Newspaper Het Reformatorisch Dagblad, which takes an orthodox Protestant line, has written an editorial in which it says it is a 'shame' the president of Malawi was so quick to 'kneel down' and pardon a gay couple who had been sentenced to 14 years in jail. 'If the citizens of Malawi want to know where this trail ends, they only need to follow political reporting in the Netherlands for a while,' the paper said. The paper is referring to efforts by D66 to close a loophole allowing religious schools in the Netherlands to refuse to employ gay teachers. 'A large majority in parliament support this proposal and this will not change after the election,' the paper wrote. 'It cannot be ruled out that here the opposite will happen to what has happened in Malawi: not people who are openly homosexual will be punished, but the Christians and Muslims who name that behaviour a sin.' The paper asks if UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon, who put pressure on Malawi to pardon the couple, will be prepared to address the Dutch parliament and support people who are religious against such intolerance.
Dutch News
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
French admit they are racist
One in seven French people admit to being racist and many have prejudicial views of immigrants, homosexuals, blacks, Arab and Jews, according to a survey released on Sunday.
A poll by the BVA institute for two anti-discrimination groups found, for example, that 30 per cent of the French agree with the idea that Jews have more influence on finance and the media than other groups.
Almost as many, 28 per cent, think that Arabs are more likely to commit crimes than members of other ethnic groups, a number that has more than doubled since a similar poll was conducted last year.
A significant minority of the French, 15 per cent, admit to being "rather or a bit racist", up one per cent on the previous study.
Almost half of respondents, 49 per cent, thought that immigrants are better able to exploit the social welfaresystem than are the native French, and 12 per cent said homosexuals were more obsessed by sex than others.
Meanwhile 28 per cent said they regarded blacks as more physically powerful than other groups.
And even among those who told pollsters they were not racist, a third said they did not react when they heard others use racist language.
"The French capacity for indignation is in decline," lamented Arielle Schwab, president of the Union of French Jewish Students, one of the groups that commissioned the survey.
The groups ascribed the increase in prejudicial views to the political climate in France, where the government has attempted to generate a debate on national identity which some see as encouraging racial stereotyping.
"In the past few months we're seen racist speech entering the mainstream," said Dominique Sopo of pressure groupe SOS Racisme, criticising the identity debate and the government's attempt to ban the full-face Islamic veil.
The BVA poll was carried out between May 21 and 22 on a representative sample of 1,029 subjects aged 15 or more.
The Telegraph
A poll by the BVA institute for two anti-discrimination groups found, for example, that 30 per cent of the French agree with the idea that Jews have more influence on finance and the media than other groups.
Almost as many, 28 per cent, think that Arabs are more likely to commit crimes than members of other ethnic groups, a number that has more than doubled since a similar poll was conducted last year.
A significant minority of the French, 15 per cent, admit to being "rather or a bit racist", up one per cent on the previous study.
Almost half of respondents, 49 per cent, thought that immigrants are better able to exploit the social welfaresystem than are the native French, and 12 per cent said homosexuals were more obsessed by sex than others.
Meanwhile 28 per cent said they regarded blacks as more physically powerful than other groups.
And even among those who told pollsters they were not racist, a third said they did not react when they heard others use racist language.
"The French capacity for indignation is in decline," lamented Arielle Schwab, president of the Union of French Jewish Students, one of the groups that commissioned the survey.
The groups ascribed the increase in prejudicial views to the political climate in France, where the government has attempted to generate a debate on national identity which some see as encouraging racial stereotyping.
"In the past few months we're seen racist speech entering the mainstream," said Dominique Sopo of pressure groupe SOS Racisme, criticising the identity debate and the government's attempt to ban the full-face Islamic veil.
The BVA poll was carried out between May 21 and 22 on a representative sample of 1,029 subjects aged 15 or more.
The Telegraph
Antifascist Targeted in Arson Attack (Russia)
Neo-Nazis are suspected of being behind an arson attack on the apartment of a prominent anti-fascist activist in Izhevsk, Russia, according to a May 23, 2010 article in the independent daily "Novaya Gazeta." On the evening of May 23, someone set Oleg Serebrennikov's apartment door on fire, while also shooting 11 bullets at it and leaving threatening graffiti behind. Police are investigating the incident. In February 2004, far-right thugs beat Mr. Serebrennikov, who was taking part in an anti-war demonstration. Four of the attackers were subsequently sentenced.
UCSJ
UCSJ
Relief as BNP pulls plug on annual Red, White and Blue festival
THE British National Party says its controversial annual Red, White and Blue festival will not return to Derbyshire this year.
People living near to the site of the three-day event, which cost Derbyshire Constabulary £500,000 to police last year, have spoken of their "considerable relief".
The festival has been held on fields off Codnor-Denby Lane, Denby, for three years.
But it attracted protests from anti-fascist groups across the country, with hundreds descending on the village to demonstrate. Several arrests have been made.
Officers were drafted in from Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and the Derbyshire force's Chief Constable said he feared the cost implications of it happening again.
But the BNP has now announced that it will have no national festival this summer and will instead focus on localised social events.
That has been welcomed by anti-BNP campaigners and people in Denby village.
Joe Osborne, 71, of Breach Road, said: "It will be a peaceful weekend again. Previously we have had a lot of noise and nuisance from people, both on the site and outside it.
