Germany's far-right National Democratic Party must pay a 2.5-million-euro (3.5-million-dollar) fine for failing to declare part of its income, ruled a high court Monday. The ruling, by Berlin's higher administrative court, upheld a fine imposed on the NDP by the federal parliament, for filing erroneous tax returns in 2007. This penalty had previously been halved by a lower court, whose decision was overturned on Monday, reinstating the original 2.5-million-euro fine. The far-right party is on the verge of financial ruin because of earlier fines. It was forced to pay 870,000 euros in a previous court ruling on party funding records from the 1990s, and was also charged 33,000 euros by a court last December, for incorrectly declared income between 2004 and 2007. Monday's judgement came in response to an appeal process launched jointly by the NPD - who had hoped to annul the entire fine - and the parliament's administrative body, which oversees party funding. The law stipulates that parties are fined double the amount of any undeclared funding.
DPA
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
European neo-Nazi websites find home in US
The website is awash with neo-Nazi symbolism and even sarcastically refers to the notorious Mauthausen concentration camp as Austria's largest open-air museum.
But attempts to cripple the xenophobic "Alpen-Donau" forum have been hindered by the fact it's housed on a U.S. server, an example of how free speech on one side of the Atlantic can help spread hate speech on the other.
Austria bans Nazi glorification and Holocaust denial. In the United States nearly unrestricted freedom of speech rights are considered a cornerstone of democracy.
Three people suspected of being behind the website were arrested in April, including Gottfried Kuessel, one of the Alpine republic's leading neo-Nazis. But until a couple of weeks ago it continued to spew extremist and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Germany has also run into the problem of shutting down U.S.-hosted neo-Nazi websites.
Hungary has faced a similar hurdle for years, although hate speech is considered a crime there only if it incites specific acts of violence or abuse. Hungarian right-wing groups regularly target Gypsies and other minorities.
Austrian investigators have suggested that, for forensic reasons, it's in their interest that the website stay online for now because it provides them with vital clues in their probe aimed at tracking down remaining suspects.
But those personally targeted by the site want U.S. authorities to shut it down immediately.
"This is blatant anti-Semitism and blatant racism," said Willi Mernyi, president of the Mauthausen Committee, a Holocaust awareness group.
The website's latest posting features photos of Mernyi and implies he is to blame for acts of vandalism at the former concentration camp where the Nazis murdered about 100,000 people. The site has also posted pictures of teenagers who took part in workshops organized by the group, Mernyi said.
American officials say their hands are tied unless the site violates U.S. laws.
"I think it's fair to say we don't agree with what's on that website but we agree that free speech as defined by the United States takes precedence over what their views are," said an official familiar with the issue who asked not to be named.
The U.S. norm is that people are free to say anything as long as it doesn't infringe upon another person's rights. In Austria, freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution but is limited by a ban on propagating Nazi ideology. Inciting hatred on the basis of any ideology is a crime under the Austrian penal code.
Raimund Fastenbauer, a senior Jewish Community official, said American authorities have legal grounds to cooperate in taking down the site.
"In part, there have been some concrete threats we believe would be punishable under American law," Fastenbauer said, noting that postings have included not only photos but also personal phone numbers of Jewish community members, as well as veiled or coded calls for action against individuals.
Gerald Ganzger and Gideon Jabloner, lawyers at the firm Lansky, Ganzger & Partner who represent the Jewish community and threatened journalists, said Austria, under pressure from the United States and the other allied powers, enacted a law prohibiting the revival of Nazi activities as a precondition for sovereignty after World War II.
"However, nowadays it is the U.S. ... who is preventing Austria from enacting the aforementioned law by protecting the right of free speech of neo-Nazi groups," they wrote in a statement sent to The Associated Press.
The two countries do seem to be working together, if in a limited way.
In a press release dated April 12, Vienna's public prosecutor's office said that — "through cooperation with American authorities" — it obtained server access codes enabling them to monitor the website.
While the site was down for several weeks, it resurfaced with a slightly modified address in time to mark Adolf Hitler's birthday on April 20 and is now believed to be hosted by a server in Arizona. It has been idle since May 7, suggesting authorities may be making more progress or have even successfully caught the remaining culprits.
A video posted on the site claims it is "the only voice of truth" and says freedom of speech "applies only to leftists and friends of Jews."
"No one can stop us!" says another posting.
In neighboring Hungary, the government succeeded in July 2008 to temporarily shut the extremist kuruc.info website, saying at the time that it did so with help from U.S. authorities. Within six weeks it became active again, moving to another U.S. server, and has been online ever since.
The site is controversial because of its racist content, which includes anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy articles and imagery. It has also published mobile phone numbers and home addresses belonging to judges and prosecutors who were involved in court cases against people who took part in the country's anti-government riots of 2006.
In both countries, a longterm solution on how to deal with the situation seems far off.
Christian Pilnacek, director general for criminal law at Austria's Justice Ministry, said the problem lies predominantly with the evolving nature of cyberspace.
"It's a cat and mouse game but one that has more to do with technical advances than different legal systems," he said, noting that the issue would best be handled through international agreements.
But whether that's realistic remains to be seen.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder suggested at a news conference after an April 14 meeting with European Union home affairs ministers in Hungary that one way to tackle the problem may be by making it clear to the public that extremist rhetoric is simply wrong.
"I think we have to come up with ways in which we have a counter-narrative that shows this information, this material, to be what it is ... harmful," Holder said.
AJC
But attempts to cripple the xenophobic "Alpen-Donau" forum have been hindered by the fact it's housed on a U.S. server, an example of how free speech on one side of the Atlantic can help spread hate speech on the other.
Austria bans Nazi glorification and Holocaust denial. In the United States nearly unrestricted freedom of speech rights are considered a cornerstone of democracy.
Three people suspected of being behind the website were arrested in April, including Gottfried Kuessel, one of the Alpine republic's leading neo-Nazis. But until a couple of weeks ago it continued to spew extremist and anti-Semitic rhetoric. Germany has also run into the problem of shutting down U.S.-hosted neo-Nazi websites.
Hungary has faced a similar hurdle for years, although hate speech is considered a crime there only if it incites specific acts of violence or abuse. Hungarian right-wing groups regularly target Gypsies and other minorities.
Austrian investigators have suggested that, for forensic reasons, it's in their interest that the website stay online for now because it provides them with vital clues in their probe aimed at tracking down remaining suspects.
But those personally targeted by the site want U.S. authorities to shut it down immediately.
"This is blatant anti-Semitism and blatant racism," said Willi Mernyi, president of the Mauthausen Committee, a Holocaust awareness group.
The website's latest posting features photos of Mernyi and implies he is to blame for acts of vandalism at the former concentration camp where the Nazis murdered about 100,000 people. The site has also posted pictures of teenagers who took part in workshops organized by the group, Mernyi said.
American officials say their hands are tied unless the site violates U.S. laws.
"I think it's fair to say we don't agree with what's on that website but we agree that free speech as defined by the United States takes precedence over what their views are," said an official familiar with the issue who asked not to be named.
The U.S. norm is that people are free to say anything as long as it doesn't infringe upon another person's rights. In Austria, freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution but is limited by a ban on propagating Nazi ideology. Inciting hatred on the basis of any ideology is a crime under the Austrian penal code.
Raimund Fastenbauer, a senior Jewish Community official, said American authorities have legal grounds to cooperate in taking down the site.
