of Dutch integration policies to date, not literal advice to Jews. After the debate, Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner promised to return to parliament later this year with concrete policy proposals.
AP.org
A national police report in September found a 48 percent rise in anti-Semitic incidents to 209 in 2009. The same report found that anti-Moroccan incidents rose 17 percent to 103. After a wave of immigration in the 1990s Muslims make up around 1 million of the country's 16 million population. After being decimated during World War II, the Dutch Jewish population is estimated at 40,000-50,000. Rising anti-Semitism "can be attributed to the rise of influence of Islam in the Netherlands," said Freedom party member of parliament Joram van Klaveren during the debate. "The more Islam, the more anti-Semitism." Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, whose VVD party leads the country's ruling conservative coalition, was among several MPs who rejected those remarks. "It's not your belief that counts, but your behavior," she said.
The exchange reflects the state of politics in the Netherlands. A popular backlash against Muslim immigrants intensified in 2004 when filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered by an Islamic radical of Moroccan descent, over perceived religious insults. The 2008 European Commission against Racism and Intolerance found that there has been a "dramatic increase in 'Islamophobia' in the Netherlands" since 2001. In national elections last year, the explicitly anti-Islam Freedom Party finished in third place. It is not part of the country's minority government, but props up the administration by supporting it on key votes in parliament. Naftaniel of CIDI said his research showed Moroccan youth are disproportionately involved in anti-Semitic incidents targeting "visible" Orthodox Jews. However, he said anti-Jewish remarks on the Internet or in the workplace were usually made by Dutch Christians.
"We have the idea the taboo on anti-Semitism is diminishing," he said. In one recent high-profile case a Moroccan minor was interviewed by a shock news website saying he thought Jews should be "exterminated." The Utrecht District Court sentenced him to 40 hours of community service, including 16 at the Anne Frank House. Last April the same court acquitted Abdoulmouthalib Bouzerda, chairman of the Arab European League, of hate speech charges for publishing a cartoon on its website questioning the reality of the Holocaust. The group had intended to spur a public discussion about a perceived double standard: that European media are willing to publish cartoons mocking Islam's prophet Muhammad, while cartoons about the Holocaust are taboo.
Van Klaveren of the Freedom party was skeptical about the proposal of "fast justice" for anti-Semitic remarks: His party's leader Geert Wilders is on trial for alleged discriminatory remarks — including some equating Islam with fasciism and calling for a ban on the Quran. His trial resumes Monday after a two-month pause. Holocaust deniers "should be directed to psychiatrists, not judges," Van Klaveren said. Wednesday's debate frequently referenced remarks by one of the country's most prominent conservative thinkers, Frits Bolkestein, who was quoted in December as having said that "visible" Jews should consider emigrating to Israel or the United States because they have no future in the Netherlands. He later clarified that those remarks were intended as a warning about the failures of Dutch integration policies to date, not literal advice to Jews. After the debate, Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner promised to return to parliament later this year with concrete policy proposals.
AP.org
SAYS NO TO TROMSØ NAZI FASHION (Norway/Germany)
Neo-Nazi related clothing shop in Berlin provokes anger in Northern Norway.
The shop is called “Tromsø”, and Mayor of the town of Tromsø, Arild Hausberg will now ask Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to help having the name removed. - This is a desecration of the name of Tromsø and I demand that they remove the name from the shop, Hausberg says to iTromsø. The shop is part of a chain that flirts with Nazism and Nazi symbols, he says. Hausberg has sent a letter to the German shop chain Mediatex Gmbh, demanding that they stop using the name Tromsø. He has also contacted the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin and is now going to take up the issue in a meeting with Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The shop opened in 2009, and is part of a chain of shops that all have names after Norwegian towns like Narvik, Trondheim, Oseberg, Tønsberg, Haugesund and Larvik. The shop chain sells the clothing brand Thor Steinar, which was banned in Germany in 2004 because of the logo's similarity to symbols worn by SS officers. The company later rebranded, and its new look is legal. The brand uses the Norwegian flag and other Norwegian symbols as central parts of its collection.
Barent Observer
The shop is called “Tromsø”, and Mayor of the town of Tromsø, Arild Hausberg will now ask Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to help having the name removed. - This is a desecration of the name of Tromsø and I demand that they remove the name from the shop, Hausberg says to iTromsø. The shop is part of a chain that flirts with Nazism and Nazi symbols, he says. Hausberg has sent a letter to the German shop chain Mediatex Gmbh, demanding that they stop using the name Tromsø. He has also contacted the Norwegian Embassy in Berlin and is now going to take up the issue in a meeting with Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. The shop opened in 2009, and is part of a chain of shops that all have names after Norwegian towns like Narvik, Trondheim, Oseberg, Tønsberg, Haugesund and Larvik. The shop chain sells the clothing brand Thor Steinar, which was banned in Germany in 2004 because of the logo's similarity to symbols worn by SS officers. The company later rebranded, and its new look is legal. The brand uses the Norwegian flag and other Norwegian symbols as central parts of its collection.
Barent Observer
Race hate thugs target Mosque and homes (UK)
Race hate thugs are behind a series of inflammatory attacks with pork on a Mosque and Muslim homes.
The thugs have been throwing bacon and pork at several houses in South Shields town centre since the turn of the year.
Community leaders today told how they fear the attacks are an attempt to intimidate the town’s Muslim community.
Pork is banned in Muslim households as the pig is considered “a dirty animal” under Islamic law.
In one attack, a slab of bacon was left outside one of the community’s most popular mosques - The South Tyneside Jam-E-Masjid Bangladeshi Muslim Culture and Welfare Association in Baring Street.
Police, who have stepped up patrols in the area and confirmed they have received five reports of pork products being thrown or left outside of properties in the town centre.
But today a town centre politician said he believes it could be more widespread as many of the community may feel too scared to report the crimes.
Independent Coun Ahmed Khan, of the Beacon and Bents ward, said: “The first thing I’ve got to say is that it is extremely disappointing that this is happening.
“The second is that I hope these are just pranks and nothing more serious.
“If these racist attacks are driven by hate then something needs to be done before this gets out of hand.
“However, at the moment I would urge the community to keep calm and put this into perspective.
“Yes, these attacks are upsetting for the town’s Muslim community but as yet no one has been hurt and I hope it stays that way.”
Chief Supt Ian Dawes today said officers from South Tyneside Area Command are working closely with the town’s Muslim community in an attempt to trace the racist gang.
He said: “We’re pursuing a number of lines of enquiry in relation to these offences.
“We have a strong and productive relationship with the diverse communities in South Tyneside and we are all working hard to identify those responsible.
