BNP candidate Anita Cooper blames hackers for messages (UK)

Hackers were today accused of filling a would-be BNP councillor's website with hate-filled racist abuse.

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

The interior minister in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt has announced he's preparing a new proposal to ban the far-right German National Party (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

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

BNP 'expects to pay off debts this year' (UK)

The British National Party, which was facing potentially crippling debts of more than £500,000, says it expects to pay them off by the end of the year.

"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

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

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

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

BNP youth leader arrested (UK)

Kieren Trent, leader of the British National Party’s “young adults” organisation Resistance, was arrested by Thames Valley Police yesterday (Sunday), according to a report on a far-right activist’s blog. His computer equipment was seized.

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

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. 

.

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

Online war against intolerance (New Zeland)

Danny Webster's grandfather fought for freedom in World War II.

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

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

EDL thug may be allowed to continue studies at University of Birmingham (UK)

An English Defence League thug jailed for his part in a soccer riot could still be allowed to take up a place at a Midland university.

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.

Over the last two days we have reported on this blog that the EDL’s page had been removed from Facebook due to a breach of the sites user policies.

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

http://www.facebook.com/English.Defence.League.EDL

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

http://www.facebook.com/pages/EDL-English-Defence-League/205835199436800

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.

http://englishdefenceleague.org/content.php

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

http://www.facebook.com/pages/English-Defence-League-EDL/204490279585498

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

He's nothing to do with us: Daughters of first BNP mayor change names because they're so ashamed (UK)

Donna and Rachel Cave

The daughters of the man voted in to be Britain’s first BNP mayor are so ashamed of their father they are changing their name by deed poll.

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

Rachel has a four-year-old daughter and Victoria and Katie are both married with two children.

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