The threat of America's nativist far right

While Peter King holds hearings on homegrown jihadists, the growing menace of white supremacist terror goes unremarked

As emerging reports would have it, Kevin William Harpham, 36, who is accused of setting a bomb to go off at the Martin Luther King Jr Day parade in Spokane, Washington, was yet another "lone wolf" terrorist, acting at his own behest and on his own behalf. Even groups on the racist, radical far right that so clearly inspired him are rushing to disown and denounce the indicted man. Regardless of whether he was a "member" of an organised group, there can yet be no doubt that Harpham saw himself as part of a movement – one that has an especially broad reach in the age of Obama, and roots as deep as American culture itself.

The vision of a black president has given the racist far right one of its biggest boosts since the civil rights era of the 1960s. Figures toted up by the Southern Poverty Law Centre suggest a dramatic rise in the numbers of organized groups: their numbers grew by 40% from 2008 to 2009, and an additional 22% from 2009 to 2010, bringing the total to 2,145 groups. It's difficult to know precisely what these numbers mean, since these groups are constantly changing names, dissolving, reforming or springing up, and few of them maintain public membership rolls. What is nonetheless clear is that a strong far right movement has re-emerged, and what unites it is the age-old American doctrine of nativism, born out of fear of some dark outsider sneaking in to steal the white man's homeland and his hegemony.

Nativist thinkers are spread all over the map, but the strongest current comes in the form of the Sovereign Citizen movement, or what used to be called the Posse Comitatus and before the posse, the Silver Shirts. For the old Posse adherents and their contemporary progeny, the white Aryan man is the only true "sovereign" over his land and his life. White women serve beneath him; black and brown "mud people" are menials worthy only of disdain; and Jews (who do not qualify as white) are usually behind it all, running the economic and financial systems through a worldwide Jewish conspiracy. They do not admit to being subject to the laws and dicates of the US government; they eschew social security, cars and drivers' licences, and won't pay taxes.

For the true sovereign, the sheriff is the highest legitimate law enforcement official in the land, and a jury of his (white male) peers the only legitimate government body. These beliefs are underpinned by the religion of Christian Identity, which claim white sovereigns are the direct descendants of the lost tribes of Israel, who on their long trek out of the Middle East made their way up through Scotland and Ireland over to the United States.

Different facets of the nativist movement have enjoyed periodic heydeys in 20th-century America – first in the 1910s and 20s, when anti-immigrant sentiments were rife and membership in the Ku Klux Klan reached more than 2m. In the 1930s and 1940s, they penetrated the edges of the political mainstream through figures like Father Charles Coughlin, who was the Glenn Beck of his day. A Catholic priest and radio personality, Coughlin was at once enormously popular and virulently antisemitic and anti-New Deal. His ally Gerald LK Smith, leader of the Share Our Wealth campaign, was evocative of some of today's more extreme Tea Party candidates.

The Klans and related groups had another resurgence in response to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. In the 1980s, groups like the Posse, which drew together white supremacy and Christian Identity with anti-government "patriot" sentiments, found particularly fertile ground for recruitment among dispossessed Midwestern farmers. While figures like David Duke ran for political office, others, like the violent group The Order, carried out bombings, bank robberies and murders, and engaged in blazing shootouts with federal agents, all in service of their plan to build a white homeland.

After the Oklahoma City bombing, with its perpetrators' ties to the militia movement (and, most likely, to other far right groups as well), the movement tended to dig in further underground. Just as Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were deemed to be acting alone, the periodic bursts of far right violence – whether they be an attempted bombing, the murder of an abortion doctor, attacks on undocumented immigrants or on Muslims, or the shooting of a congresswoman – are attributed to "lone wolves" rather than to organised plots by any particular group. Yet the distinction belies the reality of a movement that has long encouraged its adherents to act in "leaderless resistance" cells or carry out one-man guerrilla attacks (and become celebrated as "Phineas Priests", named for the Bible story of a man who executed an interracial couple).

The alleged MLK Day parade bomber, Kevin William Harpham, may or may not have consider himself a lone wolf if, as he is accused, he put together a backpack bomb laden with shrapnel dipped in rat poison to induce bleeding and placed it on the route of the parade. But there can be little doubt as to where his inspiration came from. Bill Morlin, formerly a reporter for the Spokane Spokesman-Review and now an independent investigator, traced Harpham's background in a comprehensive report for the publication Hatewatch. In the military, Harpham was stationed at Fort Lewis in Washington, home base for 320 far right wingers. He was once a member of the racist far right National Alliance, and had left various postings on extremist websites suggesting he had had enough of the "international Jewish conspiracy", which, among other things, he held responsible for 9/11.

Leonard Zeskind, a leading expert on the radical far right and author, says that today, "the main tendency of organisations is mainstreaming … The movement imperative is towards the Tea Parties, running for office, anti-immigrant mongering – not roadside bombs." None of this, of course, prevents people from being "recruited" to their ideas and choosing to act on them. One far right leader said much the same in an interview following the attempted bombing in Spokane. "There are many aspects to the white supremacist movement," Shaun Winkler, Imperial Wizard of the White Knights of the KKK in Idaho, told a local television station. "There are those of us that are on the political side, and there are those of us that are revolutionary. It sounds as if this individual was on the revolutionary end rather than the political. And there are a lot of lone wolves out there. People that are sympathetic to us, but people that we don't know."

Historically, federal law enforcement has given little credence to the power of the nativist current in American society, and has paid relatively little attention to the activities of nativist groups. That has perhaps changed since the election of Barack Obama, whose presidency has so focused and emboldened the racist far right. Yet, despite their obvious threat, there are no competitors to Peter King, holding congressional hearings on the recruitment of homegrown jihadist terrorists.

The Guardian

USA set to shut neo-Nazi website (Austria)

An infamous neo-Nazi homepage may go offline soon, it has emerged.

Viennese newspapers report today (Weds) that Austrian prosecutors came to an agreement with authorities in the United States over shutting down the "Alpe-Donau" website.

Austrian Green Party officials have pointed out for months that Austrian neo-Nazis are frequently leaving fascist and racist statements on the internet platform. State prosecutors in Vienna recently started investigations only to find out that they are unable to interfere as the website is run by a server based in the USA.

Now reports have it that Austrian investigators convinced colleagues in the United States that the homepage must be taken off the web although activities on it did not breach any federal laws.

A notification posted on "Alpe-Donau" earlier this week informs visitors that the page will "log off shortly – but we will be back."

The internet portal has been in the news as many of its users openly backed the Freedom Party (FPÖ). The party headed by Heinz-Christian Strache is currently the third-strongest faction in the federal parliament in Vienna. It garnered 17.5 per cent in the most recent general election in 2008 and claimed nearly 26 per cent in the Vienna city parliament ballot last October.

Several "Alpe-Donau" users agreed in discussion forums that they were happy about current developments within the FPÖ as far as the right-wing party’s ideology and policies were concerned. Strache has emphasised that he and his party are totally disassociating themselves from the website and any fascist and racist propaganda.

The FPÖ used to be Austria’s liberal political force but took on a right-wing ideology when Jörg Haider – who died in 2008 – took over in 1986. Some political analysts have pointed out that the party is more and more focusing on campaigning against Muslims after having criticised Jewish and black people in the past.

Only last month, a lecturer was ordered to pay a fine of 480 Euros for calling Islam "hostile" and the Koran "evil" in a seminar organised by the FPÖ’s academy which was held in a hotel in Vienna in 2009.

FPÖ General Secretary Harald Vilimsky infuriated political rivals, Muslims and non-government organisations (NGO) last year by calling mosques "hotbeds of radical Islam."

Austrian Independant

Party’s over as BNP disappear (UK)

 Far right political party the BNP will not field a single candidate in South Tyneside in May.

A spokesman for the party said the move was a political decision in a bid to persuade national leader Nick Griffin to stand down.

Martin Vaughan, fundholder for the party in South Tyneside, said the party was “finished” under Mr Griffin’s leadership.

The move comes despite the BNP standing candidates in all borough electoral wards up for grabs at last year’s local elections.

Rival parties in South Tyneside today expressed their delight at the announcement.

Coun Jane Branley, Independent Alliance representative for Westoe, said she believes the real reason is “disillusionment that they can’t get a toehold in what they thought were winnable seats in South Tyneside”.She added: “I am delighted that the BNP are not fielding any candidate as I abhor everything they stand for.”

Coun Iain Malcolm, the Labour leader of South Tyneside Council, also welcomed the party’s non-participation, adding: “I look forward to the day that the BNP as a political party is disbanded.”