“We urge anyone who suffers harassment, intimidation or any other racist crime to report it to police as soon as possible so that it can be thoroughly investigated. We take any allegations of racist crimes very seriously.”
Anyone who has any information about the recent incidents is asked to call police on 03456 043 043 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
Chronicle Live
The thugs have been throwing bacon and pork at several houses in South Shields town centre since the turn of the year.
Community leaders today told how they fear the attacks are an attempt to intimidate the town’s Muslim community.
Pork is banned in Muslim households as the pig is considered “a dirty animal” under Islamic law.
In one attack, a slab of bacon was left outside one of the community’s most popular mosques - The South Tyneside Jam-E-Masjid Bangladeshi Muslim Culture and Welfare Association in Baring Street.
Police, who have stepped up patrols in the area and confirmed they have received five reports of pork products being thrown or left outside of properties in the town centre.
But today a town centre politician said he believes it could be more widespread as many of the community may feel too scared to report the crimes.
Independent Coun Ahmed Khan, of the Beacon and Bents ward, said: “The first thing I’ve got to say is that it is extremely disappointing that this is happening.
“The second is that I hope these are just pranks and nothing more serious.
“If these racist attacks are driven by hate then something needs to be done before this gets out of hand.
“However, at the moment I would urge the community to keep calm and put this into perspective.
“Yes, these attacks are upsetting for the town’s Muslim community but as yet no one has been hurt and I hope it stays that way.”
Chief Supt Ian Dawes today said officers from South Tyneside Area Command are working closely with the town’s Muslim community in an attempt to trace the racist gang.
He said: “We’re pursuing a number of lines of enquiry in relation to these offences.
“We have a strong and productive relationship with the diverse communities in South Tyneside and we are all working hard to identify those responsible.
“We urge anyone who suffers harassment, intimidation or any other racist crime to report it to police as soon as possible so that it can be thoroughly investigated. We take any allegations of racist crimes very seriously.”
Anyone who has any information about the recent incidents is asked to call police on 03456 043 043 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
Chronicle Live
Police launch new hate crime website (UK)
True Vision gives information on what hate crime is and how to report it.
The website, at report-it.org.uk, also has an online reporting facility and gives links to organisations that can offer support and advice.
It also allows people to report hate crimes anonymously.
Police believe that many hate crimes – crimes motivated by hatred of LGBT people, difference races or disability – are not reported.
The website was set up by the Association of Chief Police Officers and is supported by all police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, who leads on hate crime at ACPO, said: “Hate crimes cause a great deal of fear amongst victims and damages[sic] communities.
“Whilst we are committed to reducing the incidence of hate crime, it is vital that we close the gap of under-reporting.
“Only by increasing reporting can we gain a better understanding of the extent of hate crime and it is for this reason that I urge victims and witnesses to use the True Vision website and to continue to come forward so we can bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Professor John Grieve CBE, independent chair of the government’s Hate Crime Advisory Group, said:“The UK is amongst world leaders in the way that it responds to hate crime, but there is still much work to do. One of the greatest challenges is to reduce the under-reporting of hate crime.
“We welcome the government’s commitment to increase reporting and we will be examining this data in the forthcoming months and years to better understand the extent of hate crime and to challenge where performance does not meet the high standards that the public rightly demands of the criminal justice agencies.”
In November, figures released by ACPO showed that there were 50,000 reported hate crimes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2009.
The vast majority concerned racism but almost 5,000 were motivated by homophobia and more than 300 related to transphobia.
Police said that the figures showed an increase in incidents but urged more people to report crimes.
Pink News
Top Gear faces racism test case following Mexico comments (IUK)
Lawyers for Iris de la Torre, a 30 year-old jewellery design student, said the BBC had used racism to boost ratings and could cost the Corporation up to £1million in damages.
In the episode, which was viewed by more than 6 million people, Richard Hammond claimed that cars imitate national characteristics.
"Mexican cars are just going to be a lazy, feckless, flatulent, oaf with a moustache leaning against a fence asleep looking at a cactus with a blanket with a hole in the middle on as a coat," he said.
Jeremy Clarkson went on to joke that being Mexican would be "brilliant" because then he could sleep all day.
The Mexican ambassador to Britain has already made an official complaint to the BBC for the programme's "xenophobic" and "offensive" content and demanded an apology.
De la Torres' lawyers, from the firm Equal Justice, also brought legal action against Channel 4 following remarks made about Shilpa Shetty during Celebrity Big Brother.
In a legal complaint to the BBC they claim that the remarks are unlawful and a breach of rules banning discrimination by public bodies, according to a report by The Guardian.
De la Torre said: "I was shocked at what the BBC allowed to be broadcast...I do not understand how such ignorant people hold such high-profile jobs."
If taken to court it could become the first case to be brought under the Equality Act which came into effect in September last year.
Lawrence Davies, from Equal Justice, said: "These remarks were probably calculated and deliberate to fuel anger and hence boost ratings - the presenters apparently feel that they are fighting a battle against political correctness."
The BBC said it had not yet received the legal letter but said that it would be dealt with through appropriate channels.
The Telegraph
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Man given 10-year sentence for assault (USA)
A member of a neo-Nazi group was sentenced Tuesday to serve at least 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to three assaults.
Timothy J. Dufresne, 29, of School Street, will serve at least 10 years in prison, said Deputy State’s Attorney Christina Rainville. After that, the rest of his sentence will be suspended and he will be on probation.
Dufresne was charged as a habitual offender because of past felony convictions.
He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault stemming from an April 25 incident in which Bennington police said he stabbed a neighbor, 25-year-old Christopher Strattman, in the eye with a broom handle after breaking it over Strattman’s head. Police said Dufresne and Strattman had been in an argument over items left on the porch they shared.
Police located Dufresne a few days after the incident hiding in the back of his mother’s vehicle under a pile of clothes after she was pulled over on Route 9.
According to another police affidavit, Stephanie O’Dell accused Dufresne of punching her in the face a number of times on April 10 near Pleasant Street. Dufresne and his then-fiancee, Sarah B. Ennis, told police O’Dell and another person instigated the fight, and they were assaulted as well.
A third police affidavit describes an incident on April 24 involving Dufresne and Ennis, and a number of other people. Police said Dufresne and Ennis got into an argument with a group by the Stewart’s Shop on Main Street. It progressed to the nearby cemetery where Dufresne sprayed a man with pepper spray. From that incident Dufresne was charged with aggravated assault by administering a drug.
Ennis was also charged with several felonies for threatening members of the group with a BB gun. Those charges were lowered to misdemeanors, and the state also decided not to pursue the charges as hate crimes. Ennis was given a 18- to 36-month suspended sentence.
