A blog post by a local Sweden Democrat politician, Per T K Wahlberg, in which he claims that black Africans are genetically programmed to rape children, has raised questions about the party's attempts to distance itself from open racism.
Wahlberg occupies 26th place on the Sweden Democrats list for municipal elections in Landskrona in southern Sweden and he currently sits on the culture committee and election commission. The party claimed 11 seats in Landskrona municipality at the last election in 2006.
On his blog "Landskronabackspegel" (Literally: Landskrona rearview mirror) Wahlberg, a 76-year-old retiree and one of the party's more experienced members, published a post on the genetic characteristics of black Africans:
"For many thousands of years, the Negro could chill out in the heat, eat some bananas, rape some passing woman or child, fight with other negro males and eat them up, play the drums a little, run around a bit, catch an antelope, eat a few bananas, fuck a bit, get drunk on fermented fruits or herbs, and so on. This has been going on for millennia without any evolutionary pressure in the form of environmental factors forcing the negro to develop in another direction."
Wahlberg told The Local on Friday that the quotes are all taken from the provocative Swedish political and media discussion forum Flashback, and are written "ironically".
Nevertheless, he declined to distance himself from the broad content of the post.
"You could say that some parts have some truth to them. But generally speaking it is written with irony," he said.
In a prior recent interview with the local Helsingborgs Dagblad (HD) daily, Wahlberg was more forthright over his personal views.
"I think that it was quite an accurate description. If we look at history, then humanity began in Africa once upon a time, and then there were some who emigrated to Europe and Asia. But at what level are they now? Not much has happened over these thousands of years," he told the newspaper.
Wahlberg's blog furthermore includes several recent posts critical of Islam and Muslims.
Despite the nature of his blog, Wahlberg told The Local late Friday morning that he has not received any internal criticism from the party hierarchy.
However, in the wake of the attention given to Wahlberg's blog by Sweden's mainstream media, he has since left the party.
Sweden Democrat party secretary Björn Söder told Sveriges Radio (SR) that very few people in the party knew of the blog, despite it having existed since 2007.
"It's quite remarkable that we have a candidate who expresses himself in that way," Söder told SR.
Wahlberg, saying that he had a "peripheral role" with the Sweden Democrats, later told HD that he stepped down because he didn't want to "hurt the party".
While he has now removed the quote from his blog, Wahlberg told HD he did not regret publishing the post.
The Sweden Democrats was founded in 1988 and has its roots in Nazi organisations and groups such as Keep Sweden Swedish (Bevara Sverige Svenskt). Since the mid-1990s the party has worked to become more respectable, along the lines of other European nationalist parties, such as the French National Front.
These attempts to move away from the political fringes have at times included purging the party of more extremist members and distancing itself from discussions that address issues such as race biology.
The Local's attempts to contact the Sweden Democrats on Friday for comment were unsuccessful.
The Local Sweden
Saturday, 4 September 2010
France to see demonstrations against Roma expulsions
Demonstrations are planned across France in protest at the government's policy of deporting Roma people.
Anti-racism groups opposed to the moves say that more than 30,000 people may rally in Paris alone.
There has been strong international criticism of the deportations, which saw 1,000 Roma (Gypsies) returned to Romania and Bulgaria last month.
However, opinion polls suggest more than half of French people back the government on the issue.
According to official figures, 11,000 Roma were expelled from France last year.
The League of Human Rights, which called for the demonstrations, said it wanted to counteract government "xenophobia" and what it described as the systematic abuse of Roma in France.
At least 138 demonstrations are planned, including a march through the capital due to start at 1400 (1200 GMT).
The rallies are being backed by the opposition Socialist Party and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), France's second largest trade union confederation.
'Respecting the law'
France began a high-profile campaign of clearing large numbers of illegal Roma camps last month, as part of a security crackdown announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The move was announced after a number of incidents of violence targeting the police.
In mid-July, riots erupted in Grenoble after police shot an alleged armed robber during a shootout.
The next day, dozens of French Roma attacked a police station in the small Loire Valley town of Saint Aignan, after police shot dead a French Roma man who had allegedly not stopped at a police checkpoint.
The mass expulsions have drawn criticism from the Vatican and the UN and President Sarkozy has also faced dissent from within his own cabinet.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon hinted that he disliked the crude links being made between foreigners and crime, while Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he considered resigning over the issue.
Earlier this week, the European Commission criticised France over its expulsions of Roma, saying it did not put enough emphasis on the individual circumstances of those facing expulsion.
Under EU rules, the state can expel people who have been in the country for at least three months without a job or are a social burden. They can also be expelled within three months of their arrival if they are deemed to be a threat to public security.
France said it has been "scrupulously respecting European law", and that most of the repatriations were voluntary.
BBC News
Anti-racism groups opposed to the moves say that more than 30,000 people may rally in Paris alone.
There has been strong international criticism of the deportations, which saw 1,000 Roma (Gypsies) returned to Romania and Bulgaria last month.
However, opinion polls suggest more than half of French people back the government on the issue.
According to official figures, 11,000 Roma were expelled from France last year.
The League of Human Rights, which called for the demonstrations, said it wanted to counteract government "xenophobia" and what it described as the systematic abuse of Roma in France.