But Coun George Elsom, Real Independent for Cleadon Park, described the withdrawal as a “big surprise”.

He added: “I abhor the BNP and what they stand for, but I defend anyone’s democratic right to stand for election. Their candidate polled well in Cleadon Park last time round, so some people obviously agree with their policies.”

Mr Vaughan said: “Mr Griffin has attracted a lot of bad publicity and the party is in debt. There is a lot of disillusionment with him, and the party in South Tyneside want him to stand down. Under his leadership, the BNP is finished and we need him to go before we can rebuild.

“Previously loyal BNP members are being sacked throughout the country for speaking out against him. I don’t expect to remain in my role for much longer.”

Mr Griffin had been invited to meet his critics at a gathering at the High Lane Social Club in Hebburn at the weekend, but did not attend.

Mr Vaughan added: “He wasn’t even willing to answer his critics.”

Mr Griffin was unavailable for comment.

Sheilds Gazette

Judicial Watch: Extremist Hispanic Group Releases Racist Death Threat Video Attacking Black Civil Rights Activist Ted Hayes (USA)

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained a shocking video produced by a radical Mexican separatist group attacking civil rights activist Ted Hayes with racist smears and death threats.  The video was posted to the Internet on YouTube after Mr. Hayes testified, by invitation of Maryland Delegate Pat McDonough, on March 15 before the Judiciary Committee of the Maryland House of Delegates against providing taxpayer dollars for in-state tuition benefits for illegal aliens.

The video begins with the message "[expletive] you 'Mayate,'" which is reportedly a racist and derogatory term used to smear African Americans and "dark skinned" people.  The video then streams a series of racist images including:  the silhouette of a man hanging from a noose, photos of Mr. Hayes adjacent to photos of monkeys and bananas and doctored photos of Mr. Hayes pictured with a gun next to his head.  The video, which runs two minutes and nine seconds, concludes with the message "Your (sic) FREE Now Mayate go back to Africa."
The video was initially posted to the video website YouTube by a group with the moniker "The Timmytop," and was subsequently removed.  The Timmytop Youtube "channel" includes a number of extremist
propaganda videos with messages such as "This Is Our Land Whiteboy [expletive] you Gringo."  The videos seem to express support for the La Raza/Aztlan movement, which seeks to conquer the American Southwest and "return" it to Mexico.  Notably, the videos attack black and white Americans.

Mr. Hayes is a long-time opponent of illegal immigration, noting specifically that its devastating impact on the African American community is largely ignored by other black leaders.  Death threats and intimidation of a witness because of his testimony before the Maryland legislature would violate federal and Maryland criminal statutes.

"Judicial Watch is outraged at the racist death threats and intimidation directed at the black civil rights activist Ted Hayes in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment rights.  The debate over in-state tuition for illegal aliens in Maryland has been compromised and chilled by these threats," said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.  "The individuals responsible for this evil video must be held accountable to the rule of law.  This is an attack on the entire black community, not just Ted Hayes.  The Holder Justice Department and the Maryland Attorney General need to take immediate action to investigate these threats."

Judicial Watch has obtained the video in question and is making it available on its Internet site at www.judicialwatch.org.

prnewswire

Man broke window in EDL demo (UK)

A man who smashed a window during the English Defence League protest in Leicester has admitted causing criminal damage worth £1,500.

Gareth Mooney (29) of Sandown Court, Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, broke the shop window of Big John's Takeaway, in Humberstone Road on October 9 last year.

Liz Dodds, prosecuting, told Leicester magistrates that Mooney was one of about 200 protesters who broke through a police cordon in Queens Street at about 4pm to challenge a group of Asian youths.

The trouble then spilled into Humberstone Road, where up to 20 members of the public had sought refuge in the takeaway.

She said: "Mr Mooney was caught on CCTV giving a forceful kick to the window, causing it to shatter in a spider effect.''

"His behaviour instigated the subsequent attack on the building which caused a total of £5,000 damage."

Mooney said: "I'm very sorry for the trouble I've caused. It was down to stupidity."

He was bailed to appear at North Tyneside Magistrates Court on April 12.

This is Leicestershire

France's National Front eyes name change

France's far-right National Front party could change its name ahead of 2012 parliamentary elections in an effort to broaden its appeal to mainstream voters, its new leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday.

Le Pen is expected to be endorsed as a presidential candidate by her party shortly and she told Reuters that if she did well in that contest, as polls suggest, the party could choose a more inclusive name ahead of legislative elections.

Under the current system, legislative elections follow shortly after the Elysee race.

"It's about transforming the National Front into a party capable of a getting a majority," she said.

Whatever new name is settled on, she said it would include "rassemblement," a more inclusive word with a long history in French politics which can be translated as rally.

Several polls have recently indicated that Le Pen could prevent President Nicolas Sarkozy from reaching the run-off ballot of France's two-stage presidential elections.

Le Pen's party hopes to win local council seats for the first time in an election on Sunday, following a record first-round score that left it snapping at the heels of Sarkozy's ruling party, the conservative UMP.

Reuters

French far-Right in financial setback

France's new far-Right leader Marine Le Pen is facing a major setback in her bid to challenge Nicolas Sarkozy after a bank demanded the seizure of her cash-strapped party's historic riverside headquarters.

Miss Le Pen, who took the reins of the National Front party (FN) from her father Jean-Marie in January, is enjoying a surge in the polls and the prospect of winning seats in the second round of local elections on Sunday.

The FN is trailing President Sarkozy's party by just two percentage points after the first round with the Socialists in first place.

But the party Miss Le Pen inherited is deeply in debt, and yesterday it emerged the French bank Societe Generale has secured an order for seizure of the FN's former headquarters west of Paris unless it repays a 5.2 million-euro (£4.5 million) debt by September.

Read More at the Telegraph 

Grand Jury Indicts MLK Day Bomb Suspect Kevin Harpham (USA)

Burnt Cross Near Black Family's House Allegedly a Hate Crime (USA)

 Religious leaders in a Southern California county are sounding off against the recent burning of an 11-foot cross in a city that hasn’t had a hate crime reported since 2002.

In a letter published Wednesday in the San Luis Obispo Tribune, members of the San Luis Obispo Ministerial Association made clear that the burning crosses, etching of swastikas on synagogue walls, and writing of hateful words on mosque doors are acts that should not be tolerated.

“[They] are not pranks,” stated the letter’s 35 signers, representing a number of different faith groups, including Protestants, Muslims, Jews, Catholics, and Buddhists, among others.

“They are hate crimes meant to frighten and intimidate. They should have no place in this beautiful county, but they do sometimes happen here. When they do, they cannot be tolerated or laughed off as ‘just a joke,’” the religious leaders added.

The letter was published just days after authorities in Arroyo Grande, Calif., responded to a report of fire outside the residence of a black teenager. According to the city’s police department, the object found burning early Saturday morning was later identified as a cross that had been stolen from the grounds of Saint John’s Lutheran Church in Arroyo Grande sometime between Feb. 5 and March 5. The members of the church were not aware of the theft for about one month.

“The Arroyo Grande Police Department is pursuing the investigation of the incident on South Elm Street as an arson and a hate crime,” the department reported Monday.

The Christian Post

'Racist' Paris Hilton 'described black men as gross'

The heiress is said to have made the remark after getting friendly with a Saving Private Ryan actor in 1999 but has furiously denied any wrongdoing.

The accusations were made by showbiz author Neil Strauss who said in his book that Hilton had been kissing the unnamed actor but when the lights came on was shocked by her conquest’s skin colour and quickly ditched him.

Read more about this at the Metro

Soldiers post racist videos on Facebook (Australia)

The Australian Army has launched an investigation into the conduct of soldiers in Afghanistan who posted racist comments and videos on Facebook.

The Seven network has shown the videos which show soldiers referring to Afghans as "sand coons", "dune coons", "niggers", and "smelly locals".

Another is referred to as a "raghead."
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When a local man is shown running away from an explosion, a soldier is heard to say that the blast "scared the f out of that mufti."

A number of soldiers list their employer as a "fing ranga", a reference to Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

The Acting Chief of Army Paul Symon said the behaviour undermines everything Australia is trying to achieve in Afghanistan.

"There will be thousands of soldiers disgusted at what we're looking at," Major-General Symon told the Seven network.

He said the soldiers concerned could face serious consequences.

"When you put words in the public domain you will be held accountable," he said.

Sydney Morning Herald

The EDL, and the Muslamic Ray Guns

We at the SUTH blog have often wondered what the hell the English Defence League are actually defending us from.

