US Muslims Invite Dialogue to Counter Anti-Islamic Tensions (USA)

Muslim leaders in the United States are inviting the American public to their mosques to encourage a dialogue with other religions and to counter anti-Islamic tensions.

According to American Muslim leaders, hundreds of mosques across the United States are opening their doors this week to people of all religions to encourage interfaith understanding.

Zaheer Uddin, executive director of the Islamic Leadership Council of New York, says some 20 mosques in the city are holding an "open house"  as part of a week of dialogue to counter what he calls "Islamaphobia" that has grown during the past six months.

Imam Al-Amin Abdul Latif, president of the Leadership Council, told reporters that the dialogue is intended to educate the public about Islam.

"We feel very strongly that this will help thwart and stymie the hatred against Islam and Muslims being spread by anti-Islamic extremists and bigots," said Imam Latif.

Muslim leaders discussing the weeklong program say there are many misconceptions about Islam, including the belief that it encourages bigotry and that it is a religion of terrorism.

According to the Leadership Council's Al-Amin Abdul Latif, the nationwide, coordinated effort to combat those stereotypes is an expansion of previous Muslim efforts in the United States to meet with the general public.

"How successful we will be, again, we've always had great success in doing this," he said. "And hopefully, this week by extending it more and trying to be a little more aggressive just to get Muslims to do it more - that's what the problem is; we're not doing enough.  So if enough of us begin to do it more, it will go a long way in terms of educating the public and allaying their fears of Muslims in the mosque, what goes on in the mosque."

One Muslim leader says the success of the first three New York events over the weekend - at the Islamic Cultural Center, at a Brooklyn mosque and at a Protestant church - indicate that the program is off to a good start. 

VOA News

Carlisle supermarket worker shouted racist abuse from car (UK)

A teenage supermarket worker who shouted racist insults at a black man in Carlisle has been given a suspended prison sentence. 

The city’s crown court heard that Michael Hutchinson, 19, was among a group of young men who deliberately targeted Richard Feanychukwu Onuoha for abuse because they knew he would react.

The court heard that Hutchinson, of Nelson Street, Denton Holme, was on his way to visit his grandmother in the Morton area of the city in May when he saw a group of younger men shouting at Mr Feanychukwu Onuoha outside the Co-op in Stonegarth.

Later, while cruising around in his car, he saw the same group, still shouting abuse at both Mr Feanychukwu Onuoha and his white girlfriend.

“For some reason he decided to join in – in the excitement of the moment, probably – and shouted abuse out of the car window,” defence advocate William Mark-Bell said.

Hutchinson was traced because Mr Feanychukwu Onuoha took a note of his car registration number and gave it to the police.
Mr Mark-Bell said the incident was “totally uncharacteristic” of Hutchinson, who was known as a quiet man.
“He was going through a bit of a bad patch,” he said.

“He seems to have got himself sorted out now, but at the time he had got in with the wrong sort and was trying to impress them.”

Mr Mark-Bell said Hutchinson had since written “a very appropriate” letter of apology to Mr Feanychukwu Onuoha, saying he was thoroughly ashamed of what he had done and that he realised he had caused distress to his family.

Hutchinson pleaded guilty to a charge of racially aggravated intentional harassment, causing alarm or distress.
He was sentenced to a six-month term in a young offenders’ institution, suspended for a year, and ordered to do 60 hours unpaid community work.

He was also told to pay £800 court costs.

The judge, Recorder Andrew McLaughlin told him: “Not only was it reprehensible, it was also criminal. “The fact that you knew Mr Feanychukwu Onuoha was someone prone to react makes it more serious. The words you used were utterly deplorable.”

News and Star

Northern Ireland’s first detention centre given the green light (BNP, UK)

Yesterday a meeting was held between the UK Border Agency, the Planning Service and Larne Borough Council to discuss the matter after concerns were raised over the impact the facility could have on Larne.

Immigration officials want to convert Hope Street police station into a short-term holding centre capable of housing up to 22 detainees.

Under the initial plans the existing custody suites would be used to hold adults and an extension would be built at the back of the site for showering, catering and exercise facilities.

But the proposals — which have already been approved by the Planning Service — have angered some residents as well as human rights activists.

The plans have also raised opposition from the far-right British National Party (BNP) which printed leaflets claiming Larne had been “earmarked as a dumping ground for illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers”.

Currently, any person who is detained under immigration powers can be held for a maximum of seven days, however there are no facilities to hold suspected illegal immigrants in Northern Ireland.

Instead they are arrested then held in police cells before being transferred to official detention centres in Scotland and England.

That practice was heavily criticised in a Criminal Justice Inspectorate report last year which found that some failed asylum seekers had been held in police cells for up to five days.

The UK Border Agency was given until September to find alternative arrangements.

The Hope Street police station was identified as the preferred site.

Larne mayor Andrew Wilson explained the plans were presented to council last month but were deferred to allow for yesterday’s meeting.

He said those matters have now been addressed.

“A number of concerns had been raised regarding the height of the fencing, the use of razor wire and the extra lighting. Those issues are now being addressed,” he said.

It is understood the height of the fencing will be reduced from 5.1m to 4.2m and light pollution will be reduced. The Refugee Action Group is unhappy with the plans. The coalition of non-governmental organisations and refugees fear individuals could be detained at the centre for weeks.

Authorities can only hold a person detained under immigration powers for a week, but if they are arrested on criminal matters such as an immigration offence they could be held indefinitely.

A spokeswoman from the group said: “The Refugee Action Group feels very strongly that there is no need to detain any individual in Northern Ireland in connection with their immigration status.

“We oppose the criminalisation of asylum seekers and don’t think they should be segregated from the rest of society.”

The Belfast Telegraph contacted the UK Border Agency to clarify the plans but it did not provide a response.

It is understood the amended plans will be presented to Larne Borough Council in December.





Belfast Telegraph

BNP loses another councillor (UK)

The British National Party has lost another councillor, the fourth this month. Alex Copland, who was elected to Loughton Town Council in May 2008, has left the party according to Eddy Butler, the failed BNP leadership challenger.

Copland was one of five BNP members elected to the town council. Only three remain. Last year Garry Martin resigned his seat and the BNP lost the by-election in December 2009 after a strong local campaign run by Redbridge and Epping Forest Together.

Epping Forest District Council, which covers Loughton, once had six BNP councillors, but the party is now down to one after losing seats in the 2008 and 2010 elections.

Earlier this month it was reported that Meirion Bowen, a community councillor in Llandybie, Wales, had left the party in the interests of his family, employment and personal safety. Then Paul Golding, a district councillor in Sevenoaks and the party’s communications officer, quit after a fallout with other senior party staff. He was swiftly followed by Michael Simpkins, who has sat on Corsham Town Council since 2007, who left over the BNP’s failure to pay its creditors, who include printers who risked opprobrium to print the racist party’s election material.

Hope Not Hate

Britons held at Amsterdam EDL demo

Five Britons were among several dozen people arrested during a demonstration by the right-wing English Defence League in Amsterdam.

Around 60 EDL activists turned up in the Dutch city on Saturday to support Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders.

The Britons were among 34 people arrested during the day, Amsterdam Police spokesman Rob van der Veen said. It is understood the five were held for not producing identification while on their way to the demonstration.

Officers equipped with horses and dogs were among those out in force as the protesters gathered in a specially designated area between the city centre and port.

Dutch authorities attempted to isolate the protest from anti-fascist groups and supporters of football team Ajax, both of whom urged their members to disrupt the afternoon demonstration.

Mr Wilders - who was barred from visiting Britain before being allowed to enter last year - has reportedly said he has no ties to the EDL and did not support the demonstration.

Writing in The Times last week, Jon Cruddas, Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham, called on political parties to "choke off" what the EDL taps into.

He said the organisation was a small, violent street militia "but it speaks the language of a much larger, disenfranchised class".

Belfast Telegraph

BNP to be taken to court by creditors (UK)

The British National Party (BNP) is being taken to court by its creditors including a North- East printing firm which is owed thousands.

The far-right party’s central office owes the Newton Press, in County Durham, about £16,500 for printing its newspaper, Freedom.

It is understood the firm is one of several UK firms taking the BNP to court in an action headed by an as yet unnamed solicitor.

The £16,500 has been described as loose change compared to the overall figure being sought from the party, which is allegedly £500,000 in debt.

Party leader Nick Griffin is expected to meet North-East organisers in County Durham today, where he will face tough questions over the party’s finances.

As a political party the BNP is an unincorporated association which cannot technically be declared bankrupt.

However, creditors could hold Mr Griffin personally liable along with party members who entered into contracts.

Freedom’s former editor, Martin Wingfield, said he enjoyed an excellent working relationship with the Newton Press for about two years until he stepped down, in July last year.

But, when asked about the recent debt, he said: “I understand the case is going to court, so at present, I cannot comment further.”

The BNP’s money woes were highlighted recently when a letter purporting to be from the party’s head office offered creditors 20p for every pound of debt.