At least 138 demonstrations are planned, including a march through the capital due to start at 1400 (1200 GMT).
The rallies are being backed by the opposition Socialist Party and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), France's second largest trade union confederation.
'Respecting the law'
France began a high-profile campaign of clearing large numbers of illegal Roma camps last month, as part of a security crackdown announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The move was announced after a number of incidents of violence targeting the police.
In mid-July, riots erupted in Grenoble after police shot an alleged armed robber during a shootout.
The next day, dozens of French Roma attacked a police station in the small Loire Valley town of Saint Aignan, after police shot dead a French Roma man who had allegedly not stopped at a police checkpoint.
The mass expulsions have drawn criticism from the Vatican and the UN and President Sarkozy has also faced dissent from within his own cabinet.
Prime Minister Francois Fillon hinted that he disliked the crude links being made between foreigners and crime, while Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said he considered resigning over the issue.
Earlier this week, the European Commission criticised France over its expulsions of Roma, saying it did not put enough emphasis on the individual circumstances of those facing expulsion.
Under EU rules, the state can expel people who have been in the country for at least three months without a job or are a social burden. They can also be expelled within three months of their arrival if they are deemed to be a threat to public security.
France said it has been "scrupulously respecting European law", and that most of the repatriations were voluntary.
BBC News
AUSTRIA FAR-RIGHT SAYS ANTI-MOSQUE WEB GAME BANNED
The "Bye Bye Mosque" game, which has had over 200,000 visitors since it was launched on Monday, has drawn sharp criticism from Austria's Social Democrats and Green Party, as well as the Islamic and Roman Catholic communities. Set up by the provincial branch of the far-right Freedom Party ahead of an election in Styria later this month, the game encouraged players to collect points by putting a target over mosques and minarets emerging from the countryside and clicking a "Stop" sign. They also had the chance to eliminate a bearded muezzin calling Muslims to prayer. "Due to the political pressure from our opponents this game has been banned by Austrian justice authorities," a statement on the party's website said. The local prosecutors' office, which was not immediately available for comment, said earlier this week it was investigating the Freedom Party for incitement over the game. The party has said it wanted to start a debate about mosque-building. The Austrian dispute is symptomatic of a wider trend in the United States and in Europe where Islam is becoming a more prominent political issue. Geert Wilder's anti-Islam party doubled its seats in the Dutch parliament in June elections and Swiss voters backed a ban on building minarets in a referendum last November. The debate in Austria reignited last month after the head of its Islamic community said it would be normal to see a mosque with a visible minaret in each of the country's nine provinces. There are four such buildings in Austria and none of them is in Styria, where 1.6 percent of the population is Muslim according to the Austria Press Agency. There are around half a million Muslims in Austria, a predominantly Catholic country of 8 million people ruled by a centrist coalition. At a national level, the Freedom Party has been calling for a special vote on banning mosques with minarets and Islamic face veils before another provincial election in Vienna. With its catchy slogans and youthful leader, the anti-immigrant party enjoys strong support especially from young people in Austria, winning 17.5 percent of the vote at a national level in 2008.
Reuters
Reuters
Hate crime conviction a first for Calgary (Canada)
It comes after a teenager pleaded guilty to covering several sites, including the Holocaust memorial, with anti-Semitic graffiti.
"I think it sends a strong message to people who are biased, or prejudiced, in any way that this sort of activity and those sort of actions won't be tolerated in Calgary," says Chief Rick Hanson, from the Calgary Police Service.
The conviction is a relief for Calgary's Jewish community. "It sends a message that communities within Canada – like the Jewish community and other minority communities – are Canadians and attacks on us are attacks on Canadians," says Adam Singer from the Calgary Jewish Community Council.
Because the convicted man committed crimes when he was 17, the Youth Criminal Justice Act prevents the release of his name.
His sentencing is scheduled to take place on October 15th
CTV
Muslim community launches TV campaign to fight hate speech (USA)
A Muslim group is speaking out against the backlash against plans to build an Islamic community center a few blocks from ground zero in New York. They say it’s spawned a lot of hate speech against Muslims in general. They’re hoping a new series of TV public service announcements will help. The Los Angeles chapter of the Council in American-Islamic Relations — or CAIR — unveiled those PSA’s in Anaheim yesterday.
The PSA’s have two themes: “We have more in common than we think” and “9/11 happened to us all.”
One of the three videos features a New York City firefighter — a Muslim — who was one of the first to arrive at the Twin Towers. As he talks, tears stream down his face.
"I had a very good friend of mine. His name was Shawn Powell. And he worked in my firehouse for a while," says Hisham Tawfiq in the PSA. "When my friend came up to me and told me that Shawn Powell was on the list, I was like, ‘No, he’s not.’ And I took out my phone and I called him. That’s really when it hit me and I was like, ‘Okay, this is real.’”
CAIR hopes the TV campaign will help dispel the myth that all Muslims are terrorists.
CAIR-LA attorney Ameena Qazi, who wears a traditional Muslim head scarf, says she’s noticed an increase in hate e-mail and phone calls in the last six months.
"Just the other day, I got a hate mail — voice mail on my phone here at work, saying, 'You F-ing terrorist, go home. Leave our country.' Just completely out of nowhere," Qazi says. "Somehow they got through to my voicemail and left that message."
