The mystery of who tossed a banana onto the field during Sunday's friendly meeting between Brazil and Scotland has been solved, with confirmation that the object was thrown by a German tourist with no racist intent.
A racism debate overshadowed Brazil's 2-0 win over the Scots, after the banana appeared on the field shortly after Neymar's second goal of the game. Amid fears the banana had been thrown as a racist act towards the striker, the player also mistakenly believed he had been jeered by Scotland supporters at the Emirates on grounds of his skin colour.
Read more at The Guardian
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
BOSNIA FOOTBALL TO BE SUSPENDED FROM INTERNATIONAL PLAY
Bosnia’s Soccer Federation has failed to end its ethnically selected presidency, and is now expected to be suspended from international competition.
At its meeting on Tuesday, Bosnia's Football Federation, NSBiH, failed to adopt a statute required by international football's governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA, to change its football management structure. FIFA and UEFA had demanded that Bosnian football replace its three-member presidency - made up of a Bosniak, a Croat and a Serb - with a single president by March 31 or face exclusion from the bodies. Because the new statute was not adopted by the deadline, Bosnia will be automatically suspended from international competitions, effective April 1, according to a previous FIFA and UEFA decision. The bodies also have the right to introduce a trustee who would set up a new Football Association in the country. In effect, Bosnia could receive an international administrator for football, much like the High Representative in the political sphere. Balkan Insight’s source in UEFA believes that Bosnia’s national team will not be suspended for a long period, despite the Federation's failure to adopt the statute. According to the source, the suspension might last for ten days, until a decision on temporary administration is declared by UEFA on April 10. FIFA and UEFA have not yet responded to Bosnia's decision on Tuesday not to adopt the statue.
Bosnia's soccer federation currently reflects the country’s political and ethnic divisions after the war of the 1990s. The NSBiH is made up of two associations, representing Bosnia’s two entities – the predominantly Serb Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation – which are together headed by the three-member presidency. The Bosnian Serb representatives oppose the one-president concept imposed by FIFA, as they fear this might jeopardize their autonomy. “We believe that preserving the tripartite presidency is a must… the only thing we can accept is that the Presidency rotates [between the three ethnic groups] every 16 months,” the vice-president of the Republika Srpska football association, Stasa Kosarac, told Balkan Insight. Changes to the football federation's structure are also opposed by Croat representatives. Josip Bevanda, secretary general of SC Siroki Brijeg and a member of the Bosnia Soccer Federation’s Executive Board, told Balkan Insight that the FIFA and UEFA rules are unfair. He said most of the delegates had voted against the changes to the federation structure demanded by UEFA. “What kind of democracy is that?" he asked. “Why do they insist on such rules, if we decided differently in a democratic fashion?”
Bogdan Ceko, a celebrated former Bosnian footballer and the Serb member of the NSBiH's presidency, advocates adopting FIFA's demands. He told Balkan Insight before Tuesday's vote that he hopes reason will prevail over what is widely recognised as a political problem. “Last week, I attended the UEFA Congress in Paris, and my friends from UEFA told me that we won't see anything nice if the required statute is not adopted,” Ceko said. “But still,” he added, “I am going to the session as an optimist. If the Olympic Committee three months ago did the same thing, I do not see any reason why it won't be done by NSBiH.” The effects of the NSBiH's suspension will likely be felt throughout Bosnia, where international funding currently makes up between 70 and 80 per cent of the NSBiH budget. In addition, Bosnian clubs often cannot pay their players regularly, so participation in international competitions is of vital importance for footballers. The best example is FC Borac from Banja Luka, which is expected to win the Bosnian club championships this year, and thus play qualifications for Europe’s Champions League. Even participation in the qualifications brings substantial revenue, and to small clubs like Borac it is essential to survival. Bosnia's national football team, however, arguably has the most to lose from a suspension, as it fights for first place in its qualifying group for Euro 2012. If Bosnia faces international exile, a great performance on Saturday against Romania could be the team's last for some time.
Balkans Insight
At its meeting on Tuesday, Bosnia's Football Federation, NSBiH, failed to adopt a statute required by international football's governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA, to change its football management structure. FIFA and UEFA had demanded that Bosnian football replace its three-member presidency - made up of a Bosniak, a Croat and a Serb - with a single president by March 31 or face exclusion from the bodies. Because the new statute was not adopted by the deadline, Bosnia will be automatically suspended from international competitions, effective April 1, according to a previous FIFA and UEFA decision. The bodies also have the right to introduce a trustee who would set up a new Football Association in the country. In effect, Bosnia could receive an international administrator for football, much like the High Representative in the political sphere. Balkan Insight’s source in UEFA believes that Bosnia’s national team will not be suspended for a long period, despite the Federation's failure to adopt the statute. According to the source, the suspension might last for ten days, until a decision on temporary administration is declared by UEFA on April 10. FIFA and UEFA have not yet responded to Bosnia's decision on Tuesday not to adopt the statue.
Bosnia's soccer federation currently reflects the country’s political and ethnic divisions after the war of the 1990s. The NSBiH is made up of two associations, representing Bosnia’s two entities – the predominantly Serb Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation – which are together headed by the three-member presidency. The Bosnian Serb representatives oppose the one-president concept imposed by FIFA, as they fear this might jeopardize their autonomy. “We believe that preserving the tripartite presidency is a must… the only thing we can accept is that the Presidency rotates [between the three ethnic groups] every 16 months,” the vice-president of the Republika Srpska football association, Stasa Kosarac, told Balkan Insight. Changes to the football federation's structure are also opposed by Croat representatives. Josip Bevanda, secretary general of SC Siroki Brijeg and a member of the Bosnia Soccer Federation’s Executive Board, told Balkan Insight that the FIFA and UEFA rules are unfair. He said most of the delegates had voted against the changes to the federation structure demanded by UEFA. “What kind of democracy is that?" he asked. “Why do they insist on such rules, if we decided differently in a democratic fashion?”
Bogdan Ceko, a celebrated former Bosnian footballer and the Serb member of the NSBiH's presidency, advocates adopting FIFA's demands. He told Balkan Insight before Tuesday's vote that he hopes reason will prevail over what is widely recognised as a political problem. “Last week, I attended the UEFA Congress in Paris, and my friends from UEFA told me that we won't see anything nice if the required statute is not adopted,” Ceko said. “But still,” he added, “I am going to the session as an optimist. If the Olympic Committee three months ago did the same thing, I do not see any reason why it won't be done by NSBiH.” The effects of the NSBiH's suspension will likely be felt throughout Bosnia, where international funding currently makes up between 70 and 80 per cent of the NSBiH budget. In addition, Bosnian clubs often cannot pay their players regularly, so participation in international competitions is of vital importance for footballers. The best example is FC Borac from Banja Luka, which is expected to win the Bosnian club championships this year, and thus play qualifications for Europe’s Champions League. Even participation in the qualifications brings substantial revenue, and to small clubs like Borac it is essential to survival. Bosnia's national football team, however, arguably has the most to lose from a suspension, as it fights for first place in its qualifying group for Euro 2012. If Bosnia faces international exile, a great performance on Saturday against Romania could be the team's last for some time.
Balkans Insight
NEO-NAZI ORGANIZATION BLOOD AND HONOUR LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
A new website has been launched in the Czech Republic endorsing the international neo-Nazi organization Blood and Honour (BH) and the militant terrorist group Combat 18 (C18). The last website run by the Czech promoters of BH, calling themselves Blood and Honour Division Bohemia, was reportedly blocked by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (the FBI) three years ago.
The designers of the new website have posted the information that C18 is doing its best to "destabilize the system and unleash race war" in the Czech Republic. C18 is said to have been behind several actions in recent months "and will commit many others again soon." The section entitled "Who we are against and how to fight" includes the following statement: "The communists have their headquarters in the center of Prague off of Wenceslas Square, and what could be easier than driving by and throwing a grenade or an improvised bomb through the gateway?"
Communist Party (KSČM) spokesperson Věra Žežulková says the party will be seeking legal advice regarding the call for violence on the neo-Nazi website. "If the threats are specific, we will turn to the Czech Police," Žežulková told the Czech Press Agency. She said the KSČM unequivocally condemns racism, violence, xenophobia and similar phenomena and that the party is not surprised by the "hate of these extreme-right groups."
Jan Šubert, spokesperson for the Security Information Services (Bezpečnostní informační služby - BIS) did not want to comment on the activities or the website of the BH and C18 promoters. He told the Czech Press Agency that the civilian counter-intelligence services have no information that the neo-Nazis would, in recent months, have been behind some sort of organized, sophisticated, subversive action or that something of the sort might occur in the near future. "Of course, violent action by an individual can never be ruled out," Šubert said, adding that the neo-Nazi scene in the Czech Republic is currently fractured into small groups which operate in isolation without central leadership.
