Germany's football team is the most ethnically diverse in the country's history
Yagiz Dogan is hankering after a pair of orange and silver trainers similar to those worn by German footballer Mesut Ozil. "I'm saving up for them, after all he's my hero," says the 15-year-old, who lives in a flat in the Berlin district of Neukölln with his Turkish parents and grandparents.
Yagiz has hung a German flag from the window, much to the confusion of his mother. "Of course I want Germany to win the World Cup," he says.
He also thinks it's fine that Ozil, the German-born son of Turkish immigrants, has chosen to play for Germany rather than Turkey.
"What should be strange about that? He was born here, brought up here, he speaks the language, understands the culture – just like me. I can identify with him."
The boy could be speaking for Ozil himself. But what's clear from talking to him is how natural it is for a whole generation of young Germans – known as "Generation M" or "multiculti" – that their national football team comes from a diverse range of backgrounds.
Not only is this German team the youngest it has been since 1934 – half the squad are 24 or under – it is also the most ethnically diverse it has ever been. No fewer than half of the players were either born outside Germany, are the sons of immigrants, or have one non-German parent. And what's more, says national coach Joachim Löw, "they have a strong sense of identification with the eagle on their breasts and with the nation as a whole".
The effect of such a radical transition cannot be overstated in a country that for years did not consider itself a land of immigration, and where foreigners brought in to fill the skills gap were deliberately called "guest workers" on the understanding, or hope, that they would go home.
The change has come about thanks to a 1999 revamp of citizenship laws. Half the current team's players would not have been allowed in just over a decade ago.
Some bloggers on far-right websites railed in anger following Germany's swashbuckling 4-0 defeat of Australia a fortnight ago, insisting that the team was now "no longer German". But the team has won over the hearts of most Germans, who are delighted by the verve and fearlessness the new generation has injected into the game.
Ozil, arguably the star of this current team, who scored the winning goal in Wednesday's match against Ghana, said that he sees his "Turkish side" coming out in his technique and feel for the ball, "and the give-it-your-all attitude to my game is the German part of me".
The Guardian
Sunday, 27 June 2010
BNP leader Nick Griffin grooms his daughter to replace him
But they believe Griffin has no intention of relinquishing his vice-like grip on the party he has led since 1999 – despite his pledge to step down by 2013.
They expect him to copy his 82-year-old French Fascist ally Jean Marie Le Pen, who has ensured his daughter Marine is in pole position to replace him as head of France’s National Front.
Last year Jennifer was appointed a director of Adlorries, a company that controls a substantial proportion of the BNP finances, under her married name Jennifer Matthys.
She was also given a crucial role as party membership secretary, working in the BNP’s main call centre in Belfast, where she lives.
Jennifer, who was leader of the BNP’s youth wing as a teenager, has been at her father’s side at important party events. Earlier this month she was used as the public face of the party in a promotional film.
Griffin’s manoeuvring risks sparking further revolt among the party faithful, who have openly questioned his leadership since the BNP was humiliated in May’s national and local elections.
Simon Bennett, the former BNP webmaster who quit his job on the eve of the election in a row over alleged corruption and incompetence, said: “He knows his days are numbered and installing his daughter is the perfect Plan B.
“She would be the nominal leader but he would be the real power behind the throne.”
The Mirror
EHRC case against the BNP now moves from County Court to the High Court.
So far very little news about this is emerging and we have no trust in the BNP ‘s website reporting of these events.
However as they are the only ones reporting this incident its well worth reading as this could be another huge nail being hammered into the BNP’s coffin.
BNP Website
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Germany to Launch Exit Program for Militant Islamists
Germany has been offering programs for people who want to leave the neo-Nazi scene for years. Now, in a bid to combat the threat of Islamist terrorism, authorities are setting up a telephone hotline for those keen to give up jihad.
Could it be that Islamists just need a helping hand to turn their back on extremism? That, at least, is what Germany is hoping -- and has set up a new program to facilitate the process.
Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, will launch the so-called exit program at the end of June, agency chief Heinz Fromm announced Monday, speaking at the presentation of the service's annual report for 2009 in Berlin. The agency is to set up a telephone hotline that militant Islamists can call if they want to leave radical Islamist groups. Multilingual specialists will be available to give potential quitters advice in Turkish or Arabic, as well as German, Fromm said, without giving further details of the program.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière described the scheme as a "valuable preventative effort." Fromm however warned against overly high expectations for the scheme. "We'll have to wait and see if it gets a big response," he said. The agency's programs for neo-Nazis wanting to quit their milieu, which have been running for several years, have only met with moderate success.
'Feelings of Insecurity'
According to the intelligence agency's findings, the number of members and supporters of radical Islamist groups in Germany increased in 2009 by around 5 percent compared to the previous year. Germany now has 29 Islamist organizations with an estimated 36,000 members, the largest of which is the Turkish association Milli Görüs, described by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as "anti-democratic."
Fromm and de Maizière warned of an ongoing threat to Germany from Islamist terrorism. In 2009, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution registered an "unprecedented" series of Islamist propaganda messages directed at Germany, warning of attacks against German targets if the country did not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The messages were intended to influence the outcome of the September 2009 general election. The promised attacks did not, however, materialize. There have been seven serious attempts to carry out Islamist terror attacks in Germany since 2000, according to the agency.
So-called "homegrown" terrorism poses a particular threat in Germany. The members of radical Islamist groups include young Germans who have converted to Islam, a phenomenon de Maizière attributed to "situations of loss and insecurity" during puberty. "Feelings of inferiority" make young people vulnerable to being inducted into the radical Islamist scene, he said.
Violence from Both Sides
The agency also recorded a sharp rise in acts of violence motivated by left-wing extremism in 2009, which rose by more than 50 percent to over 1,100. The number of arson attacks increased from 62 in 2008 to 113 in 2009. Arson attacks on cars in cities such as Berlin and Hamburg have been the focus of much media attention in the last couple of years. Fromm played down the threat of terrorist acts by left-wing extremists, however. Although some people in the far-left scene play with "the idea of attempting something like that, (those ideas) are not currently finding support," Fromm said.
There was a small drop in acts of right-wing violence in 2009, down to 891 acts from 1,042 in 2008. De Maizière stressed that, despite the fall, the threat of far-right violence should not be "neglected."
Spiegel
Could it be that Islamists just need a helping hand to turn their back on extremism? That, at least, is what Germany is hoping -- and has set up a new program to facilitate the process.
Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, will launch the so-called exit program at the end of June, agency chief Heinz Fromm announced Monday, speaking at the presentation of the service's annual report for 2009 in Berlin. The agency is to set up a telephone hotline that militant Islamists can call if they want to leave radical Islamist groups. Multilingual specialists will be available to give potential quitters advice in Turkish or Arabic, as well as German, Fromm said, without giving further details of the program.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière described the scheme as a "valuable preventative effort." Fromm however warned against overly high expectations for the scheme. "We'll have to wait and see if it gets a big response," he said. The agency's programs for neo-Nazis wanting to quit their milieu, which have been running for several years, have only met with moderate success.
'Feelings of Insecurity'
According to the intelligence agency's findings, the number of members and supporters of radical Islamist groups in Germany increased in 2009 by around 5 percent compared to the previous year. Germany now has 29 Islamist organizations with an estimated 36,000 members, the largest of which is the Turkish association Milli Görüs, described by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as "anti-democratic."
Fromm and de Maizière warned of an ongoing threat to Germany from Islamist terrorism. In 2009, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution registered an "unprecedented" series of Islamist propaganda messages directed at Germany, warning of attacks against German targets if the country did not withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. The messages were intended to influence the outcome of the September 2009 general election. The promised attacks did not, however, materialize. There have been seven serious attempts to carry out Islamist terror attacks in Germany since 2000, according to the agency.
So-called "homegrown" terrorism poses a particular threat in Germany. The members of radical Islamist groups include young Germans who have converted to Islam, a phenomenon de Maizière attributed to "situations of loss and insecurity" during puberty. "Feelings of inferiority" make young people vulnerable to being inducted into the radical Islamist scene, he said.
Violence from Both Sides
The agency also recorded a sharp rise in acts of violence motivated by left-wing extremism in 2009, which rose by more than 50 percent to over 1,100. The number of arson attacks increased from 62 in 2008 to 113 in 2009. Arson attacks on cars in cities such as Berlin and Hamburg have been the focus of much media attention in the last couple of years. Fromm played down the threat of terrorist acts by left-wing extremists, however. Although some people in the far-left scene play with "the idea of attempting something like that, (those ideas) are not currently finding support," Fromm said.