Qazi says those messages are like a hit-and-run. She says there’s no way to respond to help those people better understand her religion.
"For me, the hurtful part is that, you know, I am American," Qazi says. "I’m actually a mix race, you know. I’m white American. I’m Pakistani American. So it’s hurtful when we have our own people spurring this hate against us because it’s like our own. You know, we don’t view them as others or we’re others. It’s like our own not being able to understand. And that’s what we hope to achieve through this [PSA campaign]."
CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush says hate talk is driven by fear of Islam — and that’s driven by ignorance. He says hateful comments keep bubbling to the surface long after the 9/11 attacks.
"It’s nine years and brewing. That’s what it is," Ayloush says. "I think what happened — things got out of hand because of many factors. One is the election of President Obama. Some people are still not digesting the idea of having a first black president in America. For them, it is something that undermines, that shakes the history of what America stands for because for some extremists what America is maybe a white, Christian society."
Ayloush says more anti-Muslim groups have popped up in the years since 9/11. He says the rhetoric is becoming more vicious, as traditional hate groups like neo-Nazis and former Ku Klux Klan members get involved.
"This is the exact same practice that led to attacks on black people in the ‘30s and ‘40s, up to the ‘60s," says Ayloush. "These are the same type of tactics that led to the internment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor. The internment didn’t happen in a vacuum. It came after many, many years of building and brewing anti-Asian and anti-Japanese feelings and sentiments in America."
Ayloush also blames politicians for fanning the flames in an election year.
"When we face — and it has happened throughout history — when there’s a bad economy, populist — not popular and not necessarily good leaders — populist leaders try to find victims, someone to blame, a scapegoat," says Ayloush. "Whether it’s the immigrants in the past or the Catholics or the poor East Europeans or the Jews. Today it’s the Muslims. The Muslims to be blamed to all evil things that happen in the world."
Ayloush says he hopes the new TV announcements will change some minds about Muslims. They start airing on TV stations this week and are posted on YouTube.
We soon could find out how well they work. On October 17, Muslims in Southern California will invite people of all religions to visit them on Open Mosque Day
SCPR
The PSA’s have two themes: “We have more in common than we think” and “9/11 happened to us all.”
One of the three videos features a New York City firefighter — a Muslim — who was one of the first to arrive at the Twin Towers. As he talks, tears stream down his face.
"I had a very good friend of mine. His name was Shawn Powell. And he worked in my firehouse for a while," says Hisham Tawfiq in the PSA. "When my friend came up to me and told me that Shawn Powell was on the list, I was like, ‘No, he’s not.’ And I took out my phone and I called him. That’s really when it hit me and I was like, ‘Okay, this is real.’”
CAIR hopes the TV campaign will help dispel the myth that all Muslims are terrorists.
CAIR-LA attorney Ameena Qazi, who wears a traditional Muslim head scarf, says she’s noticed an increase in hate e-mail and phone calls in the last six months.
"Just the other day, I got a hate mail — voice mail on my phone here at work, saying, 'You F-ing terrorist, go home. Leave our country.' Just completely out of nowhere," Qazi says. "Somehow they got through to my voicemail and left that message."
Qazi says those messages are like a hit-and-run. She says there’s no way to respond to help those people better understand her religion.
"For me, the hurtful part is that, you know, I am American," Qazi says. "I’m actually a mix race, you know. I’m white American. I’m Pakistani American. So it’s hurtful when we have our own people spurring this hate against us because it’s like our own. You know, we don’t view them as others or we’re others. It’s like our own not being able to understand. And that’s what we hope to achieve through this [PSA campaign]."
CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush says hate talk is driven by fear of Islam — and that’s driven by ignorance. He says hateful comments keep bubbling to the surface long after the 9/11 attacks.
"It’s nine years and brewing. That’s what it is," Ayloush says. "I think what happened — things got out of hand because of many factors. One is the election of President Obama. Some people are still not digesting the idea of having a first black president in America. For them, it is something that undermines, that shakes the history of what America stands for because for some extremists what America is maybe a white, Christian society."
Ayloush says more anti-Muslim groups have popped up in the years since 9/11. He says the rhetoric is becoming more vicious, as traditional hate groups like neo-Nazis and former Ku Klux Klan members get involved.
"This is the exact same practice that led to attacks on black people in the ‘30s and ‘40s, up to the ‘60s," says Ayloush. "These are the same type of tactics that led to the internment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor. The internment didn’t happen in a vacuum. It came after many, many years of building and brewing anti-Asian and anti-Japanese feelings and sentiments in America."
Ayloush also blames politicians for fanning the flames in an election year.
"When we face — and it has happened throughout history — when there’s a bad economy, populist — not popular and not necessarily good leaders — populist leaders try to find victims, someone to blame, a scapegoat," says Ayloush. "Whether it’s the immigrants in the past or the Catholics or the poor East Europeans or the Jews. Today it’s the Muslims. The Muslims to be blamed to all evil things that happen in the world."
Ayloush says he hopes the new TV announcements will change some minds about Muslims. They start airing on TV stations this week and are posted on YouTube.
