Nazi Rudolf Hess exhumed from 'pilgrimage' grave

The grave containing the remains of Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess has been destroyed to end it being used as a pilgrimage site by neo-Nazis.

Hess's bones were exhumed at the graveyard in the small town of Wunsiedel, southern Germany, in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The remains will be cremated and then scattered at sea.

Hess was captured in 1941 and sentenced to life in prison. He killed himself in jail in 1987 at the age of 93.

As he requested in his will, he was buried in the Bavarian town of Wunsiedel, where his family had a holiday home and where his parents were already interred.

The local Lutheran church which supervises the cemetery gave its permission for the burial at the time, ruling that the wishes of the deceased could not be ignored, the Suddeutsche Zeitung reports.

But they and local people have since become concerned by the number of far-right groups visiting the grave. Each year on the anniversary of his death, neo-Nazis have attempted to staged a march to the cemetery, saluting the grave, with its epitaph "I dared" and laying floral wreaths.

A 2005 court order banning such gatherings had little effect so the church decided to terminate the family's lease on the grave as of October 2011.

A granddaughter of Hess objected to the decision, the paper reports. She filed a lawsuit in an attempt to prevent it going ahead, but was eventually persuaded by the parish council to drop the case and allow the exhumation to go ahead.

Hess was one of Hitler's closest aides, but in 1941 he parachuted into Scotland in an apparently authorised solo peace mission, which was later denounced by the fuhrer.

He was imprisoned by the British for the duration of the war, and jailed for life at the Nuremberg trials in 1946. He spent 40 years in Spandau Prison in Berlin before being found hanged in his cell.

BBC News

British Public Most Likely to Blame the Media for Islamophobia

 A new ComRes survey on Islamophobia - the fear of the Muslim faith - reveals that people think that the media is most to blame for whipping up a climate of fear of Islam in the UK.

People are twice as likely to say the media is to blame for Islamophobia (29%) than far-right groups (13%), or indeed Muslims themselves either abroad (14%) or in the UK (11%).

Conservative Party Chairman, Sayeeda Warsi, recently said Islamophobia had 'passed the dinner table test', becoming a social norm.  Indeed, just 1% of people do not think that Islamophobia exists in the UK.

The poll was commissioned by one of the UK's oldest Muslim groups, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, in order to inform its plans to counter the tide of prejudice against Islam and highlight strategies to promote better community relations.

The poll comes on the eve of Britain's biggest annual Islamic convention which will see 30,000 members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community gathering at a 220-acre site in Hampshire. Foremost on the agenda will be ways to build bridges between communities and spread the word that Islam means peace.

Ahmadiyya Muslims recently launched a 'Muslims for Loyalty, Freedom & Peace' campaign with bus adverts, door-to-door pamphleting, fundraising for UK charities, blood donor sessions, inter-faith sessions, peace symposiums and more across the UK.

Now, at the annual convention between July 22-24, community members will reassert their ethos Love for All, Hatred for None, by pledging to counter hatemongers and extremism through a commitment to peace and amity.

Rafiq Hayat, National President Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, said:

"The results of the survey reveal that more needs to be done to refocus media attention on the valuable contributions Muslims make to Britain and rather than excessively focusing on the troublemakers who scream at us through media headlines but have nothing to do with Islam. Their nefarious activities do a disservice to this country and are an affront to our faith.

"The poll shows quite clearly that there needs to be greater positive engagement between the media and Muslims in order to address Islamophobia in the UK."

Following the furore over the Pastor Jones controversy in the US, the ComRes survey also investigated perceptions over the Islamic scripture, the Holy Quran. Just 14% of the British public agree that the Quran justifies the use of violence against others.

"It is heartening to learn that the vast majority of people realise that there is no religious justification for terror and violence and the Holy Quran does not sanction hatred or discrimination. It states clearly that there is no compulsion in matters of religion."

The survey does throw up other interesting results:

    * Muslims abroad (14%) are deemed to be more responsible than far right political groups (13%) and UK Muslims (11%) for contributing to Islamophobia.