Well finally we have a genuine answer, it's Muslamic Ray Guns. Priceless.

Former KKK leader and Lakes Wales mayoral candidate Paul Rogers speaks (USA)

Lake Wales, Florida - A mayoral candidate in Lakes Wales is speaking out about his involvement with the Klan.

70-year-old John Paul Rogers wants to become the next mayor of Lake Wales, but critics say he could have a tough time bringing the town together because he's a former member of Ku Klux Klan.

Rogers, who is currently a commissioner, spoke with 10 News Tuesday afternoon and says, "I'm not running for the Klan for Grand Dragon. That's because Rogers has already had that title.

He blames his opponent Mike Carter for bringing up his former involvement in the United Klans of America.



Read the full story at Wtsp.com

‘UNPRECEDENTED’ RISE IN RACIST CRIME (Cyprus)

 Data collected by anti-racist civil society groups reveal that Cyprus has seen “an unprecedented rise in racist crime and racist violence particularly against migrants and asylum seekers” as well as the rise of far-right nationalistic groups and parties. A press release issued by the Cyprus branch of the European Network Against Racism (ENAR) yesterday to mark International Day against Racial Discrimination, reports point to manifestations of racism across Europe in a broad range of areas, including employment, housing, education, health, policing, access to goods and services, and the media. The pending release of the reports covering the 2009-2010 period is expected to highlight that extremism and racist violence are on the rise in Europe.

On Cyprus, the report will conclude that “the strict migration policies and model followed in Cyprus continue to deny migrants, asylum seekers and refugees effective access to basic social and political rights and in most cases to their human rights in general”. While Cyprus has antidiscrimination legislation in place, this “remains largely unimplemented on the ground”, said the ENAR Cyprus branch, adding that the country was “far from taking the necessary measures to achieve real equality for all people irrespective of nationality, race, colour or ethnic origin”. In a damning indictment of the government’s latest efforts to introduce and implement a migration policy on the island, ENAR said: “Whereas integration may stand prominently on the agenda of the Cypriot migration policies, little is achieved to that effect and migrants continue to live at the margins of the society.”

ENAR President Chibo Onyeji said: “The report demonstrates that racism is far from over in Europe -- we still have a long way to go before reaching effective equality for all.” ENAR is a network of European NGOs working to combat racism in all EU member states and represents more than 700 NGOs spread around the EU. The network’s purported aim is to fight racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, to promote equality of treatment between EU citizens and third country nationals.

Cyprus Mail

Big gains for far right in local polls (France)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s party struggled in local elections on Sunday, trailing the opposition Socialists by 8 points and finishing barely ahead of the surging far-right National Front.

France’s far right National Front (FN) continued to steal headlines after Sunday’s local elections, in which half of France’s 2,023 cantons, the country’s smallest territorial units, were up for grabs.

Surfing on the popularity of their new leader Marine Le Pen, National Front candidates won a place in the second round in 394 cantons, or one in five of all contested councils.

Socialist candidates won the most votes, with 25% of ballots cast. French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s party, the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), picked up 17% of the votes cast, barely ahead of the National Front’s 15% tally.

"It’s not just a sanction vote,” said Marine Le Pen, who took over as the head of the euro-sceptic, anti-immigration National Front party in January. Since then, the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen has twice polled ahead of President Sarkozy in surveys of voters’ intentions ahead of next year’s presidential election.

In an interview with FRANCE 24 last week, Le Pen said the broad support she is enjoying should not be treated as a surprise. “Those numbers encourage me to keep working and talking about my policy proposals. There are still a lot of French people who have a totally caricatured vision of the National Front,” she said.

FN officials said Sunday’s election results confirmed their progression. The party’s vice-president Louis Aliot declared: "There is something in the air…If things continue this way, the [National] Front is going to replace the right.”

Abstention on the rise

But over 55% of potential voters shunned the ballot box on Sunday, underscoring a growing trend towards abstention that marked elections for the European Parliament in 2009 and French regional polls last March.

“Abstention is France’s first political party,” the free daily 20 Minutes mused on its website on Monday, adding that while turnout was expected to be low, levels had exceeded the worst expectations. Voter participation in France has historically been high.

Jean-François Doridot of the Ipsos polling institute said low turnout provided “further proof of the disenchantment of the French vis-à-vis the political establishment, from both the left and right.”

Sarkozy’s party left smarting

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling centre-right party struggled to inspire voters in what was the final electoral contest before next year’s presidential poll – in which Sarkozy is expected to seek a second term.

UMP officials tried to minimize the results of Sunday’s first-round poll, preferring to comment on the left’s failure to score a decisive win. The party leader, Jean-François Copé, told RTL radio that the results “were not glorious” for the Socialists.

“If we add up the Socialists’ score and that of the other left-wing parties we get 31%, the same score as the presidential majority,” Copé said, referring to UMP allies who ran on independent tickets.

Many French observers said the results reflected the sagging approval rates of Sarkozy and his government. The polls came on the heels of the latest in a series of ministerial scandals that saw UMP party fixture Michèlle Alliot-Marie ejected from the foreign affairs post.

But the UMP was not the only party to bemoan Sunday’s results. The polls have also been described as a step back for the Greens, who failed to establish themselves as the second biggest force on the left. Green candidates picked up just over 8% of the vote, falling short of the 9% tallied by a far-left coalition headed by France’s Communist Party.

France 24

Police warning ahead of EDL protest in Blackburn (UK)

Police have said they will not tolerate acts of violence or damage when up to 4,500 people descend on Blackburn town centre for protests next month.

Members of the English Defence League (EDL), Muslim Defence League and Unite Against Facism (UAF) are all expected to stage demonstrations on 2 April.

Police said they were working to minimise the impact on the community and would facilitate peaceful protests.

Blackburn with Darwen Council said the town would be open for business.

The EDL is being allowed to demonstrate outside King George's Hall for one hour while a counter demonstration will take place at Sudell Cross.

Some roads will be affected, including temporary closures, but officials said they were working hard to make sure that people could "go about their daily business as usual".
Damage 'not tolerated'

Ch Supt Bob Eastwood said: "We will police the demonstration as we would any public event and we will facilitate a peaceful protest.

"Day-to-day policing in Lancashire will carry on as normal and we have detailed plans in place to deal with any issues on the day.

"We will have specially-trained officers policing the demonstration.

"Our role is to facilitate peaceful protest. If anyone commits a criminal offence they will be dealt with fairly but firmly.

"The police will not tolerate damage to the town or acts of violence and I would urge anyone thinking of coming to Blackburn to attend either demonstration to bear this in mind."

Tom Stannard, of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "The bulk of the town centre will remain open for business.

"This borough has a strong track record of good community relations and will continue to support all our community groups and representatives should they have any concerns about this demonstration."

BBC News

Victorian neo-Nazi used as medic in Afghanistan (Australia)

Kenneth Stewart

A Neo-Nazi organiser from Victoria has been working as a private military contractor in Afghanistan, mocking locals and holding secret ceremonies commemorating the deaths of German soldiers in World War II.

Kenneth Stewart, 36, has worked as a military-trained paramedic, accompanying aid workers around Afghanistan. His Facebook page shows a swastika flag in his room in Kandahar, and another picture shows him surrounded by Afghans he refers to as ''my nignogs'' with a friend adding the comment ''it's lovely to see a white man back in control of the subhuman''. On Stewart's Facebook page he regularly makes disparaging comments about Afghans, Aborigines, Jews and others.

He has worked as a medic for several aid groups based in Kandahar, including the United Nations Development Program.

The Age made several attempts to contact Mr Stewart, but received no reply.

In Melbourne, he helps recruit white supremacists to the local branch of the Southern Cross Hammerskins, an international neo-Nazi group. He described himself on one internet forum as a ''skinhead, mercenary, pork-eating viking; not bad just misunderstood''.

Anti-facist groups in the US say there are growing numbers of neo-Nazis working in the expanding private military sector, and that the Hammerskins are considered to be among the best organised and most violent neo-Nazi groups in America.

The beliefs and photos posted by Mr Stewart have been condemned by the United Nations and the contractor who hired him on their behalf.

Spokesman Brian Hansford said the UN was ''horrified by these … disturbing images''.

An image of Kenneth Stewart room.

On Armistice Day last year, Mr Stewart posted on a white supremacist website that he and his colleagues in Kandahar had a service commemorating World War II soldiers, including Germans and Italians ''that did what they thought was right regardless of which side they were on''.

The Age has not been able to establish who Mr Stewart worked for in Afghanistan last year, but it is clear from photos on his Facebook page that he was doing similar work.