We soon could find out how well they work. On October 17, Muslims in Southern California will invite people of all religions to visit them on Open Mosque Day
SCPR
Morrissey reignites racism row by calling Chinese a 'subspecies' (UK)
Remark came in context of an attack on China's animal welfare record, with singer having been criticised on a number of previous occasions for negative race comments.
For almost three decades, indie rock icon Morrissey has made almost as many enemies as devoted fans willing to hang on his every melancholy-drenched lyric. Described by one high court judge as "devious, truculent and unreliable", the former Smiths frontman is no stranger to controversy and criticism. But tomorrow he reignites a simmering row about his views on race in an interview in Guardian Weekend magazine, in which he describes Chinese people as a "subspecies" because of their treatment of animals.
Morrissey, a vegetarian and animal rights advocate who last year abandoned the stage at the Coachella festival in California because of the smell of cooking meat, described the treatment of animals in China as "absolutely horrific", referring to recent news stories about animals in Chinese circuses and zoos. He told interviewer Simon Armitage: "Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can't help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies."
A spokesman for Love Music Hate Racism, which received a donation of £28,000 from the singer in 2008 after his apparently anti-immigration comments made in music magazine NME convulsed the media, said it would be unable to accept support from Morrissey again if he did not rescind or dispute today's comments.
"It really is just crude racism," said Martin Smith. "When you start using language like 'subspecies', you are entering into dark and murky water. I don't think we would, or could, ask him to come back after that."
Armitage said Morrissey was typically and deliberately provocative throughout the interview. "I thought at the time it was a dangerous thing to say into a tape recorder. He must have known it would make waves, he's not daft," he said. "But he's provocative and theatrical, and it was one of dozens of dramatic pronouncements. I'm not an apologist for that kind of remark, and couldn't ignore it. But clearly, when it comes to animal rights and animal welfare, he's absolutely unshakable in his beliefs. In his view, if you treat an animal badly, you are less than human. I think that was his point."
Morrissey said in a statement tonight: "If anyone has seen the horrific and unwatchable footage of the Chinese cat and dog trade – animals skinned alive – then they could not possibly argue in favour of China as a caring nation. There are no animal protection laws in China and this results in the worst animal abuse and cruelty on the planet. It is indefensible."
His latest comments are not the first time the singer has provoked accusations of racism. Some of his song titles and lyrics have attracted criticism, including the tracks Bengali in Platforms – "He only wants to embrace your culture/And to be your friend forever/ … Oh shelve your western plans/ … life is hard enough when you belong here" – and National Front Disco.
In 1992 NME accused Morrissey of "flirting with disaster" and racist imagery after wrapping himself in the union flag while on stage in Finsbury Park, north London.
In the same year, the singer, now 51, was quoted in Q Magazine stating that he did not want to be "horrible or pessimistic" but he didn't "really think, for instance, black people and white people will ever really get on or like each other. I don't really think they ever will." While in 1994 he told Select magazine that the National Front should be given a clear voice or platform in order for them to be "less of a threat".
The war of words with NME continued in 2007 after Morrissey, who lived in Rome at the time, was quoted in an interview with the magazine apparently criticising levels of immigration after being asked if he would ever consider moving back to England. "With the issue of immigration, it's very difficult because, although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears," he said. "If you walk through Knightsbridge on any bland day of the week you won't hear an English accent. You'll hear every accent under the sun apart from the British accent."
At another point in the interview he stated: "England is a memory now. The gates are flooded and anybody can have access to England and join in."
Morrissey issued a writ for defamation against the magazine and its then editor Conor McNicholas, saying the publication had "deliberately tried to characterise me as a racist … in order to boost their dwindling circulation".
He vehemently denied the accusations of racism. "I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic … Racism is beyond common sense and has no place in our society," he said in a statement.
Simon Price, a music journalist who has followed Morrissey's career closely, said his die-hard fans who have idolised him for more than 25 years would be unlikely to desert him, but others would be "appalled, if not exactly surprised".
The singer appeared to have left little room for explanation in his controversial comment, he added. "What are the apologists going to say this time? It looks like in his old age Morrissey has forgotten to include the ambiguity, like he has done in the past. Maybe he just doesn't care any more."
He added: "For Morrissey's hardcore fan base, no matter what he says he can do no wrong, but this is not going to make those in the media feel favourably toward him and lots of doors will be shut to him that maybe had been ajar in the past."
The Guardian
For almost three decades, indie rock icon Morrissey has made almost as many enemies as devoted fans willing to hang on his every melancholy-drenched lyric. Described by one high court judge as "devious, truculent and unreliable", the former Smiths frontman is no stranger to controversy and criticism. But tomorrow he reignites a simmering row about his views on race in an interview in Guardian Weekend magazine, in which he describes Chinese people as a "subspecies" because of their treatment of animals.
Morrissey, a vegetarian and animal rights advocate who last year abandoned the stage at the Coachella festival in California because of the smell of cooking meat, described the treatment of animals in China as "absolutely horrific", referring to recent news stories about animals in Chinese circuses and zoos. He told interviewer Simon Armitage: "Did you see the thing on the news about their treatment of animals and animal welfare? Absolutely horrific. You can't help but feel that the Chinese are a subspecies."
