A multicultural celebration is to be held outside the city centre on the same day that a rally by the English Defence League is planned for Bradford.
It was originally planned to be held in the city centre but has been moved following concerns that its presence there may increase the possibility of violence.
The peace event will now be held on Saturday, August 28, in Infirmary Fields, Manningham.
Police and Bradford Council have asked Home Secretary Theresa May to impose a ban on the planned EDL march. The decision could come as soon as today.
The Telegraph & Argus also supports the call, on the grounds that the EDL’s “anti-Islamification” stance is divisive and provocative, especially in a city such as Bradford with a high Muslim population.
A counter-protest by Unite Against Fascism is likely to take place if the EDL does descend upon Bradford in large numbers, provoking fears that there could be violent clashes. The UAF is thought to have allied itself to the multicultural celebration but organisers want it to be separate.
Jeanette Sunderland, Bradford Council’s Lib Dem leader and a member of member of the steering group organising the Manningham event, said: “Some people were suspicious of the motives of the UAF and thought that the event was being used by people who do not have the best of Bradford at heart.
“The Council and the police are going to back the event at Infirmary Fields and that will be policed by neighbourhood police with community stewards.”
She said it was not a demonstration, but an opportunity for people show their solidarity.
Bradford Together, a banner group campaigning to ban the EDL march, has previously expressed fears that extremists linking themselves to UAF may stir up trouble. The group has organised a peace vigil on Friday.
Paul Meszaros, of Bradford Together, said: “Any kind of counter-protest on the same day as the EDL come to Bradford would play right into the EDL’s hands. They want to have a provocative event in Bradford to provoke trouble.”
The ban has been supported by West Yorkshire’s Chief Constable, Sir Norman Bettison, the West Yorkshire Police Authority, Bradford Council’s Labour group and more than 10,000 people who signed a petition.
If granted, a ban would apply to a march by any protest group in the city centre but not static protests, which may still go ahead.
Mr Meszaros said: “At the moment, we are winning against the EDL’s plans – why play into their hands by holding any kind of counter-demonstration on the same day? Why just hand things back to them?”
The Telegraph and Argus
Friday, 20 August 2010
Jobless teen stuck BNP stickers on takeaway window and assaulted worker
A jobless teenager stuck British National Party (BNP) stickers on a pizza shop window before verbally and physically abusing its staff, a court heard.
Stephen Gary Paul Elstob admitted racially aggravated assault and criminal damage following the incident in Darlington on May 5.
Jonathan Bambro, prosecuting, told magistrates that Hakim Kadir was at work at Godfather's, in Cockerton, when he noticed a drunken Elstob at the window.
Mr Bambro said Elstob then shouted a string of racial abuse and as he did so he began to stick BNP stickers on the window.
Mr Kadir, who works as a delivery driver was later confronted by Elstob after he got in his car.
The 18-year-old opened the door of the Nissan Micra and punched Mr Kadir and then kicked and punched the car, causing £500 worth of damage.
He was later arrested and in interview gave no reply until he admitted to officers he had a problem with black and Asian people working in the UK. Elstob, of Eggleston View, Darlington, also admitted being in breach of a 12 month conditional discharge for possession of cannabis.
Mike Clarke, mitigating, said Elstob claimed there had been an injustice when his stepbrother was hit with a rolling pin by one of the take-away workers.
He said Elstob was also having difficulty after his mother had been given a "substantial" prison sentence for drugs offences.
Elstob was given 26 weeks in custody, suspended for two years, with a 12 month supervision order and 150 hours unpaid work.
He was also handed a restraining order stopping him from approaching or entering the shop, or molesting its staff.
He was also ordered to pay Mr Kadir £250 compensation.
The Northern Echo
Stephen Gary Paul Elstob admitted racially aggravated assault and criminal damage following the incident in Darlington on May 5.
Jonathan Bambro, prosecuting, told magistrates that Hakim Kadir was at work at Godfather's, in Cockerton, when he noticed a drunken Elstob at the window.
Mr Bambro said Elstob then shouted a string of racial abuse and as he did so he began to stick BNP stickers on the window.
Mr Kadir, who works as a delivery driver was later confronted by Elstob after he got in his car.
The 18-year-old opened the door of the Nissan Micra and punched Mr Kadir and then kicked and punched the car, causing £500 worth of damage.
He was later arrested and in interview gave no reply until he admitted to officers he had a problem with black and Asian people working in the UK. Elstob, of Eggleston View, Darlington, also admitted being in breach of a 12 month conditional discharge for possession of cannabis.
Mike Clarke, mitigating, said Elstob claimed there had been an injustice when his stepbrother was hit with a rolling pin by one of the take-away workers.
He said Elstob was also having difficulty after his mother had been given a "substantial" prison sentence for drugs offences.
Elstob was given 26 weeks in custody, suspended for two years, with a 12 month supervision order and 150 hours unpaid work.
He was also handed a restraining order stopping him from approaching or entering the shop, or molesting its staff.
He was also ordered to pay Mr Kadir £250 compensation.
The Northern Echo
PM'S ADVISER WANTS TO ABOLISH HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER (Czech Rep.)
Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas's future adviser Roman Joch will recommend to Necas that he abolish the Human Rights Commissioner Office that is headed by former human rights minister Michael Kocab, Joch said on Czech Radio Wednesday. He added he considers the office redundant. "The real commissioner for human rights is the constitution and therefore every judge is to be a human rights guarantor. We have the ombudsman, therefore having a kind of human rights tsar is an idea coming from the times of feudalism," Joch said. On the other hand, Joch said he would preserve the government's councils that deal with human rights because, he said, they solve real problems, therefore they are legitimate. Joch is to be Necas's human rights adviser. He said he does not know yet what pay he will have. He is to prepare analyses for bills that will be submitted to the government. About 100, mainly young people, protested against Joch working for the Government Office Wednesday. They said they consider his idea of human rights unfortunate. They recalled some of his previous statements, for instance, the one praising the late Chilean dictator August Pinochet. The demonstration was also joined by several of Joch's supporters who call him anti-Kocab.