Dufresne told the Banner in an interview last year that he joined a group called Hitler’s Henchmen while serving a jail stint in Kentucky. Dufresne has a number of tattoos featuring Nazi imagery and racist themes.
Bennington Banner
Timothy J. Dufresne, 29, of School Street, will serve at least 10 years in prison, said Deputy State’s Attorney Christina Rainville. After that, the rest of his sentence will be suspended and he will be on probation.
Dufresne was charged as a habitual offender because of past felony convictions.
He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault stemming from an April 25 incident in which Bennington police said he stabbed a neighbor, 25-year-old Christopher Strattman, in the eye with a broom handle after breaking it over Strattman’s head. Police said Dufresne and Strattman had been in an argument over items left on the porch they shared.
Police located Dufresne a few days after the incident hiding in the back of his mother’s vehicle under a pile of clothes after she was pulled over on Route 9.
According to another police affidavit, Stephanie O’Dell accused Dufresne of punching her in the face a number of times on April 10 near Pleasant Street. Dufresne and his then-fiancee, Sarah B. Ennis, told police O’Dell and another person instigated the fight, and they were assaulted as well.
A third police affidavit describes an incident on April 24 involving Dufresne and Ennis, and a number of other people. Police said Dufresne and Ennis got into an argument with a group by the Stewart’s Shop on Main Street. It progressed to the nearby cemetery where Dufresne sprayed a man with pepper spray. From that incident Dufresne was charged with aggravated assault by administering a drug.
Ennis was also charged with several felonies for threatening members of the group with a BB gun. Those charges were lowered to misdemeanors, and the state also decided not to pursue the charges as hate crimes. Ennis was given a 18- to 36-month suspended sentence.
Dufresne told the Banner in an interview last year that he joined a group called Hitler’s Henchmen while serving a jail stint in Kentucky. Dufresne has a number of tattoos featuring Nazi imagery and racist themes.
Bennington Banner
‘Hate crime’ victims can tell all in confidence (UK)
Victims of crime motivated by hate or discrimination in Warwickshire are being urged to report it in confidence on a new website to help the police tackle the issue.
The county’s police force has joined forces with the Association of Chief Police Officers to launch the site, True Vision, which provides information about what hate crime is, why it is important to report it when it happens and sets out how to do so.
This includes a new form which enables victims to report hate crime online. The site also provides links to organisations that can offer support and advice on related issues.
ACPO’s lead on hate crime, Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, said: “These crimes cause a great deal of fear among victims and damages communities. It is vital that we close the gap of under-reporting.
“Only by increasing reporting can we gain a better understanding of the extent of hate crime and it is for this reason that I urge victims and witnesses to use the True Vision website and to continue to come forward so we can bring the perpetrators to justice.”
In November ACPO published its first set of national hate crime recorded crime statistics which showed that during 2009 the police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland recorded 52,028 hate crimes, of which 1,402 were motivated because of the victim’s disability.
Chief Inspector Mike Slemensek of Warwickshire Police’s equality, diversity and human rights unit said: “One of the greatest challenges is to reduce the under-reporting of hate crimes in Warwickshire. We therefore welcome the launch of the True Vision website.
“It will help encourage local people to report hate crimes – which are those crimes perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.”
To report a hate crime, call the force’s dedicated hate crome helpline on 0845 129 2221 or visit the new website.
Kenilworth Weekly News
The county’s police force has joined forces with the Association of Chief Police Officers to launch the site, True Vision, which provides information about what hate crime is, why it is important to report it when it happens and sets out how to do so.
This includes a new form which enables victims to report hate crime online. The site also provides links to organisations that can offer support and advice on related issues.
ACPO’s lead on hate crime, Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, said: “These crimes cause a great deal of fear among victims and damages communities. It is vital that we close the gap of under-reporting.
“Only by increasing reporting can we gain a better understanding of the extent of hate crime and it is for this reason that I urge victims and witnesses to use the True Vision website and to continue to come forward so we can bring the perpetrators to justice.”
In November ACPO published its first set of national hate crime recorded crime statistics which showed that during 2009 the police in England, Wales and Northern Ireland recorded 52,028 hate crimes, of which 1,402 were motivated because of the victim’s disability.
Chief Inspector Mike Slemensek of Warwickshire Police’s equality, diversity and human rights unit said: “One of the greatest challenges is to reduce the under-reporting of hate crimes in Warwickshire. We therefore welcome the launch of the True Vision website.
“It will help encourage local people to report hate crimes – which are those crimes perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.”
To report a hate crime, call the force’s dedicated hate crome helpline on 0845 129 2221 or visit the new website.
Kenilworth Weekly News
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Muslim dignitaries pay their respects at Auschwitz (Poland)
Dignitaries from the Muslim world are paying respects to the millions of Jews and others who were systematically killed in the Holocaust.
About 150 people, including the Senegalese president, former heads of government and Arab world ambassadors are traveling on Tuesday to the former Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz in Poland to learn first-hand about crimes perpetrated there during World War II.
The mission is organized by UNESCO, Paris City Hall and a group aiming to fight anti-Semitism and fear of Islam.
It comes amid the recent upheaval in the Arab world that toppled a regime in Tunisia and is threatening Egypt's longtime president, Hosni Mubarak, with whom Israel has painstakingly built strong ties.
AJC.com
About 150 people, including the Senegalese president, former heads of government and Arab world ambassadors are traveling on Tuesday to the former Nazi extermination camp of Auschwitz in Poland to learn first-hand about crimes perpetrated there during World War II.
The mission is organized by UNESCO, Paris City Hall and a group aiming to fight anti-Semitism and fear of Islam.
It comes amid the recent upheaval in the Arab world that toppled a regime in Tunisia and is threatening Egypt's longtime president, Hosni Mubarak, with whom Israel has painstakingly built strong ties.
AJC.com
Islamophobic sought to bomb US mosque (USA)
A man planning to blow up one of the largest Islamic centers in the US has been caught with explosives in his vehicle near the mosque, where a large group of people were gathering.
Roger Stockham, 63, was arrested on January 24 in the parking lot of the Islamic Center of America in Michigan while about 700 mourners were gathered inside the mosque attending a funeral, the Associated Press reported on Monday.
Dearborn police Chief Ronald Haddad said that police received a 911 call from a resident.
"I was comfortable with the fact that we had taken him off the street -- he isn't going anywhere," Haddad said. "I think the society he wanted to impact is safe."
Stockham, a resident in Southern California, remained jailed Sunday on a USD 500,000 bond. He will appear in a preliminary examination on Friday.
Stockham had a large number of class-C fireworks including M-80s in his vehicle, which are illegal in Michigan, Haddad added.
