Cyprus problem is fuelling racism

In Nicosia last week, marchers from the ultra-nationalist youth group ELAM (Greek popular front) attacked  two Asian bystanders. A Nigerian man was beaten and forced into the path of a moving car.

This incident takes its place in the recent litany of violence against foreign workers, students or, in the most notorious case, a 15-year-old Afro-Cypriot assaulted by 40 of her classmates while their teachers stood by. Earlier this year, the Palestinian community centre in Larnaca was vandalised, while the headquarters of the anti-racist organisation KISA are regularly graffitied with swastikas.

It is typical for another reason – the general absence of public sympathy. The teachers' union obstructed punishment of the schoolgirl's attackers, and the Cypriot police are so unwilling to even record racially aggravated assaults that many non-white migrants no longer bother. Listening to opinions on TV phone-ins and talk radio, it becomes clear that the attitude of wider society is that "i xeni" (foreigners) should not be here in the first place, and so deserve whatever they get.

There is an irony here, given the number of Cypriots who emigrated in the 60s and 70s to seek a better life abroad. Indeed, some estimates put the number of diaspora Cypriots as being greater than the remaining population of the island. As Denis MacShane remarked last week, Cypriots have become a formidable enough voting block in London that they may prove a significant obstacle to David Cameron's desire for closer ties with Turkey.

Of course, Cyprus is not alone in struggling to cope with rising immigration. Indeed, due to geographical proximity to both Africa and Asia, and to the porous Green Line, Cyprus has one of the highest rates of migration – both legal and illegal – in Europe.

Nonetheless, there is something uniquely callous in the Cypriot attitude to asylum seekers, economic migrants and, to put it most simply, non-whites of all kinds. It is more striking given the low crime and unemployment rates, the high GDP per capita compared with all neighbouring nations, and the island's long history of welcoming outsiders (such as refugees from the Armenian genocide in 1915).

The major source of such disregard for people outside one's own ethnic group is the Cyprus problem, and no solution currently on the table would address this. Whether one chooses to date the situation to the invasion by Turkey in 1974, the coup by junta-supported Greek Cypriots the same year, the bombings by Turkey in 1964, the attempt by Greek Cypriots to tear up the constitution in 1963, or simply to the British colonial strategy of divide and rule, the fact is that Cypriots have been split along ethnic lines far beyond living memory. The sandbags and barbed wire of the Green Line that runs through the middle of Nicosia are only the most potent reminder of this.

Since 1974, the international conversation about Cyprus has been of "bi-communal solutions". Both sides have formally committed to separate administrations for Greek and Turkish Cypriots plus a central assembly where representatives of the two sides will meet in equal numbers. Another possible solution, talked of with increasing frequency, is of a permanent partition into two states. External parties – the UN, EU, UK, Greece and Turkey – allow no other possibilities to be discussed.

Allowing only two ethnicities into the national conversation encourages zero-sum thinking, where "we" can only win if "they" lose. Both sides try hard to portray themselves as the only victims of the conflict, often in toe-curlingly exaggerated language.

Like all victim complexes, the Cypriot version leaves little room for nuanced understanding of a newly multicultural country. Faced in the 1950s with the need to formally assign minorities to one of the two permitted groups, Cypriot authorities decided the question along religious lines, with the mostly Muslim Roma becoming "Turkish" and the Catholic Maronites "Greek". How might they deal with today's growing Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish populations? Why should their descendants be forced to become "Greek" or "Turkish"?

Without external pressure to admit that the biggest injustices on the island these days are practiced against non-indigenous populations, Cypriots will continue to assume a pose of self-righteous victimhood.

The Guardian

BNP vote collapses (UK)

The British National Party percentage vote nearly halved in the space of two months in a ward in  Wolverhampton, thanks to 23 trade union volunteers who campaigned against the fascist party.

In a five-way fight the BNP candidate, Stewart Gardner, took just 131 votes, amounting to 6.6% in a by-election on 29 July. Anti-fascists delivered a glossy local leaflet to the ward’s 4,800 homes giving the trade union alternative to the BNP.

The result was that 78% of the 589 people who voted BNP in May did not do so last month.

The local Trade Union Council has run a campaign against the BNP, leafleting every home, in every election since the party started fielding candidates five years ago. The BNP has never won a seat and has not even improved on the result it obtained the first time it stood.

Hope Not Hate

‘DISCRIMINATION EVERYWHERE’ AS MIGRANTS LAUNCH NETWORK FOR EQUALITY (Malta)

Arononon Touray was looking at his friend cycling on the Hal Far road leading towards Birzebbuga when, without warning, a pick-up truck pulled up next to the cyclist. A group of young men got out of the pick-up, approached his friend, shoved him to the ground, laughing heartily as they did so, then sped away moments later as if they had done nothing out of the ordinary. It was this and other similar incidents of discrimination that prompted Mr Touray and other migrants in Malta to join forces and form a ‘network’ to fight for their rights. Migrant communities, which include Somalis, Eritreans, Sudanese and Ivorians, have been meeting for the past four months to discuss their most pressing issues before yesterday’s launch of the network for equality, Mr Touray explained. Besides sending a letter to Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici calling him to address some of the most pertinent issues in their quest for equality, the migrants’ network also said that they are in the process of writing to Cecilia Malmstrom, the EU’s Commissioner for Home Affairs, to highlight the plight of migrants in Malta.

