Homophobic hate crime in the city of Portsmouth has risen by 12 per cent, this year, compared to 2004.
Over half the people who responded to a local council survey said they'd experienced hate crime in the area, according to Portsmouth News.
Fifty nine per cent of respondents had experienced one or more incidents or homophobic crimes in the last year. To put that into context, the national average is 12 per cent.
But the problem is not just with people outside of the community – 29 per cent said they had experienced some kind of abuse within a current or former relationship.
However, the survey found the gay community's confidence in public services was rising thanks to lesbian and gay liaison officers.
Pink News
Friday, 13 August 2010
Resistance grows among Christian Democrats against Geert Wilders
The number of signatories to a petition by Christian Democrats against the involvement of Geert Wilders and his anti-Islam PVV party in any government has doubled in one day.
Since the petition was published in Trouw on Thursday, the number of signatories has reached 100, up from 44.
The signatories want the party to stop negotiating with the PVV and the Liberal VVD for a minority government supported in parliament by Wilders. They say the ideology of the PVV is 'against the Dutch constitution and a threat to our demoncratic society'.
A spokesman for party leader Maxime Verhagen told the press on Thursday that Verhagen understands the concerns of the party members, but added: 'We are only at the beginning of negotiations and it's the result that matters'.
Party conference
A special party conference is scheduled for the end of August when Verhagen will explain to party members what sort of support Wilders is offering and what he wants in return. But the signatories, who include local politicians and former MPs and mayors, are not prepared to wait.
According to historian Wouter Beekers, who initiated the petition, Christian Democrats will tend to accept what Verhagen says at the conference and action must be taken now, reports the Volkskrant.
Unique action
It is most unusual for Christian Democrats to make any criticism of their party public, particularly in the form of a mass demonstration. But many members are still keeping silent.
Some, like Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, have already fought back. The former Nato general secretary told the Volkskrant he would not be joining 'that herd of old elephants'. In his opinion, former politicians always think they know best.
Dutch News
Since the petition was published in Trouw on Thursday, the number of signatories has reached 100, up from 44.
The signatories want the party to stop negotiating with the PVV and the Liberal VVD for a minority government supported in parliament by Wilders. They say the ideology of the PVV is 'against the Dutch constitution and a threat to our demoncratic society'.
A spokesman for party leader Maxime Verhagen told the press on Thursday that Verhagen understands the concerns of the party members, but added: 'We are only at the beginning of negotiations and it's the result that matters'.
Party conference
A special party conference is scheduled for the end of August when Verhagen will explain to party members what sort of support Wilders is offering and what he wants in return. But the signatories, who include local politicians and former MPs and mayors, are not prepared to wait.
According to historian Wouter Beekers, who initiated the petition, Christian Democrats will tend to accept what Verhagen says at the conference and action must be taken now, reports the Volkskrant.
Unique action
It is most unusual for Christian Democrats to make any criticism of their party public, particularly in the form of a mass demonstration. But many members are still keeping silent.
Some, like Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, have already fought back. The former Nato general secretary told the Volkskrant he would not be joining 'that herd of old elephants'. In his opinion, former politicians always think they know best.
Dutch News
BNP want Jewish 'comrades' to fight Muslims (UK)
Small groups of BNP and English Defence League supporters are championing the Jewish state as part of a perceived struggle with the Muslim world.
They call for Israel and the BNP to be "comrades in arms".
One person commenting on a pro-BNP blog suggested that the party should open an office in Israel to "show solidarity with the Israeli people".
But Jon Benjamin, Board of Deputies chief executive, warned: "No one in their right mind should have any truck with the BNP or their ilk."
A blogger on The Green Arrow, an independent website which supports the BNP, encouraged others to look to Israel to avoid the West's "meek surrender to Islam".
Under the name Reconquista, the blogger wrote: "Against the backdrop of an enormous anti-Israel propaganda campaign waged by Muslims and by the Marxist left, Israel continues to fight for its very survival.
"I believe it is absolutely imperative for British Nationalists to be fully aware of the lies, deceptions, hypocrisy and moral cowardice surrounding Israel and the Jewish people."
One person commented on the blog: "I have written several times calling for committees for the mutual defence of white and Jewish communities to be set up here. Both people are under attack… Jewish people need to stop opposing us as their enemy."
Another adds: "We need Israel. We must join with them to fight this terrible wave of Islam trying to take over the world. The Jews know all about ethnic cleansing, and they will never allow themselves to be in that position again."