    * Younger people are more likely to think that the media is responsible for Islamophobia than older people - 40% of 18-24 years olds think this, compared to just 18% of people 65 and over.

    * People who say that they do not belong to any religion (33%) are more likely to say that the media is responsible for Islamophobia than people who say that they are Christian (27%).

    * Just 7% of people from social group C1 agree that the Quran justifies the use of violence against non-Muslims - this compares to 17% of people from group AB, 16% from group C2 and 15% from group DE.


Andrew Hawkins, ComRes Chairman, said:

"Two-thirds of the public do not believe the Quran justifies the use of violence against non-Muslims, providing evidence of the public's predominantly tolerant, liberal view of religious minorities.  British Muslims should also be encouraged that only one in ten of the British public believe they are to blame for Islamophobia.  Instead, more than four in ten British people say the media or the far-right are principally to blame for it."

Methodology: ComRes interviewed 1004 GB adults by telephone between the 8th and 10th July 2011. Data were weighted to be demographically representative of all GB adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abide by its rules. Full data tables available at http://www.comres.co.uk

Contact

Basharat Nazir media@ahmadiyya.org.uk , Tel +44(0)7703-483-384

http://www.loveforallhatredfornone.org

http://www.alislam.org

PR Newswire

Hate crime probe after pig’s head thrown at Southport Mosque (UK)

Police are investigating a hate crime against Southport’s Muslims after a pig’s head was thrown at Southport Mosque.

The dead animal was found lying outside the mosque on the night of Wednesday July 6.

It had been thrown over the wall of the place of worship on Sussex Road.

The pig is particularly offensive to Muslims as they regard the animal as unclean. Islam bans them from eating or touching the animal.

Police confirmed they were treating the incident as a hate crime which was being investigated by their specialist SIGMA team.

A spokesman for the Sussex Road mosque told the Visiter the pig head attack was a one-off incident and they had not had any similar incident.

“In general nothing of this nature has ever happened,” he said. “It was an isolated incident.”

Detectives are now investigating and following leads from the attack.

And last night Southport’s religious leaders united to condemn the attack.

Reverend Rod Garner from Holy Trinity Church on Manchester Road said: “It is disturbing, disappointing and disgusting.

“We have to be vigilant so as to protect other religions and their faith.”

He called on religions to learn from their own history and to teach tolerance.

And Reverend Richard Vernon from the Lakeside Christian Centre on the Promenade said: “I’m saddened to hear that such a thing would take place.

“It is disheartening to think people can behave like that. I’ve never heard of anything like that before.

“Whatever people’s religious belief that kind of behaviour is to be condemned.”

Police were called at 11.10pm to Sussex Road to reports a pig’s head had been thrown over a wall into the mosque’s grounds.

The head of the dead animal was taken away for forensic examination.

But the Visiter understands the incident was not caught on CCTV.

Superintendent Kevin Johnson said: “Merseyside Police will always take robust action when investigating reports of hate crimes.

“We are following up on some positive lines of enquiry in this case and we are confident that we will catch those responsible for this highly offensive act.

“The force has a number of specialist SIGMA investigation teams, which are dedicated to investigating crimes targeted at minority and vulnerable groups.

“One such team is leading this investigation and working with the relevant religious leaders.”

Merseyside Police is appealing to anyone who witnessed this incident, or who has information, to contact 0151 777 3165, or Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Southport Visitor

Cumbria police increases number of hate crime reporting centres (UK)

From a spice shop to Carlisle Library, hate crime reporting centres have been extended across the county.

Cumbria Constabulary has extended its range of Third Party Reporting Centres to encourage victims who may not be comfortable reporting hate crime at a police station.

They now have 79 centres covering Cumbria, ranging from community centres, hospitals and health centres to housing associations, a library and HDM Spice, on Brook Street in Carlisle.

The centres offer a “safe, neutral location” for victims and witnesses, officers say.

A force spokesman said victims or witnesses could complete a form at the centre – with help if required – or take it away to complete at home. Forms can be forwarded to police, anonymously if preferred.

The full item can be read at News & Star