CELEBRATIONS IN DRESDEN AS THWARTED NEO-NAZIS RELOCATE TO LEIPZIG UNDER POLICE PROTECTION (Germany)

At least 15 000 people distributed themselves throughout the streets of Dresden today to protest neo-Nazi efforts to hold demonstrations commemorating the 1945 bombing of the city by the western members of the Allied Forces. Police did their best to prevent contact between the two camps and essentially protected the extreme right commemoration, which had been permitted by the courts, from attack by counter-demonstrators who turned out in superior numbers. 

Followers of the Green Party and the Left Party formed the core of the counter-demonstration and were joined by small groups of anarchists and left-wing extremists. Czech citizens participated both on the side of the neo-Nazis and on the side of their opponents. Despite police efforts to maintain order, the number of neo-Nazi opponents continued to increase during the afternoon, as did their aggressiveness. Clashes gradually occurred in several places between left-wing extremists and police and kept escalating in terms of intensity. Demonstrators set garbage cans on fire, created barricades out of wood and tires which they soaked in fuel and set alight, and even started tearing up paving stones and raining them down on the police, who responded by using tear gas and water cannon. According to the Green Party website, the demonstrators could not stay on the streets in sub-zero temperatures for long in wet clothing, but their supporters continued to proliferate nonetheless.

The most dramatic situation occurred at around 5:30 CET near Weiskopf-Platz, where about 1 000 neo-Nazis were surrounded by their opponents and police found it very difficult to maintain order. About 50 neo-Nazis attacked police officers and a fight broke out there. German anti-fascist websites had been warning all demonstrators to be on the lookout for aggressive neo-Nazis. In the early evening, police announced they would be providing protection for the extreme-right commemoration in the nearby town of Leipzig instead. After waiting several hours, the neo-Nazis agreed to be transported to Leipzig by train under police protection and to hold their commemorative demonstration there instead. DPA reported that the Leipzig Police were preparing to take over security for the event. Shortly after 18:00 CET the neo-Nazis were assisted by police in getting back onto their buses to head to the train station. Just like last year, the neo-Nazis have been prevented from marching through Dresden. People there have started celebrating in the streets, dancing and lighting candles. About 150 neo-Nazis, however, still do not want to leave and are attempting to march through Dresden anyway. By noon CET, police had already blocked small groups of demonstrators at various sites throughout the city and did their best to prevent them from coming into contact with the neo-Nazis. Bridges across the Elbe were closed so the demonstrators could not relocate freely, according to the news server of the daily Sächsische Zeitung.

The city did its best to ban the neo-Nazi event, but an administrative court overturned the municipality's ban of the march and permitted commemorations to be held by three extreme-right groups at three different places in the city. Two of the events were registered by private individuals, while a third was registered by the Young Compatriots' Association of East Germany (the JLO). The first neo-Nazi gathering took place at noon CET on Nuremberg Square. About 100 neo-Nazis participated and were given police protection. In order to prevent violence, police kept a group of about 1 000 counter-demonstrators from accessing the square. Students living in nearby dormitories and left-wing activists repeatedly tried to breach the police barricades. Most of the blockades did not result in violence. 

The organization Dresden Without Neo-Nazis held a permitted counter-demonstration in the center of the city in which participants marched from the river to the main train station. The organizers repeatedly called on demonstrators to protest peacefully, and some performers gave short concerts in the streets for the demonstrators. Silent protests against the neo-Nazis also took place in many churches throughout Dresden today. Police originally expected up to 20 000 people to gradually join the demonstrations against the neo-Nazis over the course of the day, as many of 3 000 of whom were expected to be left-wing extremists. About 4 000 neo-Nazis were expected to participate, but by the late afternoon it seemed their numbers had totaled approximately 1 000, while the number of counter-demonstrators was around 15 000.

German media reported that police stopped buses bringing counter-demonstrators into Dresden on the highway before they reached the city limits. Activists had to walk to the center "on foot for more than an hour" in order to participate in the protest. Anti-fascists and neo-Nazis traveling on the same train to Dresden also engaged in a knife fight that sent four anti-fascists to the hospital.

CTK.Eu 

Former member of BNP s lashes out at Nick Griffin (UK)

Roger Phillips

A former member of the British National Party in Wales has lashed out at party leader Nick Griffin.

Kevin Edwards, a councillor for Llandybie in Ammanford, resigned from the ultra-nationalist party after he claimed it failed to properly deal with a member who had been convicted of assault.

The party’s South Wales organiser Roger Phillips, of Cross Hands, was convicted at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court last month after he admitted assaulting Adam Margetts, a fellow drinker at Llanelli Workingmen’s Club.

When Cllr Edwards e-mailed party leader Nick Griffin he claims he was told: “He’s got to go. I’m shocked that this was not dealt with in South Wales ages ago.”

But when a meeting of party organisers chose to back Mr Phillips, Cllr Edwards said the party’s refusal to oust him had left him no choice but to cut all links with the BNP.

Writing on his blog, he said: “What can I say? I have always been a loyal Griffinite and have always believed in Nick’s integrity and honesty.

“That is now shattered. Nick is either a blatant liar, politically naive or just listens to some very bad advice. Whatever the reason he is definitely not serious when he says that the party has cleaned up it’s image.”

Wales on Sunday previously reported how police investigated Mr Phillips in 2009 after he allegedly threatened to kill Bristol man Mark Watson, but charges were never brought.

BNP deputy Simon Darby said of Cllr Edwards resignation: “It’s a minor thing and it won’t affect the huge effort we are going to put into winning seats on the Welsh Assembly.”

Wales Online

Barnsley: antifascists march as EDL’s links to BNP exposed (UK)

Around 100 people turned up to support the joint Barnsley Trades Council and UAF demonstration in Barnsley on Saturday 19 February against the fascist British National Party, despite snow and harsh conditions.

But on the day, antifascists found themselves opposing both the BNP and the English Defence League.
Exposed

Both the BNP – which tries to hide its long history of fascism – and the racist street thugs of the EDL have sought to deny connections between the two organisations, although the EDL’s leader “Tommy Robinson” is a former BNP member and other fascists are central to its organisation.

But the links between the two groups were exposed when members of the EDL’s Yorkshire division turned out to defend the BNP’s stall in Barnsley as local trade unionists and antifascists marched against them.

The BNP is standing in the Barnsley Central byelection on 3 March. Local trade unionists and antifascists organised the march to oppose the BNP after the fascist party’s leader Nick Griffin’s recent visits to the town and the BNP’s attempts to maintain a stall in the town centre. The BNP wants to whip up support for its poinsonous racist and fascist ideas – local people are determined to oppose them.
Marched

The trade union and antifascist demo marched through the centre of Barnsley to show their opposition at the site where the BNP hold a stall.

Demonstrators were shocked when 50 EDL members marched up from a pub shouting abusive slogans. For an hour, police kept both groups penned in and refused to allow the trades council march to proceed.

But the antifascist demonstrators inisted they would march and the police eventually led the EDL back to the pub where they had been drinking earlier.

The trade union demonstration then proceeded through the town centre, chanting and outnumbering the fascists on the BNP stall and the EDL bully boys who had come to defend the BNP.
Rally

A rally in the centre of town was addressed by a number of speakers including the national president of the UCU and regional speakers from the GMB and FBU unions.

The rally finished with a call to leaflet and campaign against the BNP in the byelection.

UAF.org

Russian nationalists may fuse into one group

A new organization uniting leading nationalist movements may appear in Russia, Aleksandr Belov, the founder of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, or DPNI, has said.

In an interview with Interfax, the group’s former leader suggested that in the future the entire nationalist movement in the country will be “reformatted”.

“It is highly likely that a unified organization will be created and the spector of its interests will widen and involve not only the issue of illegal immigration but also political and social demands,” Belov said.

As to whether nationalists will go into politics and create their own party, Belov said it is too early to speak about that and he is not entitled to make such comments. “But it is obvious that the possibility of registering such party and participating in elections is close to zero,” he added.

Earlier this week, the Moscow Prosecutor’s Office suspended the DPNI activities after it had concluded that the movement was “pursuing extremist goals and objectives.” The final decision though is to be made by the Moscow City Court.


Meanwhile, the Federal Migration Service (FMS) believes shutting down the nationalist movement was not a good idea, since it would only serve to bolster the group’s standing and so far it hasn’t enjoyed much support among the population.

