Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office BKA has blitzed a group of right-wing extremists operating an internet radio station. Nearly 270 constables conducted raids in the federal states of Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Berlin, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Baden-Wuerttemberg. The coppers arrested 21 suspects who had their laptops, PCs, HDDs and mobile phones seized, as well as various objects falling under German weapons law.
A total of 23 people, aged 20 to 37, are suspected of being admins and mods of the station called "Widerstand-Radio" (Resistance Radio). Prosecutors are accusing them of forming a criminal conspiracy, as well as playing music with racist and National Socialist content. Books, movies and music can be banned and seized in Germany if they feature illegal content, such as praising the Third Reich or denying the Holocaust.
BKA president Joerg Ziercke said Germany's right-wing scene was showing clear signs of modernising its mobilisation and recruitment strategies. Music was being used to target youths and young adults. Ziercke added the raids and arrests should be understood as a clear signal to operators of other right-wing extremist internet radio stations. The BKA raided sellers of right-wing music who auctioned their goods through Ebay back in 2008. Nearly 3,500 CDs were seized, including 24 PCs and various militaria and devotionalia.
Germany's far-right party NPD and other far-right groups tried luring hapless pupils into their trap by handing out so-called "Schulhof-CDs" (schoolyard CDs) to youngsters going home from school. Around 50,000 CDs were produced, however a court issued a denial order and kept them from being handed out.
Tech Eye
Wednesday, 3 November 2010
Survivor speaks of need to remember Holocaust
AN IRISH-RESIDENT survivor of a Nazi concentration camp gave a personal account of his experience to students in UCD last night and described a poor level of understanding in Ireland of the genocide.
In his address, Tomi Reichental discussed growing up as a Jewish child in occupied Slovakia and the torment of seeing thousands of dead bodies in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Mr Reichental said there was a need to educate and inform people about the Holocaust in Ireland in order to overcome anti-Semitic sentiment and all other forms of racism and intolerance.
He had kept silent most of his adult life about what he saw in Belsen, until about four years ago when he began working with the the Holocaust Education Trust. He is one of the few people living in Ireland to have witnessed Nazi genocide at first hand.
Mr Reichental said he can still remember the camp’s crematoriums in 1945 being unable to cope with the vast numbers of corpses as “thousands of bodies were left by the Nazis to decay”.
Describing Belsen, he said: “There were no gas chambers in the camp, but people were dying and wasting away from starvation.”
Irish Times
In his address, Tomi Reichental discussed growing up as a Jewish child in occupied Slovakia and the torment of seeing thousands of dead bodies in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Mr Reichental said there was a need to educate and inform people about the Holocaust in Ireland in order to overcome anti-Semitic sentiment and all other forms of racism and intolerance.
He had kept silent most of his adult life about what he saw in Belsen, until about four years ago when he began working with the the Holocaust Education Trust. He is one of the few people living in Ireland to have witnessed Nazi genocide at first hand.
Mr Reichental said he can still remember the camp’s crematoriums in 1945 being unable to cope with the vast numbers of corpses as “thousands of bodies were left by the Nazis to decay”.
Describing Belsen, he said: “There were no gas chambers in the camp, but people were dying and wasting away from starvation.”
Irish Times
Paper defends pulling 'anti-Semitic' cartoon (Sweden)
An editor at Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) has defended his decision to remove an installment of a popular comic strip from the newspaper's website after he deemed it anti-Semitic.
DN culture editor Björn Wiman on Monday removed a version of the popular comic strip Rocky from the newspaper's website, in which characters in the cartoon referred to "the Jews at Bonnier."
Bonnier refers to Bonnier Group, a Sweden-based media group and publisher of DN. The group is controlled by the Bonnier family, which is descended from German Jewish immigrants. Alfred Bonnier moved to Sweden in the 1820s and started a publishing empire that has become of the country's most influential companies.
The strip was originally published in DN's print edition last summer without incident, but only made its way on to DN's website on Monday in the paper's På Stan (On the Town) blog.
