Three people have been charged over race related vandalism, including a spray paint attack at a mosque.
The charges relate to spray paint attacks at the Nasir Mosque in Hartlepool and two addresses in Shotton Colliery, near Peterlee, last November.
All are accused of conspiracy to commit racially aggravated criminal damage.
A man, 24, from Peterlee, a man, 31, from High Pittington, County Durham and a woman, 19, from Buckinghamshire, are due in court on 11 May.
BBC News
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Cyber-stalking laws: police review urged (UK)
Greater Manchester Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan wants police to be given more powers to seize computers used to harass victims online.
It is hard to prove who committed stalking even though it is easy to establish which computer was used.
The Home Office says it is investigating the issue.
Mr Shewan, who is the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) leader on the issue of stalking and harassment, met ministers at the Home Office last week.
He said: "The legislation is 12 years old and I don't think anyone envisaged 12 years ago the extent that the world wide web would open up opportunities to harass and stalk people via the internet."
Cyber-stalkers can currently either be charged under the Protection from Harassment Act or the Malicious Communications Act, but charities and academics say neither is sufficient given the expansion in technology in recent years.
300% increase
As the number of people using computers has increased, so has the ability to tap into personal information online.
Mr Shewan wants it to be easier to seize computer equipment from a suspect and to get internet providers to hand over the unique identifier of each computer - the IP address.
Professor Carsten Maple, who heads the National Centre for Cyber-stalking Research at Bedfordshire University, said it was easy for those in-the-know to track down information.
He said Trojan spyware can be used to hack into anybody's computer, access their personal files and even secretly switch on their webcam.
Trojans are viruses which pose as harmless programmes and can be sent into computers via e-mails and other methods.
Yet currently police find it difficult to seize computer equipment unless they can prove there was an intention to cause fear or distress.
Prof Maple added his voice to calls for a review of the legislation.
He said: "The lack of power to seize computers makes it difficult to prove who is responsible for stalking, even if it can be shown beyond reasonable doubt that a particular device was used to commit a crime."
Jane Harvey from the Network for Surviving Stalking said 77% of stalking victims waited until more than 100 incidents had happened before going to the police.
She said when they finally took that step it was vital their allegations were taken seriously and the situation investigated fully.
"This is a devastating crime - being stalked online can ruin people's lives," she said.
"We urge the government and the police to do everything possible to ensure those affected by cyber-stalking get proper access to justice."
Prosecutions under the Malicious Communications Act have soared to an all-time high and increased almost 300% in five years to 899 last year.
Charges under the Protection from Harassment Act have risen from just under 12,000 to 12,549 in five years.
Separate figures from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) show that last year 33% of stalking incidents were by e-mail, 32% by text message and another 8.4% through social networking sites.
A Home Office spokesman said it was working with the police, Crown Prosecution Service and charities to try to improve the police response and make sure there were robust prosecutions.
He said: "Cyber stalking is a crime. As with all other forms of stalking we take it very seriously and we expect other agencies to do the same.
"The Home Office, Ministry of Justice and the Crown Prosecution Service are currently working together with victims and support charities to discuss whether the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 and its enforcement has been effective in providing an appropriate response to stalking."
BBC News
1 of 2 Greek youths who took down Nazi flag from Acropolis dies at 89 (Greece)
The family of one of two Greek youths who removed the flag of occupier Nazi Germany from the Acropolis 70 years ago says he has died.
Apostolos "Lakis" Santas' family said Saturday the 89-year-old had died of respiratory failure.
Santas was a 19-year-old law student when he and his close friend Manolis Glezos, also 19, climbed the steep Acropolis hill in the centre of Athens on the night of May 30, 1941, and took down the flag from its mast, even though it was guarded by a sentry. The pair escaped after hiding the flag in a cave.
It was seen as the first, symbolic act of resistance against the month-old occupation.
Glezos and Santas later joined a left-wing resistance group and were imprisoned and exiled during the civil war that followed liberation.
Google Hosted News
Apostolos "Lakis" Santas' family said Saturday the 89-year-old had died of respiratory failure.
Santas was a 19-year-old law student when he and his close friend Manolis Glezos, also 19, climbed the steep Acropolis hill in the centre of Athens on the night of May 30, 1941, and took down the flag from its mast, even though it was guarded by a sentry. The pair escaped after hiding the flag in a cave.
It was seen as the first, symbolic act of resistance against the month-old occupation.
Glezos and Santas later joined a left-wing resistance group and were imprisoned and exiled during the civil war that followed liberation.
Google Hosted News
Royal wedding: Police probe racist attack at Middletons' local pub party (UK)
A party to celebrate the royal wedding at the Middletons’ local pub ended in a punch-up when a drunken gatecrasher attacked three guests.
Landlord of the Old Boot Inn John Hayley, 55, held the £15-a-head bash for 350 regulars after returning from Westminster Abbey, where he had been a wedding guest.
But a fight broke out after a thug is said to have called an Asian woman a “f***ing P***” when she sat in someone else’s seat.
The attacker then grabbed her and threw her to the floor before attacking her sister-in-law and a male pal outside. The Asian woman was left with a cut face and black eye. The thug fled before police arrived.
The pub, in Bucklebury, Berks, is a regular haunt of Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, who have lived nearby for the past 10 years. Kate and Wills have also popped in.
Charlie Hewitt, 47, whose girlfriend Liza Simpson, 39, was attacked by the thug, said: “They were having a delightful day and really enjoying the party. When they got to the Boot it all got a bit unsavoury and some not nice things were said. It really upset her, though, and it’s a real shame to end such a lovely day like that.”
A police spokesman said they were investigating.
Mr Hayley organised the party months ago and he had employed bouncers to stop trouble.
Speaking outside the Abbey after the wedding, he said: “I was sat right at the front. Kate walked so close, I could have touched her dress.”
Sunday Mirror
Landlord of the Old Boot Inn John Hayley, 55, held the £15-a-head bash for 350 regulars after returning from Westminster Abbey, where he had been a wedding guest.
But a fight broke out after a thug is said to have called an Asian woman a “f***ing P***” when she sat in someone else’s seat.
The attacker then grabbed her and threw her to the floor before attacking her sister-in-law and a male pal outside. The Asian woman was left with a cut face and black eye. The thug fled before police arrived.
The pub, in Bucklebury, Berks, is a regular haunt of Kate’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, who have lived nearby for the past 10 years. Kate and Wills have also popped in.
Charlie Hewitt, 47, whose girlfriend Liza Simpson, 39, was attacked by the thug, said: “They were having a delightful day and really enjoying the party. When they got to the Boot it all got a bit unsavoury and some not nice things were said. It really upset her, though, and it’s a real shame to end such a lovely day like that.”
A police spokesman said they were investigating.
Mr Hayley organised the party months ago and he had employed bouncers to stop trouble.
Speaking outside the Abbey after the wedding, he said: “I was sat right at the front. Kate walked so close, I could have touched her dress.”
Sunday Mirror
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Neo-Nazi Couple Convicted For the Murder of Rights Defenders in Moscow (Russia)
Last night, however, a divided jury issued a guilty verdict against Nikita Tikhonov and Yevgeniya Khasis, the neo-Nazi couple accused of murdering Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova in downtown Moscow on January 19, 2009. Seven jurors found the defendants guilty, and the forthcoming sentencing could yield a life imprisonment for Tikhonov and as many as 20 years behind the bars for Khasis.
Markelov, a human rights defender, lawyer and founder of the Rule of Law Institute, and Baburova, a young freelance reporter working for Novaya Gazeta, were fatally shot after leaving a press conference. Markelov, who is a well-known and respected figure in Russia’s human rights community, represented victims of human rights abuses in Chechnya, independent journalists, including Anna Politkovskaya and Igor Domnikov, as well as victims of neo-Nazi violence. Anastasia Baburova wrote about street protests, demonstrations, youth movements, and high-profile court cases, including the latest ruling against Russian skinhead violence. Human Rights First, joined by some 1,400 of our supporters, appealed to President Medvedev, calling on the Russian authorities to carry out a prompt, thorough, and impartial investigation into the murder of Anastasia Baburova and Stanislav Markelov, and to find and prosecute those responsible.
Tikhonov and Khasis are well-known figures on the ultranationalist scene in Moscow. At the end of last year, the neo-Nazi movement demonstrated its potential as a viable threat to public stability and an aggressive opponent to the Russian government. In December 2010, ultranationalist groups were able to quickly mobilize thousands of supporters to spread xenophobic rhetoric and rally in downtown areas, committing a slew of violent acts against ethnic minorities encountered by the angry mobs in the streets and on the subway. Trials of alleged organizers are set to begin later this year.
Human Rights first
More BNP expulsions expected (UK)
In fact, we should demand them! BNP press officer Simon Darby has in his own words begun a night of "sustained alcohol abuse". I can't say I really blame him. Having been deserted by his band of political psychopaths, racists and criminals, Darby has spent a large part of the last few days trying to convince the media that there is a mass conspiracy of BNP members having their email and facebook accounts hacked and random acts of vicious and racist remarks left on their social network pages.
Just to ensure that the BNP has a safety clause however, I read on one BNP site this afternoon that: 'BNP Central Office has indicated that people who bring the organisation into disrepute by idiocy will be expelled and remarked that idiocy is not free speech, but sheer stupidity'.
So, let's get the ball rolling with three of the BNP's candidates for Barnsley. Most of their thoughts and comments cannot be repeated. They are so extreme and in places sickening in their vile, racist rants, taking a sick group pleasure attacking ordinary members of the community for their skin colour or their religon.
One candidate, Danny Cooke, makes excessive claims and boasts about carrying out illegal and sickening acts with an animal while egged on by his party colleagues. In other posts, he asks other BNP members to remove pictures of former Barnsley BNP by-election candidate Enis Dalton from their profiles, stating "I'm sick of seeing the bitch".
Then there's Raymond Hinchcliffe, standing in Barnsley Dearne South, who claims that when he sees black people he is reminded to eat a banana, or tells Asians to "F*** O** YOU SMELLEY (sic) B*******" which is also pretty much the way he views and writes about Turkish people.
Finally, Peter Shirt the candidate for Rockingham Ward. Shirt likes to make jokes about the Holocaust, where millions of people were murdered by Nazis. Not only does he make jokes about it, it would seems he positively encourages it. As he does it would seem, violence against women too.
As well as lots of jokes about beating his wife up, he then makes a sickening reference to Peter Sutcliffe who was known as the Yorkshire Ripper, a rapist and a serial murderer who terrorised the north of England, murdering thirteen women.
Why do so many men in the BNP make jokes about beating women and rape? Is it Freudian? Or is it further indication about how very little respect and how much pure hatred these people have for women? I believe it is all.
Shirt also describes Muslims as "f****** revolting".
Over to you, who ever is left running the BNP.
Hope Not Hate
Just to ensure that the BNP has a safety clause however, I read on one BNP site this afternoon that: 'BNP Central Office has indicated that people who bring the organisation into disrepute by idiocy will be expelled and remarked that idiocy is not free speech, but sheer stupidity'.
So, let's get the ball rolling with three of the BNP's candidates for Barnsley. Most of their thoughts and comments cannot be repeated. They are so extreme and in places sickening in their vile, racist rants, taking a sick group pleasure attacking ordinary members of the community for their skin colour or their religon.