“From our point of view, DPNI activities were neither good nor harmful,” Konstantin Poltoranin, FMS spokesman, told the agency. “It had no independent programs, no support within society. What would change with its closure? Radical measures can only provide publicity for such organizations.” The solution, according to FMS, would be taking either criminal or administrative proceedings against activists in movement, who violate the law and foment inter-ethnic discord.

Member of the Public Chamber Iosif Diskin, on the contrary, believes that the DPNI should have been shut down long ago.

“Each time this movement organized any event, it would end up with…mass disorders. Therefore, it has been a while that there was a legal basis for suspending its activities,” he told Pravda.ru.

Lately, nationalistic moods have been on the rise in Russia and climaxed in a riot on Moscow’s Manezhnaya Square on December 11. Initially a crowd of youths gathered near the Kremlin to mark the death of a football fan that was killed in a fight with ethnic North Caucasians. The meeting soon snowballed into a nationalist brawl with ethnic minorities and police being attacked.

The country’s leadership has been seeking a solution to this thorny issue and trying to educate the country’s multi-ethnic society to live in peace and respect one another. According to President Medvedev, "inter-ethnic conflicts are lethal for Russia, no matter where they occur”.

RT.Com

Forde must wait for life-or-death decision (USA)

Jurors who must decide whether Shawna Forde should become the third woman on Arizona's death row went home Friday without reaching a decision. They'll resume deliberations on Tuesday.

Forde, 43, was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the May 30, 2009, deaths of Arivaca residents Raul Junior Flores, 29, and Brisenia Flores, 9, and of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of Gina Gonzalez, Flores' wife and Brisenia's mother.

Prosecutors presented evidence the Floreses were shot by Jason Bush, 36, after he and Forde forced their way into the home, claiming to be law-enforcement officers looking for fugitives.

The prosecutors said Forde wanted to rob Flores to fund her border protection group, Minutemen American Defense.

Gonzalez testified that as she lay feigning death, she heard Brisenia plead for her life and the gunman shoot her twice at point-blank range.

On Friday, the attorneys argued why Forde should or should not be executed.

Defense attorney Jill Thorpe said Forde is a "broken person" and recounted testimony about the repeated acts of sexual and physical abuse and abandonment Forde suffered as a child.

Because of her childhood, Forde desperately needed to be loved and to feel important, Thorpe and co-counsel Eric Larsen said.

She married five men, became involved in the Minutemen organization and turned into a braggart who made outlandish claims, Thorpe said.

The abuse and a subsequent stroke led to a mental illness that left Forde unable to assess people like Bush and co-defendant Albert Gaxiola, to foresee the dangers ahead and to change course, Thorpe said.

Thorpe asked the jury to ask themselves, "Are we the type of society that says 'We're going to put you down because you are broken ... or are we the kind of society that says segregation is enough?' "

It's Forde's mental illness that prevents her from acknowledging her role and from apologizing, Thorpe said.

"She's not even facing what's going on here," Thorpe said.

Thorpe also asked the jury to look at Forde's moral culpability and compare it to Bush's.

Is Forde as culpable as you if you, "hearing the fear in a child's voice as she's begging you not to shoot her and you do it anyway?" Thorpe asked.

The death penalty should be reserved for the "worst of the worst," Larsen told jurors.

Imposing the death penalty might have an unintended consequence.

"Shawna is going to be a celebrity. She's going to be a martyr, she's going to revel in this," Thorpe said.

Deputy Pima County Attorney Rick Unklesbay said the Floreses would be alive if not for Forde.

Unklesbay, too, urged the jury to think about moral culpability, noting Forde did nothing to stop Bush from shooting any of the victims.

Forde stole Gonzalez's jewelry and then, upon learning Gonzalez was still alive, turned to Bush and yelled, "Hey! She's still alive! Get back in there and take care of her!" Unklesbay said.

Days after the slayings, she told an FBI informant they had more targets, Unklesbay said.

"That's the moral, reasoned response Shawna Forde had after Brisenia had two shots put in her head," Unklesbay said.

While Forde was probably abused to some degree, it's not enough to warrant leniency, Unklesbay said.

Forde must've realized her childhood was abnormal and she wanted something better for her two children, because they apparently weren't abused and still love her, Unklesbay said.

And yet, Forde plotted the Flores home invasion and slayings.

Child-abuse victims, "if they have an ounce of compassion in their soul, they just don't do that," Unklesbay said.

If jurors are unable to unanimously decide Forde deserves the death penalty, Judge John Leonardo will sentence Forde to life in prison with or without the possibility of release. Forde also faces prison time for attempted murder and various burglary, aggravated assault and robbery charges.

Bush is scheduled to go to trial March 15 and Gaxiola June 1.

They, too, face the death penalty.

 Arizona Daily Star

MP rejects BNP claim after rant is published (UK)

THE British National Party is to make an official complaint against Gavin Barwell, after the MP publicised one of its candidate's rants about "violent immigrants" in New Addington.

The far-right party alleges Mr Barwell breached the Data Protection Act when he sent a questionnaire, filled in by Clifford Le May, to the Advertiser nearly a year and a half ago.

In the pamphlet, Mr Le May urged the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to "stop ruining our community by stuffing New Addington with violent immigrants who have no right to live among decent civilised white people".

He also referred to Mr Barwell, who he ran against for the Croydon Central seat in the general election last May, as a "traitor to his race and nation".

Now Mr Barwell has received a letter from the BNP threatening to take the matter to the Information Commissioner.

Mr Barwell told the Advertiser: "It's completely bizarre. I've never heard of anyone in a political party complain about their views being made public.

"Perhaps he is ashamed of what he said, as he should be."

In the letter, Tony Martin, the BNP's Croydon and Sutton branch organiser, wrote: "In mid 2009, Clifford Le May received a questionnaire sent out by your organisation.

"Cliff filled in and returned the completed questionnaire only for it to be printed in the Croydon Advertiser.

"Recently I have been looking into the legality of this leak and who is responsible.

"It looks illegal under the Data Protection Act 1998 and Gavin Barwell has confessed to this indiscretion on his blog.

"I contacted the Information Commissioner's Office and was told to contact you first before making any official complaint."

When the Advertiser contacted Mr Martin, who has replaced Charlotte Lewis as Croydon and Sutton branch organiser, he pointed out a promise made on www.croydonconservatives.com not to share information with third parties.

The disclaimer, under the heading Information Collection and Use, reads: "We never sell or share information to anyone outside the Conservative Party."

Mr Martin added: "I want to get the message across that we are not prepared to be trodden on.

"The Conservatives promise never to share information but this is exactly what they did.

"We're not looking for compensation, but an apology."

Mr Barwell admitted the privacy disclaimer existed but added: "Were it the response of a private individual I wouldn't have released it.

"But this was someone running for public office, so people have a right to know his views."

After giving Mr Barwell a deadline of seven days to respond to his concerns, Mr Martin says he now intends to submit an official complaint to the Information Commissioner.




This is Croydon

TERROR THREAT ACCUSED 'HAD AK-47' (South Africa)

Police found an AK-47 assault rifle and ammunition at the home of a South African terror suspect accused of  threatening Britain and the US, prosecutors said.

Brian Roach's lawyers told a bail hearing he would plead guilty to attempted extortion, but not to terror charges.

They also said the 64-year-old was no longer seeking bail.

Roach is accused of sending emails threatening to spread foot-and-mouth disease in the US and Britain unless the governments paid him four million dollars (£2.5 million).

Prosecutors have said police have not found evidence that Roach had the means to carry out his threats.

Roach, who owns an engineering firm outside Johannesburg and has business interests in Zimbabwe, is accused of saying in emails that he wanted the money to compensate white Zimbabwean farmers for land lost, and accusing the US and British governments of not doing enough to help the farmers.

About 4,000 white farmers have been forced from their farms since 2000 in what Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe calls a campaign to put more land in the hands of impoverished blacks.

Many of the beneficiaries, though, have been senior politicians who are close to Mugabe.

South African investigators worked with US and British officials on the case, and arrested Roach on February 12 after a seven-month investigation.

Daily Express

No more mister nice radical nationalist Jobbik (Hungary)

It seems that the decision by Gábor Vona to say nasty things about the Gypsies in Parliament while wearing the banned uniform of the Hungarian Guard on Monday wasn't the Jobbik chairman's way of celebrating Valentine's day. According to origo.hu, the leadership of the party has made a conscious decision to change their strategy, by spending more time at public forums focusing on the "harsher topics" they believe brought them success during the election campaign.