Several hours later, the strip was removed, prompting a number of complaints.
"Many [believe] that the anti-Semitic cliché about 'the Jews at Bonnier' was used obviously ironically and it was wrong of me to remove the series from DN's website," Wiman on his blog on Monday.
"I could probably have worded my motivation better, but the bottom line is that I do not think it was equally clear to many others that the term was used ironically and that the strip would be in this case a funny work mocking anti-Semitic conspiracy theories."
Wiman explained that unaware readers could have easily missed the cartoon's irony and instead interpreted the cartoon as containing a purely anti-Semitic message.
"Those who missed it would as such perceive the series as anti-Semitic, even if the intention behind it is the exact opposite. Spread outside the context of DN readers who are acquainted with Rocky, it would become even more difficult to determine. Against this backdrop, it was natural to remove it," Wiman stated.
Speaking on Monday with the Dagens Media newspaper, Wiman stated clearly that the cartoon "should never have been published. It contained an anti-Semitic message."
He explained that the comic strip had been published automatically on the På Stan blog, but was removed as soon as he became aware of it.
Wiman blamed the controversial Rocky installment's original publication in DN's print edition on the fact that the newspaper's regular staff was not fully in place during the summer months.
"These are things that happen, but what was also tricky was the anti-Semitic message. They can sneak in under all possible circumstances," he told Dagens Media.
In the first frame of the strip, Rocky complains to a friend about his problems with women.
"I'm beginning to suspect that it's the Jews at Bonnier who are behind the fact that all the girls I fall for are evil," the strip reads.
Rocky then adds that his hypothesis is "just a theory," that he "could be wrong" and "It could be a coincidence," prompting his friend to say, "It could be your own fault."
In the closing frame of the strip, Rocky replies, "It could be my own fault, but things point toward it being the Jews..."
DN is owned by Bonnier, but according to Wiman, he personally decided to remove the strip, authored by artist Martin Kellerman.
"Does it mean I think that Martin Kellerman is anti-Semitic? No. Does that mean that I am a bore? Yes. At least in this case," he wrote on his blog.
Collaboration with Martin Kellerman has continued as usual, he added.
Rocky is an autobiographical comic strip drawn by artist Martin Kellerman that focusses on an anthropomorphic dog, Rocky, and his friends in Stockholm. Kellerman created the strip after his girlfriend broke up with him and he was fired from his job as a cartoonist for a pornographic magazine.
The strip was initially picked up by the free newspaper Metro 1998 and moved from publication to publication after multiple newspapers cancelled the strip due to reader complaints over profanity and sexual content.
Attempts by The Local to reach Kellerman and Wiman for comment were unsuccessful.
The Local Sweden
DN culture editor Björn Wiman on Monday removed a version of the popular comic strip Rocky from the newspaper's website, in which characters in the cartoon referred to "the Jews at Bonnier."
Bonnier refers to Bonnier Group, a Sweden-based media group and publisher of DN. The group is controlled by the Bonnier family, which is descended from German Jewish immigrants. Alfred Bonnier moved to Sweden in the 1820s and started a publishing empire that has become of the country's most influential companies.
The strip was originally published in DN's print edition last summer without incident, but only made its way on to DN's website on Monday in the paper's På Stan (On the Town) blog.
Several hours later, the strip was removed, prompting a number of complaints.
"Many [believe] that the anti-Semitic cliché about 'the Jews at Bonnier' was used obviously ironically and it was wrong of me to remove the series from DN's website," Wiman on his blog on Monday.
"I could probably have worded my motivation better, but the bottom line is that I do not think it was equally clear to many others that the term was used ironically and that the strip would be in this case a funny work mocking anti-Semitic conspiracy theories."
Wiman explained that unaware readers could have easily missed the cartoon's irony and instead interpreted the cartoon as containing a purely anti-Semitic message.
"Those who missed it would as such perceive the series as anti-Semitic, even if the intention behind it is the exact opposite. Spread outside the context of DN readers who are acquainted with Rocky, it would become even more difficult to determine. Against this backdrop, it was natural to remove it," Wiman stated.