There was a small drop in acts of right-wing violence in 2009, down to 891 acts from 1,042 in 2008. De Maizière stressed that, despite the fall, the threat of far-right violence should not be "neglected."
Spiegel
Boy made nailbombs with chemicals bought on eBay
Police found a pipe packed with nails and screws and charged with powder in the 16 year old’s bedroom, and a pipe with a firework inside hidden under a waste oil tank at a nearby petrol station.
The youngster also had literature from the right wing groups the British National Party and the English Defence League, together with Nazi emblems.
Officers were tipped off by the eBay seller who was concerned about the commodities being bought. The family's house in Tamworth, Staffs, was immediately evacuated while explosives and firearms experts searched the property for three days.
They found the device, loaded with nails, in his bedroom. It was examined by the Defence Laboratory and found to be capable of producing a "lethal shot". Two days later they found the device with a firework inside.
Stafford Crown Court heard internet conversations from a chat room dedicated to explosives and firearms had been found on a computer in the house.
Malcolm Morse, prosecuting, added that the mother of one of the boy's friends had handed in a video clip from a mobile phone camera showing an explosive device being detonated in a tree. The clip was labelled with the boy’s name and claiming ownership of the device.
The boy, who cannot be named, admitted possessing a firearm without a certificate – the only charge that could be applied to the device found in his bedroom, said Mr Morse. He also admitted having an explosive substance and making an explosive substance.
Judge John Wait made the boy subject to a three year controlling order for public safety. He told him he was a danger to the public and added that he found it hard to believe that his parents had let him carry on making explosive substances and not seen the danger of the combination with extreme politics.
Defending, Darron Whitehead, said: "It would be very easy to simply infer that this young man is a terrorist with hidden agendas. They don't exist in this case.
"There was never at any time, any positive intention to make any aggressive use of the items strewn about his bedroom.
"There is nothing in this case to suggest there was any intention to cause harm to human life."
He said the boy’s interest began with fireworks before developing into a wider interest in pyrotechnics.
Mr Whitehead said the boy’s parents and his neighbours all knew about his interests and were not concerned about him.
One of the boy’s friends, Jason Cunningham, 27, from Tamworth, admitted making an explosive substance and perverting the course of justice. He was jailed for 12 months.
The Telegraph
FRANCE'S NATIONAL FRONT: WILL MARINE LE PEN TAKE THE REINS?
Jean-Marie Le Pen, who heads France's National Front party, has long peppered politics with right-wing bons mots. (Nazi occupation was "not especially inhumane," he once said.) Now his daughter, Marine Le Pen, is showing that she, too, can make headlines. She called on President Nicolas Sarkozy to step down if implicated in a bribery case dating to 1995. She recently knocked France's racially diverse World Cup soccer team: "I don't see myself represented by this France team." And after police on June 15 banned a provocative "pork sausage and booze" party that was to be held in a heavily Arab-Muslim quarter of Paris, Ms. Le Pen said, "the French state has capitulated once again."
Succession campaign in full swing
Her higher visibility comes as a National Front succession campaign is in full swing. The senior Le Pen is set to retire as champion of a proud France that, he's long said, is being invaded and cheated by foreign hordes, Brussels bureaucrats, and globalization. He also decries what he calls excessive Jewish influence in the media. An often-vicious party fight is under way between Ms. Le Pen and Bruno Gollnisch, Mr. Le Pen's stalwart right-hand man. The battle is over the face and direction of the far right, whose influence here has always outweighed its numbers. Ms. Le Pen, tall, blond, and articulate, wants to move the Front away from the splendid isolation of its 5 to 12 percent vote and appeal to a mainstream that has also moved right. She has rebuffed her dad's anti-Semitism and speaks inclusively of gays and feminists – while nourishing an anti-immigrant, antiburqa, anti-Islam line that plays to a silent majority. Mr. Gollnisch, serious, gray-haired, a professor and ultranationalist who speaks Japanese and Malay and is deeply loyal to Mr. Le Pen, wants the party to remain a haven for fellow travelers. His anti-Semitism is intact; a 2004 speech saying Holocaust facts are a "dispute of history" landed him in court. Most French think the daughter, with her populist touch, will win. But in party ranks, Gollnisch is seen as a standard-bearer who put in time and hard work. He told Le Figaro newspaper: "I want … to defend the French identity, which appears more threatened than ever."
"She's a pure product of her father, and she's got the leader's name. That has weight," says Arun Kapil of the American University in Paris. "But to the card-carrying party member, Gollnisch has legitimacy. He goes way back to the '70s." He adds, "If Marine wins, the Front national has a chance to break out … if Gollnisch wins, they retreat to 2 percent." Gollnisch insists that he has the moxie to move the party out. He casts himself as a "little guy from the provinces." But so far he isn't even talking to the main center-right party of Mr. Sarkozy, where the voters are. His hatred for political correctness is reputedly visceral. "He prefers to fish in silent, dark waters," a Paris political analyst says. His outreach is to figures like Philippe de Villiers, a denizen of the extremes who opposes the European Union, the euro, Islam, and Turkey in Europe; who wants riot police to use live ammunition; and who this month tried to ban a heavy-metal concert as "Satanist." Ms. Le Pen, meanwhile, is taking on figures like Sarkozy and getting quoted almost daily. On the socialist left, she is compared to Sarah Palin, especially after claiming a feminist mantle. And the return home this week of France's World Cup team, disgraced by its poor performance on and off the field, has only given Ms. Le Pen's earlier statements added weight. Much of the national reaction to the team's behavior was racially loaded, prompting urban affairs minister Fadela Amara to warn against "building a highway for the National Front."
Party witch hunt
Gollnischians snarl that Ms. Le Pen, a tool of Zionists, is conducting party witch hunts to out his supporters. "She is an empty shell … compatible with anything," says former Front vice president Jean-Claude Martinez. Gollnisch is "faithful to the fundamentals of the Front, whose program he wrote," says analyst Philippe Cohen. "When Marine is 'divisive,' Gollnisch says he is ready to rally the scattered forces of the extreme right." Mr. Le Pen is silent on the internal struggle. He has long been the face of the European far right, and a powerful influence as the mainstream scrambled to match his ability to capture popular discontent. In 2002, he shocked Paris by facing Jacques Chirac in the national runoff. In 2007, his party did poorly. But Sarkozy's victory was partly based on adopting Le Pen positions and siphoning votes. Whether the daughter can move the party into power politics is unclear. In The New York Times recently, she described the trials of being a Le Pen, but affirmed core party views: "There has been a withdrawal into non-French identities because we sapped French nationality of its content.… So how can someone be proud? We spend all our lives saying, 'We are ... colonizers, slavery promoters.' " The Le Pens, in any event, seem here to stay. Mr. Le Pen's granddaughter, Marion Marechal Le Pen, ran in the March local elections. She's 19.
CSMonitor
Succession campaign in full swing
Her higher visibility comes as a National Front succession campaign is in full swing. The senior Le Pen is set to retire as champion of a proud France that, he's long said, is being invaded and cheated by foreign hordes, Brussels bureaucrats, and globalization. He also decries what he calls excessive Jewish influence in the media. An often-vicious party fight is under way between Ms. Le Pen and Bruno Gollnisch, Mr. Le Pen's stalwart right-hand man. The battle is over the face and direction of the far right, whose influence here has always outweighed its numbers. Ms. Le Pen, tall, blond, and articulate, wants to move the Front away from the splendid isolation of its 5 to 12 percent vote and appeal to a mainstream that has also moved right. She has rebuffed her dad's anti-Semitism and speaks inclusively of gays and feminists – while nourishing an anti-immigrant, antiburqa, anti-Islam line that plays to a silent majority. Mr. Gollnisch, serious, gray-haired, a professor and ultranationalist who speaks Japanese and Malay and is deeply loyal to Mr. Le Pen, wants the party to remain a haven for fellow travelers. His anti-Semitism is intact; a 2004 speech saying Holocaust facts are a "dispute of history" landed him in court. Most French think the daughter, with her populist touch, will win. But in party ranks, Gollnisch is seen as a standard-bearer who put in time and hard work. He told Le Figaro newspaper: "I want … to defend the French identity, which appears more threatened than ever."