The portal notes that while Jobbik's leaders say the reason for their decision to start being naughtier again is dissatisfaction with the government's policies, it is probably also related to the fact that the party's popularity is falling. Imagine that.

Politics Hu

FRENCH FAR RIGHT POISED TO GAIN FROM WAVE OF TUNISIAN MIGRANTS

The wave of Tunisian immigrants that arrived in France last week shouldn't plan on getting too cozy. The new leader of the National Front is poised to capitalize on what she says is an immigration crisis. 

French police say they have arrested some 100 Tunisians who landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa last week as they tried to enter France. The arrested immigrants, each carrying a document provided by the Italian authorities, are being held in detention centers across southeastern France. Should these immigrants request political asylum, their demands would more than likely be turned down, and France would be under no obligation to allow them to stay. On Friday, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Laurent Wauquiez made it clear that immigrants from Tunisia should expect no special treatment. "The Interior Ministry will examine on a case by case basis those who qualify for the right to immigration. Those cases can only be very marginal," Wauquiez told a news conference.

Good news for the National Front
The government is taking a hard line on these immigrants - but that is not preventing Marine Le Pen, the new leader of the far right National Front party, from making political capital out of what she says is the beginning of a new immigration crisis. In an interview with French public radio on Friday, Le Pen said the "great wave of migrants" was one of the consequences of the revolutions taking place in the Arab world. "We have to reform our immigration policy and stop the system that's pumping immigrants into our country. That means revoking the automatic right of anyone born here to French nationality and stopping the insanely easy access to social security benefit, housing benefit, retirement pensions and free schooling," Le Pen said. According to an opinion poll published Friday, if presidential elections were held tomorrow, 26 percent would vote for Socialist hopeful Dominique Strauss-Khan, 23 percent for incumbent president Nicolas Sarkozy and 21 percent for Le Pen, meaning France would be very close to selecting the far right leader to go to the second round head-to-head against the Socialist candidate.

DW-World

French journalist convicted on racism charge over drug dealer comment (France)

Self-styled enemy of political correctness Éric Zemmour found guilty after trial over remarks about police stopping minorities

The controversial French journalist Éric Zemmour has been found guilty of incitement to racial hatred after telling a TV chatshow that drug dealers were mostly "blacks and Arabs".

The Paris trial sparked a fierce debate over freedom of speech and the extent of France's racism problem, which is poisoning the republican ideal that all citizens are equal regardless of colour.

Zemmour, a well-known media commentator and columnist for Le Figaro, prides himself on his outspoken defiance of what he deems political correct, woolly liberals.

He appeared on a chatshow last year when the debate turned to the question of the French police's excessive use of stop and search powers against minorities. He said: "But why are they stopped 17 times? Why? Because most dealers are blacks and Arabs. That's a fact."

According to the French model, where everyone is theoretically equal under a state blind to race or religion, it is illegal to count ethnic minorities or race statistics. So there are no figures on the ethnic identity of criminals.

Zemmour was also fined for telling another TV channel that employers "had a right" to turn down black or Arab candidates. Job discrimination over race and ethnicity is thought to be widespread in France.

Zemmour, whose parents were Jewish Berbers who emigrated from Algeria in the 1950s, told the court he was not a "provocateur" but a faithful observer of reality who refused political correctness. He was backed by several centre-right politicians and some on the left.

The state prosecutor accused him of using the "old stereotype that linked immigration to crime".

The Zemmour case has reflected an increasingly uneasy debate over immigration in France as Nicolas Sarkozy tries to win over the far-right vote before his difficult re-election battle next year.

The Front National, led by its new, young, female face, Marine Le Pen, is scoring its highest ever ratings in the polls after exploiting mistrust of Islam by criticising Muslim street prayers and halal-only restaurants.

After what was attacked as a disastrous national debate on "immigration and national identity", Sarkozy is now seeking to outmanoeuvre the extreme right by launching a nationwide consultation on the role of Islam in the French secular state.

The debate, to be run by his ruling UMP party, will begin in April and will seek to impose rules on how Islam should work in France, which has the biggest Muslim population in western Europe. Sarkozy told party members it was crucial because "yesterday's racists are today's populists".

He said: "I don't want prayers in the streets, or calls to prayer." He said the decision to ban the niqab in public places from April was a good thing and now "we need to agree in principle about the place of religion".

The Guardian

White supremacist was early focus of police attack probe (Hemet, USA)

 Midway through the investigation into a series of attacks on Hemet police last year, detectives were focused on violent white supremacist gangs as suspects, according to newly released search warrants.

Police were serving search warrants to investigate several members of a prison-based neo-Nazi gang, including the alleged "shot caller" of the Hemet chapter, according to the documents police filed to obtain those warrants.

The documents were released this week after attorneys for The Press-Enterprise filed a request last year that multiple search warrants be unsealed.

Though several of those mentioned in the March and April search warrants were arrested as part of an April raid, police did not find evidence to link members of the gangs to any of the attacks.

By June, suspicion turned to two other men, Nicholas Smit and Steven Hansen. Based on a tip to police and DNA evidence, they were arrested in July on suspicion of targeting Hemet Detective Chuck Johnson with attacks that started in December 2009. Authorities have said the motive was to stop Johnson from testifying against Smit in a marijuana case.

Smit has been charged in five attacks and Hansen is charged with assisting him in one attack -- aiming a rocket at the Hemet Police Department in June.

Police have not said whether either man had ties to any white supremacist gangs. The district attorney's office has not filed gang charges against them.

The initial suspect in the case was Joseph Matthew Zito, who police thought was "bent on revenge" against officers who had arrested him, detectives said in the unsealed documents.

Zito was sentenced last month to eight years in prison for a weapons charge related to the April raid but unrelated to the attacks.

In late 2009, Zito was released from prison after Johnson had arrested him for possession of tear gas. He went to the Hemet Police Department and told detectives that authorities in a previous weapons case against him "bore false witness" and that "he had a moral and religious right to 'bring sinners to justice,' " the warrants say.

Zito was described in the warrants as the leader or "shot caller" for the Hemet region of a white supremacist gang called Public Enemy No. 1. Formed in Orange County, it is a sect of the Aryan Brotherhood, police said.

Part of the reason Hemet police suspected white supremacist involvement was that an investigator found instructions on how to make some of the devices used in the attacks in an online white supremacist manual.

One such device was a homemade gun rigged to the gate around the Hemet-San Jacinto Gang Task Force building February 2010, which fired when an officer opened the gate, narrowly missing him.

The next day, as task force members moved out of the building, police found Zito staking out the building, according to the warrants.

Detectives began a surveillance operation in March on Zito and his gang associates. The warrants state Zito was never found at the scene of any of the attacks but was thought to have been orchestrating them.

Video surveillance was conducted on Johnson's home, where a similar homemade gun was attached to his car on March 4.

While the gun found on Johnson's car was being defused by the bomb squad, an associate of Zito's was seen staking out the officers.

When the Hemet police firing range was burned down April 12, police believed it was retribution for the arrest of another gang member hours earlier.

Detectives eventually ruled out Zito's involvement due to a lack of evidence.

PE.com

Neo-Nazis and leftists clash at assault trial (Germany)

Right-wing extremists and leftists clashed in a Nuremberg courtroom on Thursday, spurring the judge to clear the hall in order to continue a trial against a neo-Nazi charged with beating a teenage boy so severely that he remains permanently disabled.

As the trial began a group of leftists reportedly chanted “Antifa, Antifa, get out Nazis!” in attempt to keep the defendant’s supporters from entering the courtroom. Antifa in German refers to “anti-fascist” supporters.

The courtroom, number 600, was used to try Nazi war criminals after the Second World War, and the leftist demonstrators said they did not want it occupied by modern right-wing extremists.

Court officials' demands to keep apart were ignored and met with verbal sparring between the two sides, and the courtroom was cleared amid loud protests.

A 24-year-old man with admitted ties to the neo-Nazi scene in Fürth faces charges of attempted manslaughter and dangerous bodily harm after beating a 17-year-old student apprentice nearly to death in April 2010 in a Nuremberg U-Bahn metro.

