The website on which the leaked Sweden Democrat membership list was published has been shut down by the web hosting company where the domain name was registered.
The site, sverigedemokrater.se, was registered with Swedish web hosting from Binero under the company name of Gottfrid Swartholm Warg, founder of The Pirate Bay.
The site’s content, however, is hosted by PRQ, the same company that hosts Wikileaks.
However, when Binero discovered that Swartholm Warg was in fact not the owner of the account, it shut down the domain and contacted police.
“The web should be free, but no wild west,” Binero founder and CEO Anders Aleborg said in a statement.
“We have fought hard to improve the reputation of the hosting business for years, and whenever we find faulty user information, we act.”
The site went live on September 20th, the day following a stunning electoral performance by the Sweden Democrats which gave them 20 seats in the Riksdag.
It contained personal data, including telephone numbers, email addresses, and maps to the homes of thousands of people who were either members of the Sweden Democrats or had requested information about the party.
The data featured on the site, which had a slogan of “Find a buddy near you“, is believed to have been obtained from an April 16th hacker attack of the Sweden Democrats’ official website.
Binero added that, although PRQ is legal responsible for the content of the site hosted on its servers, Binero is within its rights to shut down the site’s domain if there are suspicions of false user information, which amounts to a breach of contract.
The Local Se
Friday, 24 September 2010
MTV, Magyar Rádió block Jobbik ads (Hungary)
Magyar Rádió has refused to broadcast Jobbik's party political broadcasts, saying this would be tantamount to a covert offending of the Roma minority.
"MTV did not even bother to inform Jobbik that the election advertisement will not be broadcast on Thursday," party spokeswoman Dóra Dúró told the Independent News Agency. "Jobbik uses the term Gypsy crime in the criminological sense of the word, not in the ethnic one," she added.
Jobbik will now appeal to the National Election Commission because two state-run media outlets are impeding the dissemination of the party's political views, Dúró said.
MTV later said in a statement that political advertisements must meet specifications laid down in the respective legal regulations and Jobbik's advertisement does not meet those requirements as it contains misleading claims and violates privacy rights.
Politics Hu
"MTV did not even bother to inform Jobbik that the election advertisement will not be broadcast on Thursday," party spokeswoman Dóra Dúró told the Independent News Agency. "Jobbik uses the term Gypsy crime in the criminological sense of the word, not in the ethnic one," she added.
Jobbik will now appeal to the National Election Commission because two state-run media outlets are impeding the dissemination of the party's political views, Dúró said.
MTV later said in a statement that political advertisements must meet specifications laid down in the respective legal regulations and Jobbik's advertisement does not meet those requirements as it contains misleading claims and violates privacy rights.
Politics Hu
Irving banned from leading Auschwitz tour
Imprisoned by Austria in 2006 for Holocaust denial, the historian started a tour around Poland this week with a group of people from the US and Australia and wants to present his, revisionist, interpretation of World War II history.
Irving, the author of several books which question elements of established Holocaust history, has claimed that much of what visitors to Auschwitz see today is a “reconstruction” and a Polish “money making machine”.
Though his original itinerary did not include the most infamous site of the Holocaust, the 72 year-old Irving has confirmed that he intends to lead his tour party around the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.
Irving will probably arrive at Auschwitz on 30 September but has not informed the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum about the visit. The museum says it will not be allowing him to lead a tour as he is not a bona fide qualified guide, however.
“David Irving cannot lead a tour group at Auschwitz because he is not licensed,” said director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum Bartosz Bartyzel.
“He can visit the museum, like anyone else, but we will watch him closely and if he starts telling lies about the Holocaust, we will take action,” Bartyzel assured.
The director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum admitted, however, that it will be difficult to establish if a person who heads a group serves as a guide, or is just a group member.
“If I’m refused the right to enter a concentration camp or if I’m forced out, it will be methods such as the Nazi used,” David Irving told Italian daily Corriere della Sera after officials at the former Treblinka death camp announced that they will not let the British historian enter.
Irving’s tour has angered Poland’s small Jewish community. "Mr Irving is not a historian but a charlatan and a vicious liar," said Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich.
Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) says that it is following Irving’s steps in Poland to make sure he does not commit another “Holocaust related crime”. “We know where he is, what he’s doing and what he’s saying,” assured Marcin Golebiewicz from IPN.
Denying facts about the Holocaust is punishable by up to three in prison in Poland.
The news Pl
'Koran burning': men expect to be charged with inciting racial hatred (UK)
The men, all but one of them members of the far-right English Defence League, set fire to what appears to be the Muslim holy books on the anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities in the United States.
They say they carried out the “private joke” as a riposte to historical images of Muslim extremists burning American flags and effigies of western leaders.
However, all six insist that they have no idea who actually posted the video onto the internet, and say they now “bitterly regret” the stunt. All are now on bail pending further police inquiries.
The clip, recorded in the back yard of a public house in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, has been broadly condemned by other YouTube users, some of whom have expressed concern that British soldiers in Afghanistan could be targeted as a direct result.
They were marshalled by a man wearing a jacket bearing the logo: “English Defence League, Gateshead Division”.
The group admit to having been drinking at The Bugle in Felling, Gateshead, ahead of a Newcastle United match.
“It wasn’t anyone’s idea as such,” said the spokesman, who agreed to speak only on condition that all six remained anonymous.
“People are sick of British soldiers being killed out in Afghanistan and then being spat at and called baby killers when they come home.”
He added: “The last thing we would want is for any British soldier to be hurt as a result of this clip going out on YouTube”.
Speaking over a jukebox playing the rock song `This is England`, he claimed the decision to burn the books was taken“spontaneously”, with the group and about a dozen onlookers moving into the back yard.
Some wrapped tea-towels around their heads as the first book went up in flames.
On the video members of the gang are heard shouting: “This is for the boys in Afghanistan. September 11, international Burn a Koran Day, for all the people of 9/11. This is how we do it in Gateshead, right.”
They are then shown burning a second book.
Police visited The Bugle last Wednesday after the video was posted online and two men were arrested on suspicion of stirring racial hatred. They have since been released on bail.
Four more men were arrested and bailed on Wednesday pending further inquiries, Northumbria Police said.
“The arrests followed the burning of what are believed to have been two Korans in Gateshead on September 11,” a spokesman said.
He added that the men were not arrested for watching or distributing the video, but on suspicion of burning the Koran.
Gateshead Council and the force issued a joint statement to stress that community relations in the area were good.
It said: “The kind of behaviour displayed in this video is not at all representative of our community as a whole.
“Our community is one of mutual respect and we continue to work together with community leaders, residents and people of all faiths and beliefs to maintain good community relations.”
The incident follows tensions in America after an extremist Florida pastor threatened to burn 200 copies of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York.
Terry Jones faced an international outcry when he announced the plan, which he later abandoned.
The Telegraph
Recordings disputed in bombing case (USA)
Recordings made by a paid informant should not be used at the trial of white supremacist twin brothers charged with an Arizona bombing, lawyers say.
U.S. District Judge David Campbell heard evidence Wednesday on the role Rebecca Williams played in building a case against Dennis and Daniel Mahon, The Arizona Republic reported. The brothers allegedly carried out a 2004 bombing aimed at Don Logan, then the diversity director in Scottsdale.
Williams acknowledged she was paid for getting close to the Mahons and said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents promised her $100,000 if they were convicted.
"I'm a girl, and they're guys," she said. "Guys like to talk to pretty girls."
Deborah Williams, representing Dennis Mahon, described the informant's operation as "an emotional assault on Mr. Mahon that was both outrageous and 'shocking to the universal sense of justice.'"
The 60-year-old brothers are scheduled to go on trial next year. Campbell said he expects to rule this week on the motion to suppress the recordings.
Investigators say the brothers are close to White Aryan Resistance and have acknowledged white supremacist views.
Logan, who was severely injured in the bombing, now works for Glendale, Ariz.
UPI.com
U.S. District Judge David Campbell heard evidence Wednesday on the role Rebecca Williams played in building a case against Dennis and Daniel Mahon, The Arizona Republic reported. The brothers allegedly carried out a 2004 bombing aimed at Don Logan, then the diversity director in Scottsdale.
Williams acknowledged she was paid for getting close to the Mahons and said Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents promised her $100,000 if they were convicted.
"I'm a girl, and they're guys," she said. "Guys like to talk to pretty girls."
Deborah Williams, representing Dennis Mahon, described the informant's operation as "an emotional assault on Mr. Mahon that was both outrageous and 'shocking to the universal sense of justice.'"
The 60-year-old brothers are scheduled to go on trial next year. Campbell said he expects to rule this week on the motion to suppress the recordings.
Investigators say the brothers are close to White Aryan Resistance and have acknowledged white supremacist views.
Logan, who was severely injured in the bombing, now works for Glendale, Ariz.
UPI.com
MENTALLY ILL RUSSIAN CAGEFIGHTER ARRESTED IN NORWAY AFTER HOSPITAL BREAK-OUT (Russia/Norway)
RIA Novosti
VVD Liberals overtake anti-Islam party in latest poll (Netherlands)
The right-wing VVD Liberals have overtaken Geert Wilders’ anti-Islam PVV in the latest Synovate opinion poll, news agency Novum reports on Friday.
The VVD is now on 32 seats, one up on its total in the June election, while the PVV is on 31, up seven.
Labour, which has 30 seats in the current parliament, is down at 28, but this is up two on its previous Synovate poll showing. D66 is also up two at 13
But the Christian Democrats, who hope to form a government with the VVD and PVV, are down at 14 seats, one down on last week and a record low in support
Dutch News
The VVD is now on 32 seats, one up on its total in the June election, while the PVV is on 31, up seven.
Labour, which has 30 seats in the current parliament, is down at 28, but this is up two on its previous Synovate poll showing. D66 is also up two at 13
But the Christian Democrats, who hope to form a government with the VVD and PVV, are down at 14 seats, one down on last week and a record low in support
Dutch News
INDONESIAN AMBASSADOR 'UNWISE' TO SAY PVV VOTERS MAY BE 'PSYCHOTIC' (Netherlands)
PVV leader Geert Wilders has urged the Dutch foreign minister to summon Indonesia’s ambassador to the Netherlands because of his ‘scandalous statements’ about the anti-Islam party and its supporters. Ambassador Yunus Effendi Habibie says in an interview with Thursday’s Financieele Dagblad that the planned October visit by Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhynono would be ‘very much in doubt’ if the PVV is part of the next coalition government. ‘Of course the president will not come here if there is someone in the cabinet who says Islam is backward. I do not want my president to be seen as a clown’ the ambassador told the paper. The ambassador went on to say that the relationship between the Netherlands and its former colony would be hurt if Wilders joins the government. And, he suggested, the people who voted for Wilders could be ‘psychoticly fearfull’
Unwise
Foreign minister Maxime Verhagen told Nos tv that the ambassador’s words about PVV supporters were ‘unwise’. ‘I did not think it wise how he described the PVV voters,’Verhagen said. ‘An ambassador should not make comments about the electorate.’ Verhagen said he planned to make contact with the ambassador later on Thursday. Indonesia is the biggest Muslim country in the world. Wilders has repeatedly called for a ban on immigration from Islamic countries.
Dutch News
Unwise
Foreign minister Maxime Verhagen told Nos tv that the ambassador’s words about PVV supporters were ‘unwise’. ‘I did not think it wise how he described the PVV voters,’Verhagen said. ‘An ambassador should not make comments about the electorate.’ Verhagen said he planned to make contact with the ambassador later on Thursday. Indonesia is the biggest Muslim country in the world. Wilders has repeatedly called for a ban on immigration from Islamic countries.
Dutch News
Abba to sue Danish far-Right party over Mamma Mia
As one of the bestselling pop group's in music history, the members of Abba are used to hearing their songs played almost everywhere. Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus were so incensed that they launched a legal action and said the party could "bugger off".
To add insult to injury, the youth wing of the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party also changed the words of the song, without permission, to Mamma Pia when giving their female leader Pia Kjærsgaard an adoring and rapturous send-off at a party congress last weekend.
The young Dansk Folkeparti (DF) activists sang to the Mamma Mia tune – a British number one hit in 1976 – new lyrics celebrating their far-Right leader's success in making their hard-line anti-immigrant politics mainstream.
"Mamma Pia – you're on TV, DF – will be promoted. Mamma Pia – you check it out, DF – vision you have handled. All the hard arguments – as a miracle-maker," activists sang as the rally closed on Sunday.
Andersson said: "Firstly, you cannot just rewrite songs as you like and secondly we want them to understand that we have absolutely no interest in supporting their party."
"Abba never allows its music to be used in a political context. This is something that we have pointed out to the Danish People's Party."
Mrs Kjærsgaard's People Party is the third largest in the Folketinget Danish parliament and helps to support a minority conservative-liberal coalition government.