"In part, there have been some concrete threats we believe would be punishable under American law," Fastenbauer said, noting that postings have included not only photos but also personal phone numbers of Jewish community members, as well as veiled or coded calls for action against individuals.
Gerald Ganzger and Gideon Jabloner, lawyers at the firm Lansky, Ganzger & Partner who represent the Jewish community and threatened journalists, said Austria, under pressure from the United States and the other allied powers, enacted a law prohibiting the revival of Nazi activities as a precondition for sovereignty after World War II.
"However, nowadays it is the U.S. ... who is preventing Austria from enacting the aforementioned law by protecting the right of free speech of neo-Nazi groups," they wrote in a statement sent to The Associated Press.
The two countries do seem to be working together, if in a limited way.
In a press release dated April 12, Vienna's public prosecutor's office said that — "through cooperation with American authorities" — it obtained server access codes enabling them to monitor the website.
While the site was down for several weeks, it resurfaced with a slightly modified address in time to mark Adolf Hitler's birthday on April 20 and is now believed to be hosted by a server in Arizona. It has been idle since May 7, suggesting authorities may be making more progress or have even successfully caught the remaining culprits.
A video posted on the site claims it is "the only voice of truth" and says freedom of speech "applies only to leftists and friends of Jews."
"No one can stop us!" says another posting.
In neighboring Hungary, the government succeeded in July 2008 to temporarily shut the extremist kuruc.info website, saying at the time that it did so with help from U.S. authorities. Within six weeks it became active again, moving to another U.S. server, and has been online ever since.
The site is controversial because of its racist content, which includes anti-Semitic and anti-Gypsy articles and imagery. It has also published mobile phone numbers and home addresses belonging to judges and prosecutors who were involved in court cases against people who took part in the country's anti-government riots of 2006.
In both countries, a longterm solution on how to deal with the situation seems far off.
Christian Pilnacek, director general for criminal law at Austria's Justice Ministry, said the problem lies predominantly with the evolving nature of cyberspace.
"It's a cat and mouse game but one that has more to do with technical advances than different legal systems," he said, noting that the issue would best be handled through international agreements.
But whether that's realistic remains to be seen.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder suggested at a news conference after an April 14 meeting with European Union home affairs ministers in Hungary that one way to tackle the problem may be by making it clear to the public that extremist rhetoric is simply wrong.
"I think we have to come up with ways in which we have a counter-narrative that shows this information, this material, to be what it is ... harmful," Holder said.
AJC
White People Face The Most Racism? (USA)
A new study by researchers at Tufts University and Harvard Business School shows that whites believe they are victims of racism more often than Blacks.
While that may elicit a raised eyebrow from most people, the title of the study “Whites See Racism as a Zero-sum Game that They Are Now Losing,” shows that many whites believe that as racism against Blacks has decreased, racism against them has increased much more.
“It’s a pretty surprising finding when you think of the wide range of disparities that still exist in society, most of which show black Americans with worse outcomes than whites in areas such as income, home ownership, health and employment,” said Tufts Associate Professor of Psychology Samuel Sommers, Ph.D., co-author of the study.
News One
While that may elicit a raised eyebrow from most people, the title of the study “Whites See Racism as a Zero-sum Game that They Are Now Losing,” shows that many whites believe that as racism against Blacks has decreased, racism against them has increased much more.
“It’s a pretty surprising finding when you think of the wide range of disparities that still exist in society, most of which show black Americans with worse outcomes than whites in areas such as income, home ownership, health and employment,” said Tufts Associate Professor of Psychology Samuel Sommers, Ph.D., co-author of the study.
News One
Teens caged for EDL demo affray (UK)
Teenagers from Amblecote and Brierley Hill have been caged for their part in violence during a demonstration in Dudley.
A protest by the English Defence League (EDL) on July 17 last year turned ugly when objects including crowd control barriers were thrown at police officers who were being abused and spat on.
At Wolverhampton Crown Court, James Everard, aged 19, of Armstrong Close, Amblecote and Jake Hill, 18, of Alexander Hill, Brierley Hill, admitted affray and were both sent to a young offenders institution - Everard for nine months and Hill for six months.
The pair, along with two other defendants were told by Judge Patrick Thomas QC: “This was not an afternoon's fun, it was a dangerous and unpleasant incident involving a mob attack on police officers doing their duty."
He said it was clear the offending was not linked to the march but towards officers who were present to protect citizens from threats and violence.
The judge added: "I do not think you were particularly concerned with the EDL, you took it upon yourselves to attack the police in a number of ways.
"You were involved in a significant and highly unpleasant and unnecessary public disorder and you tested the patience, self control and discipline of police officers under a hail of abuse and threats."
Mr Hugh O'Brien-quinn, prosecuting, said Everard had been aggressive while stamping on the barriers and he swore at police while Hill, who was carrying a St George's flag, spat at officers.
The Judge told the men: "Most of you claim not to have any involvement in the activities of the EDL. Most of you claim you were part of this gathering simply by chance or by curiosity."
But he stressed it was clear the affray was directed solely towards police officers who were on duty and concluded: "A drink fuelled mob is more dangerous than a sober one."
The court was told five other men have already been dealt with by courts for their part in the trouble with two more on the brink of being committed to crown court.
Stourbridge News
A protest by the English Defence League (EDL) on July 17 last year turned ugly when objects including crowd control barriers were thrown at police officers who were being abused and spat on.
At Wolverhampton Crown Court, James Everard, aged 19, of Armstrong Close, Amblecote and Jake Hill, 18, of Alexander Hill, Brierley Hill, admitted affray and were both sent to a young offenders institution - Everard for nine months and Hill for six months.
The pair, along with two other defendants were told by Judge Patrick Thomas QC: “This was not an afternoon's fun, it was a dangerous and unpleasant incident involving a mob attack on police officers doing their duty."
He said it was clear the offending was not linked to the march but towards officers who were present to protect citizens from threats and violence.
The judge added: "I do not think you were particularly concerned with the EDL, you took it upon yourselves to attack the police in a number of ways.
"You were involved in a significant and highly unpleasant and unnecessary public disorder and you tested the patience, self control and discipline of police officers under a hail of abuse and threats."
Mr Hugh O'Brien-quinn, prosecuting, said Everard had been aggressive while stamping on the barriers and he swore at police while Hill, who was carrying a St George's flag, spat at officers.
The Judge told the men: "Most of you claim not to have any involvement in the activities of the EDL. Most of you claim you were part of this gathering simply by chance or by curiosity."
But he stressed it was clear the affray was directed solely towards police officers who were on duty and concluded: "A drink fuelled mob is more dangerous than a sober one."
The court was told five other men have already been dealt with by courts for their part in the trouble with two more on the brink of being committed to crown court.
Stourbridge News
Monday, 23 May 2011
Far-right leader, Muslim come to blows on Bulgarian radio
Far-right leader and a Muslim lawmaker came to blows live on Bulgarian radio on Sunday as tempers frayed during a debate about an attack against a Sofia mosque earlier this week.
The presenter of a political talk show on national radio, Velichko Konakchiev, was forced to interrupt the show and apologise to listeners when the head of the ultra-nationalist Ataka party, Volen Siderov, physically attacked fellow guest Korman Ismailov, a Muslim member of parliament.
"Never before have I had to separate people fighting in my studio. I've never seen anything like it," the veteran talk show host Konakchiev said at the end of the show.
Konakchiev said Siderov started the fight after he was asked to tone down his language during a debate on an incident in Sofia on Friday where Ataka supporters had clashed with worshippers outside a mosque.