"She's a pure product of her father, and she's got the leader's name. That has weight," says Arun Kapil of the American University in Paris. "But to the card-carrying party member, Gollnisch has legitimacy. He goes way back to the '70s." He adds, "If Marine wins, the Front national has a chance to break out … if Gollnisch wins, they retreat to 2 percent." Gollnisch insists that he has the moxie to move the party out. He casts himself as a "little guy from the provinces." But so far he isn't even talking to the main center-right party of Mr. Sarkozy, where the voters are. His hatred for political correctness is reputedly visceral. "He prefers to fish in silent, dark waters," a Paris political analyst says. His outreach is to figures like Philippe de Villiers, a denizen of the extremes who opposes the European Union, the euro, Islam, and Turkey in Europe; who wants riot police to use live ammunition; and who this month tried to ban a heavy-metal concert as "Satanist." Ms. Le Pen, meanwhile, is taking on figures like Sarkozy and getting quoted almost daily. On the socialist left, she is compared to Sarah Palin, especially after claiming a feminist mantle. And the return home this week of France's World Cup team, disgraced by its poor performance on and off the field, has only given Ms. Le Pen's earlier statements added weight. Much of the national reaction to the team's behavior was racially loaded, prompting urban affairs minister Fadela Amara to warn against "building a highway for the National Front."
Party witch hunt
Gollnischians snarl that Ms. Le Pen, a tool of Zionists, is conducting party witch hunts to out his supporters. "She is an empty shell … compatible with anything," says former Front vice president Jean-Claude Martinez. Gollnisch is "faithful to the fundamentals of the Front, whose program he wrote," says analyst Philippe Cohen. "When Marine is 'divisive,' Gollnisch says he is ready to rally the scattered forces of the extreme right." Mr. Le Pen is silent on the internal struggle. He has long been the face of the European far right, and a powerful influence as the mainstream scrambled to match his ability to capture popular discontent. In 2002, he shocked Paris by facing Jacques Chirac in the national runoff. In 2007, his party did poorly. But Sarkozy's victory was partly based on adopting Le Pen positions and siphoning votes. Whether the daughter can move the party into power politics is unclear. In The New York Times recently, she described the trials of being a Le Pen, but affirmed core party views: "There has been a withdrawal into non-French identities because we sapped French nationality of its content.… So how can someone be proud? We spend all our lives saying, 'We are ... colonizers, slavery promoters.' " The Le Pens, in any event, seem here to stay. Mr. Le Pen's granddaughter, Marion Marechal Le Pen, ran in the March local elections. She's 19.
CSMonitor
Greens MP and pal attacked by 'racist' football fans (Austria)
Greens MP Werner Kogler was given a "beer shower" as he acted as a go-between at an open air World Cup party.
The financial issues expert said today (Fri) he reprimanded a group of four young men shouting racist slurs before they spilled beer over his head at the venue in the city centre of Graz on Wednesday night.
Kogler claimed the youths provoked other football enthusiasts watching Germany playing Ghana by shouting paroles like "shitty niggers".
The politician – who is his party’s front runner for the 26 September provincial elections of Styria – announced one of his mates suffered a broken cheekbone as the situation got out of hands. The attacker was arrested, he added.
Austrian Greens Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Ulrike Lunacek revealed recently a protester threw stones at her during a demonstration for gay rights in the Slovakian capital Bratislava.
Lunacek said the route of the "Rainbow Pride Bratislava 2010" march was changed after the incident, adding that the attacker was put in custody.
Austrian Times
The financial issues expert said today (Fri) he reprimanded a group of four young men shouting racist slurs before they spilled beer over his head at the venue in the city centre of Graz on Wednesday night.
Kogler claimed the youths provoked other football enthusiasts watching Germany playing Ghana by shouting paroles like "shitty niggers".
The politician – who is his party’s front runner for the 26 September provincial elections of Styria – announced one of his mates suffered a broken cheekbone as the situation got out of hands. The attacker was arrested, he added.
Austrian Greens Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Ulrike Lunacek revealed recently a protester threw stones at her during a demonstration for gay rights in the Slovakian capital Bratislava.
Lunacek said the route of the "Rainbow Pride Bratislava 2010" march was changed after the incident, adding that the attacker was put in custody.
Austrian Times
Met boss: Day I took on racist yobs who called me 'Paki'
Scotland Yard's most senior Muslim officer has told how he challenged a gang of yobs who racially abused him while he was off duty.
Chief Superintendent Dal Babu was walking to a church confirmation when he was subjected to shouts of "Paki, Paki." The father-of-two blocked the men's path until help arrived, as they tried to jostle him and push past.
Two people have now been convicted over the abuse.
The Harrow borough commander, who was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, told how he was on his BlackBerry getting directions to the church in St Albans when he walked past a pub and saw three men. One shouted: "Paki, Paki."
In a witness statement, Mr Babu, 47, who lives in London, said one of the white men asked: "Come on Paki what you going to do about it?" Mr Babu added: "He beckoned me to come towards him with his hand. The two other men were laughing and started to walk towards me. I am unfamiliar with St Albans and was concerned I was going be assaulted. The man in the grey top continued to shout.
"I decided I should identify myself as a police officer and call for assistance. I then crossed the road and produced my warrant card and said, 'I am Chief Superintendent Babu from the Metropolitan Police I want to speak to you. I phoned 999. The three men started to surround me and I noticed all of them smelt of intoxicating liquor. I said, 'I want you to stay here, There is CCTV that will capture everything you do.'"
Two of the men tried to walk away but, said Mr Babu: "I blocked their path ... they pushed past me, the man in the yellow top pushed me causing my BlackBerry to fall and come apart." But he managed to hold on to two of them until uniformed officers arrived. The abuse took place last month. At Hertford magistrates' court, Jamie Healy, 27, of Watford, was given a community order after pleading guilty to a public order offence. Michael Dimaio, 24, of St Albans, is awaiting sentence after admitting causing racial aggravation.
Mr Babu, one of 10 children of Indian migrants, joined the Met in 1983 and is a founding member of the National Association of Muslim Police. He helped build bridges between police and Muslim communities after the 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings.
This is London
Chief Superintendent Dal Babu was walking to a church confirmation when he was subjected to shouts of "Paki, Paki." The father-of-two blocked the men's path until help arrived, as they tried to jostle him and push past.
Two people have now been convicted over the abuse.
The Harrow borough commander, who was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list, told how he was on his BlackBerry getting directions to the church in St Albans when he walked past a pub and saw three men. One shouted: "Paki, Paki."
In a witness statement, Mr Babu, 47, who lives in London, said one of the white men asked: "Come on Paki what you going to do about it?" Mr Babu added: "He beckoned me to come towards him with his hand. The two other men were laughing and started to walk towards me. I am unfamiliar with St Albans and was concerned I was going be assaulted. The man in the grey top continued to shout.
"I decided I should identify myself as a police officer and call for assistance. I then crossed the road and produced my warrant card and said, 'I am Chief Superintendent Babu from the Metropolitan Police I want to speak to you. I phoned 999. The three men started to surround me and I noticed all of them smelt of intoxicating liquor. I said, 'I want you to stay here, There is CCTV that will capture everything you do.'"
Two of the men tried to walk away but, said Mr Babu: "I blocked their path ... they pushed past me, the man in the yellow top pushed me causing my BlackBerry to fall and come apart." But he managed to hold on to two of them until uniformed officers arrived. The abuse took place last month. At Hertford magistrates' court, Jamie Healy, 27, of Watford, was given a community order after pleading guilty to a public order offence. Michael Dimaio, 24, of St Albans, is awaiting sentence after admitting causing racial aggravation.
Mr Babu, one of 10 children of Indian migrants, joined the Met in 1983 and is a founding member of the National Association of Muslim Police. He helped build bridges between police and Muslim communities after the 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings.
This is London
School sends home more than 20 children for racist chants during World Cup game
A school suspended more than 20 children after they started chanting racial abuse during a playground showing of a World Cup game.
Education chiefs at the Pent Valley Technology College in Cheriton, Kent, confirmed today that 'a number of children' had been suspended or excluded following an outbreak of 'racial taunting'.
More than 100 children at the secondary school were watching a match after school bosses decided to rig up a giant screen in the playground so pupils could watch lunchtime games.
The incident - which involved around 25 children taunting children of other nationalities - is believed to have taken place during the Honduras v Chile game on June 16.
Head teacher Mario Citro said that a group of youngsters had been sent home from school after 'abusive and racist comments' were made.
He refused to say how many had been suspended or if any had been permanently excluded, but did say that 'a number' of pupils had been excluded.
A source at the school, however, said between 20 and 25 children had been sent home immediately following the incident.
Mr Citro said that the incident was captured on CCTV and that some students had behaved in an 'intimidating manner'.