Speaking on behalf of the group at yesterday’s launch in the Common Room of the university, Mr Touray said that “migrants are still heavily discriminated against in Malta, simply because we have a different skin colour. “In the time we have spent living here, we have met countless persons who were kind to us and treated us as equals. “However, others are treating us like second class citizens. On several occasions we have been subjected to verbal abuse, refused the right to board a bus, denied the right to rent an apartment and have had to work in appalling conditions, simply because of our skin colour. “To compound matters, we have to deal with attacks from those who cannot control their racial hatred towards us and several of us have been beaten up, the most tragic one being Suleiman Abubaker, who lost his life in Paceville after allegedly being beaten by a bouncer and passers-by,” said Mr Touray. A few months later another friend of Mr Touray’s committed suicide because he could no longer tolerate the constant hardship he endured throughout his difficult life.

In the letter to Dr Mifsud Bonnici, the migrants outlined some of the struggles they have had to face on a day-to-day basis, and put forward a set of proposals for the government to consider “if it really wants the migrant community in Malta to achieve total equality”. Supported by 12 NGOs, which include the General Workers Union, Moviment Graffiti, Friends of the Earth, and 26 university academics among whom are Alternattiva Demokratika leader Michael Brigulio, Head of Sociology Department Mark-Anthony Falzon and philosopher Joseph Friggieri, the letter highlights six main issues that the migrants’ network feels the government should tackle immediately. These include clamping down on discrimination, stepping up the asylum application process that would grant migrants the right to move to other EU countries, and more assistance to migrants to help them find adequate accommodation and employment. “We urge the Maltese government to reopen the debate in the European Parliament to discuss the granting of rights to travel, live and work in EU countries for people with protection, since Malta was the only country which opposed this proposal in December 2008. We believe that granting such rights could help tackle some of the negative effects of the Dublin Regulation as it would, at least, make it possible for some people to go and live in other EU countries,” added Mr Touray, quoting from the letter address to Dr Mifsud Bonnici.

Unemployment rights and ‘miserable open centre conditions’

For Alidu Osman, another spokesperson of the migrants’ network, a further pressing social issue that needs changing is the migrants’ right to unemployment benefits. “We think that people who have been working and who have paid at least 50 National Insurance contributions over a period of two years or less should be given the right, as the Maltese are, to receive unemployment benefits,” he said. Around this time last year, migrants protested, albeit peacefully, that they could no longer endure living conditions in the Marsa and Hal Far open centres. When asked whether last year’s protests had reaped rewards, Mr Osman replied: “Conditions did improve, albeit for a short while, but now the situation has returned to the way it was before the protests, and life is now again as miserable as it was before. “To add insult to injury, a fire in one of the hangars at Hal Far last May has further worsened living conditions. The government has to realise that putting scores of migrants in a desolate aircraft hangar is simply not a feasible long term option,” he said. It was also wrong and unjust to divide migrants into two groups, commented Mr Osman, when asked to give his views on the recent group of migrants who were sent back to Libya while some of those who had travelled with them on the same boat were allowed to stay in Malta.

“Most of us have done our utmost to escape from countries torn by civil war and unrest. For the majority, the only option was to make our way to Libya and escape from there. The group of migrants who are now back in Libya are probably doomed to a life of more struggle and hardship,” said Mr Osman. Taking into consideration such factors, it is no wonder that migrants do everything to escape from Malta, at times even illegally, Moviment Graffiti spokesperson André Callus said yesterday. “Many of those who are caught attempting to flee from Malta with invalid documentation are sent back and when charged and arraigned in court with the offence, are given a minimum six-month jail term. This, all the NGOs feel, is a gross injustice, since it is often the case that suspended sentences are handed down by magistrates to people who commit an illegal act for the first time,” stated Mr Callus.

Malta Independant

FAR-RIGHT AUSTRIAN LEADER JOERG HAIDER SECRETLY HAD £40 MILLION IN LIECHTENSTEIN

Prosecutors from Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein found 12 shell companies whose Liechtenstein bank accounts Haider had access to, Profil magazine reported. The accounts currently still have 5 million euros of deposits, it said. The money was found in an investigation by Austrian and German authorities into the near-collapse of Austrian bank Hypo Group Alpe Adria, once owned by the Austrian region of Carinthia, which Haider governed until he died in a car crash in 2008. Haider’s Carinthia and a group of mainly German and Austrian investors sold a majority stake in Hypo to Germany’s BayernLB in 2007 in a deal that ultimately proved disastrous. Hypo had to be nationalised last year to prevent a collapse. Prosecutors are investigating whether former managers, shareholders and business partners of Hypo lined their pockets at the expense of both Hypo and BayernLB. Claudia Haider, the far-right politician’s widow, denied any knowledge of the funds, adding “Nothing like that was described in the estate.”


The Telegraph

Mongolian neo-Nazis: Anti-Chinese sentiment fuels rise of ultra-nationalism

Alarm sounds over rise of extreme groups such as Tsagaan Khass who respect Hitler and reject foreign influence.
Their right hands rise to black-clad chests and flash out in salute to their nation: "Sieg heil!" They praise Hitler's devotion to ethnic purity.

But with their high cheekbones, dark eyes and brown skin, they are hardly the Third Reich's Aryan ideal. A new strain of Nazism has found an unlikely home: Mongolia.

Once again, ultra-nationalists have emerged from an impoverished economy and turned upon outsiders. This time the main targets come from China, the rising power to the south.

Groups such as Tsagaan Khass, or White Swastika, portray themselves as patriots standing up for ordinary citizens in the face of foreign crime, rampant inequality, political indifference and corruption.