The man became enraged when the teenager allegedly made a disparaging remark about a bum bag worn by his girlfriend from Thor Steinar, a well-known neo-Nazi clothing label.

The 24-year-old from Fürth denied he intended to maim or kill the teen before the court on Thursday, but did acknowledge beating the boy after he remarked “aggressively” on the bum bag. The defendant also said he regretted the incident, in particular the disabilities sustained by his victim.

The now 18-year-old was injured so severely that his heart stopped and he had to be repeatedly resuscitated by rescue workers. After a lengthy hospital stay he remains severely disabled and unable to work in his chosen field of carpentry.

Because he can’t remember the assault, the teen appeared in court as a joint plaintiff.

Though he has no memory of it, he told the court that he could certainly imagine making such a remark about the Thor Steinar bag.

“Because I think it’s wrong to wear this label that is used mainly by neo-Nazis,” he said, adding that he is an active supporter of the city's leftist scene.

Another four days have been reserved for the trial, with a verdict expected on March 3.

The Local Germany

Religious leaders join forces against violence (Denmark)

 Recent reports of violence and harassment against religious groups has inspired groups of Christians, Muslims and Jews to unite in the fight against intolerance, reports Berlingske newspaper.

An increase in religiously motivated violence has led the three main religious communities in Denmark to join forces to encourage mutual respect and tolerance.

“Judaism, Islam and Christianity all have common roots,” said Rev Peter Skov-Jacobsen, the bishop of Copenhagen. “And when the root is the same, it must be possible for them to live and prosper side by side.”

The bishop’s views are supported by Det Mosaiske Troessamfund (MT), an officially recognized Jewish society, and the Muslim Joint Council (MF).

“Islam does not warrant harassment,” said MF spokesperson Zubair Butt-Hussain. “Such harassment is horrible whether you are religious or not. Engaging in it would amount to abuse of the Koran.”

On March 21, the City Council will schedule a campaign against religious harassment in connection with the UN’s anti-racism day.

CH-Post

Norway rules to extradite mentally-ill Russian neo-Nazi

A Norwegian court in Oslo has ruled to extradite mentally-disturbed Russian neo-Nazi Vyacheslav Datsik, the local NRK television broadcasting corporation said on Wednesday.

Datsik, 33, was detained at an immigration office in Oslo where he appeared with a weapon seeking asylum on September 21. In late December, a local court sentenced him to eight months in prison for carrying a weapon.

Hearings on Datsik's extradition, which Russian prosecutors had been seeking since October 20, began in Oslo on February 14. Justice Minister Knut Storberget said in court that the Norwegian authorities were not interested in having Datsik on their territory.

Datsik, a former mixed martial arts fighter, was arrested in 2007 after a series of robberies in cell phone stores. But psychiatric examinations concluded that he was mentally ill and was therefore cleared of all criminal charges.

The martial arts fighter was involved in political activities as a member of the ultranationalist movement, Slavic Union, which was banned in Russia last year but had reportedly opened its office in Norway.

RIA Novosti

STUDENTS IN CZECH TOWN PREPARE TO FORM A HUMAN CHAIN AGAINST EXTREMISTS LIKE IN DRESDEN

Following the model used by activists in the German city of Dresden, a group of students from the Czech town of Nový Bydžov is planning to form a human chain on 12 March, the date right-wing radicals are scheduled to assemble there. One of the organizers has told news server Romea.cz the students plan to prevent the extremists from marching through the town. "Through this action, we want to non-violently express that we as citizens of Nový Bydžov and neighboring towns are able to resolve our problems ourselves and that we are under no circumstances in favor of a neo-Nazi party or organization exploiting these particular problems in order to gain publicity," one of the students told Romea.cz. "Our aim is ideally to form a human chain around the square as was done in Dresden." The students are aware of the problem that has occurred in the town but are convinced it should be resolved through dialogue and that the situation is not so oppressive as to deserve the media response it has been given. "For the time being we are a group of three students from Nový Bydžov and people from 'alternative' circles (the hard-core punk scene) in Hradec Králové are doing their best to help us.

We would love to have local residents of all ages come to this event as well as anti-racist people from all over the country. However, I must emphasize that the aim is a non-violent form of protest, such as creating a human chain around the square. Maybe we will even be lucky enough that the event will become an opportunity for discussing the situation with one another, exchanging experiences, finding some sort of solution. From my own experience I know that most of the local Roma people are dissatisfied with what has been going on in the town recently and they would also like to contribute to resolving the situation," the student told Romea.cz. The students want to properly announce the event to the town hall as required by law. "We will announce the event this week so someone else doesn't also claim the place for our meeting in U Památníku street," the organizer said. Organizers do not want to guess how many might participate, but success for them would be the presence of around 200-300 people. They are primarily counting on the young Roma people with whom they are in contact to participate. "We usually see them in town or at school. They have promised to participate," the organizer said.

Romea

Many cultures living beside each other in Wales give the lie to Cameron (Wales, UK)

When David Cameron attacked multiculturalism in Britain earlier this month he triggered a media storm.

Critics from the political Left accused the Prime Minister of “writing propaganda” for far right groups, while those on the Right argued his speech signalled the death knell for multiculturalism.

Nearly two weeks after he spoke at a security conference in Munich on radicalisation and the causes of terrorism, his comments are still rippling through society.

This week, Welsh politicians, faith leaders and racial equality champions entered the debate – each defending the importance of multiculturalism, not just in tackling terrorism but also in enriching lives.

In his speech, Mr Cameron criticised what he called “state multiculturalism”, suggesting the policy had failed to provide a society which immigrants feel they belonged to.

Yet, Betty Campbell, Wales’ first black headteacher and a former councillor of Cardiff’s Butetown area – once known as Tiger Bay – said it was the arrival of immigrant merchant seaman looking for work in the early 1900s which helped define a society where different races, cultures and religions lived together in harmony.

Proof, she said, that multiculturalism has not only succeeded in Wales but has thrived for more than 100 years.

“When my father came over from Jamaica in 1921 looking for work in the coal industry there was already a large community of West Indians, Africans and Arabs,” she said. “Most of these immigrants came as single men and then inter-married with Welsh or English women.

“This is what made the area so special, the fact that we had different nationalities living side by side.

“We did not have any of the fuss that we have now – all the different religions, races and cultures were just accepted.”

The 77-year-old said she did not understand Mr Cameron’s suggestions that multiculturalism had not worked and insisted Butetown should be held up as an example.

Arguably the most contentious statement made by the Prime Minister blamed the idea of multiculturalism as being the cause of divisions in society.

He said: “Under the doctrine of state multiculturalism we have encouraged different cultures to live separate lives.

“We’ve failed to provide a vision of society to which they feel they want to belong. We’ve even tolerated these segregated communities behaving in ways that run completely counter to our values.”

Yet, in response, Mrs Campbell said: “We haven’t got the same diversity as we once had because many people have moved on.

“We used to have a large Spanish community and there were Jewish people and there was quite a number of people from Cape Verde and Sri Lanka; but it’s still like a melting pot.”

Mr Cameron also said there was a “hands-off tolerance” by white people in Britain to views of minority communities which would otherwise be condemned – such as forced marriages.

“Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and much more active, muscular liberalism,” he said.

The debate has also been fuelled further by other world leaders, or ex-leaders, condemning multiculturalism.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Australia’s former prime minister John Howard and former Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar have all in recent months said multicultural policies had not worked.

But, according to Saleem Kidwai, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Wales, this “failure” is one which has not occurred in Wales.

“As far as we are concerned multiculturalism in Wales is alive and kicking,” he said.

“If you ask the majority of the Muslim community they are proud to be British and proud to be Welsh. It’s not an issue of whether it’s a success or a failure, it’s about whether people have made a contribution to society.”

Mr Kidwai rejected the idea put forward by Mr Cameron that many Muslim men find it hard to identify with Britain while he also likened the importance of multiculturalism to a well-stocked garden.

“We cannot deny we have differences but it is the fact that everyone is different which brings a richness into society.

“People’s values are all the same across the world and neither ethnicity nor faith play a part. It’s not about imposing your culture on someone else, it’s about complementing one another; and that’s what makes it beautiful.

“For example, if you have a garden with just one colour flower in it it doesn’t matter how bright it is you will still get bored. A garden full of colour is really beautiful.”