One candidate, Danny Cooke, makes excessive claims and boasts about carrying out illegal and sickening acts with an animal while egged on by his party colleagues. In other posts, he asks other BNP members to remove pictures of former Barnsley BNP by-election candidate Enis Dalton from their profiles, stating "I'm sick of seeing the bitch".
Then there's Raymond Hinchcliffe, standing in Barnsley Dearne South, who claims that when he sees black people he is reminded to eat a banana, or tells Asians to "F*** O** YOU SMELLEY (sic) B*******" which is also pretty much the way he views and writes about Turkish people.
Finally, Peter Shirt the candidate for Rockingham Ward. Shirt likes to make jokes about the Holocaust, where millions of people were murdered by Nazis. Not only does he make jokes about it, it would seems he positively encourages it. As he does it would seem, violence against women too.
As well as lots of jokes about beating his wife up, he then makes a sickening reference to Peter Sutcliffe who was known as the Yorkshire Ripper, a rapist and a serial murderer who terrorised the north of England, murdering thirteen women.
Why do so many men in the BNP make jokes about beating women and rape? Is it Freudian? Or is it further indication about how very little respect and how much pure hatred these people have for women? I believe it is all.
Shirt also describes Muslims as "f****** revolting".
Over to you, who ever is left running the BNP.
Hope Not Hate
Accused of race crimes (UK)
Three alleged members of the far-right English Defence League movement have been charged over race related vandalism including at Hartlepool mosque.
Two men and one woman have been charged by police with conspiracy to commit racially aggravated criminal damage.
They are accused of being behind three spray paint attacks, which all are alleged to have happened on the same day last November.
One was at Nasir Mosque, in Brougham Terrace, Hartlepool.
The other addresses were the Albert Guest House and Milko store, both in Shotton Colliery.
A spokesman for Durham Police said: “At the time of the alleged offences all three people claimed membership of the English Defence League.”
A 24-year-old from Peterlee, a 31-year-old from High Pittinton, County Durham and a 19-year-old woman from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, have been bailed to appear at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, May 11.
Hartlepool
Two men and one woman have been charged by police with conspiracy to commit racially aggravated criminal damage.
They are accused of being behind three spray paint attacks, which all are alleged to have happened on the same day last November.
One was at Nasir Mosque, in Brougham Terrace, Hartlepool.
The other addresses were the Albert Guest House and Milko store, both in Shotton Colliery.
A spokesman for Durham Police said: “At the time of the alleged offences all three people claimed membership of the English Defence League.”
A 24-year-old from Peterlee, a 31-year-old from High Pittinton, County Durham and a 19-year-old woman from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, have been bailed to appear at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, May 11.
Hartlepool
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Right-wing Baptist Church plans royal wedding protest (USA)
The Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church, an extreme right-wing Christian group, is planning to protest outside Westminster Abbey on the day of the royal wedding.
The group has promised to picket the royal wedding, saying: ‘God hates the UK’.
The church, which believes the West is living in sin for accepting homosexuality, is planning to protest outside Westminster Abbey between 7am and 8.15am.
The group said: ‘Only a nation of blind perverts would bow down to the morally-bankrupt royal family, or give a second glance at one of their pretentious false worship sessions.’
The church, led by Fred Phelps, was banned from entering Britain in 2009 by the then home secretary Jacqui Smith.
The 79-year-old pastor and his daughter have picketed the funerals of Aids victims and claim American soldiers are being killed as punishment for their country’s tolerance of homosexuality.
British Baptists have sought to distance themselves from the group, saying Westboro ‘no way reflects the views of Baptists in this country’.
Police said the church has not made an application to protest and would not be allowed to do so.
Metro
The group has promised to picket the royal wedding, saying: ‘God hates the UK’.
The church, which believes the West is living in sin for accepting homosexuality, is planning to protest outside Westminster Abbey between 7am and 8.15am.
The group said: ‘Only a nation of blind perverts would bow down to the morally-bankrupt royal family, or give a second glance at one of their pretentious false worship sessions.’
The church, led by Fred Phelps, was banned from entering Britain in 2009 by the then home secretary Jacqui Smith.
The 79-year-old pastor and his daughter have picketed the funerals of Aids victims and claim American soldiers are being killed as punishment for their country’s tolerance of homosexuality.
British Baptists have sought to distance themselves from the group, saying Westboro ‘no way reflects the views of Baptists in this country’.
Police said the church has not made an application to protest and would not be allowed to do so.
Metro
BNP Accuses Royal Mail Of Dumping Leaflets (UK)
The Royal Mail is investigating claims that its staff have dumped far-right election leaflets "across Wales" instead of delivering them to households.
BNP chairman Nick Griffin has accused postal workers of dumping hundreds of leaflets at a single address and claims the party has "heavy reports" of widespread non-delivery of its election pamphlets.
"These have been dumped undelivered, likely across the whole of Wales," he told members in an email.
"Royal Mail [has dumped] 400 of our Welsh Local Assembly election leaflets in the back garden of one of our candidates," he claimed.
"It would seem that they have "lost" many of them," he continued.
"So we now urgently have to re-print them and take them back to the delivery offices."
A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We are aware of this complaint which has not yet been substantiated. However, we are now investigating accordingly."
During previous election campaigns, some postal workers have refused to deliver BNP leaflets using a "conscience clause" in their contracts that allows them to reject literature they find offensive.
In 2009 around 100 delivery staff in Bristol and Somerset refused to handle pamphlets with an anti-immigration message.
The Royal Mail has legal obligations under the Representation of the People Act to deliver election material, meaning that in theory it would have to make alternative arrangements to deliver any leaflets its staff declined to deliver.
Kevin Slocombe, communications director at the Communication Workers' Union, told Sky News: "At this point in time we have absolutely no idea as to the details or validity of those claims."
Sky News
BNP chairman Nick Griffin has accused postal workers of dumping hundreds of leaflets at a single address and claims the party has "heavy reports" of widespread non-delivery of its election pamphlets.
"These have been dumped undelivered, likely across the whole of Wales," he told members in an email.
"Royal Mail [has dumped] 400 of our Welsh Local Assembly election leaflets in the back garden of one of our candidates," he claimed.
"It would seem that they have "lost" many of them," he continued.
"So we now urgently have to re-print them and take them back to the delivery offices."
A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We are aware of this complaint which has not yet been substantiated. However, we are now investigating accordingly."
During previous election campaigns, some postal workers have refused to deliver BNP leaflets using a "conscience clause" in their contracts that allows them to reject literature they find offensive.
In 2009 around 100 delivery staff in Bristol and Somerset refused to handle pamphlets with an anti-immigration message.
The Royal Mail has legal obligations under the Representation of the People Act to deliver election material, meaning that in theory it would have to make alternative arrangements to deliver any leaflets its staff declined to deliver.
Kevin Slocombe, communications director at the Communication Workers' Union, told Sky News: "At this point in time we have absolutely no idea as to the details or validity of those claims."
Sky News
Hungary promises to tackle far-right vigilantes after four hurt in clashes
Hungary's government has vowed to crack down on uniformed far-right groups after four people were injured in fighting between ultra-nationalist vigilantes and members of the Roma community.
The clash in the village of Gyöngyöspata came just days after almost 300 local Roma women and children left their homes for the Easter weekend, when a paramilitary group called Vedero, or Defence Force, set up a “training camp” in the area.
Members of Hungary’s centre-right Fidesz government, which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, denied the Roma had been “evacuated” and accused critics of trying to make political capital from the incident.
But they were quick yesterday to promise legal action against a host of far-right vigilante groups, which claim to be bringing order to neglected, impoverished areas of Hungary where the underfunded police force allegedly cannot cope with “Gypsy crime”.
Police said one of the four people injured was in a serious condition after the fight overnight between Vedero members and Roma, and that a number of arrests had been made. Local media quoted witnesses as saying the fight broke out after Vedero members threw stones at a Roma house and attacked a teenager.
“The government is proposing to make the penal code stricter given the emergence of a new form of criminality: uniformed criminality,” said spokesman Peter Szijjarto.
“Those walking around in uniform, pretending they are authorised to take measures against others, these people are criminals. We’ll stop this form of crime,” he added. “According to the proposal, those who spread terror with actions meant to impose order or pretending to impose order will be jailed for up to two years”, and if a particular community is targeted, “this will be considered an aggravating circumstance and could lead to three years in prison”.
Most of the paramilitary groups are linked to Jobbik, the far-right party that is the third-strongest force in Hungarian politics.
Senior Jobbik MP Janos Volner said the incident showed “a crisis in public safety has emerged”.
“The Fidesz government is incapable of guaranteeing law and order anywhere in the country,” he said. “A civil militia should be established in place of the woeful and uncertain police . . . because without unified order the government will not be capable of taking up the fight against this kind of Gypsy crime.”
Irish Times
The clash in the village of Gyöngyöspata came just days after almost 300 local Roma women and children left their homes for the Easter weekend, when a paramilitary group called Vedero, or Defence Force, set up a “training camp” in the area.
Members of Hungary’s centre-right Fidesz government, which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, denied the Roma had been “evacuated” and accused critics of trying to make political capital from the incident.
But they were quick yesterday to promise legal action against a host of far-right vigilante groups, which claim to be bringing order to neglected, impoverished areas of Hungary where the underfunded police force allegedly cannot cope with “Gypsy crime”.
Police said one of the four people injured was in a serious condition after the fight overnight between Vedero members and Roma, and that a number of arrests had been made. Local media quoted witnesses as saying the fight broke out after Vedero members threw stones at a Roma house and attacked a teenager.
“The government is proposing to make the penal code stricter given the emergence of a new form of criminality: uniformed criminality,” said spokesman Peter Szijjarto.
“Those walking around in uniform, pretending they are authorised to take measures against others, these people are criminals. We’ll stop this form of crime,” he added. “According to the proposal, those who spread terror with actions meant to impose order or pretending to impose order will be jailed for up to two years”, and if a particular community is targeted, “this will be considered an aggravating circumstance and could lead to three years in prison”.
Most of the paramilitary groups are linked to Jobbik, the far-right party that is the third-strongest force in Hungarian politics.
Senior Jobbik MP Janos Volner said the incident showed “a crisis in public safety has emerged”.
“The Fidesz government is incapable of guaranteeing law and order anywhere in the country,” he said. “A civil militia should be established in place of the woeful and uncertain police . . . because without unified order the government will not be capable of taking up the fight against this kind of Gypsy crime.”
Irish Times
BNP candidate condemned for abusive Facebook post (UK)
Politicians from mainstream parties have condemned Susan Harwood, a BNP candidate in Torfaen at next week’s National Assembly election.
The material, which uses abusive four-letter language about a group called Muslims Against Crusades, was featured on Ms Harwood’s Facebook site, but has since been removed.
The Conservative candidate in Torfaen is Natasha Asghar, a Muslim.
Labour’s Lynne Neagle, who has represented the seat since the Assembly was formed and is seeking re-election, said: “This is outrageous behaviour by someone who pretends to be a respectable candidate in a democratic election. It’s one thing to oppose an organisation’s views, but her actions go far beyond legitimate criticism.