He added: 'A group of youngsters was making abusive and racist comments to the ones who aren't English.
'Some were trying to be horrible to some of our children from other countries - that is behaviour we don't accept.'
Mr Citro, who said staff take a 'hard line' on racism, addressed a school assembly in the wake of the incident telling children that any racist behaviour would not be tolerated.
He said: 'I reminded the students that what happened was something we would never accept at Pent Valley.
'I reinforced our stance against racism and reminded them how proud we are of our mixed community and how we've always got on together.'
A spokesman for Kent police confirmed that racist chanting had 'got out of hand', but said the school had handled the incident itself.
The spokesman said: 'Some children got suspended after some England chanting got out of hand and ended up racist in tone.
'We were told about it but not called out as the school managed it quickly.'
Mr Citro refused to confirm how many pupils at the 1,300 student school were suspended or excluded, adding: 'A number of children have been excluded but I'm always concerned about people's privacy.'
Daily Mail
Education chiefs at the Pent Valley Technology College in Cheriton, Kent, confirmed today that 'a number of children' had been suspended or excluded following an outbreak of 'racial taunting'.
More than 100 children at the secondary school were watching a match after school bosses decided to rig up a giant screen in the playground so pupils could watch lunchtime games.
The incident - which involved around 25 children taunting children of other nationalities - is believed to have taken place during the Honduras v Chile game on June 16.
Head teacher Mario Citro said that a group of youngsters had been sent home from school after 'abusive and racist comments' were made.
He refused to say how many had been suspended or if any had been permanently excluded, but did say that 'a number' of pupils had been excluded.
A source at the school, however, said between 20 and 25 children had been sent home immediately following the incident.
Mr Citro said that the incident was captured on CCTV and that some students had behaved in an 'intimidating manner'.
He added: 'A group of youngsters was making abusive and racist comments to the ones who aren't English.
'Some were trying to be horrible to some of our children from other countries - that is behaviour we don't accept.'
Mr Citro, who said staff take a 'hard line' on racism, addressed a school assembly in the wake of the incident telling children that any racist behaviour would not be tolerated.
He said: 'I reminded the students that what happened was something we would never accept at Pent Valley.
'I reinforced our stance against racism and reminded them how proud we are of our mixed community and how we've always got on together.'
A spokesman for Kent police confirmed that racist chanting had 'got out of hand', but said the school had handled the incident itself.
The spokesman said: 'Some children got suspended after some England chanting got out of hand and ended up racist in tone.
'We were told about it but not called out as the school managed it quickly.'
Mr Citro refused to confirm how many pupils at the 1,300 student school were suspended or excluded, adding: 'A number of children have been excluded but I'm always concerned about people's privacy.'
Daily Mail
Racist violence migrates to the country (UK)
Researchers at the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) analysed 660 racist attacks across Britain last year and found growing evidence to suggest that violence against minorities has shifted to rural areas and towns.
The IRR said hatred and bigotry had spread in less than a generation thanks to a broad spread of asylum seekers, migrant workers, overseas students and the movement of settled ethnic minority families. Prejudice was also being fanned, they concluded, by mainstream political parties competing with one another over which could cut immigration the fastest.
"What has emerged is that the map of violence has changed quite dramatically since studies were first done of such violence in the 1970s," the authors wrote.
"It is no longer poor, deprived areas of London such as Southall, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham, which witnessed many of the racial attacks and racist murders a generation or two ago, that are now so prone to serious attacks. Not only are black and ethnic minority communities now more established there but also a whole history of struggle against racism has strengthened these communities."
They added: "But what was significant was that ethnic minorities in a whole host of cities, towns and areas, not traditionally associated with such violence, now appear to be experiencing it. These are areas which have traditionally been very white and are not affluent. In some cases, core industries have gone and a whole generation of young people are without a future."
The authors said minority ethnic groups, asylum seekers and migrant communities are bearing the brunt of these tensions. They found asylum seekers, newly-arrived migrant workers and people who look Muslim are most at risk of attack, while trades that isolate individuals, such as cab driving, serving in takeaways and staffing small shops were found to be the most dangerous. IRR researchers say at least 89 identifiably racist murders have taken place in Britain since Stephen Lawrence was killed while waiting for a bus in Eltham, south London, in 1993 – an average of five a year. Of the victims, 39 were Asian, 25 were black, four were white British and three were white eastern Europeans.
Lee Bridges, who analysed official crime statistics for the report, found that while racist attacks had decreased in London over the past decade, they have dramatically risen in proportion elsewhere.
In 1999/2000, London recorded 23,401 racist incidents, 49 per cent of the national total. By 2007/8 that number had dropped to 9,866, a 58 per cent reduction. Last year, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Thames Valley and Lancashire accounted for 28 per cent of the national total, a 103 per cent increase on 10 years ago.
Case Study: Indian sailor died after attack by gang of 20 youths
Gregory Fernandes, a 32-year-old sailor from Goa in India, was walking back to the cargo ship he worked on in Fawley, Hampshire when he and a friend were set upon by a 20-strong gang of youths. It was October 2007. Mr Fernandes was his family's breadwinner. A passerby broke up the fight and drove Mr Fernandes to his cargo ship, but he dropped dead from a heart attack.
Police concluded that the attack, which took place in a normally quiet backwater of Hampshire, had clear racist overtones. The gang had been shouting "Paki" during the assault. In January 2008, the Fernandes family expressed concern at the police investigation and the failure to charge anyone in connection with his death. Three young boys were later charged with his murder. At their trial in February 2009, the three admitted lesser charges of manslaughter. In March 2009, Stephen Pritchard, 18, Daniel Rogers, 18, and Chay Fields, 16, were sentenced to six-and-a-half years. A 15-year-old boy admitted GBH on Mr Fernandes' friend and was given a 12-month detention and training order. Another 15-year-old who admitted assault was given an 18-month supervision order.
The Independant
Friday, 25 June 2010
The BNP past of the EDL leader
Nick Lowles and Simon Cressy expose Tommy RobinsonParty member who has served 12 months’ imprisonment for assaulting an off-duty police officer.
Self-proclaimed EDL leader Tommy Robinson is really Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, from Bedford.
In 2004 he joined the BNP with a family membership. In the same year he assaulted an off-duty police officer who intervened to stop a domestic incident between Yaxley-Lennon and his partner Jenna Vowles. During the scuffle Yaxley-Lennon kicked the officer in the head.
He was convicted on 18 April 2005 for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, for which he was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, and assault with intent to resist arrest, for which he received a concurrent term of three months.
Vowles, also a BNP member, was cautioned for possession of cocaine. She told the court that the she found two empty bags in her house and was taking them out so that her parents did not find them.
Yaxley-Lennon attended Putteridge High School in Luton and moved to nearby Bedford more recently. Robinson also claims on his Facebook site that he attended Putteridge school.
The revelation that Robinson had been a member of the BNP explains why so many of the initial EDL activists also attended BNP meetings in the Luton/Bedford area.
More importantly, it dispels the myth that the roots of the EDL are not in hard-core racism.
It destroys the protestations by the EDL leadership that, “They aren’t the BNP and they aren’t Nazis,” made at their phoney press conference held last September in a disused Luton warehouse, where they unfurled a swastika flag and proceeded to try to set it alight for the cameras.
It also explains the real reason why Robinson felt the need to hide his face.
Apart from his BNP membership and his convictions for violence, Robinson told a BBC film crew that he lived in a part of Luton where Islamic fanatics lived and that he feared for his safety. The reality is somewhat different as he lives in Wilstead, a relatively leafy village on the outskirts of Bedford.
The exposure of his identity follows a split in the EDL that is mostly being fought over the internet.
Paul Ray, self-styled spiritual guru of the EDL, has posted a series of messages on his Lionheart blog, in which he and his friend Nick Greger announce their intention to take control of the EDL. Ray was the original mover in creating the EDL, although he quickly fell out with the other leaders and moved abroad to Malta. Ray has focused his efforts on making Crusader-themed anti-Muslim promotional videos, and he and Greger have just issued a notice of “expulsion” of the EDL’s leaders, together with a demand for control of the EDL’s websites.
In one of their videos Greger goes on to say “another well-known man will soon appear within the new leadership, a man from Ulster, who is also currently in exile”.
This is almost certainly a reference to Greger’s friend Johnny Adair, a prominent loyalist terrorist who now lives in Scotland following an intra-loyalist feud. Adair’s friendship with Greger was the subject of a television documentary in 2006, when Adair met Greger while in prison for plotting acts of terror and was then the head of a nazi group in Dresden, Germany.
