Following an anti-Semitic attack in Hanover, German authorities have identified a new source of anti-Semitic hatred in Germany: young migrants from Muslim families. The ideological alliance has officials concerned.
It was supposed to be a carefree festival in Sahlkamp on the outskirts of the northern German city of Hanover. Billed as an "International Day" to celebrate social diversity and togetherness, the June celebration included performances by a multicultural children's choir called "Happy Rainbow" and the German-Turkish rap duo 3-K. Music from Afghanistan was also on the program.
But then the mood suddenly shifted.
When Hajo Arnds, the organizer of the neighborhood festival, stepped onto the stage at about 6:45 p.m. to announce the next performance, by the Jewish dance group Chaverim, he was greeted with catcalls. "Jews out!" some of the roughly 30 young people standing in front of the stage began shouting. "Gone with the Jews!"
The voices were those of children -- voices full of hate, shouted in unison and amplified by a toy megaphone. Arnds, the organizer, was shocked. He knew many of the children, most of them from Arab immigrant families in the neighborhood.
A social worker, Arnds tried using the tools of his profession -- words -- to save the situation. But his words were met with stones, thrown at the stage by people taking cover in the crowd. One of the stones hit a female Chaverim dancer in the leg, resulting in an angry bruise.
Inflammatory Propaganda and Criminal Violence
Arnds immediately cancelled the dance performance. Still speaking through the microphone, he said that he wasn't sure whether the festival could even continue after this incident. When adults walked to the front of the crowd to confront and talk to the children, they were verbally abused, and some of the teenagers ran away. The Jewish dance group was taken to a safe place, and the festival was allowed to continue. The last performance of the evening was by a duo singing Russian songs. "They're not Jews," one of the young people in front of the stage shouted, "so they can perform here." A criminal complaint was not filed with the police until several days later.
Until now, attacks on Jews, Jewish institutions and Jewish symbols have almost always been committed by right-wing extremist groups. In the first quarter of 2010 alone, the German Interior Ministry documented 183 anti-Semitic offences committed by right-wing radicals, including graffiti, inflammatory propaganda and physical violence.
The stone-throwing incident in Hanover, however, has finally forced the authorities to take a closer look at a group of offenders that, though largely overlooked until now, is no less motivated by anti-Zionist sentiments: adolescents and young adults from an immigrant community who are influenced by Islamist ideas and are prepared to commit acts of violence.
An informal and accidental alliance has been developing for some time between neo-Nazis and some members of a group they would normally despise: Muslim immigrants. The two groups seem to share vaguely similar anti-Semitic ideologies.
Right-wing extremists and Islamists, says Heinz Fromm, the president of the German domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), are united by "a common bogeyman: Israel and the Jews as a whole." While German right-wing extremists cultivate a "more or less obvious racist anti-Semitism," says Fromm, the Islamists are "oriented toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict" and support "anti-Zionist ideological positions, which can also have anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic overtones." Both extremist movements, says Fromm, "ascribe extraordinary political power to Israel and the Jews, and their goal is to fight this power."
'A Tree, a Noose, a Jew's Neck'
Although the BfV has not separately identified anti-Semitic crimes associated with Islamist groups until now, investigators are paying close attention to the development of anti-Jewish tendencies within the milieu.
Anti-Semitism from the two groups shows itself in different ways in Germany. On the one hand, there are the efforts of extremist right-wing groups, which tend to follow a certain pattern. During a football match in April, for example, supporters of SV Mügeln-Ablass 09, a district-league football club in the eastern state of Saxony, chanted "a tree, a noose, a Jew's neck" and "we're building a subway, from Jerusalem to Auschwitz," until the match was stopped.
According to the German government's response to a parliament inquiry by the Left Party politician Petra Pau, Jewish cemeteries in Germany are defaced, vandalized or destroyed about once every 10 days. Memorial sites are also frequently targeted. Last month, for example, extremists defaced a memorial plaque in the western city of Bochum, a Jewish cemetery in Babenhausen in the state of Hesse and a memorial in Beckum in the Münsterland region.