Taha Idris, chief executive of Swansea Bay Racial Equality Council, was another who felt the multicultural landscape in Wales was far brighter than Mr Cameron portrayed. “There are ghettos in places like London and Blackburn but we do not have anything of the sort in Wales because multiculturalism has worked,” he said.

“In terms of what has been tried and what hasn’t, there have been some failures; but on the whole there have been more successes.

“In West Wales, in particular, there’s been a lot of give and take to accept both sides of the fence, but really, in many ways, we haven’t even separated the fence.”

Both Mr Kidwai and Mr Idris were keen on promoting examples of effective multiculturalism. Mr Kidwai pointed to the council’s collaboration with both grass roots organisations and authorities, such as local councils, the police and the Assembly Government – particularly during a police operation before Christmas that led to men being charged in connection with alleged terror offences.

“The way police handled the situation in Cardiff was noticeably different to how they handled it in Stoke,” he said.

“In Cardiff they [the police] were very subdued whereas in Stoke there was a large police presence. This is because we have a very good relationship with the police and we have respect for each other.

“What gives me satisfaction is the way the community supported each other during that time.”

Mr Kidwai also spoke about the enthusiasm among the Muslim community for the forthcoming referendum on March 3.

“Muslims, like other faiths, are taking a civic responsibility to take active part in the political process and this is because of the values which we are sharing.

“In every mosque meeting we are talking about the referendum and there are very few who do not agree with voting yes.

“We have seen, since the Assembly Government has come into existence, we have got a voice in Wales and we have worked closely with them.

“Before that everything was done down in London and, although we were supposedly represented, we were always talking through a third party. Now we are talking direct to the Government and we are getting results.

“We are all working for one aim, to make Wales a more prosperous and thriving country by working together.”

Mr Idris gave the example of a recent BNP campaign which, by reaction, ultimately served to increase cohesion between white and ethnic minority groups in Swansea.

“There was a purchase of a disused church by a Muslim group which prompted the BNP to come down and campaign,” he said.

“They came to try to influence those who weren’t Muslim by handing out leaflets.

“But the white community supported the idea and supported the Muslim community. They agreed with what it was doing, which was trying to bring the church back into the community again.

“That togetherness is a great example of how multiculturalism has worked.”

Helen Mary Jones, the deputy leader of Plaid Cymru and Llanelli AM, also waded into the discussion.

She said: “I wish people like David Cameron would not muddy the waters when clearly work is being done to good effect.

“I thought his comments were unfortunate and unhelpful. I don’t know what he means by state multiculturalism and I don’t recognise the points that he makes.

“I cannot speak about the black and ethnic communities in England but it certainly doesn’t ring true in Wales.”

Ms Jones referred to the increasing demand for Welsh medium education as an example of how people from ethnic minority backgrounds wanted their children to grow up with a Welsh identity.

She also credited Llanelli Multicultural Network (LMCN) for its work in engaging people from all walks of life, such as groups from South Korea, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

“We know people from ethnic minority communities can feel a bit isolated but that’s exactly where LMCN comes in. It is reaching out to them and on the whole the response has been very positive.”

David Davies, Conservative MP for Monmouth, said it was important for the Prime Minister to speak up on sensitive issues which others may be too scared to raise, but added that Wales did not have a particular problem with people from minority communities integrating into society.

“We don’t have a large problem in Wales but there are parts of the UK were you walk down the street and you don’t ever hear English being spoken. These are the places that do not feel British and where there is a problem.”

All the different religions, races and cultures were just accepted

Fifty tongues in Tiger Bay
Immigration has played a vital role in the development of multicultural Wales since the end of the 19th century when the economic expansion and importance of its seaports and coal mines attracted workers from around the world.

One area in particular which benefited from the cosmopolitan, multi-ethnic and multi-religious makeup immigration brought with it is the small community in the south of Cardiff, formerly known as Tiger Bay.

Butetown, as it is now named, is internationally famous for its diverse mix of ethnic groups, including Somali, Bengali, Afro-Caribbean, Jamaican and Yemeni communities, among others. At the height of the coal boom the area boasted more than 50 different languages.

As they settled in the residential area around Cardiff’s docks in the early 1900s, these groups brought with them their cultural traditions and it was these traditions which soon mixed with existing Welsh traditions which made Butetown one of the UK’s first multicultural communities.

Fast-forward more than 100 years and Butetown still has the highest percentage of ethnic minorities in the Welsh capital – partly because it has recently become a haven for refugees from countries blighted by civil war, such as Somalia.

Wales Online

One-year-old child suffers racist abuse (UK)

Children as young as one have been the victims of racist abuse, new figures suggested today.
Police investigated 31 reports of hate crime targeted at youngsters aged under 11 in the Lothians last year, according to figures obtained by the Evening News under freedom of information.

Experts have said abuse or attacks at such a young age could cause psychological damage, while politicians have urged the Government to clamp down on racist thugs.

The reports detail one investigation into an incident in north Edinburgh, the worst area in the Lothians for hate crime against under 11s, where a 12-month-old child was listed as the victim.

Police also probed a race hate crime against a two-year-old in south Edinburgh, and a seven- year-old in the same area.

The figures also reveal that a ten-year-old child in Bathgate was targeted because the offenders thought the victim was homosexual.

Overall, hate crimes investigated in Lothian and Borders rose by 8.4 per cent from 1604 in 2008/09 to 1739 in 2009/10.

Labour's justice spokesman, Richard Baker MSP, said the rise was "deeply worrying".

He said that stricter sentences and robust policing in recent years may not have had the desired impact.

He said: "It's appalling that children have been subject to hate crimes and I'm sure this will be met with a huge amount of concern throughout the community.

"If it's adults committing these crimes against children, that is deeply worrying.

"They should be subject to the full force of the law and the courts should deal with them in an appropriately severe manner.

"However, if it is other children that are responsible for racist and homophobic crimes, that suggests deep-seated social problems that we need to deal with.

"We have to ask why these attacks have taken place. If it's other children we have to ask how they would come to be driven by race and homophobia.

He added: "The trends overall are also concerning. We have taken action in parliament in terms of introducing legislation and stiffer penalties on hate crimes, so if despite that we are seeing an increase, then we need to see an appropriate response from the relevant agencies."

A police spokesman said: "Lothian and Borders Police will not tolerate hate crime of any nature and will robustly deal with anyone found to be responsible."

Scotsman

BNP councillor quits party in protest over assualt row (UK)

 The Welsh wing of the far-right British National Party is said to be in turmoil after a Llandybie community councillor tore up his membership following the Guardian's coverage of an assault carried out by a party member.

According to Cllr Kevin Edwards, the Guardian's reporting of BNP member Roger Phillips' attack on Adam Margetts in Cross Hands on December 20 has set the party back years in Wales.

The Llandybie councillor says he resigned after a meeting of party organisers went back on a pledge from BNP leader Nick Griffin to have Mr Phillips dismissed from the party.

Mr Griffin had sent Cllr Edwards an email regarding Mr Phillips' actions, stating: "He's got to go. I'm shocked that this was not dealt with in South Wales ages ago."

However, Cllr Edwards claims that the party's refusal to oust "thuggish" Mr Phillips, has left him no choice but to cut all links with the BNP.

"My mobile number never stopped with calls from distraught ex and current members who were deeply disturbed over this incident that has set the BNP back years in west Wales," said Cllr Edwards, who will continue to stand as a "Justice 4 Linda Lewis Campaign" councillor at Llandybie. Last year fellow Llandybie community councillor Meirion Bowen also resigned from the BNP.

Following his resignation, Cllr Edwards' blog was inundated with messages of support from party members.

"This is a very serious and major setback for the profile of the BNP in Wales," said one anonymous poster.