It is thought that Ray and Greger were responsible for the appearance of a video on YouTube that unveiled Robinson as Stephen Yaxley along with a series of photographs, following outlandish claims by Ray that the EDL led by Robinson threatened to kidnap and harm members of Ray’s family.
Robinson later confirmed on his Facebook page that the photographs were indeed of him, saying, “Hey at least people can see my hansome face now”.
Hope Not Hate
No-holds-barred racism as Griffin gets desperate (UK)
This is how Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, which claims to be not racist, described Britain in an email to supporters on 23 June appealing for money to help him fight the continuing action by the Equality and Human Rights Commission over the BNP’s racist constitution.
In the email, which also described Trevor Phillips, the chair of the EHRC, as an “immigrant Marxist” and a “black Marxist”, Griffin said he was “ready to go to prison” for his beliefs.
Outrageously he invoked Winston Churchill, the “heroes of D-Day” and “Spitfire pilots” in a blatant attempt to win sympathy and persuade supporters to open their wallets yet again for him.
Griffin has often referred to an impending civil war in Britain, especially after electoral failure such as in last month’s elections. After the BNP failed to win any MEPs in the 2004 European election despite gaining 800,000 votes, Griffin said the party might have to consider alternatives to the ballot box. The following year the BNP’s general election manifesto called for adults who have completed a period of military service to be “required to keep in a safe locker in their homes a standard-issue military assault rifle and ammunition”, a policy the party has never renounced.
A number of BNP members have tried to turn Griffin’s talk about civil war into action. They include David Copeland, the London bomber, and Robert Cottage, who was convicted for possession of explosives.
In raising the prospect of imprisonment Griffin no doubt also has his eye on Eddy Butler’s challenge to his leadership of the BNP, announced on 18 June. Griffin may hope that party members would hardly desert a man who was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for them.
However most BNP members are likely to see through this ploy. Growing numbers want a new party leader because of Griffin’s incompetence in producing electoral results, dubious financial dealings and his insistence on handing over administrative and financial control of the party to the “consultant” Jim Dowson, a militant anti-abortion campaigner with criminal convictions for violence.
Butler, the BNP’s national elections officer until he was peremptorily sacked at the end of March, is now trying to collect the signatures of 20% of BNP members with at least two years’ membership, which he needs to force a leadership election. Several party branch organisers are calling local meetings so that members can sign the forms.
BNP activists all over the country are beginning to support Butler’s challenge. One of them is Danny Lake, former leader of the Young BNP. Echoing the views of many party members, he describes Griffin as “a man who has brought the party far but remains stunted by a damaged reputation”. Griffin is standing “with a set of disastrous election results behind him”, Lake points out, before expressing the view that Griffin will not allow a clean fight.
Hope Not Hate
Burned girl a symbol of Roma hate and hope (Czech Rep)
Natalka Kudrikova is a bright-eyed, three-year-old girl recovering from the severe burns she suffered when far-right extremists threw a Molotov cocktail into her home.
Her family and authorities say she was targeted because they are Roma, or gypsies. Natalka lost 80 percent of her skin, two fingers (a third was later amputated) and spent months lying in an induced coma following the attack last year in Vitkov, in the Czech Republic. She is still recuperating after 14 major surgeries.
In May, Natalka returned to Ostrava Hospital for rehabilitation sessions so that one day she may be able to get around without support. "I'd rather not take her back to the hospital," said her mother, Anna Sivakova, "but if she must return, my dream is that she learns how to walk without any help."
The very next day, four young men accused of attacking Natalka, filed into Ostrava District Court to hear the indictment: a racially motivated attempted murder.
According to the prosecutor, the attack was planned for the 120th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth. Court experts confirmed swastikas and other Nazi memorabilia were found in the defendants' homes.
In court, Ivo Muller and Vaclav Cojocaru described their coordinated Molotov cocktail attack. Their only excuse -- they said they thought they were attacking an empty storehouse of stolen goods.
Under cross-examination, Muller and Cojocaru admitted attending anti-Roma demonstrations organized by right wing extremists.
The other defendants, Jaromir Lukes and David Vaculik, did not take the stand. Lukes is accused of being the ringleader, a claim his defense counsel strongly denies although he concedes Lukes drove the getaway car. His lawyer also vehemently denies there was any racial motivation to the attack.
An anti-fascist website published a photo of Lukes walking next to the leader of the far-right Workers' Party. Another photo showed Vaculik wearing the armband of the Workers' Party, the public face of the Czech far right.
The leader of the now banned Workers' Party, Tomas Vandas, denied any involvement.
"Yes, we may have used those people as organizers of our public meetings but how could we know they would commit a crime?" said Vandas. "I hope Natalka gets better soon," he added.
Miroslav Mares, from Masaryk University in Brno, is the leading academic specialist on Czech extremist groups.
He thinks it's unlikely that the Workers' Party was directly involved in the arson attack, but he says they were responsible "for inflaming anti-Roma sentiment."
"Maybe some youngsters from the neo-Nazi scene said to themselves, 'If the whole population is against Romas we are justified in carrying out such attacks,'" he said.
And surveys do show anti-Roma sentiment is widespread. The European Union EURoma website says Czech Romas endure extremely high unemployment rates, low educational standards, isolation, and the prejudices of the majority population.
"In regions with high unemployment and poor social conditions, the rise of extremism is popular with unemployed young men but we can see more and more women on the neo-Nazi scene," Marek said.
Lucie Slegrova, 20, is a flag-waving militant of the now renamed Workers' Social Justice Party. She denies her party is inspired by Hitler's Nazi ideology.
Instead, she says, they follow their own nationalist ideas. "The Czech Republic should be for people who know how to behave. If the gypsies don't want to follow the rules, they're free to leave," she said.
Only one percent of Czech voters supported the Workers' Social Justice Party in the last elections, but Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer worries that 7 percent of Czech students voted for the far-right party, according to an unofficial nationwide poll.
"A lot of people are frustrated with politicians, and have troubles due to the crisis and recession. My message to them is please think it over and don't believe these very bad prophets," Fischer said.
The far-right movement has made bigger gains in neighboring Hungary where 17 percent of voters chose the Jobbik party in the last elections.
Violence has been much worse as well. In the last two years, nine Roma have been killed in Hungary in unprovoked night-time attacks, according to the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC).
Roma bashing also became an issue in the Slovakian election campaign. The far right Slovak National Party commissioned billboards showing a dark-skinned man with tattoos and an inflammatory message: "Vote SNS so we don't feed those who don't want to work."
In eastern Slovakia many Roma live in segregated communities like the village of Ostrovany where municipal authorities spent some $16,000 to build a wall separating the Roma from their white neighbors, because of fears of "alleged Roma crime," said Stanislav Daniel from ERRC.
"To me the wall is a symbol of segregation because public finances were used to target a stereotype, not what's real," Daniel said.
The wall separates a tidy town from a rural slum. Roma, living right next to the wall, have no sewage or garbage collection and there's just one tap with drinking water for dozens of families.
Back in the Czech Republic, Natalka's father, Pavel Kudrik, has chosen to stay in the region and rebuild a comfortable home for his wife and four daughters.
After police asserted that Natalka's family were victims of a racist attack, many Czechs opened their wallets and their hearts.
Prime Minister Fischer's wife and son spearheaded a nationwide campaign to help them -- a move that led to the Fischer family having full-time police protection after they received anonymous death threats.
But the current climate is not the only reason Fischer wants to clamp down on right wing extremism.
Everyone in his family died in the Holocaust except for his father and grandmother. "Sixty-five years after WWII, the societal memory is getting weak," he said.
And Roma activists complain that recognition of their sacrifices under the Nazis has never been properly acknowledged.
Half-a-million Roma perished in what they call the "Devouring" -- Hitler's campaign to eliminate them as a people.
Last May, several hundred Czech Roma gathered at a memorial for the victims of the Lety concentration camp. Hundreds of Czech Roma children died there and are buried nearby in a mass grave.
Jan Vrba is one of the camp's last survivors. He was born there. His sister perished there.
"What happened in Vitkov made me cry", said Jan. "Little Natalka reminded me of my sister who died in this camp."
--
Here is a video report about the attack.
CNN
Her family and authorities say she was targeted because they are Roma, or gypsies. Natalka lost 80 percent of her skin, two fingers (a third was later amputated) and spent months lying in an induced coma following the attack last year in Vitkov, in the Czech Republic. She is still recuperating after 14 major surgeries.