Though police authorities believe that Stockham was acting alone in the plot against the Detroit mosque, but they still take him “very seriously.”
The incident comes while a report by the Guardian Weekly says that Islamaphobia is on the rise in America.
Anti-Muslim attacks have sufficiently increased since 2001 and an increasing number of Muslims are subjected to hate crimes.
A quarter of all religious discrimination claims has been filed by Muslims since 2001.
Muslim workers filed record number of discrimination claims in 2010, up 60% from the year 2005.
Protests against the mosque and Islamic center planned to be built about two blocks from ground zero in Manhattan is another example of religious intolerance and Islamophobia in the United States.
Press Tv
Dearborn police Chief Ronald Haddad said that police received a 911 call from a resident.
"I was comfortable with the fact that we had taken him off the street -- he isn't going anywhere," Haddad said. "I think the society he wanted to impact is safe."
Stockham, a resident in Southern California, remained jailed Sunday on a USD 500,000 bond. He will appear in a preliminary examination on Friday.
Stockham had a large number of class-C fireworks including M-80s in his vehicle, which are illegal in Michigan, Haddad added.
Though police authorities believe that Stockham was acting alone in the plot against the Detroit mosque, but they still take him “very seriously.”
The incident comes while a report by the Guardian Weekly says that Islamaphobia is on the rise in America.
Anti-Muslim attacks have sufficiently increased since 2001 and an increasing number of Muslims are subjected to hate crimes.
A quarter of all religious discrimination claims has been filed by Muslims since 2001.
Muslim workers filed record number of discrimination claims in 2010, up 60% from the year 2005.
Protests against the mosque and Islamic center planned to be built about two blocks from ground zero in Manhattan is another example of religious intolerance and Islamophobia in the United States.
Press Tv
Sikh and Hindu groups slam EDL (UK)
Leaders of some of the largest Sikh and Hindu organisations as well as Sikh Students in this country have signed a ‘Joint Statement’ condemning the English Defence League (EDL) including any Sikh youth who support the EDL.
The statement is also signed by two Members of Parliament from Asian background as well as a number of councillors, including Councillor Lakhbir Singh, former Mayor of Luton, who himself had suffered a vicious attack by a racist youth last year after some protests in Luton.
Other signatories include, Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Southall, the largest Sikh temple outside India, together with many other Sikh and Hindu temples in Southall, west London. Its also been signed by a major Sikh temple in Barking, east London, a hotspot for the British National Party (BNP), as well as by the British Sikh Council (UK), an umbrella organisation for a number of Sikh temples in this country.
The Sikh Student Societies include some of the most famous colleges in London, like the London School of Economics (LSE), University College London (UCL) and Imperial College as well as the University of Hertfordshire.
The statement is also signed by the Indian Workers Association (GB), Sikhs In England ( SIE ), an influential Sikh organisation, and Unite Against Fascism (UAF).
The statement reads, “We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned by the rise in fascism, Islamophobia, anti-semitism and racism. The English Defence League (EDL) has organised events across the country, stirring up hatred, Islamophobia and racism – running riot in some cases and provoking violent attacks on Muslim, black and Asian communities and on Mosques and Mandirs (Hindu temples)”.
It further highlights, ” They are using the old tactics of ‘divide and rule’ and are trying to divide the Asians by isolating the Muslim community. Furthermore, some misguided Sikh youth are letting themselves to be used by the EDL while a Sikh man has disgracefully joined the BNP. These people are helping to spread mistrust within our communities and we whole heartedly condemn their actions”.
And adds that, “At a time of economic crisis with mass unemployment and impending deep public spending cuts - if the racists are allowed to make any further gains then we all would suffer from grave consequences. Thus we urge all Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews and people of other faiths to come together to strongly condemn the actions of these racist organizations and unite to turn back this tide of hatred”.
Balwinder Singh Rana, spokesperson for UAF, also added, “The EDL pretend that they are not racist but they are no different than the old NF and the BNP. Now is the time for Sikhs and Hindus to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Muslim brethren and tell the EDL that their sinister aims of ‘divide and rule’ will not work. Otherwise it’s the Muslims today and it will be all us tomorrow”.
Varinder Singh, youth representative for the Turban Campaign, said, ”It is of great concern that our youth are being recruited into the fascist and Islamophobic ideology which the English Defence League promotes. We as a community must face this threat to our youth head on by staying true to the core teachings of the Sikh Guru’s, which emphasise the importance of pluralism and brotherhood amongst mankind.”
So far the EDL has held more than thirty marches and demonstrations up and down the country, often ending in violence. Now they are to return to Luton on Saturday, 5th February , which they regard their hometown as that’s where they began about 18 months ago.
Councillor Lakhbir Singh, ex Mayor of Luton, who himself had suffered a vicious attack by a racist youth last year after some previous protests in Luton is also one of the signatories.
Asian Image
The statement is also signed by two Members of Parliament from Asian background as well as a number of councillors, including Councillor Lakhbir Singh, former Mayor of Luton, who himself had suffered a vicious attack by a racist youth last year after some protests in Luton.
Other signatories include, Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Southall, the largest Sikh temple outside India, together with many other Sikh and Hindu temples in Southall, west London. Its also been signed by a major Sikh temple in Barking, east London, a hotspot for the British National Party (BNP), as well as by the British Sikh Council (UK), an umbrella organisation for a number of Sikh temples in this country.
The Sikh Student Societies include some of the most famous colleges in London, like the London School of Economics (LSE), University College London (UCL) and Imperial College as well as the University of Hertfordshire.
The statement is also signed by the Indian Workers Association (GB), Sikhs In England ( SIE ), an influential Sikh organisation, and Unite Against Fascism (UAF).
The statement reads, “We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned by the rise in fascism, Islamophobia, anti-semitism and racism. The English Defence League (EDL) has organised events across the country, stirring up hatred, Islamophobia and racism – running riot in some cases and provoking violent attacks on Muslim, black and Asian communities and on Mosques and Mandirs (Hindu temples)”.
It further highlights, ” They are using the old tactics of ‘divide and rule’ and are trying to divide the Asians by isolating the Muslim community. Furthermore, some misguided Sikh youth are letting themselves to be used by the EDL while a Sikh man has disgracefully joined the BNP. These people are helping to spread mistrust within our communities and we whole heartedly condemn their actions”.
And adds that, “At a time of economic crisis with mass unemployment and impending deep public spending cuts - if the racists are allowed to make any further gains then we all would suffer from grave consequences. Thus we urge all Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews and people of other faiths to come together to strongly condemn the actions of these racist organizations and unite to turn back this tide of hatred”.