Siderov repeatedly called the worshippers "Islamists" and "extremists".
The programme resumed after an initial interruption of several minutes. But when Siderov lost his temper again, Konakchiev asked the far-right leader to leave and ended the show prematurely.
In a statement, the head of national radio, Valery Todorov, condemned the incident.
"It is inadmissible to use national radio to propagate ethnic, religious or national hatred," Todorov said.
A Muslim, an Ataka lawmaker and five policemen were injured in the skirmishes between worshippers and far-right demonstrators on Friday in an incident that has drawn condemnation both at home and in neighbouring Turkey.
Two Ataka supporters have been charged with hooliganism in relation to the incident, prosecutors said.
Times of Oman
The presenter of a political talk show on national radio, Velichko Konakchiev, was forced to interrupt the show and apologise to listeners when the head of the ultra-nationalist Ataka party, Volen Siderov, physically attacked fellow guest Korman Ismailov, a Muslim member of parliament.
"Never before have I had to separate people fighting in my studio. I've never seen anything like it," the veteran talk show host Konakchiev said at the end of the show.
Konakchiev said Siderov started the fight after he was asked to tone down his language during a debate on an incident in Sofia on Friday where Ataka supporters had clashed with worshippers outside a mosque.
Siderov repeatedly called the worshippers "Islamists" and "extremists".
The programme resumed after an initial interruption of several minutes. But when Siderov lost his temper again, Konakchiev asked the far-right leader to leave and ended the show prematurely.
In a statement, the head of national radio, Valery Todorov, condemned the incident.
"It is inadmissible to use national radio to propagate ethnic, religious or national hatred," Todorov said.
A Muslim, an Ataka lawmaker and five policemen were injured in the skirmishes between worshippers and far-right demonstrators on Friday in an incident that has drawn condemnation both at home and in neighbouring Turkey.
Two Ataka supporters have been charged with hooliganism in relation to the incident, prosecutors said.
Times of Oman
Second protest is expected in resort (UK)
An anti-fascist protest group has announced it will stage a rally in Blackpool on the same day as controversial far-right group the English Defence League.
Unite Against Facism (UAF) expects between 100 and 200 local members to attend the event which will take place as EDL members from across the country descend on the town on Saturday May, 28 for a national protest.
Paul Jenkins, North West organiser for the UAF, said their demonstration will be nothing more than a peaceful “anti-racist vigil”.
He said: “We want to show unity in the community is the best way forward.”
UAF will hold their protest at the public headland close to the Central Pier while the EDL demonstration is on the headline at South Pier.
The timings of the UAF protest are still under discussion.
EDL members, who say they are protesting against the police handling of the inquiry into missing Blackpool teenager Charlene Downes, are due to gather near Britannia Place at 10am before setting off for a short march along the Promenade to the public headland where a demonstration will be held from 12.45pm to 2pm.
Charlene, 13, disappeared in 2003 and two Asian men were charged with her murder and disposing of the body. They were later acquitted.
Chief Supt Richard Debicki, commander of western division, said the force had always prepared for two demonstrations.
Police say they do not expect there to be any clashes between the two groups.
He said police chiefs continue to work with council officers to ensure there will be as little disruption as possible in the town.
He added: “In addition to the EDL demonstration, the UAF have now also indicated a wish to demonstrate.
“The constabulary will facilitate any protest which is peaceful but we will deal firmly with anyone committing crime and disorder.
“Our role is about fair and balanced policing – we’re here to keep the peace, treat people with respect and dignity and uphold the law.”
Blackpool Gazette
Unite Against Facism (UAF) expects between 100 and 200 local members to attend the event which will take place as EDL members from across the country descend on the town on Saturday May, 28 for a national protest.
Paul Jenkins, North West organiser for the UAF, said their demonstration will be nothing more than a peaceful “anti-racist vigil”.
He said: “We want to show unity in the community is the best way forward.”
UAF will hold their protest at the public headland close to the Central Pier while the EDL demonstration is on the headline at South Pier.
The timings of the UAF protest are still under discussion.
EDL members, who say they are protesting against the police handling of the inquiry into missing Blackpool teenager Charlene Downes, are due to gather near Britannia Place at 10am before setting off for a short march along the Promenade to the public headland where a demonstration will be held from 12.45pm to 2pm.
Charlene, 13, disappeared in 2003 and two Asian men were charged with her murder and disposing of the body. They were later acquitted.
Chief Supt Richard Debicki, commander of western division, said the force had always prepared for two demonstrations.
Police say they do not expect there to be any clashes between the two groups.
He said police chiefs continue to work with council officers to ensure there will be as little disruption as possible in the town.
He added: “In addition to the EDL demonstration, the UAF have now also indicated a wish to demonstrate.
“The constabulary will facilitate any protest which is peaceful but we will deal firmly with anyone committing crime and disorder.
“Our role is about fair and balanced policing – we’re here to keep the peace, treat people with respect and dignity and uphold the law.”
Blackpool Gazette
Sunday, 22 May 2011
Bulgarian nationalist stage violent anti-Muslim protest in front of main mosque
Police say several people were injured as nationalists clashed with Muslims during Friday prayer at Sofia's main mosque.
Dozens of supporters of the far-right Ataka party staged the rally to protest what they call "the unbearable loudness" of the Muslim prayers that sound through loudspeakers in downtown Sofia.
Tensions escalated as protesters grabbed a prayer rug and set it on fire, leading to a fight between the two groups.
Four people were taken to the hospital with light injuries, the state news agency BTA reported. Ataka says one of its lawmakers was hit on the head by a stone.
Police say five officers were injured two protesters have been detained.
Google Hosted News
Dozens of supporters of the far-right Ataka party staged the rally to protest what they call "the unbearable loudness" of the Muslim prayers that sound through loudspeakers in downtown Sofia.
Tensions escalated as protesters grabbed a prayer rug and set it on fire, leading to a fight between the two groups.
Four people were taken to the hospital with light injuries, the state news agency BTA reported. Ataka says one of its lawmakers was hit on the head by a stone.
Police say five officers were injured two protesters have been detained.
Google Hosted News
ACTIVISTS CONDEMN ISLAMOPHOBIA (uk)
Muslims and anti-war campaigners have gathered to condemn what they see as a rising tide of Islamophobia in Britain and the rest of Europe. Supporters including Kenza Drider, who has deliberately defied the niqab ban in her native France, came to London Muslim Centre in east London for the event. Speaking through an interpreter, she said she wanted to "denounce the rise of Islamophobia in France". Ms Drider continued: "By putting this ban into place the government has encouraged racist people to physically threaten woman who wear the niqab." She says has been threatened with a knife for wearing garment, which covers a woman's face apart from her eyes. Chris Nineham, spokesman for event organisers the Enough Coalition Against Islamophobia, said a group of women campaigners from the UK plan to visit Paris in the next few months wearing the niqab as a gesture of solidarity.
The conference was attended by representatives from the Stop the War coalition, veteran left-wing politician Tony Benn and British campaigner Aisha Alvi. She was suspended from school for wearing a headscarf in 1989. Mr Nineham said: "This event is to discuss the seriously worrying developments in Europe and Britain whereby Muslim communities are being scapegoated and demonised. In France, Belgium and Switzerland laws are being passed to systematically discriminate against Muslims." He called for an overhaul of the British legal system, including anti-terror laws, as well as the way housing is allocated, to combat such discrimination in the UK.