The 63-year-old's views on immigration have been compared to the Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders and Jean-Marie Le Pen, the French national Front leader.
In 2003, she lost a libel case in the Danish Supreme Court after suing a commentator who had characterised her politics as racist.
Mrs Kjærsgaard intervened in recent Swedish elections to lend support to the far-right Sweden Democrats, who went on to win seats in the country's parliament for the first time.
The Abba founders first found out about the illicit use of their song when a Left-wing Danish activist wrote to them asking if they were backers of the far-right party.
Andersson and Ulvaeus have given their pop music a new lease of life through the internationally successful musical Mamma Mia, which was turned into a film starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth.
The multi-millionaire artists have now instructed their record company Universal to pursue legal action against the Danish People's Party.
Last year, Andersson donated over £90,000 to Sweden's radical Feminist Initiative party.
The combination of far-right politics and music has also led to legal action in Britain.
Earlier this year, Dame Vera Lynn launched legal action after the British National Party after used her White Cliffs of Dover song on a anti-immigration album without her permission.
Five songs hijacked by politics:
1) Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream. The lyric became the anthem for Tony Blair's New Labour but Peter Cunnah, the disillusioned singer, voted Tory earlier this year.
2) Everybody's Changing by Keane. The band was "horrified" when David Cameron used their song to launch the 2010 Tory election manifesto.
3) Man Next Door by Massive Attack. The edgy track, which proclaims "he gets me down", was an unusual choice for William Hague in 2000, the rappers were not impressed and the Tories went on to ask the man behind The Wombles for a unmemorable theme tune instead.
4) There Goes My Hero by the Foo Fighters. The song backfired for John McCain when the Republican presidential candidate was accused by the band of "perverting the original sentiment" by using the song.
5) "Ode To Joy" by Beethoven, lyrics by Schiller. The Romantic composers 1785 piece was written to inspire revolution but was used to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday and is now the EU's official anthem.
The Telegraph
Far right a threat to euro, Germany warned
The rise of extremist parties in Europe could lead countries to leave the single currency if far-right leaders were to gain power, a leading adviser to the German government has warned.
Ottmar Issing, who has held senior positions in the Bundesbank and the European Central Bank, said public anger at austerity measures served to make populist politicians more appealing – with potentially serious implications for the euro.
“Leaving is committing economic and political suicide. This would not exclude that it might happen,” said Dr Issing, who is chairman of a group advising the Merkel administration on financial reform. “I think it could only happen if a government was in such a disastrous situation that extreme parties over a period of time get a majority, and this can only happen on the basis of populism and not accepting any more measures that are needed.
“I think it’s a big challenge for the responsible parties in the middle of the spectrum to explain to the people . . . why these hardships are necessary.”
Dr Issing’s remarks to an audience in Berlin came days after an anti-immigration party won its first parliamentary seats in Sweden, a non-euro country. The success of the Sweden Democrats mirrors the advance of extremist parties within and outside the euro zone, as mainstream politicians worry about the cumulative impact of austerity measures to deal with the economic crisis.
Anti-Islamist Geert Wilders more than doubled his party’s seats in the Dutch elections in the summer, leading to political gridlock as the country’s leaders struggle to form a government without him. In Belgium, hardline Flemish separatist Bart De Wever claimed victory in a general election. Although he does not cast himself as far right, his uncompromising nationalism is a prime factor in the stalemate that has bedevilled the country’s politics.
In French regional elections last March, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front seized 12 per cent of the first-round vote. In Italy, the xenophobic Northern League saw its tally in regional elections rise to 13 per cent. Hungarian ultra-nationalists Jobbik are also advancing, taking third place earlier this year in a general election.
Irish Times
Ottmar Issing, who has held senior positions in the Bundesbank and the European Central Bank, said public anger at austerity measures served to make populist politicians more appealing – with potentially serious implications for the euro.
“Leaving is committing economic and political suicide. This would not exclude that it might happen,” said Dr Issing, who is chairman of a group advising the Merkel administration on financial reform. “I think it could only happen if a government was in such a disastrous situation that extreme parties over a period of time get a majority, and this can only happen on the basis of populism and not accepting any more measures that are needed.
“I think it’s a big challenge for the responsible parties in the middle of the spectrum to explain to the people . . . why these hardships are necessary.”
Dr Issing’s remarks to an audience in Berlin came days after an anti-immigration party won its first parliamentary seats in Sweden, a non-euro country. The success of the Sweden Democrats mirrors the advance of extremist parties within and outside the euro zone, as mainstream politicians worry about the cumulative impact of austerity measures to deal with the economic crisis.
Anti-Islamist Geert Wilders more than doubled his party’s seats in the Dutch elections in the summer, leading to political gridlock as the country’s leaders struggle to form a government without him. In Belgium, hardline Flemish separatist Bart De Wever claimed victory in a general election. Although he does not cast himself as far right, his uncompromising nationalism is a prime factor in the stalemate that has bedevilled the country’s politics.
In French regional elections last March, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s National Front seized 12 per cent of the first-round vote. In Italy, the xenophobic Northern League saw its tally in regional elections rise to 13 per cent. Hungarian ultra-nationalists Jobbik are also advancing, taking third place earlier this year in a general election.
Irish Times
22 men sought after far-right protest clashes (EDL, UK)
Detectives investigating disorder which broke out during an English Defence League protest in Dudley have released CCTV images of men they want to identify.
West Midlands Police said officers were continuing to investigate criminal damage and other offences committed during disturbances in the town centre on July 17.
The CCTV stills, taken on the day of the EDL protest and a counter-demonstration, show 22 individuals whom detectives wish to trace.
Homes in the Alexandra Street area of Dudley were attacked during the violence, which also saw damage caused to parked cars, restaurants and a Hindu temple.
Detective Inspector Carl Southwick, who is leading the investigation, said: "We are appealing to members of the public to look closely at these images.
"We are committed to identifying those responsible for the pockets of disorder and criminal damage that took place in Dudley town centre."
Morley Observer
West Midlands Police said officers were continuing to investigate criminal damage and other offences committed during disturbances in the town centre on July 17.
The CCTV stills, taken on the day of the EDL protest and a counter-demonstration, show 22 individuals whom detectives wish to trace.
Homes in the Alexandra Street area of Dudley were attacked during the violence, which also saw damage caused to parked cars, restaurants and a Hindu temple.
Detective Inspector Carl Southwick, who is leading the investigation, said: "We are appealing to members of the public to look closely at these images.
"We are committed to identifying those responsible for the pockets of disorder and criminal damage that took place in Dudley town centre."
Morley Observer
Man hurt in racist assault in Rochdale street (UK)
A man was attacked with a wrench as he walked down a Greater Manchester street, in what police have said was a racist assault.
The 27-year-old, who is Asian, was attacked by a group of teenagers as he walked along Church Lane in Rochdale on Monday, between 1430 and 1515 BST.
The youths yelled racist abuse as they pushed him to the ground, kicked him and hit him in the face with a wrench.
Police have appealed to any witnesses to contact them.
The youths are described as male, aged about 19 and wearing dark clothing with the hoods up.
The attack stopped when a man intervened and the victim was taken to hospital with serious facial injuries.
Det Con Heidi Edge, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "This was a nasty racially-motivated assault and I would like to stress that we are taking this very seriously and doing everything we can to identify those responsible."
BBC News
The 27-year-old, who is Asian, was attacked by a group of teenagers as he walked along Church Lane in Rochdale on Monday, between 1430 and 1515 BST.
The youths yelled racist abuse as they pushed him to the ground, kicked him and hit him in the face with a wrench.
Police have appealed to any witnesses to contact them.
The youths are described as male, aged about 19 and wearing dark clothing with the hoods up.
The attack stopped when a man intervened and the victim was taken to hospital with serious facial injuries.
Det Con Heidi Edge, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "This was a nasty racially-motivated assault and I would like to stress that we are taking this very seriously and doing everything we can to identify those responsible."
BBC News
Thursday, 23 September 2010
Pig’s head ‘hate crime’ culprit 'lives among us' (UK)
Muslims fear the person who dumped a pig’s head outside a city mosque lives in their midst.Shock waves have rippled through the city’s Islamic community after the attack at the Darwin Drive prayer centre.
Worshippers found the severed head on the steps of the building on Monday night at about 9pm on their way to prayers, as the News reported.
Abdul Arain, who runs the city’s Muslim helpline, said: “Muslims understand that this person has their own agenda but it will not affect our agenda to live peacefully.
“People are angry, sad, and some people say this is not representative of Cambridge and is a sectarian attack.
“The attack was carried out on a small and little known centre so we think it must have been someone local who has done this.”
Cambridge mum Farah Mogul, 36, of Girton, who has been raising supplies for flood-hit Pakistan, said: “I am getting worried about the things going on at the moment.
“It is happening all over the world. It’s terrible it should come to our doorsteps here in Cambridge.”
Muslims held an emergency meeting on Tuesday after the incident at the Shah Jalal Bangladeshi Community House.
The dumping of the pig’s head has been condemned by the city’s MP Julian Huppert and the community’s leaders.
Now Muslims across the city are trying to take in the distressing news as the police continue to investigate the incident.
Cambridge News Online was inundated with comments on the suspected hate crime.
One contributor said: “This is an entirely unprovoked attack on the Muslim community . . . what kind of person would do this? I am not a Muslim, nor am I any other religion, but even I feel quite personally sickened by this!”
Richard Green called for the culprits to be brought to justice and made a rallying call to stamp out hate crime.
He said: “Islam is under siege from all sides and it’s about time decent people of all faiths and persuasions took a stand against vile behaviour of this kind.”
Some 40 families attend the centre. Police took the head away for forensic examination.
Shaikh Abdul Mabud, from the Islamic Academy in Cambridge, branded the incident a “hate crime”. He said: “This is very sad and shows a lack of understanding, and intolerance.”
Anyone with information about the incident should call police on 0345 456 4564.
Cambridge News
Man wrote racist graffiti on black neighbour's door (UK)
A racist German daubed graffiti on a black neighbour's door to "warn" people that he could have the deadly Ebola virus, a court heard.
August Fink, 62, wrote the highly offensive phrases on his neighbour's door because he felt he should tell others that he could be infectious – even though the man had no such illness.
Bristol Magistrates' Court heard that on June 28 PC Mike Lewis was called to a flat in Burlington Court on Burlington Road in Redland. When he arrived he spoke to the man whose door had been covered with the graffiti, and while they chatted Fink approached PC Lewis and asked if he had checked the neighbour's permit to live there.
PC Lewis said: "I noticed the graffiti on the front door written in marker pen, which read 'No. Ebola. Bazillos' and then a racist comment.
"The man identified himself as August Fink, the occupant of the flat. He admitted to me that he had written it on the flat door because he was concerned about his neighbour, who was black and believed that he carried the Ebola virus."
There was also graffiti on another door, in the same marker pen, with racist remarks against Jewish people, although Fink denied that he was responsible for it.
After he was arrested the court heard Fink admitted to officers at the scene that he had written it to warn people that black people have Ebola.
In an interview with police Fink said: "When I saw there was a Negro in the house I wrote something against infectious illnesses on the door.
"It was to inform them of possible infectious illnesses because of a black person living in the house.
"Bazillo is a similar virus. I wrote this because black people could have this infection and other people could be infected because of it."
Fink also said that any infection of a monkey could infect humans, and that black people were dying because of Ebola.
Fink was not in court, and in his absence District Judge David Parsons found him guilty of one charge of a racially aggravated public order offence.
He said: "Having heard from PC Lewis, and his admission in interview, I find he did display the signs.
"I am sure that it was insulting, and on that basis find him guilty of causing harassment, alarm or distress."
Five other charges, including causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment, harassment without violence and using threatening words or behaviour were dropped because witnesses refused to come forward.
Fink failed to answer bail for the court hearing, so a warrant was ordered for his arrest so he can be sentenced.
This is Bristol
August Fink, 62, wrote the highly offensive phrases on his neighbour's door because he felt he should tell others that he could be infectious – even though the man had no such illness.
Bristol Magistrates' Court heard that on June 28 PC Mike Lewis was called to a flat in Burlington Court on Burlington Road in Redland. When he arrived he spoke to the man whose door had been covered with the graffiti, and while they chatted Fink approached PC Lewis and asked if he had checked the neighbour's permit to live there.
PC Lewis said: "I noticed the graffiti on the front door written in marker pen, which read 'No. Ebola. Bazillos' and then a racist comment.
"The man identified himself as August Fink, the occupant of the flat. He admitted to me that he had written it on the flat door because he was concerned about his neighbour, who was black and believed that he carried the Ebola virus."
There was also graffiti on another door, in the same marker pen, with racist remarks against Jewish people, although Fink denied that he was responsible for it.