On the other hand, say BfV officials, Islamist ideologues are creating problems with their anti-Israeli tirades, which are being broadcast on the Internet and television. "You can expect this sort of propaganda to have an impact on certain social groups," says Fromm.
The Israelis' bloody military intervention against a flotilla of aid vessels off the coast of Gaza on May 31, in which nine Turkish activists where shot dead, has triggered a new wave of hate. The Jewish community in Berlin promptly reported "a rapid increase in anti-Semitic propaganda and death threats against Jews on the Internet." This is particularly the case on Facebook where, according to Jewish officials in Berlin, users like Ulubas L. are spreading their message of hate with statements like: "The only good Jew is a dead Jew."
Breeding Ground
TV productions like the Iranian series "Zahra's Blue Eyes," broadcast into the living rooms of immigrant families in Germany, only add to the problem. The program is based on a horror story in which a fictitious Israeli general has doctors remove the eyes of a Palestinian girl so that they can be transplanted into his blind son.
Such propaganda apparently serves as a breeding ground for anti-Jewish sentiments among poorly integrated members of the immigrant community -- sentiments which can quickly explode into violence. In late June, for example, two Israeli tourists made the mistake of conversing in Hebrew at a Berlin nightclub. Another guest, apparently of Palestinian descent, asked them where they were from. When one of the tourists, a 22-year-old man, replied, "from Israel," the man attacked him and his companion.
The situation escalated when a Turkish-born bouncer intervened and attacked the Israelis with pepper spray. The tourists were able to flee and required medical treatment. Law enforcement officials assume that the attack was the result of "anti-Semitic sentiment." The bouncer and the man who attacked the Israelis, whose identity is still unknown, are being investigated for aggravated assault and battery.
The Jewish community in Worms, located in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate, was also the target of a recent attack. In mid-May, unknown assailants tried to set the city's historic synagogue on fire. Forensics experts later identified eight sources of fire at the crime scene. In addition, a Molotov cocktail was thrown through the window of the synagogue's library.
Understanding the Background
The community was lucky; the building did not go up in flames. Nearby, the police found letters claiming responsibility, written in broken German: "As long as you don't leave the Palestinians alone, we won't leave you alone." It is still unclear whether the pamphlets indicate that the perpetrators were Islamists or were left there as a red herring. According to the state's Interior Ministry, the authorities are "working hard to investigate all possible leads."
Meanwhile residents and social workers are trying to understand the background and motives of the adolescents who attacked Jewish dancers with stones at the "International Day" event in Hanover's Sahlkamp neighborhood.
There is no visible evidence of Jewish life in the district, which has about 14,000 residents. According to the police, the stone-throwing incident on June 19 was the first case of anti-Semitic violence in the area. So far, authorities have identified 12 possible suspects. They are between 9 and 19 years old, many are not yet old enough to be prosecuted, and 11 of them have an "Arab immigrant background," according to the public prosecutor's office in the city. No one has said anything yet on the possible motives for the attack. The only comments, so far, came from a little girl, perhaps 10 or 11 years old, who was addressed immediately after the attack by a woman attending the neighborhood festival.
"What's going on here?" the woman asked.
"The Germans say: Foreigners out!" the girl replied. "Why can't we say: Jews out?" Then she ran away.
Speigel
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
BNP election process gerrymandered to exclude challenger
The British National Party has announced rules that will make it near impossible for Eddy Butler to challenge Nick Griffin for the party leadership.
The party’s “elections department”, otherwise known as Clive Jefferson, the rapidly promoted North West regional organiser and part-time member of Griffin’s European constituency staff, has outlined “leadership contest regulations”, which it claims are based on the party’s constitution.
Claiming that the party and individual candidates must be “protected from any attempt to use dishonesty and faction-building to advance one candidate at the expense of another”, the statement continues: “There is a clear dividing line between passionately held opinion and legitimate criticism on the one hand, and character assassination and dishonesty on the other. For the sake of the party, and the ability of the members to make a properly informed choice, everyone must stay on the right side of that line – and understand that a free and fair election can be secured only if anyone who crosses the line thereby loses his or her right to be involved.”
Where the line lies and who is to determine what comments fall on the wrong side of it are not explained, leaving an open door for Jefferson, at the bidding of Griffin and his consigliere Jim Dowson, to exclude Butler.