"Naturally, we know about the website. We monitor those pages just like all the other things that turn up on the internet and are somehow related to the extremist scene in this country," Pavel Hanták, spokesperson for the Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu - ÚOOZ) told the Czech Press Agency. However, he did not want to comment on the website. "We of course do not publicize our operational activities," he said.
In one of the texts on the site, the authors praise the arson attack on a home occupied by Roma people in Vítkov, which the courts found to be a case of the attempted murder of eight people. At the same time, the authors distance themselves from groups such as the Autonomous Nationalists, National Resistance and the Workers' Social Justice Party, labeling them all "half left-wing".
A website devoted to the BH and C18 is nothing new for the Czech Republic. Czech daily Hospodářské noviny (HN) reported in May 2008 that the FBI had blocked the most recent one. "Our American colleagues acted at the instigation of British police officers who followed the website and labeled it terrorist," the daily quoted Karel Kuchařík, then head of the computer crimes division at the Police Presidium, as saying. HN reported that the Czech Police had tried on their own to have the website banned but had not succeeded.
The Blood and Honour organization was founded in the 1980s in Britain by Ian Stuart Donaldson, the singer with the neo-Nazi band Skrewdriver. It takes its name from the battle cry of the Hitler Youth. The organization endorses the legacy of the Third Reich and its main activity is organizing concerts and rallies and publishing and distributing music, magazines and clothing patches. BH divisions have been set up in many other countries.
The number 18 in Combat 18 stands for the initials of Adolf Hitler. The militant group openly calls for attacks on immigrants, Jewish people and Roma people. Political scientist Miroslav Mareš wrote in his handbook for the Czech Police on this issue that C18 was founded at the start of the 1990s in Britain and that divisions and sections of the organization have gradually been founded in other countries as well. Mareš says members of C18 have carried out a number of violent terrorist actions.
Romea.CZ
The designers of the new website have posted the information that C18 is doing its best to "destabilize the system and unleash race war" in the Czech Republic. C18 is said to have been behind several actions in recent months "and will commit many others again soon." The section entitled "Who we are against and how to fight" includes the following statement: "The communists have their headquarters in the center of Prague off of Wenceslas Square, and what could be easier than driving by and throwing a grenade or an improvised bomb through the gateway?"
Communist Party (KSČM) spokesperson Věra Žežulková says the party will be seeking legal advice regarding the call for violence on the neo-Nazi website. "If the threats are specific, we will turn to the Czech Police," Žežulková told the Czech Press Agency. She said the KSČM unequivocally condemns racism, violence, xenophobia and similar phenomena and that the party is not surprised by the "hate of these extreme-right groups."
Jan Šubert, spokesperson for the Security Information Services (Bezpečnostní informační služby - BIS) did not want to comment on the activities or the website of the BH and C18 promoters. He told the Czech Press Agency that the civilian counter-intelligence services have no information that the neo-Nazis would, in recent months, have been behind some sort of organized, sophisticated, subversive action or that something of the sort might occur in the near future. "Of course, violent action by an individual can never be ruled out," Šubert said, adding that the neo-Nazi scene in the Czech Republic is currently fractured into small groups which operate in isolation without central leadership.
"Naturally, we know about the website. We monitor those pages just like all the other things that turn up on the internet and are somehow related to the extremist scene in this country," Pavel Hanták, spokesperson for the Organized Crime Detection Unit (Útvar pro odhalování organizovaného zločinu - ÚOOZ) told the Czech Press Agency. However, he did not want to comment on the website. "We of course do not publicize our operational activities," he said.
In one of the texts on the site, the authors praise the arson attack on a home occupied by Roma people in Vítkov, which the courts found to be a case of the attempted murder of eight people. At the same time, the authors distance themselves from groups such as the Autonomous Nationalists, National Resistance and the Workers' Social Justice Party, labeling them all "half left-wing".
A website devoted to the BH and C18 is nothing new for the Czech Republic. Czech daily Hospodářské noviny (HN) reported in May 2008 that the FBI had blocked the most recent one. "Our American colleagues acted at the instigation of British police officers who followed the website and labeled it terrorist," the daily quoted Karel Kuchařík, then head of the computer crimes division at the Police Presidium, as saying. HN reported that the Czech Police had tried on their own to have the website banned but had not succeeded.
The Blood and Honour organization was founded in the 1980s in Britain by Ian Stuart Donaldson, the singer with the neo-Nazi band Skrewdriver. It takes its name from the battle cry of the Hitler Youth. The organization endorses the legacy of the Third Reich and its main activity is organizing concerts and rallies and publishing and distributing music, magazines and clothing patches. BH divisions have been set up in many other countries.
The number 18 in Combat 18 stands for the initials of Adolf Hitler. The militant group openly calls for attacks on immigrants, Jewish people and Roma people. Political scientist Miroslav Mareš wrote in his handbook for the Czech Police on this issue that C18 was founded at the start of the 1990s in Britain and that divisions and sections of the organization have gradually been founded in other countries as well. Mareš says members of C18 have carried out a number of violent terrorist actions.
Romea.CZ
Racist incidents in Scotland fall by 4% in a year (UK)
The number of racist incidents recorded by police in Scotland fell by 4% over a one-year period, official figures show.
The chief statistician's report said 4,952 racist incidents were recorded in 2009-10, compared to 5,143 in 2008-09.
However, two police forces - Strathclyde and Lothian and Borders - recorded an increase.
Between 2004-10, reported racist incidents in Scotland increased by 10%, but the figures have been falling since 2006-07.
In 2009-10, about 48% of victims for whom ethnicity was recorded were of Asian origin and about 96% of perpetrators were white.
The most frequently recorded racist crime in 2009-10 was racially aggravated conduct, accounting for 65% of cases.
BBC News
The chief statistician's report said 4,952 racist incidents were recorded in 2009-10, compared to 5,143 in 2008-09.
However, two police forces - Strathclyde and Lothian and Borders - recorded an increase.
Between 2004-10, reported racist incidents in Scotland increased by 10%, but the figures have been falling since 2006-07.
In 2009-10, about 48% of victims for whom ethnicity was recorded were of Asian origin and about 96% of perpetrators were white.
The most frequently recorded racist crime in 2009-10 was racially aggravated conduct, accounting for 65% of cases.
BBC News
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Duluth Human Rights Supporters Push Against Anti-Immigration Bill (USA)
Human rights supporters expect the Duluth City Council to make its opposition official against a proposed state immigration law tonight.
Opponents of the bill believe, if passed, the legislation will encourage racial profiling across the Northland.
The Duluth Immigration Rights Coalition (DIRC) says they feel the state proposal mirrors the controversial legislation Arizona passed about one year ago.
Read more at Fox 21 Online
Opponents of the bill believe, if passed, the legislation will encourage racial profiling across the Northland.
The Duluth Immigration Rights Coalition (DIRC) says they feel the state proposal mirrors the controversial legislation Arizona passed about one year ago.
Read more at Fox 21 Online
Anti-terrorism unit to probe discovery (UK)
Counter-terrorism intelligence officers and bomb disposal experts were called to a beauty spot after two suspect packages were found floating in a lake.
The discovery was made yesterday at Corby boating lake, in Cottingham Road, an area popular with families, walkers and anglers.
Police said although the contents of the two packages could potentially make up an explosive device, neither were viable.
The drama started at 8am when anglers fished an object from the lake, sparking an evacuation of the area. One package, wrapped in a black bin liner, contained a glass jar packed with nails, a lighter, gas canisters, batteries and a strong-smelling liquid. The other held similar contents.
Police were called and the area, including the boating lake cafe, was immediately evacuted.
Roadblocks were set up at the junction of Willow Brook Road and Cottingham Road and outside the nearby Willowbrook Health Centre. Officers cordoned off a large area around the lake and stopped people using the footpath which leads through the woods to the town centre.
Police, paramedics and firefighters were also on the scene as cafe staff waited to find out if they could collect their vehicles, parked behind the police cordon.
People turning up at the police roadblock, hoping to keep appointments at Willowbrook Health Centre, were turned back and told to get to the complex from the Westcott Way end of Cottingham Road.
Passers-by gathered during the morning to watch events unfold and at the end of the lake furthest away from where the packages were discovered men continued to fish and people sat on benches as emergency services carried out their investigation.
Carl McCardine was working in the cafe when the packages were found. He said: “There were about 20 customers in at the time, some of them were members of a walking group. We were told to evacuate the cafe and get out of the area. Everyone was very calm.”
At about 1.30pm Cottingham Road was re-opened and cafe staff were allowed to remove their vehicles from the car park.
Evening Telegraph
The discovery was made yesterday at Corby boating lake, in Cottingham Road, an area popular with families, walkers and anglers.
Police said although the contents of the two packages could potentially make up an explosive device, neither were viable.
The drama started at 8am when anglers fished an object from the lake, sparking an evacuation of the area. One package, wrapped in a black bin liner, contained a glass jar packed with nails, a lighter, gas canisters, batteries and a strong-smelling liquid. The other held similar contents.