South Wales Guardian

'NaziLeaks' and the NPD: NPD STRUGGLING TO MOBILIZE SUPPORTERS

While the NPD in Saxony-Anhalt have their heads in the clouds, their colleagues in Baden-Württemberg are having a hard time mustering enough people on the ground. The NPD in the state is suffering from mobilization problems: The far-right party has to collect 150 valid signatures in each election district in order to be allowed to field their own candidates in the state parliamentary election on March 27. In December, Janus Nowak, a local party official from the town of Böblingen, wrote an e-mail with "ALARM" in its subject line. In the e-mail, he reported that, despite months of trying, party members were "apparently incapable" of even "getting merely a single signature per day." In order to increase the yield, the NPD official provided the would-be signature-gatherers with detailed suggestions on how they "could address people on the street and be successful." For example, he suggested that every pitch should begin with the words: "Hello, I'm not trying to sell anything. No vacuum cleaners or washing machines or anything." Once they had gotten that far, campaign workers were instructed to make sure "to look people in the eye," rather than looking at their clipboards, and to avoid saying anything too "complicated." The most important piece of advice regarded what came last: "Say 'Thank you' and don't talk too much." The idea of deploying professional signature collectors, such as an "NPD organizational wizard" from the town of Völklingen, was even considered. But the man in question appeared to lack selfless dedication to the party. Instead, as Nowak complained in an e-mail, he asked for "€1,000 a week" in addition to "meals + additional helpers + information kiosks + accommodation." Nowak also declined to comment on the e-mail exchanges.

'Capitalist' Scheme
Rudolf Schützinger, a member of the NPD's executive committee in Baden-Württemberg, also gave some thought to how to increase the number of signatures being collected. He suggested paying €1 to "each collector who turns in an acceptable, unauthenticated signature" and €2 for every authenticated signature. Schützinger also had another idea up his sleeve: attracting campaign donors with a sort of "profit-sharing" scheme. He suggested that, if the party succeeded in winning more than 1 percent of the vote, donors would get their "entire donation back within a set time frame + 30 percent." But, if the NPD could "not master" the 1 percent hurdle, donors would get back half of their contribution, while still being able to write the donation off against their taxes. In doing so, they would "have a loss of only 25%." According to Schützinger, this scenario offered the advantage that the party would not have to assume any "financial risk," while at the same time motivating "the gamblers among our sympathizers" to make donations. In an e-mail, the NPD official admitted that the scheme had "a capitalist aftertaste" and noted that it would need "legal validation" as far as party finance laws were concerned. In the end, the idea was apparently rejected. Schützinger also chose not to respond to SPIEGEL's inquiries.

Threat of Legal Action
NPD spokesman Klaus Beier has threatened legal action in response to the publication of the emails. According to Beier, the "e-mail traffic between both party officials and party members, which used encryption technology (was) copied in breach of (Germany's) communication secrecy law" and that "the texts, whose content was probably manipulated" were "provided to the compliant journalists." On Saturday, the news agency DPA reported that the NPD had filed a criminal complaint over the publication of the e-mails. In any case, Beier refused to say anything about who was behind the data leak or how it came about. He did say, however, that one had to assume that "the system has far-reaching means at its disposal for reading all of the NPD's e-mail communication." Beier's remarks are reminiscent of the stance that the party took back in 2008, when SPIEGEL published an earlier collection of internal NPD e-mails.

Spiegel

Billboards used to fight hate crime (Northern Ireland, UK)

Massive billboard posters are being unveiled in Northern Ireland to help fight hate crime.

More than 2,100 offences were committed against minority groups last year but authorities believe more than twice as many have gone unreported.

A series of 14 billboard posters and a mobile advertising unit will appear in Belfast and around Northern Ireland over the next fortnight urging people to report hate crime.

Eva Grosman, Unite Against Hate project manager, said: "Northern Ireland is not unique to suffer from these crimes. But they are deeply damaging not just to the victims and their families and friends, but also to the international reputation of the country as a place in which to visit and to invest.

"We all have a role to play in stamping out hate crime by reporting any incidents right away."

Celebrity backers of the campaign include boxing champion Paddy Barnes, model Gemma Garret and TV presenter Katie Larmour.

Justice Minister David Ford said: "The criminal justice system has come a long way in its understanding and handling of hate crime in recent years but more must be done. We need to improve our support to victims and bring those responsible for such crimes before the courts."

Evelyn Collins, chief executive of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, said hate crime was a serious form of discrimination.

"In recent years we have seen a rise in negative attitudes towards people with disabilities and those from different racial background and sexual orientations and we are all challenged to raise awareness of the importance of equality and respect for everyone in our community," she added.

The mobile billboard unit will visit six local councils, sporting events and other crowd-gathering locations.

Belfast Telegraph

New date for Wilders' trial (Netherlands)

The trial of PVV leader Geert Wilders on discrimination and inciting hatred charges will resume on March 14 when his lawyer Bram Moszkowicz will restate his opening remarks to the Amsterdam court, news agency ANP reports.

The public prosecutor will respond two days later.

During the original trial, prosecutors called for Wilders to be acquitted, but groups who forced the prosecution in the first place are pressing for the new trial to continue.

The court is expected to decide whether the case should continue or be abandoned on March 30, says ANP.

Dutch News

Simon Wiesenthal Centre's most-wanted Nazi charged

The man topping the Simon Wiesenthal Centre's most-wanted Nazi list has been charged by Hungarian prosecutors for war crimes related to the massacre of hundreds of people in wartime Yugoslavia.

Hungarian Sandor Kepiro, now 97, was charged with being "complicit in the execution of four innocent civilians in the town of Novi Sad between 21 and 23 January, 1942, as the commander of a patrol".

An estimated 1,200 Jews, gipsies and Serbs died in the massacre that was led by Nazi Germany's Hungarian allies in retaliation for operations carried out by Yugoslav partisans. Families were rounded up and shot on the banks of the River Danube or thrown alive into the frozen river after soldiers had fired into the ice to break it up.

The Wiesenthal Centre claims that Mr Kepiro helped organise the Novi Sad massacre, and the centre listed him in first place last year on its list of ten most-wanted Nazis.

In 1944 and 1946 Hungary's communist courts found him guilty of involvement in the slaughter, but by then he had fled to Argentina.

Mr Kepiro returned to Budapest in 1996, and has always protested his innocence. He claims that he worked as a policeman involved in rounding people up but never took part in executions.

The Telegraph

White Terrorist Ignored by MSM

Admin: Although we have reported previously on the attempted bombing of one America’s largest mosques that occurred in January 2011, this video report is well worth watching as it asks the valid question.


Why is White terrorism being ignored? 




Video originally posted by the You Tube user TheAlyonaShow

Fury as 'anti-Semitic' banker is invited to speak at LSE (UK)

A German banker who has said "all Jews share a certain gene" and described Muslims as "dunces" will speak tonight at the London School of Economics amid a row over free speech.

Anti-facist campaigners vowed to demonstrate outside the LSE during Thilo Sarrazin's appearance in a debate on multiculturalism. The former executive member of the Bundesbank caused outrage in Germany last year with his comments, in which he also attacked Basques. He was removed from the country's central bank and raked down by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who called him "stupid".

Jewish groups in London warned yesterday that allowing Mr Sarrazin a platform in Britain would be "provocative and almost certain to stir further hatred and offence". He also labelled Germany's Middle Eastern population "dunces" and attacked Muslims for not integrating well. Mr Sarrazin is due to appear as a speaker in a debate as part of the German Symposium event organised by the German Society at LSE.

Sabby Dhalu, the joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism, called for Mr Sarrazin to be banned from the UK. "There is grotesque double standards in the implementation of bans on people entering Britain. There is no doubt that a known Muslim spouting similar views would be denied entry," she said.

"LSE's German society's invitation to Thilo Sarrazin to address their 'Future of Germany' meeting is misguided and ill-judged. The title and invitation imply that Sarrazin is the future. I wonder how many Jewish and Muslim German people agree with him? Such vile, racist, anti-Semitic and Islamophobic views have no place in Britain, Germany or any other country."

The Symposium's organisers defended the decision to invite Mr Sarrazin, whose book, Deutschland schafft sich ab (Germany does away with itself), has outraged many in Germany. Eva Gorenflo, a spokesman for the LSE German society, said: "Everybody should be allowed to express what they think and it is important that Mr Sarrazin be allowed to do that. "The speakers are going to have an open debate. It would be difficult to have a debate if everyone already agreed with each other. People will be given the opportunity to ask questions. I didn't know they were planning to protest. We are hoping that everything runs smoothly. Those people are allowed to express their opinions and they are welcome to join the debate as well. As Benjamin Franklin said: 'Without freedom of thought, there is no such thing as wisdom'."

The LSE supported the society's decision to invite Mr Sarrazin. A spokesman said: "LSE is committed to the principles of free speech and is, traditionally, a place where renowned speakers come to explain their thinking and answer questions. Students are free to hold and express their own views and this extends to organising events."