“It is totally unacceptable that BNP candidates continue to behave like this. People across Wales should know that a vote for the BNP is a vote for thugs and racists of the worst sort. If the BNP had a shred of decency, they would drop Susan Harwood as a candidate.”
Welsh Conservative candidate for North Wales and vice-president of the anti-fascist group Searchlight Cymru, Mark Isherwood said: “These appalling and offensive comments show the BNP in their true colours. People across Wales will deplore these racist and bigoted comments ... and I am confident that the BNP will be defeated at the ballot box.”
Ian Titherington, director of elections for Plaid Cymru, said: “The BNP is struggling for candidates and scraping the barrel.”
Swansea resident Ms Harwood could not be contacted for comment.
BNP deputy leader Simon Darby, said: “I’ll take no lessons from the Tories or Labour, who are responsible for killing thousands of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Wales Online
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
BNP candidate Anita Cooper blames hackers for messages (UK)
The Facebook networking page for Anita Cooper, British National Party candidate for Fawdon, Newcastle, is littered with twisted messages.
Using the name “Anita MrsBnp Cooper”, the profile page includes sick jokes about the Pakistan floods that killed more than 1,500.
In photos posted on the site, Mrs Cooper is pictured with BNP leader Nick Griffin, party activist Angelos Gavriel and Martin Vaughan, the party’s fundholder for South Tyneside.
In one post, it is claimed an increasing demand for Facebook from ethnic minorities had prompted creators to set up a new site named “Junglebook”.
And in another the author claims to have become ill after travelling on a coach from Barnsley with Asian people.
Posts mocking Polish immigrants, foul-mouthed rhymes and general abusive comments are also posted.
Today, Mrs Cooper said she was unaware of any racist remarks on her Facebook page and said someone had hacked her account.
She said: “I’m totally unaware of any racist remarks. It very much sounds like it was hacked as I don’t use Facebook a great deal.
“I’m not a racist - I’m just not like that. I’ve got friends that are all different colours and I’ve got friends who are Muslim. [Racism] is something I do not approve of. It’s not what the party is about - we are not a racist party and I am far from that.
“It must be that someone has hacked my account and I don’t want to be branded a racist.
“It’s not nice knowing that someone has been going on there. As soon as I can get to a computer I will go on and delete the profile or change my password.” A spokesman for Tyne and Wear Anti-Fascist Association, said: “Whoever wrote these comments is a racist person who has a problem with Pakistani people and they stereotype.
“People have contacted us about these comments and they are obviously very shocked and concerned.”
But Ken Booth, former regional BNP organiser and council candidate for Fenham, said: “Mrs Cooper told me she had not recollection of the comments.
“I know one or two people who have had their Facebook hacked. I had some comments appear on my Facebook page that I didn’t write.
“I will have to look into it. I will see Anita on Wednesday and will ask her about it then.
“The jokes don’t sound any worse than ones you would hear in a bar at a social club. It seems like they have transferred to the internet.
“People get carried away with the internet and live their lives on Facebook. I would advise members to keep it clean and respectable on the internet.”
Mrs Cooper was nominated as Fawdon ward’s prospective local candidate for the May 5 elections.
In recent weeks she has taken to the streets to hand out leaflets and canvass support for her election push.
In one post the author shows support for killer Raoul Moat, in which they call for the media to “leave” him alone.
They wrote: “Why can’t the news just leave Raoul Moat alone, the poor lad has gone now. RIP big lad.”
Hari Shukla, vice chairman of the Newcastle Council of Faiths, said: “This being a multi-cultural and multi-racial society, we need to support those who create understanding in our community and support every member of our community irrespective of their background, colour or religion.
“It’s important that we keep these in mind when we are trying to attain a multi-cultural society which is an asset for Newcastle.”
A police spokeswoman said they had not received any complaint about the page.
She said: “However, if a complaint is made to the police about the contents of any Facebook page then we would make inquiries.”
No-one from Facebook was available for comment at short notice.
Chronicle Live
German state launches renewed move to ban far-right NPD
Holger Stahlknecht, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, also invited other states to take part in the action.
"We want to push forward proceedings with the necessary judicial care," Stahlknecht said in the state capital Halle.
However, he also warned against people against getting their hopes up about a possible ban.
"If the NPD is gone, the problem of right-wing extremism won't just disappear."
The NPD are often labeled as a neo-Nazi organization. The party is classified by Germany’s internal security agency as a "threat to the constitutional order" because of its extremist philosophy. The NPD currently has seats in two of German's 16 state parliaments, but none at federal level.
According to the German constitution only central government has the power to apply for such a ban through the courts. Opinions are divided as to whether the party should be banned.
Muted response from other states
There was a mixed response to the call for a ban from other German states. The interior minister in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein was cautious about the idea. Christian Democrat Klaus Schlie told the news agency dpa that he would need convincing and concrete arguments before he decided to support the bid.
"Another failure in court would be fatal," he said, referring to a similar attempt to ban the NPD in 2003.
When that case came before the Federal Constitutional Court, it was thrown out after it was revealed that a number of the NPD's inner circle were in fact undercover agents or informants of the German secret services. Since the government bodies were unwilling to fully disclose their agents' identities and activities, the court found it impossible to reach a verdict.
The head of the Committee on Internal Affairs in the German parliament, Wolfgang Bosbach said in the light of the 2003 trial, he was completely against the idea of banning the NPD.
"I would advise against it," the Christian Democrat politician told the local Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.
He explained he understood the concerns of Saxony-Anhalt, since the problem with the German National Party was more significant in the eastern states than in the western states, but he said the risks were too great.
"We would have to take the undercover agents out of the NPD," Bosbach said. "And that would entail a long-term observation of the party."
Bosbach said it was clear that the NPD's policies went against the constitution. But in order to ban the party, it would have to be proven in court that the party acted in a aggressive, militant way against the free democratic basic order. That was the biggest hurdle, he said.
DW-World
Police prepared for far-right protesters in Berwick (UK)
Extra police resources will be diverted to a Northumberland town this weekend when a far-right protest group stages a demonstration.
Between 60 and 150 supporters of the Scottish Defence League (SDL) are expected in Berwick on Saturday for a short march and rally.
The SDL is an offshoot of the English Defence League (EDL), a far-right protest movement which opposes what it sees as the spread of Islamism in the UK.
Similar events held by the EDL have led to public disorder in England, but yesterday Northumbria Police said it doesn’t expect any trouble at Saturday’s march.
However, extra officers will be drafted in from across the force area to ensure that it passes off peacefully.
Read the complete item at Journal Live
Between 60 and 150 supporters of the Scottish Defence League (SDL) are expected in Berwick on Saturday for a short march and rally.
The SDL is an offshoot of the English Defence League (EDL), a far-right protest movement which opposes what it sees as the spread of Islamism in the UK.
Similar events held by the EDL have led to public disorder in England, but yesterday Northumbria Police said it doesn’t expect any trouble at Saturday’s march.
However, extra officers will be drafted in from across the force area to ensure that it passes off peacefully.
Read the complete item at Journal Live
Police try to keep two protest groups apart on Weymouth Esplanade (UK)
The English Defence League (EDL) is a right-wing group that is against Islamic extremism and “radical Islam’s encroachment into the lives of non-Muslims” as well as the introduction of Sharia law into Britain. They announced a march after BBC3 screened a film about a former Weymouth lad who converted to Islam and was radicalised.
A peaceful counter protest will be held at the same time, 1pm, organised by people behind the Facebook page, Keep The Racist EDL out of Dorset, who are rallying people to join them in opposition to the EDL “bringing its hatred and violence to a diverse, tolerant Dorset.”
Assembly points for both groups have been designated at either end of the Esplanade in Weymouth, with the EDL due to meet at the pier bandstand and counter-demonstrators opposite the Pavilion.
Chief Inspector Nick Maton is in charge of the policing operation. He said: “Our strategy is based simply around ensuring the two groups are indeed separate from each other.
“Dorset Police, like all national forces, is committed to facilitating peoples’ right to protest when conducted peacefully and lawfully.
“The police’s role is to work with all communities and groups involved, to reduce and prevent crime and disorder, and to deal with it robustly where it occurs.”
Dorset Police is also issuing a reassuring message to residents, traders and visitors to the town in advance of the demonstrations.
Read the full item at Weymouth People
A peaceful counter protest will be held at the same time, 1pm, organised by people behind the Facebook page, Keep The Racist EDL out of Dorset, who are rallying people to join them in opposition to the EDL “bringing its hatred and violence to a diverse, tolerant Dorset.”
Assembly points for both groups have been designated at either end of the Esplanade in Weymouth, with the EDL due to meet at the pier bandstand and counter-demonstrators opposite the Pavilion.
Chief Inspector Nick Maton is in charge of the policing operation. He said: “Our strategy is based simply around ensuring the two groups are indeed separate from each other.
“Dorset Police, like all national forces, is committed to facilitating peoples’ right to protest when conducted peacefully and lawfully.
“The police’s role is to work with all communities and groups involved, to reduce and prevent crime and disorder, and to deal with it robustly where it occurs.”
Dorset Police is also issuing a reassuring message to residents, traders and visitors to the town in advance of the demonstrations.
Read the full item at Weymouth People
BNP 'expects to pay off debts this year' (UK)
"We are not going bust," said party spokesman Simon Darby.
The BNP was facing doubts over its future after costly court cases brought against it, including one by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
It also had to pay an out-of-court settlement to Marmite for using a jar of the spread in a party broadcast.
However, BNP sources say most of the debts were built up as a result of heavy spending during the last European and general election campaigns.
'Commercial solutions'
The party contested 338 seats in the 2010 general election and lost its deposit in 266 of them.
The BNP is now understood to have reached "commercial solutions" with a number of creditors over re-payments, and is believed to have met its its outstanding tax liabilities.
BNP officials say the party has instituted austerity measures including laying off staff and closing its Belfast call centre.
There has also been an increase in donations from the party's 12,000 members.
However, the BNP has had to rein back on its spending in the current elections to councils in England, the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies and the Scottish Parliament.
"We've had to cut back," said Mr Darby. "We are determined to get a grip on the amount of money we spend on elections.
"We've spent too much on elections in the last few years. We really have pushed the boat out."
He said the BNP would not be incurring any more debts as a result of the current set of elections, which take place on 5 May. The party does not have access to any bank overdraft facility.
Mr Derby said the BNP was facing "a difficult" set of elections because of the financial pressure on the party, coupled with "a resurgent Labour Party".
But he predicted the BNP would still win seats in its core target areas.
BBC News
Muslims to help EDL to protect royal wedding? (UK)
Prominent Muslims in Luton say they are angry at attempts by Islamic extremists to disrupt this Friday’s royal wedding.
Extremist group Muslims Against Crusades plans to stage a demonstration on the day of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s marriage, in protest at the actions of UK troops overseas and because the prince is a member of Britain’s armed forces.
They have been barred from protesting outside Westminster Abbey, but will be able to hold demonstrations at other nearby locations.
Last week the English Defence League said its members would take the law into their own hands to stop extremist Muslims reaching the event.