It was dismissed by some members as a fake, but the BNP’s former North-East organiser, Ken Booth, said it was genuine.

He said party members in the North-East were disgusted to learn of the 20p in a pound offer and he had fought for the Newton Press to be paid.

In contrast to the national position, Mr Booth said the North- East office has always operated on a pay-as-you-go basis and as such had no debts.

Mr Booth, who was removed from his post by Mr Griffin when he threatened to raise the debts issue, said: “It goes against the BNP’s core principle of local jobs for local people.

“As far as I can see this is a decent North-East firm that has done a good job and deserves to be paid and I don’t know why it hasn’t been.

“Central party is £500,000 in debt but it’s on a record turnover of £2.3m.

“No one is accusing anyone of stealing money, it’s just mismanagement.

“The general consensus of the members in the North-East is that Nick Griffin should shoulder the responsibility and step down.”

The Newton Press, which publishes the community newsletter, Newton News, declined to comment.

BNP central office spokesman John Walker said: “We could not comment on matters which are internal to the party and the businesses we deal with.”

The Northern Echo

Hate crime teacher speaks out (UK)

A teacher who was subjected to homophobic abuse has spoken of his relief after the perpetrator was convicted of harassment.

The man, who does not want to be named, said he was subjected to months of abuse after moving into a flat in Chelmsford.

He moved into the property last year and about a month later the trouble started as 38-year-old Jason Kingsnorth started making homophobic comments, including shouting insults from his window.

Kingsnorth, of Falmouth Road, Chelmsford, was given a police caution in January this year after a complaint was made and for a few weeks the problem subsided.

But between January and May of this year Kingsnorth’s harassment continued.

The teacher and his partner were approached when they were alone and said they were left in fear that violence may be used.

However, Kingsnorth was arrested and has now been convicted of harassment and handed a 16-week suspended sentence at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court.

Speaking to the EADT, the teacher said he hoped more people suffering from hate crimes would come forward.

He said: “After the caution what happened, I would say, was more traumatic. It was all the time – little comments, nothing specific, muttering under his breath or he would repeatedly slam the door.

“There was an incident when I came home one evening and he was ranting and raving so I just walked past him.

“I felt it was definite intimidation and I did not know what he was capable of, but in some ways it would have been easier if it had been a physical thing as I was left constantly worried.

“I think he was a bully, picking on what he thought was a weakness and thought he could get away with it. It is the sort of thing I see in the playground and it is not nice in the playground and against adults it is just as bad.”

The victim started to compile a diary of the harassment which proved invaluable to police and Essex Crown Prosecution Service in securing the conviction.

Kingsnorth was arrested and a restraining order was put in place and he has since moved away from the flats.

The teacher added that the support he got from the witness care unit at the court which made a big difference to the daunting experience of giving evidence against Kingsnorth.

“If people do not go to the police, they won’t know what could be done for them. I would advise anyone having similar problems to keep a diary of it.

“What happened made me quite nervous in my own home to be honest so there was a real relief when he was gone. We were suffering from the October to April but there are people out there who it has been happening to for longer and they may just be putting up with it.

Prosecutor Joseph Stickings said: “The victims suffered at the hands of this man over a prolonged period of time purely because of their sexual orientation.

“His campaign of harassment against these two gentlemen caused them great unnecessary emotional suffering and they were unable to relax in their own home.

“We are grateful to the victims for coming forward and pleased this case has reached a successful conclusion. The CPS will continue to take offences of this nature very seriously and remain committed to prosecuting them through the court system.”

EADT

Neo-Nazi Groups, Extremist Crime Increasing Rapidly in Russia, Senior MVD Official Says

Major General Sergey Girko, the head of the Scientific Research Institute of the Russian Federation Ministry  of Internal Affairs, says that there are now more than 150 neo-Nazi groups in his country and that both their number and the number of extremist crimes is rising rapidly.

Speaking to an international conference in Moscow on combating extremist and terrorist groups and crime today, Girko acknowledged that for that reason as well as many others, “the operational situation in the area of countering extremism on the territory of the Russian Federation remains complicated” (www.vnii-mvd.ru/news/1128).

Girko said that “every year” the number of crimes of an extremist nature in Russia has been growing. “If in 2007, there were 356 such crimes registered” – a 35 percent increase over the year before – “then in 2008, this figure increased to 460 (up 29 percent) and in 2009 to 548 (up 19 percent).”

The current year has been no exception to this pattern, the MVD general said. During the first six months of the year, there were 370 such crimes recorded, up by 39 percent over the same period in 2009. And that figure suggests that there will be a comparable increase for the entire year as well.

Moreover, Girko continued, “the number of radical groups based on the ideology of national, racial and religious tolerance also continues to grow.” According to MVD figures, there are now “more than 150 radical neo-fascist groups” in Russia “whose members profess a cult of nationalism and racial superiority” and seek to implement it with violence.

The MVD institute director said that “we very well understand that statistics are not an absolutely exact barometer” in this area. “As law enforcement practice shows, at the initial stage, extremist crimes are sometimes classified as having been committed for other reasons” all the more so because extremist groups are often combined with ordinary criminal ones.

“In Russia,” he continued, “particularly in recent years,” the powers that be have adopted “a complex of legislative and organizational measures in order to react in an adequate fashion to the existing threats from the side of organized criminal formations of an extremist and terrorist direction.”

Among these steps, Girko said, has been “the creation of a government system of countering extremism in which a particular place undoubtedly belongs to law enforcement organs.” They in turn have created inside the MVD a special department, whose staff specializes in providing advice on how to respond to and then prevent extremist crime.

His own institute, Girko said, conducts research and makes recommendations in this area in order to “raise the level” of the understanding of front-line officers in the struggle with this kind of crime and to generalize on the findings of investigators so that what one group learns all can benefit from.

The institute’s research, he continued, shows how complicated and multi-faceted is the task of those who seek to combat such crimes, and Girko suggested that what is “required” now is the involvement of “all institutions of government power” in this struggle, with each being responsible for one or another sector.

While a great deal has been accomplished, Girko said, “work in this direction in many regions [of the Russian Federation] is not being carried out at all or is being carried out in an ineffective way.” In all too many places, such activities are limited to declarations of good intentions rather than continuing action.

Girko concluded by saying that Russia’s fight against extremist crimes can only benefit from the experiences of others who have assembled in Moscow for this conference, and he said that the speeches and deliberations of the group would be published so that they could benefit everyone who is engaged in this struggle.

Georgian Daily

Racist graffiti daubed on Shrewsbury day centre (UK)

Racist graffiti, including a Nazi swastika, has been daubed across the front of a Shrewsbury day care centre for adults with learning disabilities.

 Police have appealed for anyone who might have information about the vandalism to come forward after the offensive and racist messages and symbols were scrat-ched into the fascia boards on the front of the building.
The incident happened at the Albert Road Day Centre, in Sundorne, between about 4.30pm on Tuesday and 12.30pm on Wednesday.

Miriam Hulme, who volunteers at the centre for Mencap, said: “It’s disgusting that people have done this and I just wish they realised how it reflects on our people, they get upset, and it doesn’t look good for a community facility.

“We rent the building from the council and now they will have to use money to repair it that could be used to help our members.

“I wish whoever did it could see the good the centre does and how much our members enjoy going there.”
Constable Emma Watson, who is investigating the incident, said the signs would need to be repainted in order to remove the graffiti.

She said: “The venue is a day centre for adults with learning disabilities and has been a target for vandals previously.

“If anyone has any information as to who was responsible for the damage, please could they contact police on 0300 333 3000.

She added: “If you know something but do not want to be identified, then please call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. The operator will not even ask for your name and a reward is sometimes offered.”

The centre allows adults with learning disabilities to access opportunities in the community and in house.

Shropshire Star

Gabon deports several Whites for racism (Africa)

Authorities in Gabon recently expelled several European nationals for racism. 

Those expelled are mainly expatriates who worked in the oil sector. According to the local media, Blacks in the Central African country continue to fall victim to racism at the hands of some Whites.

Many Europeans working in the Gabonese oil industry at Port-Gentil, the country’s economic capital, were expelled between late September and early October for racism, l’Union, a local newspaper, announced on Thursday.

Sharon Lyndah Bayliss, former chief financial officer at KCA Deutag, is among the deported expatriates. Known for her repeated tendency toward the anti-social behavior pattern, Sharon had already received a deportation notice coupled with a ban on residing in Gabon, prior to the recent deportation.

But, according to l’Union, "It is rumored that deals within both the oil industry and the national security services facilitated her return to Gabon".

Another expatriate, Ms. Corinne Fizz, chief financial officer at Weatherford, was escorted to the central African country’s border for "racism and discrimination against other employees of the company."

There are also reports that Vincent Perez, who works with ISMS, a company founded by his Father, was expelled for ’’outrageous’’ remarks towards the Gabonese authorities.