But critics say they scapegoat and attack the innocent. The US state department has warned travellers of increased assaults on inter-racial couples in recent years – including organised violence by ultra-nationalist groups.

Dayar Mongol threatened to shave the heads of women who sleep with Chinese men. Three years ago, the leader of Blue Mongol was convicted of murdering his daughter's boyfriend, reportedly because the young man had studied in China.

Though Tsagaan Khass leaders say they do not support violence, they are self-proclaimed Nazis. "Adolf Hitler was someone we respect. He taught us how to preserve national identity," said the 41-year-old co-founder, who calls himself Big Brother.

"We don't agree with his extremism and starting the second world war. We are against all those killings, but we support his ideology. We support nationalism rather than fascism."

It is, by any standards, an extraordinary choice. Under Hitler, Soviet prisoners of war who appeared Mongolian were singled out for execution. More recently, far-right groups in Europe have attacked Mongolian migrants.

Not all ultra-nationalists use this iconography; and widespread ignorance about the Holocaust and other atrocities may help to explain why some do.

Tsagaan Khass points out that the swastika is an ancient Asian symbol – which is true, but does not explain the group's use of Nazi colours, the Nazi eagle and the Nazi salute; or the large picture of the Führer on Big Brother's cigarette case.

Nor does it seem greatly relevant, given their unabashed admiration for Hitler's racial beliefs.

"We have to make sure that as a nation our blood is pure. That's about our independence," said 23-year-old Battur, pointing out that the population is under three million.

"If we start mixing with Chinese, they will slowly swallow us up. Mongolian society is not very rich. Foreigners come with a lot of money and might start taking our women."

Big Brother acknowledges he discovered such ideas through the nationalist groups that emerged in Russia after the Soviet Union's fall; Mongolia had been a satellite state. But the anti-Chinese tinge is distinct and increasingly popular.

"While most people feel far-right discourse is too extreme, there seems to be a consensus that China is imperialistic, 'evil' and intent on taking Mongolia," said Franck Billé of Cambridge University, who is researching representations of Chinese people in Mongolia.

Hip hop tracks such as Don't Go Too Far, You Chinks by 4 Züg – chorus: "shoot them all, all, all" – have been widely played in bars and clubs. Urban myths abound; some believe Beijing has a secret policy of encouraging men to have sex with Mongolian women.

Yet Tsagaan Khass claims it welcomes law-abiding visitors of all races, and Big Brother can certainly be hospitable.
Enthusiastically shaking hands, he says: "Even though you are a British citizen, you are still Asian, and that makes you very cool."

He says the younger members have taught him to be less extreme and the group appears to be reshaping itself – expelling "criminal elements" and insisting on a good education as a prerequisite for membership. One of the leaders is an interior designer.

But critics fear ultra-nationalists are simply becoming more sophisticated and, quietly, more powerful. Tsagaan Khass say it "works closely" with other organisations and is now discussing a merger.

"Some people are in complete denial … [but] we can no longer deny this is a problem," said Anaraa Nyamdorj, of Mongolia's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Centre.

The US state department has noted increased reports of xenophobic attacks since the spring. The UN country review cites a recent vicious assault on three young transgender women. When one of the victims publicly blamed an ultra-nationalist group – not Tsagaan Khass – death threats quickly followed.

"They are getting more support from the public," added Enkhjargal Davaasuren, director of the National Centre Against Violence, who fears that ultra-nationalists are growing more confident and victims too scared to come forward. She pointed to a YouTube video posted last year, showing a man roughly shaving a woman's long hair. The victim's face is buried in her hands, but her hunched body reeks of fear.

Others in Ulan Bator suggest the movement is waning and suspect the groups' menacing stance and claims of 3,000 members are bluster. Billé thinks there is "a lot of posturing".

"We have heard of instances [of violence]. They are not necessarily all right or all wrong," said Javkhlan, a Tsagaan Khass leader. But the group is simply a "law enforcement" body, he maintained: "We do checks; we go to hotels and restaurants to make sure Mongolian girls don't do prostitution and foreigners don't break the laws.

"We don't go through and beat the shit out of everyone. We check our information and make sure it's true."

They rely on police and media pressure to reform such businesses, he added. And if that failed? "We try to avoid using power," he said. "That would be our very last resort."

The Guardian

'Racist' powder attacks closed hospital A & E and police station (UK)

Police have made four arrests after attacks on three men with powder from a fire extinguisher sparked a  major chemical alert which closed a hospital A&E department and a police station.

Firefighters and police officers were called to North Manchester General in Crumpsall after one of the victims rushed there with burns to his face.

The A&E department was closed, and part of Collyhurst police station was also shut after a second victim went there. Both buildings were later reopened when it was discovered that the powder was harmless.

Four men have been arrested and police say that because black men were targeted in the attacks, they are treating them as racially aggravated incidents.

The scare began when taxi driver Kalu Amah was sprayed as he sat in his cab near Harpurhey market. The powder burned his face and he rushed to North Manchester General.

Bosses there were informed and they immediately closed the A&E department, shortly after 3pm yesterday.

Twenty patients and ten staff were quarantined in the ward while tests were carried out on Mr Amah and his clothing.
The incident came after reports that a man had also been covered in powder in Jersey Street, Ancoats, just after 2.30pm.

And in a third case a man reported being targeted in Blueberry Avenue, Moston at 5.40pm.