Farasat Latif, secretary of the Islamic Centre in Bury Park Road, has slammed Muslims Against Crusades as “a tiny group of Muslims” who wanted to “antagonise just about the whole country”.
And he said moderate Muslims were also considering travelling to London on the day to halt any protest by Muslims Against Crusades.
“I’ve got better things to do with my bank holiday but we might actually turn up to confront them as well,” he said. “They’re not allowed to protest outside the wedding but I think they will still go down.
“Muslims all over the UK are disgusted this latest publicity stunt, and are fearing the inevitable backlash. The aim of these lunatics is to gain as much adverse publicity as possible.”
Mr Latif said he believed Muslims Against Crusades was simply a front for the banned extremist group Al-Muhajiroun, members of which hurled abuse at soldiers from the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, known as the Poachers, when they marched through Luton in 2009.
The president of Luton’s Central Mosque, Mohammed Shafait, said Muslims Against Crusades members had no regard for British law.
He said: “They have been given the freedom by our government to not abide by the law. The government must deal with them. They just do what they like and the police can’t do anything with them.
“Their members have been brainwashed, they are sons who have run away from their families. They give everyone a bad name.”
Mr Shafait said people in Bury Park had wanted to deal with extremism in Luton themselves, but were told not to take the law into their own hands.
“The law is stopping us from getting rid of them,” he said.
Luton Today
Extremist group Muslims Against Crusades plans to stage a demonstration on the day of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s marriage, in protest at the actions of UK troops overseas and because the prince is a member of Britain’s armed forces.
They have been barred from protesting outside Westminster Abbey, but will be able to hold demonstrations at other nearby locations.
Last week the English Defence League said its members would take the law into their own hands to stop extremist Muslims reaching the event.
Farasat Latif, secretary of the Islamic Centre in Bury Park Road, has slammed Muslims Against Crusades as “a tiny group of Muslims” who wanted to “antagonise just about the whole country”.
And he said moderate Muslims were also considering travelling to London on the day to halt any protest by Muslims Against Crusades.
“I’ve got better things to do with my bank holiday but we might actually turn up to confront them as well,” he said. “They’re not allowed to protest outside the wedding but I think they will still go down.
“Muslims all over the UK are disgusted this latest publicity stunt, and are fearing the inevitable backlash. The aim of these lunatics is to gain as much adverse publicity as possible.”
Mr Latif said he believed Muslims Against Crusades was simply a front for the banned extremist group Al-Muhajiroun, members of which hurled abuse at soldiers from the 2nd Battalion Royal Anglian Regiment, known as the Poachers, when they marched through Luton in 2009.
The president of Luton’s Central Mosque, Mohammed Shafait, said Muslims Against Crusades members had no regard for British law.
He said: “They have been given the freedom by our government to not abide by the law. The government must deal with them. They just do what they like and the police can’t do anything with them.
“Their members have been brainwashed, they are sons who have run away from their families. They give everyone a bad name.”
Mr Shafait said people in Bury Park had wanted to deal with extremism in Luton themselves, but were told not to take the law into their own hands.
“The law is stopping us from getting rid of them,” he said.
Luton Today
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Azubalis condemns Nazi activity (Lithuania)
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Azubalis has condemned a wave of neo-nazi activity in the country.
“Such acts are considered as attacks against the Lithuanian state and the entire civil society, they incite hatred for the Lithuanian Jewish community and should be qualified as a provocation against Lithuania and its multiple efforts in the field of promoting tolerance,“ the minister said in a press release.
"These efforts are particularly intensive during the current Year of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania and during the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship," he said.
Numerous Nazi flags were found in Vilnius and anti-semetic remarks spray-painted around Kaunas last week as extremists marked Hitler's birthday. The incidents come on the heels of a slew of anti-semetic attacks in which Jewish graves were defaced with swastikas.
“We hope that the law enforcement authorities will immediately identify the offenders and their actions will be properly assessed in accordance with the Lithuanian legislation,“ he said.
Lithuanian parliamentary speaker Irene Degutiene has also condemned the activity and pledged that the perpetrators would be caught and punished.
Baltic Times
“Such acts are considered as attacks against the Lithuanian state and the entire civil society, they incite hatred for the Lithuanian Jewish community and should be qualified as a provocation against Lithuania and its multiple efforts in the field of promoting tolerance,“ the minister said in a press release.
"These efforts are particularly intensive during the current Year of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust in Lithuania and during the Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship," he said.
Numerous Nazi flags were found in Vilnius and anti-semetic remarks spray-painted around Kaunas last week as extremists marked Hitler's birthday. The incidents come on the heels of a slew of anti-semetic attacks in which Jewish graves were defaced with swastikas.
“We hope that the law enforcement authorities will immediately identify the offenders and their actions will be properly assessed in accordance with the Lithuanian legislation,“ he said.
Lithuanian parliamentary speaker Irene Degutiene has also condemned the activity and pledged that the perpetrators would be caught and punished.
Baltic Times
MLK Day bomb plot suspect pleads innocent to hate crimes (USA)
A reputed neo-Nazi accused of planting a backpack bomb discovered along the route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade pleaded not guilty on Monday to newly filed charges of committing hate crimes.
During a brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Spokane, Washington, Kevin Harpham, 36, also was ordered to remain in pretrial federal detention without bond, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice told Reuters.
Harpham was indicted last month on charges of attempting to bomb a downtown Spokane observance of the January 17 national holiday marking the slain civil rights leader's birthday. He pleaded not guilty to those offenses on March 23.
The FBI has said that it is treating the bombing attempt as a case of domestic terrorism.
A three-page superseding indictment returned last week added charges that Harpham tried to use the backpack bomb to injure individuals attending the parade because of their "actual or perceived race, color and national origin."
It also accused him of seeking to use a destructive device in the furtherance of a hate crime.
He has now pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.
Harpham's trial is scheduled for May 31, and he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
He was arrested at his home in Colville, Washington, on March 9, about seven weeks after the bomb that he allegedly tried to set off was found stuffed inside an backpack left unattended on a bench along the planned parade route.
The march, attended by an estimated 1,500 people, was rerouted and the device safely diffused by bomb technicians.
Officials from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights group, said Harpham was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance in 2004.
He also served in the U.S. Army during the late 1990s as a "fire support specialist" at what is now Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma.
U.S. officials have said little about the findings of the investigation that led to Harpham's arrest.
Reuters
During a brief appearance in U.S. District Court in Spokane, Washington, Kevin Harpham, 36, also was ordered to remain in pretrial federal detention without bond, Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice told Reuters.
Harpham was indicted last month on charges of attempting to bomb a downtown Spokane observance of the January 17 national holiday marking the slain civil rights leader's birthday. He pleaded not guilty to those offenses on March 23.
The FBI has said that it is treating the bombing attempt as a case of domestic terrorism.
A three-page superseding indictment returned last week added charges that Harpham tried to use the backpack bomb to injure individuals attending the parade because of their "actual or perceived race, color and national origin."
It also accused him of seeking to use a destructive device in the furtherance of a hate crime.
He has now pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.
Harpham's trial is scheduled for May 31, and he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.
He was arrested at his home in Colville, Washington, on March 9, about seven weeks after the bomb that he allegedly tried to set off was found stuffed inside an backpack left unattended on a bench along the planned parade route.
The march, attended by an estimated 1,500 people, was rerouted and the device safely diffused by bomb technicians.
Officials from the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama-based civil rights group, said Harpham was a member of the neo-Nazi National Alliance in 2004.
He also served in the U.S. Army during the late 1990s as a "fire support specialist" at what is now Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma.
U.S. officials have said little about the findings of the investigation that led to Harpham's arrest.
Reuters
EU Security Official In Kosovo Removed For 'Racist Comments'
The European Union's police and justice mission in Kosovo (EULEX) says one of its officials has been suspended amid charges he offended and abused his Kosovar colleagues, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports.
EULEX spokesman Anne Blanksma told RFE/RL that "[EULEX] head of mission [Xavier de Marnhac] intends for the head of the Close Protection Unit to leave the mission."
Blanksma added that the man in question, who has not been named, has the right to appeal his suspension and possible dismissal.
Read the full story at Radio Free Europe
EULEX spokesman Anne Blanksma told RFE/RL that "[EULEX] head of mission [Xavier de Marnhac] intends for the head of the Close Protection Unit to leave the mission."
Blanksma added that the man in question, who has not been named, has the right to appeal his suspension and possible dismissal.
Read the full story at Radio Free Europe
BNP youth leader arrested (UK)
The arrest followed a demonstration in Wolverton, Milton Keynes, against a local councillor who voted in favour of granting planning permission to Bletchley mosque. Councillor Mike Galloway, a Liberal Democrat, is a member of the Milton Keynes Development Control Committee, which deals with planning applications, and chair of the Local Development Framework Advisory Group.
Bletchley mosque has been the target of BNP opposition since last autumn, with Trent leading several protests.
Trent and another person were held in custody on suspicion of committing an offence under section 5 of the Public Order Act – disorderly behaviour, the report said. If convicted he could be fined.
The report says the demonstration forms part of a new approach to activism consisting of “explaining the failures of an individual councillor to their immediate neighbours and ensuring that the community realise who is responsible for the changes that are coming about”.
It seems more a new excuse for harassment than anything else. Trent, who has stood unsuccessfully for election to Milton Keynes council, was one of a group of BNP activists involved in a violent confrontation with Asian youths in Barking a few days before last year’s general election. The incident was caught on film, posted on YouTube, but Trent was not charged despite being clearly visible landing blows and kicks to someone on the ground.
Trent is pictured posing with a gun in front of an Ulster loyalist flag on page 91 of Lone wolves: myth or reality? in “chapter 6, these people are dangerous”, downloadable from http://www.lonewolfproject.org.uk.
Hope Not Hate
St George’s Day open-air drink ban in city centre after BNP and EDL violence fears (UK)
People were banned from drinking outside some city centre pubs on Saturday – over fears of violence by far-right groups celebrating St George’s Day.
As part of a one-day police operation, pubs were told not to allow people to use outdoor seating in parts of the city centre where violence had broken out in previous years amongst BNP and EDL members.
Pubs and bars in the Shambles area and on Deansgate told customers they were only allowed to drink indoors on St George’s Day.
But some customers said the action was unfair – as outdoor seating areas lay empty on a scorching spring afternoon.
Robert Kavanagh, 21, from Newton Heath, came into Manchester to celebrate a friend’s wedding anniversary.
He said: "The bouncers at Sinclairs told us if we wanted to drink we’d have to sit inside.
"They said it was because it was St George’s Day.
"All the tables and chairs were outside but empty – I was pretty stunned.
"My friends went to some other bars on Deansgate and were told the same thing.
"Town wasn’t even that busy so it was a surprise they were doing it."
The manager of Sinclair’s Oyster Bar, which has a large outdoor seating area on the edge of Exchange Square, declined to comment.
A police spokesman said officers took the decision to ban outdoor drinking in the Shambles and Deansgate areas after alcohol related-violence occurred when supporters of far-right groups gathered there on St George’s Day in previous years.
He said: "Drinking outside in various areas was banned because members of the BNP and EDL had used them to congregate, leading to drink-fuelled violence.
"This was a one-day operation specifically for St George’s Day in one part of the city centre."