Balwinder Singh Rana, spokesperson for UAF, also added, “The EDL pretend that they are not racist but they are no different than the old NF and the BNP. Now is the time for Sikhs and Hindus to stand shoulder to shoulder with our Muslim brethren and tell the EDL that their sinister aims of ‘divide and rule’ will not work. Otherwise it’s the Muslims today and it will be all us tomorrow”.
Varinder Singh, youth representative for the Turban Campaign, said, ”It is of great concern that our youth are being recruited into the fascist and Islamophobic ideology which the English Defence League promotes. We as a community must face this threat to our youth head on by staying true to the core teachings of the Sikh Guru’s, which emphasise the importance of pluralism and brotherhood amongst mankind.”
So far the EDL has held more than thirty marches and demonstrations up and down the country, often ending in violence. Now they are to return to Luton on Saturday, 5th February , which they regard their hometown as that’s where they began about 18 months ago.
Councillor Lakhbir Singh, ex Mayor of Luton, who himself had suffered a vicious attack by a racist youth last year after some previous protests in Luton is also one of the signatories.
Asian Image
Police ask for alcohol ban on day of demonstrations (UK)
A restaurant owner in Luton says businesses in the town will suffer when the English Defence League (EDL) and Anti-Fascist marches take place.
Pubs and restaurants in Luton are being asked by Bedfordshire Police to stop serving alcohol from 12 noon on 5 February 2011.
This is in an effort to reduce the risk of violence between the two factions.
Council leader Hazel Simmons has said the town will be open for shoppers as normal.
However, David Westcott, who has a restaurant in Park Street, has already been told by police not to sell alcohol.
"They have told me to keep the place closed and not to sell any alcohol on the day" he said, "and they'd let us know when it was safe for it to be re-opened.
"Unfortunately, when you've got to employ staff you've got to let them know when you're going to be open so we've got to make a decision whether or not we open which is quite unfair because we'll lose the busiest day of the week."
"Basically Luton's going to close down for the day and the loss and cost to businesses is enormous.
"I think we should be allowed to trade and the police should protect the town at all costs so that the town can trade and not be held to ransom by people who want to march around. OK - they can air their views but the don't have to stop everyone else from working by doing so."
Bedfordshire police say they are not imposing a ban, but asking landlords on a voluntary basis. They said:
"Bedfordshire Police and Luton Borough Council are working closely with all communities, businesses and organisations to ensure our town remains peaceful.
"We are already in consultation with many groups and their representatives such as the Chamber of Commerce and licensees via Luton Safe and through the Community Cohesion Contingency Planning Group meetings."
BBC News
Pubs and restaurants in Luton are being asked by Bedfordshire Police to stop serving alcohol from 12 noon on 5 February 2011.
This is in an effort to reduce the risk of violence between the two factions.
Council leader Hazel Simmons has said the town will be open for shoppers as normal.
However, David Westcott, who has a restaurant in Park Street, has already been told by police not to sell alcohol.
"They have told me to keep the place closed and not to sell any alcohol on the day" he said, "and they'd let us know when it was safe for it to be re-opened.
"Unfortunately, when you've got to employ staff you've got to let them know when you're going to be open so we've got to make a decision whether or not we open which is quite unfair because we'll lose the busiest day of the week."
"Basically Luton's going to close down for the day and the loss and cost to businesses is enormous.
"I think we should be allowed to trade and the police should protect the town at all costs so that the town can trade and not be held to ransom by people who want to march around. OK - they can air their views but the don't have to stop everyone else from working by doing so."
Bedfordshire police say they are not imposing a ban, but asking landlords on a voluntary basis. They said:
"Bedfordshire Police and Luton Borough Council are working closely with all communities, businesses and organisations to ensure our town remains peaceful.
"We are already in consultation with many groups and their representatives such as the Chamber of Commerce and licensees via Luton Safe and through the Community Cohesion Contingency Planning Group meetings."
BBC News
German animal trainer under fire for teaching dog to give Fascist salute
Admin comment: A news item from Germany that really needs a double facepalm.
An animal trainer for German television and movie productions has come under fire for teaching a dog called Goldie to give the 'Heil Hitler!' salute.
Goldie raises her right paw in homage to the Fuehrer in a new production about the destruction of the airship Hindenburg that airs next weekend.
The Zeppelin crossed the Atlantic in May, 1937, but crashed and burst into flames upon landing, killing 35 of the 97 people on board and bringing to an end the age of airship travel.
Goldie plays the pet of a cabaret artiste opposed to the Nazis in the two-part dramatisation.
"Goldie is a professional film dog and has learned many things in his time," said Hannes Jaenicke, the actor who will appear with him.
"It was my idea to get him to raise his paw in the Hitler salute. He got a biscuit each time he did it and an animal welfare specialist was on hand throughout. Animals are strictly regulated when they work for German TV."
But some politically correct animal lovers have branded the salute training a "form of cruelty." Why make a poor dumb animal pay reverence to history's greatest killer," Jens Mueller from Berlin asked?
Several years ago, a crazed neo-Nazi pensioner was jailed for teaching his German Shepherd Adolf to give the Nazi salute outside schools with high numbers of immigrants. His dog was given away to spend the rest of his life with a family with no radical political affiliations.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that a real dog called Jackie saluted when Hitler's name was mentioned in wartime Finland.
In 1941, just before the Nazi attack on the Soviet Union, Berlin told diplomats to gather notes on Finnish businessman Tor Borg's pet, as they felt it was insulting to Hitler.
The Telegraph
Texans protest racist symbols (USA)
Hundreds of workers and community leaders in Houston Monday held a protest rally against a local company they accuse of displaying racist symbols.
Civil rights activist Sara Kane, the Rev. Peter Johnson and other demonstrators massed in front of the Mickey Leland Federal Office Building, pressuring for a federal investigation of the Turner Industries factory in Houston, television station KTRK reported.
The protesters allege Turner, a business servicing the oil industry, has been displaying rebel flags and nooses -- actions they say violate their civil rights.
Turner Industries allegedly has had civil rights complaints in other cities where it operates, KHOU-TV, Houston reported.
Roland Toups, chief executive officer of Turner Industries, responded Monday to a federal lawsuit filed last week in Texas alleging race harassment and discrimination against his company saying, "Make no mistake, Turner Industries stands for diversity and inclusion for all. Our record supports that. We intend to defend our company and the jobs of our 15,000 employees who are employed in various divisions of the company."
UPI.com
Civil rights activist Sara Kane, the Rev. Peter Johnson and other demonstrators massed in front of the Mickey Leland Federal Office Building, pressuring for a federal investigation of the Turner Industries factory in Houston, television station KTRK reported.
The protesters allege Turner, a business servicing the oil industry, has been displaying rebel flags and nooses -- actions they say violate their civil rights.