In May, Natalka returned to Ostrava Hospital for rehabilitation sessions so that one day she may be able to get around without support. "I'd rather not take her back to the hospital," said her mother, Anna Sivakova, "but if she must return, my dream is that she learns how to walk without any help."
The very next day, four young men accused of attacking Natalka, filed into Ostrava District Court to hear the indictment: a racially motivated attempted murder.
According to the prosecutor, the attack was planned for the 120th anniversary of Adolf Hitler's birth. Court experts confirmed swastikas and other Nazi memorabilia were found in the defendants' homes.
In court, Ivo Muller and Vaclav Cojocaru described their coordinated Molotov cocktail attack. Their only excuse -- they said they thought they were attacking an empty storehouse of stolen goods.
Under cross-examination, Muller and Cojocaru admitted attending anti-Roma demonstrations organized by right wing extremists.
The other defendants, Jaromir Lukes and David Vaculik, did not take the stand. Lukes is accused of being the ringleader, a claim his defense counsel strongly denies although he concedes Lukes drove the getaway car. His lawyer also vehemently denies there was any racial motivation to the attack.
An anti-fascist website published a photo of Lukes walking next to the leader of the far-right Workers' Party. Another photo showed Vaculik wearing the armband of the Workers' Party, the public face of the Czech far right.
The leader of the now banned Workers' Party, Tomas Vandas, denied any involvement.
"Yes, we may have used those people as organizers of our public meetings but how could we know they would commit a crime?" said Vandas. "I hope Natalka gets better soon," he added.
Miroslav Mares, from Masaryk University in Brno, is the leading academic specialist on Czech extremist groups.
He thinks it's unlikely that the Workers' Party was directly involved in the arson attack, but he says they were responsible "for inflaming anti-Roma sentiment."
"Maybe some youngsters from the neo-Nazi scene said to themselves, 'If the whole population is against Romas we are justified in carrying out such attacks,'" he said.
And surveys do show anti-Roma sentiment is widespread. The European Union EURoma website says Czech Romas endure extremely high unemployment rates, low educational standards, isolation, and the prejudices of the majority population.
"In regions with high unemployment and poor social conditions, the rise of extremism is popular with unemployed young men but we can see more and more women on the neo-Nazi scene," Marek said.
Lucie Slegrova, 20, is a flag-waving militant of the now renamed Workers' Social Justice Party. She denies her party is inspired by Hitler's Nazi ideology.
Instead, she says, they follow their own nationalist ideas. "The Czech Republic should be for people who know how to behave. If the gypsies don't want to follow the rules, they're free to leave," she said.
Only one percent of Czech voters supported the Workers' Social Justice Party in the last elections, but Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer worries that 7 percent of Czech students voted for the far-right party, according to an unofficial nationwide poll.
"A lot of people are frustrated with politicians, and have troubles due to the crisis and recession. My message to them is please think it over and don't believe these very bad prophets," Fischer said.
The far-right movement has made bigger gains in neighboring Hungary where 17 percent of voters chose the Jobbik party in the last elections.
Violence has been much worse as well. In the last two years, nine Roma have been killed in Hungary in unprovoked night-time attacks, according to the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC).
Roma bashing also became an issue in the Slovakian election campaign. The far right Slovak National Party commissioned billboards showing a dark-skinned man with tattoos and an inflammatory message: "Vote SNS so we don't feed those who don't want to work."
In eastern Slovakia many Roma live in segregated communities like the village of Ostrovany where municipal authorities spent some $16,000 to build a wall separating the Roma from their white neighbors, because of fears of "alleged Roma crime," said Stanislav Daniel from ERRC.
"To me the wall is a symbol of segregation because public finances were used to target a stereotype, not what's real," Daniel said.
The wall separates a tidy town from a rural slum. Roma, living right next to the wall, have no sewage or garbage collection and there's just one tap with drinking water for dozens of families.
Back in the Czech Republic, Natalka's father, Pavel Kudrik, has chosen to stay in the region and rebuild a comfortable home for his wife and four daughters.
After police asserted that Natalka's family were victims of a racist attack, many Czechs opened their wallets and their hearts.
Prime Minister Fischer's wife and son spearheaded a nationwide campaign to help them -- a move that led to the Fischer family having full-time police protection after they received anonymous death threats.
But the current climate is not the only reason Fischer wants to clamp down on right wing extremism.
Everyone in his family died in the Holocaust except for his father and grandmother. "Sixty-five years after WWII, the societal memory is getting weak," he said.
And Roma activists complain that recognition of their sacrifices under the Nazis has never been properly acknowledged.
Half-a-million Roma perished in what they call the "Devouring" -- Hitler's campaign to eliminate them as a people.
Last May, several hundred Czech Roma gathered at a memorial for the victims of the Lety concentration camp. Hundreds of Czech Roma children died there and are buried nearby in a mass grave.
Jan Vrba is one of the camp's last survivors. He was born there. His sister perished there.
"What happened in Vitkov made me cry", said Jan. "Little Natalka reminded me of my sister who died in this camp."
--
Here is a video report about the attack.
CNN
Neo-Nazis sentenced to 4 and a half years jail at Liverpool Crown Court (uk)
Two Neo-Nazis have been sentenced to a total of four-and-a-half years behind bars by a judge at Liverpool Crown Court, for inciting racial hatred.Food packer Michael Heaton, 42, was handed a 30-month jail term for "using threatening and abusive language likely to stir up racial hatred".
His co-defendant Trevor Hannington, 58, was sentenced to two years after admitting six offences and being found guilty by a jury of the same offence as Heaton.
Passing sentence Judge Stephen Irwin QC said: "You clearly intended to stir-up racial hatred on behalf of the organisation
"In my judgement you saw yourself as the leader of a potentially significant National Socialist Group. You wanted to start a race war. You were clearly filled with racial hatred and you have certainly given that impression in court."This offence is so serious and your character is so distorted by racial hatred that only a significant sentence will suffice."
"You lived in a shambles. You habitually told lies in an attempt to gain status but it is clear that you are largely a fantasist."
In a 12-day trial the court had earlier heard that Heaton idolised Nazi warlord Rudolf Hess and kept piles of memorabilia including swaztikas and a fearsome armoury of weapons.
Heaton was convicted on four counts of "using threatening and abusive language likely to stir up racial hatred".
At an earlier hearing, Hannington, admitted six further counts of using threatening and abusive language, and possessing notorious terrorism handbooks "The Anarchists Cookbook" and "The Complete Improvise Kitchen".
The jury heard that both Hannington and Heaton published a string of vile messages on the Aryan Strike Force website, which the pair operated together, between January and June 2008.
Hannington, of Hirwaun, South Wales, described as a lonely "Walter Mitty" character, also admitted posting instructions for making a home made flame-thrower on the site operated from his home.
Hannington's hate-filled postings include messages which read: "Kill the Jew, Kill the Jew, Burn the synagogues, and Burn the Scum".
Heaton wrote, "Jews will always be scum, and must be destroyed, I would encourage any race who wants to destroy the Jews, I hate them with a passion."
The court was also told of Heaton's connections with other convicted neo-nazi extremists, including Mark Atkinson, who was jailed for five years in 2005 for publishing racial hatred in a right-wing magazine called Stormer.
Heaton's relationship with another activist, named only as Maroney, was also described. Maroney is currently serving a life sentence after "fire-bombing" the home of a Yemeni neighbour, before firing a crossbow wildly down the street, and for sexually assaulting his girlfriend.
The court heard that Heaton, who describes himself as "slightly National Socialist", had expressed his anger at Maroney's conviction on the ASF website, writing: "Life, for singeing a Paki's grass!"
The court heard that Michael Heaton had made more than 3,000 obscene and inflammatory postings on the website under a string of pseudonyms while his co defendant operated under the aliases of Fist and Lee88.
During a search of Heaton's home, in Greater Manchester, detectives unearthed large quantities of Nazi and Hitler-related material, and a vast array of weapons.A copy of the Nazi dictator's book, Mein Kampf, was also available to users of the website.
But in interview Heaton confessed that the man he really he idolised Hitler's upper-class henchman Rudolf Hess.
Throughout the trial, jurors were shown evidence of the pair's neo-nazi activities, including a series of videos designed for the training of extremists and activists which featured Mr Heaton violently attacking another man, in a demonstration of strength and aggression.
Further images showed 6 ft 2 inch Heaton at a Neo-Nazi demonstration in Manchester where he was seen making the Nazi salute.
Judge Irwin QC ordered the destruction of a cache of lethal weapons including knuckledusters, flick knives, and and scythes found at Heaton's home in Greater Manchester.