Manchester Evening news
As part of a one-day police operation, pubs were told not to allow people to use outdoor seating in parts of the city centre where violence had broken out in previous years amongst BNP and EDL members.
Pubs and bars in the Shambles area and on Deansgate told customers they were only allowed to drink indoors on St George’s Day.
But some customers said the action was unfair – as outdoor seating areas lay empty on a scorching spring afternoon.
Robert Kavanagh, 21, from Newton Heath, came into Manchester to celebrate a friend’s wedding anniversary.
He said: "The bouncers at Sinclairs told us if we wanted to drink we’d have to sit inside.
"They said it was because it was St George’s Day.
"All the tables and chairs were outside but empty – I was pretty stunned.
"My friends went to some other bars on Deansgate and were told the same thing.
"Town wasn’t even that busy so it was a surprise they were doing it."
The manager of Sinclair’s Oyster Bar, which has a large outdoor seating area on the edge of Exchange Square, declined to comment.
A police spokesman said officers took the decision to ban outdoor drinking in the Shambles and Deansgate areas after alcohol related-violence occurred when supporters of far-right groups gathered there on St George’s Day in previous years.
He said: "Drinking outside in various areas was banned because members of the BNP and EDL had used them to congregate, leading to drink-fuelled violence.
"This was a one-day operation specifically for St George’s Day in one part of the city centre."
Manchester Evening news
Monday, 25 April 2011
The case of the missing EDL Facebook Page takes another twist
The latest twist in this ever changing blog post of the vanishing EDL Facebook page is that the hacker crew called ZCompany, Team Poison are now putting forward their version of what has happened.
Posted by TriCk from ZHC...
TriCk Owns
- Just to clarify everything,
1. the offical edl facebook account was closed down by facebook
......2. the new edl facebook account was hacked by an ex-edl admin/stafff because of some personal issues with the leadership
3. the Leak was exposed & written by me (TriCk) TeaMp0isoN
4. The website was hacked by TeaMp0isoN
5. the accounts were hacked by me
6. the email was hacked by zhc.
- WE (TeaMp0isoN & ZHC) are not fame whores, we only take credit when credit is due.
Hmm and the plot thickens.
.
Posted by TriCk from ZHC...
TriCk Owns
- Just to clarify everything,
1. the offical edl facebook account was closed down by facebook
......2. the new edl facebook account was hacked by an ex-edl admin/stafff because of some personal issues with the leadership
3. the Leak was exposed & written by me (TriCk) TeaMp0isoN
4. The website was hacked by TeaMp0isoN
5. the accounts were hacked by me
6. the email was hacked by zhc.
- WE (TeaMp0isoN & ZHC) are not fame whores, we only take credit when credit is due.
Hmm and the plot thickens.
.
Russian neo-Nazis rally in Moscow against Caucasus
Hundreds of neo-Nazis rallied in Moscow against the Kremlin’s policies in the violence-plagued Caucasus region.
About 300 protesters, including activists from banned or unregistered neo-Nazi groups, called on the Kremlin on Saturday to stop feeding the Caucasus.
The predominantly Muslim region hosts at least 100 ethnicities including Chechens, who have waged two separatist wars against Moscow after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
After pacifying Chechnya, the Kremlin has spent billions of dollars on restoring the region and funding provincial governments notorious for corruption and cronyism.
Haaretz
About 300 protesters, including activists from banned or unregistered neo-Nazi groups, called on the Kremlin on Saturday to stop feeding the Caucasus.
The predominantly Muslim region hosts at least 100 ethnicities including Chechens, who have waged two separatist wars against Moscow after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
After pacifying Chechnya, the Kremlin has spent billions of dollars on restoring the region and funding provincial governments notorious for corruption and cronyism.
Haaretz
Online war against intolerance (New Zeland)
Now Webster is waging his own war on intolerance, but his battlefield is online.
Right Wing Resistance is a New Zealand-wide white supremacist group run by Kyle Chapman, former leader of the National Front.
The group's recent recruitment campaign in Christchurch included Stop the Asian Invasion pamphlets.
Conveniently, Webster says, the group's blogspot advertising this campaign, included cellphone numbers and email addresses, which prompted him to fight back with a Facebook campaign, Spam A Nazi, launched this weekend.
Webster advocates spamming the group with texts and YouTube links to the Chinese National Anthem and songs such as I think I'm Turning Japanese, and People Are People.
"My flatmates and I found this racist pamphlet in our letterbox and we came up with the idea of sending them a message back," Webster said.
"Now we have 140 members on Spam A Nazi. I think the Right Wing Resistance campaign is more to intimidate than recruit.
"My grandfather died from war-related injuries when my dad was eight. It's sad to think that this intolerance still exists two generations on.
"After all we've been through in Christchurch, I wanted to send a clear message that this hatred won't be tolerated. I'm not sure of the legalities around spamming but I'm sure few will have any sympathy for them."
When contacted yesterday, a spokesman for the Right Wing Resistance, who did not wish to be identified, said they had received spam from "gay porn" to "foreign" texts.
"I didn't understand what they said, they're just wasting their time. I just delete them. It's like squashing an annoying bug to me, I don't even think about it."
Stuff
Racist gang attack on man in Harpurhey (UK)
A man was hit in the head with a rock, punched, kicked, stamped on and attacked with a stick in a racist gang attack.
The 21-year-old suffered a deep cut to his head in the attack on Kesteven Road, Harpurhey. He was also racially abused.
The victim, who is from the Sudan, was walking home at about 4am on Saturday, April 23, when two white men asked for a cigarette.
When he offered them one, they hurled racist insults and punched him in the stomach.
He tried to run off but was chased by the pair, who were joined by up to four others.
One managed to catch him up and attack him again.
When he escaped, he was caught up and attacked for a third time. He was repeatedly kicked, punched and stamped on.
He was also struck with a wooden stick and hit with a large rock, leaving him with a deep cut that needed stitches.
A member of the public saw what was happening and shouted, causing them to run off.
The attackers are white and between 19 and 20 years old.
One had dark short hair and wore a plain blue short-sleeved shirt and dark shorts.
The other wore a white T-shirt and light coloured trousers.
Detective Sergeant Shagufta Khan said: "Greater Manchester Police takes all reports of racial abuse, whether it be verbal or physical, extremely seriously.
"It is extremely sad that in this day and age people are motivated by racial hatred.
"Racism is something we all abhor and I want to stress we are doing all we can to find the culprits so they can be brought to justice for what they have done.
"Not only did they shout racist abuse, they took it further by using such a level of violence it is thankful the man did not suffer more serious injuries.
"The fact they were prepared to strike him in the head with a large stone shows not only are they racist, but they are dangerous and we need to catch them.
"I would appeal to anyone who witnessed what happened to call us."
Anyone with information should call police in north Manchester on 0161 856 3913 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Manchester Evening News
The 21-year-old suffered a deep cut to his head in the attack on Kesteven Road, Harpurhey. He was also racially abused.
The victim, who is from the Sudan, was walking home at about 4am on Saturday, April 23, when two white men asked for a cigarette.
When he offered them one, they hurled racist insults and punched him in the stomach.
He tried to run off but was chased by the pair, who were joined by up to four others.
One managed to catch him up and attack him again.
When he escaped, he was caught up and attacked for a third time. He was repeatedly kicked, punched and stamped on.
He was also struck with a wooden stick and hit with a large rock, leaving him with a deep cut that needed stitches.
A member of the public saw what was happening and shouted, causing them to run off.
The attackers are white and between 19 and 20 years old.
One had dark short hair and wore a plain blue short-sleeved shirt and dark shorts.
The other wore a white T-shirt and light coloured trousers.
Detective Sergeant Shagufta Khan said: "Greater Manchester Police takes all reports of racial abuse, whether it be verbal or physical, extremely seriously.
"It is extremely sad that in this day and age people are motivated by racial hatred.
"Racism is something we all abhor and I want to stress we are doing all we can to find the culprits so they can be brought to justice for what they have done.
"Not only did they shout racist abuse, they took it further by using such a level of violence it is thankful the man did not suffer more serious injuries.
"The fact they were prepared to strike him in the head with a large stone shows not only are they racist, but they are dangerous and we need to catch them.
"I would appeal to anyone who witnessed what happened to call us."
Anyone with information should call police in north Manchester on 0161 856 3913 or the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Manchester Evening News
English Defence League demo cost police £2million (UK)
Taxpayers forked out nearly £2million for policing an English Defence League demonstration – twice the original estimated cost.
The £1million bill spiralled out of control as police chiefs drafted in extra support to cover the protest.
About 1,500 officers provided security as 2,000 EDL extremists and 1,000 Unite Against Fascism counter protesters gathered in Luton in February.
Seven arrests were made in Bedfordshire Police’s biggest ever operation.
Peter Conniff, Bedfordshire Police Authority chairman, said: “When we first talked about how much it would cost, we were only estimating. We didn’t realise how much extra help we would need.”
The Home Office is to reimburse the force in full.
Daily Mirror
The £1million bill spiralled out of control as police chiefs drafted in extra support to cover the protest.
About 1,500 officers provided security as 2,000 EDL extremists and 1,000 Unite Against Fascism counter protesters gathered in Luton in February.
Seven arrests were made in Bedfordshire Police’s biggest ever operation.
Peter Conniff, Bedfordshire Police Authority chairman, said: “When we first talked about how much it would cost, we were only estimating. We didn’t realise how much extra help we would need.”
The Home Office is to reimburse the force in full.
Daily Mirror
EDL thug may be allowed to continue studies at University of Birmingham (UK)
A-level student Joel Titus, 18, was caught on CCTV throwing objects and brawling with rival hooligans.
His defence team asked an Old Bailey judge not to jail the EDL ringleader after he pleaded guilty to affray, as he had secured a place at the University of Birmingham.
But Titus, who has a string of previous convictions including battery of a journalist, possession of a knife, and making threats to police, was sentenced to nine months.
Yet the teenager has NOT been banned from taking up his place at the University of Birmingham upon his release. A spokeswoman said: “We do not want to deny an applicant a place because of youthful indiscretions, especially when there is genuine remorse expressed.
‘‘However, we must take into account our wider responsibilities to the whole student body and to the wider community.
‘‘Criminal convictions, which must be declared by prospective students, are considered on a case by case basis. These discussions may also involve an applicant’s probation officer where relevant.
‘‘We do not discuss individual cases.”
Titus had acted as a youth organiser for the EDL and even appeared on the BBC’s Newsnight to defend the violent anti-Islamic group.
He was cautioned for battery after punching a journalist at a demonstration against the ‘Islamification of Europe’ in December 2009. Last summer Titus took part in the soccer riot between Brentford and Leyton Orient supporters in central London. He was captured on CCTV hurling objects at rivals and fighting over a wooden pole with another thug.
Titus later told police he was an Arsenal fan and had been out that night celebrating the end of the football season, when he had become involved in the brawl.
At his sentencing Veronica Ramsden, defending, said he had “done well academically”.
She said he was studying for A-levels including media studies, aiming for an A-grade, and that he planned to go on to Birmingham University to pursue a degree. Miss Ramsden said Titus was “heartily sorry” to have been involved in the violence.