Turner Industries allegedly has had civil rights complaints in other cities where it operates, KHOU-TV, Houston reported.
Roland Toups, chief executive officer of Turner Industries, responded Monday to a federal lawsuit filed last week in Texas alleging race harassment and discrimination against his company saying, "Make no mistake, Turner Industries stands for diversity and inclusion for all. Our record supports that. We intend to defend our company and the jobs of our 15,000 employees who are employed in various divisions of the company."
UPI.com
Monday, 31 January 2011
EDL plans for Luton protest raise fears of disorder (UK)
The far-right English Defence League is due to stage the biggest demonstration in its 18-month history this weekend amid growing fears of widespread disorder.
Thousands of EDL activists from across England will descend on Luton, the Bedfordshire town where the organisation started, for the protest on Saturday.
The EDL has staged more than 30 protests in towns and cities across the UK since it was formed in March 2009, many of which have been marred by Islamophobia, racism and violence.
On Saturday, between 25 and 30 coaches packed with EDL supporters are expected to travel to Luton, including a number of activists from far-right groups in France, the Netherlands and Germany.
"This event is creating more fear than anything else, especially among the elderly who have seen the pictures of what has happened at these events in the past," said Luton councillor Mahmood Hussain.
"Everyone is very much concerned about what could happen because you only have to look at the record of this group to see what we face."
Bedfordshire police are planning the biggest operation in Luton's history with around 2,000 police expected to be on duty, with several hundred more on standby.
Community leaders and politicians have been working with different community groups in the town since the EDL announced it was going to stage the protest under the catchline "Back to where it all began".
"We had a very emotional meeting last week where the young people were very concerned with some of the awful things that were written on the internet by EDL people," said Hussain. "But we are trying to tell them not to be provoked because that is just what these people want."
The EDL was formed in Luton after a small number of protesters from an extremist Muslim group held up placards at the homecoming of the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment reading "Butchers of Basra" and "Anglian soldiers go to hell."
At a subsequent protest in the town scores of EDL supporters attacked Asian businesses, smashing cars and threatening passersby. The group has branches across the country and its leadership insists it is not violent or racist and is opposed only to what it describes as radical or militant Islam. However, many of its demonstrations have descended into violence and racist chanting. Some supporters are known far-right activists and football hooligans.
Nick Lowles from anti-racist group HOPE not hate said: "The EDL poses the biggest threat to community cohesion in Britain today. Its activities are designed to increase tensions in communities with a large Muslim population and especially in areas that have had problems in the past. By demonstrating in these areas they embolden local racists and seek a violent reaction from local Muslim youths, which in turn will lead to a new cycle of violence."
Luton has had links to Muslim extremism in the past. In December, it emerged that Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, an Iraqi-born Swede who set off a car bomb in the Swedish capital before killing himself with a second bomb, had spent time in Luton.
However, Lowles said the vast majority of people in Luton rejected extremism of any kind.
"The danger is that people will get the impression that there is only extremism in this town which is simply not true. What we want to do is mobilise mainstream opinion and give them a voice to oppose the EDL and any other extremists."
Hussain agreed that the vast majority of people in Luton were opposed to the EDL's message of hate and division.
"I have been here since 1969 and we have never had any race riots or anything like that," said Hussain. "This is a truly diverse place and we won't turn our back and let the EDL destroy all that is good about it."
The Guardian
Far right party expelled from HQ over unpaid debts (Romania)
Corneliu Vadim Tudor, president of extreme right wing Greater Romania Party (PRM) and 2000 presidentual run-off candidate has been evicted from his party’s headquarters on Strada Emile Zola in Sector 1 Bucharest. Ex-Communist propagandist poet Vadim and party members resisted the eviction, where the party head threw water in the face of the bailiff and complained of sickness due to the stress of the process. Prosecutors have launched criminal proceedings against Vadim Tudor for assaulting policemen and breaching a court order. The State Administration of Patrimony (RAAPPS) gave the building to the PRM in 2007, but the party accumulated debts from rent, utilities and penalities worth almost 66,000 Euro.
The Diplomat
The Diplomat
Turks to stage protest against racist attacks in France
A rally to be held in Strasbourg on Wednesday will protest growing racist attacks against immigrants, including ethnic Turks living in France.
The French human rights associations and the Association of Solidarity with Turkish Workers (ASTTU) are among groups that are organizing the event. ASTTU representative Muharrem Koç said the French government's recent immigration policies had encouraged assailants, the Anatolia news agency reported on Monday.
Koç said there were more than 30 racist attacks against ethnic Turks and foreigners in Strasbourg and its vicinity in the past two years and that none of the perpetrators of these crimes had been captured yet.
Arsonists in Hoenheim, a suburb of Strasbourg, attacked two houses inhabited by families of Turkish origin on Thursday night but there were no casualties and the fire in the neighboring houses was put out by firefighters and did not spread. Swastikas were drawn on walls and on a van parked in a yard.
Noting that the immigrant community is concerned, Koç said it is time for the French government to seriously start thinking about the causes of these attacks and take necessary measures.
Meanwhile, the Strasbourg-based Turkish association COJEP has requested an appointment to meet with authorities from Strasbourg to express their concern over the latest incidents.
Last month, the Student Congress Association's Strasbourg office was the target of a racist attack. Furthermore, two cars owned by Faruk Günaltay, the Turkish director of the Odyssey Cinema Club in Strasbourg, were destroyed in racially motivated arson attacks in September of last year. Attackers also drew swastikas on the door of Günaltay's house.
Muslim and Jewish prayer venues and cemeteries have previously been frequently attacked by racists in Strasbourg and regions surrounding it.
World Bulletin
Genocide witnesses may be added to Holocaust survivors database (Czech Rep)
The centre of Holocaust history Malach could be extended in future with testimonies on the genocides in Armenia, Cambodia and Rwanda, Martin Smok told journalists at a conference on the first anniversary of the centre Friday.
Smok cooperates with the Shoah Foundation of University of Southern California that has recorded the 52,000 interviews with survivors of concentration camps, particularly Jews, Romanies, German homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and others, since the 1990s.
The database is now accessible at the Mathematical-Physical Faculty of Charles University in Prague.
Smok said the survivors talk about their experience from extermination camps as well as about their fates, emigration and the communist totalitarian regime.
The database is visited mainly by students who need the information for their school works and by historians.
"In Europe the survivors are afraid," Smok said in reply to a question whether the database could be freely accessible on the Internet in the future.
Many of them fear that the data could be abused to persecute their descendants. Another obstacle are laws on personal data protection.
The recordings come from 56 countries of the world and they have been made in 32 languages.