In May, the extreme right-wing anti-Islamic fundamentalism group the English Defence League launched a "Jewish division", encouraging Jews to "lead the counter-Jihad fight in England".
Mr Benjamin said: "Short-term political expediency and pronouncements of this kind are merely a cynical ploy by the BNP to try to re-invent themselves to capture the support of those who should know better."
A CST spokesman said: "There may be the odd BNP activist who thinks that antisemitism is stupid, and there may well be others who think that supporting Israel is a good idea, but none of it changes what the BNP is all about."
Such concerns may be well-founded. The Green Arrow site includes readers' comments such as "it's the Jews who own all the media".
The JC
Court approves neo-Nazi march, but bans counter demonstration (Germany)
The administrative court confirmed its decision on Thursday to exclude the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB), overturning a previous ruling by a Schaumburg district court, which had said there were not enough police there to handle both sides at the same time. But the Hannover court said the some 2,000 officers could at least handle one demonstration.
Because the neo-Nazis registered for permission first, and officials expect violence-prone anarchists to be attracted to the counter demonstration, the far-right extremists will be allowed to march unopposed, the court said.
The DGB called the decision an “unbelievable ruling” and said it would appeal to the state of Lower Saxony’s top administrative court.
Right-wing extremists have come to Bad Nenndorf since 2006 to stage a "funeral march" in honour of Nazis they say were mishandled there between 1945 and 1947 at an interrogation centre by occupying British troops.
The Local Germany
Racist Serial Stabber Arrested By FBI (USA)
A young man notorious for being a racist serial stabber has been arrested for attacking 20 men.
Commonly known to everyone as Racist Serial Stabber, the person stabbed 20 men out of whom 5 died and 15 survived having severe injuries. The victims belong from Michigan, Virginia and Ohio.
The people whom Racist Serial Stabber attacked were mostly dark men. Only two of the attacked victims were of white skin. He got his Racist Serial Stabber name from there.
The suspect was wearing a dark green Chevy blazer when authorities at the airport caught him after spotting him via security cameras at the airport. His portrait was already released by police after he was seen at the site of his last crime.
According to police, the suspect was boarding flight for Tel Aviv from the Hartsfield-Jackson International airport. Further details about the case will be released once the investigation is done.
All Voices
Commonly known to everyone as Racist Serial Stabber, the person stabbed 20 men out of whom 5 died and 15 survived having severe injuries. The victims belong from Michigan, Virginia and Ohio.
The people whom Racist Serial Stabber attacked were mostly dark men. Only two of the attacked victims were of white skin. He got his Racist Serial Stabber name from there.
The suspect was wearing a dark green Chevy blazer when authorities at the airport caught him after spotting him via security cameras at the airport. His portrait was already released by police after he was seen at the site of his last crime.
According to police, the suspect was boarding flight for Tel Aviv from the Hartsfield-Jackson International airport. Further details about the case will be released once the investigation is done.
All Voices
Champagne binge woman's racist tirade (UK)
A woman who launched a racist rant after drinking champagne at Fortnum and Mason was spared jail yesterday
Holly Mercer, 20, subjected doorman Jean Luc Abenou to a barrage of abuse at another bar after she was wrongly accused of stealing a wallet. Southwark crown court heard she called him a "f***ing black man" and added: "I will send you back to Jamaica where you belong ... BNP will get you all out."
She admitted racially aggravated harassment. Judge Nicholas Lorraine-Smith gave her a 12-month community order. She must do 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £150 costs. "Your behaviour was atrocious [but] what you shouted didn't betray your true views," he said.
The court heard Mercer, of Aldwych, spent the night of April 13 in bars including Fortnum in Piccadilly. She abused Mr Abenou in the Ku Bar, Soho.
This is London
Holly Mercer, 20, subjected doorman Jean Luc Abenou to a barrage of abuse at another bar after she was wrongly accused of stealing a wallet. Southwark crown court heard she called him a "f***ing black man" and added: "I will send you back to Jamaica where you belong ... BNP will get you all out."
She admitted racially aggravated harassment. Judge Nicholas Lorraine-Smith gave her a 12-month community order. She must do 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £150 costs. "Your behaviour was atrocious [but] what you shouted didn't betray your true views," he said.
The court heard Mercer, of Aldwych, spent the night of April 13 in bars including Fortnum in Piccadilly. She abused Mr Abenou in the Ku Bar, Soho.
This is London
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