One of the men went to Collyhurst police station to report the incident and part of the station had to be closed while tests were carried out. Mr Amah, 42, from Moston, was treated at the hospital and later released. He told how he was sprayed by a group of youths in a car.

He said: "My windows were down, and a blue Ford pulled up beside me.

"I thought the driver was going to ask for directions, but before I knew it they sprayed me in the face with something.

"I saw two black pipes, but it all happened in a second. It was powdery and white, all over my face. My eyes and nose were burning.

"It not only wasted my time and money, they wasted the time of the ambulance, police and fire brigade.

"I’m really angry about it. People don’t realise what they are doing."

Sadie Kirkham, 45, from Harpurhey, was in North Manchester General’s A&E with her husband as he waited for a back X-ray. Mrs Kirkham said: "We were then told there was a major chemical incident and we all had to be locked in for our own safety.

"Some people who had nipped outside for a cigarette couldn’t get back in to see their children. We didn’t know what on earth it was. It could have been anthrax or anything. I think they did the right thing in keeping us in."

Watch commander Ian Hanley said that tests had revealed the chemical was from a fire extinguisher and not dangerous.

The four men arrested were detained on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and remain in police custody.

Detective Inspector Alex Nicholson said: "We believe there are other victims out there who have had powder thrown onto them. While it is important they seek medical advice it is equally important they call the police.

"The vast majority of victims were black men and we are treating this as a racially aggravated series of attacks."

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0161 856 3540 or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111

Manchester Evening News

Anti-racism group furious after MAS Carnival snub (Wlaes, UK)

Members of a Welsh anti-racism group say they are furious after their invite to participate in the weekend’s MAS parade was withdrawn at the last minute.

Cardiff Communities Against Racism was formed earlier this year in response to a march by the far-right English Defence League in the city in June.

Creator of the group Ross Saunders was contacted by South Wales Intercultural Community Arts (SIWCA), which organises the annual MAS carnival and invited them to participate.

But Cardiff council said yesterday that the group were asked not to come because the carnival “is not a vehicle for political protest”.

Spokesman for Cardiff Communities Against Racism Joe Fathallah said the group’s ethos was to bring communities in Cardiff together, which, he said, was what the MAS carnival is about.

“SIWCA said they would like to have us along on the parade,” he said.

“We made a banner and printed leaflets so people knew what we were about. We put in a lot of time and effort, but on Friday morning we had a phone call telling us that the council wouldn’t allow us to come along to the parade.

“They claimed it would be against the ethos of the carnival and politicise the event.”

The MAS carnival, which was first created in 1990 by SIWCA, celebrates the cultural diversity of South Wales.

A Cardiff council spokesperson said: “While Cardiff council supports the sentiments behind Cardiff Communities Against Racism, the inclusion of any non-performance group or organisation would change the whole artistic ethos of the carnival

“The MAS carnival is a multicultural community arts project that celebrates the diversity and multiculturalism of Cardiff. It is not a vehicle for political protest.

“However, we would be pleased to listen to any ideas Cardiff Communities Against Racism may have regarding promoting racial tolerance in our capital city.”

Wales Online

The global reach of neo-Nazis

From Israel to India, Taiwan and Chile … far-right groups are spreading

Israel In 2008, four suspects were charged with neo-Nazi activities. They were members of a gang called Patrol 35 which targeted other minorities and desecrated synagogues. Some of the gang were Soviet immigrants who refused to accept their Jewish ancestry.

Chile Patria Nueva Sociedad (New Fatherland Society) is a well-organised neo-Nazi group in Chile. Its leaders claim to adhere to Nazi economic and labour principles but say the group is against xenophobia, racism and discrimination.

Russia Neo-Nazi gangs such as the White Wolves have resorted to lethal violence to get across their message of white supremacy. Gang members were jailed this year after several central Asian migrants were attacked and killed in Moscow's back streets.

Taiwan In 2007 university students formed the National Socialism Association. The group claimed to have 800 members and a spokesperson said: "We want to study Hitler's good points, not study his massacres."

India A growing trend for Hitler memorabilia in India has caused shock. One publisher claims to have sold more than 100,000 copies of Mein Kampf (left) to Indians in the last 10 years. Some Indians have claimed to be inspired by Hitler's "discipline and patriotism".

The Guardian

POLITICAL OPPONENTS, ACADEMICS SAY PVV INFLUENCE WILL BE GREAT (Netherlands)

A minority VVD CDA cabinet supported by the PVV will give the anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders a lot of influence on government policy, academics and politicians say in Saturday's NRC. The three party leaders are expected to start talks next week on drawing up right-wing policy which the PVV will support from outside government. Wilders has already said he will continue to speak his mind about Islam and expects tough policy on integration, immigration and public safety in return for his backing.

Responsibility
Wim Voermans, professor of constitutional law at the University of Leiden said the PVV has everything to gain with a minority cabinet. 'Wilders wins a lot of time. He lets it be seen that he wants to take responsibility for government,' Voermans told the NRC. 'But he can always walk away and say 'they really don't want me. I have done everything I could.' And politicial scientist Marcel Boogers said the VVD and CDA will be very dependent on the PVV which will have a disproportionate influence on the cabinet. 'Wilders does not have to supply any ministers and get his hands dirty but he can hold hostage and blackmail the VVD and CDA,' Boogers said. A minority VVD and CDA cabinet which looks for support from different parties depending on the policy would be a preferable option, he said.

