The Bolton EDL march news so far
Riot police have been battling to control thousands of rival demonstrators taking part in an ill-tempered city centre protest organised by a controversial right-wing group.
Hundreds of officers, some horse-mounted and armed with batons, were separating supporters the English Defence League (EDL) and members of Unite Against Fascism (UAF).
A number of officers have been injured in ugly clashes and two members of the public were taken to a shop for treatment after being caught up in the trouble. A series of smoke bombs were also set off as UAF groups chanted “fascist scum off our streets".
A police helicopter has been dispatched to assist the officers on the ground.
The EDL organised the rally in Bolton, Lancashire, to protest against "radical Muslims" and Sharia law, but so far they have been out-numbered by more than 2,000 anti-fascist UAF supporters who organised a counter-protest.
Police have arrested 31 UAF protesters and three from the EDL. Hundreds more EDL supporters are expected to arrive this afternoon.
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan, who is leading the operation for Greater Manchester Police, said: “There have been unwarranted attacks on police lines that have resulted in injuries.
“This is not a peaceful protest and we are facing a lot of hostility. The number of arrests already made is a clear indication that this is not a peaceful protest and some demonstrators are determined to cause trouble. This is not acceptable.”
The protest is taking place in front of the town hall, which has been boarded up to prevent any damage. Many local pubs and shops have closed and taxi firms have pulled their drivers off the roads.
Council leaders met with Home Secretary Alan Johnson earlier this week in a bid to ban the demonstration, but were told there was no power to do so unless it took place on private property.
The EDL describes itself as a peaceful, non-political group campaigning against “militant Islam”, but a previous rally in Manchester last year turned violent, resulting in 44 arrests and 10 injuries.
A statement on its website instructs followers “not to wave” in case the action is mistaken for a Nazi salute. It adds: “Bolton is a massive opportunity for EDL to show the world that we can peacefully protest, and the world is indeed watching.
“This protest will have a much more defined structure than previous, and we believe you will all enjoy the protest immensely as well as having our say. We will not ever submit to the radicals. We will not tolerate their intolerance. We will stand firm and further the cause of the EDL.”
Second World War veteran Bertie Lois, 89, who is protesting with the UAF, said: “I fought the Second World War against these Nazis. What did I fight for if we let them? The EDL are the enemy. I would say to them ’you are the guys we fought for, what are you doing?’"
Weyman Bennett, joint secretary of UAF, said the group had to stand up to “EDL thugs” to prevent them from spreading their “race hate” message.
He said: “We have beaten fascists and racists before by standing up in unity against them. We cannot stand by and let EDL racists attack Muslims or any section of our community. Those who say we shouldn’t protest are effectively handing over the streets of Bolton to the EDL."
times
Saturday, 20 March 2010
Racist thugs target gurkha in Bristol (UK)
But since Dan Tamang became a security guard in Bristol 18 months ago, he has been the victim of racist abuse on seven separate occasions.
The 45-year-old has been assaulted, harassed and insulted by adults and children at Kings Chase Shopping Centre in Kingswood.
Mr Tamang was based in Chatham, Kent, and served with the British Army in the Falklands, Kenya, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and France.
But this has not translated into respect and the abuse hurled at Mr Tamang has often been coated in ignorance, with boys and girls as young as 12 shouting the slur "Chinky" and others telling him to "go home".
"In my country, the children must respect the adults," he told the Evening Post. Last September, the married father-of-two was helping a woman who had problems with her car park ticket, when a stranger started causing problems.
He said: "He came towards me and he blocked my road. He said 'you go back to your country'.
"I tried to get past him and he said 'no, you're going nowhere', and he started pushing me.
"What was I supposed to do? So I called the police." The 56-year-old culprit was arrested, convicted of battery and ordered to pay compensation.
In fact, thanks to South Gloucestershire's Partnership Against Hate Crime (PAHC) and the support of his employers, all of the culprits have been tracked down and punished.
Nepalese Mr Tamang said: "When this happens I feel angry, but I'm happy with the support I get from my work and the police."
Mr Tamang added: "I enjoy my job very much and I just want to get on with my life. I would encourage people to call the police if they are abused like this. I have found the help really good."