One Australian security company that has employed him said it repudiated any far-right views and said the images he posted on Facebook should be removed.

Security experts say any Nazi or racist references could risk endangering the Coalition troops fighting under the NATO banner, including personnel from the Australian Defence Forces.

In the US, an intercepted 2009 email purported to show Oregon fascist organiser Randy Krager warning his colleagues not to email him about his racist skinhead group while he was working in Afghanistan. The email read: ''All communications from the mid-east are monitored by dept. of defense and/or cia … so I will have some contact but will not be able to discuss any business, not even vaguely.''

The Southern Cross Hammerskins also organise music festivals where far-right bands perform in front of vetted audiences. Their next festival is on the Gold Coast next month.

Sydney Morning Herald

Amazon Often Rejects Porn But Helps White Racists Publish Books

Fans of racist literature looking to get their hands on a copy of Kyle Bristow’s 2010 novel White Apocalypse need look no further than Amazon.com. Thanks to the online retail giant’s print-on-demand (POD) service, the bloodthirsty white nationalist fantasy – which Bristow self-published through Amazon subsidiary CreateSpace – is available for sale on Amazon for just $17.58.

And it’s eligible for super-saver shipping.

Amazon will even help novice white nationalists get their library going. For $50.14 – a slight discount – interested readers can buy Bristow’s book together with Racism Schmacism by James Edwards , host of the unabashedly racist radio program “The Political Cesspool,” and A Mighty Fortress by dedicated neo-Nazi Harold Covington, described by one enthusiastic reviewer as “unabashedly pro-white and anti-jew [sic] and non-white.”
Amazon did not respond to a request for comment from Hatewatch.

When Amazon announced its new self-publishing and POD service in 2005, the press release boasted: “Print-on-demand has changed the economics of small-quantity printing, making it possible for books with low and uncertain demand to be profitably produced. BookSurge [now called CreateSpace] makes it possible to print books that appeal to targeted audiences, whether it’s one copy or one thousand. … Thanks to print-on-demand, ‘out of print’ is out of date.”

Amazon’s forecast turned out to be correct: It is precisely this business model that makes it possible for extremists like Bristow to get their self-published screeds – “books with low and uncertain demand” which a decade ago would have been be limited in quantity, difficult to find, poor in quality, and unknown to anyone but hard-core believers – to a broader audience than ever before. It may well be that no human being at Amazon or its POD service ever actually reads a book like White Apocalypse —the book may be produced entirely by computer.

White Apocalypse is centered on the “Solutrean Hypothesis,” a theory that has almost zero support among anthropologists but bravely insists that whites from Europe managed to cross the North Atlantic to North America 15,000 to 17,000 years ago, thus becoming the real “Native Americans.” Bristow claims that the crossing in fact happened, and that those early whites were massacred by the later-arriving Asiatic people who crossed the ancient land bridge across the present-day Bering Strait. The book’s hero is a white man on a mission to give the hypothesis a fair hearing – but in order to do so, he must vanquish his “evil, anti-western” opponents at the Atlanta-based “Center for Diversity and Multiculturalism” —  an organization that bears a striking resemblance to the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center. It even includes characters clearly based on Mark Potok, the director of SPLC’s Intelligence Project, and Heidi Beirich, its director of research. The book contains a graphic description of the Potok character’s assassination at the hands of the hero.

The “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought” list for White Apocalypse runs 96 books long and includes Jean Raspail’s white nationalist, anti-immigration classic Camp of the Saints; Holocaust denier and longtime Klan leader David Duke’s My Awakening: A Path to Racial Understanding; fiction by hard-core nativist Matthew Bracken; and works by white nationalist Jared Taylor, who edits the American Renaissance journal, and anti-Semitic California State University, Long Beach, psychology professor Kevin MacDonald.

Also listed is The 21st Century Sniper: A Complete Practical Guide, described as “a complete practical guide for any modern sniper, [including] tips and basic training necessary to become an efficient marksman.” Amazon’s teaser for the book says, “To the sniper, the battlefield is like a painter’s blank canvas. It is his job to simultaneously utilize tools, training, and creativity to deliver devastating psychological impact upon the battlefield. And it is he alone who is left with the intimacy of the kill.”

On page 195 of White Apocalypse, the main character shoots the Potok character sniper-style from a parking lot roof.

Like any private business, Amazon is entitled to determine what books it wishes to promote. The bookseller seems quite clear on some matters — pornography and books that prove an embarrassment among them.

In 2010, for instance, Amazon got 3,000 negative comments in a single day from people incensed that it had made the self-published The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure available on Kindle. (The author, Phillip R. Greaves, claimed the book was an “attempt to make pedophile situations safer for those juveniles … by establishing certain rules for these adults to follow.”) The day the comments came in, Amazon issued a statement claiming that it “believes it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable.” But according to the Los Angeles Times, the next day, links on Amazon to the listing were rerouted to a page that said, “We’re sorry. The Web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site.”

Amazon’s Kindle service also has pulled incest-fantasy and other erotica and two books titled How to Rape a Straight Guy and Rape in Holding Cell 6, whose author posted on his blog a letter from Amazon stating that the books “contain content that is in violation of our content guidelines.”

Amazon does sell The Turner Diaries, a race war fantasy novel that inspired crimes including Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of Oklahoma City’s Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Written under a pseudonym by William Pierce, founder of what was once the most dangerous neo-Nazi organization in America, the National Alliance, The Turner Diaries’ plot includes a bomb attack on a federal building by white supremacist guerillas. It also features a bloody section on the “Day of the Rope,” when “race-mixers” are hung from lampposts and trees.

SPLCentre

Birmingham City Council social worker sees discrimination case thrown out (UK)

A white social worker has lost his bid to claim up to £18,000 compensation from Birmingham City Council for race discrimination.

Anthony Francis, employed in the local authority’s controversial child protection unit, alleged he was racially discriminated against for being a white Anglo Saxon by not being included on a course.

A Birmingham employment tribunal heard he previously received an out-of-court settlement when he made a racial discrimination complaint against his employer in 2002.

In his latest claim Mr Francis, of Hagley Road, Halesowen, who has worked at the council for nearly 17 years, also accused a woman boss of covert bullying and alleged she was unpleasant to anyone within the team.

Tribunal judge Victoria Dean told the hearing he had issued three different claims against the council in relatively quick succession since receiving the out-of-court settlement nine years ago. She rejected Mr Francis’ latest allegations and accused him of abusing the claim process. Liz Cunningham, representing the council, previously accused Mr Francis of abusing the tribunal process by including allegations from two previous cases against the council, both of which he lost.

“Mr Francis used 155 paragraphs in his evidence yet used old claims which had previously been dismissed,” said Miss Cunningham previously.

Mrs Dean said the tribunal had no jurisdiction to deal with two of the cases and that, under the current claims, Mr Francis had been seeking between £6,000 and £18,000 compensation.

“But the claimant had filed further particulars in the latest claims which, among other things, represented the claims that were dismissed in previous cases,” said Mrs Dean.

“The tribunal’s judgment is that the latest claims are struck out on the basis that the manner in which the proceedings have been conducted have been vexatious.

“The tribunal doesn’t have jurisdiction over the latest claims.”

Birmingham Mail

45 YEARS LATER ENAR SHADOW REPORT SHOWS THAT RACISM IS FAR FROM OVER IN EUROPE

In 1966, the United Nations proclaimed March 21 as the ‘International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’, and every year on this day, all nations are encouraged to examine racial discrimination and take affirmative steps to address racial inequality. This Day takes on even more significance as 45 years later, data collected by anti-racist civil society across Europe show that racism remains a deep-rooted problem in a broad range of areas, including employment, housing, education, health, policing, access to goods and services, and the media. ENAR’s European Shadow Report draws on 27 national shadow reports prepared by ENAR members across the European Union and Croatia. It identifies communities vulnerable to racism and presents an overview of manifestations of racism in a range of areas, as well as an assessment of the legal and political context and responses by governments.

The report reveals that across Europe, ethnic and religious minorities continue to face discrimination and exclusion in all areas of life. For instance, in the field of education, the issues highlighted include lower quality education for ethnic minorities, segregation, racist bullying, as well as lower attendance and schooling rates. Access to public transport is also highlighted as a key area of concern in many countries with regard to various means of transport, including airlines. Another example of such discrimination is in the private rental market, most notably in Belgium, Czech Republic, Ireland, Latvia, Malta and Spain. Explicit discriminatory remarks in housing adverts are reported in a number of countries. In addition, extremism and racist violence are on the rise across Europe. The rise of extremist organisations and public expressions of racist sentiments within the mainstream political parties and elected governments has hindered the integration of migrants and ethnic minorities. These barriers and challenges have been amplified by the financial and economic crisis. The report also shows some areas of improvement, notably with regard to the positive impact of EU anti-discrimination legislation in EU member states. However, the report shows that legislation alone is not sufficient and that additional measures need to be taken to ensure non-discrimination in practice. These are some of the main conclusions of ENAR’s 2009/2010 Shadow Report on racism in Europe.