Wales Online
The conference was attended by representatives from the Stop the War coalition, veteran left-wing politician Tony Benn and British campaigner Aisha Alvi. She was suspended from school for wearing a headscarf in 1989. Mr Nineham said: "This event is to discuss the seriously worrying developments in Europe and Britain whereby Muslim communities are being scapegoated and demonised. In France, Belgium and Switzerland laws are being passed to systematically discriminate against Muslims." He called for an overhaul of the British legal system, including anti-terror laws, as well as the way housing is allocated, to combat such discrimination in the UK.
Wales Online
Anti-Muslim French Presidential Candidate Surge After Sex Charges for Ex-IMF Boss
The rape charges against former IMF Chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn are headline news across the world, but as Strauss-Kahn prepares for what could be a lengthy legal battle, France is preparing for a 2012 presidential election -- suddenly without the leading challenger to President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Strauss-Kahn, a prominent member of the Socialist Party in France, was predicted to be his party’s candidate in 2012 and would have faced off against Sarkozy and his UMP party. Sarkozy, who has been floundering in polls, has been seen as a weak and ineffective president – a man who promised big change and has failed to deliver. But with Strauss-Kahn almost certainly out of the 2012 race, Sarkozy’s biggest challenge could come from Marine Le Pen, a candidate known for her nationalistic and anti-Muslim views.
Le Pen is the daughter of immigration foe and 2002 presidential runner-up Jean-Marie Le Pen. She has been gaining in the national polls and overall popularity. As voters in France prepare for a long year of presidential politics – could Le Pen’s candidacy also be a foreshadowing of what’s to come for the rest of Europe?
Jennifer Fredette of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy says Le Pen and her father’s views reflect a trend across the continent.
“It’s been going on for a while now. It’s all these critical little moments that get played up and people focus on them, like the burka ban, things that are visual and they spread,” Fredette told Fox News, referring to a controversial new French law that forbids women from going out in public with their faces covered. “You talk about it in France and then people in Germany say ‘oh we see that here. Is it the same here?’ There’s a trend of suspicion going on right now. Not just towards Islam and Muslims but immigration too.”
This item continues at Fox News
Strauss-Kahn, a prominent member of the Socialist Party in France, was predicted to be his party’s candidate in 2012 and would have faced off against Sarkozy and his UMP party. Sarkozy, who has been floundering in polls, has been seen as a weak and ineffective president – a man who promised big change and has failed to deliver. But with Strauss-Kahn almost certainly out of the 2012 race, Sarkozy’s biggest challenge could come from Marine Le Pen, a candidate known for her nationalistic and anti-Muslim views.
Le Pen is the daughter of immigration foe and 2002 presidential runner-up Jean-Marie Le Pen. She has been gaining in the national polls and overall popularity. As voters in France prepare for a long year of presidential politics – could Le Pen’s candidacy also be a foreshadowing of what’s to come for the rest of Europe?
Jennifer Fredette of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy says Le Pen and her father’s views reflect a trend across the continent.
“It’s been going on for a while now. It’s all these critical little moments that get played up and people focus on them, like the burka ban, things that are visual and they spread,” Fredette told Fox News, referring to a controversial new French law that forbids women from going out in public with their faces covered. “You talk about it in France and then people in Germany say ‘oh we see that here. Is it the same here?’ There’s a trend of suspicion going on right now. Not just towards Islam and Muslims but immigration too.”
This item continues at Fox News
Austria far-right tops opinion polls
The FPOe would secure 29 percent of the votes if there were a general election on Sunday, overtaking for the first time the Social Democrats with 28 pecent and the conservative People's Party or OeVP with 23 percent, according to a poll by the OGM institute on behalf of the daily Kurier.
The environmentalist Green party and another far-right party, the BZOe, would each win 13 percent of the votes.
The current coalition government under Social Democrat Chancellor Werner Faymann, which took power in December 2008, is made up of the Social Democrats and OeVP parties in a power-sharing deal.
The head of the OGM institute, Wolfgang Bachmayer, attributed the FPOe's current strength, not only to a wider disillusionment with politics, but with the current coalition government in particular.
Furthermore, “the showings have undoubtedly been influenced by the current debate over the statements by Erste Bank chief executive Andreas Treichl, the euro crisis and the Greek debt crisis,” Bachmayer told the newspaper.
Erste Bank chief Treichl triggered a storm of controversy this week by saying politicians were “too stupid” to understand the economy.
And FPOe leader Heinz-Christian Strache has been campaigning for months to kick Greece out of the eurozone.
Quizzed as to whom they would vote for if they could elect the chancellor directly, 24 percent of the poll's 805 respondents said they would choose the current chancellor Faymann, 18 percent the current deputy chancellor Michael Spindelegger and 16 percent would vote for Strache.
The FPOe came second in local municipal elections in Vienna last October, winning 26 percent of the votes. The ruling Social Democrats finally opted for a coalition with the environmentalist Greens.
A poll at the beginning of May suggested that 43 percent of the population wanted the FPOe to participate in the next national government following the next general elections in 2013.
The far-right has already been in government in Austria: the FPOe under its charismatic leader, the late Joerg Haider, was the junior coalition partner with the conservative OeVP between 2000 and 2006 under then chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel.
Tehran Times
Cultural fete planned after racism shock (UK)
Racist revelations in Sherwood have prompted concerned residents to plan an event promoting more integration.
Exposure by the Courier of anti-Muslim remarks on the Facebook pages of local English Defence League activist Adrian Ratcliffe and English Democrat candidate JoJo Stanley have led to calls for a festival of cultural diversity.
Ideas centred on a fete are being backed by social housing chiefs Town and Country, which said many residents had found content on the website both "racist and upsetting".
A spokesman said: "Residents felt that it was not a true reflection of life on the estate, which in their experience was a diverse and welcoming place to live.
"They wanted to counter any negative impression and felt the best way to do this would be to focus on the many positive things which make it such a friendly and inclusive place to live."
Plans to celebrate different races and cultures on the estate include proposals for a music and dance stage, along with marquees containing various attractions and diversity themes.
Inspiration has been gained from a recent Spirit of Kindness project in which more than 20 events celebrated all the good things that Sherwood residents did for each other.
It is hoped the initiative will help soothe tensions arising in the community following the exposure of Ratcliffe last month.
The 61-year-old, who lived in Greggswood Road and was a preacher at St Philip's Church in Sherwood, had denied he was racist but claimed he would do "whatever necessary" to fight "militant" Islam in the UK.
Nasir Jamil, president of the West Kent Muslim Association, said it welcomed efforts to improve cultural relations.
He said: "We always campaign for community cohesion. We have difficulty with negative propaganda all over the world and need these type of events."
Anyone wishing to contribute ideas or help out is invited to talks at the Robin Hood pub on Thursday, May 26 from 6pm. For more information call Brendan McGowan on 01892 523464.
This is Kent
Exposure by the Courier of anti-Muslim remarks on the Facebook pages of local English Defence League activist Adrian Ratcliffe and English Democrat candidate JoJo Stanley have led to calls for a festival of cultural diversity.
Ideas centred on a fete are being backed by social housing chiefs Town and Country, which said many residents had found content on the website both "racist and upsetting".
A spokesman said: "Residents felt that it was not a true reflection of life on the estate, which in their experience was a diverse and welcoming place to live.
"They wanted to counter any negative impression and felt the best way to do this would be to focus on the many positive things which make it such a friendly and inclusive place to live."
Plans to celebrate different races and cultures on the estate include proposals for a music and dance stage, along with marquees containing various attractions and diversity themes.