THE tough Nepalese fighters who make up the Brigade of Gurkhas have a long history of loyalty to the British Army.
The Brigade of Gurkhas is one of the most decorated British Army regiments and 13 of its soldiers have been awarded the Victoria Cross.
● The Gurkha motto is "Better to die than be a coward".
● More than 250,000 people signed a petition handed to Downing Street in November last year calling for better treatment of veterans and their families.
● Indian-born actress Joanna Lumley has been an active supporter of the campaign. Her father served for 30 years with the 6th Gurkha Rifles and was a Chindit in Burma.
● Philanthropist millionaire and former owner of Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Sir Jack Hayward has donated £20,000 to the Gurkha Justice campaign. As a RAF flight lieutenant in World War II, he flew Gurkhas into battle in Burma.
● The Nepalese fighters still carry into battle their traditional weapon – an 18-inch curved knife known as the kukri.
● It was said that if a kukri was drawn in battle it had to "taste blood" before returning it to its sheath. But now it is mainly used for cooking.
● The British first recruited the Nepalese after suffering heavy casualties in the invasion of the country. They noted the toughness of the troops fighting against them and the British East India Company signed a peace deal, which also allowed it to recruit from the Nepalese army's ranks.
● Following the partition of India in 1947, four Gurkha regiments from the Indian army were transferred to the British Army. They became today's Gurkha Brigade.
● The selection procedure for the regiment requires would-be recruits to run uphill for 40 minutes carrying a basket filled with 70lb (32kg) of rocks.
This is Bristol
Fury as 'racist' Scottish university excludes South of England students
Edinburgh University has been accused of 'anti-English' bias after discriminating against applicants from the South.
Admissions rules posted on its website state that 'additional weighting' will be given to students from Scotland and the far north of England.
The move aims to ensure 'local' applicants get on popular courses.
But headteachers at leading English public schools condemned the policy as 'potentially illegal and racist' and unfair to English families whose taxes support Scotland.
The move triggered suspicions that the university - whose past students include Prime Minister Gordon Brown - is trying to change the social make-up of its campus.
It has traditionally been a magnet for students from aristocratic and society circles, attracting the reputation of being 'English and posh'.
One of the unhappy English headteachers is Richard Cairns, of Brighton College. He said only two out of 27 applicants to Edinburgh had so far been successful this year
Mr Cairns, who used to teach in Scotland, said: 'I asked around schools in the South East. They have all had the same experience. Edinburgh has opted to turn in on itself in a manner that strikes me as potentially illegal and racist.'
The university - among the top 20 in the world and a member of the Russell Group of leading UK colleges - is understood to be the only UK institution to give priority to applicants from certain areas.
Its website stated: 'We want to make sure that local applicants are not prevented from studying their chosen subject.' It added 'additional weighting' will go to students who live in Scotland, Cumbria, Northumberland, Durham, Teesside, and Tyne and Wear.
Andrew Halls, head of King's College School, Wimbledon, South London, said he had been 'quite struck' by the lack of offers from the university this year.
'Edinburgh has been ruthless and, at worst, is adopting a depressingly xenophobic approach.
'They are losing a lot of very able candidates who would love to study in Scotland.'
A spokesman for the university said: 'The percentage of English entrants has risen year-on-year over the past few years.
'In 2009, 41 per cent of UK entrants were from England
dailymail
Admissions rules posted on its website state that 'additional weighting' will be given to students from Scotland and the far north of England.
The move aims to ensure 'local' applicants get on popular courses.
But headteachers at leading English public schools condemned the policy as 'potentially illegal and racist' and unfair to English families whose taxes support Scotland.
The move triggered suspicions that the university - whose past students include Prime Minister Gordon Brown - is trying to change the social make-up of its campus.
It has traditionally been a magnet for students from aristocratic and society circles, attracting the reputation of being 'English and posh'.
One of the unhappy English headteachers is Richard Cairns, of Brighton College. He said only two out of 27 applicants to Edinburgh had so far been successful this year
Mr Cairns, who used to teach in Scotland, said: 'I asked around schools in the South East. They have all had the same experience. Edinburgh has opted to turn in on itself in a manner that strikes me as potentially illegal and racist.'