Chibo Onyeji, ENAR President, said: “ENAR’s European Shadow Report demonstrates that racism is far from over in Europe -- we still have a long way to go before reaching effective equality for all. It is crucial that decision makers retain a focus on racism and ensure equality of treatment, particularly in times where an essentially negative approach to migration has meant migrants, or individuals perceived as migrants, are often treated as second class persons.”

The European Report, the 27 national reports, as well as a report on Racist violence in Europe, produced by ENAR, are available on the ENAR website

The European report “Racism in Europe - ENAR Shadow Report 2009/2010”can also be ordered in hard copy in English and French from the ENAR secretariat

European Network Against Racism

NEO-NAZIS FACE COURT FOR ONLINE RADIO CONTENT (Germany)

Eighteen operators of a right-wing extremist online radio station face a Koblenz court on Monday for incitement of hatred. They face up to five years in prison. The trial at the district court was scheduled to begin at 9:30 am, when the men aged 20 to 37-years-old stand accused of forming a criminal organisation. As administrators and moderators of Widerstand Radio, or “Resistance Radio,” the group allegedly played music by German and international neo-Nazi bands. The music was also accompanied by racist commentary and illegal National Socialist sentiments, according to prosecutors. The group was arrested in November 2010 during raids by Federal Criminal Police (BKA) in the states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North-Rhine Westphalia. If the defendants are convicted they face up to five years behind bars.

The Local Germany

ITALY: ACT SWIFTLY TO END RACIST VIOLENCE

The Italian government is failing to take effective action to prevent and prosecute racist and xenophobic violence, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Immigrants, Italians of foreign descent, and Roma have been the victims of brutal attacks in Italy in recent years. The 71-page report, "Everyday Intolerance: Racist and Xenophobic Violence in Italy," documents the state's failure to take effective measures against hate crimes. Prosecutions for racially-motivated violence are rare, with Italian officials downplaying the extent of the problem and failing consistently to condemn attacks. Insufficient training of law enforcement and judiciary personnel and incomplete data collection compound the problem. At the same time, political rhetoric, government policies, and media coverage linking immigrants and Roma to crime have fueled an environment of intolerance.

"The government spends far more energy blaming migrants and Roma for Italy's problems than it does on efforts to stop violent attacks on them," said Judith Sunderland, senior Western Europe researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The government's alarmist talk of an invasion of ‘biblical proportions' from North Africa is just the latest example of irresponsible rhetoric. Officials should be protecting migrants and Roma from attack." Cities across Italy have seen mob violence and individual attacks targeting migrants, Roma, and Italians of foreign descent. Mobs rampaged through Roma camps in Naples in May 2008 and assaulted African seasonal migrant workers in Rosarno, Calabria, in January 2010. A group of at least 15 people attacked a Bengali bar in Rome in March 2010.

Authorities recorded 142 hate crimes in the first nine months of 2009, but one Italian anti-racism organization registered 398 media reports of such crimes in roughly the same period, with 186 physical assaults (18 of which led to death). Individual attacks include the September 2008 murder of Abdoul Guiebre, an Italian of Burkina Faso origin bludgeoned to death on the street in Milan after a petty theft from a café; the brutal beating of a Chinese man in October 2008 as he waited for a bus in Rome; and the February 2009 attack on an Indian man in a town outside Rome, in which he was beaten, doused with gasoline, and set on fire.

Human Rights Watch also documented troubling cases of law enforcement abuse against Roma, during camp evictions and in the custody of police or Carabinieri (a Defense Ministry force that shares responsibility for civilian policing in Italy). Italian law provides for increased prison sentences for crimes aggravated by racial motivation, but the statute has yet to live up to its promise, Human Rights Watch said. The 1993 statute has often been interpreted by prosecutors and the courts only to apply to cases where racial hatred was the sole motivation, leaving serious racist crimes prosecuted as though they were ordinary offences. The state prosecuted Abdoul Guiebre's murder as an ordinary crime, for example, despite the racist insults uttered by the perpetrators during the attack. Crimes motivated by hatred over sexual orientation and gender identity are not covered at all.

The extreme violence against African seasonal migrant workers in Rosarno, Calabria, in January 2010, including drive-by shootings and three days of mob violence that left at least 11 migrants hospitalized with serious injuries, did not lead to prosecutions and convictions for racially-motivated crimes. Only three Italians were prosecuted and convicted in connection with the violence. Local residents and law enforcement officers also suffered injuries, some of them caused by migrants during riots against the mob attacks. Italian officials minimized the racist dimension of the violence in Rosarno, in keeping with a general tendency to call racially-motivated crimes rare. The Italian government does not collect or publish disaggregated statistics on crime reports or prosecutions. Authorities point to the low numbers of official complaints and prosecutions for racially motivated violence to argue that such violence is rare, ignoring underreporting and the failure of the authorities to correctly identify it.

"The Italian government likes to pretend that racist violence hardly ever happens," said Sunderland. "But if you are an Italian from an ethnic minority, Roma, or a migrant, the truth is it's all too common. Acknowledging the scale of the problem is a necessary condition for tackling it." A consequence of the authorities' failure to recognize these hate crimes as a significant problem is that law enforcement personnel and prosecutors do not receive systematic, specialized training in identifying, investigating, and prosecuting racist violence. Roma, the most vilified minority in Italy today, are especially at risk of harassment and mistreatment during camp evictions and in police or Carabinieri custody, Human Rights Watch said. With serious allegations of abuse by law enforcement personnel left uninvestigated, and virtual impunity for mob violence against Roma camps, many Roma have little or no faith in public institutions. "Many people, especially undocumented migrants and Roma, are just too scared to go the police," Sunderland said. "The government has to do much more to encourage reporting and build trust among these particularly vulnerable communities."

Political discourse and media coverage linking immigrants and Roma to crime has fueled a dangerous environment of intolerance in a country that has seen a dramatic increase in immigration over the past 10 years. Since 2008, the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in coalition with the openly anti-immigrant Northern League party, has adopted "emergency" decrees to pave the way for strong-handed measures against undocumented migrants and Roma, and passed a law making undocumented entry and stay in Italy a crime punishable by a hefty fine. Elected officials across the political spectrum have engaged in anti-immigrant and anti-Roma rhetoric.

This Human Rights Watch report contains concrete recommendations to the Italian government to strengthen its response to racist violence, including:
* Consistently and forcefully condemning, at the highest level, racist and xenophobic violence.
* Reforming criminal law to ensure that hate motivation can be applied even when perpetrators have mixed motives, and expanding the list of protected characteristics to include, at a minimum, sexual orientation and gender identity.
* Ensuring obligatory training for law enforcement personnel and public prosecutors on detecting, investigating, and prosecuting crimes motivated wholly or in part by racial, ethnic, or xenophobic bias.
* Collecting and routinely publishing comprehensive statistics on hate crimes.

Human Rights Watch

EQUALITY COMMISSION TO FACE 'MAJOR SURGERY' (uk)

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is expected to face a demand for "major surgery" when the Home Office publishes a consultation paper on its future. The commission, chaired by Trevor Phillips, survived October's "bonfire of the quangos" but ministers are expected to say on Tuesday they want its activities to be restricted to its core functions and the management of its finances to be sharply improved. It is expected to be stripped of responsibilities such as promoting social cohesion. The consultation is due to last only three months, with swift action to follow. The EHRC took over from the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission in 2007 to promote and enforce equality and anti-discrimination laws in England, Scotland and Wales.

Phillips told MPs this month that the commission had been considering "radical reform" over the past 12 months. The 630-strong staff has already been cut to 417 and is likely to be cut to between 200 and 250 over the next 18 months. Recent high-profile cases involving the commission, which have included successful legal action against the British National Party and support of legal action against the Christian owners of a Cornish guesthouse who refused to let a gay couple stay in a double room, have fuelled criticism among the Tory right. The commission's £53m budget for this financial year is already earmarked to fall to £45m for 2011/2012. The commission and the government's equalities office are due to share a much deeper cut by 2015.