Inspiration has been gained from a recent Spirit of Kindness project in which more than 20 events celebrated all the good things that Sherwood residents did for each other.
It is hoped the initiative will help soothe tensions arising in the community following the exposure of Ratcliffe last month.
The 61-year-old, who lived in Greggswood Road and was a preacher at St Philip's Church in Sherwood, had denied he was racist but claimed he would do "whatever necessary" to fight "militant" Islam in the UK.
Nasir Jamil, president of the West Kent Muslim Association, said it welcomed efforts to improve cultural relations.
He said: "We always campaign for community cohesion. We have difficulty with negative propaganda all over the world and need these type of events."
Anyone wishing to contribute ideas or help out is invited to talks at the Robin Hood pub on Thursday, May 26 from 6pm. For more information call Brendan McGowan on 01892 523464.
This is Kent
English Defence League march to Islamic centre site (UK)
More than a hundred English Defence League protesters have marched through a Flintshire town to the site of a proposed new Islamic cultural centre.
The site at the Shotton Lane Social Club was burnt down in a suspicious fire in February.
Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society was planning to turn the property into a multi-cultural centre.
Police said their strategy ensured the protest passed off without incident.
Early reports had suggested between 200 and 300 people were taking part but police said it was just over 100.
The march ended with speeches outside the Shotton Lane Social Club before the protesters dispersed.
North Wales Police said they mounted an operation to combat any problems between rival factions working in partnership with Flintshire Council, British Transport Police and the local business community
Continue reading the main story
"People have a right to protest, but our priority is to safeguard the public”
End Quote Ian Shannon Deputy Chief Constable
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Shannon said: "I am pleased with the success of the police operation today.
"Our aim was always to allow the protest to pass peacefully whilst taking into account the rights of the people of Shotton to go about their normal business.
"I would like to thank them for their patience and understanding for any disruption that was caused.
"People have a right to protest, but our priority is to safeguard the public and maintain order, which I am pleased to say we achieved today."
Around 100 people had to leave their homes as firefighters fought the blaze on 4 February.
At the time police said they were keeping an open mind and would not been drawn on possible motives.
BBC News
The site at the Shotton Lane Social Club was burnt down in a suspicious fire in February.
Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society was planning to turn the property into a multi-cultural centre.
Police said their strategy ensured the protest passed off without incident.
Early reports had suggested between 200 and 300 people were taking part but police said it was just over 100.
The march ended with speeches outside the Shotton Lane Social Club before the protesters dispersed.
North Wales Police said they mounted an operation to combat any problems between rival factions working in partnership with Flintshire Council, British Transport Police and the local business community
Continue reading the main story
"People have a right to protest, but our priority is to safeguard the public”
End Quote Ian Shannon Deputy Chief Constable
Deputy Chief Constable Ian Shannon said: "I am pleased with the success of the police operation today.
"Our aim was always to allow the protest to pass peacefully whilst taking into account the rights of the people of Shotton to go about their normal business.
"I would like to thank them for their patience and understanding for any disruption that was caused.
"People have a right to protest, but our priority is to safeguard the public and maintain order, which I am pleased to say we achieved today."
Around 100 people had to leave their homes as firefighters fought the blaze on 4 February.
At the time police said they were keeping an open mind and would not been drawn on possible motives.
BBC News
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Hungarian Nazi war crime trial resumes
The trial of Hungarian Nazi war crime suspect Sandor Kepiro resumed on Thursday after physical and mental health checks showed the 97-year-old was fit enough to attend, even if extremely frail.
During the short hearing, Judge Bela Varga read out a statement dating back to 1948 by one of the soldiers - since deceased - whom Kepiro allegedly ordered to round up and shoot 30 people in the Serbian town of Novi Sad in 1942.
Kepiro, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, dismissed the statement as a "blatant lie", insisted he did not know the solider, named as Janos Nagy, and again denied any involvement in the killings.
Little information is available about Nagy, other than he was tried and sentenced to life for murder by a communist court in 1948.
The case against Kepiro rests almost exclusively on such written statements by soldiers who are now dead, as well as documents from a trial in 1942 in which Kepiro was found guilty in absentia.
Experts have argued that there were numerous errors and omissions in the translation of a number of those court documents, thus casting doubt on their reliability.
Deteriorating mental state
The Budapest court ruled that the latest trial could be resumed after medical examinations showed the defendant, while hard of hearing and very frail, was in full possession of his faculties.
"Sandor Kepiro's mental state is not impaired and he is able to understand and process information from outside," judge Varga said.
"Nevertheless, due to his advanced age, his mental state deteriorates rapidly after two sessions of 45 minutes," Varga said.
There would be three more days of hearings, with the next one scheduled for May 24, with a verdict expected on June 3, the judge explained.
Kepiro turned up in court on Thursday in a wheelchair and wearing a set of headphones that would enable him to hear the proceedings clearly.
He answered in the affirmative when the judge asked him whether he was able to hear and understand what had been said so far.
Facing life sentence
Kepiro - one of the last suspected Nazi war criminals to go on trial - is being tried in connection with a raid by Hungarian forces on Novi Sad between January 21 and 23 1942, in which more than 1 200 Jews and Serbs were murdered.
Specifically, he is charged, as head of one of the patrols involved in the raids, with having ordered the rounding up and execution of 36 people.
If found guilty, he could face a life sentence.
The former Hungarian gendarmerie officer was formerly number one on the list of wanted Nazi criminals by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre.
News 24
During the short hearing, Judge Bela Varga read out a statement dating back to 1948 by one of the soldiers - since deceased - whom Kepiro allegedly ordered to round up and shoot 30 people in the Serbian town of Novi Sad in 1942.
Kepiro, who appeared in court in a wheelchair, dismissed the statement as a "blatant lie", insisted he did not know the solider, named as Janos Nagy, and again denied any involvement in the killings.
Little information is available about Nagy, other than he was tried and sentenced to life for murder by a communist court in 1948.
The case against Kepiro rests almost exclusively on such written statements by soldiers who are now dead, as well as documents from a trial in 1942 in which Kepiro was found guilty in absentia.
Experts have argued that there were numerous errors and omissions in the translation of a number of those court documents, thus casting doubt on their reliability.
Deteriorating mental state
The Budapest court ruled that the latest trial could be resumed after medical examinations showed the defendant, while hard of hearing and very frail, was in full possession of his faculties.
"Sandor Kepiro's mental state is not impaired and he is able to understand and process information from outside," judge Varga said.
"Nevertheless, due to his advanced age, his mental state deteriorates rapidly after two sessions of 45 minutes," Varga said.
There would be three more days of hearings, with the next one scheduled for May 24, with a verdict expected on June 3, the judge explained.
Kepiro turned up in court on Thursday in a wheelchair and wearing a set of headphones that would enable him to hear the proceedings clearly.
He answered in the affirmative when the judge asked him whether he was able to hear and understand what had been said so far.
Facing life sentence
Kepiro - one of the last suspected Nazi war criminals to go on trial - is being tried in connection with a raid by Hungarian forces on Novi Sad between January 21 and 23 1942, in which more than 1 200 Jews and Serbs were murdered.
Specifically, he is charged, as head of one of the patrols involved in the raids, with having ordered the rounding up and execution of 36 people.
If found guilty, he could face a life sentence.
The former Hungarian gendarmerie officer was formerly number one on the list of wanted Nazi criminals by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre.