Speaking on Monday with the Dagens Media newspaper, Wiman stated clearly that the cartoon "should never have been published. It contained an anti-Semitic message."
He explained that the comic strip had been published automatically on the På Stan blog, but was removed as soon as he became aware of it.
Wiman blamed the controversial Rocky installment's original publication in DN's print edition on the fact that the newspaper's regular staff was not fully in place during the summer months.
"These are things that happen, but what was also tricky was the anti-Semitic message. They can sneak in under all possible circumstances," he told Dagens Media.
In the first frame of the strip, Rocky complains to a friend about his problems with women.
"I'm beginning to suspect that it's the Jews at Bonnier who are behind the fact that all the girls I fall for are evil," the strip reads.
Rocky then adds that his hypothesis is "just a theory," that he "could be wrong" and "It could be a coincidence," prompting his friend to say, "It could be your own fault."
In the closing frame of the strip, Rocky replies, "It could be my own fault, but things point toward it being the Jews..."
DN is owned by Bonnier, but according to Wiman, he personally decided to remove the strip, authored by artist Martin Kellerman.
"Does it mean I think that Martin Kellerman is anti-Semitic? No. Does that mean that I am a bore? Yes. At least in this case," he wrote on his blog.
Collaboration with Martin Kellerman has continued as usual, he added.
Rocky is an autobiographical comic strip drawn by artist Martin Kellerman that focusses on an anthropomorphic dog, Rocky, and his friends in Stockholm. Kellerman created the strip after his girlfriend broke up with him and he was fired from his job as a cartoonist for a pornographic magazine.
The strip was initially picked up by the free newspaper Metro 1998 and moved from publication to publication after multiple newspapers cancelled the strip due to reader complaints over profanity and sexual content.
Attempts by The Local to reach Kellerman and Wiman for comment were unsuccessful.
The Local Sweden
White supremacist arrested again (USA)
Allen Goff, a teenager believed to be the leader of a local white supremacist group, was in jail Tuesday night after Billings police officers arrested him on suspicion of pointing a gun at a man and threatening to kill him.
According to a press release from police Sgt. Scott Conrad, Goff, 18, was arrested shortly before 8 p.m. after he walked up to a car parked at Sears, at 1515 Grand Ave. Conrad said that Goff pointed a gun at the driver and threatened to kill him “without provocation.”
The person behind the wheel drove to a nearby business and called the police. A short time later, officers found Goff hiding at a home at 1731 Ave. C and arrested him.
He was booked into the Yellowstone County Detention Facility on suspicion of felony assault with a weapon and misdemeanor counts of obstructing justice and probation violation.
Officers were working Tuesday night to obtain a search warrant for Goff’s car and the home where he was found.
Goff is reportedly the leader of the Montana Creators Assembly, a branch of a white supremacist group called the Creativity Movement.
In 2009 he was charged with felony assault with a weapon for shooting another man in the knee. In that case, prosecutors tried to convict him of a hate crime by saying that the shooting was motivated by race. However, the judge threw out evidence and ruled it was not racially motivated.
This May, Goff pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon and a jury acquitted him of the felony.
A few months later, he was charged with a probation violation for allegedly stealing a hat worth $19.50.
billings Gazzette
According to a press release from police Sgt. Scott Conrad, Goff, 18, was arrested shortly before 8 p.m. after he walked up to a car parked at Sears, at 1515 Grand Ave. Conrad said that Goff pointed a gun at the driver and threatened to kill him “without provocation.”
The person behind the wheel drove to a nearby business and called the police. A short time later, officers found Goff hiding at a home at 1731 Ave. C and arrested him.
He was booked into the Yellowstone County Detention Facility on suspicion of felony assault with a weapon and misdemeanor counts of obstructing justice and probation violation.
Officers were working Tuesday night to obtain a search warrant for Goff’s car and the home where he was found.