A spokesman for Love Music Hate Racism, which received a donation of £28,000 from the singer in 2008 after his apparently anti-immigration comments made in music magazine NME convulsed the media, said it would be unable to accept support from Morrissey again if he did not rescind or dispute today's comments.
"It really is just crude racism," said Martin Smith. "When you start using language like 'subspecies', you are entering into dark and murky water. I don't think we would, or could, ask him to come back after that."
Armitage said Morrissey was typically and deliberately provocative throughout the interview. "I thought at the time it was a dangerous thing to say into a tape recorder. He must have known it would make waves, he's not daft," he said. "But he's provocative and theatrical, and it was one of dozens of dramatic pronouncements. I'm not an apologist for that kind of remark, and couldn't ignore it. But clearly, when it comes to animal rights and animal welfare, he's absolutely unshakable in his beliefs. In his view, if you treat an animal badly, you are less than human. I think that was his point."
Morrissey said in a statement tonight: "If anyone has seen the horrific and unwatchable footage of the Chinese cat and dog trade – animals skinned alive – then they could not possibly argue in favour of China as a caring nation. There are no animal protection laws in China and this results in the worst animal abuse and cruelty on the planet. It is indefensible."
His latest comments are not the first time the singer has provoked accusations of racism. Some of his song titles and lyrics have attracted criticism, including the tracks Bengali in Platforms – "He only wants to embrace your culture/And to be your friend forever/ … Oh shelve your western plans/ … life is hard enough when you belong here" – and National Front Disco.
In 1992 NME accused Morrissey of "flirting with disaster" and racist imagery after wrapping himself in the union flag while on stage in Finsbury Park, north London.
In the same year, the singer, now 51, was quoted in Q Magazine stating that he did not want to be "horrible or pessimistic" but he didn't "really think, for instance, black people and white people will ever really get on or like each other. I don't really think they ever will." While in 1994 he told Select magazine that the National Front should be given a clear voice or platform in order for them to be "less of a threat".
The war of words with NME continued in 2007 after Morrissey, who lived in Rome at the time, was quoted in an interview with the magazine apparently criticising levels of immigration after being asked if he would ever consider moving back to England. "With the issue of immigration, it's very difficult because, although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears," he said. "If you walk through Knightsbridge on any bland day of the week you won't hear an English accent. You'll hear every accent under the sun apart from the British accent."
At another point in the interview he stated: "England is a memory now. The gates are flooded and anybody can have access to England and join in."
Morrissey issued a writ for defamation against the magazine and its then editor Conor McNicholas, saying the publication had "deliberately tried to characterise me as a racist … in order to boost their dwindling circulation".
He vehemently denied the accusations of racism. "I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic … Racism is beyond common sense and has no place in our society," he said in a statement.
Simon Price, a music journalist who has followed Morrissey's career closely, said his die-hard fans who have idolised him for more than 25 years would be unlikely to desert him, but others would be "appalled, if not exactly surprised".
The singer appeared to have left little room for explanation in his controversial comment, he added. "What are the apologists going to say this time? It looks like in his old age Morrissey has forgotten to include the ambiguity, like he has done in the past. Maybe he just doesn't care any more."
He added: "For Morrissey's hardcore fan base, no matter what he says he can do no wrong, but this is not going to make those in the media feel favourably toward him and lots of doors will be shut to him that maybe had been ajar in the past."
The Guardian
Friday, 3 September 2010
Bundesbank sacks 'racist' board member (Germany)
The Bundesbank's board said it had reached a unanimous decision to fire Social Democrat Thilo Sarrazin, 65, a former Berlin city government finance minister. Under German law, the step must be approved by the country's federal president, Christian Wulff.
Mr Sarrazin's dismissal appeared almost certain as the Bundesbank's statement came just hours after Mr Wulff had urged the bank to act, warning that the increasingly heated discussion about his remarks threatened to "damage Germany internationally".
Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the move, saying she had "great respect" for the decision. She had previously expressed her dismay over Mr Sarrazin's racial theories and condemned them as "completely unacceptable".
Mr Sarrazin, the son of a doctor and a Prussian aristocrat, outraged Germany's Jewish community by saying in an interview that "all Jews share a certain gene". The general secretary of the Central Council of Jews suggested afterwards that he should apply for a job as spokesman for race issues in the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party.
However, most of Mr Sarrazin's criticisms have been directed against Muslims living in Germany. In a book published on Monday entitled Deutschland Schafft Sich Ab (Germany is digging its own grave), he claims that Muslim immigrants will soon outnumber indigenous Germans because of their higher birth rates, and that they are disproportionately involved in crime and dependent on the welfare state.
"I don't want the country of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren to be largely Muslim or want Turkish or Arabic to be widely spoken," he argues in his book. "I don't want women wearing headscarves or the daily rhythm set by the call of the muezzin."
Yesterday, four days after its publication, Mr Sarrazin's book was topping Amazon Germany's bestseller list. His race theories have been published widely in the mass circulation Bild newspaper and featured as a debating topic on German television talkshows.
"With no other religion is there such a fluid connection between violence, dictatorship and terrorism as there is with Islam," Mr Sarrazin also claims. Germany's Muslim community has predictably condemned his remarks.