"Subhuman beings"

The scourge of racism and segregation, according to observers, is rife in Port Gentil. "Some bars and restaurants, including the famous San Lorenzo and the Ranch, consider the presence of Black customers as an intrusion," the newspaper reads.

Meanwhile, many Gabonese have expressed shock over the emergence of such anti-social behaviour among European expatriates who have since time immemorial enjoyed some of the most friendly conditions in the country.

However, ages "after the abolition slavery and colonization, they continue to view blacks as subhuman’’ Arsene Sema, a young Gabonese, complained.

A few months ago, the National Union of Oil Employees (ONEP), during a strike action, had called on the government to involve expatriates from the country’s oil sector in Union activities, because many of them (White workers) are illegal.

Some also argue that those so-called illegally employed White expatriates hold some of the most important positions of responsibility.

Afrik-News

Schoolchildren learn about evils of racism (UK)

Hundreds of Lanarkshire schoolchildren attended an event aimed at combating racism.

Around 300 pupils from primary schools in Rutherglen and Cambuslang were invited to the Show Racism the Red Card event at Rutherglen Town Hall.

Run by South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture, it was part of a three-day event, which included sporting activities.

Show Racism the Red Card is an anti-racist campaigning and educational charity which uses role models, such as professional footballers, to help educate people about the damage caused by racism.

Councillor Gerry Convery, chairman of South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture, said: “The message being sent out is that racism has no place with us, either in sport or in any other part of our daily lives.

“This is a worthwhile event and a great way to break down barriers.”

Evening Times

War veterans' group who took money from BNP to be struck off as charity (UK)

A War veterans' group who took money from the BNP are to be struck off the charity register.

A probe into Forward Edge of Battle Area (Feba) revealed problems with its management and finances.

Feba, set up by former Queen's Own Highlander Tommy Moffat in 2006, had been backed by First Minister Alex Salmond and former defence secretary Des Browne.

But it emerged last year that Moffat had taken £3000 from the BNP to pay rent on their HQ in Hamilton, Lanarkshire.

The leader of the racist party, Nick Griffin, visited Moffat, claiming he wanted to show his support.

Feba were given charity status in March 2007. But now an inquiry by the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) has found they don't meet the watchdogs' "public benefit" test.

The probe uncovered "significant weaknesses in governance and financial controls".

The OSCR said Moffat had run up large debts he couldn't repay and was running the charity while they were apparently insolvent.

He had also been the sole trustee of Feba, despite an agreement to have at least four people at the helm.

The report said: "It appears Thomas Moffat has not acted in the best interests of the charity and with the care and diligence that is reasonable to expect.

"The lack of accounting records made it impossible to determine the extent of any financial mismanagement."

The report said Moffat repeatedly refused to provide information and did not act on recommendations for improvement.

Moffat refused to comment. Feba have until November 7 to appeal the decision.

Daily Record

FRENCH COURT HEARS ANTI-SEMITIC MURDER APPEAL

Paris court is hearing the appeal of 18 people convicted in the 2006 kidnapping, torture and murder of a young French Jew. One who's not appealing is Gang leader Youssouf Fofana, who chose not to appeal his conviction and life sentence. The appeal started Monday; it's expected to continue through mid-December. The case revived worries in France about anti-Semitism, considered an aggravating circumstance in the case, and led to anxiety in France's Jewish community, the largest in western Europe. Ilan Halimi, who was 23 years old, was held captive for more than three weeks. He was found naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks near railroad tracks in the Essonne region south of Paris on Feb. 13, 2006. He died on the way to the hospital.

Business Week

Mixed reaction as BNP tries to hire hall for meetings (Isle of Wight, UK)

 ROW erupted among Sandown town councillors this week over the possibility of hiring out the Broadway Centre to the BNP.

Island members of the controversial political party — which has come under fire for its far right reputation — are looking for a new venue to host their monthly meetings and have e-mailed town and parish councils across the Island to ask about hire charges.

The request, discussed among Sandown councillors at Tuesday’s meeting, was hugely unpopular with some members.

"They are racists as far as I’m concerned. We shouldn’t touch them with a barge pole," said Cllr Bob Blezzard.

But Cllr Chris Dupre said it would be discriminatory to refuse the request.

"You can’t have one rule for the BNP and another for everyone else. Then you could start saying no Muslims or black people," he said.

"They are a legitimate political party and have as much right to hire the hall as anyone else."

Cllr Richard Beasley added: "We have to be seen to be tolerant, even if we don’t want to be. And it would bring us income."

Island BNP organiser Geof Clynch, who stood as the party's parliamentary candidate in the general election earlier this year, said several town and parish councils had responded with room hire details and charges.

"The feedback so far has not been negative at all," he said.

"The membership of the Island BNP is made up of intelligent, law abiding, taxpaying, patriotic people, who only want what is best for the Island and its indigenous population.

"We are not Nazis, we are a proper political party. People need to grow up and stop having such childish debates."

Sandown Town Council agreed to reply to Mr Clynch’s request asking for further details.

County Press Online

New task force to protect gay and lesbian community (New York, USA)

Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes today announced the creation of a Hate Crimes Task Force in his office to counter the violence perpetrated against members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.  The Task Force was set up due to the high rate of hate crimes in the community and is designed to protect victims by giving them an outlet to report crimes and seek advocacy. 
The Task Force will put in place a set of initiatives designed to protect members of the LGBT community.  One of these initiatives is the implementation of “Project Reach-Out”, which will provide resources to members of the LGBT community and HIV-positive survivors of violence.  The Task Force is also setting up a 24-hour hotline that hate crime victims can call.  That number is (718) 250-2759.

“Often, biased crime victims are hesitant to come forward and report crimes against them. It is a scary and traumatic experience for them”, Hynes said.  “They may not want to call 911 or walk into their local precinct.  The new hotline can help those people.  These initiatives do not just protect victims of violence. Bullying against members of this community is something that also needs to be reported and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.  The Project will involve getting the community to work with us to put an end to the unnecessary violence.”

Empire State News

Communities unite to stamp out hate crime in Wandsworth (UK)

The borough’s ethnic, faith, gay and lesbian communities have endorsed a joint council and police initiative to stamp out hate crime in Wandsworth.

Members of 31 different groups met last Tuesday at the first meeting of the newly created Wandsworth Hate Crime Forum, which was set up to combat all forms of intolerance including discrimination and persecution based on a person's beliefs, religion, race, age, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

They unanimously agreed a joint declaration condemning all forms of hate crime and set themselves the goal of improving “the quality of life for everyone living, working, visiting or socialising in the borough”
.
Forum chairman, Councillor James Cousins, said: “The aims of the forum are quite clear. We will all work closely together to create a more just, equal, peaceful and tolerant society. And we will do all we can to outlaw the abhorrent persecution and discrimination of any minority group.”

Your Local Guardian

Racist abuse teens probe (UK)

Police are hunting teenagers who hurled racist abuse at a member of Blackpool rail staff.

As a train pulled into Blackpool Pleasure Beach station, a girl and two boys asked the conductor where he had come from. When he said Blackpool South, one of the teenagers replied "No, you've come from Pakistan".

They then became aggressive and shouted more abuse at the man.

PC Chris Haughton, of British Transport Police, said: "Abuse of any kind is unacceptable, but when there is a racial element it also becomes extremely disturbing."

The boys were between 14 and 16 years old and about 5ft 5in tall. They were both slim, one was wearing dark clothing while the other had a grey hooded top.

The incident happened around 8.45pm on Friday, October 15.

Anyone with information should call BTP on 0800 40 50 40 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Blackpool Gazzette

Neo-Nazi gets life sentence for hate killings (Russia)

The Moscow City Court gave a life sentence to a 22-year-old neo-Nazi convicted of killing 15 people. Vasily  Krivets, who was also handed a fine of 13.5 million rubles ($450,000), has not confessed to the crimes.

The court also sentenced Dmitry Ufimtsev, 23, who confessed to committing five murders, to 22 years in prison. Ufimtsev and Krivets formed a two-person gang in October 2007. Within the course of three months, they killed 15 people, most of whom included migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus.

The two said they identified their victims according to their physical appearance, specifically targeting “foreigners” and assaulting them with knives. One such victim, for example, was an elderly violinist who played for small change near a metro station in Moscow, the Gazeta daily reported. Krivets admitted to stabbing the man and leaving him to die for “being Jewish.”

This is only the third time that a man has received a life sentence for hate killings in Russia. Two previous life sentences were handed to Nikolay Korolev in 2008, for a bombing that killed 14 people, and Aleksandr Degtyarev in 2010 for murdering four people.

Ufimtsev and Krivets have refused requests to speak to the press. Their lawyers have 10 days to appeal the verdict from the moment they receive a written copy of it.

Hate crimes have seen a recent rise in Russia. The Ministry of Interior has stated that 548 such crimes were committed in 2009, up by more than 50% from 2007. Ultra-nationalist gangs have also mushroomed, with more than 150 of them currently operating throughout Russia.

RT News

Man made racist threats to shopkeeper (UK)

A man who was asked to leave a shop racially abused the owner, threatening to cut his throat.