Police were called and the area, including the boating lake cafe, was immediately evacuted.
Roadblocks were set up at the junction of Willow Brook Road and Cottingham Road and outside the nearby Willowbrook Health Centre. Officers cordoned off a large area around the lake and stopped people using the footpath which leads through the woods to the town centre.
Police, paramedics and firefighters were also on the scene as cafe staff waited to find out if they could collect their vehicles, parked behind the police cordon.
People turning up at the police roadblock, hoping to keep appointments at Willowbrook Health Centre, were turned back and told to get to the complex from the Westcott Way end of Cottingham Road.
Passers-by gathered during the morning to watch events unfold and at the end of the lake furthest away from where the packages were discovered men continued to fish and people sat on benches as emergency services carried out their investigation.
Carl McCardine was working in the cafe when the packages were found. He said: “There were about 20 customers in at the time, some of them were members of a walking group. We were told to evacuate the cafe and get out of the area. Everyone was very calm.”
At about 1.30pm Cottingham Road was re-opened and cafe staff were allowed to remove their vehicles from the car park.
Evening Telegraph
Far right groups may be fuelling increase in city race attacks (UK)
FAR right groups are thought to be one of the causes behind a rise in race hate attacks in Portsmouth, The News can reveal.
New figures show that 455 incidents were reported to the city’s Racial Awareness Service over a nine-month period – a 25 per cent year-on-year rise.
Police also say hate crime – which includes those targeted because of their race or religion – went up by 16 per cent in the city to 317 last year.
Fareham, Gosport, Havant and Waterlooville also saw a nine per cent rise in hate crime.
It comes as an investigation by The News on pages 12 and 13 today reveals how one man has been the victim of seven race attacks in less than two months since opening his store in Ludlow Road, Paulsgrove.
Nanda Vayanaperumal has been subjected to racist abuse, had paint thrown at his store, his car tyres slashed and windows smashed at the Danny Mart.
Sharon Furtado, who manages Portsmouth City Council’s Racial Awareness Service, said: ‘The rise (in race attacks) could be due to a whole host of reasons.
‘Last year we had the elections and the British National Party and far right groups had more of a platform to express their views.
‘Some times people listen to them and it touches a chord with them.
‘It could also be down to the recession and there being a feeling that immigrants are coming in and taking jobs. We don’t know what the trigger is that makes someone decide to act.’
Last November, up to 100 people were involved in a demonstration at the Jami Mosque in Victoria Road North, Southsea.
The protest was sparked after a small group of Muslim extremists – not from Portsmouth – burned poppies in London during the two-minute silence on Armistice Day.
The English Defence League was blamed for organising the protests, which resulted in several arrests and charges.
Criminals face more serious penalties if the crime is found to be racially aggravated. A person convicted of actual bodily harm faces up to five years in prison, but if it is racially aggravated the offender can be jailed for up to seven years.
Chief Inspector Karen Scipio said: ‘Crimes aggravated by racial hatred are not only upsetting for the victims they’re also damaging to our wider communities.
‘We will continue to work hard to engage with the public and encourage victims of hate crime and people who witness it taking place, to come forward and report all incidents to us.’
Portsmouth News
New figures show that 455 incidents were reported to the city’s Racial Awareness Service over a nine-month period – a 25 per cent year-on-year rise.
Police also say hate crime – which includes those targeted because of their race or religion – went up by 16 per cent in the city to 317 last year.
Fareham, Gosport, Havant and Waterlooville also saw a nine per cent rise in hate crime.
It comes as an investigation by The News on pages 12 and 13 today reveals how one man has been the victim of seven race attacks in less than two months since opening his store in Ludlow Road, Paulsgrove.
Nanda Vayanaperumal has been subjected to racist abuse, had paint thrown at his store, his car tyres slashed and windows smashed at the Danny Mart.
Sharon Furtado, who manages Portsmouth City Council’s Racial Awareness Service, said: ‘The rise (in race attacks) could be due to a whole host of reasons.
‘Last year we had the elections and the British National Party and far right groups had more of a platform to express their views.
‘Some times people listen to them and it touches a chord with them.
‘It could also be down to the recession and there being a feeling that immigrants are coming in and taking jobs. We don’t know what the trigger is that makes someone decide to act.’
Last November, up to 100 people were involved in a demonstration at the Jami Mosque in Victoria Road North, Southsea.
The protest was sparked after a small group of Muslim extremists – not from Portsmouth – burned poppies in London during the two-minute silence on Armistice Day.
The English Defence League was blamed for organising the protests, which resulted in several arrests and charges.
Criminals face more serious penalties if the crime is found to be racially aggravated. A person convicted of actual bodily harm faces up to five years in prison, but if it is racially aggravated the offender can be jailed for up to seven years.
Chief Inspector Karen Scipio said: ‘Crimes aggravated by racial hatred are not only upsetting for the victims they’re also damaging to our wider communities.
‘We will continue to work hard to engage with the public and encourage victims of hate crime and people who witness it taking place, to come forward and report all incidents to us.’
Portsmouth News
Nordic far-right seeps into political mainstream
April elections in Finland could see the rise of yet another Northern European anti-immigrant, nationalist rightwing party that flatly rejects the far-right label while using populist rhetoric.
The True Finns is the latest such party to show signs of gaining mainstream traction.
Opinion polls suggest its showing in the April 17 parliamentary election could leap from its 4.1 percent score in the 2007 election right up to 20 percent.
The True Finns, Sweden Democrats (SD), the Danish People's Party (DPP) and Norway's Progress Party (FrP) are all already represented in their respective national parliaments.
There, they emphasise the importance and of "lifestyle politics such as abortion, gay marriages, gender education, immigration," says Swedish political scientist Anders Hellstroem.
"They are authoritarian, pro-family, want law and order, and are opposed to immigration. In that sense, they are all far-right," he tells AFP.
At the same time, however, since they are all represented in parliament, "all are established. They are part of the mainstream," he says.
The far-right label, which signals extremism, is therefore not completely accurate.
In Finland, for instance, the True Finns are far from having a monopoly on anti-immigration rhetoric, says writer and political analyst Jussi Foerbom: better-established parties having long "used pretty merciless and harsh language in the discussion of immigration."
The party has however by far been the most successful in transforming the issue into popular support.
All the Nordic populist parties tend to oppose high taxation levels, while still backing the social welfare models associated with their countries.
They are also trying to gain respectability.
Sweden's SD, which with its neo-Nazi roots has the most dubious past of the Nordic parties, has for instance purged the most extreme elements from its midst.
A True Finns city councillor was convicted for blog comments linking Islam to paedophilia and saying Somalis were predisposed to mugging people and living on the dole.
But Raimo Vistbacka, a party founding member, told AFP his behavior could be attributed to the fact that "every party has these young radicals."
"They mellow out as they get more experience," he said.
When Sweden's SD entered parliament for the first time last September after elections that handed Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's centre-right coalition minority rule, all the other parties pledged to isolate it.
The party has nevertheless been able to play kingmaker in a line of important parliamentary votes, handing the win to the government or the left-leaning opposition as it sees fit.
And the True Finns party, which has been represented in parliament since 1996, could very likely become the first of the Nordic populist parties to actually make it into government.
Denmark's DPP has also secured widespread mainstream acceptance.
In its role as key ally to the centre-right coalition in power since 2001, it has helped shape government policies and push Danish immigration policies to become among the most restrictive in Europe.
The party's head Pia Kjaersgaard has said she sees the party as "rather close to French Gaullism".
The DPP has been an ally to the minority government for 10 years and is Denmark's third largest party.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen has said it represents "a fringe of the electorate we can't ignore."
It has "made a lot of efforts not to be affiliated with the SD (in Sweden)," Swedish political scientist Hellstroem says, stressing however that "SD is no further right than DPP."
The DPP is now considered a possible coalition partner after general elections in Denmark later this year.
In Norway too, where the FrP has long been the second-largest party, there are signs it could for the first time be allowed into a government coalition after the next vote in 2013.
Such high acceptance level might seem far away for the SD, as its roots are much more extreme.
Norwegian political scientist Frank Aarebrot at the University of Bergen argues however that the Swedish party does not really differ much from the other populist parties in the region.
"But they are at different stages in their development," he says, pointing out that "FrP, when it was as young as (the) SD, was at least as isolated."
ABC News
The True Finns is the latest such party to show signs of gaining mainstream traction.
Opinion polls suggest its showing in the April 17 parliamentary election could leap from its 4.1 percent score in the 2007 election right up to 20 percent.
The True Finns, Sweden Democrats (SD), the Danish People's Party (DPP) and Norway's Progress Party (FrP) are all already represented in their respective national parliaments.
There, they emphasise the importance and of "lifestyle politics such as abortion, gay marriages, gender education, immigration," says Swedish political scientist Anders Hellstroem.
"They are authoritarian, pro-family, want law and order, and are opposed to immigration. In that sense, they are all far-right," he tells AFP.