After he was arrested the court heard Fink admitted to officers at the scene that he had written it to warn people that black people have Ebola.
In an interview with police Fink said: "When I saw there was a Negro in the house I wrote something against infectious illnesses on the door.
"It was to inform them of possible infectious illnesses because of a black person living in the house.
"Bazillo is a similar virus. I wrote this because black people could have this infection and other people could be infected because of it."
Fink also said that any infection of a monkey could infect humans, and that black people were dying because of Ebola.
Fink was not in court, and in his absence District Judge David Parsons found him guilty of one charge of a racially aggravated public order offence.
He said: "Having heard from PC Lewis, and his admission in interview, I find he did display the signs.
"I am sure that it was insulting, and on that basis find him guilty of causing harassment, alarm or distress."
Five other charges, including causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment, harassment without violence and using threatening words or behaviour were dropped because witnesses refused to come forward.
Fink failed to answer bail for the court hearing, so a warrant was ordered for his arrest so he can be sentenced.
This is Bristol
Outrage over 'retelling' of Nazi film that incited holocaust murderers
IT was the film that was supposed to mobilise the German nation to murder the Jews: Jud Suss, a notorious 1940 classic of anti-Semitic propaganda.
Now, exactly 70 years after it was first shown in the cinemas of the Third Reich, a new version has been released. It is being booed by preview audiences, blasted by critics and dismissed as a historical distortion. The Central Board of German Jewry has condemned it, saying that it peddles the old anti-Semitic stereotypes.
The intent of the new work, Jud Suss - Film Without A Conscience, is naturally quite different. It is not so much a remake as a "making of" film that tries to explain how respectable actors were drawn into the project by the Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.
"It tells the story of the main actor in Jud Suss, Ferdinand Marian," said Oskar Roehler, the director. "He is sucked into the manipulative machine of Goebbels, who wants to use the film to kick off a campaign of extermination against the Jews."
Shown to 20 million Germans before 1945 - including SS troopers before they were sent off to the killing fields of Poland and Eastern Europe - the original Jud Suss was put under wraps after the war. At least one of the actors was thrown into a prison camp by Soviet forces while Marian died in a mysterious car crash in 1946.
To this day, the original film can be shown only to restricted audiences and has to be prefaced and followed by commentaries from vetted historians.
It was a crude depiction by the director, Veit Harlan, of the Jewish merchant Joseph Suss Oppenheimer, who advised a south German duke on financial affairs in the early 18th century. He transformed the duchy's finances but was despised by those outside court and was accused of seducing the Christian daughter of a rival. For this he was executed in 1738.
The Nazi reconstruction of this historical episode portrays Suss as a leering lecher and is aimed at raising a cheer from cinema audiences when he is eventually killed.
The Hitler regime outlawed sex and marriage between so-called Aryans and Jews and, among other things, the film demonstrated that the practice had deep Germanic roots.
Despite attempts by Marian to introduce some likeable character traits into his depiction of the merchant, he comes over as evil and thus made the whole film into a blunt piece of emotional manipulation.
The new film shows Marian as a charming but weak adulterer. The scene that drew loud boos in the preview features Marian - played by Tobias Moretti, the Austrian actor - in a hotel room in Berlin while Allied aircraft bomb the city. He is with the wife of the Nazi commander of a Jewish ghetto. She demands that Marian utter some of the text from Jud Suss, then shouts out - a quote from the Nazi film - "Take me, Jew" and raises her skirt. They make love to the sounds of the Allied bombardment.
That, plainly, was too close to the bone for the selected audience and is likely to cause a stir when the film goes on general release today.
There have been many recent films attempting to find new ways of telling the story of Hitler and the Holocaust. The German-made Downfall depicted Hitler's final ten days in his Berlin bunker; Quentin Tarrantino's Inglourious Basterds had a group of American Jewish soldiers seeking blood-curdling revenge on the Germans; Mein Fuhrer tried to poke fun at Hitler.
Roehler's film, however, directly tackles wartime Germany's attitudes to the Jews - and it does not make pleasant viewing. Charlotte Knobloch, the head of the Central Board of German Jewry, declared that the film should not be put on general release. Her logic is that dramatising anti-Semitism, even if the goal is to expose its evils, in itself encourages the stereotyping of Jews.
To counter such depictions the Jewish museums of Berlin and Vienna have put together a joint exhibition entitled Typical! Cliches about Jews and Others to confront the enduring prejudices held by some Germans and Austrians.
Critics are complaining about the clumsy way that the new film tries to distance itself from the dark intentions of the original. Roehler has his dubious hero Marian go on a Nazi-ordered visit to German troops on the site of the future Auschwitz concentration camp. There is the slightest of hints that the Jewish slave workers on the site will be later massacred by the SS just as soon as the troopers have watched Jud Suss. But the director shies away from actually saying that.
"Not so much to protect the nerves of the cinema audiences," said Andreas Kilb, of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, "more because he does not want to blacken the image of his main protagonist. In this film, the courage to deal with a dangerous subject walks hand in hand with narrative cowardice."
In reality, SS men did go out and kill Jews after watching the original Jud Suss. "The exaggerated acting performances do little to enlighten us about the Nazi world of moving pictures or even shed light on our present attitudes to those times," said Christiane Peitz, of Der Tagesspiegel. "The film commutes between outright camp and historical correctness."
Yet the critics are agreed on one thing: Germans should grit their teeth and go and see the new work - if only to understand why a film seen by millions of their great-grandparents has been kept under lock and key for the past seven decades.
The Australian
Exhibition to mark anniversary of Hungary's post-WWI anti-Semitic laws
An exhibition and international conference is being mounted by the Budapest Holocaust Memorial Centre to mark the 90th anniversary of the passing of a Hungarian anti-Semitic law, the quota law, which was the first in Europe, the organisers told MTI on Tuesday.
The exhibition will take place between October 14 and February 1, and will show "which events strengthened anti-Semitism of the 1920s and how Hungarian politics and society got from the point of reception to exclusion", with posters, contemporary news cuttings, photos and memoirs.
The centre said that it strives to recreate the atmosphere of the time through personal historical accounts and present the law's embrace by the League of Nations and its consequences up to the present.
A two-day academic conference will start on October 15 headed by Maria Schmitt, the director of the Budapest House of Terror.
The so-called numerus clausus (quota) law was passed by the Hungarian parliament on September 21, 1920 at the behest of Pal Teleki, the prime minister.
cabhoodle
The exhibition will take place between October 14 and February 1, and will show "which events strengthened anti-Semitism of the 1920s and how Hungarian politics and society got from the point of reception to exclusion", with posters, contemporary news cuttings, photos and memoirs.
The centre said that it strives to recreate the atmosphere of the time through personal historical accounts and present the law's embrace by the League of Nations and its consequences up to the present.
A two-day academic conference will start on October 15 headed by Maria Schmitt, the director of the Budapest House of Terror.
The so-called numerus clausus (quota) law was passed by the Hungarian parliament on September 21, 1920 at the behest of Pal Teleki, the prime minister.
cabhoodle
BNP activists set up stall in Halesowen over the weekend (UK)
The BNP took to the streets of Halesowen this weekend to demand the withdrawal of British troops from Afganistan.
The far right organisation handed out ‘Bring Our Boys Home’ leaflets from their Union Jack bedecked stall in the town centre on Saturday.
The party also collected donations and gave out information packs.
BNP organiser Robert Weale said: “Hardly anyone had a bad word to say, or was derisory about the British National Party, and indeed, three people amongst those who came to show their support, were in fact, card carrying members.
“The amount of people who were BNP voters was also encouraging, and topics ranging from the war, to crime, immigration, and the economy were all discussed.”
halesowen News
The far right organisation handed out ‘Bring Our Boys Home’ leaflets from their Union Jack bedecked stall in the town centre on Saturday.
The party also collected donations and gave out information packs.
BNP organiser Robert Weale said: “Hardly anyone had a bad word to say, or was derisory about the British National Party, and indeed, three people amongst those who came to show their support, were in fact, card carrying members.
“The amount of people who were BNP voters was also encouraging, and topics ranging from the war, to crime, immigration, and the economy were all discussed.”
halesowen News
Say No to BNP in Stroud meeting organised (uk)
Community groups, trade union activists and political representatives are to stage a meeting called Say No To The BNP in Stroud following news that the party is moving its national media department to the Five Valleys.
The meeting will be held at The Space in Lansdown and organisers say they want to send out a message that the party is not welcome here.
Speakers will include former MP David Drew and district councillor John Marjoram (Green, Trinity), who has gathered more than 100 signatures on a letter protesting against the decision to open the publicity department at Unit 13 on the Salmon Springs Trading Estate between Stroud and Painswick.
Chris Moore, a member of the Stroud branch of the Socialist Party, who recently co-ordinated the town's Save Our Post Offices campaign, is organising the meeting.
"I was shocked and disgusted to hear the BNP was proposing to set up a national propaganda centre in Stroud," he said.
"Maybe the party thinks it can get away with it, thinking Stroud is just a little town.
"But we have a long history of organising demonstrations and protesting."
British National Party leader Nick Griffin recently sent an email to supporters, which is available on the party's website, announcing details about the new centre for media and communications, which will also run party's website.
In a statement sent to the SNJ, a spokesman for the BNP said the party had been using space on the industrial estate as an office for the last two years.
"We have had departments or staff working out of our Stroud office for several years now with no fuss, hassle or grief at any time," he said.
"We are utilising an existing office unit, refurbishing it and relaunching it as a campaigns and communications hub.
"Stroud is a beautiful location and we are happy with the surrounding area and amenities."
The Say No To The BNP in Stroud meeting is on Wednesday, September 29 at 7.30pm. All are welcome. Anyone who wants to help with the campaign should email yrehq@yahoo.co.u
Stroud News Journal
The meeting will be held at The Space in Lansdown and organisers say they want to send out a message that the party is not welcome here.
Speakers will include former MP David Drew and district councillor John Marjoram (Green, Trinity), who has gathered more than 100 signatures on a letter protesting against the decision to open the publicity department at Unit 13 on the Salmon Springs Trading Estate between Stroud and Painswick.
Chris Moore, a member of the Stroud branch of the Socialist Party, who recently co-ordinated the town's Save Our Post Offices campaign, is organising the meeting.
"I was shocked and disgusted to hear the BNP was proposing to set up a national propaganda centre in Stroud," he said.
"Maybe the party thinks it can get away with it, thinking Stroud is just a little town.
"But we have a long history of organising demonstrations and protesting."
British National Party leader Nick Griffin recently sent an email to supporters, which is available on the party's website, announcing details about the new centre for media and communications, which will also run party's website.
In a statement sent to the SNJ, a spokesman for the BNP said the party had been using space on the industrial estate as an office for the last two years.
"We have had departments or staff working out of our Stroud office for several years now with no fuss, hassle or grief at any time," he said.
"We are utilising an existing office unit, refurbishing it and relaunching it as a campaigns and communications hub.
"Stroud is a beautiful location and we are happy with the surrounding area and amenities."
The Say No To The BNP in Stroud meeting is on Wednesday, September 29 at 7.30pm. All are welcome. Anyone who wants to help with the campaign should email yrehq@yahoo.co.u
Stroud News Journal
Electrical fire burns neo-Nazi's Roanoke home (USA)
An electrical fire in a Southwest Roanoke house owned by neo-Nazi William A. White caused $15,000 in damage early Tuesday, a fire department spokeswoman said. No one was hurt.
The white, two-story house in the 800 block of Campbell Avenue was being renovated and was unoccupied. Firefighters arrived about 12:11 a.m. and found thick smoke spewing from the front and side of the house, department spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury said.
Firefighters found no one inside. The blaze was out in about a half-hour.
The fire started in the basement above the electrical panel, Bradbury said.
The house is owned by White Homes and Land LLC, a company run by White, the racist activist serving a 2 ½-year prison sentence for making racially charged threats. White filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008.
roanoke.com
The white, two-story house in the 800 block of Campbell Avenue was being renovated and was unoccupied. Firefighters arrived about 12:11 a.m. and found thick smoke spewing from the front and side of the house, department spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury said.
Firefighters found no one inside. The blaze was out in about a half-hour.
The fire started in the basement above the electrical panel, Bradbury said.