However, some commentators have given his remarks a guarded welcome and implied that he has broken the politically correct taboos concerning race and integration that have held sway in Germany since World War II.
"A clever man has got on the wrong track here with his desire to provoke and with his theories about the rapid decline of the German people," remarked the liberal Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. "But he has addressed a problem that will remain long after the waves of outrage have subsided: the enormous integration deficit of the Muslim minority in Germany."
Mr Sarrazin said earlier this week that he would like to die a Social Democrat. However, this poses a problem for his centre-left party which attracts immigrant voters. Leading Social Democrats have been deliberating over calls for his expulsion. Sigmar Gabriel, the party leader, yesterday said Mr Sarrazin could remain a member if he renounced some of his ideas.
The Independant
KILLING SPREE IN SLOVAKIA TAPS INTO A TROUBLED VEIN
As Slovakia held a day of mourning Thursday to honor the victims of Monday’s violent rampage in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, a picture began to emerge of the killer, an unemployed loner who the police said had participated in shooting contests and may have harbored resentment against his Roma victims. The killing spree, in which six members of a Roma family were killed — including a 12-year-old boy — has shaken Slovakia, a small and predominantly Catholic country. It also has spurred a national debate about the assimilation of the country’s 380,000-strong Roma community, who typically live on the margins of society, stigmatized by poor levels of education, alcoholism and an image of lawlessness. A debate over xenophobia against the Roma, also known as Gypsies, has been raging in recent months across Europe, most recently in France, where the government deported Roma living illegally in the country. But the issue is particularly sensitive in Slovakia, a young country that was part of the former Czechoslovakia and is still grappling with how to integrate its ethnic minorities while forging its national identity. Tensions with the Roma have been on the rise. Last year a town in eastern Slovakia built a concrete wall to separate a Roma camp from the rest of the town after the Roma were caught stealing fruit and vegetables from neighbors’ gardens. Anti-Roma demonstrations have been held repeatedly since late last summer, when two Roma gouged out the eye of a man during a robbery in the east.
In March 2009 in Kosice, in eastern Slovakia, police detained six Roma boys who were suspected of having robbed an elderly lady. The police forced the boys to undress, slap and kiss each other, while taking videos of them on their mobile phones. After a video of the incident was released by SME, a leading Slovak daily, nine policemen were fired. The boys later admitted they had stolen a purse. While the police and government authorities have been at pains not to attribute any racial motive to the Monday killing, Slovak analysts said the incident had nevertheless tapped into the country’s neuroses about its Roma minority. “To me, the reaction of the society has been worse than the killings themselves,” said Stanislav Daniel, a Slovak of Roma origin who is a researcher at the European Roma Rights Center in Budapest. “Rather than focusing on the killer, the message has been: the shooting was bad but these Roma people he killed were bad, too.”
Police said the killer, 48-year-old Lubomir Harman, who shot himself after being cornered by the police, lived in the same building as his Roma victims. Single and living alone, he had been jobless since August 2008, and had legally acquired six weapons. He was a member of a club of reservist soldiers and had completed two years basic military service between 1981 and 1983, but he was not a professional soldier. Neighbors and police said Mr. Harman, who used a machine gun and two pistols to attack his victims, may have been angered by the loud noise emulating from the victims’ apartment in the working class neighborhood of Devinska Nova Ves. Police Chief Jaroslav Spisiak said this week the Roma family that was killed led a “rich social life” in which they hosted a steady stream of visitors. Other neighbors were less charitable, accusing the family of everything from disturbing the peace to dealing drugs, and noted that the victims and the killer had a history of disagreements. But in a video interview posted on a Slovak news website, Aktualne, one neighbor named Silvie, who declined to give her last name, said that the Roma family were “poor, but decent” and that Mr. Harman, laconic and unpleasant, had clearly lost control. “Every month I would lend them some money or give them some old bread,” she said. “Within a few days, as soon as they received their pension, I got my money back.”
Lukas Fila, the deputy editor of SME, a leading Slovak newspaper, lamented that some Slovaks were using the killings to vent their frustrations with their Roma neighbors, and inadvertently siding with the killer. “No one approves of what happened,” he said. “But people who don’t like the Roma are saying, ‘I can understand how he did this.”’ On a discussion forum on www.cas.sk, a Slovak news site, some contributors this week said that the killer had been provoked, while others blamed the state for ignoring what they said was Roma crime. Some challenged the government’s decision to make Thursday a national day of mourning, saying it wasn’t justified since the victims were predominantly Roma. “Try to live next to a Roma family for a month and you will see for yourselves,” said a contributor who called himself Keenu. “Luckily, not everyone owns a machine gun.” The killings have also prompted a national discussion about gun control. The Slovak minister of the interior, Daniel Lipsic, said this week he planned to introduce legislation that would ban the use of machine guns for sporting purposes. He also said that the conditions for holding guns would be made stricter and that psychological tests for owners would have to be repeated every five years.
