Racist graffiti daubed on veterans' graves in Bristol (UK)

Police are appealing for information after racist graffiti was daubed on 20 servicemen's graves in Bristol.
The graves, where members of the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy who died during World War II are buried, were defaced with white paint.
The vandalism happened in Arnos Vale Cemetery between 1400 GMT on Tuesday 30 March and 1000 GMT on Wednesday.
Sergeant Adam Bunting said police would be "relentless" in bringing those responsible to justice.
"This is a despicable crime ," he said.
"I am confident the offender or offenders would have returned home covered in white paint so I would urge anyone who may have information to contact us."
Any witnesses or anyone with information is asked to call the police or Crimestoppers.
BBC News

Stonewall releases guide for homophobic crime victims

Gay rights charity Stonewall is releasing a booklet to encourage gay people to report homophobic crime.

The guide, called 'Blow the whistle on gay hate', will be handed out in bars, clubs and student unions, as well as being available online.
It tells victims what hate crime is, who they can report it to and tips on how to talk to police.
Research in 2008 found that one in five lesbian, gay and bisexual people has experienced homophobic hate crime but three in four of those did not report it to police.

Launching the guide in central London today, home secretary Alan Johnson said: "It’s unacceptable that anyone should live in fear of attack and abuse simply because of who they are. Stonewall’s new hate crime guide is both timely and welcome and I’m delighted that the Home Office Hate Crime Victim’s Fund has been able to support it.
"I’m also pleased to announce that from today more victims of hate crime and their families will benefit from this year’s fund of £250,000 which will provide increased access to the support, giving people the confidence to report crimes, knowing they will be taken seriously and acted on. The fund is an integral part of the government’s Hate Crime Action Plan which was launched last year and sets out our response to the challenges we face."
Ben Summerskill, Stonewall chief executive, added: "Hate crime and the fear of hate crime overshadow the lives of too many lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Britain. We hope this guide will encourage more people to report anti-gay hate crime, and will help the police to respond and target their work more effectively."

The guide is also to be made available online.
Pink News

MORE EDUCATED PEOPLE AMONG EXTREMISTS (Czech Rep.)

The number of university graduates and Czechs with secondary education among people arrested for extremist crimes markedly increased in 2009, the daily Hospodarske noviny writes yesterday, citing the Interior Ministry's annual report that has not yet been officially released. Although the numbers are small, the change should not be underestimated, the report says. While the police detained 18 secondary school leavers and six graduates in 2008, it was 51 and 20 last year. A typical Czech neo-Nazi supporter is not a violent man with just primary education anymore, the paper writes. "The police were after the organisers. Before they mostly accused activists wearing Nazi symbols," Klara Kalibova, from an NGO supporting victims of racist violence, said in explanation of the increased numbers. It was also proved that extremist supporters are in the military and the police, the paper writes. The military police investigated 12 soldiers over suspected support to extremism. The ministry's report writes that large-scale police operations struck hard against the far-right extremists. But experts take a more reserved stance on the situation, the daily says. "The success of last year's police operations can be evaluated only after the courts decide on the charges," Michal Mazel, court expert in extremism, told the paper. The Czech police carried out similar operations in the past but the right-wing radicals were not seriously hit because only a few of them were really punished, the paper writes. It recalls that Hate Core Shop selling clothes and music popular among extremists continues to operate on a new address even though its owner was accused last year. In 2009, the connection between the far-right Workers' Party and neo-Nazi groups was definitively confirmed. The Workers' Party was successful in the European elections last June. Though it was far from winning a seat in the European Parliament, it obtained over 1 percent of the vote and was authorised to get a financial contribution from the state. But the Supreme Administrative Court banned the party earlier this year.

Apart from political meetings, extremists held sports games and militant training events in 2009, the paper writes. Thanks to police pressure the radicals nearly stopped organising music concerts in the Czech Republic. While at least 17 concerts were held in the first six months of 2009, it was only one in the second half of the year. The ministry's report, however, notes that Czech extremists started to organise concerts abroad, especially in places where Czech radical fans can easily get, mostly in the neighbouring Slovakia and Poland. These concerts were not meetings of European radicals but events organised only by Czechs and often only with Czech participants. As these concerts were not monitored by the police, the participants were far more open, the paper writes. "At the last of these concerts there was a fund raising for the persons charged with the arson attack at a Romany family in Vitkov and this attack was supported at the concerts," the report says. Last April, arsonists attacked a Romany family house in Vitkov, north Moravia, with three Molotov cocktails. Three people were injured by the fire, including a two-year-old girl who suffered burns on 80 percent of her body. The trial of the four suspects in the case, all right-wing extremists from north Moravia, is to start on May 11.
praguemonitor

BUDAPEST SEDER STONED; NONE INJURED (Hungary)