The house is owned by White Homes and Land LLC, a company run by White, the racist activist serving a 2 ½-year prison sentence for making racially charged threats. White filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008.
roanoke.com
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
AUSTRIA’S FAR RIGHT RIDING ANTI-ISLAMIC WAVE IN ELECTIONS
Far-right parties are boosting their influence across Europe amid anti-Islamic agendas and calls for tougher immigration laws. Such rhetoric has helped elect the Sweden Democrats to parliament for the first time. Now the right-wing Austrian Freedom Party is fueling nationalism in its campaign, hoping for resurgence this weekend. The "Bye Bye Mosque" game was released by the Freedom Party as part of its bid for election into regional government in Styria – Austria's second largest province – and the game’s message has hit a raw nerve. The aim is simple: take aim and shoot down as many new mosques as you can, as they rise relentlessly above Austria's Alpine skyline. If you are not quick enough, the country is Islamized. “We are defending our rights, our traditions and our culture. We do not want to be dissolved into Islam, nor do we want there to be parallel Islamic societies in our country,” states Dr. Gerhard Kurzmann, a Freedom Party Candidate. Within 24 hours, the game received more than 200,000 web hits. Within a week it was banned. The computer game may have been just a small part of a political campaign, but the reaction has been nothing short of a firestorm of outrage.
There are around 500,000 Muslims in Austria. Together with the Green Party, their community leaders sued the Freedom Party. “Islam is a reality. If we want to build mosques, we will build them anyway. I have a vision in the future where every town and city in Austria has a mosque with a minaret that people can see from the outside,” Annas Shakfeh, President of Islamic Religious Community of Austria, shared his wish. The judicial authorities upheld the complaint and ruled that the game went beyond acceptable discussion, forcing the Freedom Party to remove it from their website. “The numbers who played the game show that Islam is a very important issue,” Dr. Kurzmann revealed. “Thanks to us it was talked about in the first place. But the judicial system is meddling in politics, and stopping a free discussion.” Many say the ban has had the reverse effect. There is not even a single minaret in Styria, and less than 2 per cent of the population is Muslim. The Freedom Party failed to get a single seat at the last election.
Now it is expected to triple its vote, putting a dent in the ruling coalition of two centrist parties. This would be for “a little bit of a change in the whole system,” according to one voter, and because “they can position themselves as the resistance of the true Austrian people, which is being suppressed by the status quo,” in the view of another. If the Freedom Party performs well, it will follow in the footsteps of recent successes by far-right parties in Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands. It appears that no longer can the centrist parties ignore the voices of those alarmed by Islam and immigration, or they risk being penalized at the ballot box. Professor Anton Pelinka from the Department of Political Science at the Central European University in Budapest said that, apart from the growing general xenophobia, the surge in migration from poor Islamic countries to richer countries of Northern and North-West Europe has caused the traditionally leftist political movements to drift towards nationalist sentiments. However, Pelinka said the current nationalist trend in European politics should not be over-dramatized since the fringe nationalist movements were getting little, if any, support during elections. “I think that the democracies are strong enough to live through such a period of challenges by fringe parties from the far right,” – Anton Pelinka said.
RT.Com
There are around 500,000 Muslims in Austria. Together with the Green Party, their community leaders sued the Freedom Party. “Islam is a reality. If we want to build mosques, we will build them anyway. I have a vision in the future where every town and city in Austria has a mosque with a minaret that people can see from the outside,” Annas Shakfeh, President of Islamic Religious Community of Austria, shared his wish. The judicial authorities upheld the complaint and ruled that the game went beyond acceptable discussion, forcing the Freedom Party to remove it from their website. “The numbers who played the game show that Islam is a very important issue,” Dr. Kurzmann revealed. “Thanks to us it was talked about in the first place. But the judicial system is meddling in politics, and stopping a free discussion.” Many say the ban has had the reverse effect. There is not even a single minaret in Styria, and less than 2 per cent of the population is Muslim. The Freedom Party failed to get a single seat at the last election.
Now it is expected to triple its vote, putting a dent in the ruling coalition of two centrist parties. This would be for “a little bit of a change in the whole system,” according to one voter, and because “they can position themselves as the resistance of the true Austrian people, which is being suppressed by the status quo,” in the view of another. If the Freedom Party performs well, it will follow in the footsteps of recent successes by far-right parties in Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands. It appears that no longer can the centrist parties ignore the voices of those alarmed by Islam and immigration, or they risk being penalized at the ballot box. Professor Anton Pelinka from the Department of Political Science at the Central European University in Budapest said that, apart from the growing general xenophobia, the surge in migration from poor Islamic countries to richer countries of Northern and North-West Europe has caused the traditionally leftist political movements to drift towards nationalist sentiments. However, Pelinka said the current nationalist trend in European politics should not be over-dramatized since the fringe nationalist movements were getting little, if any, support during elections. “I think that the democracies are strong enough to live through such a period of challenges by fringe parties from the far right,” – Anton Pelinka said.
RT.Com
FINNISH NEO-FASCIST AT MARTIAL ARTS SHOW IN POLAND
Niko Puhakka, a neo-fascist from Finland was allowed to fight at a martial arts show in Lodz, central Poland and show off his Nazi tattoos. During bouts organized by KSW, the premiere mixed martial arts organization in Poland, Puhakka showed off his a naked chest with the neo-Nazi organization Blood&Honour tattooed on his chest. The fascist organization, which calls for violence against “the enemies of the race”, is illegal in Poland. “It’s a scandal that a neo-Nazi was allowed to participate in the show,” Marcin Kornak from “Never Again” association which fights against racism, xenophobia and intolerance told Polish Radio. “Niko Puhakka is known for his neo-fascist views and for exposing his tattoos showing Celtic crosses, a racist symbol of “white power”. Yet, nobody, not even Polsat TV, which broadcast the show, asked him to cover them up,” said Kornak, adding that until recently Puhakka was sponsored by a clothing company which produces clothes with Nazi symbols.
The News
The News
The epidemic of hate crimes against the very vulnerable reveals a callousness at the heart of society
 |
| David Askew |
David Askew was a kind and trusting man who just wanted to enjoy his life. He smiled a lot, put other people first and, according to his elderly mother, was a true gentleman who never saw bad in anyone.
But for more than a decade, this sweet-natured character had to endure a daily gauntlet of hate as he went about his life in Hattersley, Greater Manchester.
It was like bear-baiting, said one neighbour, as local teenagers screamed abuse, broke windows and harassed Mr Askew for his money and cigarettes. Eventually, one long day in March, it went too far and he collapsed and died, tormented to a lonely death.
This week, one of those teenagers who drove him to his death was convicted on minor charges of harassment and sentenced to just 16 weeks in a young offenders' institution.
The 19-year-old lived just doors away, and had even gone on television to brag about how he was Mr Askew's 'protector'. But it is too easy just to shiver with disgust at this unpleasant youth, then turn the page.
For Mr Askew had learning difficulties. So he was different. He was weak. And now he is dead, the latest statistic in an epidemic of hate crime against the most vulnerable members of our society that should make us all pause for thought.
Every day, people with disabilities are attacked in their homes, spat on in the street and taunted in their towns. And every year, this torrent of abuse, bullying and torture ends with more and more names on the list of those who die in terrible circumstances simply because they are disabled.
Last year, a horrified nation was engulfed in outrage after the death of Fiona Pilkington, who killed herself and her disabled daughter after years of abuse from neighbours.
Politicians, police chiefs and council officials all said 'never again', mouthing platitudes of concern once it emerged that she had complained to the authorities on 33 separate occasions. But little gets done to stop the tide of hatred and hostility.
Was the outrage synthetic or are we just a callous country when it comes to those less fortunate than ourselves, a brutal society with no sense of shame?
This week, a new report offered evidence of 68 violent deaths of disabled people - nearly one-third of them in the first seven months of this year alone - and more than 500 other potential disability hate crimes over the past three years alone.
Anne Novis, the report's author and a wheelchair user, has herself been attacked several times.
In the most recent case she was shopping near her home in Greenwich, South-East London, when a man suddenly rammed his face in hers, screamed that she should have been killed at birth and started beating her.
The details of many of the killings of disabled people in recent years are sickening. The issue was first raised two years ago in a pioneering report called Getting Away With Murder which highlighted how one disabled man was disembowelled and another murdered for a £5 bet.
A woman was urinated on and filmed as she lay dying in a doorway, while a fourth victim was made to wear a dog-collar, treated like a slave for years then forced off a railway viaduct.
And even as the Manchester teenager was sentenced on Monday for his role in Mr Askew's torment, a man was being charged just 30 miles away in Liverpool for the murder of Gary Skelly, a 53-year-old with learning difficulties who died from head injuries.
It is easy to blame a few vile yobs for these crimes. Too easy. Hate crime is merely the most extreme articulation of the prejudice that disabled people face each and every day.
They are the ultimate manifestation of a society that holds no place in its heart for people with disabilities, born out of fear for those who are different and a perverted idea of superiority. One killer even said: 'I'm not going to jail for that muppet,' underlining his disdain for his victim.
Are these attitudes surprising when a survey by the charity Scope found that a majority of Britons believe most people view those with disabilities as inferior?
Given this horrific finding, it is hardly surprising that people with disabilities find it so much harder to get jobs, are more likely to live in poverty and will be paid less and bullied more if they do find work.
Nor is it a shock to learn that nine out of ten people have never had a disabled person in their house for a social occasion and that four out of five people have never worked with someone who is disabled. Well, have you?
The truth is that disabled people are the ignored minority, left behind in the battle against bigotry. Racism and homophobia are, quite rightly, unacceptable these days
But it still seems fine for Barack Obama, the first black U.S. president, to make a bad taste joke about the Special Olympics on a popular talk show, for pop stars and Hollywood pin-ups to call each other 'retards' and for reality television shows like The X Factor to use people with learning difficulties as a prop to build their ratings.
When people with physical disabilities are figures of fun and mental incapacity is a term of abuse, is it any wonder that families turn away from my profoundly disabled daughter when she is out in the park?
And if those with learning difficulties are mocked by celebrities and excluded from society, is it any wonder that some inadequates treat them with fear and hostility? The drip-drip of desensitisation ultimately demeans us all.
These blinkered attitudes are reflected by the authorities when it comes to investigating hate crimes. The problem begins in school, where too many teachers tolerate the use of hateful words in the playground and fail to tackle attacks on disabled pupils.
For example, I've come across a story of a child having their wheelchair tampered with and another, who was epileptic, pushed over deliberately by a group of students who hoped it would give their victim a seizure - which they found amusing. In neither case were complaints taken seriously.
As for those who have been murdered, their abuse normally begins with the kind of petty anti-social behaviour that was so familiar to Mr Askew.
But again and again, the police and local authorities fail to take seriously the minor offences that make life a daily misery for thousands of disabled people, and then the problem spirals out of control.
Indeed, officialdom too regularly behaves like judges in rape trials from days gone by who blamed the victim.
So what happens all too often is that headteachers tell pupils to toughen up, the police frequently shrug off complaints as being a fact of life for those with disabilities, while local authorities often make the victims move home, not their assailants.
The Home Office does not even bother publishing data on hate crimes against the disabled, unlike crimes against some other minorities.
Although one helpline has reported a near-doubling in the number of calls from disabled victims in the past year, there have only been 576 prosecutions over the past two years, compared with 11,264 for racial and religious crimes over the past year alone.
Tellingly, 31 per cent of those prosecuted for disability hate crimes were acquitted, compared with 13 per cent of those accused of other crimes.
And what makes these hate crimes worse is that they are often so-called 'mate' crimes - carried out by supposed friends, neighbours or trusted carers, taking advantage of the victim's vulnerability.
Again this week, a care home manager in Bristol was convicted of stealing nearly £70,000 from two pensioners with severe learning difficulties. The thief was not jailed, of course - the victims were only disabled people, after all.
Daily Mail
EDL march casts shadow on Leicester (UK)
Leicester City Council and city police have told people they can have their say on the demonstration which is scheduled for October 9 through a provided email address.
The extremist EDL which claims to be against “militant Islam” has been slammed by critics who say the league is consistent in resorting to violence and provocative chanting in its marches.
In the latest instance of such rallies, last month some 700 far-right EDL supporters staged a static demonstration in Bradford attacking both security forces and a nearby gathering of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) activists with stone, bottles and other missiles.
Leicester authorities have already started discussions to determine what measures they should put in place to handle an estimated 3,000 EDL fanatics who will descend on the city next month.
Reports say police have made sure at least 1,000 officers, some of them from 10 other forces, are on the streets to provide security to the public during the rally.
Chief executive of the city council Sheila Lock said "to ensure that we capture the views of as many people as possible, we have set up an e-mail address and would encourage people to use it".
She said the council will examine the views emailed to them while holding joint meetings with the senior police officials and community leaders to get help on how to deal with the trouble.
The city council and police have already indicated that they can follow Bradford's example and ask the Home Office for a ban on the EDL march due to threats to public order, though any such restriction will not prevent the right wing group to launch static demonstrations.
Meanwhile, two community groups in Leicester are keeping a close eye on the EDL's upcoming rally.
One of them which calls itself the Muslim Defense League has asked people's help to counter the EDL's march saying the group has been formed to “defend all races and religion” against EDL extremists.