Turning to the nomination process, the statement, as widely expected, outlaws the use of the unofficial forms on which Butler is collecting signatures. Instead official, individually numbered forms will be sent by post to “all members eligible to nominate and vote in a leadership election”.
Members wishing to nominate anyone must sign the form and have their signature witnessed. This is a transparent attempt to make the process a bit harder for members who might be isolated from other members and might not want to tell potential witnesses among their friends, neighbours and relations that they are members of the racist party.
Those forms must be returned to the party’s so far unnamed “official scrutineer” to be received in the short period from 20 July to 10 August. Ridiculously, a member has to post the form personally “except in the event of sickness or infirmity”, in which case “they may ask their witness to post it for them”.
How the “official scrutineer” will know who posted the form is unclear, leaving yet another means for Jefferson to exclude nominations. And of course any attempt by Butler’s supporters to collect up forms and bring them to the official opening of envelopes, to ensure they are not somehow lost by the BNP’s “scrutineer”, is not permitted.
Although the BNP constitution does not provide for it, because in the event of there being no valid nominations for another candidate the incumbent automatically carries on, the form will also include a box for members to indicate that they wish Griffin to continue as leader. No doubt Griffin will ensure that there are more forms with that box ticked than nominations for Butler.
As widely expected after the closure of the two main anti-Butler attack blogs over the weekend, the regulations deny candidates the right to campaign other than by limited officially sanctioned methods. “Candidates and their supporters shall not produce, maintain, advertise or otherwise utilise, whether for promotion, criticism or report, any official or unofficial campaigning website or social networking facility (Face book, Twitter, etc).”
Candidates are also not allowed to give media interviews or raise money for their campaign.
The rules apply “with immediate effect”. The announcement was posted on the BNP website at 12.26 on 14 July. At the time of writing just over two hours later, Butler’s blog and website, both of which appeal for donations, were still in place, making it possible for Griffin immediately to institute disciplinary action against Butler and to exclude him from the nomination process.
The announcement declares that the basic guideline for the election under version 12.2 of the party constitution is: “A free, fully democratic election process which is fair to all potential candidates, from start to finish, and which protects the British National Party from attempt [sic] to abuse the process”.
The sentence appears in quotes in the announcement, giving the impression that it is taken from the constitution, but in fact it appears nowhere in that document. The rules for the nomination process and the ban on unofficial campaigning are likewise not sanctioned by the constitution, leaving the party open to legal action by Butler if he is thereby prevented from standing against Griffin.
Hope Not Hate
The party’s “elections department”, otherwise known as Clive Jefferson, the rapidly promoted North West regional organiser and part-time member of Griffin’s European constituency staff, has outlined “leadership contest regulations”, which it claims are based on the party’s constitution.
Claiming that the party and individual candidates must be “protected from any attempt to use dishonesty and faction-building to advance one candidate at the expense of another”, the statement continues: “There is a clear dividing line between passionately held opinion and legitimate criticism on the one hand, and character assassination and dishonesty on the other. For the sake of the party, and the ability of the members to make a properly informed choice, everyone must stay on the right side of that line – and understand that a free and fair election can be secured only if anyone who crosses the line thereby loses his or her right to be involved.”
Where the line lies and who is to determine what comments fall on the wrong side of it are not explained, leaving an open door for Jefferson, at the bidding of Griffin and his consigliere Jim Dowson, to exclude Butler.
Turning to the nomination process, the statement, as widely expected, outlaws the use of the unofficial forms on which Butler is collecting signatures. Instead official, individually numbered forms will be sent by post to “all members eligible to nominate and vote in a leadership election”.
Members wishing to nominate anyone must sign the form and have their signature witnessed. This is a transparent attempt to make the process a bit harder for members who might be isolated from other members and might not want to tell potential witnesses among their friends, neighbours and relations that they are members of the racist party.
Those forms must be returned to the party’s so far unnamed “official scrutineer” to be received in the short period from 20 July to 10 August. Ridiculously, a member has to post the form personally “except in the event of sickness or infirmity”, in which case “they may ask their witness to post it for them”.