The university - among the top 20 in the world and a member of the Russell Group of leading UK colleges - is understood to be the only UK institution to give priority to applicants from certain areas.
Its website stated: 'We want to make sure that local applicants are not prevented from studying their chosen subject.' It added 'additional weighting' will go to students who live in Scotland, Cumbria, Northumberland, Durham, Teesside, and Tyne and Wear.
Andrew Halls, head of King's College School, Wimbledon, South London, said he had been 'quite struck' by the lack of offers from the university this year.
'Edinburgh has been ruthless and, at worst, is adopting a depressingly xenophobic approach.
'They are losing a lot of very able candidates who would love to study in Scotland.'
A spokesman for the university said: 'The percentage of English entrants has risen year-on-year over the past few years.
'In 2009, 41 per cent of UK entrants were from England
dailymail
Doctors apologise to Jews for persecution (Czech Republic)
The CLK's pre-war management assisted, on October 14, 1938, five months before the Nazi occupation of the Czech Lands, in preparing a memorandum containing sharply anti-Semitic measures.
"The memorandum cannot be viewed but as an anti-Semitic and discriminatory document for the signing of which by our [chamber] members we feel obliged to apologise. We do so without any efforts at assessing and judging our predecessors' motives after 72 years. Dear members of CLK, colleagues, doctors of Jewish origin, we apologise to you for what our predecessors did," Sojka cited from the document CLK will release on its website.
Prague's Jewish Museum director Leo Pavlat welcomed the apology.
"It is an expression of decency, the more that the apology for their colleagues has been voiced by those who are not at fault," Pavlat has told daily Lidove noviny.
The petition was also hailed by Dagmar Lieblova, head of the Terezin (Theresienstadt) Initiative group whose father was one of the persecuted doctors in the period of so called "Second Czechoslovak Republic" following the Munich Agreement and preceding the Nazi occupation of the Czech Lands.
"Nevertheless, this should happen far earlier," Lieblova said, referring to the apology.
In the memorandum of 1938, the Czech chambers of doctors, defence lawyers, notaries and engineers proposed that the government restrict the number of Jews in the relevant professions to a percentage corresponding the share of Jews in the country's population. In future, the memorandum said, it should be inadmissible for Jews to work as doctors, lawyers and engineers.
The Czech Bar Association apologised to their colleagues of Jewish origin last year.
In 1938 the managements of the Doctors' Chamber in Prague and Central Association of Czechoslovak Doctors approved the memorandum on doctors' behalf.
The doctors' chamber was abolished in Czechoslovakia after the Communist coup in 1948. It was renewed only in 1991, after the fall of the communist regime. CLK membership is compulsory for all doctors who want to perform doctors' profession. CLK has 46,000 members now.
The Prague Monitor
EDL rally in Bolton ‘may lead to something positive’ (UK)
THE boss of Bolton’s Faith Leader’s Forum says he is hoping something good will come out of today’s English Defence League rally.
Ahead of today’s controversial event and a counter-protest by Unite Against Fascism, the Bishop of Bolton, the Rt Rev Chris Edmondson said he hoped it would bring Bolton’s diverse communities closer together.
Civic and faith leaders last week launched the One Bolton pledge, to promote community cohesion.
The Rt Rev Edmondson said: “I hope something good will come out of this because Bolton has a very good track record when it comes to community cohesion.
“Thousands of people have signed up to the One Bolton pledge and this is an ongoing thing. Everyone has a right to free speech, but the track record suggests these kind of events bring violence and disorder. We would urge people not to get involved in counter demonstrations.”
Leaders from all political parties and denominations have signed up to the pledge, as have the Bolton Wanderers squad and The Bolton News.
The pledge says: “We celebrate the diversity of Bolton and unite to create One Bolton, recognising differences, celebrating communities and commit to encouraging harmony.”
Yesterday, preparations ahead of the rally continued, with further fencing put up in the town centre.
A police spokesman assured people there would be a strong presence in the town with a number of officers on horseback, while many businesses were expected to have their windows boarded up.