South Tyneside magistrates were told that because of a previous incident Darren Austin was asked to leave Food Plus in Finkle Road, Hebburn.

As he left, he started to shout and swear at owner Mohammed Naveed, said Lee Poppett, prosecuting.

Outside he hurled a torrent of abusive and racist comments at the owner, and made remarks about his wife.

At one stage, he shouted: "I'll cut your throat."

When Austin was arrested he admitted he'd been to the shop, but denied making racist remarks.

Laura Johnson, defending, said Austin had been drinking before the September 23 incident.

"He admits using those words to the shopkeeper. He had been taking medication for paranoia and depression, and believes this is what led to him making the remarks and act in that way.

"He is very embarrassed and apologises for his behaviour."

Austin, 37, of Oxford Crescent, Hebburn, admitted using racially offensive remarks with intent to cause alarm.

He was given a nine-month community order with probation supervision, and ordered to spend 30 days on a basic skills course. He was also ordered to pay £85 costs.

Jarrow and Hebburn Gazzette

Amsterdam mayor shifts pro-Wilders demo from centre (Netherlands)

Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan has shifted a pro-Geert Wilders demonstration, organised by the English Defence League, to the western port area in order to minimise the chance of riots.

Van der Laan said he had concrete evidence that members of the far-right EDL were coming to the Netherlands to look for a confrontation with both the police and anti-racist demonstrators.

The demonstration was due to be held on the Museumplein.

Dutch News

Anti-Islam praise from Wilders provokes Merkel (Germany)

The Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders on Wednesday angered German Chancellor Angela Merkel by provocatively praising her recent attack on multiculturalism.
Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) had taken “leadership in the area of Islam criticism,” Wilders told the Dutch parliament.

“Mrs Merkel – she is right,” he added as he gave the opening address on behalf of his Freedom Party (PVV), which recently agreed to support a minority right-wing coalition government in the Netherlands.

Merkel added fuel to an already heated immigration debate in Germany when she said in a speech to her party’s youth wing earlier this month that multiculturalism had “failed utterly.” However she also made a point of adding that “Islam belongs to Germany” – a fact that Wilders left out of his address.

Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, angrily replied to Wilders’ speech by saying that that the Chancellor had in no way expressed “criticism of Islam.”

“That is not true. You cannot interpret the Chancellor as a critic of Islam because she naturally has respect for an important world religion,” Seibert said in Berlin.

Wilders praised Merkel’s speech as well as similar remarks by Horst Seehofer, head of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union.

“When the Chancellor herself says that the multicultural society has utterly failed, then that is saying something,” he said.

During a debate about the minority government programme put forward by the coalition of Dutch Christian Democrats, pro-business Liberals, the anti-Islam populist added: “The most important politician in the Christian Democrats in the most important country in Europe breaks a taboo and says it how it is. And she said what millions of people think.”

Spokesman Seibert replied: “The Chancellor expresses her convictions independent of who agrees or disagrees with her here or abroad. Certainly she makes no statements to get applause from that corner.”

Wilders, while ignoring Merkel’s acceptance of Islam in Germany, referred to similar remarks by German President Christian Wulff.

“In Germany, meanwhile, two thirds of the people say, ‘Islam does not belong to our country,’” Wilders said.

Only a few weeks ago during a visit to Berlin, the 47-year-old Dutchman slammed Merkel and Germany's established parties for supposedly accepting the "Islamisation" of Germany.

The Local Germany

David Blunkett warns uneven cuts risk rise of English nationalism (UK)

Former home secretary predicts draconian spending cuts could fracture unity and breed resentment of south of England.

England faces the rise of virulent nationalism outside the south-east as a result of the government's draconian spending cuts, David Blunkett, the former home secretary, warned tonight.

Predicting that the English Defence League (EDL) was more of a threat than the British National party, he said a new form of English colonialism was emerging during a period when the fabric of society outside the south-east was threatened.

Plans to replace regional development agencies with 40 local enterprise partnerships (LEPs), and to withdraw funding from schemes designed to lessen the impact of immigration on public services, could fracture England's unity and breed resentment of the south of England, he said in a speech at Sheffield University.

Speaking to the Guardian, Blunkett added that the EDL, which has carried out a series of rallies this year, was trying to exploit the way in which Wales and Scotland received far more in government subsidies than regions such as Yorkshire.

In his speech at the centenary celebrations of Sheffield's Cambrian Society – which came before a speech tomorrow by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, promoting economic development in the regions – Blunkett said the abolition of regional bodies will lead to the "Balkanisation" of England, and end the ability of regions outside London to fight global market forces.

He said: "Our civil society – the glue that holds us together and the driving force for being able to assist each other in times of need – will be unable to respond as the years go by.

"It is the fracturing, the tearing, of the social fabric that concerns me most. The fact that we are likely to see a disintegration of the acceptance of responsibility, of the obligations and duties we owe to each other.

"The denial that there is such a thing as regional identity pulls the centrifugal force of England into London and alienates those who are hardest hit by the cuts.

"London retains a development agency and demands more resources – and, in capital funding, gets it – as the scarce resources available are pulled like a magnet into the developments for and around the Olympic Games."

The government has spoken of a need to rebalance the economy, but Blunkett claimed the bodies capable of helping that process were being systematically shut.

He claimed many of the engines of regional growth were being dismantled. The business secretary, Vince Cable, confirmed this week that LEPs will have no independent funding. Blunkett told the Guardian: "It is a formula for disaster, a tearing of the social fabric and either a return to the riots of 1981, or the growth of rightwing English nationalism."

He said he was concerned that Labour had, with the exception of Tony Blair, not found a language to address the concerns and anti-statism of the English. He said: "Through the Midlands, the south, the east, and the south-west, the 'anti-state' nature of individualism and an innate conservatism is a powerful force. Outside the culturally diverse and cosmopolitan city of London, the south and east returned just 10 Labour MPs out of over 200 constituencies on 6 May this year."

The Guardian

Far right English Defence League (EDL) to protest outside Harrow Council over Halal school menus (UK)

A far right group that backed last year's Harrow mosque protests looks set to return to the borough to demonstrate over Halal menus.

The English Defence League (EDL) has fought repeated street battles with Unite Against Fascism (UAF) in cities like Birmingham, Bradford and Bolton, and the two groups look set to meet in Harrow in January.

The organisation, which says it wants a peaceful protest, is demonstrating against Halal only meat menus in the borough's schools, an issue that has already proved divisive among residents locally.

A statement on a Facebook event created by the group reads: “The English Defence League is against the inhumane slaughter of animals to produce Halal meat.

“The English Defence League is also against the rituals of Islam being forced upon our next generation without choice.”

UAF already look likely to hold a counter-demonstration and the Brent and Harrow branch has emailed supporters warning them of the date.

The email states: “If they decide to go ahead with this lunatic scheme, we will mobilise against them.

“They must not be able to invade our borough unopposed. We defend our children's right to be served food in school that meets their dietary needs whether these needs are medical or religious.

“Parents should be confident that their children will be served healthy food that meets their needs and beliefs.”

EDL supported two protests organised by another group, SIOE, against Harrow Central Mosque last year – one on September 11, the anniversary of the terror attacks in America, and one on December 13.

On both occasions anti-mosque protesters were dwarfed by their anti-fascist rivals and mocked with chants of “there are many, many more of us than you”.

But the threat to protest outside Harrow Civic Centre, in Station Road, on Saturday, January 15, between 2pm and 4pm, is likely to bring a return of fears for the unity of one of the country's most religiously and culturally diverse areas.

Harrow Council says it has no say over what menus are offered in school canteens and has written to all headteachers in the borough asking them to take into account the needs of all faith groups.

But the authority's headquarters has been chosen as the target of the EDL protest anyway, and the location has added significance since it is opposite Harrow Central Mosque.

At the time of publication, 154 people had accepted invitations to the EDL Facebook event.

Harrow Times

3 more suspects indicted in Bronx hate crimes (USA)

Three more anti-gay gang sex assault suspects have been indicted, while charges against a 4th man were dismissed.


22-year-old Jose Dominguez, 23-year-old Idelfonso Mendez, and 21-year-old David Rivera were all charged with gang assault in the first and second degrees, assault in the first, second and third degrees, robbery in the second degree, and aggravated sexual abuse in the third degree.

Twelve of the 28 counts were charged as hate crimes.

Charges were dismissed against 17-year-old Dennis Piters, as the prosecution stated that it had insufficient evidence to meet the burden of proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Tuesday, Eyewitness News learned that three other defendants were cleared.

They are Steven Caraballo, Brian Cepeda and Bryan Almonte.

They had been charged with robbery, gang assault and unlawful imprisonment. There were 11 people accused, and eight remain charged in the case.

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson also announced that 26-year-old Luis Garcia has been indicted on charges of gang assault and other offenses in connection with the alleged bias attack.

Garcia is facing a maximum sentence of up to 25 years imprisonment if convicted of first-degree robbery, a Class B felony offense.