The commission's helpline, its grant-making function and several of its offices are believed to be under threat. The civil service union PCS, which represents most of its staff, said ballot papers for industrial action were being sent out. Mark Serwotka, the PCS general secretary, said cuts on the scale being contemplated could mean employers and public authorities would no longer be held to account for discriminatory policies. He suggested the cuts could end the commission's legal work such as its support for Sharon Coleman, whose victory at the European court of justice ensured six million carers in Britain are protected against discrimination in employment. However, it is expected that the "strategic legal work" will remain an important part of the commission's future.

The commission said: "We plan to respond quickly to this consultation on our powers and duties so that other organisations are aware of our view of our future. It is too soon to comment until we have seen the proposals in detail. "The commission began its own review of its role and focus around 18 months ago, before the review of non-departmental bodies by the government. We are already talking to our staff and stakeholders about our vision for the commission's future and will continue to do so during this consultation and beyond." The commission saw a string of high-profile resignations from its board last year, including its finance director. Its 2008/09 accounts were qualified by the National Audit Office last July who said it had breached rules on pay rises for permanent staff and managed money badly.

The Guardian

Police defend giving white supremacists bus transportation (Canada)

City police are defending the decision to use a city bus to ferry a dozen white supremacists out of downtown after their march Saturday, saying it avoided a violent battle with anti-racism demonstrators.

On Monday, police faced criticism for using city services to transport the white supremacists, but say the transit vehicle was never a "courtesy bus" for a group called Blood and Honour.

Rather, police say it was a prearranged contingency tactic to evacuate anybody, be they protesters from either side or members of the public caught up in the demonstration.

Police spokesman Kevin Brookwell said officers loaded them onto the bus to avoid a violent confrontation with antiracist activists, who chased the vehicle down the road.

"If we had not extracted them when we did, we would have had a violent face to face, which would have defeated the whole purpose of what we had done up to that point," Brookwell said.

The explanation is of some consolation to Ald. John Mar, who raised his concerns over the use of the bus during a council meeting Monday. Still, the downtown alderman said he doesn't like how it played out from a moral standpoint.

"I'm still disappointed that we provided this transportation, but I understand the rationale as to why it was done," he said.

Others, however, aren't happy. One of the anti-racism leaders, Bonnie Devine, said the two groups were kept apart by police and safety wasn't necessarily an issue.

She said anti-racism demonstrators were there to be confrontational, but non-violent.

It is police prerogative to assess the situation, but she thinks their resources, and not a transit bus, should have been used to take the white supremacists away.

"I don't like that (the) city used any resources to help facilitate neo-Nazis in marching in our streets," Devine said.

Mar said the white supremacist group had originally chartered its own bus, but those plans fell apart when the company learned the identity of the people it was to drive around.

Police say there was some thought given to the police service chartering a bus from a private company, but that was ultimately turned down because of the cost to taxpayers.

Blood and Honour did not pay for the transit bus, according to Brookwell.

He said it is not uncommon in major events like this to use buses as contingencies: "We did not know the numbers that would arise until they actually amassed downtown."

The bus was operated by a transit peace officer, and Calgary police were not charged for the use.

"We sided on the side of safety, regardless of the group," said Brian Whitelaw, the head of transit security. "If there was a confrontation, we'd probably have ended up in the situation we were in several years ago where you've got the risk of property damage, and you've certainly got the risk of physical injury."

Whitelaw said without the bus, the white supremacists would likely have used regular modes of public transit to leave the downtown. This could have created serious problems as confrontation between two groups could have migrated onto the LRT and regulars buses, he said.

Calgary Herald

Roma in Hungarian village terrorized by racist "National Guards"

They march through the village every morning in heavy boots, tight pants, black vests and white shirts. It's not a carnival parade, but a patrol by the nationalist and racist Hungarian National Guard, which has its own vision of what "order" is. This past week the Guard wanted to introduce "national order" in the North Moravian village of Gyöngyöspata, where they are making life very unpleasant for local Roma.

"In Parliament they told me I'm a disaster tourist," says Gábor Vóna, chair of the opposition Party for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), which is radical, devious, and very far-right. On 15 March the party made the decision in Budapest for the Guard to target the village of Gyöngyöspata. "I don't deny that I was there with them. I both saw and heard a catastrophic situation," Vóna says.

***

The first person this reporter encountered in Gyöngyöspata was Piroska, an approximately 35-year-old woman standing by a house in the center of the Roma quarter. The Roma minority in this village lives in a separate section, in homes that are a bit more shoddy than the houses where the Hungarian majority lives, but there is neither chaos nor squalor there. Conditions overall are fairly orderly, at least as far as the houses and yards are concerned.

Piroska tells me that "THEY" march here every morning, singing their songs, and that at night "THEY" shine floodlights into her windows. This happens even though her family is considered one of the most proper in the village.

Who are "THEY"? They usually wear boots, and some are in camouflage, but the majority are in those black pants, white shirts and a black vest with "For a more beautiful future" inscribed across the back of the uniform. That is the name of their club for "protecting citizens", but in reality they are just ordinary fascist Guards, who have come here to terrorize the Roma population.

The leader of one such group, Tamás Eszes, claims they just wanted to see for themselves what was going on in the village, because they were receiving complaints that the Roma were stealing in large numbers and are impossible to live with. He and his people should have left town by now, but the Hungarian population allegedly demanded they stay. He claims the non-Roma people were glad some soldiers finally showed up.

When I ask Piroska what the local Hungarians think of the Guard, she says her fellow citizens are of two kinds: Those who are glad the Guard is there, and those who have had enough of them. Whether people are going to the store, to the doctor, or waiting for the bus, wherever they go, the "Guardists" are there in large numbers.

"I am not exaggerating: This is a state of apartheid," insists Aladár Horváth, the outraged head of a well-known Hungarian civic association for Roma rights and freedoms. He is surrounded by about 500 people, half of whom are members of various civic associations from Budapest, the other half of whom are local Roma people.

The aim of the gathering is to draw attention to the license being taking by the Guards and to the fact that the police - the only authority with the right to use force when crimes are being committed - is taking no action. To be more precise, the police are active when it is necessary to prosecute Roma people, let's say, for theft - then, they take action - but when an illegal squad of racists has been marching through a village for two weeks, the police do nothing.

The owner of the local bed-and-breakfast, Magdolna Bernáth, invites the activists from the capital to spend a year - or at least three days a week - in the village. If they come for just an hour or two, she says, they will not get a trustworthy image of the real situation in the village of Gyöngyöspata. When asked what the solution is, she has a simple answer: Everyone must work.

If you want to eat, you must make money - that is the local businesswoman's recipe. She doesn't say the "Gypsies" don't want to work, she just says there is a lot of fertile land in the village that would produce for anyone for free, but it continues to lie fallow.

The Roma children in the village, however, are enthusiastically reciting the most revolutionary work of Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi, because at this time of year the whole country marks the anniversary of the 1848 revolution. Everyone in Hungary knows these lines, even Roma children:

"God of Hungarians, we swear unto Thee, We swear unto Thee - that slaves we shall no longer be!"

See the full Radiožurnál report in Czech: Maďarskou vesnici terorizují nacionalistické gardy.

Romea.cz

SARKOZY SUFFERS POLL SETBACK AS FAR-RIGHT CLOSES IN (France)

With 86 percent of votes counted, Interior Minister Claude Gueant said the president's center-right supporters had won 32.5 percent of the vote, with left-wing parties totaling 48 percent and Le Pen's anti-immigrant party polling 15 percent. However, polling institutes said Sarkozy's own UMP party scored just 16 percent, barely ahead of the National Front. The interior ministry did not issue any separate score for the UMP. The opposition Socialist party won about 25 percent with the hardline Left Front on 9 percent, ecologists on 8 percent and unaffiliated left-wing candidates with another 6 percent. "This may be the best result we have ever recorded in cantonal elections, which are not traditionally favorable to the National Front," Le Pen said on France 2 television. The vote showed people were turning their backs on decades of look-alike policies of center-right and center-left governments that had driven France into economic and social decline, she said.

The local elections, the last popular vote before next year's presidential election in which Sarkozy is expected to seek a second five-year term, confirmed Le Pen's breakthrough to stand neck-and-neck with other likely mainstream contenders. The decisive second round of the departmental elections for some 2,000 local councilors will be held next Sunday. Because the voting system favors alliances, the National Front is unlikely to win many seats since UMP leader Jean-Francois Cope reaffirmed that the mainstream conservatives would not back any far-right candidate. Turnout in the first round was at a record low of 45 percent, according to the interior ministry. One of the most unpopular presidents in recent history, Sarkozy has trailed left-wing rivals in opinion polls for months but he has now also fallen behind Le Pen in three surveys.