Prague Monitor
Prague Monitor
Don't Listen to Racists About Tamil Refugees, Say Groups (Canada)
White supremacists are catching the media spotlight, labelling Tamil refugees as terrorists on national television, say anti-racism and immigration activists.
The groups are criticizing media for voicing the comments of Paul Fromm, widely regarded as one of Canada’s most vocal white supremacists.
Fromm joined the Aryan Guard at a protest in front of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s constituency office in Calgary last weekend.
As the MV Sun Sea landed in Esquimalt on Aug. 11, Fromm organized a rally as the leader of the Canada First Immigration Reform Committee to denounce the arrival. In an earlier press release, he alleged that the boat had drugs and explosives on board.
“Paul Fromm, now fronting as the leader of the Canada First Committee, is a known neo-Nazi leader and one of Canada’s most notorious white supremacists,” says Maitland Cassia with Anti Racist Action-Vancouver.
“Fromm has spoken at Heritage Front (a disbanded neo-Nazi group) events, including a celebration of Hitler's birthday. He cannot be given an uncritical platform to spew his hate.”
The group said the prominent media coverage given to Fromm and his cohorts by the Toronto Star, Canadian Press, CTV, and CFAX 1070 barely mentioned Fromm’s neo-Nazi connections or his white supremacist background.
“Government officials and media outlets should all be aware about his extremist white supremacist links, and should report on them,” says Shane Calder of the Victoria Anti Racist Network.
“It should be absolutely unacceptable that well-known neo-Nazis and white supremacists are openly organizing rallies for the ship to be sent back. We should all be organizing counter-rallies in response to their hateful and oppressive views.”
While concerns have remained that the refugees could include terrorists from the Tamil Tigers, others are more concerned about the international failure to address the widespread abuses of the Sri Lankan authorities.
“The arrival of the 490 Tamil boat people seeking refuge in Canada is a symptom of the continued humanitarian suffering in Sri Lanka. It’s time for the government of Canada to rally international efforts to pressure the Sri Lankan government improve living conditions on the ground,” says a statement from the New Democratic Party.
NDP Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar says Canada hasn’t paid enough attention to the plight of Tamils after the bloody civil war there.
“Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of displaced people continued to be targeted for brutal human rights violations in government-run camps in unhealthy and unsafe conditions and without access to international aid agencies,” Dewar says.
The NDP have urged the Conservative government to support efforts to rebuild the country, ensure the safety of civilians and spearhead international efforts to mediate a lasting political solution there. The conflict has its roots in policies that discriminated against Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority.
Dewar says such measures may have pre-empted the 490 migrants aboard the MV Sun Sea taking the drastic measure of boarding a boat for Canada.
The groups are criticizing media for voicing the comments of Paul Fromm, widely regarded as one of Canada’s most vocal white supremacists.
Fromm joined the Aryan Guard at a protest in front of Immigration Minister Jason Kenney’s constituency office in Calgary last weekend.
As the MV Sun Sea landed in Esquimalt on Aug. 11, Fromm organized a rally as the leader of the Canada First Immigration Reform Committee to denounce the arrival. In an earlier press release, he alleged that the boat had drugs and explosives on board.
“Paul Fromm, now fronting as the leader of the Canada First Committee, is a known neo-Nazi leader and one of Canada’s most notorious white supremacists,” says Maitland Cassia with Anti Racist Action-Vancouver.
“Fromm has spoken at Heritage Front (a disbanded neo-Nazi group) events, including a celebration of Hitler's birthday. He cannot be given an uncritical platform to spew his hate.”
The group said the prominent media coverage given to Fromm and his cohorts by the Toronto Star, Canadian Press, CTV, and CFAX 1070 barely mentioned Fromm’s neo-Nazi connections or his white supremacist background.
“Government officials and media outlets should all be aware about his extremist white supremacist links, and should report on them,” says Shane Calder of the Victoria Anti Racist Network.
“It should be absolutely unacceptable that well-known neo-Nazis and white supremacists are openly organizing rallies for the ship to be sent back. We should all be organizing counter-rallies in response to their hateful and oppressive views.”
While concerns have remained that the refugees could include terrorists from the Tamil Tigers, others are more concerned about the international failure to address the widespread abuses of the Sri Lankan authorities.
“The arrival of the 490 Tamil boat people seeking refuge in Canada is a symptom of the continued humanitarian suffering in Sri Lanka. It’s time for the government of Canada to rally international efforts to pressure the Sri Lankan government improve living conditions on the ground,” says a statement from the New Democratic Party.
NDP Foreign Affairs critic Paul Dewar says Canada hasn’t paid enough attention to the plight of Tamils after the bloody civil war there.
“Meanwhile hundreds of thousands of displaced people continued to be targeted for brutal human rights violations in government-run camps in unhealthy and unsafe conditions and without access to international aid agencies,” Dewar says.
The NDP have urged the Conservative government to support efforts to rebuild the country, ensure the safety of civilians and spearhead international efforts to mediate a lasting political solution there. The conflict has its roots in policies that discriminated against Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority.
Dewar says such measures may have pre-empted the 490 migrants aboard the MV Sun Sea taking the drastic measure of boarding a boat for Canada.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)