The maximum sentence for the gang assault charge is 15 years imprisonment.

The brutal attacks happened earlier this month when two 17-year-olds and a 30-year-old man, who were believed to be gay, were allegedly brutally attacked by members of a gang called the Latin King Goonies.
The victims were attacked in an apartment in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx. They were allegedly beaten and two of them sodomized.

A grand jury has been meeting for some time considering the evidence in the case.

"He was not involved in this from the beginning, he was never a gang member, and I'm glad to see justice was done here," said Almonte's attorney.

Three other defendants, 23-year-old Elmer Confresi, 17-year-old Nelson Falu, and 22-year-old Ruddy Vargas, are awaiting grand jury action.

All three defendants are scheduled to appear in State Supreme Court, Part 60 on Thursday, October 28th.

ABC Local

He is not in government, but Wilders dominates first day of debate (Netherlands)

Prime minister Mark Rutte will answer his parliamentary critics on Wednesday during the second day of debate on the new government’s plans.

On Tuesday, opposition party leaders attacked the new minority government’s failure to introduce jobs and housing market reforms, and criticised the influence of anti-Islam campaigner Geert Wilders.

Rutte heads a minority administration with the Christian Democrats. The anti-Islam PVV has signed a deal to partner the government on some issues, particularly immigration.

Dual nationality
In particular, Rutte is expected to address the hot potato of dual nationality. A junior minister in the new cabinet holds both Dutch and Swedish nationality while a VVD MP is Dutch and British.

Wilders says the minister should give up her Swedish passport but Rutte has already said he sees no problem with the situation. According to Nos tv, Wilders will come up with a motion of no confidence in the government if the minister does not comply.

Reforms
During Tuesday´s debate, Wilders also claimed credit for persuading the new government not to overhaul the social security system. Both the VVD and CDA wanted to cut unemployment benefits and reform redundancy law.

‘We are very proud of that,’ Wilders said. The ‘fantastic’ results which the PVV delivered during the coalition talks will deliver his party even more supporters, Wilders said.

But opposition MPs accused the VVD and CDA of failing to deliver election promises on reform.

Real leaderWilders is ‘the real leader… the kidnapper,’ D66 leader Alexander Pechtold said.

And he accused the CDA of ´political hypocrisy´ for handing itself over to the PVV.

Labour leader Job Cohen warned Rutte should not assume Labour would back the government when PVV support was lacking.

‘We will not be used to plaster over the cracks in the coalition,’ Cohen said during the debate. The PVV is calling the shots in the new cabinet, the Labour leader said. ‘Wilders’ will is law.’

Disagreements
Femke Halsema, leader of the left wing greens GroenLinks, asked Wilders to say which parts of the coalition agreement he disagreed with.

Wilders refused. ‘You will have to wait for that,’ he was quoted as saying.

Dutch News

Swedish far right not welcome at Nobel dinner

Sweden Democrats' (SD) leader Jimmie Åkesson is the only parliamentary party leader not invited to the Nobel banquet in Stockholm City Hall in December, with the Nobel Foundation citing the values expressed in Alfred Nobel's will.

"It comes across very clearly that no consideration should be made to nationality affiliation. SD's values stand in direct contravention of this," said Michael Sohlman, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation, to the Aftonbladet daily.

The decision to exclude Åkesson from the guest list for the Nobel Banquet on December 10th was taken by a united Nobel Foundation board.

"We are a private foundation and decide ourselves who we want to come to the banquet," Sohlman said, explaining that the Sweden Democrats' policy programme indicates a view of humanity not compatible with that expressed by Alfred Nobel.

Jimmie Åkesson expressed surprise and disappointment at missing out on the festivities.

"It is regrettable, in recent years all the party leaders have been invited," he told the newspaper.

Åkesson described the decision as "controversial" and considered it strange for the committee to cite Alfred Nobel's last will and testament.

"I am surprised that they choose to take this stand and take this decision to single me out and not take a general position that they don't invite the party leaders," Åkesson told Sveriges Radio's P4 news programme on Wednesday.

"This seems to be a political decision. Michael Sohlman is after all a Social Democrat politician," he said.

The Nobel banquet is traditionally attended by the Swedish royal family, political leaders, Nobel prize winners and a host of other dignitaries. Further politicians on the list for this year's festivities include the foreign minister, finance minister, education minister and culture minister.

The Local Sweden

Drunk jailed for racist attack on Seven Sisters passenger (UK)

 A drunkard who unleashed a foul-mouthed racist rant after being woken up by a Seven Sisters employee has been jailed.

IT worker Noel Anthony Walker, of Camden, was found drunk and semi-conscious at the Victoria Line station by the member of staff on August 25.

But when he tried to help Walker, he was racially abused Walker pleaded guilty at Haringey Magistrates Court earlier this month for racially aggravated harassment and causing alarm and distress to a Tube worker. He was sentenced to eight weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, plus a nine-month supervision order and must enrol on a nine-month alcohol treatment programme.

A passenger who overheard the remarks challenged Walker over his racist rant and the pair ended up in a tussle. The British Transport Police were called and Walker was arrested and later charged.

Aidan Harris, manager of London Underground's workplace violence unit, said: "There was no need for Walker's offensive rant, especially as our member of staff was trying to help him when he was clearly too intoxicated to look after himself.

"This supervision order and nine months alcohol treatment will hopefully make Walker reconsider his actions in the future."

British Transport Police Inspector Kate Shaw said: "The member of staff was merely trying to help Walker but was racially abused for his trouble.

"Behaviour such as this will not be tolerated and I hope the victim feels that justice has been done with the sentence handed to Walker."

Haringey Independant

SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR CZECH AUTHOR OF "THE FINAL SOLUTION TO THE GYPSY QUESTION" (Czech Rep.)

Today the District Court in Písek, Czech Republic sentenced Jiøí Gaudin, the author of a study entitled "The Final Solution to the Gypsy Question", to a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. Gaudin had faced up to three years in prison for inciting racial hatred. Until this year, Gaudin had been a member of the leadership of the ultra-nationalist National Party. The release of his study on "The Final Solution to the Gypsy Question" was celebrated last April by 20 members and promoters of the National Party at Lety, the site of a Nazi concentration camp for Roma during the Second World War. The publication, which court experts said refers in its title to the Nazi plan to murder European Jews, was adopted as official National Party material last year. At the time, Gaudin said his study was a solid piece of work: "This is not a provocation, it's a serious scholarly work including contributions from experts who are currently publishing." The other experts' names are not listed in the publication; Gaudin said this was because they did not want to encounter problems in their other work as a result of their participation in the project. The extreme-right National Party entered the Czech political scene in 2002, agitating against the European Union and immigrants for several years before falling apart last autumn.

Romea

UK BARS MINISTER FROM ISLAMIC MEET

British prime minister David Cameron barred the country's first ever and only Muslim cabinet minister, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, from attending a conference dominated by Islamic fundamentalists on Sunday. The move has sparked wrangling within the Conservative Party to which both belong and the country's coalition government over how the government should handle extremism. Cameron reportedly asked Warsi, who is of Pakistani origin, not to attend the G lobal Peace and Unity meet on the grounds that hardliners, "who have justified suicide missions and supported al-Qaida, homophobia and terrorism were participating in it.`` Warsi is said to be of the view that confronting extremists publicly was an effective way of dealing with militancy.

The United Kingdom`s Sunday Times newspaper quoted a government source as saying, "She had hoped to attend, but there is a conflict of opinion on how extremists should be dealt with and the prime minister, supported by Theresa May (the home minister), were adamant that no Tories (Conservatives) should attend." Liberal Democrats, however, are of the belief that extremists should be publicly confronted. Their communities minister, Andrew Stunell, stressed in a speech at the event that the British government will not tolerate extremism, hatred, and intolerance in any form. Sadiq Khan, also of Pakistani descent, who was a minister of state in Gordon Brown`s government and new Labour leader Ed Miliband`s campaign director, also spoke at the gathering British television channel, Islam Channel, had organised the meet.

A Muslim think-tank, the Quilliam Foundation, had earlier this year accused the channel of promoting extremist groups.

Times of India

UKRAINE CALLING: WEEK AGAINST RACISM

A series of anti-racism events has been organized in Ukraine during the Football against Racism in Europe Action Week from 16 through 26 October 2010 - as the country prepares to co-host UEFA EURO 2012.