Typically, the National Front scores poorly in departmental elections, and Sunday's results were another indication that the far right is eating into Sarkozy's support due to exasperation over unemployment, living standards and immigration. Marine Le Pen, elected leader in January, has given the party a less abrasive image than her father Jean-Marie, who was convicted of inciting racial hatred and minimizing the Nazi Holocaust. While popular Socialist IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is keeping France guessing over whether he will run and Sarkozy has yet to formally announce his candidacy, Le Pen is already on the campaign trail. Her overtaking of Sarkozy has put conservatives on the defensive, insisting he is their best candidate.

Sarkozy's personal popularity ratings have slumped to around 29 percent in recent surveys taken before he put France in the vanguard of an international coalition to stop Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces attacking civilian protesters. A CSA poll this month credited Strauss-Kahn with 30 percent support in the first round of a presidential election, with Le Pen on 21 percent and Sarkozy 19 percent. A second, more recent Ipsos survey gave Strauss-Kahn 33 percent versus 19 for Le Pen and 18 percent for Sarkozy.



Reuters

Anti-Racism Week Starts in Finland

Finland is celebrating the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination today, on Monday, with several cities holding events to celebrate. The day kicks off an action week against racism.

The Red Cross is campaigning against racism in schools, workplaces, on the streets and on Facebook. They are handing out anti-racist pioneer awards and ’I am opposed to racism’ badges. An electronic version is also available on their Facebook page.

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination can trace its roots to March 21 1960, to commemorate the Sharpeville massacre in which Apartheid-era South African police killed 69 people demonstrating peacefully against repressive laws.

Six years later the United Nations General Assembly declared the first International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Yle

March 21st is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on 21 March. On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid "pass laws". Proclaiming the Day in 1966, the General Assembly called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination (resolution 2142 (XXI)).

Since then, the apartheid system in South Africa has been dismantled. Racist laws and practices have been abolished in many countries, and we have built an international framework for fighting racism, guided by the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Convention is now nearing universal ratification, yet still, in all regions, too many individuals, communities and societies suffer from the injustice and stigma that racism brings.

The first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”. The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination reminds us of our collective responsibility for promoting and protecting this ideal.

United Nations Website

Czech Police may handle neo-Nazi march in Brno differently than Nový Bydžov (Czech Rep)

Yesterday Police President Petr Lessy told the Czech Press Agency that police are preparing massive security measures in relation to the announced 1 May meeting of the Workers' Youth (Dělnická mládež - DM) in Brno. Lessy emphasized that officers would be brought in to ensure order not only from South Moravia, but also from other regions.

The police president claims he intends to proceed so that the extremists understand that "things will not be rosy for them" in Brno. Lessy's claim comes less than a week after police cleared the way for neo-Nazis who were breaking the law to march through Nový Bydžov after using mounted officers to brutally disperse counter-demonstrators.

The police leadership is said to be displeased that the radicals have been regularly organizing 1 May events in the city rather frequently. "We do not want Brno to become a war zone, but we will not tolerate displays of substandard behavior," said Tomáš Kužel, the South Moravian Regional Police chief.

The DM is connected to the Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS), whose predecessor was the recently dissolved Workers' Party (Dělnická strana - DS). The Supreme Administrative Court ended the DS activity because of its members' radical approaches.

Two years ago, the DS convened a 1 May demonstration in Brno. The court subsequently handed down suspended sentences and fines to their entire leadership for the radical statements made by its members at that event.

The DM has announced two events for 1 May of this year in the center of Brno. Local authorities did not grant permission for either of them. Court disputes over those events ended in a cassation complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court, which recently overturned the municipal decision that one of the events could not be held.

According to many nonprofit organizations, police totally failed during the most recent extremist event in Nový Bydžov. They did not manage to protect local Roma people and dispersed a peaceful counter-demonstration in a brutal way. Organizations such as the Czech Helsinki Committee and ROMEA say police took no action while extremists violated the law.

Romea

Hundreds attend peaceful rally to counter neo-Nazi event in Claremont (USA)

Hundreds of people attended a rally Saturday against hate. The Claremont for Peace rally was held at Memorial Park to counter a neo-Nazi rally by the National Socialist Movement. About 30 people attended the neo-Nazi rally, police said.

The neo-Nazi event was held at Foothill and Indian Hill boulevards.

The white supremacist demonstrators rallied for an hour and a half to oppose illegal-immigrant enrollment at the nearby Claremont Colleges.

Between 300 and 500 counterdemonstrators rallied nearby. Between 200 and 300 others held a separate peace rally in opposition to the white supremacists in a park four blocks away.

About 110 officers were deployed at the white supremacist rally. There were no arrests and no reported injuries or property damage.

In an email before the event, Claremont for Peace said it had called the rally "in the name of peace, celebrating social justice, love and intercultural understanding."

The group is an ad-hoc collective formed to create an organized response to the National Socialist Movement's hateful messages, the group stated.

Southern California Public Radio

America gets a jarring wake-up call on Islamophobia by Adel Syed and Lana Daoud (Opinion, USA)

Last month, the Islamic Circle of North America Relief (ICNA) sponsored a fundraising dinner in Yorba Linda, California to raise money for women’s shelters and hunger relief across the United States. Families, including young children and elders, arrived to the event, and attempted to remain unscathed by epithets being shouted at them by angry protesters. The widely viewed video documenting the event speaks for itself.

Nonviolent protests, to be clear, are a civil right and valid expression, but the vitriol that attendants were subjected to during the ICNA event is symptomatic of a larger ailment. It is not only indicative of a growing gap of understanding, but a legitimization of fear and paranoia evident in the words of the protesters, and even in speeches by two U.S. congressman, Ed Royce and Gary Miller, and Villa Park Councilwoman Deborah Pauly.

The protest rally – sponsored by local Orange County conservative group ACT! for America, and Pamela Geller’s Stop Islamization of America (now designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center) – initially took issue with a single speaker at the ICNA fundraiser. But it was their choice of hateful language and insults against Muslims that has since caused the uproar.

The shock of such hate is still palpable, and nearly a month after it took place, the protest has served as a wakeup call. People of all faiths and backgrounds across the country showered the Council on American Islamic Relations-Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR-LA) with e-mails and phone calls of support, some even crying, showing their solidarity with Muslim-Americans. The heartfelt messages were followed by eager questions: “What can I do? I want to do something, but don’t know where to start.”

The protests have served as a catalyst for dialogue, whereby those who have been working together across various faith communities at a grassroots level can now bring people together for the real discussion. Muslim-Americans have been aware of, indeed feared, the escalation of threatening rhetoric since the September 11, 2001 attacks. However, only after the YouTube video of the protest at the ICNA event permeated the blogosphere did those who had been on the fence decide that enough was enough.

Americans are not a monolithic group, but a diverse nation that can work together. There are steps that can be taken to move toward inclusiveness and greater civility toward one another. Some steps that concerned citizens can take to involve local authorities and create positive change include contacting members of Congress to ensure they know their constituency is represented by diverse voices; or reaching out to local places of worship or organizations to encourage outreach among various faith communities.

This spring, CAIR-LA is organizing a conference to provide necessary leadership skills to encourage civic engagement among Muslim-Americans. In addition, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department initiated an engagement process with Muslim-American community leaders through the Muslim American Homeland Security Congress, a community partnership in which law enforcement, Muslim-American leaders and youth throughout the Los Angeles area work together to keep communities engaged with one another. Such programs can serve as a model across America for people of diverse backgrounds to work toward a common goal of building a balanced society.

The American collective conscience has always been able to differentiate between a few who seek to marginalize and scapegoat a particular community and the majority that values pluralism. The outpouring of support from across religious and ethnic communities is a testament to the belief in equality for all.

The late U.S. President John F. Kennedy once said, “Ultimately America’s answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.” Muslim-Americans have been part of the American fabric since the 18th century, and continue to make contributions to society. Muslim-Americans are well represented in the armed forces, and serve as doctors, engineers, and school teachers in America’s classrooms.

Ensuring that America continues to be a model of inclusiveness can only occur when Muslim-Americans are seen as fellow neighbors to engage with, not outsiders to be shouted at, or altogether avoided.


Adel Syed is the government relations coordinator and Lana Daoud is the development coordinator for the Council on American Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area. THE DAILY STAR publishes this commentary in collaboration with the Common Ground News Service (www.commongroundnews.org).

Daily Star

White supremacist gets 60 days in jail for threats (Canada)

Self-professed white supremacist Kyle Robert McKee has been sentenced to 60 days in jail after pleading guilty Thursday to three criminal charges -including what Crown prosecutor Janice Rea called "racist motivated threats."