News 24
Facebook pages of Czech MP and mayor spreading racism
Šulc claims to have no memory of placing the photograph, with the subtitle "If they want aid, let's make it real aid", on his profile page, even though he is listed as the page's author. "I know nothing about it, if something like that is there, I will have it removed," he told Czech Television. He refused a further interview and the photograph was gone by the afternoon.
According to Martin Šimáček, director of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion of Roma, such photographs on the Facebook pages of politicians merely serve to incite tensions in the regions, which are already rather problematic as it is. He believes the incident may even rise to the level of a felony. "On the one had it is a racial attack on the Roma population in the Czech Republic, but it is also unacceptable given what has happened in Haiti," Šimáček said.
This is not Šulc's first problem with controversial pronouncements. Prior to the regional elections in October 2008, he put up posters with the slogan "Gadje [non-Roma people], get to work, so we [Roma] can have a better life". The case was investigated by police and shelved for lack of evidence that a crime had been committed.
Luděk Kvapil, the Mayor of Kmetiněves who was also a TOP 09 candidate in the March Senate by-elections, posted the following message on his Facebook wall on the International Day of the Fight against HOMOPHOBIA: "...on the level! Homosexuals do not bother me as long as they don't do anything offensive, but Gypsies certainly bother me completely!! even when they don't do anything offensive to piss people off - which basically doesn't exist!!! :-)))"
Kvapil then defended his racist opinions during a subsequent discussion when several Facebook users objected to the mayor's racism. He did not hesitate to continue to spread untrue rumors about the case of a death in Přerov. "The Gypsies in Přerov attacked and beat a boy at the train station after he complained they had cut in front of him in line. The boy succumbed to his injuries," Kvapil posted to Facebook on 12 May. In April police reported the incident in Přerov took place under completely other circumstances than those being described on the internet by racists.
Romea
Violent, racist attack on 12-year-old boy in Redditch (UK)
Police are hunting a man who attacked and racially abused a 12-year-old boy on a footpath in Redditch last night.
The boy was running on a path beside a stream off Needle Mill Lane on Thursday, May 19 at about 7pm when he was approached by a man near a footbridge.
The man punched him, threw him to the floor and then kicked him. During the assault he racially abused his victim and tried to throw him into the stream.
The boy managed to break free and ran for help. He was taken by ambulance to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch with cuts and bruising.
The offender was a white man described as around 30-years-old, of thin build with black, shoulder-length hair. He was wearing a grey sweat top and blue jeans.
PC Paul Lettis said: “This was a nasty and totally unprovoked attack by a stranger on a boy who was taking part in an organised run. We are carrying out inquiries in a bid to trace the offender and it is vital we hear from anyone who may have seen a man of this description in that area either before or after the incident.
“The smallest detail could be important to our investigation so if you saw or heard anything, or have any suspicion as to who might be responsible, then please get in touch.”
Witnesses or anyone with information should call police at Redditch on 0300 333 3000, quoting incident reference 603-S-190511, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Rdditch Advertiser
The boy was running on a path beside a stream off Needle Mill Lane on Thursday, May 19 at about 7pm when he was approached by a man near a footbridge.
The man punched him, threw him to the floor and then kicked him. During the assault he racially abused his victim and tried to throw him into the stream.
The boy managed to break free and ran for help. He was taken by ambulance to the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch with cuts and bruising.
The offender was a white man described as around 30-years-old, of thin build with black, shoulder-length hair. He was wearing a grey sweat top and blue jeans.
PC Paul Lettis said: “This was a nasty and totally unprovoked attack by a stranger on a boy who was taking part in an organised run. We are carrying out inquiries in a bid to trace the offender and it is vital we hear from anyone who may have seen a man of this description in that area either before or after the incident.
“The smallest detail could be important to our investigation so if you saw or heard anything, or have any suspicion as to who might be responsible, then please get in touch.”
Witnesses or anyone with information should call police at Redditch on 0300 333 3000, quoting incident reference 603-S-190511, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Rdditch Advertiser
MEDIA COMPLICIT IN RISE OF XENOPHOBIA (Europe)
As European leaders increasingly question the concept of Europe without borders and follow each other in announcing the end of multiculturalism, the media response has been mostly to present migrants as destabilising Europe’s labour markets and welfare states.
The role of the media in the worsening image of migrants in Europe was debated in Budapest at a conference titled "Promoting Migrant Integration through Media and Intercultural Dialogue". The conference, organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union, ran from May 16-18, and was aimed at helping media representatives provide fair and balanced coverage of migration issues. With far-right, anti-immigration parties gaining strength throghout Europe, journalists have been signalled as frequent accomplices to rising xenophobia: "European public opinion is being pressed with the threat of a migration wave. Both politicians and journalists should recognise their mistakes," Czech sociologist Ivan Gabal told participants. Mircea Toma, president of Active Watch, a Romanian media monitory agency, mirrored a similar view: "Journalists often don’t look at events with an eagle eye, but rather with the same perspective as anyone in the population," he said. The increasing commercialisation of the mainstream media and the profit imperatives it imposes seem to be at the core of the lowering of quality in media coverage of migration related issues. "We certainly need some transparency rules to see where the funding is coming from and what are the political groups involved," Aidan White, former general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists told participants. "There is a crisis within the media, a financial crisis that is reducing the quality of training, of journalism, and ultimately journalists’ capacity to tell complex stories."
There is a harsh, competitive environment that is leading editors and journalists to violate codes of ethics. "If anti-immigration writing allows the media to stay in business, the media will go for it," Milica Pesic, executive director of the U.K.-based Media Diversity Institute warned. Still, blame should not be placed exclusively on the media, White said. "This is not just a problem of the media. Issues related to economic migration are complex, but lack of courage is leading to an unscrupulous form of politics. We are facing a general problem of societal anxiety about our healthcare, our education and our labour market." An anxiety which, participants agreed, has peaked with the Middle East revolts in general, and the Libyan crisis in particular. Since the beginning of what some have termed the ‘Arab Spring’, "no more than 30,000 people have arrived in Europe, but the reaction has been surprising," Kinga Goncz, vice-chair of the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee told the conference. "This is not a large number but from reading the media you would think it’s a huge number. There’s a paranoid fear that these people will overburden Europe, while actually some of the economies that are better recovering from the crisis, like Germany’s, require even more migrants," she said. The latest crisis has also underlined the ethnocentrism of European media. "Eight hundred thousand people, overwhelmingly migrant workers, have fled from Libya and gone mostly to Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Chad and Algeria. This indeed represents a migration crisis, but it is not affecting Europe yet," Jean- Philippe Chauzy, head of the IOM’s Media and Communication Unit told IPS.
The message was, however, not that media should portray migrants positively; instead speakers stressed the need to ensure balanced and accurate reporting. "Journalists have prejudices of their own," Pesic said. "It’s very important to know the facts, figures and sources, but even when they have them, some papers will go out of their way to mislead." Concerns over lack of journalistic ethic were shared by more than one state official: "Journalists often have an agenda, in the ministries we often provide them with correct, written information and they still write it wrong or put things out of context," Paulina Babis from the Polish Ministry of Labour and Social Policy told IPS. Yet some questioned why journalists would even begin by approaching officials and not give voice to those who remain mostly voiceless: "Migrants and their organisations should speak for migrants, not government officials," White said. "Journalists will go to the easiest available source, they don’t have time for much else. What we need is an alternative sources handbook that should be made available to them," he suggested. Journalists, civic actors and international and state officials agreed the solution lies in increased cooperation between the media and other societal actors. "Migration is a complex and changing issue and journalists have less and less time to develop expertise. They don’t have the resources to cover an issue which requires a comprehensive understanding of the context," Chauzy said, speaking to IPS. "The present context is one of economic downturn and growing unemployment, which is leading to polarisation. That’s why the media should get all the information it needs: biased coverage is less acceptable in an era when access to information is a lot easier than at any other time in history," he said.