Click Liverpool
SPAIN'S SENATE VOTES TO BAN BURQA
Before the Spanish Senate’s vote, some of the country’s local authorities had already moved to introduce restrictions on the burqa. The issue was especially heated in the region of Catalonia, where the debate over Islam and immigration has become entangled in early campaigning ahead of regional elections later this year. The pending elections may have proved crucial in the Wednesday vote, as senators from the CiU, a Catalan party, surprisingly switched their earlier stance to vote in favor of a burqa ban. The motion adopted by the senators calls on Spain to outlaw “any usage, custom or discriminatory practice that limits the freedom of women.” It was drafted and led by politicians from the main center-right opposition People's Party. Justifying the vote, one of the senators from the CiU, Montserrat Candini, said that “we cannot tolerate that nobody understands that we are not in favor of banning the burqa.” The Senate’s position also came as a surprise because although Spain has become a major European entry point for Muslim migrants from North Africa, few of those immigrants wear either the burqa or the niqab, which does not cover the eyes. A similar argument has also been made by opponents of a burqa ban in countries like France, where only an estimated 100,000 women wear the burqa out of a Muslim population of about 5 million. France, however, already passed a law in 2004 to ban head scarves or any other “conspicuous” religious symbol from state schools in order to preserve their secularism. The Spanish government is supposed to follow the Senate’s motion. However, given that Socialist senators opposed the ban, the governing party is likely to seek ways to circumvent the vote. Anna Terrón, the secretary of state for immigration, said the Senate vote had “more to do with the election campaign in which the CiU is involved than with a real discussion” on the burqa.
NYTimes
TWO EXTREMISTS CHARGED, NEO-NAZI IDEOLOGUE FILIP VÁVRA ALLEGEDLY ONE OF THEM (Czech Rep.)
Vávra was behind an invitation extended last year to former Ku-Klux-Klan leader David Duke, whose visit to the Czech Republic ended in his detention and deportation. Police charged him with denying the Holocaust in his book “My Awakening”, which has come out in Czech translation. His prosecution was later halted. Over the past two years, police have focused greater attention on promoters of extremism. The Security Information Service (Bezpeènostní informaèní služba – BIS), the country’s civilian counter-intelligence agency, reported at the start of May that right-wing extremist activity fell in the Czech Republic during the first three months of 2010. BIS says developments on the neo-Nazi scene were particularly influenced by last year’s police raids against members of the scene and the trial of the Workers’ Party (Dìlnická strana - DS) which ended in the party’s ban. The right-wing radical scene is currently the least united and most fragmented it has ever been. According to a Czech Interior Ministry report on the issue of extremism in 2009, the number of people charged in relation to extremism last year rose by half the number charged in 2008. The incidence of extremist crime rose by more than one-fifth, but such crimes still comprise only 0.07 % of crime overall. The report said the April arson attack on the home of a Romani family in Vítkov was the most serious extremist crime of last year.
Romea
CROATIAN LEADERS SLAM USE OF FASCIST SYMBOLS
Croatia's top officials on Wednesday slammed the use of fascist symbols at a concert aimed at raising funds for the defence of the country's generals tried for war crimes committed during the 1991-1995 war. President Ivo Josipovic and Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor in a joint statement "most strongly condemn the use of fascist symbols" during the concert held last Sunday in the central coastal town of Split "with the alleged aim to support Croatian generals and their defence before the UN war crimes court in The Hague". The two also called on HRT national television which broadcast the concert, to "act responsibly and urgently and adopt measures that would enable it in the future to immediately halt programmes in the case of a glorification of totalitarian ideologies".
Josipovic, the supreme commander of the country's armed forces, launched a probe into the participation of active military personnel in the concert, the statement said. Among the dozen singers who took part in the concert that was attended by thousands of people figured Marko Perkovic Thompson, a controversial singer known for his sympathies with the country's World War II pro-Nazi regime. His fans often display symbols of the Ustasha regime and use the Nazi salute. The concert was held to raise money for the defence of three former generals tried before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The three -- Ivan Cermak, Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac -- have been charged with war crimes against ethnic Serbs. Many Croatians see them as national heroes. Croatia's proclamation of independence from the former Yugoslavia sparked the 1991-1995 war with Belgrade-backed rebel Serbs who opposed the decision.
AFP
Josipovic, the supreme commander of the country's armed forces, launched a probe into the participation of active military personnel in the concert, the statement said. Among the dozen singers who took part in the concert that was attended by thousands of people figured Marko Perkovic Thompson, a controversial singer known for his sympathies with the country's World War II pro-Nazi regime. His fans often display symbols of the Ustasha regime and use the Nazi salute. The concert was held to raise money for the defence of three former generals tried before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The three -- Ivan Cermak, Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac -- have been charged with war crimes against ethnic Serbs. Many Croatians see them as national heroes. Croatia's proclamation of independence from the former Yugoslavia sparked the 1991-1995 war with Belgrade-backed rebel Serbs who opposed the decision.
AFP
BLAST ROCKS SYNAGOGUE IN RUSSIA
Regional police said that an explosive device went off just outside a synagogue in the central Russian city of Tver in the early hours of Monday, ripping a hole in its metal door and partially damaging its entrance hall. "Nobody was hurt in the explosion. The entrance to the synagogue was partly damaged. The shock wave broke windows in nearby 10 apartments. Crime experts, representatives of the prosecutor's office and the Emergency Situations Ministry are still working at the scene," a local law enforcement source said. Police said the incident had been classified as an act of hooliganism linked to political, racial or religious hatred and that a criminal case had been opened.
A local leader of the Tver Jewish community, Vladimir Spivak, said one resident had suffered a light injury in the explosion and was taken to a hospital. The blast caused an outcry among the country's Jewish communities. “The explosion is a culmination of numerous attacks against practicing Jews," Russia's Federation of Jewish Communities said in a statement. “Anti-Semitic writings have appeared on the walls of the synagogue, anti-Semitic leaflets have been circulated in the city and some 140 graves were vandalized in the Jewish part of the local cemetery in 2009,” the statement said. The federation voiced hope that the bombers will be detained, tried and duly punished because "the impunity of the vandals inevitably leads to worse consequences."
Jewish leaders also linked the blast with the anniversary of the start of World War II in Russia, where it is known as the Great Patriotic War, which the country marks on Tuesday. "The blast is not only an offence for the Jewish population but a terrible reminder of World War II victims," the Moscow Jewish Religious Community said in a statement. Religious and hate crimes are a relatively frequent occurrence in Russia.
EJP
A local leader of the Tver Jewish community, Vladimir Spivak, said one resident had suffered a light injury in the explosion and was taken to a hospital. The blast caused an outcry among the country's Jewish communities. “The explosion is a culmination of numerous attacks against practicing Jews," Russia's Federation of Jewish Communities said in a statement. “Anti-Semitic writings have appeared on the walls of the synagogue, anti-Semitic leaflets have been circulated in the city and some 140 graves were vandalized in the Jewish part of the local cemetery in 2009,” the statement said. The federation voiced hope that the bombers will be detained, tried and duly punished because "the impunity of the vandals inevitably leads to worse consequences."
Jewish leaders also linked the blast with the anniversary of the start of World War II in Russia, where it is known as the Great Patriotic War, which the country marks on Tuesday. "The blast is not only an offence for the Jewish population but a terrible reminder of World War II victims," the Moscow Jewish Religious Community said in a statement. Religious and hate crimes are a relatively frequent occurrence in Russia.
EJP
Convictions point to rise of far right extremism (UK)
Today's convictions of a 42-year-old food packer and a 59-year-old builder on inciting racial hatred brings to 16 the number of convictions connected to far right extremism in the past two years, as Home Affairs Correspondent Simon Israel investigates.
Trevor Hannington, from South Wales, and Michael Heaton, from Lancashire, ran their own far right organisation which promised street action to help rid the country of minority communities.
Their Aryan Strike Force boasted 350 members. Its website had tens of thousands of postings, all messages of hate like urging the destruction of Jews, describing them as treacherous scum.
There were references to "chopping n****** legs off" and "kill the jew, burn down a synagogue today". Heaton was found guilty on four charges charges, while Hannington admitted to four terrorism charges including distributing instructions on how to turn a water pistol into a flamethrower. Both were both found not guilty of soliciting to murder.
Dr Matthew Feldman, who runs the UK's only research unit on new media and domestic extremism at Northampton University, was the prosecution's key witness in this case.
He says "These are neo-Nazis, pure and simple, and consider themselves really the most extreme versions of this ideological neo-Nazism that is new.