Some serious racist incidents occurred in Ukrainian football earlier this year. For example, FC Karpaty Lviv fans displayed a banner 'Turkish pigs get out of Europe!' during a Europa League game against Galatasaray Istanbul on 26 August. On 7 September, the extreme-right party Svoboda, together with racist fan groups, conducted a 1000-strong 'March for Ukrainian Football' before the international friendly Ukraine-Chile in Kiev, demanding a purge of foreign players from the Ukrainian clubs. A recent report by the Football against Prejudices group and the East Europe Monitoring Centre documents the wide-spread use of racist and far-right symbols on Ukrainian stadiums. Against this backdrop, anti-racist activities took place across the large country, from Donetsk in the east to Lviv in the west. FARE events were organized in Kiev, Vinnitsa, Odessa, Kharkiv, Mukachevo (Trans-Carpathian region), and other places, too. They included special banners unfurled at league games, grass-roots multi-ethnic football tournaments involving migrants and refugees, and high-profile round table discussions prepared by FARE partners: the Eastern European Development Institute, the African Centre, NEEKA Foundation, Arsenal Kiev fans, and other groups. Several activities were launched and supported directly by the 'NEVER AGAIN' Association which coordinates the FARE East European Development Project.

'Both Poland and Ukraine have their problems with xenophobia, but there are reasons for optimism, too. We need to monitor hate crime and hate speech closely and develop further cooperation with the brave Ukrainian anti-racists, ethnic minorities as well as policy-makers and opinion-leaders' - said Dr Rafal Pankowski, the coordinator of the FARE Eastern European Development Project and the Warsaw-based East Europe Monitoring Centre, who attended the meetings in Lviv and Kiev. 'Ukraine is a country full of diversity. It is important to reflect itin its preparations towards EURO 2012. There are many nationalities, ethnic groups, cuisine, folk styles in this vast country and more than 45 thousand foreign students studying here. EURO 2012 is an occasion to celebrate the diversity' - said Dr Mridula Ghosh, the chair of the FARE partner organization Eastern European Development Institute (EEDI), who co-organized recent round tables on football and tolerance in Donetsk and Lviv, with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation office In Ukraine and the State Committee for Nationalities and Religions of Ukraine.

'There is a long way to go, but racism cannot go unchallenged' - adds Charles Asante-Yeboa, president of the FARE partner African Centre, who organized a series of anti-racism matches during the FARE Action Week in numerous cities across Ukraine.

 Never Again Association

EDL Demo fears

A far-right group’s plans to demonstrate in Preston city centre were today met with condemnation by community leaders.

Police expect up to 1,000 members of the English Defence League (EDL) to converge on the Flag Market on November 27, although organisers say 2,000 have signed up to the protest.

But the number of people taking to the streets could be swelled 
further by counter action from Unite Against Fascism (UAF), which plans to demonstrate against the EDL on the same day “in equal or greater numbers”.

The EDL has notified police and Preston Council of its plans to “peacefully protest in Preston”. It would involve a short walk along Church Street, from the minster to the public square.

The proposals have attracted widespread opposition from religious leaders, trade unionists and councillors, who have signed up to a “unity statement”, while Muslim leaders have appealed to their congregations to ignore the protests.

Meanwhile, EDL organisers
remained defiant that the demo would go ahead.

Salim Mulla, chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques said: “We’ve appealed to the Muslim community across Lancashire not to get involved in any demonstrations against the EDL and we don’t give it any prominence whatsoever.”

“Rather than promote these 
people, it’s better to ignore these people.”

And Elyas Desai, prayer leader at the Mahad mosque in Deepdale Road, said: “I don’t think we need a silly group like this to come to Preston to spoil the great harmony we have.”

Nafysa Patel, race hate manager at the Preston and Western Lancashire Racial Equality Council, said the organisation had signed the unity statement and said: “Preston has enjoyed good community relations for many years and, on the whole, the city enjoys the vibrancy and cohesiveness of the diverse society it contains.

“This statement provides us with the opportunity to peacefully voice our opposition to any disruption caused through the EDL presence in our city of Preston.”

Riot police arrested 13 men at a similar protest in Leicester earlier this month involving around 3,000 EDL protesters and 600 from UAF. Several fireworks, bottles and coins were thrown.

Darren Johnson from the Preston Casuals, a division of Casuals United, which he described as the “backbone of the EDL” said recent protests in London and Blackpool had been peaceful.

He said: “It depends how it is on the day but we’re peacefully protesting.

“This demonstration will be going ahead because we’re allowed to do a static demonstration - it’s our democratic right.”

He said the planned new mosque in Watling Street Road was a “symbol of domination”.

Drew Gale, a Labour councillor who represents the town centre ward, said he would be joining the UAF counter-protest and said: “I’ll be standing shoulder to shoulder with the UAF in opposition. I think it’s the duty of right-minded individuals to oppose such things.”

Chief Supt Tim Jacques from Preston Police said officers had the power to impose certain conditions when granting permission but could not ban the groups from demonstrating.

He said: “All we want to do is make sure there’s no crime or disorder as a result of whatever happens.

“If it’s lawful, you have a right to express your opinion as long as public order is maintained.

“At this stage, nothing has been agreed, approved or granted. We’re still in negotiations and we will work with both groups.

“It’s really important to make sure the community is involved in relation to the planning (of the policing) and I’m really confident that is and will continue to happen in Preston.”

He said the fact the demonstration was planned for the same day as Preston North End’s home game with Millwall, who have a notorious hooligan following, would not cause any resourcing problems.

The demo had been planned for November 20 but clashed with Preston’s Christmas lights switch-on, also on the Flag Market.

Lorraine Norris, chief executive of Preston Council, said: “The police, councils and other agencies are fully prepared and are working together closely to manage any static protest to ensure that they are peaceful as Preston respects the right for people to protest peacefully.

“Preston will be open as usual and people should continue to go about their normal business as the police, councils and other agencies will work to minimise disruption to the city centre whilst balancing that against the rights of protesters.”

Lancaster Evening Post

NEW SHOOTINGS REPORTED IN MALMÖ (Sweden)

Malmö police received a further report on what could be another of the wave of shootings suspected to be directed against people of immigrant descent in the city, while residents came out in force to demonstrate against the violence.

 Police received a report from a man on Östra Farmvägen in the Kartrinelund area of the city who thought that he had been the target of a shooting. "He said that he had heard some form of bang or a crack and we went over to speak to the man and search for any clues," said Charley Nilsson at Skåne police. Just prior to that several people got in touch regrading a shooting by a local store on Ramels väg. "We we got there we found four empty cases and deemed that they came from a start pistol and not a live weapon," said Nilsson. He continued to point out that it remains serious if someone has let off a shot with a start pistol, not only because someone could get hurt, but also considering that it could contribute to the level of fear and concern regarding the wave of unsolved shootings. "Furthermore it uses up time which we could otherwise use for something else and perhaps more important work," Nilsson said.

On Monday evening police seized a car after the driver heard a bang and then the rear windscreen exploded. "We was about to drive out of a garage on Ramels väg when he heard the noise," Nilsson said. Police do not believe that anyone has shot directly at the car or the driver, however. "But we want to be certain and rule it out." Elsewhere on Monday evening, several hundred people gathered in a new demonstration against violence and social marginalization, in response to the shootings in the city. "Together we are bulletproof," read one of the banners. At a press conference earlier in the day it was concluded that 19 of the 50 or so shootings which have occurred since October last year have been consigned the file marked unexplained which are now the focus of investigations. "The profiling group have now gone through all the cases and come to the conclusion that there are good grounds to believe that it concerns the same perpetrator, but we can not get stuck on the idea," said detective inspector Börje Sjöholm at Skåne county police.

Police have confirmed that one person has died and eight people have been injured as a result of the attacks which have been compared to the "Laserman" spate of shootings which occurred in the early 1990s. Laserman was the nickname given to John Ausonius, who shot 11 people of immigrant origin, killing one, in and around Stockholm from August 1991 to January 1992. Ausonius, who in many of the attacks used a rifle equipped with a laser sight, was sentenced to life behind bars in 1994 and remains in prison. Just as with the Laserman case, the recent shootings in Malmö come at a time when an openly anti-immigration party has just entered the Swedish parliament. This year, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats won 20 seats in parliament in the September 19th election with an especially strong showing in the south of Sweden.

The Local Sweden

White supremacy groups still thriving in SETX (USA)

The presence of the Aryan Brotherhood and other white supremacy groups is a concern for law enforcement. The Tyler County Sheriff is trying to determine if three suspects accused of firing shots into a home near Spurger are part of such a group.


Deputies arrested Cory William Barker, John Brian Simank and Brandon Allen Gray after shots were fired into homes along Highway 92 last Saturday night.

"That’s not something we are going to tolerate here and we are going to do everything we can to keep them out of this county,” says Tyler County Sheriff David Hennigan.

Sheriff Hennigan is worried. Worried for the people who live in Tyler County on remote, winding roads near wooded areas, and who deal with what he calls "these kinds of gangs."

"Keeping an eye on these groups," said Hennigan. "Letting them know, 'hey, we are watching you. We see you.'"

Seeing and watching for increased violence like house fires and shootings his office has investigated off and on for several months. A sure sign, he says, white supremacy groups are back.

"It's one of those things you put two and two together," said Hennigan. "The tattoos that identify them with a gang or group."

The sheriff is trying to find out if the three men arrested are part of such a gang or group. He said whatever group they might belong to was not a factor in the violence they're accused of.