But while on bail for the football brawl he was also convicted for threatening behaviour for snarling “f*** off” at a police officer who tried to break up a fight. He is due to be sentenced for that offence at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court in May.
The EDL has held violent protests on the streets of Midland towns and cities including Birmingham, Stoke and Dudley over the past two years. The anti-Islamic group has been involved in running battles with anti-facist protesters and local Muslim groups.
An EDL protest in Leicester in February was policed by more than a thousand riot cops.
Sunday Mercury
Now you see it, Now you don’t. The Mystery of the EDL’s missing Facebook page.
Well apparently that may well not be the case.
As a recent statement released by the EDL about this occurrence paints a very different picture of the events.
Apparently the original and main EDL Facebook page still exists and has not been removed from Facebook. But now it’s under the control of people unknown via a compromised account of one of the EDL’s admin.
And those people have "hidden" the page and changed it's settings so no one can view it or access it.
And not only is that page under the control of others, but also the replacement EDL page is also under the control of others.
Ahhhh the fun and games of on-line anti-racism are seldom dull where the EDL are concerned.
Anyway here’s a statement from the EDL putting forward their view of what has happened.
Official EDL statement.
To be honest it is getting boring having to talk about this so much and waist our days trying to find out who is trying to hack our accounts etc. We need to be fighting our enemy not dealing with silly things like this. Lets get one thing straight neither the MDL or team poison have hacked any Facebook pages they do not have the skills to do this. We will try and put to you what has actually happened over the last few days.
On Friday evening unfortunately the Facebook account details of one of our Admin’s ell into the wrong hands we are still not 100% sure which admin this was and how it happened (although we are pretty sure) we are also asking Facebook to assist us with sorting this. We are also not sure what group this is but have our suspicions and are gathering proof of this so will refer to them as 'They' for the rest of this statement.
This account was admin on the main page linked here
Once 'They' had access to the main page they removed all admin and put 'Their' own admin on the page they then made the page hidden (there is an option to make the page Admin view only)
There was a post put out by Teampoison stating they have details of EDL but if you check what they are leaking 99% of it is all old information that has been all over the internet for a while. If you remember when team poison got on the page last time they actually write hacked by team poison they don’t pretend to be us as is happening now.
Once we realised that the page had gone we then created a new page at this point we thought Facebook had taken the page down (hence the reason for starting a new one) we put all the old admin’s back on and asked people to join this was that page
Unfortunately as we thought the old group was of Facebook’s doing we put all admin’s back on. Again the account that was held by 'Them' was used to remove all admin’s and again put 'Their' admin on. This page is now pretending to be an official EDL page. We urge all members to remove themselves from this page and report it.
Contrary to what is being said on this page the website has not been hacked and can be used to obtain all information needed to verify statements.
Also contrary to what is being said on this page Tommy will not be releasing a video about the pages there is no need for this. If you want to check what is happening, speak to your Division Admin or your Regional Organiser.
Throughout the day the 88k page has been brought up again sporadically to post stuff about our leadership or the EDL. We are fairly certain which people are behind this and do not understand why they want to disrupt us in our fight against Islamism.
In the mean time until Facebook let us know about their investigations we have this page, which is fully secured and is the only official communication method on Facebook of the EDL
Finally Facebook is a good recruiting tool but is not the be all and end all of the EDL we all know each other and communicate in many other ways the EDL will come back from this minor technical glitch better BIGGER and STRONGER
No Surrender
Your EDL Leadership Team
Sunday, 24 April 2011
He's nothing to do with us: Daughters of first BNP mayor change names because they're so ashamed (UK)
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| Donna and Rachel Cave |
Donna and Rachel Cave do not want to be associated with the man they say abandoned them when they were teenagers.
Donna, a 27-year-old law graduate, said: ‘It’s a terrible thing to carry through life, the feeling of being dumped by your father, made worse now that he’s become a national hate figure. I try not to tell people my name in case they make the connection.’
John Cave, a local councillor, was elected deputy mayor of Padiham, near Burnley in Lancashire, earlier this month and will step up to the role of mayor next year. The position is largely symbolic but his election has been seen as a coup for the far-Right British National Party while being ¬condemned by community leaders.
Last night Donna and her sister Rachel, 25 – who also have two other sisters Victoria, 40, and Katie, 26 – said his character made him entirely unsuitable for the office.
Donna claimed he walked out on the four of them and their mother Marlene 12 years ago when she was having chemotherapy for cancer.
She said: ‘It’s unbelievable that this man who abandoned my mother when she had cancer, as well as his four daughters, and who holds such repugnant political beliefs, could ever be considered fit to hold such a position of responsibility.
‘He cut all ties with us, never called or even sent us a birthday card.
‘Our early attempts to keep in contact were either ignored or rebuffed. It’s as if we had never been part of his life. He has two grandchildren who he hasn’t seen.’
 |
| John Cave |
Donna added: ‘I’m speaking out as I’ve had enough of being quiet about the appalling way he’s behaved. It’s amusing to hear someone say they want to make a difference to the community when he can’t even look after his own children.’
Rachel said: ‘It’s the principle of it. He’s representing the town and I think they should have someone with better morals and family values. We’re like a secret family. It’s not right.’
Mr Cave is now married to shopkeeper Sharon Wilkinson, a BNP Lancashire county councillor, who has three sons from a previous marriage. The girls claim he was having an affair with her while their mother was ill.
Donna said: ‘He insisted they were just friends but no one believed him. I think she was the cause of rows between Mum and Dad. He was at her shop frequently and did the cash-and-carry buys for her.
‘I noticed that usually at 10pm when she closed up, he would conveniently walk the dog. I wasn’t stupid. I knew what was going on.
‘And I had watched Mum get more depressed because people were whispering behind her back.’ In 1999, the girls returned from school one night to find their father gone. Rachel said: ‘He didn’t stick around to explain anything. Mum said he was gone for good and, in a way, I was relieved because we could all see that he was hurting her. After he left, she finished the treatment and was given the all-clear. She has been OK since then.’
Mr Cave, a landscape gardener, then joined the BNP. He and Ms Wilkinson rented neighbouring houses while still insisting they were just friends. The girls believe she was responsible for their father’s political conversion from working-class Tory voter to bigot.
Donna said: ‘Before this, Dad never talked about race as an issue. He had Asian friends and he’d take us to some of the Asian shops to see the different foods on sale. I don’t remember any racist talk at home.’
Rachel thinks Ms Wilkinson first embraced the BNP after her off-licence lost out to competition from an Asian shop that opened across the road in 1999.
She said: ‘They were bigger and cheaper. They were always busier than her. That’s when I think she changed. She was very upset.’
The last time all the girls saw their father was at their grandmother’s funeral four years ago. Donna said: ‘Dad spoke to Katie once in passing, but didn’t say a word to the rest of us. Lots of his BNP friends were there strutting around with their badges on, which upset me as Nanna was not racist.’
When their grandfather subsequently died only Donna and Katie attended the funeral. Now, with the change of their names, their estrangement is complete. Donna said: ‘He rejected us so we’re rejecting him.’
Last night Mr Cave told The Mail on Sunday: ‘What my daughters want to say is up to them. My divorce from their mother was not at all amicable and they seem to have taken her version of events. I did not abandon them or “disappear”. That would be impossible in Burnley.
‘Really, I’ve absolutely no comment to make about what those people say.
Daily Mail
Vienna to memorialize Nazi army deserters (Austria)
Vienna will erect a memorial to honor deserters from Hitler's army, the city council said Wednesday.
The move was another move by Austria to confront its wartime past. Since the 1980s, the country has gone from denial to gradually acknowledging that it shares guilt for atrocities committed by Nazi Germany.
The Austria Press Agency reported that the decision was endorsed by the Socialist and Green parties, which form Vienna's municipal government coalition.
Austria's parliament already agreed to rehabilitate deserters criminalized by the Nazis for refusing to continue serving in the Third Reich's armed forces two years ago, and several German cities display memorials to Wehrmacht deserters.
Vienna Greens Party head David Ellensohn said those could serve as models for the Vienna project, to be erected by 2013.
Until the 1980s, Austrian history books suggested that Austria was a wartime victim because it was annexed by Nazi Germany. But the vast majority of Austrians voted for the "Anschluss"; more Austrians than Germans per capita were members of the Nazi party, and not only Hitler but some of his most notorious henchmen were Austrian.
In Mauthausen, Austria's most notorious Nazi concentration camp complex, about half the 200,000 inmates were shot, gassed or worked to death.
CBS News
The move was another move by Austria to confront its wartime past. Since the 1980s, the country has gone from denial to gradually acknowledging that it shares guilt for atrocities committed by Nazi Germany.
The Austria Press Agency reported that the decision was endorsed by the Socialist and Green parties, which form Vienna's municipal government coalition.
Austria's parliament already agreed to rehabilitate deserters criminalized by the Nazis for refusing to continue serving in the Third Reich's armed forces two years ago, and several German cities display memorials to Wehrmacht deserters.
Vienna Greens Party head David Ellensohn said those could serve as models for the Vienna project, to be erected by 2013.
Until the 1980s, Austrian history books suggested that Austria was a wartime victim because it was annexed by Nazi Germany. But the vast majority of Austrians voted for the "Anschluss"; more Austrians than Germans per capita were members of the Nazi party, and not only Hitler but some of his most notorious henchmen were Austrian.
In Mauthausen, Austria's most notorious Nazi concentration camp complex, about half the 200,000 inmates were shot, gassed or worked to death.
CBS News
Facebook says Bye Bye to the EDL page for the second time, while hackers expose senior members names and addresses.
While EDL members where foaming at the mouth with cries of "No Surrender" and spewing their normal hate filled rants in their "new" facbook page the unthinkable happened to them again.
Facebook removed the page for the second time within 24 hours.
And if that wasn't the worst of it.
A well known hacking crew called ZCompany has revealed on Facebook all the senior members names, addresses and their on-line user-names.
All together now Awwww that's a shame.
.
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Police launch operation to arrest 50 Old Firm online racists & bigots (UK)
More than 50 Old Firm internet hatemongers were last night facing arrest in a series of police raids.
A top cop warned: "We're coming to get you", as the operation to crush the bigots was launched.
A crack team will carry out the raids before tomorrow's Old Firm clash at Ibrox.
They were due to continue throughout today in Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire.
Their targets are self-styled supporters who have been spewing religious and racial hatred on social networking and chat forums.
Among them will be people who have posted vile abuse about Celtic manager Neil Lennon and Rangers star El Hadji-Diouf.
The operation has been planned for nearly two months and involves officers from the Strathclyde Police Anti-Violence Directorate, which previously specialised in tracking down thugs setting up gang fights online.
Detectives have tracked their targets through internet accounts and website registrations.They will be arresting them for a variety of offences, ranging from breach of the peace to incitement to racially aggravated violence.
Action Superintendent Kirk Kinnell, who is heading the operation, said: "This is not a final warning. I want to reassure the public that we are taking action right now.
"We know who we are targeting. We have at least 50 live inquiries and we will be coming to the home addresses of people in the near future."
Supt Kinnell also revealed that the targets range from schoolboys to middle-aged men. As well as Facebook and Twitter, some of them have been promoting their sick views on football forums.