"We have had some evidence, I believe, of activists from the ASF appearing on videos at the English Defence League marches and so forth."
Rise in extremism
Dr Feldman believes this recent string of convictions of "lone wolf" cases and the creation of the English Defence League point to a resurgence of far right extremism.
He said: "In terms of what we might call small cell or lone wolf terrorists cases since 2008, but also other events in 2008 such as the successful election of two British National Party MEPs in the Yorkshire, Humber area, and in 2009 the creation of the English Defence League on the back of those protests by some radical Islamism groups against the return of Anglican soldiers. So I think there is a confluence of factors that do point to a resurgence in the far right."
The two convicted today actually turned up at several of the EDL rallies and used their website to praise the EDL's actions. Yet the EDL denies any links to these extremists organisation.
We asked for an interview with its organisers so we could put all our evidence to them. They declined.
Does that mean EDL is infiltrated with those with a much more extreme agenda intent on more than just glorified football style violence? Police who monitor these events say no.
Assistant Chief Constable Anton Setchell, national coordinator for domestic extremism, told Channel 4 News that "we have seen some individuals from the far right on the margins of EDL organised events but these are only one or two individuals. We have found no strong links between extreme groups like the Aryan Strike Force and the EDL."
Yet today's guilty verdicts bring to 16 the total number of far right extremists who have been convicted over the past two years.
Among them were father and son Ian and Nicky Davison who were sent to prison last month for possessing the poison Ricin and for making and detonating pipe bombs. They were also co-founders of the Aryan Strike Force.
Dr Feldman says: "in groups like the ASF successor organisations we are seeing a group numbering in the few hundreds probably at the maximum.
"That's a few hundred too many because these are not people who are far right activists for the BNP and knocking doors. These are people who may very well be considering a future as we saw in the Davison case undertaking terrorists.
In fact Heaton stated publically that as part of a "rites of passage" to join, potential recruits had to carry out a serious op, meaning a violent racist attack.
Report on racism
The Institute for Race Relations is about to publish a report, which Channel 4 News has had exclusive access to, mapping out 600 serious racist attacks in the UK last year. Many have taken place in towns which have had influxes of a migrant workforce or asylum seekers. But it also hints at a correlation between attacks and pockets of extremism.
We found that of the 16 extremist convictions since 2008, two thirds come from towns which form a corridor across the north of England: Penwortham, south of Preston, to Leigh, west of Manchester, to Batley, to Selby, to Goole, to Grimsby, then further north to Elsdon and Durham.
Privately, police sources have confirmed to us that their intelligence suggests the same. They admit there are some dangerous individuals, but overall the threat from right wing extremists has hardly changed since the days of the nail bomber David Copeland, who killed three and seriously injured 79 people in three attacks, the worst at Soho's Admiral Duncan Pub in 1999. It was the last time white supremacists were said to behind a bomb attack in the UK.
Those monitoring far right extremists attribute the recent string of convictions to a combination of "good police work", community relations and luck, rather than an increased threat.
But they say what has changed is their profile boosted by a combination of the numerous convictions and the tenor of EDL marches.
Channel 4 News
Trevor Hannington, from South Wales, and Michael Heaton, from Lancashire, ran their own far right organisation which promised street action to help rid the country of minority communities.
Their Aryan Strike Force boasted 350 members. Its website had tens of thousands of postings, all messages of hate like urging the destruction of Jews, describing them as treacherous scum.
There were references to "chopping n****** legs off" and "kill the jew, burn down a synagogue today". Heaton was found guilty on four charges charges, while Hannington admitted to four terrorism charges including distributing instructions on how to turn a water pistol into a flamethrower. Both were both found not guilty of soliciting to murder.
Dr Matthew Feldman, who runs the UK's only research unit on new media and domestic extremism at Northampton University, was the prosecution's key witness in this case.
He says "These are neo-Nazis, pure and simple, and consider themselves really the most extreme versions of this ideological neo-Nazism that is new.
"We have had some evidence, I believe, of activists from the ASF appearing on videos at the English Defence League marches and so forth."
Rise in extremism
Dr Feldman believes this recent string of convictions of "lone wolf" cases and the creation of the English Defence League point to a resurgence of far right extremism.
He said: "In terms of what we might call small cell or lone wolf terrorists cases since 2008, but also other events in 2008 such as the successful election of two British National Party MEPs in the Yorkshire, Humber area, and in 2009 the creation of the English Defence League on the back of those protests by some radical Islamism groups against the return of Anglican soldiers. So I think there is a confluence of factors that do point to a resurgence in the far right."
The two convicted today actually turned up at several of the EDL rallies and used their website to praise the EDL's actions. Yet the EDL denies any links to these extremists organisation.
We asked for an interview with its organisers so we could put all our evidence to them. They declined.
Does that mean EDL is infiltrated with those with a much more extreme agenda intent on more than just glorified football style violence? Police who monitor these events say no.
Assistant Chief Constable Anton Setchell, national coordinator for domestic extremism, told Channel 4 News that "we have seen some individuals from the far right on the margins of EDL organised events but these are only one or two individuals. We have found no strong links between extreme groups like the Aryan Strike Force and the EDL."
Yet today's guilty verdicts bring to 16 the total number of far right extremists who have been convicted over the past two years.
Among them were father and son Ian and Nicky Davison who were sent to prison last month for possessing the poison Ricin and for making and detonating pipe bombs. They were also co-founders of the Aryan Strike Force.
Dr Feldman says: "in groups like the ASF successor organisations we are seeing a group numbering in the few hundreds probably at the maximum.
"That's a few hundred too many because these are not people who are far right activists for the BNP and knocking doors. These are people who may very well be considering a future as we saw in the Davison case undertaking terrorists.
In fact Heaton stated publically that as part of a "rites of passage" to join, potential recruits had to carry out a serious op, meaning a violent racist attack.
Report on racism
The Institute for Race Relations is about to publish a report, which Channel 4 News has had exclusive access to, mapping out 600 serious racist attacks in the UK last year. Many have taken place in towns which have had influxes of a migrant workforce or asylum seekers. But it also hints at a correlation between attacks and pockets of extremism.
We found that of the 16 extremist convictions since 2008, two thirds come from towns which form a corridor across the north of England: Penwortham, south of Preston, to Leigh, west of Manchester, to Batley, to Selby, to Goole, to Grimsby, then further north to Elsdon and Durham.
Privately, police sources have confirmed to us that their intelligence suggests the same. They admit there are some dangerous individuals, but overall the threat from right wing extremists has hardly changed since the days of the nail bomber David Copeland, who killed three and seriously injured 79 people in three attacks, the worst at Soho's Admiral Duncan Pub in 1999. It was the last time white supremacists were said to behind a bomb attack in the UK.
Those monitoring far right extremists attribute the recent string of convictions to a combination of "good police work", community relations and luck, rather than an increased threat.
But they say what has changed is their profile boosted by a combination of the numerous convictions and the tenor of EDL marches.
Channel 4 News
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
Neo-Nazi leader loses hotel ban court case (Germany)
Voigt, leader of the far-right National Democratic Party, had sued the Esplanade Resort & Spa in Bad Saarow, Brandenburg.
But on Tuesday, a court in Frankfurt an der Oder ruled that the hotel “had been entitled to bar the NPD leaders to protect their own reputation and image in view of the polarising effect of the NDP in the community.”
Furthermore, Voigt was not entitled to have the ban overturned under anti-discrimination laws, the court ruled.
A court spokesman said Voigt had taken the decision calmly. But Voigt’s lawyer said his client planned to appeal to a higher court.
Voigt’s wife had in autumn last year booked the hotel through a travel agent. But the hotel management then told Voigt on November 23 that he was banned from the hotel.
It declared that it was banning him because his political views were inconsistent with the hotel’s stated aim to “offer an excellent travel experience” to every guest.
Voigt felt discriminated against and sued. During the court case, he argued that he was staying at the hotel as a private individual, not for the purposes of political activity. The ban was the result of an agreement within the Hotel and Guesthouse Association, Dehoga, to maintain a ban on “so-called” right-wing extremists, he said.
The court rejected this view.
The hotel welcomed the decision. “This ruling strengthens us in our conviction to create the philosophy of a tolerant and cosmopolitan hotel, on the inside and the outside,” manager Heinz Baumeister said.
The Brandenburg chief of hotels association Dehoga said: “We share in the Brandenburg concept of a ‘tolerant Brandenburg,’ but for us, tolerance ends with right-wing extremism.”
The Local Germany
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