The EDL rally and the Unite Against Fascism protest are expected to draw thousands of people to the town centre.
l The One Bolton pledge can be signed online, where residents can learn all about the pledge and its supporters and donate money to the BBF. Residents can also pick up a postcard to sign up to the pledge, which will be available at libraries and community centres across the borough.
Alternatively, people can show their support by texting PLEDGE to 70007 — texts cost £3, plus the cost of a standard message, and £2.55 will be donated directly to the BBF.
The Bolton News
Civic and faith leaders last week launched the One Bolton pledge, to promote community cohesion.
The Rt Rev Edmondson said: “I hope something good will come out of this because Bolton has a very good track record when it comes to community cohesion.
“Thousands of people have signed up to the One Bolton pledge and this is an ongoing thing. Everyone has a right to free speech, but the track record suggests these kind of events bring violence and disorder. We would urge people not to get involved in counter demonstrations.”
Leaders from all political parties and denominations have signed up to the pledge, as have the Bolton Wanderers squad and The Bolton News.
The pledge says: “We celebrate the diversity of Bolton and unite to create One Bolton, recognising differences, celebrating communities and commit to encouraging harmony.”
Yesterday, preparations ahead of the rally continued, with further fencing put up in the town centre.
A police spokesman assured people there would be a strong presence in the town with a number of officers on horseback, while many businesses were expected to have their windows boarded up.
The EDL rally and the Unite Against Fascism protest are expected to draw thousands of people to the town centre.
l The One Bolton pledge can be signed online, where residents can learn all about the pledge and its supporters and donate money to the BBF. Residents can also pick up a postcard to sign up to the pledge, which will be available at libraries and community centres across the borough.
Alternatively, people can show their support by texting PLEDGE to 70007 — texts cost £3, plus the cost of a standard message, and £2.55 will be donated directly to the BBF.
The Bolton News
HATE SPEECH INFILTRATES SOCIAL-NETWORKING SITES, REPORT SAYS
The unregulated nature of the Web has aided a proliferation of cyber-hate, according to a report the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Tolerance released Monday. The report, Digital Terrorism and Hate 2010, notes that there are about 11,500 hate-affiliated Web pages, a 20 percent jump from last year's study. According to the Wiesenthal Center, personal blogs as well as mainstream social-networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter are easily flooded with racist and terrorist-related content. "The spike is not in traditional Web sites in the United States," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. "It's more global and almost all in the social-networking area." Mark Weitzman, director of government affairs for the Wiesenthal Center and a co-author of the report, said home-grown terrorism suspects have an active online presence. He cited the case of a Pennsylvania woman who officials say called herself "Jihad Jane." The woman, Colleen LaRose, has been indicted on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists and kill a person in a foreign country. She had been on the radar of the Wiesenthal Center for the past year, Weitzman said. "We ask, 'Are they just coming out of the woodwork?' and the answer in every single case is the Internet link," Cooper said. Although these sites are monitored, the report's authors said, they have become increasingly alarmed by the "lone wolf" effect, making it difficult for law enforcement to discern which threats are legitimate and which are simply talk. For example, the late James W. Von Brunn, the 88-year-old who was charged in the fatal shooting of a security guard at the National Holocaust Museum in Washington in June, kept a Web site called the Holy Western Empire. On it, he blamed a "Negro jury, Jew/Negro attorneys" and "a Jew judge" for a six-year prison term he served in the 1980s. However, "there's no equation that says someone who posts a rant ... is going to go on a shooting rampage," said Weitzman, who has testified in front of Congress and the United Nations on the issue of digital hate. Perhaps even more chilling are the growing numbers of "how to" Web sites in which terror groups routinely post instructional manuals and videos on bombmaking and computer hacking. The study also explored e-commerce and how it can be used to market hate. In February, an eBay merchant offered "an original Holocaust ring," claiming that it came from his uncle who was posted at the Dachau concentration camp during World War II. EBay pulled the Web page before a sale was made. Founded in 1977, the Simon Wiesenthal Center was named after a Jew who survived the Holocaust and became famous for his career as a Nazi hunter.
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