Power
MPs are concerned as well. 'Wilders will not be in the cabinet, but he will be the real prime minister,' said Labour MP Sharon Dijksma. 'Wilders has got Verhagen and Rutte on a lead. He doesn't carry the risk of the talks collapsing but has all the power,' said Boris van Ham of the D66 Liberal party. André Rouvoet, deputy prime minister in the outgoing government and leader of the orthodox ChristenUnie, was blunt. 'If Wilders' preference really is for a minority government, that would seem to me to be every reason not to do it,' he told the paper.

Dutch News

EU TURNING BLIND EYE TO DISCRIMINATION AGAINST ROMA, SAY HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS

The European Union was today accused of "turning a blind eye" as countries across Europe carried out a wave of expulsions and introduced new legislation targeting the Roma. Human rights groups criticised the EU for failing to address the real issues driving Europe's largest ethnic minority to migrate in the first place and for choosing not to upbraid countries for breaking both domestic and EU laws in their treatment of them. The criticism came after France announced it would round up and expel illegal Roma immigrants and destroy hundreds of their encampments. Elsewhere, it emerged that the city of Copenhagen had requested Danish government assistance to deport up to 400 Roma, and that Swedish police had expelled Roma in breach of its own and EU laws. In Belgium a caravan of 700 Roma has been chased out of Flanders and forced to set up camp in French-speaking Wallonia in the south. Italy, which in 2008 declared a state of emergency due to the presence of Roma, and evicted thousands of them, mainly to Romania and Bulgaria, is continuing to implement the policy to this day. Germany is in the process of repatriating thousands of Roma children and adolescents to Kosovo, despite warnings they will face discrimination, appalling living conditions, lack of access to education as well as language problems, because many of them were born in Germany and do not speak Serbian or Albanian.

In eastern European countries that are EU members, such as the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, accounts are rife of widespread discrimination against Roma, including physical attacks. Amnesty International said the EU had "turned a blind eye" to what it called a "serious breach of human rights" towards Europe's Roma, who are roughly estimated to number about 16 million. "There is a clear and systemic programme of EU governments targeting Roma," said Anneliese Baldaccini, a lawyer at Amnesty's EU office. The Budapest-based European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), which monitors the situation of Roma in Europe, called on the EU to be "much more forthright" in pointing out to member states "the clear requirements of the free movement law". "Poverty, discrimination and a whole host of things make life unbearable for Roma in their countries of origin," said the ERRC's executive director, Robert Kushen. "We would welcome strong EU involvement to address some of these issues," he said.

The campaign groups were responding to the European Commission's insistence this week that the issue was one for individual states to handle. "When it comes to Roma and the possibility of expelling them, this is up to the member states to deal with – in this case France – and for them to decide how they are going to implement the law," said Matthew Newman, spokesman for the European justice commissioner, Viviane Reding. French president Nicholas Sarkozy was this week accused of pursuing a "xenophobic" and "discriminatory" crackdown on the country's 400,000 Travellers, Gypsies and Roma – most of whom have French citizenship. Interior minister Brice Hortefeux announced new measures including the dismantling of about 300 encampments and the "quasi-immediate" expulsion to Romania or Bulgaria of Roma with a criminal record.

Amnesty said the EU should penalise countries that have persistently failed to uphold the human rights of Roma. Among the harshest measures applicable under the charter of fundamental rights that came into force with the Lisbon treaty last year is the withdrawal of voting rights, or even expulsion from the union. "The EU under the Lisbon Treaty...has the responsibility to address human rights within the 27 member states," said Amnesty's executive officer for legal affairs in the European Union, Susanna Mehtonen. Campaign groups say the EU's failure to intervene calls into question its commitment to the Charter of Fundamental Rights that came into force with the passage of the Lisbon Treaty last year, and was heralded as a "new dawn" for human rights in Europe. They have accused Brussels of cowardice when it comes to the Roma. While the commission has no competence to defend gay rights, either, it has frequently been ready to criticise homophobic legislation in eastern Europe – largely, it is believed, because gay rights are well established in western European countries, unlike the rights of Roma.

Guardian

ANTI-ISLAM PARTY SUPPORTS FIRST DUTCH MINORITY CABINET SINCE WORLD WAR II (Netherlands)

Wilders

The Liberal Party and the Christian Democratic Alliance agreed to form a government with the support of the  anti-immigrant Freedom Party, creating the Netherlands’ first minority Cabinet since World War II. The “parties accept each other’s differing opinions” on the characterization of Islam, the parties said in a joint statement. “However, there’s a lot of common ground: making the Netherlands stronger, safer and wealthier is a common goal and starting point.” The three parties said the Freedom Party will support parts of a government agreement to be negotiated between the Liberal Party, or VVD, and the Christian Democratic Alliance, or CDA, while the latter two take into account wishes of the Freedom Party. The “willingness” of the Freedom Party, or PVV, to support budget cuts will be linked to agreements on issues including immigration, integration and public safety, the parties said. It took six weeks and three rounds of talks to reach the agreement following the June 9 election. The Liberal Party and Christian Democrats, with a combined 52 seats in the lower house of parliament, will rely on the Freedom Party’s 24 lawmakers to gain the smallest possible majority in the 150-seat parliament.