"We are not a group that actively looks to engage the EDL in physical confrontation. If needs be we will defend Muslims and non-Muslims alike" the Muslim Defense League said on its website.
Also the Federation of Muslim Organizations, which is yet to decide whether to stage an anti-EDL rally, said it will “support any counter-demonstrations provided they are peaceful”.
Press Tv
The extremist EDL which claims to be against “militant Islam” has been slammed by critics who say the league is consistent in resorting to violence and provocative chanting in its marches.
In the latest instance of such rallies, last month some 700 far-right EDL supporters staged a static demonstration in Bradford attacking both security forces and a nearby gathering of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) activists with stone, bottles and other missiles.
Leicester authorities have already started discussions to determine what measures they should put in place to handle an estimated 3,000 EDL fanatics who will descend on the city next month.
Reports say police have made sure at least 1,000 officers, some of them from 10 other forces, are on the streets to provide security to the public during the rally.
Chief executive of the city council Sheila Lock said "to ensure that we capture the views of as many people as possible, we have set up an e-mail address and would encourage people to use it".
She said the council will examine the views emailed to them while holding joint meetings with the senior police officials and community leaders to get help on how to deal with the trouble.
The city council and police have already indicated that they can follow Bradford's example and ask the Home Office for a ban on the EDL march due to threats to public order, though any such restriction will not prevent the right wing group to launch static demonstrations.
Meanwhile, two community groups in Leicester are keeping a close eye on the EDL's upcoming rally.
One of them which calls itself the Muslim Defense League has asked people's help to counter the EDL's march saying the group has been formed to “defend all races and religion” against EDL extremists.
"We are not a group that actively looks to engage the EDL in physical confrontation. If needs be we will defend Muslims and non-Muslims alike" the Muslim Defense League said on its website.
Also the Federation of Muslim Organizations, which is yet to decide whether to stage an anti-EDL rally, said it will “support any counter-demonstrations provided they are peaceful”.
Press Tv
Muslim Council speaks out on need for demo (UK)
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is throwing its weight behind a national demonstration against racism on Saturday 6 November.
The protest has been called by groups including Unite Against Fascism. An MCB spokesperson told Socialist Worker, “Muslims have often been unfairly targeted by newspapers and depicted as alien.
“We regularly receive reports of violent attacks against individuals and Mosques. Islamophobia is not merely an affront to British Muslims but to the very values we stand for in this country. We must stamp out this hatred.”
•Leicester Unite Against Fascism sprung into action last Saturday to build for protests against the racist English Defence League (EDL).
The EDL plans a demo in the city on Saturday 9 October.
“We have been leafleting mosques, churches and football grounds—and getting a great response,” says a UAF activist.
•Liverpool Nazi Nick Griffin was confronted by hundreds of demonstrators when he tried to bring the British National Party’s message of hate to Liverpool last Saturday.
He was forced to beat a hasty retreat.
•Glasgow anti-fascists broke up a British National Party stall in the city centre last Saturday.
Socialist Worker
The protest has been called by groups including Unite Against Fascism. An MCB spokesperson told Socialist Worker, “Muslims have often been unfairly targeted by newspapers and depicted as alien.
“We regularly receive reports of violent attacks against individuals and Mosques. Islamophobia is not merely an affront to British Muslims but to the very values we stand for in this country. We must stamp out this hatred.”
•Leicester Unite Against Fascism sprung into action last Saturday to build for protests against the racist English Defence League (EDL).
The EDL plans a demo in the city on Saturday 9 October.
“We have been leafleting mosques, churches and football grounds—and getting a great response,” says a UAF activist.
•Liverpool Nazi Nick Griffin was confronted by hundreds of demonstrators when he tried to bring the British National Party’s message of hate to Liverpool last Saturday.
He was forced to beat a hasty retreat.
•Glasgow anti-fascists broke up a British National Party stall in the city centre last Saturday.
Socialist Worker
Tuesday, 21 September 2010
The rise of the far-right in the East
Along with many other prejudices, eastern Germany has had to contend with a reputation for neo-Nazism. It's not entirely unjustified, but right-wing extremism in the East has roots in economic hardship.
Right-wing violence was most dramatic in the first years of the newly unified Germany - and more and more often, they occurred in the former East Germany.
For three consecutive nights in August 1992, several hundred neo-Nazis - watched by up to 2,000 locals - attacked an apartment block for asylum seekers in the north-eastern town of Rostock. With the police unprepared and initially outnumbered, the violence continued unchecked until it culminated in an arson attack.
The Rostock riots quickly achieved international notoriety. Pictures of drunken, violent East Germans doing Hitler salutes were printed around the world. This was not the dawn of a new, hopeful country that had been celebrated less than two years before.
Authority vacuum
Neo-Nazi violence was not just a stain on the former East Germany. Over 100 of the 370 rioters arrested in Rostock had travelled from the former West, where there was a string of horrific attacks on Turkish immigrants in the early nineties.
But Rostock cemented the reputation of post-Wall eastern Germany as a new haven for neo-Nazism, and that reputation stuck. What characterized the Rostock riots as specifically East German was the powerlessness of the authorities.
For two or three years after the fall of the Wall, state institutions in the former German Democratic Republic were weakened by the period of transition. Police officers suddenly found themselves associated with a discredited regime. Dierk Borstel, a researcher into right-wing extremism at the University of Bielefeld, described the precarious circumstances in the early 1990s as linked to a lack of functioning insitutions.
"The police force was destabilized and the church had little influence anyway," Borstel told Deutsche Welle. "The eastern German trade unions and the PDS, the successor party to the former ruling communist SED, had little authority, and the trade unions and industry associations coming in from the West were all very weak in the east."
Worst of many worlds
These semi-anarchic conditions were fertile ground for far-right activists in the former East Germany, and their cause was further helped by the disappointment and poverty that spread in the East after reunification.
"The expectation of East Germans after reunification was: 'We're going to get the security of the East plus the freedoms of the West,'" Borstel says. "The result was that they lost the securities and couldn't afford the freedoms."
Even though the skinhead neo-Nazi scene originated in western Europe, it already existed in East Germany before the fall of the Iron Curtain. It was often linked to certain football teams, and occasionally broke out in extreme violence, such as the attack of 30 skinheads on a concert in a church in central East Berlin in 1987.
The far-right movement in the East capitalized on what many describe as the GDR's denial of its own Nazi history. Olaf Sundermeyer, author of "In the NPD," a book about the development of Germany's populist far-right National Democratic Party, believes the GDR's distanced attitude to Hitler's Germany helped feed the neo-Nazi movement.
"Communist leaders in the GDR said, 'We are an anti-fascist state and we have no responsibility for history. There are no Nazis here.' Of course that wasn't true. There were former Nazis in both East and West Germany, but there was no denazification in East Germany - the Nazi history was not dealt with," he said.
Imbalance and injustice
East German society was never particularly multicultural, and the government's immigration policies showed a determination to keep the population monotone. Immigrant workers from other socialist countries like Mozambique were sent home if they got pregnant, or as soon as their allotted time ran out. The lack of a multicultural foundation is still reflected in eastern German society today.
"Eastern Germany has a lot fewer immigrants - and it has long been acknowledged that where there are no immigrants and no Jews, there is more racism and anti-Semitism," Borstel said.
Neo-Nazis were also able to win over some East Germans with familiar ideas. "National Socialism often starts out with the idea of socialism, and then that is combined with frustration, unemployment, lack of opportunity, and populations moving away." This is the opinion of a former neo-Nazi who wants to remain anonymous, working for Exit Deutschland, an organization that helps people leave the far-right scene.
There is a widespread feeling that the West left the East behind economically. In the last 20 years, unemployment in the former East has been consistently twice as high as in the West, and the emigration of young eastern Germans remains a problem. Statistical evidence shows that German far-right parties tend to prosper in times of economic depression, and the NPD has aimed its electoral resources aggressively at the most neglected districts.
The Exit Deutschland representative, who has counseled numerous former neo-Nazis, said that the frustration that comes from being left behind after watching friends leave your home town is a factor common to many of those who turn to right-wing extremism.
"Those who stay, for whatever reason - because they can't find a job anywhere else, for example - feel an enormous frustration. That is fertile ground for far-right groups - and for extremist groups in general," he said.
Sympathy for the Left
This growing eastern German sympathy with the far-right chimed in with a study completed in 2003, which found that 16 percent of Germans had an extreme right-wing world-view - that is, they expressed chauvinistic, anti-Semitic, social-Darwinist or xenophobic opinions, and tended to trivialize the Nazi regime. In the East, this world-view was found in 23 percent of the population, compared to 14 percent in the West.
This showed a marked change from the early 1990s, when a similar study found far-right-wing opinion more prevalent in the West. Statisticians have linked this switch to a decline in economic expectation. Whereas easterners were more optimistic about their economic prospects in the early 1990s, by the late 1990s, westerners had become more positive about the economy.
Behind this turnaround lay a real sense of betrayal. In a study written in 2005, political scientist Richard Stoess wrote, "That the eastern German people overtook their western compatriots in sympathy for right-wing extremism lay in the fact that their initial trust in the western system of democracy and market economy had turned into particularly bitter disappointment."
Neo-Nazis for the new century
As state authority began to re-assert itself in the East, the far-right developed more subtle ways to organize. "The structures have become smaller," said Borstel. "They no longer rely on large parties like the NPD, but rather local cells, which are more difficult for the state to break up. They have become anchored in local communities in a way I thought would never happen."
This assimilation was mirrored in the far-right political parties, which have spent the past decade making themselves electable in the East. Although the NPD have steadily lost ground in the former West, in the East they have gained a foothold in several state parliaments.
"The Big Bang was the state election of 2004 in Saxony, where the NPD first gained representation in an eastern German state parliament," said Sundermeyer. "Since then it has very gradually established itself as a 'normal' party."
The NPD was re-elected to the Saxony parliament in 2009, with 5.6 percent of the vote. The NPD's membership figures had risen from 4,000 in 1995 to 6,800 in 2009.
The NPD has achieved this success by aiming its messages at young people, especially via the Internet, and appealing to sentiments shared by the far-left - anti-Americanism, anti-Israel, anti-globalization. It has worked to pick up the youth protest vote, targeting sub-cultures with an anti-system stance.
By Ben Knight
dw-world
Right-wing violence was most dramatic in the first years of the newly unified Germany - and more and more often, they occurred in the former East Germany.
For three consecutive nights in August 1992, several hundred neo-Nazis - watched by up to 2,000 locals - attacked an apartment block for asylum seekers in the north-eastern town of Rostock. With the police unprepared and initially outnumbered, the violence continued unchecked until it culminated in an arson attack.
The Rostock riots quickly achieved international notoriety. Pictures of drunken, violent East Germans doing Hitler salutes were printed around the world. This was not the dawn of a new, hopeful country that had been celebrated less than two years before.
Authority vacuum
Neo-Nazi violence was not just a stain on the former East Germany. Over 100 of the 370 rioters arrested in Rostock had travelled from the former West, where there was a string of horrific attacks on Turkish immigrants in the early nineties.
But Rostock cemented the reputation of post-Wall eastern Germany as a new haven for neo-Nazism, and that reputation stuck. What characterized the Rostock riots as specifically East German was the powerlessness of the authorities.
For two or three years after the fall of the Wall, state institutions in the former German Democratic Republic were weakened by the period of transition. Police officers suddenly found themselves associated with a discredited regime. Dierk Borstel, a researcher into right-wing extremism at the University of Bielefeld, described the precarious circumstances in the early 1990s as linked to a lack of functioning insitutions.
"The police force was destabilized and the church had little influence anyway," Borstel told Deutsche Welle. "The eastern German trade unions and the PDS, the successor party to the former ruling communist SED, had little authority, and the trade unions and industry associations coming in from the West were all very weak in the east."
Worst of many worlds
These semi-anarchic conditions were fertile ground for far-right activists in the former East Germany, and their cause was further helped by the disappointment and poverty that spread in the East after reunification.
"The expectation of East Germans after reunification was: 'We're going to get the security of the East plus the freedoms of the West,'" Borstel says. "The result was that they lost the securities and couldn't afford the freedoms."
Even though the skinhead neo-Nazi scene originated in western Europe, it already existed in East Germany before the fall of the Iron Curtain. It was often linked to certain football teams, and occasionally broke out in extreme violence, such as the attack of 30 skinheads on a concert in a church in central East Berlin in 1987.
The far-right movement in the East capitalized on what many describe as the GDR's denial of its own Nazi history. Olaf Sundermeyer, author of "In the NPD," a book about the development of Germany's populist far-right National Democratic Party, believes the GDR's distanced attitude to Hitler's Germany helped feed the neo-Nazi movement.