The Malach centre offers for immediate access more than 500 interviews in Czech, further in Slovak and Polish.
The data are physically stored at the University of Southern California, USA.
Besides, they are accessible at another two centres in Europe, in Berlin and Budapest. The whole database is accessible at another 23 places in the world.
The Armenian genocide is blamed on Turks. The Armenians say the massacres and deportations in the years 1915-1917 cost 1.5 million lives. Turkey speaks about 300,000 to 500,000 people. However, it says it was not genocide, but that the Armenians fell victim to the chaos of the last years of the Osmanic Empire.
In Cambodia, the communist regime in the latter half of the 1970s murdered 1.7 million people during an attempt to create a class-free agrarian society not knowing money, the rule of law, personal freedom, family relations, independent thinking and technological achievements.
In Rwanda members of the Hutu majority tribe massacred some 800,000 minority Tutsis and dozens of thousands of members of their own ethnicity during a three-month ethnic conflict in 1994.
Prague Monitor
Smok cooperates with the Shoah Foundation of University of Southern California that has recorded the 52,000 interviews with survivors of concentration camps, particularly Jews, Romanies, German homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses and others, since the 1990s.
The database is now accessible at the Mathematical-Physical Faculty of Charles University in Prague.
Smok said the survivors talk about their experience from extermination camps as well as about their fates, emigration and the communist totalitarian regime.
The database is visited mainly by students who need the information for their school works and by historians.
"In Europe the survivors are afraid," Smok said in reply to a question whether the database could be freely accessible on the Internet in the future.
Many of them fear that the data could be abused to persecute their descendants. Another obstacle are laws on personal data protection.
The recordings come from 56 countries of the world and they have been made in 32 languages.
The Malach centre offers for immediate access more than 500 interviews in Czech, further in Slovak and Polish.
The data are physically stored at the University of Southern California, USA.
Besides, they are accessible at another two centres in Europe, in Berlin and Budapest. The whole database is accessible at another 23 places in the world.
The Armenian genocide is blamed on Turks. The Armenians say the massacres and deportations in the years 1915-1917 cost 1.5 million lives. Turkey speaks about 300,000 to 500,000 people. However, it says it was not genocide, but that the Armenians fell victim to the chaos of the last years of the Osmanic Empire.
In Cambodia, the communist regime in the latter half of the 1970s murdered 1.7 million people during an attempt to create a class-free agrarian society not knowing money, the rule of law, personal freedom, family relations, independent thinking and technological achievements.
In Rwanda members of the Hutu majority tribe massacred some 800,000 minority Tutsis and dozens of thousands of members of their own ethnicity during a three-month ethnic conflict in 1994.
Prague Monitor
Student leader Aaron Porter barracked with anti-Semitic insults (UK)
Aaron Porter was escorted by officers after being confronted as he made his way to offices in Manchester. Witnesses report that among the chants directed at him from a small number of demonstrators were "------- Tory Jew". Other protesters responded to the anti-semitic taunts aimed at Mr Porter by chanting: "No to racism, no to racism."
Following the confrontation, he pulled out of plans to address the rally on the advice of police, who have launched an investigation.
A small group of students had split off from the 3,000 strong march to barrack Mr Porter after spotting him close to the University of Manchester Students' Union building.
Mr Porter has faced growing opposition from more militant sections of the student protest movement, which have called on the NUS to take a more radical stance against Government education spending cuts and increases in tuition fees.
He said last night: "NUS sought to organise a protest with our union partners at which all individuals could take part without being subject to verbal and physical intimidation. It's very disappointing not to have had the opportunity to talk about the real issue of the Government's cuts to the next generation's future."
The general secretary of the UCU lecturers' union, Sally Hunt, addressing the rally in Manchester, accused the government of being at "war with young people".
"It is betraying an entire generation," she said. Fourteen people were arrested during the Manchester protests.
Thousands of students and trade unionists also staged a noisy protest march through Westminster, central London.
Protesters taking part used technology to avoid being held in a police "kettle" – where demonstrators are held in a confined area – with the launch of a mobile phone application designed to identify blocked routes. As a result a number of splinter groups fanned out across central London.
After a failed attempt to stage a repeat of last November's invasion of Tory HQ in Millbank, some of the students moved on the Egyptian Embassy, in Mayfair, to join those protesting against President Mubarak's regime.
"London, Cairo – unite and fight," they chanted on arrival.
At Topshop in the Strand students stopped to direct abuse at the store's owner Sir Philip Green, whose tax arrangements have attracted controversy. "Pay your tax, pay your tax," they chanted.
There were similar scenes outside the Vodafone store, in Oxford Street. The company has also targeted for its tax arrangements.
The store was guarded by a line of police, keeping protesters apart from the bemused shoppers trapped inside.
At Downing Street hundreds of protesters lit flares and chanted anti-Government slogans.
Scotland Yard said: "The protests in London were largely peaceful with only a small number of arrests and no violence or disorder."
The Telegraph
Relief as gathering of English Defence League passes peacefully (UK)
The chairman of Derby's Pakistani Community said he was relieved that an English Defence League march in the city on Saturday was trouble-free.
But he said their presence "angered" him and he believed they had targeted the city because of a recent court case which saw eight Asian men and one white man jailed for targeting young white girls for sex.
About 50 members of the EDL gathered in Derby Market Place on Saturday afternoon before marching up St Peter's Street and East Street and gathering in the White Horse pub, in the Morledge.
No arrests were made and police said the protest was "peaceful".
Mr Lal said: "I think the main reason the EDL targeted Derby was Operation Retriever. We know that they highlighted the case on their website and online forums.
"And, of course, a number of EDL members turned up at Nottingham Crown Court for the sentencing of the men."
Operation Retriever was a covert police investigation to catch men using drink and drugs to lure vulnerable teenage girls. Ringleaders Abid Mohammed Saddique, 27, of Northumberland Street, Normanton, and Mohammed Romaan Liaqat, 28, of Briar Lea Close, Sinfin, were jailed indefinitely.
Derbyshire police has never said the case was in any way racially motivated.
On Saturday, EDL members from Leicester and the West Midlands were among the 50 who protested in the city.
Divisional Commander Andy Hough, of Derbyshire police, said: "We knew there was going to be something low key. We know there are a number of EDL members in Derby and that some of them associate themselves with Derby County, who did not have a match.
"We expected a few of them to meet for a drink and informal discussion but we did not think as many would come to the city as did."
Mr Lal said: "Derby enjoys excellent community relationships and Pakistani and Muslim people are all proud to call themselves Derbeians.
"It angers me when an organisation like the EDL comes into Derby to try to stir up animosity."