Sheriff Hennigan said the men were driving on Highway 92 near Spurger and were involved in a domestic dispute that ended with the trio firing shots at several homes in the area.

"The individuals that were arrested, they were threatening the officers themselves," said Sheriff Hennigan. "Threatening their families.”

Sheriff Hennigan says he'll use whatever resources it takes, including the FBI and DPS, to keep those kinds of people out of his county.

"Have that gang mentality," said Hennigan. "They have a sense of family with these gangs. It makes them bold to do certain things that they wouldn't do otherwise unless they had the gang support."

 Support for groups that started decades ago and continues to thrive, finding a home not only in Tyler County but other parts of Southeast Texas.

The suspects are charged with organized criminal activity and they face other charges as well.


KFDM

PACE concerned over rise of far right in Europe

The Turkish head of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) expressed concerns on Monday over the rise of far-right parties in Europe, saying he hoped the surge in support for those parties was just a temporary issue stemming from the global financial crisis.

Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said racist parties were on the rise across Europe, a trend that was worrying for the Council of Europe. The 47-member organization is working to inhibit the trend by promoting inter-cultural and inter-faith dialogue. “I am hoping that this is limited to the financial crisis in Europe and in the world. Otherwise it might lead to serious complications and problems,” he said.

Throughout much of Europe, parties denouncing multiculturalism and immigration have been gaining support. In liberal Sweden, the far-right Sweden Democrats, a party with a neo-Nazi history, won 20 seats in the Sept. 19 parliamentary vote, which was enough support to leave the leading center-right coalition without a governing majority. In the Netherlands, the country’s new center-right minority government depends on support from anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom.

Çavuşoğlu said despite the rise in the extreme right, other parties are still acting with common sense and supporting Turkey’s accession to the European Union, something to which Wilders is adamantly opposed. In Denmark, Hungary and Switzerland, far-right populist parties have similarly gained support and are advocating anti-immigration platforms that often focus on Muslims and tougher stances on law and order. Their steady rise comes as much of Europe is mired by the recession and the deep cuts in social programs made by governments.

Todays Zaman

Trial of eight alleged neo-Nazis starts in Prague (Czech Rep)

The trial of eight people, including alleged leaders of the Czech ultra-right extremist scene, who are charged with support and promotion of movements to suppress human rights and freedoms started by reading the charges at a Prague district court Monday.


The court Monday also rejected the request of Patrik Vondrak, former chairman of the Prague branch of the dissolved extremist Workers' Party (DS), for his release form custody where he had spent almost one year.
According to state attorney Zdenka Galkova, the eight people assisted in pasting up stickers of the neo-Nazi National Resistance (NO) movement and in organising a demonstration in memory of fallen German Wehrmacht soldiers and SS members.

Former DS member Michaela Dupova is also charged with operating a website of the Resistance Women Unity (RWU), a women's branch of the NO, according to police, and helping organise a concert of "white power music."

Dupova is still in custody as well.

If found guilty, the accused extremists face up to eight years in prison since they committed crimes as members od an organised group in a very efficient way, Galkova said.

Police consider Vondrak one of the leading and most active representatives of the neo-Nazi NO. He was also a co-founder of the Young National Democrats civic association which tried to stage a march of ultra-right radicals through Prague' Jewish quarter on November 10, 2007, the anniversary of the Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) anti-Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany in the night of November 10, 1938.

The other charged persons are Milan Hroch, former chairman of the DS regional organisation in Vysocina, Richard Lang, Filip Vavra, who invited former Grand Wizard of Ku-Klux-Klan David Duke to the Czech Republic, DS candidate in the 2008 EP elections Petr Fryc, Daniel Zavadil and Martin Vaclavek.
Hroch, Vavra and Lang are reportedly also connected with the NO.

Prague Monitor

EDL THREATEN TO "CLOSE YOUR TOWNS" OVER XMAS BANS (UK)

A far-right group has vowed to “close down” any town that ditches British traditions and shows favouritism to  Muslims.

The English Defence League said it has written to every council in the country threatening a mass invasion if they ban the word “Christmas”. 

It includes using the term “winter festival” in case Christmas upsets Muslims. 

EDL leader Stephen Lennon said “working class people” in the UK were “at boiling point” over what he says is the “Islamisation of Britain.” 

His declaration comes after yesterday’s Daily Star poll found 98% of readers fear that Britain is becoming a Muslim state. 

He said: “If the politicians aren’t going to stick up for us, we will make them, because we will cause so much fuss and so much noise they are going to have to listen. 

“We will not back down or be beaten into submission. We don’t care if you call us racists. We are coming anyway. We are going to continue doing it until someone listens.” 

The EDL was set up last year after Islamic extremists hijacked a homecoming parade for British troops in Luton, Beds. 

On Sunday more than 250 EDL members joined US activist Rabbi Nachum Shifren at an anti-Palestine demo outside the Israeli Embassy in London. 

John Cruddas, Labour MP for Dagenham and Rainham, said: “All parties must search for a definition of modern England to choke off what the EDL taps into.”

 

Daily Star 

Man guilty of threats to family of White (USA)

A Baltimore man who claimed to be part of the Aryan Brotherhood pleaded guilty Monday to threatening the wife and daughter of jailed neo-Nazi leader William A. White.

Timothy Grant Bland, 45, admitted in federal court in Roanoke to sending a threat via interstate commerce, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Bland was allowed to stay free on $35,000 bond. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 19.

Bland said in court that he was angered by what he interpreted as harassing statements White had made in December, when White was on trial for making racist threats. White, now serving a two-and-a-half-year prison term, faced the same charge as Bland, after calling or writing to people involved in race-related controversies -- or even just his personal finances -- around the country.

Bland was subpoenaed as a prosecution witness in White's trial, but was not called to testify. The object of his threats, Meghan White, was subpoenaed as a potential witness in her husband's defense, but did not testify.

Tim Heaphy, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Virginia, described Bland's threats as witness intimidation.

"We will do all we can to protect witnesses, in part by prosecuting anyone who subjects them with this kind of intimidation," Heaphy said in a statement Monday.

On Dec. 20, two days after a federal jury found William A. White guilty, Bland made a series of profanity-laced phone calls to Meghan White, saying he was coming to shoot her and her infant daughter, prosecutors said.

"You're a disgrace," Bland said in one of the calls, according to the U.S. attorney's office. "Aryan Brotherhood is coming for you."

The Aryan Brotherhood is a white supremacist prison gang. William A. White was commander of a now-defunct neo-Nazi organization in Roanoke.

In subsequent phone calls to Meghan White, Bland said he was on his way to Roanoke, then that he was in Roanoke, prosecutors said.

U.S. attorney's office spokesman Brian McGinn said Bland also text-messaged Meghan White a picture of his genitals.

Meghan White was terrified by the calls, McGinn said. She soon moved in with relatives, he said.

When authorities tracked down Bland, the text message picture of his genitals was still on his phone, McGinn said. Bland acknowledged the picture was of him, but said he did not remember sending it, McGinn said. Bland did not deny calling Meghan White, McGinn said.

Bland claimed the incident resulted from a "psychotic episode" triggered by alcohol and medication, McGinn said.

The same night Bland called Meghan White, he phoned 911 in Baltimore and said he was former member of a Nazi organization and that people were trying to kill him, McGinn said.

Though both Bland and Meghan White had been potential witnesses in William A. White's trial, Meghan White said she had never met Bland and did not think her husband had met him either, McGinn said. Prosecutors were not sure what specific remarks by William A. White had angered Bland, he said.

Roanoke attorney David Damico, who represented William A. White, said Bland was expected to testify about contact he'd had with White in neo-Nazi circles.

White, who moved to Roanoke in 2004 and gained notoriety for a website that trumpeted his neo-Nazi ideology -- and his knack for inserting himself into racial controversies across the country -- was convicted in December of threatening people in Missouri, Delaware and Virginia. He was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

In August, a civil lawsuit in federal court ended in a $545,000 judgment against White. He had been sued by five black women to whom he had sent threatening letters after they became involved in a housing discrimination dispute with their white landlord in Virginia Beach.

White is scheduled to stand trial in Chicago in January on charges of encouraging violence against the foreman of a jury who had convicted a white supremacist there.

Roanoke

Gang joins Swedish police in hunt for man suspected of racist attacks

Fifteen incidents are being investigated in Malmö, but police say they do not have many clues or a photofit of the suspect.

An investigation into a series of racist shootings in Sweden took a bizarre twist today when both the police and an underworld gang announced that they were pursuing a man now suspected of 15 attacks in the southern city of Malmo.

Meanwhile, the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats, whose entry into parliament last month has been linked with the shootings, announced a reward for anyone helping to catch the suspected gunman, who escaped from his latest attack – on an Iranian-born hairdresser – on Saturday after headbutting his victim and fleeing the scene on a bicycle.

The police spokesman, Commissioner Borje Sjoholm, said the shootings might have started in October last year. Fifteen incidents are being investigated. Eight people have been wounded in them, and one killed.