"Communist leaders in the GDR said, 'We are an anti-fascist state and we have no responsibility for history. There are no Nazis here.' Of course that wasn't true. There were former Nazis in both East and West Germany, but there was no denazification in East Germany - the Nazi history was not dealt with," he said.
Imbalance and injustice
East German society was never particularly multicultural, and the government's immigration policies showed a determination to keep the population monotone. Immigrant workers from other socialist countries like Mozambique were sent home if they got pregnant, or as soon as their allotted time ran out. The lack of a multicultural foundation is still reflected in eastern German society today.
"Eastern Germany has a lot fewer immigrants - and it has long been acknowledged that where there are no immigrants and no Jews, there is more racism and anti-Semitism," Borstel said.
Neo-Nazis were also able to win over some East Germans with familiar ideas. "National Socialism often starts out with the idea of socialism, and then that is combined with frustration, unemployment, lack of opportunity, and populations moving away." This is the opinion of a former neo-Nazi who wants to remain anonymous, working for Exit Deutschland, an organization that helps people leave the far-right scene.
There is a widespread feeling that the West left the East behind economically. In the last 20 years, unemployment in the former East has been consistently twice as high as in the West, and the emigration of young eastern Germans remains a problem. Statistical evidence shows that German far-right parties tend to prosper in times of economic depression, and the NPD has aimed its electoral resources aggressively at the most neglected districts.
The Exit Deutschland representative, who has counseled numerous former neo-Nazis, said that the frustration that comes from being left behind after watching friends leave your home town is a factor common to many of those who turn to right-wing extremism.
"Those who stay, for whatever reason - because they can't find a job anywhere else, for example - feel an enormous frustration. That is fertile ground for far-right groups - and for extremist groups in general," he said.
Sympathy for the Left
This growing eastern German sympathy with the far-right chimed in with a study completed in 2003, which found that 16 percent of Germans had an extreme right-wing world-view - that is, they expressed chauvinistic, anti-Semitic, social-Darwinist or xenophobic opinions, and tended to trivialize the Nazi regime. In the East, this world-view was found in 23 percent of the population, compared to 14 percent in the West.
This showed a marked change from the early 1990s, when a similar study found far-right-wing opinion more prevalent in the West. Statisticians have linked this switch to a decline in economic expectation. Whereas easterners were more optimistic about their economic prospects in the early 1990s, by the late 1990s, westerners had become more positive about the economy.
Behind this turnaround lay a real sense of betrayal. In a study written in 2005, political scientist Richard Stoess wrote, "That the eastern German people overtook their western compatriots in sympathy for right-wing extremism lay in the fact that their initial trust in the western system of democracy and market economy had turned into particularly bitter disappointment."
Neo-Nazis for the new century
As state authority began to re-assert itself in the East, the far-right developed more subtle ways to organize. "The structures have become smaller," said Borstel. "They no longer rely on large parties like the NPD, but rather local cells, which are more difficult for the state to break up. They have become anchored in local communities in a way I thought would never happen."
This assimilation was mirrored in the far-right political parties, which have spent the past decade making themselves electable in the East. Although the NPD have steadily lost ground in the former West, in the East they have gained a foothold in several state parliaments.
"The Big Bang was the state election of 2004 in Saxony, where the NPD first gained representation in an eastern German state parliament," said Sundermeyer. "Since then it has very gradually established itself as a 'normal' party."
The NPD was re-elected to the Saxony parliament in 2009, with 5.6 percent of the vote. The NPD's membership figures had risen from 4,000 in 1995 to 6,800 in 2009.
The NPD has achieved this success by aiming its messages at young people, especially via the Internet, and appealing to sentiments shared by the far-left - anti-Americanism, anti-Israel, anti-globalization. It has worked to pick up the youth protest vote, targeting sub-cultures with an anti-system stance.
By Ben Knight
dw-world
FINLAND'S FAR-RIGHT SEES HOPE IN SWEDISH VOTE
Finland's anti-immigrant True Finns party sees the rise of a far-right party in neighbouring Sweden as a sign it will also score gains in the next elections, a top party official told AFP Monday. "It appears that it will go just as badly for left-wing parties here," deputy party chairman and member of parliament Pentti Oinonen said. He said his party expects to double or triple the number of parliamentary seats in elections next April, aiming for at least 15 of the 200 seats. Like the far-right, anti-immigrant Swedish Democrats, Finland's True Finns are also campaigning for much tighter immigration policies, although the party rejects what they describe as overtly racist rhetoric in the Swedish party's campaign. Only 2.7 percent of Finland's 5.4 million inhabitants are foreign nationals and the country counts few naturalised foreigners compared to other Nordic countries. Nonetheless, Oinonen said he believed immigration would rise to become a top election topic. "We take in unreasonable numbers of immigrants, their benefits need to be cut, the family reunification policy is flawed, it's all gotten out of control," he said. Socio-economically, The True Finns Party is fairly centre-left, but some of its members have drawn fire for adopting xenophobic, anti-EU and anti-gay rhetoric, despite chairman Timo Soini's efforts to downplay his party's former extremist image. The True Finns' popular support has surged over the past few years, and with opinion polls in August handing it 10.7-percent voter support, it is running in fourth place.
AFP
AFP
THOUSANDS PROTEST SWEDEN'S RISING FAR-RIGHT
Thousands of people gathered in a central Stockholm square Monday evening to protest against a far-right party that has been voted into parliament, waving banners and shouting “No to racism!” “It is very important to show that the big majority of the Swedish population is against the right-wing extremists like the Sweden Democrats,” Per Branevig, 33, told AFP, adding that he had voted for the Social Democrats in Sunday’s election. “It has been a big shock for me that they got so many votes,” he said of the far-right party that secured 5.7% of the vote. At around 6:00 pm (1600 GMT) some 6,000 people, some waving banners stating “Yes to togetherness, No to racism” and “No racists in parliament,” gathered in Stockholm’s Sergels Torg, according to a police estimate. The peaceful gathering was spontaneously organized by a 17-year-old girl from the Stockholm suburb of Sollentuna, Felicia Margineanu, who was so disappointed by the election results she posted a protest call on her Facebook page, the Expressen daily reported.
Sweden’s ruling centre-right coalition won the most votes on Sunday but fell short of a majority, as the far right Sweden Democrats nearly doubled their result from the last election and entered parliament for the first time, landing it in a key position in the house. “We don’t like those racists in the Riksdag. Being here shows the government that we care, that we don’t want them [the Sweden Democrats] in parliament,” said 18-year-old Younes Sedik, wearing a black T-shirt with orange lettering stating "I’m a Muslim. Don’t panic!” Standing near banners pointing out that “9,043,222 Swedes did not vote for the Sweden Democrats yesterday,” and that “94.3% of the people are not racists,” 21-year-old Thomas Zebuehr said he was “really unhappy” the far-right passed the four-percent barrier for entering parliament. “I’m not sure what should be done, but something has to be done,” he told AFP. A spontaneous demonstration against the Sweden Democrats also gathered in Sweden’s second largest city Gothenburg Monday evening, with up to 1,000 people participating, the TT news agency reported. Another large demonstration is planned to be held in Stockholm on October 4.
AFP
Sweden’s ruling centre-right coalition won the most votes on Sunday but fell short of a majority, as the far right Sweden Democrats nearly doubled their result from the last election and entered parliament for the first time, landing it in a key position in the house. “We don’t like those racists in the Riksdag. Being here shows the government that we care, that we don’t want them [the Sweden Democrats] in parliament,” said 18-year-old Younes Sedik, wearing a black T-shirt with orange lettering stating "I’m a Muslim. Don’t panic!” Standing near banners pointing out that “9,043,222 Swedes did not vote for the Sweden Democrats yesterday,” and that “94.3% of the people are not racists,” 21-year-old Thomas Zebuehr said he was “really unhappy” the far-right passed the four-percent barrier for entering parliament. “I’m not sure what should be done, but something has to be done,” he told AFP. A spontaneous demonstration against the Sweden Democrats also gathered in Sweden’s second largest city Gothenburg Monday evening, with up to 1,000 people participating, the TT news agency reported. Another large demonstration is planned to be held in Stockholm on October 4.
AFP
Court pays for makeup in Pasco neo-Nazi's retrial (USA)
The requested funds included, as they typically do, the costs of traveling to take witness depositions — airfare, hotels, rental cars.
But in this case, the expenses go beyond the typical. Other costs the judge approved are a makeup artist to cover up the tattoos on Ditullio's face, neck and hands each day of the trial; and three life-sized cardboard cutouts to portray the height and build of some key figures in the case.
Cost of the makeup artist: $125 a day for up to three weeks.
Cardboard cutouts: $2,175.
"In our country we appoint attorneys" for poor defendants, said Circuit Judge Thomas McGrady, in approving the use of public funds for other defense costs. "Certainly we should have the same due process whether they're indigent or not."
Pasco authorities say that on March 23, 2006, Ditullio donned a gas mask and broke into a neighbor's New Port Richey home, where he stabbed a woman in the face and neck, then attacked a teenager. Patricia Wells was slashed in the face and hands but recovered. Kristofer King, who was 17, died.
Ditullio was a recruit in a small neo-Nazi clan that outfitted a single-wide mobile home like a heavily guarded compound. Wells told authorities that the neo-Nazis harassed her for weeks before the stabbing. She had a black friend who sometimes visited her home, and her son is gay. Authorities think King might have been mistaken for Wells' son.
Ditullio went to trial last December, but the case ended with a jury deadlocked at 10-2 for acquittal. Ditullio, now 24, was facing the death penalty, as he will again when his retrial begins Sept. 27.
He took the stand in his own defense last year, saying that he spent hours that day doing yard work, then came inside and drank something given to him by the other members that was laced with tranquilizers. Outside, he said, he saw Shawn Plott, another member of the group, carrying a bundled-up sweatshirt and looking like "he had seen a ghost."
When he took the stand, the jury then saw a made-up Ditullio — no sign of his tattoos of barbed wire along his face, no swastika and the words "f--- you" weren't visible on his neck.
A judge then also allowed court money to be spent on the makeup artist, and the trial judge, Circuit Judge Michael Andrews, approved the request.
Bjorn Brunvand, Ditullio's attorney, argued that the tattoos were so offensive that they — instead of the evidence — could sway jurors toward a guilty verdict.
The tattoos "have nothing to do with the facts of the case," Brunvand said last year.
The judge's ruling upset King's mother, Charlene Bricken.
"This is part of who he is. This is what the jury should see," Bricken said before last year's trial. "And if the jury is afraid, they should be."
Petersburg times
Monday, 20 September 2010
Race Rap After Rally (Scotland, UK)
A man has been held by cops after police swooped on a suspected gathering of far-right extremists.
The 39-year-old was arrested for an alleged racial breach of the peace following the operation in Glasgow's George Square on Saturday.
A 14-year-old boy has also been reported.
The swoop is thought to have been sparked by reports of a Scottish Defence League meeting.
The Sun
The 39-year-old was arrested for an alleged racial breach of the peace following the operation in Glasgow's George Square on Saturday.
A 14-year-old boy has also been reported.
The swoop is thought to have been sparked by reports of a Scottish Defence League meeting.
The Sun
Anti-Islamic pastor to pay police bill (USA)
The pastor who threatened to burn copies of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of 9/11 has been hit with a bill for more than $180,000 (£115,000) by the city of Gainesville, Florida, for the disruption his stunt caused.
It took local police more than a month to prepare security plans for the community near the church run by Terry Jones, who never ultimately went through with the burning.
Mr Jones, who has a congregation of 50, said that the church had not been informed that it might be billed for the operation. "If we had known this in advance, then we would have refused security," he told CNN.
The Independant
It took local police more than a month to prepare security plans for the community near the church run by Terry Jones, who never ultimately went through with the burning.
Mr Jones, who has a congregation of 50, said that the church had not been informed that it might be billed for the operation. "If we had known this in advance, then we would have refused security," he told CNN.
The Independant
SWEDISH CENTRE-RIGHT WINS VOTE, LOSES MAJORITY
Fredrik Reinfeldt became Sweden's first sitting centre-right prime minister to win re-election, but was deprived of a majority by the first-time entry into parliament of an anti-immigrant party. Analysts had said before Sunday's election that a hung parliament, with Reinfeldt's centre-right Alliance coalition having no overall majority, would unsettle investors and the Swedish crown weakened in early trading on Monday. "An uncertain parliamentary situation is always negative for a currency, but the market pretty quickly goes back to focusing on other things," Handelsbanken analyst Claes Mahlen said. "I don't think the view of Sweden will change dramatically." A preliminary count showed Reinfeldt's coalition winning 172 seats in the 349-member parliament and the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats 20 seats. The Social Democrat-led centre-left opposition was set to secure 157.