The superintendent added: "All of the inquiries are at different stages. It is a complex process but there is no hiding place on the internet.
"It is a broad-ranging inquiry and we are looking at comments about various individuals. This goes back to before the latest parcel bomb incidents.
"So some of them are sectarian comments about Neil Lennon and some are racist comments about El Hadji-Diouf, for example. But all are violent and hate-filled.
"These kind of comments have become particularly prolific over recent weeks and that has brought it into focus for us.
"It is at the point where they have become filled with hate and anger and are likely to incite violent behaviour so we are acting on these as quickly as we can.
"Everywhere we find people spreading the disease of hate online is where we will focus our activity."
Supt Kinnell said it was "routine business" for the anti-violence team to monitor social networking sites.
He said: "It is not difficult for us to track these people. We have cooperation from the Internet Service Providers Association and media companies which facilitate websites. They are helping us to identify those responsible.
"This operation will continue for as long as it needs to. We will be relentless in tracking these people down until they stop posting this kind of abuse on the internet.
"And if it stops in the coming weeks but flares up again next season, we will be right back on top of them again."
Daily Record
A top cop warned: "We're coming to get you", as the operation to crush the bigots was launched.
A crack team will carry out the raids before tomorrow's Old Firm clash at Ibrox.
They were due to continue throughout today in Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire.
Their targets are self-styled supporters who have been spewing religious and racial hatred on social networking and chat forums.
Among them will be people who have posted vile abuse about Celtic manager Neil Lennon and Rangers star El Hadji-Diouf.
The operation has been planned for nearly two months and involves officers from the Strathclyde Police Anti-Violence Directorate, which previously specialised in tracking down thugs setting up gang fights online.
Detectives have tracked their targets through internet accounts and website registrations.They will be arresting them for a variety of offences, ranging from breach of the peace to incitement to racially aggravated violence.
Action Superintendent Kirk Kinnell, who is heading the operation, said: "This is not a final warning. I want to reassure the public that we are taking action right now.
"We know who we are targeting. We have at least 50 live inquiries and we will be coming to the home addresses of people in the near future."
Supt Kinnell also revealed that the targets range from schoolboys to middle-aged men. As well as Facebook and Twitter, some of them have been promoting their sick views on football forums.
The superintendent added: "All of the inquiries are at different stages. It is a complex process but there is no hiding place on the internet.
"It is a broad-ranging inquiry and we are looking at comments about various individuals. This goes back to before the latest parcel bomb incidents.
"So some of them are sectarian comments about Neil Lennon and some are racist comments about El Hadji-Diouf, for example. But all are violent and hate-filled.
"These kind of comments have become particularly prolific over recent weeks and that has brought it into focus for us.
"It is at the point where they have become filled with hate and anger and are likely to incite violent behaviour so we are acting on these as quickly as we can.
"Everywhere we find people spreading the disease of hate online is where we will focus our activity."
Supt Kinnell said it was "routine business" for the anti-violence team to monitor social networking sites.
He said: "It is not difficult for us to track these people. We have cooperation from the Internet Service Providers Association and media companies which facilitate websites. They are helping us to identify those responsible.
"This operation will continue for as long as it needs to. We will be relentless in tracking these people down until they stop posting this kind of abuse on the internet.
"And if it stops in the coming weeks but flares up again next season, we will be right back on top of them again."
Daily Record
Facebook removes the English Defence League's main page on St Georges Day (UK)
The exact reasons for this at the present time are unknown, although given the amount of anti-Islamic racism and religious hatred that was posted there, the chances that it was because of that are pretty damn high.
And adding to the fact that today is St Georges day in England, many EDL member's will be foaming at the mouth at this total embarrassment to their cause.
Happy St Georges day everyone.
Central Council of Jews renews call for neo-Nazi NPD party ban (Germany)
Referring to expectations of far-right trouble across the country on May 1, Dieter Graumann, president of the council, warned of an increasing political and social acceptance of the party.
“Sadly, the announced actions of the neo-Nazi scene for May 1 already practically belong to the sad events calendar of any given year,” he said.
He called for society to never get used to such things and for politicians to take their duties more seriously – and try again for a ban of the NPD – “instead of barricading themselves over-cautiously behind legal sophistry and avoiding the confrontation.”
“Those who bury their heads in the sand too timidly can only gain an overview with great difficulty. A strategy against the rightwing charlatans and enemies of our democracy looks different to this,” he said.
Referring to an incident in Winterbach in Baden-Württemberg on April 10, when a group of neo-Nazis set fire to a house in which five foreigners were living, he said, “Such attacks plumb the tragic depths, but it is about more than single attacks against foreigners or other minorities. Far right extremism does not start when the first blood flows.”
Public discrimination and defamation are also not to be tolerated, he said, adding that he found some recent court decisions which seemed to give fascists the right to spread what he called their poison, unbelievably damaging to society.
“We have to draw a line here and make clear what we in our society, which has a broad consensus which overcomes political and religious differences of opinion, will not accept,” he said.
He called on churches and religious communities, in particular Muslim associations, to, “step up much more clearly and convincingly,” on the matter. The attack in Baden-Württemberg showed that, “xenophobia, racism and discrimination are problems for all of Germany and all of society,” he said.
He added that a sense of citizenship and social engagement must be, “fostered and won every day and for every generation.”
Times of economic difficulties in particular meant that, “many people are obviously receptive to populist, defamatory and xenophobic theories,” he warned.
The Local Germany
Amsterdam to mark homes where Jews lived in WWII
A commemoration committee is asking thousands of Amsterdam homeowners to mark their houses if a former Jewish resident was arrested or deported to Nazi death camps during World War II.
The May 4-5 Committee, named for the date of the Netherlands' liberation from German occupation in 1945, made posters available Friday for display in windows of the former Jewish homes.
The poster reads: "1 of the 21,662 houses where Jews lived who were murdered in World War II."
Residents can look on the committee's website to see if their house had been occupied by a Jewish family during the war and the names of the people who had lived there.
More than 70 percent of Holland's wartime Jewish population were killed by the Nazis. The Dutch mark the end of the war on May 4 with solemn ceremonies of remembrance, followed the next day by parties and music to mark Liberation Day.
The poster was the initiative of Frits Rijksbaron, a marketing executive who discovered the title deed to his new home showed that it had once belonged to a Jewish family.
He told Dutch broadcaster NOS that he hoped to remind Amsterdam's citizens of the horrors of the Nazis' sweep of their city, during which some 61,700 Jews were arrested and killed.
He wanted "to show how big a trauma it was for the Jews and for Amsterdam, and how Jewish Amsterdam was."
Google Hosted News
The May 4-5 Committee, named for the date of the Netherlands' liberation from German occupation in 1945, made posters available Friday for display in windows of the former Jewish homes.
The poster reads: "1 of the 21,662 houses where Jews lived who were murdered in World War II."
Residents can look on the committee's website to see if their house had been occupied by a Jewish family during the war and the names of the people who had lived there.
More than 70 percent of Holland's wartime Jewish population were killed by the Nazis. The Dutch mark the end of the war on May 4 with solemn ceremonies of remembrance, followed the next day by parties and music to mark Liberation Day.
The poster was the initiative of Frits Rijksbaron, a marketing executive who discovered the title deed to his new home showed that it had once belonged to a Jewish family.
He told Dutch broadcaster NOS that he hoped to remind Amsterdam's citizens of the horrors of the Nazis' sweep of their city, during which some 61,700 Jews were arrested and killed.
He wanted "to show how big a trauma it was for the Jews and for Amsterdam, and how Jewish Amsterdam was."
Google Hosted News
Le Pen family feud over Nazi supporter's expulsion (France)
Rather like Shakespeare's ancient king, the founder of the NF, Jean-Marie Le Pen, 82, has surrendered power to his daughter, Marine. Like King Lear, Mr Le Pen is not ready to go into a peaceful retirement.
Yesterday he publicly chided his daughter for expelling a National Front official who was pictured on a news website giving a Nazi salute to a swastika flag. Mr Le Pen suggested that Marine, 42, who is on holiday in Thailand, had acted "hastily" and she might like to "appeal against her own decision" when she gets back.
The public spat – the first since Marine took over the presidency of the NF in January – could be electorally damaging for the new leader of France's far right. Ms Le Pen is riding high in opinion polls after abandoning some of her father's more extreme positions and promising to root out all signs of anti-Semitism and Nazi sympathies within the party.
Alexandre Gabriac, 21, a local party official and county councillor in the Lyon area, was shown in a photograph on nouvelobs.com last month giving a Nazi salute with his left arm to a swastika banner. The disciplinary committee of the party, including Jean-Marie Le Pen, accepted his story that the photograph had been faked. Earlier this week Marine Le Pen overruled the committee's recommendation that he should be given a warning and expelled him from the party.
In an interview with the French news agency AFP last month, Ms le Pen said she intended to be "firm and brutal" with any signs of neo-Nazi sympathies in the NF. She said of Mr Gabriac that he was a "bloke who belonged to the Oeuvre Française" – a far-right pressure group which sympathises with the wartime Vichy regime which collaborated with Nazism.
In an interview yesterday, her father, who remains the NF "honorary president for life" said he thought his daughter had acted "hastily without all the information available".
"There is nothing stopping her going from ill-informed to better in formed," he said. "She could appeal against her own decision."
The Independant
Perth “tarnished” by BNP manifesto launch (UK)
A decision to make Perth the venue to kickstart the British National Party’s Holyrood campaign was condemned yesterday.
A shocked trade union member claimed the Fair City’s reputation had been tarnished after it was chosen by the BNP for the launch of their manifesto for the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections.
BNP election candidates and other members gathered in the Royal George Hotel on Sunday for the event, then some of the 32 candidates being fielded by the party – four in each of the Scottish regions – posed in sunshine on the River Tay viewing platform.
Yet on the day members of the far-right party were basking in the “excellent” speeches made during the launch, the national press highlighted that the BNP had been reported to the Electoral Commission over a campaign leaflet which falsely claims there are more Muslims in the UK than Scots.
The press also reported that a pamphlet put through letterboxes across Scotland stated the BNP would put an end to mosque-building and were warning of a “flood” of Eastern European immigrants about to arrive in Scotland.
The BNP’s Perth event was not widely reported in the media, but it did not go unnoticed by active trade union member David McPhee.
“I was dismayed to discover that after a clandestine operation the British National Party chose Perth as the location for them to launch their Scottish manifesto,” said Mr McPhee, who went on to slam the Royal George Hotel for taking the booking.
“As an active trade union member and someone who has campaigned locally on a number of anti-racist initiatives I find it shocking that any local business could see fit to host such an abhorrent political party for the launch of their manifesto.
Protests
“Presumably the clandestine nature of their launch was to avoid the sort of protests which usually follow them around and which forced them to cancel their original planned manifesto launch in Falkirk last month.
“Unfortunately it seems they found a complicit business in Perth to allow them to do so.”
The BNP website reports the manifesto launch “was held in a top hotel in Perth, where we were welcomed very warmly indeed.”
It goes on to say “excellent” speeches were given by BNP Scottish organiser Gary Raikes and two election candidates, and adds: “We had one of the youngest members and one of our eldest Scottish members in attendance which was so emotional as they both gave speeches to the British National Party Scotland’s Manifesto launch.”