‘Possibilities’
“We’ve concluded we see possibilities for a government with CDA and VVD with support from the PVV,” Liberal Party leader Mark Rutte told reporters in The Hague. The coalition will offer power for the Freedom Party, whose representation more than doubled in the elections, and the Christian Democrats of outgoing Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who lost half their support. “It may work out,” said Geert Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party, which seeks to ban new mosques, curb immigration, cut development aid and reduce European Union influence. “The negotiations are yet to start, but if it does work, that would be great for the Netherlands. I am very happy this offers chances in the Netherlands to make political cooperation happen on the right side,” he told reporters in The Hague. Wilders, 47, receives police protection around the clock and faces trial in the Netherlands on charges of inciting hatred in his 2008 film “Fitna,” in which he calls on Muslims to rip out “hate-preaching” verses from the Koran.

Austerity
Austerity measures are the most important issue on political leaders’ agenda, with the Netherlands, the fifth- largest economy in the euro region, needing to narrow its budget deficit from a forecast 6.3 percent of gross domestic product this year to 3 percent by 2013 to meet EU rules. Wilders’ Freedom Party will support an 18 billion-euro ($23 billion) cut in the government budget, Dutch public broadcaster NOS quoted him as saying on its website. Queen Beatrix last week asked Ruud Lubbers, a three-time prime minister, to broker talks among the parties to form a coalition backed by a majority in parliament following the election. Lubbers will speak with leaders of the other political parties on Aug. 2 before reporting back to the Queen on the proposed minority Cabinet, the government information service said in an e-mailed statement. Yesterday’s agreement is “surprising in the sense that Lubbers was asked to investigate the possibilities of forming a majority Cabinet,” Labor Party leader Job Cohen told NOS radio. “Our country needs a stable majority Cabinet in this difficult economic situation.” The Queen’s adviser should consider other majority backed options first, in accordance with his task, Cohen said.

Bloomberg

FPÖ ICON SCRINZI LEAVES AS INNER TURMOIL WORSENS (Austria)

Newspapers report today (Fri) that the former FPÖ MP disagreed with the party’s decision to team up with  former members of the Carinthian department of the Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ). Hundreds of BZÖ Carinthia members formed the Carinthian Freedom Party (FPK) earlier this year. The new group now cooperates with the FPÖ on a federal level. Scrinzi, 92, is considered an influential spearhead of far-right movements in Austria. The former member of Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) has caused controversy with statements proving his extremist mindset for decades. His surprising retirement as honorary chairman of the FPÖ – which garnered 17.5 per cent in the 2008 general election – is expected to worsen the volatile situation the party is currently in.

Things have not gone too well for the third-strongest party in the federal parliament so far this year. Leader Heinz-Christian Strache has come under fire from several high-ranking FPÖ officials for nominating Barbara Rosenkranz as the party’s presidential candidate. The ultra-conservative mother-of-ten garnered a paltry 15 per cent of the overall vote in the April ballot won by incumbent President Heinz Fischer, a former Social Democratic (SPÖ) president of the federal parliament. Political analysts claimed ahead of the election the FPÖ would have fared better nominating Strache as such a step would have helped it to increase in popularity despite his non-existent chances of winning the election.

Rumour has it that Strache actually opposed the nomination of Rosenkranz, but was pressed by influential party board members to pick her. It will be a "make or break" autumn for the party headed by late BZÖ founder Jörg Haider as Styrians (26 September) and Viennese (10 October) head to the polls. The FPÖ is expected to gain in both ballots after poor showings in the 2005 provincial elections which took place months after its federal ministers left to join Haider’s new party. Strache admitted wanting to become mayor of Vienna someday, with the federal chancellorship to follow. Election experts have however claimed the FPÖ might do less well than expected in upcoming elections if it continues to focus solely on aggressive campaigning against "criminal immigrants".

Austrian Times

Sarkozy accused of pandering to far-right (france)

The French opposition has accused president Nicolas Sarkozy of abandoning republican principles and pandering to the far-right after he used a major speech to make a link between immigration and crime.

Mr Sarkozy’s strongly-worded speech last Friday in Grenoble, where riots broke out last month after a suspected armed robber was killed by police during a shoot-out, was marked by tough rhetoric and proposals that have provoked fury on the left.

Speaking of a “war” against criminality, the president suggested that French citizenship should be withdrawn from anyone of foreign origin who threatened the life of a police officer.

He also called for longer prison sentences for violent crimes and a law to allow for electronic tags to be automatically applied to repeat offenders for several years after their release from jail.

In breaking a mainstream taboo by drawing a connection between crime and immigration, Mr Sarkozy was accused of appealing to far-right National Front (FN) voters and trying to distract the public from the government’s problems.

Socialist party leader Martine Aubry said Mr Sarkozy’s comments represented “one further step in rhetorical excess” and “an anti-republican drift which damages France and its values”.

She suggested the government’s toughening language was the result of “panic” over its failures on economic and social policy as well as on crime. Mr Sarkozy’s approval ratings, at 32 per cent, are near their lowest level since he became president in 2007.

“Mr Le Pen and his daughter need no longer say a thing – their double is speaking for them,” said the prominent Green Party figure Noël Mamère, referring to Jean-Marie Le Pen, the leader of the FN, and his daughter Marine.

Socialist Pierre Moscovici said Mr Sarkozy, by dividing Frenchmen into different categories, was “killing the Republican sentiment”, while the Human Rights League said the “nauseating” debate evoked the worst refrains in French history, “those of the 1930s, aimed at stirring up hatred against foreigners.”

For her part, Marine Le Pen said the president had “officially confirmed” that there was a criminal element among some groups of immigrants, “a truth the FN has been persecuted for saying for three decades”.