Sparking fears that rising far-right political sentiment in Hungary may be intensifying, the home of a Chabad rabbi in Budapest was bombarded with rocks on Tuesday night as a number of people gathered there for the second Pesach seder. According to Eran El-Bar, a Jewish Agency representative in Hungary who was present at the seder meal, guests at Rabbi Shmuel Raskin's table were stunned when the stones began smashing into the windows ofthe home around 11pm, just as the festive dinner was drawing to a close. "The incident was alarming for some of those present," El-Bar told the Jerusalem Post on Wednesday, "although a decision was made to continue with the seder nonetheless." "But nearly a half-hour later," he continued, "another rock smashed into the window. It was then that we decided to call the police." Hungarian police arrived at the home and even stationed a number of officers outside the home, El-Bar said. However, around midnight, another projectile slammed into the window – this time smashing a hole through the double-plated glass. "The final incident was something stronger than just a rock being thrown," El-Bar said. "It seemed to come from some sort of primitive weapon, like a slingshot." "It's a miracle that no one was hurt," he added. Although no suspects were apprehended, El-Bar refuted previously-reported claims that police had responded to the incident nonchalantly. "They responded to the scene," he said. "There wasn't any gunfire, and I think the police acted as was expected of them." El-Bar also said that he wished to stress the positive aspects of the holiday's observance in Hungary. "This was one unfortunate incident," he said. "But it shouldn't overshadow the fact that hundreds of young people took part in Pesach seders throughoutBudapest, including one at my home, and one that was held at the Jewish Community Center. All of those events took place without any incident whatsoever, and I think overall, that this was a positive Pesach."

However, the attack on Rabbi Raskin's home also comes at a time when fervent, far right-wing sentiment is building in Hungary, against the backdrop of national elections there later this month. Hungary's 100,000-strong Jewish community, most of which resides in Budapest, has been put on edge by the sharp spike in support for the far-right Jobbik party amongst Hungarians. Under slogans like "Hungary belongs to Hungarians," Jobbik, whose formal name is the Movement for a Better Hungary, has employed fierce, populist rhetoric in its election campaign, and is expected to make significant gains when Hungarians go to the polls on April 11. While the prime target of Jobbik's anti-foreigner platform has been the Roma, Hungary's Gypsy minority, the party has also expressed its resentment of "foreign speculators", including Israel, which party officials have openly declared are trying to control the country. Moreover, Jobbik has been able to capitalize on widespread dissatisfaction with the ruling socialist party, and is expected to gain enough votes to enter the Hungarian Parliament for the first time, after this month's elections. While El-Bar downplayed the role of the far-right's pre-election ascension with regards to Tuesday night's attack, he did acknowledge that the streets of Budapest were awash with right-wing propaganda, and that stark, nationalist sentiments there had already begun to materialize in other ways. "There are taxis here that specifically cater to the right-wing parties and their supporters," El-Bar said. "They only pick up those who identify themselves as right-wingers or conservatives." "Still," he added, "I think it is important to mention that this is not necessarily anti-Semitic sentiment, and that Jewish life is continuing to thrive in Budapest and other locations in Hungary."

Jerusalem Post

HUNGARY'S POLITICAL PARTIES PUT FORWARD ROMA POLICIES

Hungary's main political parties have all put forward proposals for how to tackle problems associated with the country's poor and socially excluded Roma minority. The majority of parties recognise the imperative to create jobs, and some settle on setting up public works projects in the farm and building sectors, while others take a more integrated approach invloving making better use of the social and education systems, and helping Roma get jobs on the open market. The ruling Socialist party, in its election campaign programme, focuses on finding ways to stimulate job creation for people belonging to the Roma community with an emphasis on training and assistance with finding jobs in the market. One idea is to enable a mentoring system for Roma start-ups. Conservative party Fidesz, which is likely to form the next government, favours public works and getting unskilled Roma to work in the farm and building industries. The party warns against eliding policies aimed at the poor and those targeting the Roma, insisting that poverty and the Roma are separate issues. The stress should lie on work allied to training, while dismantling the social barriers that are obstacles to integration, says Fidesz. Further, Government financing for fighting social exclusion must be made totally transparent, it maintains.

The conservative Democratic Forum chooses in its manifesto not to single out the Roma under a separate heading, taking the view instead that avenues of opportunity should be available for all and policies should be geared towards making long-term improvements such as to public security and fighting extremism. One idea is to create a network of schools which operate all day. Green party Politics Can Be Different sees the need for four conditions: jobs for unskilled active workers, giving special opportunities in the education system for the children of poor and uneducated parents, incorporating within the minimum-wage system guarantees for people mired in deep poverty and stimulating job creation in the public sector for the emerging Roma middle class. Radical nationalist party Jobbik has a chapter in their manifesto entitled "Vissza a ciganyutrol" which is a play on an idiom about swallowing the wrong way. The party says it regards the Roma problem as "complex" requiring a complex programme involving punishing "Gypsy crime", boosting policing and setting up genarmerie while creating public works projects and withdrawing monetary social support and replacing it with a "social card" system.

politics.hu