How the “official scrutineer” will know who posted the form is unclear, leaving yet another means for Jefferson to exclude nominations. And of course any attempt by Butler’s supporters to collect up forms and bring them to the official opening of envelopes, to ensure they are not somehow lost by the BNP’s “scrutineer”, is not permitted.
Although the BNP constitution does not provide for it, because in the event of there being no valid nominations for another candidate the incumbent automatically carries on, the form will also include a box for members to indicate that they wish Griffin to continue as leader. No doubt Griffin will ensure that there are more forms with that box ticked than nominations for Butler.
As widely expected after the closure of the two main anti-Butler attack blogs over the weekend, the regulations deny candidates the right to campaign other than by limited officially sanctioned methods. “Candidates and their supporters shall not produce, maintain, advertise or otherwise utilise, whether for promotion, criticism or report, any official or unofficial campaigning website or social networking facility (Face book, Twitter, etc).”
Candidates are also not allowed to give media interviews or raise money for their campaign.
The rules apply “with immediate effect”. The announcement was posted on the BNP website at 12.26 on 14 July. At the time of writing just over two hours later, Butler’s blog and website, both of which appeal for donations, were still in place, making it possible for Griffin immediately to institute disciplinary action against Butler and to exclude him from the nomination process.
The announcement declares that the basic guideline for the election under version 12.2 of the party constitution is: “A free, fully democratic election process which is fair to all potential candidates, from start to finish, and which protects the British National Party from attempt [sic] to abuse the process”.
The sentence appears in quotes in the announcement, giving the impression that it is taken from the constitution, but in fact it appears nowhere in that document. The rules for the nomination process and the ban on unofficial campaigning are likewise not sanctioned by the constitution, leaving the party open to legal action by Butler if he is thereby prevented from standing against Griffin.
Hope Not Hate
ANTI-RACISM EXHIBITION FOR WORLD CUP FINAL (Poland)
On the day of the World Cup final, a diverse multicultural audience took part in a ‘Let’s kick racism out of the stadiums’ exhibition opening organised by the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association in Warsaw’s Home Africa Bar. The event was co-hosted by Stanley Udenkwor, a Nigerian-born Polish citizen, an ex Polonia Warsaw player and an ambassador of the ‘Let’s kick racism out of the stadiums’ campaign. The exhibition presents the multicultural history of Polish football, the participation of ethnic minorities and migrants in the sport today as well as the problem of racism and xenophobia in Polish stadiums. Its other aim is to promote the ‘Let’s kick racism out of the stadiums’ campaign. The exhibition is also going to be shown during the large Polish Woodstock Festival later this summer.
The date for the opening ceremony was not accidental. ‘It’s the final of a World Cup held for the first time in Africa. South Africa is a country whose inhabitants experienced racism through many years of the apartheid. In this context the World Cup has been special. As co-hosts of the forthcoming EURO 2012 Championship, we should learn from the South African experience how to organise a multicultural event full of joy and respect’ says Jacek Purski, a spokesman for the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. - ‘However, not everybody in Poland seems to want this kind of event. For example, on the occasion of the World Cup, a group of neo-fascists hang racist posters in the streets of Sosnowiec, expressing their solidarity with South African apartheid supporters’ adds Dr Rafal Pankowski, a ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association member and coordinator of the East Europe Monitoring Centre.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-fascist organization which monitors racist incidents and conducts educational campaigns. It coordinates the FARE Eastern European Development Project supported by UEFA in the run up to the EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Never Again Association
The date for the opening ceremony was not accidental. ‘It’s the final of a World Cup held for the first time in Africa. South Africa is a country whose inhabitants experienced racism through many years of the apartheid. In this context the World Cup has been special. As co-hosts of the forthcoming EURO 2012 Championship, we should learn from the South African experience how to organise a multicultural event full of joy and respect’ says Jacek Purski, a spokesman for the ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association. - ‘However, not everybody in Poland seems to want this kind of event. For example, on the occasion of the World Cup, a group of neo-fascists hang racist posters in the streets of Sosnowiec, expressing their solidarity with South African apartheid supporters’ adds Dr Rafal Pankowski, a ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association member and coordinator of the East Europe Monitoring Centre.