A Home Office spokesman refused to comment on any individual cases. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, has the power to ban anyone from the country whose presence is not considered conducive to the public good but Mr Sarrazin's entry to Britain is not thought to have been barred.

The Independant

Heroin Smuggling Case Nets 5 Arrests (USA)

 Five members of a white supremacist gang based in Yuba County have been arrested in connection with a drug-smuggling case, Attorney General Kamala Harris said Monday.

Members of the New Order gang were smuggling heroin into Susanville State Prison in the glue strips of letters mailed to inmates with ties to the gang, according to drug agents.

Harris said the New Order gang was founded in the Yuba City area 30 years ago to promote white supremacy.

"One of the founders was George William Lancaster, considered the godfather of the white supremacist movement in Yuba County," Harris said in a news release.

Lancaster was arrested Monday in the case. In addition, Robert Harold Boyd, of Yuba County; Elissia Danielle Soito, of Marysville; Benjamin Leon Andrade, of Yuba City; and Mickey Ray Jeffrey, of Yuba City; were arrested and are being held in the Yuba County Jail.

Harris said a joint investigation was launched in November after a prison guard noticed a suspicious envelope sent to inmate Robin Conley Briggs, a member of the New Order gang. Investigators said analysis of the envelope's glue strip at a state Department of Justice laboratory confirmed that it was laced with heroin.

Investigators said they intercepted two more envelopes containing heroin sent to Briggs and inmate Scotty William Brendlin, a fellow New Order member, in late January.

Investigators said the glue strips contained almost a gram of heroin, which is worth about $500 inside prison -- or five times its street value.

"According to arrest documents, the drug shipments were used as barter or to curry favor with other white supremacist inmates from groups such as the Aryan Nation or Nazi Low Riders," Harris said in a news release.

KCRA

Judges Rule Case Against Dutch Anti-Islam MP To Continue (Netherlands)

A court in Amsterdam on Monday has ruled that the hate speech trial of Dutch anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders will go on, with new judges listening to the defense’s preliminary objections to the case. Those objections were already heard by a different panel of judges last year, but a retrial was ordered because of possible judicial bias against Wilders. The populist politician is charged with inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims and other non-Western groups.

If judges accept Mr. Wilders’ objections to the proceedings to be argued at a later date, then his case will be dismissed. If not, the trial will continue with Geert Wilders being allowed to question only some of the witnesses he wanted to call in his defense.

He told judges last week that he wanted to question radical Islamists,  what this court referred to as Islamic experts by experience, including convicted murderer Mohammed Bouyeri, who killed filmmaker Theo van Gogh seven years ago. Wilders argues that Bouyeri is living proof that Islam leads to violence.

But judges said the court already knows there’s a violent strain in some Islamic corners and limited Wilders’ witness list to a few Islamic experts and a controversial judge who the politician believes biased his case.

Wilders maintains it’s not Muslims but the Islamic religion and the Koran he’s taken on -- something allowed under Dutch regulations concerning freedom of speech.

In court last week, he continued his anti-Muslim rhetoric, calling Islam evil and the societies it dominates retarded. Such talk has made him a popular politician in the Netherlands, where his Freedom Party is a crucial ally of the right-wing government. Judges also ruled that the trial would remain in Amsterdam and not in The Hague where Wilders works and where he’s gearing up for March’s local elections.

Wilders said he wasn’t happy about that, but he’ll be back in court when it resumes at a later date.

VOANews

Jew-hatred in Holland

The Dutch government continues to refuse to pay for the security of its threatened Jewish citizens. The Jewish community has stated on various occasions that it is the only group in society which cannot organize activities without including guards or other security measures.

 The other week during a debate in a parliamentary commission on the current anti-Semitism in the Netherlands, several MPs asked the Dutch government to pay for the Jews’ security. However, Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten stuck to the position of his predecessors saying that security is the responsibility of the Jewish community itself and if necessary, of the local authorities. The latter are rarely willing to pay for these expenses.

 The Dutch Parliament has existed for almost 200 years. The first plenary meeting ever on contemporary anti-Semitism took place last June after a series of articles in the media about anti-Semitic incidents. One article in the prominent daily NRC Handelsblad was titled: “Anti-Semitism is more than an incident. It is normal.” The fact that a second parliamentary meeting was called for a few months later is a sign that nothing has been solved.

 The main targets of anti-Semitic harassment in public are a small number of Jews who are recognizably attired as such. In past weeks, several newspapers have reported that Rabbi Raph Evers, the head of the Dutch Jewish Seminary, no longer travels on public transportation because of the harassment he encounters there. He walks out on the street as little as possible. Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs is also frequently insulted in public. His home is fitted with an alarm system which links him directly to the police. Jacobs says 35 year ago, no one insulted him.

 What were not mentioned in the Dutch media are the experiences of those Jews who had been repeatedly harassed and now live elsewhere. One Dutch Jewish youngster living in Jerusalem told me that while he was a student at Amsterdam University, he earned a living working in a supermarket in the center of town. He wore a small yarmulke. He was insulted at work on the average twice a week with calls like: “cancer-Jew” of “Hamas Hamas, Jews to the gas.” All of this harassment came from customers of Moroccan ethnicity.

 I also interviewed another youngster now living in Jerusalem, who wears ultra-Orthodox garb. A few months ago he visited his parents in the Netherlands. When he changed trains after arriving from Belgium at the Dutch border station Rozendaal, he was immediately shouted at in English by a man with a heavy Dutch accent: “You killed Jesus.” At his arrival in Arnhem, where he exited the station through the back door, he was insulted as well. The same happened when he left from the same station. During his stay in The Netherlands he hardly left his parents’ home.

Non-selective immigration policy
Only limited parts of the Dutch Jewish community encounter substantial anti-Semitism. Besides the aforementioned harassment of recognizably dressed Jews, it impacts mainly on Jewish children in schools and through insults in the workplace. The Jewish community now explicitly blames the disproportionately large role in anti-Semitic incidents of Muslims who account for six percent of the population. The most problematic elements come from the Moroccan, and to a lesser extent, Turkish community.

 Over the past decades, Dutch governments have non-selectively allowed in 1.6 million non-Western immigrants, about 10% of the population. Of these, one million originate in Muslim countries where anti-Semitism is far stronger than in the Netherlands. It is thus not surprising that the percentage of anti-Semites among these immigrants is substantially higher than among the local Dutch population. One could put it differently: the Dutch government has for many years followed an anti-Semitism-promoting immigration policy.

It would be desirable to undertake a detailed poll on anti-Semitism among Muslim immigrants as compared to the autochthonous population. One could then also analyze to what extent this anti-Semitism is fueled by families, mosques, schools, friends, or foreign incitement. This would be very useful in the battle against one of the main sources of anti-Semitism. Such an investigation would be, however, far too big a betrayal of Dutch taboos.

 Last week’s parliamentary debate had its origin in the media discussion engendered by my book “The Decay: Jews in a Rudderless Netherlands.” It quoted senior Dutch politician and former EU commissioner Frits Bolkestein stating that recognizable Jews should advise their children to leave for the United States or Israel.

However, the book did not focus on anti-Semitism. It had two major themes. The first one, that Jews have a symbolic importance in the Netherlands which goes far beyond the real importance of the community, and the second was that by watching the interaction of the Jewish community and Dutch society at large, one obtains a prism on many aspects of the functioning and problems of Dutch society.

The recent discussions and debates have borne these two points out once more. Minister Opstelten stated that there would be zero tolerance for anti-Semitic incidents and registration of incidents at school. However, the Dutch police are unlikely to be able to become more efficient in the coming months. It is also unlikely that recognizable Jews can soon walk unhindered in certain parts of the country in the near future.

Approximately 10 years ago, there were major inquiries and debates in Dutch society about government failures of post-war restitution of Jewish assets looted in the Holocaust. One of the many criticisms about the Dutch government’s handling of the situation was that it had wrongly charged the surviving Jews for the administrative services involved in returning what was looted from them because the Dutch government could not protect them during the occupation.

A commission of inquiry said that this was a public duty and thus needed to be provided free of charge.

One wonders whether in the future, investigators will conclude that the Dutch government has misbehaved against the Jews once again by failing to pay for their protection and that of their institutions, which is also, clearly, a public duty.

Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld has published nineteen books, several of which deal with European anti-Semitism.