The apparent murder victim was a 20-year-old woman named Trez West Persson, who was shot in a parked car with her immigrant boyfriend on 10 October last year. Since he was newly released from prison, the police originally assumed he was a gang target, but they now suppose the pair was attacked because of the colour of his skin.

Suspected targets since then have included one of the city's mosques and a police station. In another incident, a group of African men were fired on outside one of the city's swimming pools. In all, police said there was no obvious motive in 19 of the 50 shootings recorded in the city since last October.

A spokesman for a breakaway group from one of the city's three main immigrant gangs told a Swedish paper that he and his friends were hunting the gunman and patrolling the Rosengård estate, a housing project where approximately 30,000 immigrants live. "We know the area better than the police," he said.

The police have said they see no evidence of vigilante activity on Rosengård, something that would heighten tension in an already tense city. "We are opposed to people taking the law into their own hands," Commissioner Sjoholm said. "Without being flippant, I would say that these gangs have a lower standard of evidence than the police demand."

"The gunman is poisoning Malmö, in a way", said Niklas Orrenius, a journalist on Sydsvenska Dagbladet and author of a well-received book on the Sweden Democrats.

Orrenius said the attacks have introduced racial tensions to the city. "This is the least racist town I have ever lived in," he said. "[Immigrants] are nearly half the population. My eight-year-old daughter is in a school class where nearly half the children are of Arab origin, and the concept of racial difference just doesn't make sense to her."

For the moment the police say they have no real clues or a photofit of the gunman. They hope to get a DNA sample from Saturday's attack, but this will be technically difficult. They are not entirely certain how many attacks have taken place, nor of the gunman's motives. But they are out across the city in force. "I see police cars almost everywhere when I am walking with my children," Orrenius said.

Guardian

Corsham councillor quits BNP (UK)

A longstanding British National Party activist in Corsham, Wiltshire, has quit the fascist party over its failure to pay its creditors, accusing it of committing a possibly criminal act.

Michael Simpkins, who was first elected unopposed to Corsham Town Council in 2007, is the third councillor the party has lost this month.

Announcing his resignation from the party, Simpkins, who works as a self-employed taxi driver, declared: “I am disappointed to hear that The British National Party is not paying its bills. I know from personal experience of two local printers who had to wait six months for payment and that was only after a lot of badgering to Head Office by myself and other officials to get them paid.”

Earlier this month Jim Dowson, who has himself just abandoned his role as the party’s fundraising and management consultant, wrote to the many businesses waiting for payment from the BNP, offering 20p in the pound “by way of debt compromise and in full and final payment of all your outstanding invoices relating to the supply of goods and services” to the party. If they did not accept the offer, explained Dowson, they would “inevitably … end up with nothing at all”.

An outraged Simpkins said: “These are businesses like the two mentioned before that risked all doing business with the BNP and supplied the goods or services on trust that they would be paid. More importantly they will undoubtedly be British businesses, the kind of business we claim to support and encourage.

“These businesses may well suffer financial hardship because the BNP has dried up their cash flow and their families will go without. They may even go out of business and certainly won’t do business with us again. It is not the way I do business.

“As an honourable businessman I cannot stay with any organisation that puts other businessmen out of business or their families in financial hardship. More importantly it is a breach of trust and may even be criminal if the intent to pay was never there in the first place.”

Simpkins, who remained loyal to the BNP leader Nick Griffin through the recent splits, says he will continue to serve on Corsham Town Council until the end of his current term in 2013 and reconsider his options then.
Last week it was reported that Meirion Bowen, a Llandybie community councillor, had left the party in the interests of his family, employment and personal safety. Yesterday it emerged that Paul Golding, a district councillor in Sevenoaks and the party’s communications officer, had quit after a fallout with other senior party staff.

 Hope Not Hate

Cruddas urges parties to 'choke off' EDL surge (UK)

A Labour MP today called on political parties to "choke off" what the English Defence League (EDL) taps into.

Jon Cruddas, MP for Dagenham and Rainham, said the EDL is a small, violent street militia "but it speaks the language of a much larger, disenfranchised class". 

Writing in The Times, he said: "The EDL may well pass through, and crash and burn like many of its predecessors.

"But it may not, because it taps into a politics born out of dispossession but anchored in English male working-class culture - of dress, drink and sport. 

"Camped outside the political centre ground, this is a large swath of the electorate, a people who believe they have been robbed of their birthright and who are in search of community and belonging. Many are traditional Labour supporters." 

Many working class people appeared to be turning to the far-right cultural movements that are sweeping across Europe, he warned. 

"Now all our political parties must search for an animating, inclusive and optimistic definition of modern England to choke off what the EDL taps into." 

The same newspaper carried an interview with a 27-year-old man said to be the founder and leader of the EDL. 

Stephen Lennon, from Luton, "has many names", according to the newspaper, which reported that "reluctantly" he uses the threat of a demonstration to ensure councils do not pander to Islamic pressure groups to change British traditions. 

He said: "We are now sending letters to every council saying that if you change the name of Christmas we are coming in our thousands and shutting your town down." 

The EDL would live in peace with the Islamic community "if they ... swear allegiance to the Queen, this country and the flag, and then live side by side. That's what we want". 

The Independant 

Swedish tailor tells of his battle with shooting spree racist

IT was the narrowest of escapes for the Iranian-born tailor. Malmo, the rugged waterfront city in southern Sweden, has been stalked for months by an apparently racist gunman.

He struck again on Saturday night, firing at the sewing shop of Nasir Yazdanpanah and then grappling on the ground with the 57-year-old.

It was the first time that anyone in 17 shootings had caught hold of the spectral figure.

We arrived at Mr Yazdanpanah's shop barely 20 minutes after the attack. The police, on high alert, were already there stringing up their Scene of the Crime tape.

"I heard a crack!" said the Iranian. A few hours earlier he had taken part in a demonstration against violence, holding aloft a placard announcing "The Earth is just One country and Humanity is its people."

Then he had returned to finish sewing a dress.

"I thought someone had thrown a stone at my window," he said. He was speaking to us by phone from the lit-up front of his atelier-cum-barbers' shop; his telephone number was written on the window and - because we were unable to cross police lines - it was the easiest way to talk. We looked in; he looked out.

The shooter must have had a similar view shortly before he struck. "So I went out and grabbed this man in an orange jacket and shook him.

He shouted 'Let me go!' and headbutted me in the mouth. I was too dazed to chase him; I just called my wife," Mr Yazdanpanah said.

The shooter escaped by bicycle. The police only found the bullet later. Had Mr Yazdanpanah, who was none the worse for wear apart from a thick lip, come into contact with the mysterious shooter being dubbed by the press as "Son of Laser Man"?

The police, busily constructing the links between the various attacks - the ammunition appears to match on at least five shootings - seem baffled. And they are under pressure from the Government to produce a quick result.

The idea that the shooter is an heir to the Laserman killer of the 1990s is attractive for headline writers but the police seem sceptical.

Between August 1991 and January 1992 John Ausonius used a hunting rifle to shoot foreigners, killing one and seriously injuring ten others.

The last thing that the victims saw was the red dot of his laser sight roaming their clothes. He was jailed for life in 1994, and remains in prison.

The latest shootings in Malmo began in October 2009 with the murder of a native Swedish woman who had a foreign boyfriend.

The similarity with the Laserman and the reason why the detective who found him, Eiler Augustsson, has been brought on to the profiling team, is that he started his shooting spree at a time when the New Democracy party of the far Right was drumming up racist sentiment.

This time the shootings also accelerated after general elections in September when the right-wing group Sweden Democrats won 20 seats in Parliament.

Both shooters may have responded to a similar psychological trigger: a feeling that by driving immigrants out of Sweden they were fulfilling some kind of national mission.

In most other respects the Malmo shooter is a different kind of criminal. He uses a 9mm handgun and shoots only after dark; later in the summer, when the days are longer, and now, in the autumn, about an hour or two after dusk, between 6pm and 9pm.

He often attacks on Fridays and Saturdays. And since it is difficult to shoot a hand gun accurately at a distance in the dark he often fails to hit his target.

The most telling clue to the shooter's psychology is that he frequently appears to observe his target in a brightly lit space.

On Thursday two East European women were shot after dusk while they were preparing a meal in their ground-floor kitchen.

Ali, who did not want to give his full name or nationality, was shot in the back last June in similar circumstances, while in a 24-hour gym with big windows.

"I was facing away from the window. Then I felt a sharp pain, thought I had done something to a nerve, then came the warm trickle of blood," he said.

It was in Malmo that Henning Mankell first set his Wallander mysteries; the opera-loving rotund Swedish cop was drawn into the detective business by a murder in his neighbouring apartment.

The Malmo police say they still have an open mind. But they have started to pull in teenagers wearing hooded sweat shirts, stopping them on the street - an unusual move.

"We have to work like this in the current situation," said Tomy Lindstrom, the former head of the national police, apologetically.

"Any male aged between 20 and 40, walking without a clear destination is a possible suspect."

The Australian