"If this outcome stands we will have a scenario that most Swedish voters wanted to avoid -- that is that we have a xenophobic party holding the balance of power," said Ulf Bjereld, a political scientist at Gothenburg University. Swedish newspapers said the election marked a dramatic shift for a nation known for its tolerance and liberal policies. "It is Monday morning and time for Swedes to find a new self-image," wrote daily Svenska Dagbladet. "A centre-right government without a majority, a wrecked Social Democracy and a party with roots in far-right extremism holding the balance of power." Daily Dagens Nyheter zeroed in on the political difficulties generated by the government falling short of a majority. "Tough situation awaits", ran a banner headline. The Swedish crown slid to about 9.2495 against the euro EURSEK= from 9.2246 at the close of the Swedish market on Friday. It dipped to 7.0761 per dollar SEK= from 7.0653.
Reinfeldt, who campaigned on a promise of more tax cuts and reforms to trim the welfare state, has said he was prepared to lead a minority government but repeated on Sunday he would first approach the opposition Green Party for support. "We have said that the biggest bloc should rule and that is the Alliance," he told supporters at an election night party, rejecting any cooperation with the far-right Sweden Democrats. But the reception from the Green Party was cool. "In the current situation we have continued red-green cooperation," said joint Green Party leader Maria Wetterstrand, referring to the alliance with the opposition Social Democrats. Reinfeldt benefited from one of Europe's strongest economic recoveries to become the first sitting centre-right prime minister to win re-election in a country that was ruled for much of the last century by the Social Democrats. In the election, voters were choosing between Reinfeldt's model of a leaner welfare state with more income tax cuts and privatisations, and an opposition platform that wanted the rich to pay more to fund schools, hospitals and care for the elderly. The Social Democrats had their worst election in almost 100 years, with voters apparently backing the welfare reforms and tax cuts pushed through by the Alliance of Reinfeldt's Moderate Party, the Liberals, Centre and Christian Democrats.
Far-right success
The big news of the night was the entry into parliament of the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats. The rise in support for the far-right party has come after it moved away from its skinhead roots and mirrors increases in backing for similar parties elsewhere in Europe. The Sweden Democrats deny they are racist but both main blocs have ruled out working with them. "Today we have written political history together, I think that's fantastic," Sweden Democrat leaderJimmie Akesson told chanting supporters. Analysts say the party has found support among the unemployed, whose numbers have risen during the global economic crisis. It has a strong base in the south of Sweden, where the number of immigrants is higher than the national average. Umea University expert Svante Ersson said Sweden Democrat voters were often young men who felt ignored by society. "They don't necessarily have to be xenophobic -- it could be a way to make a statement against the establishment," said Ersson.
The Sweden Democrats have been inspired by the success of the People's Party in neighbouring Denmark that provides vital parliamentary support for the government there. The party wants to curtail immigration and criticises Muslims and Islam as un-Swedish. Immigrants account for 14 percent of Sweden's population, just above the 12.4 percent average for northern Europe, according to United Nations figures. Jan Haggstrom, chief economist at Handelsbanken, said that even a minority Reinfeldt government could manage well and he saw little chance that the centre-left opposition would link up with the Sweden Democrats on key parliamentary issues. "We have such strong public finances. It would take something really spectacular for people to start worrying ... and start selling Swedish government paper," he said. Sweden has been among the most welcoming of European Union countries to immigrants seeking asylum or refugee status, taking in people after the Balkan wars of the 1990s and becoming a favourite destination for Iraqis after the U.S. invasion.
Reuters
"If this outcome stands we will have a scenario that most Swedish voters wanted to avoid -- that is that we have a xenophobic party holding the balance of power," said Ulf Bjereld, a political scientist at Gothenburg University. Swedish newspapers said the election marked a dramatic shift for a nation known for its tolerance and liberal policies. "It is Monday morning and time for Swedes to find a new self-image," wrote daily Svenska Dagbladet. "A centre-right government without a majority, a wrecked Social Democracy and a party with roots in far-right extremism holding the balance of power." Daily Dagens Nyheter zeroed in on the political difficulties generated by the government falling short of a majority. "Tough situation awaits", ran a banner headline. The Swedish crown slid to about 9.2495 against the euro EURSEK= from 9.2246 at the close of the Swedish market on Friday. It dipped to 7.0761 per dollar SEK= from 7.0653.
Reinfeldt, who campaigned on a promise of more tax cuts and reforms to trim the welfare state, has said he was prepared to lead a minority government but repeated on Sunday he would first approach the opposition Green Party for support. "We have said that the biggest bloc should rule and that is the Alliance," he told supporters at an election night party, rejecting any cooperation with the far-right Sweden Democrats. But the reception from the Green Party was cool. "In the current situation we have continued red-green cooperation," said joint Green Party leader Maria Wetterstrand, referring to the alliance with the opposition Social Democrats. Reinfeldt benefited from one of Europe's strongest economic recoveries to become the first sitting centre-right prime minister to win re-election in a country that was ruled for much of the last century by the Social Democrats. In the election, voters were choosing between Reinfeldt's model of a leaner welfare state with more income tax cuts and privatisations, and an opposition platform that wanted the rich to pay more to fund schools, hospitals and care for the elderly. The Social Democrats had their worst election in almost 100 years, with voters apparently backing the welfare reforms and tax cuts pushed through by the Alliance of Reinfeldt's Moderate Party, the Liberals, Centre and Christian Democrats.
Far-right success
The big news of the night was the entry into parliament of the anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats. The rise in support for the far-right party has come after it moved away from its skinhead roots and mirrors increases in backing for similar parties elsewhere in Europe. The Sweden Democrats deny they are racist but both main blocs have ruled out working with them. "Today we have written political history together, I think that's fantastic," Sweden Democrat leaderJimmie Akesson told chanting supporters. Analysts say the party has found support among the unemployed, whose numbers have risen during the global economic crisis. It has a strong base in the south of Sweden, where the number of immigrants is higher than the national average. Umea University expert Svante Ersson said Sweden Democrat voters were often young men who felt ignored by society. "They don't necessarily have to be xenophobic -- it could be a way to make a statement against the establishment," said Ersson.
The Sweden Democrats have been inspired by the success of the People's Party in neighbouring Denmark that provides vital parliamentary support for the government there. The party wants to curtail immigration and criticises Muslims and Islam as un-Swedish. Immigrants account for 14 percent of Sweden's population, just above the 12.4 percent average for northern Europe, according to United Nations figures. Jan Haggstrom, chief economist at Handelsbanken, said that even a minority Reinfeldt government could manage well and he saw little chance that the centre-left opposition would link up with the Sweden Democrats on key parliamentary issues. "We have such strong public finances. It would take something really spectacular for people to start worrying ... and start selling Swedish government paper," he said. Sweden has been among the most welcoming of European Union countries to immigrants seeking asylum or refugee status, taking in people after the Balkan wars of the 1990s and becoming a favourite destination for Iraqis after the U.S. invasion.
Reuters
Increase in Dutch antisemitism
The Dutch Jewish community suffered almost double the number of antisemitic incidents in 2009 than in 2008. Experts said this increase might only be “the tip of the iceberg”.
Police said the 209 cases of antisemitism were documented in the Netherlands last year, representing a 48 per cent rise year-on-year and accounting for nearly a tenth of all discriminatory incidents in the Netherlands.
During Israel’s Gaza offensive in January 2009, 98 attacks were documented, including nine physical assaults.
Other incidents in 2009 included vandals damaging synagogues and spraying graffiti on Jewish monuments.
The Jewish community in the Netherlands numbers around 30,000, less than 0.3 per cent of the country’s population.
Earlier this week the Dutch Foreign Ministry withdrew an invitation to the leaders of Israeli council because some of those involved were representatives of West Bank settlements.
In June police in Amsterdam outlined proposals to post “decoy Jews” – police disguised in Orthodox clothing – around the city in order to catch potential racist attackers.
The Jewish Chronicle
Police said the 209 cases of antisemitism were documented in the Netherlands last year, representing a 48 per cent rise year-on-year and accounting for nearly a tenth of all discriminatory incidents in the Netherlands.
During Israel’s Gaza offensive in January 2009, 98 attacks were documented, including nine physical assaults.
Other incidents in 2009 included vandals damaging synagogues and spraying graffiti on Jewish monuments.
The Jewish community in the Netherlands numbers around 30,000, less than 0.3 per cent of the country’s population.
Earlier this week the Dutch Foreign Ministry withdrew an invitation to the leaders of Israeli council because some of those involved were representatives of West Bank settlements.
In June police in Amsterdam outlined proposals to post “decoy Jews” – police disguised in Orthodox clothing – around the city in order to catch potential racist attackers.
The Jewish Chronicle
EUROPEAN ROMA RIGHTS GROUPS THREATEN TO TAKE FRANCE TO COURT
Roma groups protested at France's expulsion policy and threatened to take Paris to the European court Saturday, as another top EU official took aim at President Nicolas Sarkozy. In Bulgaria, a dozen Roma organisations delivered a joint letter, addressed to Sarkozy, to the French embassy in Sofia. "The people you are throwing out have not committed any crime: if that was the case, they would have been arrested and charged," they wrote. Some 150 Roma chanted "Europe is with us" and carried banners saying, "Sarkozy is legalising racism," "Poor doesn't mean criminal, No to deportation" and "Liberty, equality, fraternity", referring to the French national motto. On Thursday, Sarkozy vowed to continue dismantling illegal Gypsy and traveller camps in France despite a barrage of criticism and reported clashes with European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso at a heated EU summit in Brussels. In Spain Saturday the local wing of Union Romani, an international Prague-based Roma rights organisation, vowed to take France to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg. "We express our sorrow and our deception because European leaders at the summit did not have the necessary courage to put the French president in his place," the group said in a statement. It condemned the French interior ministry's August 5 leaked memo -- which revealed that Roma were being targeted for expulsion -- as "a racist, anti-constitutional, anti-European, inhuman measure with clear Nazi connotations." The group said the ECJ's 27 judges "will decide a verdict which, we do not doubt, will make an example of and will condemn the French government."
The summit came two days after the EU's top justice official Viviane Reding, angered by the leaked memo which apppeared to contradict Paris's assurances, called the expulsions a "disgrace" and threatened legal action. "This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War," she said, in turn arousing Sarkozy's ire. EU Social Affairs Commissioner Laszlo Andor hit out at the French leader again in an interview to be published Monday. "People are trying here cheaply and obviously to boost their popularity at the expense of a particularly vulnerable group," Andor told the Austrian weekly Profil. However he conceded Sarkozy's case that EU members in general had done too little for the minority group, and said the bloc will hold a conference in the Romanian capital Bucharest next month to discuss aid initiatives for Roma. The meeting aims to address the EU's existing "comprehensive support programme" for Roma and gypsies and encourage member states like Romania and Bulgaria to benefit from these subsidies, he said. Meanwhile, a French opinion poll found 71 percent of respondents believed that France's international image had been tarnished after the dismantling of Roma gypsy camps and expulsions to Romania and Bulgaria, on top of the French football team's exit from the World Cup in disgrace.
AFP
The summit came two days after the EU's top justice official Viviane Reding, angered by the leaked memo which apppeared to contradict Paris's assurances, called the expulsions a "disgrace" and threatened legal action. "This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War," she said, in turn arousing Sarkozy's ire. EU Social Affairs Commissioner Laszlo Andor hit out at the French leader again in an interview to be published Monday. "People are trying here cheaply and obviously to boost their popularity at the expense of a particularly vulnerable group," Andor told the Austrian weekly Profil. However he conceded Sarkozy's case that EU members in general had done too little for the minority group, and said the bloc will hold a conference in the Romanian capital Bucharest next month to discuss aid initiatives for Roma. The meeting aims to address the EU's existing "comprehensive support programme" for Roma and gypsies and encourage member states like Romania and Bulgaria to benefit from these subsidies, he said. Meanwhile, a French opinion poll found 71 percent of respondents believed that France's international image had been tarnished after the dismantling of Roma gypsy camps and expulsions to Romania and Bulgaria, on top of the French football team's exit from the World Cup in disgrace.
AFP
Aberdeen anti-Traveller website branded racist (UK)
A website set up by angry critics of Travellers in Aberdeen was today slammed by a human rights group for using racist language.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has reported a page on a social networking site to MSPs, claiming offensive comments about Aberdeen Travellers have been made.
The website – Stop Travellers Wrecking Aberdeen – was set up by Brian Falconer in reaction to a number of camps across Aberdeen – and 20 people have joined the group
Evening Express
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has reported a page on a social networking site to MSPs, claiming offensive comments about Aberdeen Travellers have been made.
The website – Stop Travellers Wrecking Aberdeen – was set up by Brian Falconer in reaction to a number of camps across Aberdeen – and 20 people have joined the group
Evening Express
Jailed, the racist thug who launched brutal attack over a cigarette (UK)
A thug who beat a man who refused to give him a cigarette has been jailed.