At the same time, however, since they are all represented in parliament, "all are established. They are part of the mainstream," he says.
The far-right label, which signals extremism, is therefore not completely accurate.
In Finland, for instance, the True Finns are far from having a monopoly on anti-immigration rhetoric, says writer and political analyst Jussi Foerbom: better-established parties having long "used pretty merciless and harsh language in the discussion of immigration."
The party has however by far been the most successful in transforming the issue into popular support.
All the Nordic populist parties tend to oppose high taxation levels, while still backing the social welfare models associated with their countries.
They are also trying to gain respectability.
Sweden's SD, which with its neo-Nazi roots has the most dubious past of the Nordic parties, has for instance purged the most extreme elements from its midst.
A True Finns city councillor was convicted for blog comments linking Islam to paedophilia and saying Somalis were predisposed to mugging people and living on the dole.
But Raimo Vistbacka, a party founding member, told AFP his behavior could be attributed to the fact that "every party has these young radicals."
"They mellow out as they get more experience," he said.
When Sweden's SD entered parliament for the first time last September after elections that handed Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's centre-right coalition minority rule, all the other parties pledged to isolate it.
The party has nevertheless been able to play kingmaker in a line of important parliamentary votes, handing the win to the government or the left-leaning opposition as it sees fit.
And the True Finns party, which has been represented in parliament since 1996, could very likely become the first of the Nordic populist parties to actually make it into government.
Denmark's DPP has also secured widespread mainstream acceptance.
In its role as key ally to the centre-right coalition in power since 2001, it has helped shape government policies and push Danish immigration policies to become among the most restrictive in Europe.
The party's head Pia Kjaersgaard has said she sees the party as "rather close to French Gaullism".
The DPP has been an ally to the minority government for 10 years and is Denmark's third largest party.
Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen has said it represents "a fringe of the electorate we can't ignore."
It has "made a lot of efforts not to be affiliated with the SD (in Sweden)," Swedish political scientist Hellstroem says, stressing however that "SD is no further right than DPP."
The DPP is now considered a possible coalition partner after general elections in Denmark later this year.
In Norway too, where the FrP has long been the second-largest party, there are signs it could for the first time be allowed into a government coalition after the next vote in 2013.
Such high acceptance level might seem far away for the SD, as its roots are much more extreme.
Norwegian political scientist Frank Aarebrot at the University of Bergen argues however that the Swedish party does not really differ much from the other populist parties in the region.
"But they are at different stages in their development," he says, pointing out that "FrP, when it was as young as (the) SD, was at least as isolated."
ABC News
Why aren't there more black football managers? (UK)
Is institutional racism in the boardroom the reason so few black players make it into management?
Glance at the average football pitch and you might conclude racism in Britain's favourite sport is dead. Team-sheets from the Premier League down have players of all ethnicities, and organising bodies host myriad anti-racism events. The discrimination bound-up with the game in decades past appears to be over. Until you look at the people shouting to the players.
In 2007, about a quarter of all players were black, but only two out of 92 league clubs had black managers. Today, there are still only two black managers in all four leagues: Paul Ince, manager of Notts County, and Chris Powell, of Charlton Athletic. Football management is still overwhelmingly white. Now academics at Staffordshire University, who have undertaken major research into the subject, report a strong call among black and minority ethnic (BME) football fans for the introduction of positive discrimination.
The research, by Ellis Cashmore, professor of culture, media and sport at Staffordshire, and his colleague Dr Jamie Cleland, senior lecturer in sociology, involved 1,000 football fans, professional players, referees, coaches and managers revealing their views on the dearth of black managers. More than 56% of those polled said there is racism at the top of football's hierarchy; among BME respondents, that figure was 73%. Most radically of all, over half of BME fans called for a policy similar to the Rooney rule in the US, which stipulates that all shortlists for management and coaching jobs in the National Football League must include at least one minority candidate. The Staffordshire academics report that a third of the polled football fans encouraged this type of reform.
"We didn't expect support for reform," admits Cashmore. "We thought that, as British culture tends to oppose any type of compulsion, the fans would resist a policy. But, in the event, they showed a clear recognition that the paucity of black managers has become an embarrassing anomaly that needs radical attention." The comments made by the surveyed football fans included: "Until you force something like the Rooney rule, the situation will not change"; "The US is now seeing the success of diversifying upper management"; "There are numerous white managers who have failed, but their name always crops up on a short list and they get given jobs. When you are black you get one chance and if you mess up, that's it."
The academics believe that while black former players like Ruud Gullit and Patrick Vieira helped combat racism in football by showing off their skills, football management escaped that development. "From the early 1980s, black players earned their place on teams on merit, and resentment subsided. But management is different. Skill isn't so self-evident – a manager needs an opportunity and a period of time to prove his worth," says Cashmore. "In the 1980s, football's upper echelons were tut-tutting about the unruly fans who still harboured racist views. Now the tide has reversed: over half of the fans are complaining that football's rulers are racist."
The academics report that fans believe "institutional racism" – where people do not consciously discriminate against minorities, but fail to challenge old assumptions and stereotypes, meaning a pattern of operations continues – is relevant in football management. One survey respondent said: "People appoint people like themselves. White chairmen appoint white, male managers. The cycle is not easily broken." Dismissing the idea that black managers will come through as the higher numbers of black players mature, another said: "Football boards have very few ethnic minorities on them – that's more likely to be the issue than the players or backroom staff. It's an old boys' club that is unlikely to bring in people from outside their peer group."
Cashmore agrees. "Succession in football management seems haunted by images of celebrated managers of the past and present – and they're all white," he says. Britain's first black football manager is believed to be Tony Collins, who managed Rochdale for seven years from 1960 – although most people assume it was Gullit, who managed Chelsea in 1996. Gullit, Cashmore adds, "retains the distinction of being the first football manager to have dreadlocks".
One insider response to the Staffordshire University research came from a black former league manager who no longer works in the UK. He said: "I had to keep reminding myself how much of a niche industry football management is – there are only 92 jobs. When a manger loses his job, within hours someone already on the management merry-go-round is installed as favourite without considering the merits of an outsider. That's the appeal of the Rooney rule – it opens up the field."
Evidence of continued racism came from the survey respondents' additional comments. One fan said: "The lack of black managers in football reflects the football view that while black men can play, they are not competent to manage."
"The research indicates that fans sense that there's an issue in British football," says Cashmore. "The majority is in no doubt that there is racism in the boardroom – that in itself demands attention." But he is gloomy about the prospect of change. "We sent the results of the our Topfan gay footballers project (on homophobia in football ) to the Football Association, Premier League, Football League and Professional Footballers' Association, but none expressed interest in acting on our results," he says. "So we don't hold out much hope that they will respond positively to the latest findings."
• Ellis Cashmore will discuss his research on BBC Radio5 Live's Total Blackout on Wednesday, 30 March at 8pm
The Guardian
Glance at the average football pitch and you might conclude racism in Britain's favourite sport is dead. Team-sheets from the Premier League down have players of all ethnicities, and organising bodies host myriad anti-racism events. The discrimination bound-up with the game in decades past appears to be over. Until you look at the people shouting to the players.
In 2007, about a quarter of all players were black, but only two out of 92 league clubs had black managers. Today, there are still only two black managers in all four leagues: Paul Ince, manager of Notts County, and Chris Powell, of Charlton Athletic. Football management is still overwhelmingly white. Now academics at Staffordshire University, who have undertaken major research into the subject, report a strong call among black and minority ethnic (BME) football fans for the introduction of positive discrimination.
The research, by Ellis Cashmore, professor of culture, media and sport at Staffordshire, and his colleague Dr Jamie Cleland, senior lecturer in sociology, involved 1,000 football fans, professional players, referees, coaches and managers revealing their views on the dearth of black managers. More than 56% of those polled said there is racism at the top of football's hierarchy; among BME respondents, that figure was 73%. Most radically of all, over half of BME fans called for a policy similar to the Rooney rule in the US, which stipulates that all shortlists for management and coaching jobs in the National Football League must include at least one minority candidate. The Staffordshire academics report that a third of the polled football fans encouraged this type of reform.
"We didn't expect support for reform," admits Cashmore. "We thought that, as British culture tends to oppose any type of compulsion, the fans would resist a policy. But, in the event, they showed a clear recognition that the paucity of black managers has become an embarrassing anomaly that needs radical attention." The comments made by the surveyed football fans included: "Until you force something like the Rooney rule, the situation will not change"; "The US is now seeing the success of diversifying upper management"; "There are numerous white managers who have failed, but their name always crops up on a short list and they get given jobs. When you are black you get one chance and if you mess up, that's it."
The academics believe that while black former players like Ruud Gullit and Patrick Vieira helped combat racism in football by showing off their skills, football management escaped that development. "From the early 1980s, black players earned their place on teams on merit, and resentment subsided. But management is different. Skill isn't so self-evident – a manager needs an opportunity and a period of time to prove his worth," says Cashmore. "In the 1980s, football's upper echelons were tut-tutting about the unruly fans who still harboured racist views. Now the tide has reversed: over half of the fans are complaining that football's rulers are racist."