An EDL member, who did not give his name, said: "We are always portrayed as thugs but we came here for a peaceful protest and there have been no arrests. We are not racists."
This is Derbyshire
But he said their presence "angered" him and he believed they had targeted the city because of a recent court case which saw eight Asian men and one white man jailed for targeting young white girls for sex.
About 50 members of the EDL gathered in Derby Market Place on Saturday afternoon before marching up St Peter's Street and East Street and gathering in the White Horse pub, in the Morledge.
No arrests were made and police said the protest was "peaceful".
Mr Lal said: "I think the main reason the EDL targeted Derby was Operation Retriever. We know that they highlighted the case on their website and online forums.
"And, of course, a number of EDL members turned up at Nottingham Crown Court for the sentencing of the men."
Operation Retriever was a covert police investigation to catch men using drink and drugs to lure vulnerable teenage girls. Ringleaders Abid Mohammed Saddique, 27, of Northumberland Street, Normanton, and Mohammed Romaan Liaqat, 28, of Briar Lea Close, Sinfin, were jailed indefinitely.
Derbyshire police has never said the case was in any way racially motivated.
On Saturday, EDL members from Leicester and the West Midlands were among the 50 who protested in the city.
Divisional Commander Andy Hough, of Derbyshire police, said: "We knew there was going to be something low key. We know there are a number of EDL members in Derby and that some of them associate themselves with Derby County, who did not have a match.
"We expected a few of them to meet for a drink and informal discussion but we did not think as many would come to the city as did."
Mr Lal said: "Derby enjoys excellent community relationships and Pakistani and Muslim people are all proud to call themselves Derbeians.
"It angers me when an organisation like the EDL comes into Derby to try to stir up animosity."
An EDL member, who did not give his name, said: "We are always portrayed as thugs but we came here for a peaceful protest and there have been no arrests. We are not racists."
This is Derbyshire
Hitler's headquarters in Ukraine to be made tourist attraction
Ukrainian officials have unveiled a plan to turn the remains of Hitler' Eastern Front military headquarters into a tourist attraction.
The museum will be established by May 9, the anniversary of the Victory Day over Fascism.
The Wehrwolf headquarters, consisting of about 20 wooden cottages and barracks and three bunkers, are located some 12 km north of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine.
Construction started in September 1941 and was completed in April 1942. More than 10,000 Soviet war prisoners and some 1,000 local citizens participated in the works and some 2,000 of them died. Another 4,000 were shot dead.
The Nazis destroyed the site on abandoning the region. The underground parts of the complex were later sealed.
"It is time to make the Wehrwolf headquarters a tourist destination, a memorial to the victims of fascism," said Mykola Djiga, head of the local administration of Vinnytsia.
"This museum should remind us about the time that our people endured, their sacrifices and heroism. It should also show the face of the fascist enemy. We must show what enemy we had defeated," he said.
Times of India
The museum will be established by May 9, the anniversary of the Victory Day over Fascism.
The Wehrwolf headquarters, consisting of about 20 wooden cottages and barracks and three bunkers, are located some 12 km north of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine.
Construction started in September 1941 and was completed in April 1942. More than 10,000 Soviet war prisoners and some 1,000 local citizens participated in the works and some 2,000 of them died. Another 4,000 were shot dead.
The Nazis destroyed the site on abandoning the region. The underground parts of the complex were later sealed.
"It is time to make the Wehrwolf headquarters a tourist destination, a memorial to the victims of fascism," said Mykola Djiga, head of the local administration of Vinnytsia.
"This museum should remind us about the time that our people endured, their sacrifices and heroism. It should also show the face of the fascist enemy. We must show what enemy we had defeated," he said.
Times of India
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Turkish families subject to racist attack in France
Two houses inhabited by families of Turkish origin were attacked by arsonists in Hoenheim, a suburb of Strasbourg, on Thursday night.
Two houses inhabited by families of Turkish origin were attacked by arsonists in Hoenheim, a suburb of Strasbourg, on Thursday night, the Anatolia news agency reported over the weekend.
There were no casualties and the fire in the neighboring houses was put out by firefighters and did not spread. Swastikas were drawn on walls and on a van parked in a yard. The families have two children each.
The mayor of Strasbourg, Roland Ries, and the president of the Urban Community of Strasbourg, Jacques Bigot, issued a joint statement condemning the “criminal act."
In September, two cars owned by Faruk Günaltay, the Turkish director of the Odyssey Cinema Club in Strasbourg, were subject to racially motivated arson attacks. At the time, attackers also drew swastikas on the door of Günaltay's house.
Over the course of the past year, Muslim and Jewish cemeteries and places of worship in Strasbourg were targets of racist attacks. A Council of Europe report released last year said racial profiling and some the exploitation of racial and xenophobic stereotypes on the part of politicians persisted in France despite progress in fighting discrimination.
Many racial acts go unreported, and for those that are referred to authorities there is a low conviction rate, a report by European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) said.
“While there had been improvements in certain areas, some issues gave rise to concern, such as minorities' perception of the police, prejudice against Muslims and the tone of the immigration debate,” Nils Muiznieks, the chair of ECRI, the Council of Europe's independent human rights monitoring body, was quoted as saying at the time.
World Bulletin
Two houses inhabited by families of Turkish origin were attacked by arsonists in Hoenheim, a suburb of Strasbourg, on Thursday night, the Anatolia news agency reported over the weekend.
There were no casualties and the fire in the neighboring houses was put out by firefighters and did not spread. Swastikas were drawn on walls and on a van parked in a yard. The families have two children each.
The mayor of Strasbourg, Roland Ries, and the president of the Urban Community of Strasbourg, Jacques Bigot, issued a joint statement condemning the “criminal act."
In September, two cars owned by Faruk Günaltay, the Turkish director of the Odyssey Cinema Club in Strasbourg, were subject to racially motivated arson attacks. At the time, attackers also drew swastikas on the door of Günaltay's house.
Over the course of the past year, Muslim and Jewish cemeteries and places of worship in Strasbourg were targets of racist attacks. A Council of Europe report released last year said racial profiling and some the exploitation of racial and xenophobic stereotypes on the part of politicians persisted in France despite progress in fighting discrimination.
Many racial acts go unreported, and for those that are referred to authorities there is a low conviction rate, a report by European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) said.
“While there had been improvements in certain areas, some issues gave rise to concern, such as minorities' perception of the police, prejudice against Muslims and the tone of the immigration debate,” Nils Muiznieks, the chair of ECRI, the Council of Europe's independent human rights monitoring body, was quoted as saying at the time.
World Bulletin
Saturday, 29 January 2011
SERBIA COURT TO MULL BAN ON VIOLENT GROUPS
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
Balkan Insight
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
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