McKee, 25, pleaded guilty to uttering threats and possession of a weapon dangerous to the public in connection with an incident on Feb. 13, and for assaulting a woman at a prior party.

Rea said McKee made the threats when he confronted Jason Divine, who was driving through the southwest neighbourhood and hanging posters, identifying McKee as a member of a neo-Nazi group.

She said McKee made reference in the threats to whether or not Divine needed another visit, alluding to a home invasion last Nov. 8.

No charges have ever been laid in connection with that incident, Rea noted.

Provincial court Judge John Bascom accepted a joint submission for the 60-day total sentence, less credit for 33 days already served. McKee also must provide a DNA sample.

McKee had two attempted murder charges dropped last May in connection with a homemade bomb being planted outside a condo.

Calgary Herald

CALLS MOUNT FOR PROBE AFTER ATTACK ON ROMA CAMP (Albania)

The OSCE, US and EU ambassadors in Tirana have called for an investigation after a Roma camp on the outskirts of Tirana was burned down three weeks ago by perpetrators who have not yet been found.

“We strongly urge the responsible authorities to take the appropriate action by investigating the disturbing February events in order to ensure that such acts are not repeated,” the three ambassadors said in a statement. “We also encourage the authorities to take the appropriate action to provide necessary social assistance, including housing, to those people who have now found themselves homeless,” the statement added. Some dwellers in the camp, which was home to roughly 40 families, told local media the attackers arrived at night and beat them with sticks while setting fire to their barracks over several days, pressuring them to relocate. The residents of the camps say the police failed to prevent the attacks and provide protection for the families, who now have moved to live in settlements in Tirana and other cities. Police denied on Friday that they had disregarded the laws against discrimination of minorities and the protection of children while dealing with the case. According to the police statement, the Roma “initiated the conflict” with their neighbors, which then escalated. “We have questioned the Roma about the fire that swept their dwelling but they have refused to testify,” read the statement.

According to the Union for Albanian Roma, a Tirana-based NGO, up to 150,000 Roma people live in Albania, part of a community that struggles with discrimination, poor literacy rates and massive unemployment. The ambassadors reminded the Albanian government that it committed itself to the objectives of the Declaration of the Decade of Roma Inclusion and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. The statement also underlined that the fight against discrimination and the protection of the rights of Roma is one the twelve key priority areas needing particular attention, set forth by the European Commission as precondition for Albania to be granted EU candidate status.

Balkan Insight

'SUPREME COURT PAVED THE WAY FOR CONVICTION OF WILDERS' (Netherlands)

 The president of the Supreme Court last November restricted freedom of speech, as a result of which it could have been easier for other judges to get Party for Freedom MP Geert Wilders convicted. So, at least, suggests TV programme Uitgesproken WNL. The Supreme Court ruled on 23 November that a T-shirt with the slogan Combat18 constituted incitement to hatred and was therefore forbidden. According to WNL, the president of the Supreme Court, Geert Corstens, was personally co-responsible for this verdict. The Combat 18 verdict offers a handle for being able to convict Wilders of incitement to hatred, according to lawyer Gerard Spong. Spong, who is not a party to the Wilders court case, said that Corstens gives the impression with the verdict that he wants to achieve an accounting with the PVV leader "via the back door."

The accounting that Corstens is said to want to effect arose after Wilders sharply criticised the functioning of the judiciary last October, promoted by his own court case. About a week later, Corstens criticised the statements of the PVV leader on TV programme Buitenhof. According to the lawyer, Wilders undermined confidence in independent jurisprudence with his remarks. Wilders' lawyer Bram Moszkowicz also has doubts on the course of events. He said that his clients is "not amused." Moszkowicz considers it disquieting that members of the Supreme Court make statements about Wilders while his case might still come up there at a later stage. Moszkowicz also referred in this connection to last year's leaked memorandum by Diederik Aben, Solicitor-General to the Supreme Court. In this, Aben termed it wrong that lower courts honoured the request by Wilders to have the judges hearing his case replaced due to the appearance of bias. Wilders is currently on trial for incitement to hatred and defamation of Muslims. The case concerns statements that he made outside parliment, as within parliament, he enjoys immunity.

Nis News

TOWN RESIDENTS SIGN PETITION SUPPORTING RIGHT-WING CIVIC GUARD GROUP (Hungary)

Over 1,000 residents of Gyöngyöspata , Heves county, signed a manifesto demanding the operation of the far-right Civil Guard For a More Beautiful Future, citing a lack of public safety, on Wednesday afternoon. Local residents say the police, local government and local civil guard have been unable to enforce order for a number of years. Mayor László Tábi said "we recognise the presence of the civil guard in the village as long as it operates under lawful frameworks."  No local Roma attended the village meeting, but relayed a message that said "let police jail the Gypsies who are criminals but all 300 local Gypsies should not be punished." Civil guard members left Gyöngyöspata on Thursday evening, police announced. Heves county police and emergency police are continuing their stepped up patrols of the village.

Politics Hu

Oldham woman jailed over 'disfigured face' hate attack (UK)

A woman who attacked another woman because she had a facial disfigurement has been jailed for eight months.

Rachel Rooney, 31, of Capesthorne Drive, Oldham, taunted Chantelle Richardson - who has arteriovenous malformation - before punching her.

Ms Richardson's condition means she has an irregular connection between veins and arteries. Trauma to the nose could lead to bleeding and severe strokes.

The judge at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court agreed it was a hate crime.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

    No-one should be subject to the violence and verbal abuse that Chantelle experienced”

End Quote Rebecca Radcliffe CPS lawyer

Rooney had admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing.
'Example to others'

But, on Thursday, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) asked the judge to consider the attack as a hate crime and increase her sentence, using Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act.

After the sentencing, Ms Richardson said: "Today's result is an important one both for me personally and for disfigured people in society.

"I hope this will be recognised as an example to others - it is unacceptable to bully, abuse and taunt people who look different and I hope it gives other disfigured people the confidence to go out in public without fear of prejudice."

CPS lawyer Rebecca Radcliffe said: "This was a completely unprovoked attack on a young woman who was simply minding her own business and enjoying the company of her friends.

"In our view, Rooney's actions were clearly motivated by hostility towards Chantelle's disability."

BBC News

Producer is suspended in TV drama racism row (UK)

It is the TV programme which made Thame and Haddenham famous across the country but a racism storm has now put the future of Midsomer Murders in doubt.

Producer Brian True-May, who brought the show to Thame, was suspended this week for refusing to include ethnic minority actors in the show.

He believed that it wouldn’t ‘truly reflect rural towns like Thame’ to have such diversity in the programme.

The comments came out in an interview with The Radio Times where he said: “We just don’t have ethnic minorities involved. Because it wouldn’t be the English village with them.

“It just wouldn’t work. Suddenly we might be in Slough.

“We’re the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way.”

Mr True-May has received some sympathy from the town’s deputy mayor Don Butler.

He said: “I think that he has been treated a little unfairly as he is entitled to his own opinion.

“But it is fair to say that there is some ethnic minorities living in Thame.”

A pathway has been set up in the town based on the fictional show, which passes several places featured throughout the years.

Historic landmarks such as the 16th Century Spread Eagle Hotel has been featured on the programme, as has some of the independent shops and tea rooms.

But it is not yet known if anymore episodes of Midsomer Murders will be filmed. The decision is in the hands of the chiefs at ITV, who are still yet to decide Mr True-May’s fate.

In response to the interview, an ITV spokesman said the broadcaster was “shocked and appalled” at the comments. In the 14 series of the programme, only a single ethnic minority character has appeared .

Thame Today

Drunk fined for racist abuse in kebab shop (UK)

A drunk man screamed racist abuse at staff in his local takeaway after they refused to give him a free meal, a court heard.

William McNeill also shouted "Al-Qaida" at workers in the kebab shop.

McNeill, 42, appeared for sentence at Livingston Sheriff Court yesterday. He had earlier pleaded guilty to acting in a racially aggravated manner and using racially offensive language towards restaurant worker Hazim Hashim on February 27 this year.

Sheriff Donald Muirhead fined McNeill £500.

He told him: "The court has a job to teach people not to behave in a racially aggravated manner the way that you did."

Stewart Peebles, defending, said the accused had visited the busy restaurant many times before without any problems.

"He works as an HGV driver abroad with people from all nationalities and places and he has no difficulty with them whatsoever. He was very drunk on this occasion and has little recollection of anything."

News Scotsman