The academics report that fans believe "institutional racism" – where people do not consciously discriminate against minorities, but fail to challenge old assumptions and stereotypes, meaning a pattern of operations continues – is relevant in football management. One survey respondent said: "People appoint people like themselves. White chairmen appoint white, male managers. The cycle is not easily broken." Dismissing the idea that black managers will come through as the higher numbers of black players mature, another said: "Football boards have very few ethnic minorities on them – that's more likely to be the issue than the players or backroom staff. It's an old boys' club that is unlikely to bring in people from outside their peer group."
Cashmore agrees. "Succession in football management seems haunted by images of celebrated managers of the past and present – and they're all white," he says. Britain's first black football manager is believed to be Tony Collins, who managed Rochdale for seven years from 1960 – although most people assume it was Gullit, who managed Chelsea in 1996. Gullit, Cashmore adds, "retains the distinction of being the first football manager to have dreadlocks".
One insider response to the Staffordshire University research came from a black former league manager who no longer works in the UK. He said: "I had to keep reminding myself how much of a niche industry football management is – there are only 92 jobs. When a manger loses his job, within hours someone already on the management merry-go-round is installed as favourite without considering the merits of an outsider. That's the appeal of the Rooney rule – it opens up the field."
Evidence of continued racism came from the survey respondents' additional comments. One fan said: "The lack of black managers in football reflects the football view that while black men can play, they are not competent to manage."
"The research indicates that fans sense that there's an issue in British football," says Cashmore. "The majority is in no doubt that there is racism in the boardroom – that in itself demands attention." But he is gloomy about the prospect of change. "We sent the results of the our Topfan gay footballers project (on homophobia in football ) to the Football Association, Premier League, Football League and Professional Footballers' Association, but none expressed interest in acting on our results," he says. "So we don't hold out much hope that they will respond positively to the latest findings."
• Ellis Cashmore will discuss his research on BBC Radio5 Live's Total Blackout on Wednesday, 30 March at 8pm
The Guardian
Monday, 28 March 2011
Racist attack on mosque (UK)
Racist abuse was shouted at worshippers at a busy mosque.
Police were called to Eastern Avenue in Gants Hill after reports of a group of men causing damage to parked vehicles in the road.
Six men were seen heading in the direction Redbridge roundabout towards Redbridge Islamic Centre, also in Eastern Avenue.
As they reached the mosque they shouted racial abuse and threw bricks at the building, which broke glass in the front doors.
The incident occurred at around 7.45pm on Thursday (March 24), near the start of evening prayers.
A number of worshippers had already entered the mosque but there were still some people outside the building when the attack occurred.
One man suffered a minor head injury but did not need any medical treatment.
Six men were arrested by police and remain in custody at Ilford Police Station.
Chief Inspector Stan Greatrick, of Redbridge police, said: “We would appeal for anyone who was in the Eastern Avenue area and saw the group of males to contact us.
“We have spoken to a number of people in the area and continue to liaise closely with members of the Redbridge Mosque.
“We have already secured additional patrols for Eastern Avenue and we would like to reassure the local community, and those who worship at the Redbridge Mosque, that we are treating this case extremely seriously.”
Anyone with information should contact Redbridge CID on 020 8345 2632.
Waltham Forest Guardian
Police were called to Eastern Avenue in Gants Hill after reports of a group of men causing damage to parked vehicles in the road.
Six men were seen heading in the direction Redbridge roundabout towards Redbridge Islamic Centre, also in Eastern Avenue.
As they reached the mosque they shouted racial abuse and threw bricks at the building, which broke glass in the front doors.
The incident occurred at around 7.45pm on Thursday (March 24), near the start of evening prayers.
A number of worshippers had already entered the mosque but there were still some people outside the building when the attack occurred.
One man suffered a minor head injury but did not need any medical treatment.
Six men were arrested by police and remain in custody at Ilford Police Station.
Chief Inspector Stan Greatrick, of Redbridge police, said: “We would appeal for anyone who was in the Eastern Avenue area and saw the group of males to contact us.
“We have spoken to a number of people in the area and continue to liaise closely with members of the Redbridge Mosque.
“We have already secured additional patrols for Eastern Avenue and we would like to reassure the local community, and those who worship at the Redbridge Mosque, that we are treating this case extremely seriously.”
Anyone with information should contact Redbridge CID on 020 8345 2632.
Waltham Forest Guardian
Neymar accuses Tartan Army in racism row (UK)
The 19-year-old, who scored both goals, the second from the penalty spot, also accused some spectators of racially abusing him.
‘I feel great and scored two but what happened with the banana is sad,’ he said. ‘They were jeering me a lot. This atmosphere of racism is totally sad.’
He added: 'I don't want to make a big deal of it... I'd rather not even talk about it, to keep the subject from escalating.'
The incident took place as the Neymar - strongly linked with a move to Chelsea in the future - was preparing to take his 77th-minute penalty, his second goal of the game.
Tartan Army spokesman Hamish Husband strongly denied the jeers for Neymar were racially motivated.
He said: ‘The reason Neymar was booed was because we believed he was feigning injury. Any suggestion of racism from the Tartan Army today, as far as I am concerned, is absolute tosh.’
The match was played at a neutral venue and it is unclear whether the banana was thrown by a supporter of either side or a neutral.
Metro
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Anti-Semitism Conference Looks At Ways To Combat An Ancient Hatred
With each passing year, the enormity of the Holocaust seems to fade from collective memory.
One of the major manifestations of contemporary anti-Semitism is to deny the Holocaust ever happened, or to minimize its impact.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeatedly promises to enact a second Holocaust, threatening to eliminate the state of Israel.
That Holocaust denial often takes place alongside Holocaust glorification does not seem to give anti-Semites logical pause.
But the tragic history of the Jewish experience and the daunting challenges posed by anti-Semitism have not dismayed those committed to fighting it.
Several dozen human rights activists, historians, and government representatives recently gathered in Prague for a conference dedicated to “Confronting Anti-Semitism in Public Discourse.” The conference was sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
“It is deeply embarrassing that we have to deal with anti-Semitism some 66 years after the defeat of Nazi Germany,” said Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Jiri Schneider, whose remarks opened the conference.
Far from being some new ideology, contemporary anti-Semitism is “old poison in new bottles,” he said.
While Jewish stereotypes propagated by anti-Semites may be ancient, participants said anti-Semites have been able to harness new technology to spread and popularize their bigotry.
“Intolerant discourse has never been as global as it is now,” said Lithuanian Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, the director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
Though anti-Semitism is a global phenomenon, the conference focused on topics pertaining to the OSCE region.
Read the full item at Radio Free Europe
One of the major manifestations of contemporary anti-Semitism is to deny the Holocaust ever happened, or to minimize its impact.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeatedly promises to enact a second Holocaust, threatening to eliminate the state of Israel.
That Holocaust denial often takes place alongside Holocaust glorification does not seem to give anti-Semites logical pause.
But the tragic history of the Jewish experience and the daunting challenges posed by anti-Semitism have not dismayed those committed to fighting it.
Several dozen human rights activists, historians, and government representatives recently gathered in Prague for a conference dedicated to “Confronting Anti-Semitism in Public Discourse.” The conference was sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
“It is deeply embarrassing that we have to deal with anti-Semitism some 66 years after the defeat of Nazi Germany,” said Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Jiri Schneider, whose remarks opened the conference.
Far from being some new ideology, contemporary anti-Semitism is “old poison in new bottles,” he said.
While Jewish stereotypes propagated by anti-Semites may be ancient, participants said anti-Semites have been able to harness new technology to spread and popularize their bigotry.
“Intolerant discourse has never been as global as it is now,” said Lithuanian Ambassador Janez Lenarcic, the director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.
Though anti-Semitism is a global phenomenon, the conference focused on topics pertaining to the OSCE region.
Read the full item at Radio Free Europe
St. Charles man ‘I’m no terrorist’ (USA)
Local dog trainer Ibraheim “Abe” Mashal says he might have considered the FBI’s request for him to work as an undercover informant if they’d recruited him openly.
Instead, the American-born Muslim and U.S. Marine Corps veteran charges that agents secretly put him on the federal government’s “no-fly” list and launched an investigation that included his family, friends and clients, then offered to restore his flying privileges in exchange for him spying on area mosques.
“If they had called and been straight up with me, they would have gotten a different answer,” said Mashal. “But this has to be a free country. You can’t go putting people on lists like they did in communist Russia.”
Read more at Beacon News
Instead, the American-born Muslim and U.S. Marine Corps veteran charges that agents secretly put him on the federal government’s “no-fly” list and launched an investigation that included his family, friends and clients, then offered to restore his flying privileges in exchange for him spying on area mosques.