Just days before his speech in Grenoble, Mr Sarkozy – who made his national reputation as a tough interior minister – called for a change to France’s immigration laws to make it easier to expel members of the Roma community who were in France illegally. He has said hundreds of illegal encampments will be dismantled by police over the coming months.

Faced with uproar from the left, however, interior minister Brice Hortefeux yesterday stood firmly behind the president’s speech.

In an interview with Le Parisien , Mr Hortefeux suggested the government could go further than Mr Sarkozy suggested by withdrawing citizenship from French men of foreign origin who commit crimes other than threatening a police officer.

The minister brushed off the criticism, saying: “When we must adapt to or confront new difficulties, we don’t hesitate to do so. We’re waging a war against insecurity. We’re on the side of the victims and we have but a single enemy: the crooks who make honest people’s lives a misery.”

Irish Times

7,000 already signed up for petition against EDL rally (UK)

Campaigners against the proposed English Defence League (EDL) demonstration in Bradford were rallying support on the city’s streets this weekend.

Community groups under the banner Bradford Together have already received signatures from around 7,000 people who want to see the demonstration, planned for August 28, banned by the Home Secretary.

Volunteers were collecting names on a petition in Girlington, Heaton, Buttershaw and Fairweather Green, talking to residents in the street and knocking on doors.

Speaking for Bradford Together, Paul Meszaros, said: “We have been getting really good reactions from people, a lot better than we had thought.

“There is a real worry in the city there is a massive threat to all of us, and I think Bradfordians know that."

Telegraph & Argus

EDL EXTREMISTS TAKE KIDS ON LONDON ANTI-MUSLIM DEMO

A masked mum is seen here leading a group of bemused children on a right-wing march against Sharia law.

Hundreds of families with youngsters were among the marchers in London yesterday.

Members of the English Nationalist Alliance waved St George flags and wore fake hijabs and T-shirts with “Infidel” across the front as they delivered a letter to Government officials in Whitehall.

The group, which claims not to be racist, traded angry chants with demonstrators on a counter protest organised by the Muslim Defence League.


They want the Government to ban faith-based laws and Sharia courts, which are held in some mosques in England to settle disputes.

One onlooker said: “It was strange to see kids on the march. It wasn’t really the place for them. They hadn’t a clue what it was all about.”


Daily Star

Gypsy evictions rooted in racism? (UK)

The UK government's move to drive Gypsies and Irish Travelers from public lands has triggered a wave of outrage among human rights activists.

The new laws will strip many gypsy families from the right to camp on public property and force them to return to illegal camping on the side of roads, the Guardian reported.

According to human rights groups, the move, which will threaten a whole way of life, will also deprive children of the chance to attend schools and make it more difficult for the elderly to access the crucial health services they need.

Communities And Local Government Minister Erick Pickles is to introduce new laws, which will enable the police to evict and arrest people more easily for trespassing on public land.

His proposed laws will also suspend new applications and those in the process of examination for permits to park caravans on private land.

Former administrations had launched efforts to allocate caravan "pitches" to travelers within all local authorities to prevent the prospect of gypsies having to camp illegally.

As with Pickles' decision to axe the councils' budget for the "pitches" plan, spending does not seem to be a major concern as councils will be given some £18 million a year to carry out expulsions.

Gratton Puxon, a founding member of the Gypsy Council said the plan has to do with "racism" rather than austerity.

"Gypsies are being squeezed on all sides in this wave of intolerance and racism which is unlike anything I've ever seen before," he said.

This is while government data shows that gypsy and traveler caravans on illegal sites account for a minute fraction of the 18,000 caravans in the country. The gypsy vehicles are so few, they could all be parked within a area of one square mile.

"It's seen as the last bastion of racism. It's not socially acceptable to express racism against ethnic minorities, but against gypsies and travelers it's fine," said Emma Nuttall of the support group Friends, Families and Travelers.

Press TV

Church plans Quran-burning event (USA)

In protest of what it calls a religion "of the devil," a nondenominational church in Gainesville, Florida, plans to host an "International Burn a Quran Day" on the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

The Dove World Outreach Center says it is hosting the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam. With promotions on its website and Facebook page, it invites Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at the church from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

"We believe that Islam is of the devil, that it's causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times," Pastor Terry Jones told CNN's Rick Sanchez earlier this week.

Jones wrote a book titled "Islam is of the Devil," and the church sells coffee mugs and shirts featuring the phrase.
Muslims and many other Christians -- including some evangelicals -- are fighting the initiative.

The church launched a YouTube channel to disseminate its messages.

"I mean ask yourself, have you ever really seen a really happy Muslim? As they're on the way to Mecca? As they gather together in the mosque on the floor? Does it look like a real religion of joy?" Jones asks in one of his YouTube posts.

"No, to me it looks like a religion of the devil."

The Islamic advocacy group Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Muslims and others to host "Share the Quran" dinners to educate the public during the monthlong fast of Ramadan beginning in August. In a news release, the group announced a campaign to give out 100,000 copies of the Quran to local, state and national leaders.

"American Muslims and other people of conscience should support positive educational efforts to prevent the spread of Islamophobia," said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper in the release.

The National Association of Evangelicals, the nation's largest umbrella evangelical group, issued a statement urging the church to cancel the event, warning it could cause worldwide tension between the two religions.

"The NAE calls on its members to cultivate relationships of trust and respect with our neighbors of other faiths. God created human beings in his image, and therefore all should be treated with dignity and respect," it said in the statement.

Dove's Facebook page, set up for the September event, has more than 1,600 fans.