Ynet News 

Wilders angry about Nazi cartoon (Netherlands)

 Freedom party leader Geert Wilders is angry at Dutch public broadcaster VARA for publishing a cartoon on its website Joop.nl which compares a Freedom Party (PVV) plan to Nazi practices. The party recently proposed building so-called ‘scum villages’ for anti-social people. In the cartoon, the residents of such a village are being led to a shower, the same way the prisoners of Nazi destruction camps were led to ‘showers’ where they were gassed.

Mr Wilders said on Saturday it was “a disgusting cartoon. It must be removed from that website immediately, or the PVV will not attend the VARA provincial elections debate scheduled for next Wednesday." Mr Wilders spoke of “sick minds” at the VARA.

The Joop.nl website is funded by VARA, but has full editorial independence. Francisco van Jole, the website’s editor-in-chief, said Mr Wilders remarks were tantamount to blackmail and that the programme which the Freedom Party was scheduled to attend had nothing to do with Joop.nl. He said he would not remove the cartoon: “This is the opinion of an opinion maker who we are offering a platform. This does not mean we necessarily always share his opinion. It is simply intended to spark debate.''

Mr van Jole said he found it odd that a politician would seek to ban this cartoon. “I understand he is upset … but it forms part of the social debate.” He said Mr Wilders was trying to smother the debate. A VARA spokesperson said the organisation did not necessarily share the opinions presented on Joop.nl and would very much like the Freedom Party to attend Wednesday’s provincial elections debate, but had no intention of ordering Joop.nl to remove the cartoon.

 Radio Netherlands Worldwide

Admin comment. 

Here’s another cartoon that Mr Wilders won’t be so happy about.

 

RACE-HATE CRIMINALS MUST BE BANNED FROM STATE SERVICE - MEDVEDEV (Russia)

Those convicted of ethnic hate crimes must be restricted from state service positions, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday. Speaking at the State Council meeting in Ufa, the capital of the Russian republic of Bashkortostan, Medvedev said he would also submit a bill to the State Duma that restricts people charged with incitement of ethnic hatred from holding teaching positions in educational centers. "They must not teach children or the youth at all," the president said. Interethnic problems came to the foreground in mid-December when a Moscow football fan was shot dead in a brawl with migrants from Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus region.

The incident sparked race-hate riots and ethnic clashes across Russia, including a brawl between over 5,000 nationalists and police outside the Kremlin walls on December 11. Medvedev ordered the government to investigate the cases of ethnically-motivated restrictions in government administration circles. "It is no secret that there are restrictions to certain nationalities during the formation of administrative organs in some republics and individual regions," Medvedev said, adding that such "lopsidedness should be eradicated."

RIA.Novosti

Leaked e-mails embarrass German far-right party

The leak of thousands of confidential e-mails from members of Germany's far-right National Democratic Party shows the group is soaked in racist and neo-Nazi ideology.

Thousands of leaked private e-mails have embarrassed the German far-right National Democratic Party (NPD). The data, which were leaked to several German media organizations, reveal some of the inner workings of the xenophobic, nationalist fringe party.

One example of the prevalence of neo-Nazi ideology among party members was revealed in their use of the code "88" - popular among neo-Nazis as an abbreviation of the Nazi-era slogan "Heil Hitler." "H" is the eighth letter of the alphabet and "88" is taken to stand for "HH."

The e-mails also reveal extensive infighting around the recent merger of the NPD with the like-minded German People's Union (DVU).

The leaked correspondence, made up of some 60,000 e-mails, reveals a strong adherence to neo-Nazi ideology and betrays the party's attempts to present itself as a more moderate political group on the right wooing voters disgruntled with the country's main conservative Christian Democrats.

Misuse of party funds

Besides being a public-relations disaster for a party already viewed with extreme suspicion by most of the population, the data release could have legal consequences for the party.

The e-mails from end of 2010 to early 2011 suggest that the election campaign in the state of Saxony-Anhalt have partly been paid for by NPD money from the neighboring state of Saxony.

Such cross-state financing with party funds is illegal.

The NPD has said it will file a criminal complaint about the leaked e-mails. It is, however, unclear who was behind the release.

The anti-immigration party is considered the political arm of the neo-Nazi movement in Germany. It is often involved in far-right extremist marches.

The attempt by the party to give itself a more mainstream image is aimed at cracking the crucial five percent threshold that any party must attain to be represented in local or federal parliaments. The fringe group has no federal-level representation, but seats in two of Germany's 16 state parliaments.

DW-World

Mississippi ponders putting KKK leader and Confederate hero Nathan Bedford Forrest on license plates (USA)

A new civil war is brewing in Mississippi over a proposal to put a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard on state license plates.

Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, notorious for leading a massacre of black Union soldiers and leading the KKK in its early days, would appear on the plates in 2014 if the group Sons of Confederate Veterans gets its way.

The organization is sponsoring a series of specialty plates over the next four years to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

This year's plate features the last home of Confederate president Jefferson Davis.

The state's chapter of the NAACP strongly criticized the call to honor Forrest, who led several battles in Mississippi during the war.

"He should be viewed in the same light that we view Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden," Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP in Mississippi, told The Associated Press, adding that the Klan was a "terrorist group."

"The state of Mississippi should deny any vanity tags which would highlight racial hatred in this state," he said.

Forrest was born in Tennessee and joined his home state's KKK shortly after the war. Klan members were notorious for beating and killing blacks in the South, as well as intimidating black voters during elections.

The general has been hailed as a military hero and disgraced as a butcher leading a slaughter of black troops who had surrendered during a battle at Fort Pillow, Tenn. in 1864.

However, before his death in 1877, some historians claim Forrest softened his views on racial relations.

"If Christian redemption means anything - and we all want redemption, I think - he redeemed himself in his own time, in his own actions, in his own words," Greg Stewart, a Sons of Confederate Veterans member, told the AP. "We should respect that."

At least one black state lawmaker isn't bothered by the group's push to remember Forrest.

"I don't have a problem with it," Rep. Willie Bailey said. "They have that right. We'll look at it. As long as it's not offensive to anybody, then they have the same rights as anybody else has."

 NY Daily News

SERBIAN EXTREMISTS MAY ESCAPE BAN AS PARTY

The Serbian National Movement 1389, one of a plethora of far-right groups in the country, has announced a decision to register as a political party, in what is seen as a move to evade a future court ban on far-right groups with a record of violence. The citizens' group said it was determined not to remain "a silent spectator of political life in Serbia... We are going to present the party's programme on Sretenje [Serbia's national day, February 15], and start collecting the signatures we need to register as a party," Misa Vacic told Balkan Insight. Movements in Serbia are obliged to collect 10,000 signatures before they can register as political parties. 1389, named after the date of a revered historic battle against the Ottoman army in Kosovo, advocates the unification of all those territories it considers Serbian into a single state. Vacic was one of 35 persons detained for violating a ban on gatherings in public places in 2009, as a result of which courts sentenced him to 30 days' jail.

The decision to register as a party comes after a president was appointed to the Constitutional Court last week. Now fully constituted, the court can rule on official calls to outlaw 14 allegedly violent far-right groups, one of which is 1389. But if 1389 collects the 10,000 signatures it needs to register as a party, no court ban on far-right groups will apply to it. For a political party to be banned, it has to be convicted of publicly spreading hatred, which has never happened in Serbia. The official request for the court to ban the 14 groups follows a series of violent incidents. These include the cancelation of a Belgrade Gay Pride parade and the murder by thugs of French football fan Brice Taton in Belgrade in September 2009. The court has discussed the issue of banning violent groups several times before but failed to reach a decision. The issue will be back on the table by the end of March, Balkan Insight has learned from sources in the Constitutional Court.

Another far-right group, Dveri Srpske, which does not face a ban, says it is also mulling becoming politically active in order to take part in general elections in March 2012. However, it does not want to become a formal, registered party. Meaning "doors of Serbia", this citizens' organisation advocates a programme based on "svetosavlje", a blend of Serbian Orthodox piety and nationalism, named after Serbia's patron saint, St Sava. Bosko Obradovic, from the organisation, says they are ready to assume political responsibility but will not form a party, as they oppose what they call the existing "party-parasite system". The organisation has been active in staging "pro-life" [anti-abortion] lectures and staging rallies against gays, the independence of Kosovo and other hot topics of the Serbian far right - but its protests and events have been peaceful.


Balkan Insight