“If they had called and been straight up with me, they would have gotten a different answer,” said Mashal. “But this has to be a free country. You can’t go putting people on lists like they did in communist Russia.”
Read more at Beacon News
Children pose as IRA terrorists at EU-funded centre (UK)
Photographs showing children dressed as IRA terrorists and brandishing weapons provoked fury among victims' groups in Northern Ireland yesterday and prompted investigations by the police, the Children's Commissioner and the European Union.
The controversy involves a community centre in South Armagh that has received millions of pounds from the European Union, including funds intended to promote peace and social cohesion.
Describing itself as "the jewel in the crown of South Armagh tourism", the Ti Chulainn Centre, near Mullaghbawn, hosted a youth event organised by Sinn Fein at which scores of children listened to talks by former IRA terrorists.
Racks of sub-machineguns, rifles, handguns, mounted machineguns, a rocket launcher and even a bazooka were on show in the centre, and children were photographed holding AK-47s, rifles and handguns.
It is not known if the weapons were replicas or had escaped the decommissioning process.
The pictures, entitled "North Armagh Martyrs in South Armagh", were posted online. One, showing a boy cradling an AK-47 and dressed in combat uniform, black beret, sunglasses and leather gloves, is captioned "IRA dude".
The discovery of the photos comes just months after the centre was criticised for using EU money to fund tours promoting the "proud tradition of resisting British rule in Ireland".
The pictures came to light last week after the father of a boy at the event contacted the terrorist victims' group Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (Fair).
William Frazer, from Fair, said: "The son asked his father if he could join Sinn Fein Youth. I believe they had a heated discussion and, during this, the man discovered the photos on Facebook. He was distraught and was determined to make sure that no other child should face the same pressure. He did not feel comfortable going to the police and couldn't approach Sinn Fein, so he approached me. He told me, 'You need to try and stop this. They are poisoning those kids and filling them with hate'."
Dominic Bradley, the SDLP member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Newry and Armagh, condemned the "elaborate glorification of violence and Provo gunmen involving young children".
Barrie Halliday, Newry and Armagh Assembly candidate for Traditional Unionist Voice in the May elections, said: "We're constantly being told to forget the past, as Northern Ireland has moved into a new era. These disgusting photographs show that to be lies."
Patricia Lewsley, Northern Ireland's Children's Commissioner, promised to investigate the incident. "My job is to hold government and organisations to account over their actions," she said.
The images were taken during a weekend to commemorate fallen IRA members. Republicans marched through Mullaghbawn on Sunday 3 October last year to the Ti Chulainn centre, where a monument in memory of IRA men on the "South Armagh Roll of Honour" was unveiled.
The IoS has discovered that the march was not registered with the Parades Commission. Yesterday the Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed that it had opened an investigation. In addition the Special EU Programmes Body, which has given grants to the centre from an EU Peace programme, is to look into the photographs.
Neither the Ti Chulainn centre nor Sinn Fein responded to requests for comment.
The controversy comes as the British government is about to stop favouring Catholic recruits to the Northern Ireland police force over Protestants, ending a decade-old affirmative action policy undertaken as part of the peace process.
The Independant
Serb ultra-nationalists behind Kadhafi Facebook support
Serbian Facebook page in support of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi which has gathered more than 46,000 "likes" was set up by an ultranationalist movement, its administrator said Thursday.
"It's all simply about support to Libyan people defending their independence," administrator Igor Marinkovic of the minority extreme nationalist movement Nasi 1389 told AFP.
"Libya was attacked as we (in Serbia) were in 1999. Libya and its leader, Colonel Kadhafi, supported us at the time and now we support them," he said.
Thursday marks 12 years since the start of a 78-day NATO bombing campaign to force the troops of then president Slobodan Milosevic out of Kosovo. Serbs have "bitter memories" of their own air strikes, Marinkovic added.
Some 46,516 people have so far liked the group "Support for Muammar al Gaddafi from the people of Serbia" at the Facebook social network, posting messages in favor of Kadhafi and against Western powers and coalition strikes.
"Never forget, never forgive, America kills, Support Libyans !!! 24.03.1999," read a posted Thursday.
"THE COLONEL HEARD ABOUT US!!! Our group was main news on Libyan television!!! Together until victory!," read another post by an administrator on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile a group calling itself the Libyan Youth Movement claiming to be a "leading organisation fighting against the criminal regime" of Kadhafi sent a statement to AFP raising concern over Serbian Internet support for Kadhafi.
"Libyan official state TV has been broadcasting Internet content from Serbian supporters of Kadhafi on a regular basis in order to show that Kadhafi still has supporters in other nations," they said. The claims could not be independently verified.
Google Hosted News
"It's all simply about support to Libyan people defending their independence," administrator Igor Marinkovic of the minority extreme nationalist movement Nasi 1389 told AFP.
"Libya was attacked as we (in Serbia) were in 1999. Libya and its leader, Colonel Kadhafi, supported us at the time and now we support them," he said.
Thursday marks 12 years since the start of a 78-day NATO bombing campaign to force the troops of then president Slobodan Milosevic out of Kosovo. Serbs have "bitter memories" of their own air strikes, Marinkovic added.
Some 46,516 people have so far liked the group "Support for Muammar al Gaddafi from the people of Serbia" at the Facebook social network, posting messages in favor of Kadhafi and against Western powers and coalition strikes.
"Never forget, never forgive, America kills, Support Libyans !!! 24.03.1999," read a posted Thursday.
"THE COLONEL HEARD ABOUT US!!! Our group was main news on Libyan television!!! Together until victory!," read another post by an administrator on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile a group calling itself the Libyan Youth Movement claiming to be a "leading organisation fighting against the criminal regime" of Kadhafi sent a statement to AFP raising concern over Serbian Internet support for Kadhafi.
"Libyan official state TV has been broadcasting Internet content from Serbian supporters of Kadhafi on a regular basis in order to show that Kadhafi still has supporters in other nations," they said. The claims could not be independently verified.
Google Hosted News
Racism in Russian football: Zenit fans let side down
As Russia prepares to host the 2018 Football World Cup can the country's domestic game shake off its reputation for racism?
Last November, shortly before Fifa made its choice of World Cup hosts, the Russian Football Union adopted a seven-point memorandum on fighting racism.
It includes a commitment to producing anti-racist guidelines and establishing a website called Racism Offside.
The need for a strategy was underlined this week after a photograph was published showing a fan of the league champions, Zenit St Petersburg, waving a banana at Roberto Carlos. The former Brazilian star was captaining the visiting team, Anzhi Makhachkala.
We were attending the match as part of an investigation into allegations that Zenit - the only major Russian team to have never signed a player of African heritage - has fostered a culture in which managers have been discouraged from signing black players.
Those allegations were initially made in 2004 by Vlastimil Petrela, Zenit's then manager. He repeated them in a recent BBC interview:
"I wanted to hire a black player, but I could not," he said.
"I don't know why, but the management did not want it. Whenever I raised the issue, the answer always was, 'Zenit is not interested.'"
The 'Ultras'
Zenit told the BBC that the officials in charge of hiring when Petrela was manager are no longer with the club, so they were unable to comment on his allegations, and Luciano Spaletti, Zenit's current coach, told the BBC he was free to sign any player he wished.
Petrela's successor at Zenit, the current Russian national coach Dick Advocaat, was quoted in 2008 as saying that the fans at the club would not accept a black player - although there has subsequently been some dispute about the content of the recording.
Advocaat's office told the BBC they were unable to contact him for a response.
What is clear, though, is that the leaders of the Ultras, a 5,000-strong group of Zenit supporters, are happy their club has still not signed an African.
Speaking at a genteel hotel in the Swiss capital Bern, before a recent Europa League game, one of the leaders of the Ultras said they did not start the tradition of not having black players, but "we are upholding it and we approve of it".
Another leader, who is an employee of the club, added: "We don't have a problem with black players. No black players - no problem."
The leaders - who did not want their names used - are not peripheral figures.
The Ultras have played an important role in Zenit's success, giving the club the kind of substantial and loyal fan-base which is rare in Russian football.
The Ultras have access to discounted tickets in a part of the stadium reserved for them.
A fan has to prove loyalty and commitment to the club at an informal interview with the Ultras' leaders in order to make the grade.
Intimidation
There was no doubting the Ultras' commitment at the Anzhi Makhachkala match.
It may have been an early season game against modest opposition, but it felt - at times - like a cup final.
The Ultras' section of the ground was a sea of blue and white flags and the choreographed chanting lasted the entire 90 minutes, without a break, creating an intimidating atmosphere for the visitors.
That intimidation also took a different form. When one of Anzhi's African players touched the ball, at times a low rumble of monkey chants could be made out, coming from a small section of the crowd.
When the banana photo was published, Zenit released a statement condemning racial intolerance, and described the incident as a provocative act which had nothing to do with their regular fans.