NY Times
In March 2009 in Kosice, in eastern Slovakia, police detained six Roma boys who were suspected of having robbed an elderly lady. The police forced the boys to undress, slap and kiss each other, while taking videos of them on their mobile phones. After a video of the incident was released by SME, a leading Slovak daily, nine policemen were fired. The boys later admitted they had stolen a purse. While the police and government authorities have been at pains not to attribute any racial motive to the Monday killing, Slovak analysts said the incident had nevertheless tapped into the country’s neuroses about its Roma minority. “To me, the reaction of the society has been worse than the killings themselves,” said Stanislav Daniel, a Slovak of Roma origin who is a researcher at the European Roma Rights Center in Budapest. “Rather than focusing on the killer, the message has been: the shooting was bad but these Roma people he killed were bad, too.”
Police said the killer, 48-year-old Lubomir Harman, who shot himself after being cornered by the police, lived in the same building as his Roma victims. Single and living alone, he had been jobless since August 2008, and had legally acquired six weapons. He was a member of a club of reservist soldiers and had completed two years basic military service between 1981 and 1983, but he was not a professional soldier. Neighbors and police said Mr. Harman, who used a machine gun and two pistols to attack his victims, may have been angered by the loud noise emulating from the victims’ apartment in the working class neighborhood of Devinska Nova Ves. Police Chief Jaroslav Spisiak said this week the Roma family that was killed led a “rich social life” in which they hosted a steady stream of visitors. Other neighbors were less charitable, accusing the family of everything from disturbing the peace to dealing drugs, and noted that the victims and the killer had a history of disagreements. But in a video interview posted on a Slovak news website, Aktualne, one neighbor named Silvie, who declined to give her last name, said that the Roma family were “poor, but decent” and that Mr. Harman, laconic and unpleasant, had clearly lost control. “Every month I would lend them some money or give them some old bread,” she said. “Within a few days, as soon as they received their pension, I got my money back.”
Lukas Fila, the deputy editor of SME, a leading Slovak newspaper, lamented that some Slovaks were using the killings to vent their frustrations with their Roma neighbors, and inadvertently siding with the killer. “No one approves of what happened,” he said. “But people who don’t like the Roma are saying, ‘I can understand how he did this.”’ On a discussion forum on www.cas.sk, a Slovak news site, some contributors this week said that the killer had been provoked, while others blamed the state for ignoring what they said was Roma crime. Some challenged the government’s decision to make Thursday a national day of mourning, saying it wasn’t justified since the victims were predominantly Roma. “Try to live next to a Roma family for a month and you will see for yourselves,” said a contributor who called himself Keenu. “Luckily, not everyone owns a machine gun.” The killings have also prompted a national discussion about gun control. The Slovak minister of the interior, Daniel Lipsic, said this week he planned to introduce legislation that would ban the use of machine guns for sporting purposes. He also said that the conditions for holding guns would be made stricter and that psychological tests for owners would have to be repeated every five years.
NY Times
Thursday, 2 September 2010
Is America anti-Islamic? 'Hostile atmosphere' goes beyond Ground Zero mosque, claim 50 Muslim groups
Tension in New York over plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero are rising, especially as the ninth anniversary of 9/11 approaches.
But leaders of the Majlis Ash-Shura of Metropolitan New York, an Islamic leadership council that represents a broad spectrum of Muslims in the city, said the sentiment is growing beyond the mosque plans.
'The bigger issue and the broader issue is the issue of ethnic and religious hatred being spread by groups trying to stop the building of mosques and Islamic institutions across the country,' said Imam Al Amin Abdul Latif, president of the Majlis Ash-Shura.
He spoke at a demonstration on the steps of City Hall in New York today.
The group cited a suspicious fire that damaged construction equipment at the site of a future mosque in Tennessee that is being investigated by the FBI.
They also pointed to the successful opposition to the proposed conversion of a property owned by a Catholic Church into a mosque and community center on Staten Island, a New York City borough off the southern tip of Manhattan.
And they declared opposition to the Ground Zero mosque 'unethical, insensitive and inhumane', pointing out that Muslims were also victims and first responders in the 9/11 attacks.
The imam behind the project, meanwhile, was preparing to return to the U.S. after a taxpayer-funded good will tour to the Mideast.
There, he he said the debate is about much more than 'a piece of real estate'.
The imam told a group in Dubai on Tuesday that the dispute over the mosque 'has expanded beyond a piece of real estate and expanded to Islam in America and what it means for America'.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf sidestepped questions about whether he would consider moving the $100 million mosque and Islamic community centre to another location.
But the leaders of the Majlis Ash-Shura, while supporting the developers' right to build the mosque, said they would support a move to another location.
Rick Lazio, a Republican candidate for governor of New York who has opposed the mosque in lower Manhattan, has said criticism is 'not an issue of religion'.
Like many critics, he has said it is an issue of being sensitive to the families of 9/11 victims and transparency regarding the center's funding.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday showed 71 per cent of New Yorkers want the developers to voluntarily move the project.
Daily Mail
Peruvian priest, German anti-racist group receive Aachen Peace Prize
The Aachen Peace Prize and its 2,000-euro award have been given to a German anti-racist society as well as a Catholic priest and human rights advocate from Peru.
The Duisburg anti-racism group Phoenix Society and Peruvian priest and human rights activist Marco Arana received the Aachen Peace Prize on Wednesday for their advocacy and fieldwork.