The ‘NEVER AGAIN’ Association is an independent anti-fascist organization which monitors racist incidents and conducts educational campaigns. It coordinates the FARE Eastern European Development Project supported by UEFA in the run up to the EURO 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.
Never Again Association
Neo-Nazi in attack on church (New Zeland)
In a rage of hatred towards Christianity, a neo-Nazi and his accomplice smashed nine windows of a Feilding church on Easter Sunday, a court has heard.
Nearly $4000 worth of windows were smashed at the Lutheran Church on King St in the early hours of April 4, by the men who claimed to hate Jesus, the church and Easter.
Daniel Waring, 21, and his co-accused Nicholas Melrose, 18, pleaded guilty to a charge each of intentional damage in Feilding District Court yesterday.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Ricky Lewer said Waring smashed three windows with a wooden baton about 12.20am.
Less than two hours later he returned with Melrose and together they smashed a further six windows.
The pair fled when the church's pastor yelled at them from inside.
He had been cleaning up glass after the first attack.
When questioned, the men told police they were anti-Jesus, anti-Christ and hated Easter.
Waring told a probation officer he was part of the Blood and Honour New Zealand – a neo-Nazi music promotion network and political group – but later denied being a member of the organisation.
Waring's lawyer, Mike Ryan, said he had been depressed, angry, and drunk on the night he attacked the church.
"At the time the defendant's medication wasn't working and some of the side effects included depression and sleeplessness. He had also been evicted from his flat," Mr Ryan said.
Melrose's lawyer, Richard Bedford, said alcohol had been a factor.
"He did it because he thought it was funny at the time, but he said it wasn't that funny once he was sober. He is genuinely remorseful."
He said Melrose moved to Amberley, in Canterbury, after the incident to "move on with his life".
Judge Alistair Garland said the men's actions were unprovoked and mindless vandalism. "It appears it was a hate crime and on the most significant day. You did a substantial amount of damage."
Judge Garland convicted and sentenced Waring to 100 hours' community work and ordered him to pay reparation of $2548. Melrose was convicted and sentenced to 100 hours' community work, two months community detention and ordered to pay $1274.
The damage came to $3822.
Nearly $4000 worth of windows were smashed at the Lutheran Church on King St in the early hours of April 4, by the men who claimed to hate Jesus, the church and Easter.
Daniel Waring, 21, and his co-accused Nicholas Melrose, 18, pleaded guilty to a charge each of intentional damage in Feilding District Court yesterday.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Ricky Lewer said Waring smashed three windows with a wooden baton about 12.20am.
Less than two hours later he returned with Melrose and together they smashed a further six windows.
The pair fled when the church's pastor yelled at them from inside.
He had been cleaning up glass after the first attack.
When questioned, the men told police they were anti-Jesus, anti-Christ and hated Easter.
Waring told a probation officer he was part of the Blood and Honour New Zealand – a neo-Nazi music promotion network and political group – but later denied being a member of the organisation.
Waring's lawyer, Mike Ryan, said he had been depressed, angry, and drunk on the night he attacked the church.
"At the time the defendant's medication wasn't working and some of the side effects included depression and sleeplessness. He had also been evicted from his flat," Mr Ryan said.
Melrose's lawyer, Richard Bedford, said alcohol had been a factor.
"He did it because he thought it was funny at the time, but he said it wasn't that funny once he was sober. He is genuinely remorseful."
He said Melrose moved to Amberley, in Canterbury, after the incident to "move on with his life".
Judge Alistair Garland said the men's actions were unprovoked and mindless vandalism. "It appears it was a hate crime and on the most significant day. You did a substantial amount of damage."
Judge Garland convicted and sentenced Waring to 100 hours' community work and ordered him to pay reparation of $2548. Melrose was convicted and sentenced to 100 hours' community work, two months community detention and ordered to pay $1274.
The damage came to $3822.
Storm as Australian artist Jane Korman dances at Nazi death camp
An Australian artist has defended posting a YouTube video of her family singing and dancing to the tune of I Will Survive at the Auschwitz death camp.