IPS Inter Press Services
The role of the media in the worsening image of migrants in Europe was debated in Budapest at a conference titled "Promoting Migrant Integration through Media and Intercultural Dialogue". The conference, organised by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union, ran from May 16-18, and was aimed at helping media representatives provide fair and balanced coverage of migration issues. With far-right, anti-immigration parties gaining strength throghout Europe, journalists have been signalled as frequent accomplices to rising xenophobia: "European public opinion is being pressed with the threat of a migration wave. Both politicians and journalists should recognise their mistakes," Czech sociologist Ivan Gabal told participants. Mircea Toma, president of Active Watch, a Romanian media monitory agency, mirrored a similar view: "Journalists often don’t look at events with an eagle eye, but rather with the same perspective as anyone in the population," he said. The increasing commercialisation of the mainstream media and the profit imperatives it imposes seem to be at the core of the lowering of quality in media coverage of migration related issues. "We certainly need some transparency rules to see where the funding is coming from and what are the political groups involved," Aidan White, former general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists told participants. "There is a crisis within the media, a financial crisis that is reducing the quality of training, of journalism, and ultimately journalists’ capacity to tell complex stories."
There is a harsh, competitive environment that is leading editors and journalists to violate codes of ethics. "If anti-immigration writing allows the media to stay in business, the media will go for it," Milica Pesic, executive director of the U.K.-based Media Diversity Institute warned. Still, blame should not be placed exclusively on the media, White said. "This is not just a problem of the media. Issues related to economic migration are complex, but lack of courage is leading to an unscrupulous form of politics. We are facing a general problem of societal anxiety about our healthcare, our education and our labour market." An anxiety which, participants agreed, has peaked with the Middle East revolts in general, and the Libyan crisis in particular. Since the beginning of what some have termed the ‘Arab Spring’, "no more than 30,000 people have arrived in Europe, but the reaction has been surprising," Kinga Goncz, vice-chair of the European Parliament’s LIBE Committee told the conference. "This is not a large number but from reading the media you would think it’s a huge number. There’s a paranoid fear that these people will overburden Europe, while actually some of the economies that are better recovering from the crisis, like Germany’s, require even more migrants," she said. The latest crisis has also underlined the ethnocentrism of European media. "Eight hundred thousand people, overwhelmingly migrant workers, have fled from Libya and gone mostly to Tunisia, Egypt, Niger, Chad and Algeria. This indeed represents a migration crisis, but it is not affecting Europe yet," Jean- Philippe Chauzy, head of the IOM’s Media and Communication Unit told IPS.
The message was, however, not that media should portray migrants positively; instead speakers stressed the need to ensure balanced and accurate reporting. "Journalists have prejudices of their own," Pesic said. "It’s very important to know the facts, figures and sources, but even when they have them, some papers will go out of their way to mislead." Concerns over lack of journalistic ethic were shared by more than one state official: "Journalists often have an agenda, in the ministries we often provide them with correct, written information and they still write it wrong or put things out of context," Paulina Babis from the Polish Ministry of Labour and Social Policy told IPS. Yet some questioned why journalists would even begin by approaching officials and not give voice to those who remain mostly voiceless: "Migrants and their organisations should speak for migrants, not government officials," White said. "Journalists will go to the easiest available source, they don’t have time for much else. What we need is an alternative sources handbook that should be made available to them," he suggested. Journalists, civic actors and international and state officials agreed the solution lies in increased cooperation between the media and other societal actors. "Migration is a complex and changing issue and journalists have less and less time to develop expertise. They don’t have the resources to cover an issue which requires a comprehensive understanding of the context," Chauzy said, speaking to IPS. "The present context is one of economic downturn and growing unemployment, which is leading to polarisation. That’s why the media should get all the information it needs: biased coverage is less acceptable in an era when access to information is a lot easier than at any other time in history," he said.
IPS Inter Press Services
Andrew Brons breaks ranks (BNP News, UK)
 |
| Andrew Brons Right |
Andrew Brons, the BNP’s Yorkshire & Humber MEP, has finally publicly broken ranks with Nick Griffin in a sign that could eventually lead to a split in the party. Brons has tried to appear neutral in the ongoing feuds that have engulfed the BNP over the past year but privately he has long taken the view that either Griffin has to go or a new party should be created.
Speaking on a nationalist website a couple of days ago, Brons announced that unless the current leadership has a complete change of heart and reforms the constitution he will be supporting Richard Edmonds’s leadership challenge.
Of course Brons does not believe a successful leadership challenge is likely, not least because Griffin has a knack of suspending or expelling any opposition to him. Even if it were, many do not believe that the BNP is a viable operation any more given the size of its debts. He does, however, believe that a strong challenge, which is likely to be met by a further crackdown by Griffin, could split the party.
There have been rumours about Brons launching a new far-right party for some time but the Yorkshire & Humber MEP has dithered for so long that some of his previous supporters have already left and joined the English Democrats.
Brons is a hardline racial nationalist and so there is no way he would follow the others into the English Democrats, but he has been desperate not to be the person who brings down the BNP. Rather, he hoped, the election results would be so terrible – which they were – and the debts so crippling that party members would turn to him as a saviour.
I’ve written a long article on all this in the new issue of Searchlight, which also carries our analysis of the 2011 election campaign. You can get the magazine here: https://www.hopenothate.org.uk/subscribe/
Hope Not Hate Blog
Friday, 20 May 2011
Academics may redefine antisemitism
The union which represents British academics has been accused of "hurting Jews" by proposing to reject a widely-used definition of antisemitism on the grounds that it stifles debate on Israel.
A resolution tabled for debate at its congress in Harrogate next weekend by the national executive of the University and College Union - which has been at the forefront of the boycott campaign against Israel - challenges the definition of antisemitism used by, among others, the National Union of Students.
UCU leaders claim that the description of antisemitism, drawn up several years ago by a European Union body known as the EUMC "confuses criticism of Israeli government policy and action with genuine antisemitism and is being used to silence debate about Israel and Palestine on campus".
According to the EUMC definition, antisemitism can take the form of denying Jews' right to national self-determination, applying double standards to Israel and comparing it with the Nazis.
But the document is also clear that using the same standards of criticism for Israel as for other countries does not constitute antisemitism.
The Community Security Trust's Mark Gardner said: "It proves, once again, that the UCU's executive are political extremists who care only about their ideological wars, including obsessively hating Israel and condemning mainstream political attempts to protect Jews from antisemitism."
The resolution, he said, would "comfort antisemites and hurt Jews".
A spokesman for the anti-boycott Fair Play Campaign said: "By attacking the working definition of antisemitism used by NUS, UCU is once again proving that Britain's students are more mature, more progressive and more committed to fighting racism then their increasingly extreme lecturers."
The UCU, asked to explain the reasons behind the resolution and provide evidence of suppression of debate about Israel, would say only that it expected "robust examination of motions in a whole host of areas".
The executive resolution also calls for "open debate on campus concerning Israel's past history and current policy, while continuing to combat all forms of racial or religious discrimination".
Four years ago UCU was forced to abandon attempts to embargo Israeli institutions after being warned that it risked legal action for racial discrimination. But only last year the congress expressed general support for boycott and sanctions against Israel.