One of the leaders of the Zenit Ultras concurred, although he told Sovietski Sport newspaper: "We do not consider a banana a racist symbol."
The club says that the culprit has now been found and banned from the stadium for life.
The Russian Football Union says it is taking no further action, because there was no official complaint from Anzhi Makhachkala.
Fighting prejudice
Earlier this year, the Union did put forward the idea of docking points from clubs for racist fan behaviour. This remains at the proposal stage.
Speaking to the BBC before the Anzhi match, Zenit's head of fan relations, Alexei Blinov, said racism was a problem for world football, not just Russia - and maintained Zenit was at the vanguard of fighting prejudice.
"We started a tolerance campaign in this city in 2006, way before Uefa turned its attention to it," he said.
"We've organised a series of lectures in schools and colleges and we're part of Uefa's Show Racism the Red Card campaign."
When he was informed what the leader of the Ultras had told the BBC about not accepting black players, he said it showed the tolerance campaign had not been effective enough.
"Thank you for telling me this, I will talk to these guys. Next time you come, you will see these same guys showing a red card to racism," he said.
Ordinary Zenit fans at the Anzhi game said they had not heard about the club's tolerance campaign, but questioned whether one was necessary.
"We're not racist," said one, "so why would we need an initiative?"
But others beg to differ. Apart from a brief spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Nigerian player, Isaac Okoronkwo, has spent the past decade at teams in former Soviet republics.
He says that he was led to believe Zenit would not buy him because he was black.
Zenit officials say they are unaware of that case - and deny there is a race-based hiring policy.
They give a variety of reasons why the club has never signed an African player, ranging from their scouting policy to St Petersburg's cold weather.
They also point out that they have signed players from a variety of backgrounds, including two South Koreans and the Portuguese defender, Bruno Alves.
But, however swiftly Zenit has dealt with the banana incident, it has provided another example of the cloud that hangs over Russian football, as it prepares to welcome supporters - and players - from across the world.
BBC News
Last November, shortly before Fifa made its choice of World Cup hosts, the Russian Football Union adopted a seven-point memorandum on fighting racism.
It includes a commitment to producing anti-racist guidelines and establishing a website called Racism Offside.
The need for a strategy was underlined this week after a photograph was published showing a fan of the league champions, Zenit St Petersburg, waving a banana at Roberto Carlos. The former Brazilian star was captaining the visiting team, Anzhi Makhachkala.
We were attending the match as part of an investigation into allegations that Zenit - the only major Russian team to have never signed a player of African heritage - has fostered a culture in which managers have been discouraged from signing black players.
Those allegations were initially made in 2004 by Vlastimil Petrela, Zenit's then manager. He repeated them in a recent BBC interview:
"I wanted to hire a black player, but I could not," he said.
"I don't know why, but the management did not want it. Whenever I raised the issue, the answer always was, 'Zenit is not interested.'"
The 'Ultras'
Zenit told the BBC that the officials in charge of hiring when Petrela was manager are no longer with the club, so they were unable to comment on his allegations, and Luciano Spaletti, Zenit's current coach, told the BBC he was free to sign any player he wished.
Petrela's successor at Zenit, the current Russian national coach Dick Advocaat, was quoted in 2008 as saying that the fans at the club would not accept a black player - although there has subsequently been some dispute about the content of the recording.
Advocaat's office told the BBC they were unable to contact him for a response.
What is clear, though, is that the leaders of the Ultras, a 5,000-strong group of Zenit supporters, are happy their club has still not signed an African.
Speaking at a genteel hotel in the Swiss capital Bern, before a recent Europa League game, one of the leaders of the Ultras said they did not start the tradition of not having black players, but "we are upholding it and we approve of it".
Another leader, who is an employee of the club, added: "We don't have a problem with black players. No black players - no problem."
The leaders - who did not want their names used - are not peripheral figures.
The Ultras have played an important role in Zenit's success, giving the club the kind of substantial and loyal fan-base which is rare in Russian football.
The Ultras have access to discounted tickets in a part of the stadium reserved for them.
A fan has to prove loyalty and commitment to the club at an informal interview with the Ultras' leaders in order to make the grade.
Intimidation
There was no doubting the Ultras' commitment at the Anzhi Makhachkala match.
It may have been an early season game against modest opposition, but it felt - at times - like a cup final.
The Ultras' section of the ground was a sea of blue and white flags and the choreographed chanting lasted the entire 90 minutes, without a break, creating an intimidating atmosphere for the visitors.
That intimidation also took a different form. When one of Anzhi's African players touched the ball, at times a low rumble of monkey chants could be made out, coming from a small section of the crowd.
When the banana photo was published, Zenit released a statement condemning racial intolerance, and described the incident as a provocative act which had nothing to do with their regular fans.
One of the leaders of the Zenit Ultras concurred, although he told Sovietski Sport newspaper: "We do not consider a banana a racist symbol."
The club says that the culprit has now been found and banned from the stadium for life.
The Russian Football Union says it is taking no further action, because there was no official complaint from Anzhi Makhachkala.
Fighting prejudice
Earlier this year, the Union did put forward the idea of docking points from clubs for racist fan behaviour. This remains at the proposal stage.
Speaking to the BBC before the Anzhi match, Zenit's head of fan relations, Alexei Blinov, said racism was a problem for world football, not just Russia - and maintained Zenit was at the vanguard of fighting prejudice.
"We started a tolerance campaign in this city in 2006, way before Uefa turned its attention to it," he said.
"We've organised a series of lectures in schools and colleges and we're part of Uefa's Show Racism the Red Card campaign."
When he was informed what the leader of the Ultras had told the BBC about not accepting black players, he said it showed the tolerance campaign had not been effective enough.
"Thank you for telling me this, I will talk to these guys. Next time you come, you will see these same guys showing a red card to racism," he said.
Ordinary Zenit fans at the Anzhi game said they had not heard about the club's tolerance campaign, but questioned whether one was necessary.
"We're not racist," said one, "so why would we need an initiative?"
But others beg to differ. Apart from a brief spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Nigerian player, Isaac Okoronkwo, has spent the past decade at teams in former Soviet republics.
He says that he was led to believe Zenit would not buy him because he was black.
Zenit officials say they are unaware of that case - and deny there is a race-based hiring policy.
They give a variety of reasons why the club has never signed an African player, ranging from their scouting policy to St Petersburg's cold weather.
They also point out that they have signed players from a variety of backgrounds, including two South Koreans and the Portuguese defender, Bruno Alves.
But, however swiftly Zenit has dealt with the banana incident, it has provided another example of the cloud that hangs over Russian football, as it prepares to welcome supporters - and players - from across the world.
BBC News
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Iowa should not cancel domestic terrorism drills (USA)
The Minutemen and 912 project claim outrage over a terror drill scheduled for Pottawattamie County Iowa in which white supremacists angry over immigration shoot a number of U.S. Citizens as well as undocumented immigrants at a high school.
We don’t think this terror scenario is unrealistic as some Minutemen have proven to be domestic terrorists. Recently Shawna Forde, the national leader of one Minutemen organization was convicted on capital murder charges and sentenced to the death penalty in the slaughter of a family of Mexican-American citizens near the border with Arizona, including nine year Brisenia Flores who was shot to death as she begged for her life before her mother. Shawna Forde had been a member of both major Minutemen groups, though eventually booted from one group, and maintained a close relationship to Jim Gilchrist until just after her arrest. Somehow Shawna Forde was able to pass a background check Minutemen claim they run for new members despite a lengthy criminal record.
Read More at Tucson Citizen
We don’t think this terror scenario is unrealistic as some Minutemen have proven to be domestic terrorists. Recently Shawna Forde, the national leader of one Minutemen organization was convicted on capital murder charges and sentenced to the death penalty in the slaughter of a family of Mexican-American citizens near the border with Arizona, including nine year Brisenia Flores who was shot to death as she begged for her life before her mother. Shawna Forde had been a member of both major Minutemen groups, though eventually booted from one group, and maintained a close relationship to Jim Gilchrist until just after her arrest. Somehow Shawna Forde was able to pass a background check Minutemen claim they run for new members despite a lengthy criminal record.
Read More at Tucson Citizen
MALTESE MEDIA ACCUSED OF PROMOTING RACISM
The media in Malta have been accused of “promoting racism” and acting as a main “contributor to the fear of Malta being invaded and conquered by Africans”. Racial discrimination remains widespread in Malta, particularly when it comes to employment and housing, according to a report published in Brussels yesterday to mark International Day Against Racism. The European Network Against Racism suggests that over the past years the media in Malta encouraged racial discrimination through its focus on irregular migration problems. The co-authors of the part dealing with Malta – Jeannine Vassallo and Jean Pierre Gauci from an NGO called The People for Change Foundation – say an in-depth content analysis sh ows indirect racism was common in Maltese media. They say “illegal immigrants” and “illegal immigration” were the words of choice when describing matters relating to migration. Journalists made little distinction between the terms “illegal immigrants”, “irregular migration”, “asylum seekers” and “refugees” despite the different legal definitions. “Additionally, derogatory terms such as ‘clandestine’, ‘parasites’ and ‘scroungers’ were also used at times.” The report adds: “Most features in the media depict migrants in a negative light, with most representing migrants as troublemakers or criminals as opposed to hard workers, family members and churchgoers, which would be considered pious in Maltese society.”