Melbourne artist Jane Korman - who is Jewish - filmed her Holocaust survivor father and her three children dancing outside the infamous camp in Poland.
As many as 1.1 million people were murdered there by the Nazis in World War II.
The video also shows the family dancing at a Polish synagogue, the German concentration camp at Dachau, the Czech concentration camp at Theresienstadt and at a Polish memorial to the victims of the Nazi ghetto.
The video ends with Korman's emotional 89-year-old father Adolk describing his return to Poland with his three grandchildren as "a really historic moment".
Ms Korman told London's The Daily Mail the video was a "celebration of life and survival".
"I wanted to make artwork that creates a fresh interpretation of historical memory," Ms Korman said. "He [her father] is saying 'we're dancing, we should be dancing, we're celebrating our survival and the generations after me. We are affirming our existence'."
But the video - which was also displayed in an Australian art gallery - has been met with anger by some Holocaust survivors and has been picked up and exploited by neo-Nazi websites.
"I don't see how this video is a mark of respect for the millions who didn't survive, nor for those who did," Kamil Cwiok, 86, told The Daily Mail. "It seems to trivialise the horrors that were committed there."
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff said there was a time and place to celebrate survival.
"As human beings, we have a right to celebrate survival, but there is a time and place to do so," he said.
"There is an infinite number of ways to do that, but we need to consider the sensibilities of those for whom places such as Auschwitz will always hold terrible pain and indelible memories . . Auschwitz is one of the world's largest cemeteries."
The artwork was met with mixed reactions on blog sites with some supporting Ms Korman.
New Zelands Daily Telegraph
Melbourne artist Jane Korman - who is Jewish - filmed her Holocaust survivor father and her three children dancing outside the infamous camp in Poland.
As many as 1.1 million people were murdered there by the Nazis in World War II.
The video also shows the family dancing at a Polish synagogue, the German concentration camp at Dachau, the Czech concentration camp at Theresienstadt and at a Polish memorial to the victims of the Nazi ghetto.
The video ends with Korman's emotional 89-year-old father Adolk describing his return to Poland with his three grandchildren as "a really historic moment".
Ms Korman told London's The Daily Mail the video was a "celebration of life and survival".
"I wanted to make artwork that creates a fresh interpretation of historical memory," Ms Korman said. "He [her father] is saying 'we're dancing, we should be dancing, we're celebrating our survival and the generations after me. We are affirming our existence'."
But the video - which was also displayed in an Australian art gallery - has been met with anger by some Holocaust survivors and has been picked up and exploited by neo-Nazi websites.
"I don't see how this video is a mark of respect for the millions who didn't survive, nor for those who did," Kamil Cwiok, 86, told The Daily Mail. "It seems to trivialise the horrors that were committed there."
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Vic Alhadeff said there was a time and place to celebrate survival.
"As human beings, we have a right to celebrate survival, but there is a time and place to do so," he said.
"There is an infinite number of ways to do that, but we need to consider the sensibilities of those for whom places such as Auschwitz will always hold terrible pain and indelible memories . . Auschwitz is one of the world's largest cemeteries."
The artwork was met with mixed reactions on blog sites with some supporting Ms Korman.
New Zelands Daily Telegraph
BNP MEP’s confirm Palace visit
It seems that common sense has not prevailed and Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons have confirmed that they will be visiting Buckingham Palace on July 22nd.
The invitations which were automatically sent to them due to their MEP’s status has and will obviously cause more controversy, as the last thing we need to see is the BNP trolls goose stepping across the royal lawn.
Yet any kind of counter protest that involves any anti-racists outside the Palace shouting abuse will also be seen as extremely counter productive. And quickly acted on by the authorities.
As we know they will be damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
Anyway here’s the item as posted on the BNP website.
BNP.org
The invitations which were automatically sent to them due to their MEP’s status has and will obviously cause more controversy, as the last thing we need to see is the BNP trolls goose stepping across the royal lawn.
Yet any kind of counter protest that involves any anti-racists outside the Palace shouting abuse will also be seen as extremely counter productive. And quickly acted on by the authorities.
As we know they will be damned if they do and damned if they don’t.
Anyway here’s the item as posted on the BNP website.
BNP.org
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