NUS president Aaron Porter said, before the NUS vote on Israel, that the EUMC definition had been adopted by NUS to set boundaries of what constitutes antisemitism, while still allowing for legitimate debate and criticism of Israel. "All students have the right to study, socialise and live free from racism, fear and intimidation."
Professor David Feldman, director of the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism at London's Birkbeck College, said: "If the UCU leadership believes these resolutions provide a benchmark for regulating debate on Israel, it is going to be disappointed. There is no consensus on where legitimate criticism of Israel ends and where antisemitism begins."
The Jewish Chronicle
A resolution tabled for debate at its congress in Harrogate next weekend by the national executive of the University and College Union - which has been at the forefront of the boycott campaign against Israel - challenges the definition of antisemitism used by, among others, the National Union of Students.
UCU leaders claim that the description of antisemitism, drawn up several years ago by a European Union body known as the EUMC "confuses criticism of Israeli government policy and action with genuine antisemitism and is being used to silence debate about Israel and Palestine on campus".
According to the EUMC definition, antisemitism can take the form of denying Jews' right to national self-determination, applying double standards to Israel and comparing it with the Nazis.
But the document is also clear that using the same standards of criticism for Israel as for other countries does not constitute antisemitism.
The Community Security Trust's Mark Gardner said: "It proves, once again, that the UCU's executive are political extremists who care only about their ideological wars, including obsessively hating Israel and condemning mainstream political attempts to protect Jews from antisemitism."
The resolution, he said, would "comfort antisemites and hurt Jews".
A spokesman for the anti-boycott Fair Play Campaign said: "By attacking the working definition of antisemitism used by NUS, UCU is once again proving that Britain's students are more mature, more progressive and more committed to fighting racism then their increasingly extreme lecturers."
The UCU, asked to explain the reasons behind the resolution and provide evidence of suppression of debate about Israel, would say only that it expected "robust examination of motions in a whole host of areas".
The executive resolution also calls for "open debate on campus concerning Israel's past history and current policy, while continuing to combat all forms of racial or religious discrimination".
Four years ago UCU was forced to abandon attempts to embargo Israeli institutions after being warned that it risked legal action for racial discrimination. But only last year the congress expressed general support for boycott and sanctions against Israel.
NUS president Aaron Porter said, before the NUS vote on Israel, that the EUMC definition had been adopted by NUS to set boundaries of what constitutes antisemitism, while still allowing for legitimate debate and criticism of Israel. "All students have the right to study, socialise and live free from racism, fear and intimidation."
Professor David Feldman, director of the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism at London's Birkbeck College, said: "If the UCU leadership believes these resolutions provide a benchmark for regulating debate on Israel, it is going to be disappointed. There is no consensus on where legitimate criticism of Israel ends and where antisemitism begins."
The Jewish Chronicle
Maryland Passes Bill Requiring French Train Company to Disclose Its Holocaust History (UK)
Maryland passed legislation Thursday that requires a French rail company, as a condition for receiving a rail contract from the state, to disclose its role in transporting 76,000 people loaded in 76 cattle cars to their death in Nazi camps.
The legislation says Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francaise, or SNCF, France’s national railroad, must list specific details online about its role in the transportation that sent many Jewish people to death in Auschwitz and other notorious death camps. The state is the first to enact a law that would bring any company seeking a governmental contract to task for suspected Holocaust ties.
"We hope this legislation can become a national model sooner rather than later so that Holocaust survivors who are still with us can know that the atrocities inflicted upon their families and their people will remain in our minds, will never be forgotten and will never be repeated," Gov. Martin O'Malley said at a bill-signing ceremony.
The company had formally apologized to Holocaust victims in January, just months after the uproar from survivors and lawmakers about the company winning contracts.
“In the name of the SNCF, I bow down before the victims, the survivors, the children of those deported, and before the suffering that still lives,” Guillaume Pepy, the company’s chairman, during a ceremony at a railway station in Bobigny, a Paris suburb, the New York Times reported. The company was reportedly offering the station to local authorities for a memorial to the 20,000 Jews shipped from there to Nazi camps.
There have been calls for payments to Holocaust victims, and federal legislation named the Holocaust Rail Justice Act may require companies involved in the transportation to pay reparations.
“This legislation allows Maryland taxpayers to see exactly where their money is going,” Raphael Prober, the pro-bono attorney representing Holocaust survivors, said. “This allows transparency for the victims."
Prober said SNCF was paid “per head and kilometer” by the Nazis, and clear disclosure would bring victims and family members closer to justice.
"It's about bringing justice to the families," he said.
Fox News
The legislation says Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francaise, or SNCF, France’s national railroad, must list specific details online about its role in the transportation that sent many Jewish people to death in Auschwitz and other notorious death camps. The state is the first to enact a law that would bring any company seeking a governmental contract to task for suspected Holocaust ties.
"We hope this legislation can become a national model sooner rather than later so that Holocaust survivors who are still with us can know that the atrocities inflicted upon their families and their people will remain in our minds, will never be forgotten and will never be repeated," Gov. Martin O'Malley said at a bill-signing ceremony.
The company had formally apologized to Holocaust victims in January, just months after the uproar from survivors and lawmakers about the company winning contracts.
“In the name of the SNCF, I bow down before the victims, the survivors, the children of those deported, and before the suffering that still lives,” Guillaume Pepy, the company’s chairman, during a ceremony at a railway station in Bobigny, a Paris suburb, the New York Times reported. The company was reportedly offering the station to local authorities for a memorial to the 20,000 Jews shipped from there to Nazi camps.
There have been calls for payments to Holocaust victims, and federal legislation named the Holocaust Rail Justice Act may require companies involved in the transportation to pay reparations.
“This legislation allows Maryland taxpayers to see exactly where their money is going,” Raphael Prober, the pro-bono attorney representing Holocaust survivors, said. “This allows transparency for the victims."
Prober said SNCF was paid “per head and kilometer” by the Nazis, and clear disclosure would bring victims and family members closer to justice.
"It's about bringing justice to the families," he said.
Fox News
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Jehovah's Witness leader charged with extremism in Russia's Volga region
Investigations in the Volga region city of Yoshkar-Ola have charged the head of a local Jehovah's Witness branch with inciting religious hatred, local investigators said on Wednesday.
The coordinator of the city's Jehovah's Witness church, which is estimated to have some 90 followers, is accused of disseminating extremist materials and conducting public sermons on the superiority of the religion over others.
Investigators say a large volume of materials was seized during searches. Experts established that two books and two brochures contain "slogans of an extremist nature."
The Jehovah's Witnesses, which has some 7 million followers worldwide and 300,000 in Russia, are banned in a number of Russian regions and in some former Soviet republics.
The Jehovah's Witnesses branch in Moscow was dissolved by district court ruling in 2004, but the European Court of Human Rights declared the decision illegal last June.
RIA Novosti
The coordinator of the city's Jehovah's Witness church, which is estimated to have some 90 followers, is accused of disseminating extremist materials and conducting public sermons on the superiority of the religion over others.
Investigators say a large volume of materials was seized during searches. Experts established that two books and two brochures contain "slogans of an extremist nature."
The Jehovah's Witnesses, which has some 7 million followers worldwide and 300,000 in Russia, are banned in a number of Russian regions and in some former Soviet republics.
The Jehovah's Witnesses branch in Moscow was dissolved by district court ruling in 2004, but the European Court of Human Rights declared the decision illegal last June.
RIA Novosti
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