The website adds that the BNP handed out leaflets to passers-by before party supporters, “headed back to our respective homes to reflect on history being made, we have just launched the Manifesto that will get us into Holyrood!”
Mr McPhee laments that history did not repeat itself: “I understand that in 1936 the BNP’s forerunners – Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts – were effectively chased out of Perth with their tails between their legs.
“I wonder what our forefathers who had the courage of their convictions to do so would think of this damaging association which I believe has tarnished Perth’s reputation as the Fair City?”
Perth advertiser
A shocked trade union member claimed the Fair City’s reputation had been tarnished after it was chosen by the BNP for the launch of their manifesto for the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections.
BNP election candidates and other members gathered in the Royal George Hotel on Sunday for the event, then some of the 32 candidates being fielded by the party – four in each of the Scottish regions – posed in sunshine on the River Tay viewing platform.
Yet on the day members of the far-right party were basking in the “excellent” speeches made during the launch, the national press highlighted that the BNP had been reported to the Electoral Commission over a campaign leaflet which falsely claims there are more Muslims in the UK than Scots.
The press also reported that a pamphlet put through letterboxes across Scotland stated the BNP would put an end to mosque-building and were warning of a “flood” of Eastern European immigrants about to arrive in Scotland.
The BNP’s Perth event was not widely reported in the media, but it did not go unnoticed by active trade union member David McPhee.
“I was dismayed to discover that after a clandestine operation the British National Party chose Perth as the location for them to launch their Scottish manifesto,” said Mr McPhee, who went on to slam the Royal George Hotel for taking the booking.
“As an active trade union member and someone who has campaigned locally on a number of anti-racist initiatives I find it shocking that any local business could see fit to host such an abhorrent political party for the launch of their manifesto.
Protests
“Presumably the clandestine nature of their launch was to avoid the sort of protests which usually follow them around and which forced them to cancel their original planned manifesto launch in Falkirk last month.
“Unfortunately it seems they found a complicit business in Perth to allow them to do so.”
The BNP website reports the manifesto launch “was held in a top hotel in Perth, where we were welcomed very warmly indeed.”
It goes on to say “excellent” speeches were given by BNP Scottish organiser Gary Raikes and two election candidates, and adds: “We had one of the youngest members and one of our eldest Scottish members in attendance which was so emotional as they both gave speeches to the British National Party Scotland’s Manifesto launch.”
The website adds that the BNP handed out leaflets to passers-by before party supporters, “headed back to our respective homes to reflect on history being made, we have just launched the Manifesto that will get us into Holyrood!”
Mr McPhee laments that history did not repeat itself: “I understand that in 1936 the BNP’s forerunners – Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts – were effectively chased out of Perth with their tails between their legs.
“I wonder what our forefathers who had the courage of their convictions to do so would think of this damaging association which I believe has tarnished Perth’s reputation as the Fair City?”
Perth advertiser
BNP faces meltdown at local polls after defections and infighting (UK)
Party to field 450 fewer candidates than in 2007 as leader Nick Griffin comes under pressure over organisation's finances.
The British National party is facing political meltdown in next month's local elections after a string of defections and growing concern over its finances.
Dozens of prominent BNP figures have either been suspended or have resigned and in the past few weeks several former members have announced they are to stand for rival far-right and nationalist organisations.
The BNP is standing around 250 candidates in next month's elections, compared with approximately 700 in the equivalent polls in 2007.
The turmoil comes as the Electoral Commission announced this week that the party had "failed to comply with the legal requirement to keep adequate financial records" for the second year running, further increasing the pressure on the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, who fought off a leadership challenge last year.
"The position of the party is extremely dire," said Professor Matthew Goodwin, from Nottingham University, an expert on far-right politics. "The defections and rebellions are going strong and we have seen a whole host of key figures leave to join other far-right groups … Nick Griffin is becoming increasingly isolated."
The BNP says it is focusing on the elections to the Welsh assembly, where it claims it could secure two seats, but anti-Griffin rebels say the BNP should be making more progress in England as cuts bite and economic instability increases.
"There is growing anger within the party because there was a period when it looked like Nick Griffin may have been able to force the BNP into the political mainstream," said a spokesman for the anti-racist campaign Hope not Hate. "But it is clear Nick Griffin will himself be the BNP's nemesis. His mismanagement, arrogance and dictatorial leadership have dragged his own party off a political cliff."
The BNP's election prospects took a blow earlier this month when it emerged that around 15 former members, including some key figures such as former Yorkshire organiser Chris Beverley, had defected and are standing for the English Democrats in next month's elections. On his blog Beverley said it had been a "huge decision" and blamed the actions of Griffin and his leadership team for the party's problems.
Goodwin said: "There are just over 200 BNP candidates but there are 390 far-right candidates in total so what we are seeing quite clearly is that the far right is splintering, not just among one or two parties but among a whole host of groups and factions … it is the classic case of far-right parties in the UK shooting themselves in the foot."
Analysts say BNP infighting has allowed other far-right and nationalist groups to come to the fore. Organisations such as the English Defence League, the English Democrats and the British Freedom party are now challenging the BNP, but perhaps its biggest threat is a resurgent UK Independence party, which beat both the Conservatives and Lib Dems to come second in a byelection in Barnsley last month.
"The activists that are frustrated with the incompetence of the BNP are going to the EDL or other rightwing factions and many [former voters] are going to Ukip if they want something more respectable," said Goodwin. "The BNP are being outflanked on all sides."
Opponents say the defections and wider splits mean the party is struggling to stand candidates in some of its core areas.
BNP spokesman Simon Darby dismissed the defections, saying: "People have gone, that is it … but wait and see about that, I think they are going to regret that, just wait and see."
He defended Griffin, insisting he was still a popular leader and that it was "a miracle" the party was still operating following what he said was a relentless campaign to undermine it by the media and the state. "I am just pleased we are still here putting up a campaign in seats we may win … we are still in the game and are looking to regroup after all the dust has settled on this election," he said.
Griffin has come under growing pressure since the BNP's poor showing in last year's general and council elections, when it lost all but two of the 28 councillors up for re-election and was wiped out in its east London stronghold of Barking and Dagenham. It now has 23 councillors, compared with 54 a year ago, and several senior figures, including election co-ordinator Eddie Butler and London assembly member Richard Barnbrook, have come out against Griffin.
The rebels' anger is focused on Griffin's leadership style and concern about the party's debts which were exacerbated this week when the Electoral Commission said the BNP had failed to keep adequate financial records for the second year running.
"We have sought an urgent meeting with the party to discuss the steps they need to take to comply with the law," said a spokesman for the commission.
The party is reportedly £500,000 in debt although Darby said that the figure was "coming down".
"We are making good progress on that, that debt will be serviced," he added.
Although a poor showing in next month's elections would increase the pressure on Griffin to stand down, Goodwin said that remains unlikely.
"Griffin will hang on because the BNP constitution means it is almost impossible to oust him... [He] is doing the party in, it is not connecting with voters, they are running out of money but he is not going to go anywhere... they truly are a fading star and it is almost entirely because of Griffin's incompetence."
The Guardian
The British National party is facing political meltdown in next month's local elections after a string of defections and growing concern over its finances.
Dozens of prominent BNP figures have either been suspended or have resigned and in the past few weeks several former members have announced they are to stand for rival far-right and nationalist organisations.
The BNP is standing around 250 candidates in next month's elections, compared with approximately 700 in the equivalent polls in 2007.
The turmoil comes as the Electoral Commission announced this week that the party had "failed to comply with the legal requirement to keep adequate financial records" for the second year running, further increasing the pressure on the BNP leader, Nick Griffin, who fought off a leadership challenge last year.
"The position of the party is extremely dire," said Professor Matthew Goodwin, from Nottingham University, an expert on far-right politics. "The defections and rebellions are going strong and we have seen a whole host of key figures leave to join other far-right groups … Nick Griffin is becoming increasingly isolated."
The BNP says it is focusing on the elections to the Welsh assembly, where it claims it could secure two seats, but anti-Griffin rebels say the BNP should be making more progress in England as cuts bite and economic instability increases.
"There is growing anger within the party because there was a period when it looked like Nick Griffin may have been able to force the BNP into the political mainstream," said a spokesman for the anti-racist campaign Hope not Hate. "But it is clear Nick Griffin will himself be the BNP's nemesis. His mismanagement, arrogance and dictatorial leadership have dragged his own party off a political cliff."
The BNP's election prospects took a blow earlier this month when it emerged that around 15 former members, including some key figures such as former Yorkshire organiser Chris Beverley, had defected and are standing for the English Democrats in next month's elections. On his blog Beverley said it had been a "huge decision" and blamed the actions of Griffin and his leadership team for the party's problems.
Goodwin said: "There are just over 200 BNP candidates but there are 390 far-right candidates in total so what we are seeing quite clearly is that the far right is splintering, not just among one or two parties but among a whole host of groups and factions … it is the classic case of far-right parties in the UK shooting themselves in the foot."
Analysts say BNP infighting has allowed other far-right and nationalist groups to come to the fore. Organisations such as the English Defence League, the English Democrats and the British Freedom party are now challenging the BNP, but perhaps its biggest threat is a resurgent UK Independence party, which beat both the Conservatives and Lib Dems to come second in a byelection in Barnsley last month.
"The activists that are frustrated with the incompetence of the BNP are going to the EDL or other rightwing factions and many [former voters] are going to Ukip if they want something more respectable," said Goodwin. "The BNP are being outflanked on all sides."
Opponents say the defections and wider splits mean the party is struggling to stand candidates in some of its core areas.
BNP spokesman Simon Darby dismissed the defections, saying: "People have gone, that is it … but wait and see about that, I think they are going to regret that, just wait and see."
He defended Griffin, insisting he was still a popular leader and that it was "a miracle" the party was still operating following what he said was a relentless campaign to undermine it by the media and the state. "I am just pleased we are still here putting up a campaign in seats we may win … we are still in the game and are looking to regroup after all the dust has settled on this election," he said.
Griffin has come under growing pressure since the BNP's poor showing in last year's general and council elections, when it lost all but two of the 28 councillors up for re-election and was wiped out in its east London stronghold of Barking and Dagenham. It now has 23 councillors, compared with 54 a year ago, and several senior figures, including election co-ordinator Eddie Butler and London assembly member Richard Barnbrook, have come out against Griffin.
The rebels' anger is focused on Griffin's leadership style and concern about the party's debts which were exacerbated this week when the Electoral Commission said the BNP had failed to keep adequate financial records for the second year running.
"We have sought an urgent meeting with the party to discuss the steps they need to take to comply with the law," said a spokesman for the commission.
The party is reportedly £500,000 in debt although Darby said that the figure was "coming down".
"We are making good progress on that, that debt will be serviced," he added.
Although a poor showing in next month's elections would increase the pressure on Griffin to stand down, Goodwin said that remains unlikely.
"Griffin will hang on because the BNP constitution means it is almost impossible to oust him... [He] is doing the party in, it is not connecting with voters, they are running out of money but he is not going to go anywhere... they truly are a fading star and it is almost entirely because of Griffin's incompetence."
The Guardian
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