Goff is reportedly the leader of the Montana Creators Assembly, a branch of a white supremacist group called the Creativity Movement.
In 2009 he was charged with felony assault with a weapon for shooting another man in the knee. In that case, prosecutors tried to convict him of a hate crime by saying that the shooting was motivated by race. However, the judge threw out evidence and ruled it was not racially motivated.
This May, Goff pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon and a jury acquitted him of the felony.
A few months later, he was charged with a probation violation for allegedly stealing a hat worth $19.50.
billings Gazzette
Dutch recall 'fascist' number plates (Netherlands)
Dutch authorities have recalled about 100 number plates issued to new cars with the letters "NSB" -- the acronym of the World War II-era fascist National Socialist Movement, a spokesman said Tuesday.
"There appears to have been a programming error that was discovered on Monday morning," Dutch Vehicle Authority (RDW) spokesman Hans van Geenhuizen told AFP.
NSB is one of several letter combinations, also including KKK (for Ku Klux Klan) and PKK (for the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party), that have been programmed not to come up when new plate numbers are automatically generated, he said.
"Being reminded of the NSB leaves most Dutch people uneasy."
New plates have been issued to all affected cars, none of which have left the shop floor.
The RDW also has a ban on letter combinations with the names of political parties, swear words, or the PSV of football club Eindhoven.
"If you live in Amsterdam and you are a staunch Ajax supporter, you might not feel very happy driving around in a car marked PSV," explained Van Geenhuizen
Google Hosted News
"There appears to have been a programming error that was discovered on Monday morning," Dutch Vehicle Authority (RDW) spokesman Hans van Geenhuizen told AFP.
NSB is one of several letter combinations, also including KKK (for Ku Klux Klan) and PKK (for the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party), that have been programmed not to come up when new plate numbers are automatically generated, he said.
"Being reminded of the NSB leaves most Dutch people uneasy."
New plates have been issued to all affected cars, none of which have left the shop floor.
The RDW also has a ban on letter combinations with the names of political parties, swear words, or the PSV of football club Eindhoven.
"If you live in Amsterdam and you are a staunch Ajax supporter, you might not feel very happy driving around in a car marked PSV," explained Van Geenhuizen
Google Hosted News
Racist robbers target boy, 13 (UK)
Robbers set upon a teenager in what police described as a racially motivated attack.
Detectives today appealed for witnesses or any information about the attack on a 13-year-old boy which happened in Heckmondwike.
Just before 4.30pm on October 21 the unnamed victim, who is Asian, was walking along Quarry Street towards Heckmondwike when he was approached by three teenagers.
The group – two boys and a girl who were white – started to talk to the victim but then attacked him when he refused to carry one of the boys' bags.
He fled, but at the junction of Huddersfield and Halifax Road just minutes later the same group set upon him, leaving the victim with minor injuries.
The first boy was around 5ft 6in tall and wearing a blue Lonsdale top, a blue woolly hat and dark trousers.
The second was around 5ft tall, chubby and wore a black hooded top with the hood up.
The girl was around 5ft 5in tall, had blonde hair in a pony tail and wore a black blazer.
Call police on 01924 295 351 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.
Yorkshire Evening Post
Detectives today appealed for witnesses or any information about the attack on a 13-year-old boy which happened in Heckmondwike.
Just before 4.30pm on October 21 the unnamed victim, who is Asian, was walking along Quarry Street towards Heckmondwike when he was approached by three teenagers.
The group – two boys and a girl who were white – started to talk to the victim but then attacked him when he refused to carry one of the boys' bags.
He fled, but at the junction of Huddersfield and Halifax Road just minutes later the same group set upon him, leaving the victim with minor injuries.
The first boy was around 5ft 6in tall and wearing a blue Lonsdale top, a blue woolly hat and dark trousers.
The second was around 5ft tall, chubby and wore a black hooded top with the hood up.
The girl was around 5ft 5in tall, had blonde hair in a pony tail and wore a black blazer.
Call police on 01924 295 351 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.
Yorkshire Evening Post
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