ENAR also hit out at the internet, particularly online websites and comment forums made available by Maltese online newspapers. According to the report, Jon Hoisaeter, from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, described the language used on such online forums as “rather aggressive towards immigrants” which is “very discouraging”. The report says the online forums are used extensively to discuss migration issues even by far-right groups that aim to get their message across and enable discussion among followers. Apart from the criticism of the Maltese media, the report says discrimination against African minorities in Malta based on race is still widespread, particularly when it comes to employment and housing. The report, which deals with the period January 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010, notes that employment discrimination against Africans and Muslims is pervasive both when seeking a job and in terms of the work conditions offered. Claiming that some migrant workers were even offered jobs for €2 a day in the construction industry, the report notes that “migrants felt obliged to accept these conditions lest failing to do so would mean having no source of income whatsoever”. With regard to housing, ENAR claims many Maltese landlords are reluctant to rent accommodation to foreigners (Africans) for fear of damage to their property due to neglect. “Furthermore, there are certain areas which are highly populated by migrants, largely due to cheap prices and the fact that they are outside traditional city centres,” the report states.
The Times of Malta
ENAR also hit out at the internet, particularly online websites and comment forums made available by Maltese online newspapers. According to the report, Jon Hoisaeter, from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, described the language used on such online forums as “rather aggressive towards immigrants” which is “very discouraging”. The report says the online forums are used extensively to discuss migration issues even by far-right groups that aim to get their message across and enable discussion among followers. Apart from the criticism of the Maltese media, the report says discrimination against African minorities in Malta based on race is still widespread, particularly when it comes to employment and housing. The report, which deals with the period January 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010, notes that employment discrimination against Africans and Muslims is pervasive both when seeking a job and in terms of the work conditions offered. Claiming that some migrant workers were even offered jobs for €2 a day in the construction industry, the report notes that “migrants felt obliged to accept these conditions lest failing to do so would mean having no source of income whatsoever”. With regard to housing, ENAR claims many Maltese landlords are reluctant to rent accommodation to foreigners (Africans) for fear of damage to their property due to neglect. “Furthermore, there are certain areas which are highly populated by migrants, largely due to cheap prices and the fact that they are outside traditional city centres,” the report states.
The Times of Malta
Friday, 25 March 2011
US Ambassador condemns Jobbik MP's call for "Hungarian Ku Klux Klan"
The United States commends the Hungarian government's commitment to protect all citizens irrespective of their race or social heritage and condemns a call, attributed to a far-right politician in the press, for the emergence of a "Hungarian Ku Klux Klan", a statement by the US Ambassador to Hungary said on Tuesday.
"The comments attributed by press reports to a far right politician on March 21 calling for the emergence of a Hungarian Ku Klux Klan are despicable and represent the worst kind of incitement of racial intolerance and hatred," the statement said.
Magyar Nemzet daily on Tuesday quoted Gyorgy Gyula Zagyva, a lawmaker for the radical nationalist Jobbik party, as saying: "Just as there was a time in the United States for the Ku Klux Klan, the time has come for the emergence of a Hungarian Ku Klux Klan."
Ambassador Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis said in the statement that both American and Hungarian societies were based on common values of free speech and freedom of expression.
"There is no place in civic political discourse for groups that foster a climate of fear and violence. In recent meetings with government officials, I have heard assurances that the government will not tolerate violence against its citizens or a climate of intimidation, and will take appropriate action to ensure that citizens' rights are protected."
"We stand together with Hungary ready to counter hatred wherever it should appear – either here or in the United States," the statement said.
Politics.Hu
"The comments attributed by press reports to a far right politician on March 21 calling for the emergence of a Hungarian Ku Klux Klan are despicable and represent the worst kind of incitement of racial intolerance and hatred," the statement said.
Magyar Nemzet daily on Tuesday quoted Gyorgy Gyula Zagyva, a lawmaker for the radical nationalist Jobbik party, as saying: "Just as there was a time in the United States for the Ku Klux Klan, the time has come for the emergence of a Hungarian Ku Klux Klan."
Ambassador Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis said in the statement that both American and Hungarian societies were based on common values of free speech and freedom of expression.
"There is no place in civic political discourse for groups that foster a climate of fear and violence. In recent meetings with government officials, I have heard assurances that the government will not tolerate violence against its citizens or a climate of intimidation, and will take appropriate action to ensure that citizens' rights are protected."
"We stand together with Hungary ready to counter hatred wherever it should appear – either here or in the United States," the statement said.
Politics.Hu
Young people are drawn to far-right party in eastern Germany
The far-right National-Democratic Party of Germany, or NPD, didn't win any seats in Sunday's state elections in Saxony-Anhalt, but it was particularly popular with young people. Although the party, which has aroused criticism for its links with racially motivated violence, only earned 4.6 percent of the overall vote, polls show that 15 percent of men under 30 cast their ballots for the party.
The fact that the NPD didn't manage the 5 percent hurdle to enter parliament, says Professor Hajo Funke, an expert on social and political issues who has written extensively about Germany's far right, does not mean that it has no influence in the state. It represents a culture of youth violence and aggression towards foreigners that is very present in society.
"The number of violent attacks in Saxony-Anhalt increased again in 2010," he said. "This culture of violence is a racist culture; it hasn't been properly dealt with and is still relatively strong."
In 2010, 42 percent of all attacks in Saxony-Anhalt were racially motivated, compared to 24 percent the previous year, according to an advice centre for victims of right-wing violence.
Fringe party
There have been attempts to ban the NPD, such as in a case brought by the German government to the Constitutional Court in 2001. But these attempts have failed.
The NPD is considered a fringe party, shunned by mainstream society. The party has no representatives at federal level, but has seats in two of Germany’s state parliaments.
The NPD didn’t stand in the 2006 Saxony-Anhalt state elections, but this year over 45,000 people voted for them. The party was more popular in rural areas, such as in Laucha, a town of 3,200 people, where its candidate, a chimneysweep with a Hitler moustache, polled nearly 19 percent of the votes. In cities like Magdeburg and Halle, it only won around 3 percent.
Funke says that cities are more multicultural and better at fighting right-wing movements; it's in rural parts of eastern Germany that the far-right, aggressive, racist culture of violence often dominates.
"The people who try to tackle this are in the minority or are even forced to leave," he said. "That's something that's exceptionally dangerous for a democratic society."
Michael Grunzel, spokesperson for the NPD in Saxony-Anhalt, rejects the notion that his party encourages violence. Indeed, he says, several NPD members were themselves physically attacked during the election campaign.
"Violence is not something that NPD members have promoted," Grunzel said. "It is carried out by people of all political tendencies and is now a part of daily life."
Putting German nationals first
The NPD makes no secret of its skepticism as to Germany's approach to immigration. The party proposes to abolish the right to political asylum, and to put foreigners working in Germany into a separate social security system.
"We [in the NPD] put our own nationals first," Grunzel said, claiming that this didn't make his party racist.
One of the key issues in the NPD's campaign in Saxony-Anhalt was the government's intention to open its labor market to EU citizens from central and eastern Europe in May.
"This will mean that the job market in Saxony-Anhalt will be overrun with cheap labor from eastern Europe," Grunzel said.
Saxony-Anhalt, with a jobless rate of 11 percent, has the highest unemployment and the lowest wages in Germany.
Grunzel attributes the NPD's popularity among young people to social factors and the feeling that German nationals are being sidelined.
"We assume that many young people whose families and jobs are rooted here are starting to think about their long-term future and that of their children," he said. "And people realize that it can't continue as it is in Saxony-Anhalt."
Analysts speculate that the high electoral turnout of over 51 percent contributed to keeping the NPD out of the state parliament.
Funke thinks that, in addition, other political issues became more important to the voters. In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan, for example, the Greens won support and were able to double their share of the vote.
The fact that the NPD's top candidate, Matthias Heyder, was accused of putting Adolf Hitler's book, Mein Kampf, on the Internet also may have driven votes away from the party.
"Every defeat is an emotional defeat for such a party," Funke said. "That doesn't mean that they can't carry on."
Grunzel admits that party members are demotivated and disappointed, but said that achieving 4.6 percent of the vote was not a bad result.
"We will carry on. We'll take each election as it comes," Grunzel said.
Author: Natalia Dannenberg
Editor: Michael Lawton
DW-World
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
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
Thursday, 24 March 2011
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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 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."
Advertisement: Story continues below
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
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
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.
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
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
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)
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
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
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
Victorian neo-Nazi used as medic in Afghanistan (Australia)
 |
| Kenneth Stewart |
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
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