"Eternal fire is the only destination the Quran can lead people to, so we want to put the Quran in it's [sic] place -- the fire!" the page says.

But another Facebook group with more than 3,100 fans says it stands "against the disrespect and intolerance that these people have for the Muslim people" and encourages people to report Dove's page to Facebook.

Targeting another group it calls "godless," the Dove center is also hosting a protest against Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe, who is openly gay, on Monday at Gainesville's City Hall. The group previously fought -- unsuccessfully -- to derail Lowe's election campaign.

"We protest sexual perversion because the Bible protests it. ... What is acceptable to today's leadership becomes acceptable to tomorrow's society," the church says in its blog entry about the event.

Lowe and other government figures and media outlets received e-mails from the church about the event, The Gainesville Sun reported. Lowe isn't concerned with Monday's event.

"I've got other things to do," he said, The Sun reports.

On the outreach center's front lawn, alongside a sign reading "Aug. 2 Protest, No Homo Mayor, City Hall," stands not just one, but three signs bearing the slogan "Islam is of the Devil."

One of the signs -- one reading "Islam" on one side, "Devil" on the other -- was vandalized. On its blog last week, the church said the sign will be replaced.

"This is private property and vandalism is a crime here in America," the blog says. "In Islam, many actions that we consider to be crimes are encouraged, condoned or sheltered under Islamic teaching and practice, though. Another reason to burn a Quran."

CNN

Racist group planning to target fans at Pittodrie (Scotland)

Racist extremists are once again planning to target the fans of one of Scotland’s biggest football clubs.

The National Front has confirmed it plans to canvass support outside Pittodrie Stadium.

The group’s Aberdeen branch has announced it intends to distribute literature outside the home of Aberdeen Football Club to try to boost its membership.

The National Front is a far right political party widely considered a racist group. The British prison service and police forbid employees to be members of the party.

But Grampian Police is powerless to prevent members from selling papers and handing out leaflets on the streets around the ground.

The club is adamant, however, that members will be thrown out if they try to enter the stadium.

A spokesman for the group said they will be campaigning on local issues that are “relevant to the citizens of Aberdeen”.
He said: “This may be child molesters, muggers, immigration problems with the expanding immigrant population in the city.

“All these topics are of interest and we will have leaflets printed that show our views on these topics.”

He said the group would specifically target the visit of Celtic in December.

He added: “We have had a lot of success at our paper sales at Pittodrie in the past and the Celtic game is always a popular game for us to canvass support.”

The club is already preparing for the group’s advances.

Dons spokesman Dave Macdermid said: “We have made it clear the National Front is not a group we want to see associated with a family club.”

The group has targeted the club in the past. In 2003, there were fears that its presence at the ground would cause trouble.

The club’s first match programme of the 2003/04 season contained a statement telling fans not to be intimidated by anyone trying to sell them anything outside the ground.

Later that season, the club revealed it had kicked out a bid by the National Front to sponsor one of its matches.

Press and Journal

EDUMIN PROMISES MONEY FOR ROMANI HOLOCAUST INFO CENTRE(Czech Rep.)

The Czech state should find money for the construction of a Romany Holocaust Information and Education Centre on the spot of a former internment camp for Romanies in Hodonin u Kunstatu, Education Minister Josef Dobes told journalists yesterday. "It may be good to send a moral signal during a crisis," Dobes said. He admitted that he temporarily stopped all investment and is seeking how to save money. But the Romany Holocaust Centre may be an exception. The previous Czech government earmarked 90 million crowns for the centre. The Education Ministry bought the area of the former camp, now used as a recreation facility, for 20 million crowns last year. Dobes plans to present the budget for the centre's construction to the government in October.

Michal Kocab, government human rights commissioner, said this would be the first centre focusing on Romany Holocaust in the world. Some 1300 Romanies went through the Hodonin internment camp operating from August 1942 to December 1943. Over 200 died there and the rest of the inmates were moved to the Oswiecim (Auschwitz) extermination camp where most of them perished. In total, about 580 of 6000 Czech Romanies returned from Nazi camps after World War Two. Lucie Matejkova, from Brno-based Roma Culture Museum, said the centre should be open both to the general public and researchers. Dobes said the operation of the planned centre would cost from 600,000 to 3 million crowns, depending on the financial situation. ($1=19.233 crowns)

Prague Monitor

Anti-fascists not welcome in Estonia

Estonian authorities have banned anti-fascist activists from entering the country. The activists were going to rally against the meeting of Estonian veterans who fought on the side of Nazi Germany.

The bus with Lithuanian and Latvian anti-fascists was unable to cross the border between Estonia and Latvia, as the border guards said the bus was in poor technical condition.

Six activists were made to go back to Latvia. 16 others were admitted, however, they were made to board an Estonian bus specially sent in, reports news agency Interfax.

The forum of the Waffen SS division is scheduled for Saturday and is to take place in the north-east of the country, in a village called Sinimäe. The anti-fascists want to hold their protest, which was officially permitted by Estonian authorities, just not far from this place.

Back in 1944, this neighborhood was the scene of fierce fighting between Soviet soldiers and SS forces. According to estimates, the death toll from both sides reached 200,000 people.

A day earlier, Estonia refused to allow Finnish activists to enter the country. The head of Finland’s anti-fascism committee, Johan Beckman, said the ban is a sign that Estonia supports pro-fascism events and is becoming the most dangerous place in the modern world.

On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed indignation at Estonian authorities’ encouraging events that celebrate the crimes of SS squads.

RT