Ian Shore, 22, repeatedly punched Huran Yalvac – minutes after his cousin Karl Martin racially abused the Turkish victim.
Shore, of Milnrow Road, Rochdale, is already serving a 20-week jail term after skipping bail following the incident.
He was ordered, at Manchester Crown court, to spend an additional ten months behind bars after admitting racially aggravated assault causing actual bodily harm.
Martin, 21, of York Street, Rochdale, admitted racially aggravated harassment for his part in the incident.
He was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, plus 100 hours of unpaid work. He must also pay £350 costs.
Bob Sastry, prosecuting, said Mr Yalvac had been on Drake Street, in the centre of Rochdale, at 1am on July 12, when he was approached by Martin and Shore.
After Shore barged into the victim, he and Martin demanded a cigarette. When the victim said he could not give him one, Martin said: "We’ll smash your face in if you don’t." Martin then swore at Mr Yalvac, subjecting him to racial abuse, before Shore punched him – continuing the attack after his victim fell to the ground.
Mr Yalvac was left badly bruised and the men were arrested at the scene.
Hiranya Narayan, defending Shore, said: "I am not intending to submit drink as an excuse, it is not – it is an explanation.
"He unusually was in drink that day. He has not abused alcohol since."
John Marsh, defending Martin, who has a previous conviction for racially abusing an Asian man, said he was also drunk after the pub crawl with Shore.
Mr Marsh said Martin’s background should influence him not to be racist – he had worked in Ghana and had a number of African friends.
Mr Marsh said: "He is very ashamed of his behaviour."
Sentencing the pair, Judge Andrew Blake said: "You both took part in what was a very unpleasant incident, it occurred because you were both drunk and you decided, for reasons best known to yourselves, to approach this man who you obviously thought was Asian.
"The request for a cigarette was simply an excuse to cause trouble."
Manchester Evening News
Ian Shore, 22, repeatedly punched Huran Yalvac – minutes after his cousin Karl Martin racially abused the Turkish victim.
Shore, of Milnrow Road, Rochdale, is already serving a 20-week jail term after skipping bail following the incident.
He was ordered, at Manchester Crown court, to spend an additional ten months behind bars after admitting racially aggravated assault causing actual bodily harm.
Martin, 21, of York Street, Rochdale, admitted racially aggravated harassment for his part in the incident.
He was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, plus 100 hours of unpaid work. He must also pay £350 costs.
Bob Sastry, prosecuting, said Mr Yalvac had been on Drake Street, in the centre of Rochdale, at 1am on July 12, when he was approached by Martin and Shore.
After Shore barged into the victim, he and Martin demanded a cigarette. When the victim said he could not give him one, Martin said: "We’ll smash your face in if you don’t." Martin then swore at Mr Yalvac, subjecting him to racial abuse, before Shore punched him – continuing the attack after his victim fell to the ground.
Mr Yalvac was left badly bruised and the men were arrested at the scene.
Hiranya Narayan, defending Shore, said: "I am not intending to submit drink as an excuse, it is not – it is an explanation.
"He unusually was in drink that day. He has not abused alcohol since."
John Marsh, defending Martin, who has a previous conviction for racially abusing an Asian man, said he was also drunk after the pub crawl with Shore.
Mr Marsh said Martin’s background should influence him not to be racist – he had worked in Ghana and had a number of African friends.
Mr Marsh said: "He is very ashamed of his behaviour."
Sentencing the pair, Judge Andrew Blake said: "You both took part in what was a very unpleasant incident, it occurred because you were both drunk and you decided, for reasons best known to yourselves, to approach this man who you obviously thought was Asian.
"The request for a cigarette was simply an excuse to cause trouble."
Manchester Evening News
Yobs plaguing alleyway with noise and racist abuse (UK)
Racist yobs who have terrorised a neighbourhood for two years may be shut out of a Shipley alleyway under a £5,000 Council scheme.
Fed-up residents of Livingstone Close, Wrose, have had to endure abuse from gangs of up to 40 youths roaming the streets every night.
The residents have reported the thugs, who they say are mainly from the Swain House area of Bradford, carrying metal bars, baseball bats, sticks and even an air rifle.
One resident, who did not wish to be named, told the Telegraph & Argus he had been racially abused and another has been assaulted by the gang ‘ringleader’.
The youths have been drinking under age, urinating in gardens and throwing litter, stones and, during the winter, snowballs at homes.
Now Bradford Council is set to close the alleyway by putting up locked gates between Kings Road and Livingstone Close, in a bid to drive away the young trouble-makers.
The scheme will cost £5,000 in total, a meeting of the Shipley Area Committee heard.
Sergeant Khalid Khan, of Shipley Neighbourhood Police, told members the yobs used the ginnel to reach Claremont Fields, off Kings Drive.
He said: “We have had reports of 30 to 40 of them coming down and causing problems, not just for the residents of Livingstone Close but in Kings Drive, which is predominantly elderly residents.
“We have spoken to them but they have been absolutely petrified to even report incidents.”
Sgt Khan said police patrols were spending more than two thirds of each night guarding the area, which has seen “large-scale fights” during the past two years.
Increasing patrols has had a “profound impact” on anti-social behaviour elsewhere, said Sgt Khan. “It is having an impact not only on the residents but on our resources as well,” he said.
Danny Jackson, Bradford Council’s rights of way officer, said the Council could permanently close the alleyway but had decided against the move because it was also used legitimately as a right of way.
Security gates blocking off the alleyway could only be put in place if it could be shown that the path was a serious crime hot spot.
He told the meeting of the committee: “It does not seem to meet the criteria. We need to show high levels of serious crime are directly related to the path.”
Councillor Vanda Greenwood (Lab, Windhill and Wrose) said: “I beg to differ. There are some very, very serious issues, particularly racist problems.”
Members of the committee voted in favour of putting in lockable gates at each end of the alleyway subject to finding funding for the scheme.
Telegraph and Argus
Fed-up residents of Livingstone Close, Wrose, have had to endure abuse from gangs of up to 40 youths roaming the streets every night.
The residents have reported the thugs, who they say are mainly from the Swain House area of Bradford, carrying metal bars, baseball bats, sticks and even an air rifle.
One resident, who did not wish to be named, told the Telegraph & Argus he had been racially abused and another has been assaulted by the gang ‘ringleader’.
The youths have been drinking under age, urinating in gardens and throwing litter, stones and, during the winter, snowballs at homes.
Now Bradford Council is set to close the alleyway by putting up locked gates between Kings Road and Livingstone Close, in a bid to drive away the young trouble-makers.
The scheme will cost £5,000 in total, a meeting of the Shipley Area Committee heard.
Sergeant Khalid Khan, of Shipley Neighbourhood Police, told members the yobs used the ginnel to reach Claremont Fields, off Kings Drive.
He said: “We have had reports of 30 to 40 of them coming down and causing problems, not just for the residents of Livingstone Close but in Kings Drive, which is predominantly elderly residents.
“We have spoken to them but they have been absolutely petrified to even report incidents.”
Sgt Khan said police patrols were spending more than two thirds of each night guarding the area, which has seen “large-scale fights” during the past two years.
Increasing patrols has had a “profound impact” on anti-social behaviour elsewhere, said Sgt Khan. “It is having an impact not only on the residents but on our resources as well,” he said.
Danny Jackson, Bradford Council’s rights of way officer, said the Council could permanently close the alleyway but had decided against the move because it was also used legitimately as a right of way.
Security gates blocking off the alleyway could only be put in place if it could be shown that the path was a serious crime hot spot.
He told the meeting of the committee: “It does not seem to meet the criteria. We need to show high levels of serious crime are directly related to the path.”
Councillor Vanda Greenwood (Lab, Windhill and Wrose) said: “I beg to differ. There are some very, very serious issues, particularly racist problems.”
Members of the committee voted in favour of putting in lockable gates at each end of the alleyway subject to finding funding for the scheme.
Telegraph and Argus
Swastika race thugs target Burnley shop (UK)
Racist thugs targeted an elderly woman by spraying a swastika on her shop and torching a car.
But 77-year-old widow Sakina Bili Ali, who runs Warsi Foodstore off-licence, in Leyland Road, Burnley, said she would not be forced out of her home or shop.
Shocked neighbours have expressed their disgust at the attack and describe the victim as 'an absolutely lovely neighbour'.
Mrs Ali's son's car, which was parked outside the shop, was torched at 4.45am on Saturday.
A swastika was sprayed on the shop wall in de-icer, along with the initials J.B.
Police believe the person responsible may have unsuccessfully tried to set the symbol alight.
Mrs Ali, who has worked at the shop for 30 years and lives in the upstairs flat, said: “I’m upset by what has happened.
“But I can forget about the spray now it has vanished. I’m not scared by it.
"I have been here a long time and nothing has ever happened before.
“I don’t understand why it has happened. It is a close neighbourhood here and everyone that comes in is friendly and I’ve had no trouble with anyone.
“But If they come back then maybe it is just my time. I’m not scared of death.”
She said that she was asleep when the incident took place and had not heard anything until police and fire arrived.
Mrs Ali said: "My daughter came banging on the door saying the car had been set on fire.
“I’ve asked all the neighbours but nobody seems to have heard or seen anything out of the ordinary.”
The rear doors of the car have been badly burned in the attack and police said there was extensive damage to the vehicle's interior.
Neighbours said they had been left disgusted.
Mother-of-four, Natalie King who lives across from the shop, moved from Manchester only a year ago to be nearer to the countryside.
She said that the incident has made her consider moving house.
Natalie said: “She is quiet but lovely and everyone get on with her.
“It has really upset my children and made them frightened.
“I thought that we were moving to a family area but there is just trouble here.
"After this weekend I think we will be looking to move house.”
Neighbour Kurt Stephens said: “I come to the shop every day.
"She is an absolutely lovely neighbour. I hope they catch whoever did this.”
Colin Smith, who lives opposite to the shop, said he had found the family 'really nice and helpful' in his short time living in the area.
He said: "I’m surprised that it seems to be a racist attack.
"I know it isn’t the best area of Burnley but people seem to get on quite well.”
Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident and urging anyone that may know anything to get in touch.
Detective Sergeant Chris Scott from Burnley CID said: "This is a frightening incident and obviously upsetting for the family.
“We are exploring every avenue but at the moment there seems to be a racist motive."
Call police on 01282 425001 with information
Burnley Citizen
But 77-year-old widow Sakina Bili Ali, who runs Warsi Foodstore off-licence, in Leyland Road, Burnley, said she would not be forced out of her home or shop.
Shocked neighbours have expressed their disgust at the attack and describe the victim as 'an absolutely lovely neighbour'.
Mrs Ali's son's car, which was parked outside the shop, was torched at 4.45am on Saturday.
A swastika was sprayed on the shop wall in de-icer, along with the initials J.B.
Police believe the person responsible may have unsuccessfully tried to set the symbol alight.
Mrs Ali, who has worked at the shop for 30 years and lives in the upstairs flat, said: “I’m upset by what has happened.
“But I can forget about the spray now it has vanished. I’m not scared by it.
"I have been here a long time and nothing has ever happened before.
“I don’t understand why it has happened. It is a close neighbourhood here and everyone that comes in is friendly and I’ve had no trouble with anyone.
“But If they come back then maybe it is just my time. I’m not scared of death.”
She said that she was asleep when the incident took place and had not heard anything until police and fire arrived.
Mrs Ali said: "My daughter came banging on the door saying the car had been set on fire.
“I’ve asked all the neighbours but nobody seems to have heard or seen anything out of the ordinary.”
The rear doors of the car have been badly burned in the attack and police said there was extensive damage to the vehicle's interior.
Neighbours said they had been left disgusted.
Mother-of-four, Natalie King who lives across from the shop, moved from Manchester only a year ago to be nearer to the countryside.
She said that the incident has made her consider moving house.
Natalie said: “She is quiet but lovely and everyone get on with her.
“It has really upset my children and made them frightened.
“I thought that we were moving to a family area but there is just trouble here.
"After this weekend I think we will be looking to move house.”
Neighbour Kurt Stephens said: “I come to the shop every day.
"She is an absolutely lovely neighbour. I hope they catch whoever did this.”
Colin Smith, who lives opposite to the shop, said he had found the family 'really nice and helpful' in his short time living in the area.
He said: "I’m surprised that it seems to be a racist attack.
"I know it isn’t the best area of Burnley but people seem to get on quite well.”
Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident and urging anyone that may know anything to get in touch.
Detective Sergeant Chris Scott from Burnley CID said: "This is a frightening incident and obviously upsetting for the family.
“We are exploring every avenue but at the moment there seems to be a racist motive."
Call police on 01282 425001 with information
Burnley Citizen
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