"It has caused an inconvenience for the past three years for residents in Breach Lane and Codnor-Denby Lane – people are fenced in, in their own homes, when it takes place.
"Now they will get to enjoy a normal weekend again."
The BNP said one of its reasons was the cost associated with policing the festival.
The party said it would rather see the money spent on "counter terror" operations.
Amber Valley borough councillor Lewis Allsebrook, who is also the Amber Valley local organiser for the BNP, said he believed the cost could have risen to £1 million.
Mr Allsebrook said: "If missing one weekend of fun and enjoyment at the Red, White and Blue saves the police enough funds to prevent just one terrorist attack, I think it is a better use of police resources.
"Perhaps the Red, White and Blue needs to take place in a county where the police are not hugely under-funded and not a hotspot for terrorist plotters.
"There is absolutely no chance of it coming back this year, but that is not to say it won't in the future," he said.
He added: "Running and setting-up the BNP festival is very labour intensive and can consume whole months of key activists' time."
John Lumsden, neighbour of site owner Alan Warner, said the past three years had been a "total nightmare".
The 68-year-old said: "I think the village is relieved and highly delighted.
"I think the BNP has lost so much money in the past few years, because people have put up so much opposition to them, that it's no longer viable.
"They have also had so many arguments in their own camp and a disastrous election campaign."
Last year, the Red, White and Blue festival attracted hundreds of protesters and police officers made 19 arrests.
Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon said the force spent in the region of £500,000 on policing the event, plus £250,000 in 2008, when 36 arrests were made.
After last year's festival, Mr Creedon asked the Home Office for funding for the events but is yet to receive a reply.
Musician Baby J, a volunteer with Love Music Hate Racism who helped organise protests against last year's event, said: "After being smashed in the elections, the BNP knows it would be a very poor turnout, as last year figures were down on what it expected.
"They know they're not welcome. It's horrible for people in the village to have it and the protest that comes with it. It's not fair on a village that size."
A Derbyshire police spokesman said they had yet to receive official notification from the BNP about the event.
Amber Valley borough councillor for Denby Jean Gemmell said: "It was not very popular. People were worried about what was going to happen and I had phone calls about it."
This is Derbyshire
People living near to the site of the three-day event, which cost Derbyshire Constabulary £500,000 to police last year, have spoken of their "considerable relief".
The festival has been held on fields off Codnor-Denby Lane, Denby, for three years.
But it attracted protests from anti-fascist groups across the country, with hundreds descending on the village to demonstrate. Several arrests have been made.
Officers were drafted in from Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and the Derbyshire force's Chief Constable said he feared the cost implications of it happening again.
But the BNP has now announced that it will have no national festival this summer and will instead focus on localised social events.
That has been welcomed by anti-BNP campaigners and people in Denby village.
Joe Osborne, 71, of Breach Road, said: "It will be a peaceful weekend again. Previously we have had a lot of noise and nuisance from people, both on the site and outside it.
"It has caused an inconvenience for the past three years for residents in Breach Lane and Codnor-Denby Lane – people are fenced in, in their own homes, when it takes place.
"Now they will get to enjoy a normal weekend again."
The BNP said one of its reasons was the cost associated with policing the festival.
The party said it would rather see the money spent on "counter terror" operations.
Amber Valley borough councillor Lewis Allsebrook, who is also the Amber Valley local organiser for the BNP, said he believed the cost could have risen to £1 million.
Mr Allsebrook said: "If missing one weekend of fun and enjoyment at the Red, White and Blue saves the police enough funds to prevent just one terrorist attack, I think it is a better use of police resources.
"Perhaps the Red, White and Blue needs to take place in a county where the police are not hugely under-funded and not a hotspot for terrorist plotters.
"There is absolutely no chance of it coming back this year, but that is not to say it won't in the future," he said.
He added: "Running and setting-up the BNP festival is very labour intensive and can consume whole months of key activists' time."
John Lumsden, neighbour of site owner Alan Warner, said the past three years had been a "total nightmare".
The 68-year-old said: "I think the village is relieved and highly delighted.
"I think the BNP has lost so much money in the past few years, because people have put up so much opposition to them, that it's no longer viable.
"They have also had so many arguments in their own camp and a disastrous election campaign."
Last year, the Red, White and Blue festival attracted hundreds of protesters and police officers made 19 arrests.
Derbyshire Chief Constable Mick Creedon said the force spent in the region of £500,000 on policing the event, plus £250,000 in 2008, when 36 arrests were made.
After last year's festival, Mr Creedon asked the Home Office for funding for the events but is yet to receive a reply.
Musician Baby J, a volunteer with Love Music Hate Racism who helped organise protests against last year's event, said: "After being smashed in the elections, the BNP knows it would be a very poor turnout, as last year figures were down on what it expected.
"They know they're not welcome. It's horrible for people in the village to have it and the protest that comes with it. It's not fair on a village that size."
A Derbyshire police spokesman said they had yet to receive official notification from the BNP about the event.
Amber Valley borough councillor for Denby Jean Gemmell said: "It was not very popular. People were worried about what was going to happen and I had phone calls about it."
This is Derbyshire
EXTREMISTS ROUTED IN CZECH ELECTIONS
Prague Monitor
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