"Both believe in the respect for human dignity," said Karl Heinz Otten, chairman of the prize committee, at a ceremony in Aachen with about 500 guests on Wednesday evening. "We would like to help them by honoring their fieldwork."
The Aachen Peace Prize comes with a 2,000-euro prize and is awarded annually to organizations and individuals who have shown exception work toward peace and international understanding.
Accepting the award on behalf of the Phoenix Society was Protestant minister Austen Peter Brandt, a German with roots in Nigeria who said that "racism is still fixed in many minds."
"Our work against this every-day racism gains new motivation with this prize," he said.
Arana is a Catholic priest from Peru who for 20 years has campaigned against environmental damage from his country's largest gold mine and advocated for farmers in nearby areas whose health and livelihood have been harmed.
He said he wanted to run in Peru's 2011 presidential elections in association with the newly-formed Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty) movement as a "staunch advocate of the peaceful path in the fight for human rights and the environment."
DW-World
The Duisburg anti-racism group Phoenix Society and Peruvian priest and human rights activist Marco Arana received the Aachen Peace Prize on Wednesday for their advocacy and fieldwork.
"Both believe in the respect for human dignity," said Karl Heinz Otten, chairman of the prize committee, at a ceremony in Aachen with about 500 guests on Wednesday evening. "We would like to help them by honoring their fieldwork."
The Aachen Peace Prize comes with a 2,000-euro prize and is awarded annually to organizations and individuals who have shown exception work toward peace and international understanding.
Accepting the award on behalf of the Phoenix Society was Protestant minister Austen Peter Brandt, a German with roots in Nigeria who said that "racism is still fixed in many minds."
"Our work against this every-day racism gains new motivation with this prize," he said.
Arana is a Catholic priest from Peru who for 20 years has campaigned against environmental damage from his country's largest gold mine and advocated for farmers in nearby areas whose health and livelihood have been harmed.
He said he wanted to run in Peru's 2011 presidential elections in association with the newly-formed Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty) movement as a "staunch advocate of the peaceful path in the fight for human rights and the environment."
DW-World
Six arrested in crackdown on racist attacks in Aberdeen (UK)
A 15-year-old boy was among six people arrested in a crackdown on racist attacks and anti-social behaviour in Aberdeen, the Evening Express can reveal today.
It targeted revellers hurling racist abuse at takeaway staff and those who misbehave in the centre of Aberdeen after drinking too much.
Evening Express
Drunken racist threatens to blow up shop, (UK)
Sentencing Michael Anthony Bradley to a community order, a judge said his actions had made shop worker Mohammad sman feel like ‘a stranger in his own land’.
Chester Crown Court heard how Bradley, 43, of Danes Square, Macclesfield, twice walked in and racially abused Mr Usman at ‘Boozer’,on Mill Lane on March 26.
Counsel for the prosecution, Robert Philpotts, told how a ‘very drunk’ Bradley yelled a torrent of racist abuse, shouting ‘you touched my missus’ and ‘I’m going to come back to blow your shop up’.
Mr Philpotts added: "He (the victim) was frightened and thought that the defendant was going to smash the shop up. The other man tried to calm him down. Half an hour later, he returned to the shop but was with a female. Mr Usman was on the telephone to the police. The female kept saying ‘it’s not him, it’s the other guy’."
Bradley hurled more abuse at Mr Usman before an off-duty policeman came to help.
The couple then fell into a ‘heap in the road’.
Police later tracked Bradley down to a house on Mill Lane where he tried to escape by jumping over a wall.
He pleaded guilty to racially aggravated fear of violence at an earlier hearing.
Debra White, counsel for the defence, told the court: "It is something he (Bradley) deeply regrets."
Judge Stephen Clarke told Bradley: "This caused a good degree of upset to Mr Usman, as far as he’s concerned he is British and respects this country. Clearly when you speak to him in that way that makes him feel like a stranger in his own land. You’re not treating him with the dignity every person is entitled to."
Bradley was sentenced to a community order for 12 months with a supervision requirement. He must also attend an Addressing Substance Related Offending programme.
After the sentence, victim Mohammed Usman, 24, from Levenshulme, told the Express he and his family bought the Mill Lane shop because they thought it would be safer than Manchester.
He said: "I have been here four years and I have only had two problems, in this area it’s not common, I know areas like Longsight in Manchester where kids will throw stones at your window for not serving them, so I have been lucky here.
"I wasn’t scared because I knew I had done nothing wrong, but when he started racially abusing me, that’s when I thought I would have to get the police involved. I am happy with the sentence he got, as long as he knows he is banned from coming back into the shop again."
His brother Mohammad Arslan, 21, who also works at the shop, added: "I am pleased that the police and courts have decided to do something about this.
"Hopefully his punishment will make people think twice before coming in drunk and shouting abuse at us.
"The punishment for this sort of behaviour should be more harsh because if police and courts let it continue it will just breed more bad feeling and resentment between different races."
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
Racist thug battered Polish prisoner with 10kg weightlifting bar
Keith Porter will appear in court for battering a Polish prisoner while he was in jail for trying to kill another immigrant.
A violent thug who battered his Polish victim with a 10kg weightlifting bar while in jail for a racially-motivated attack is to be sentenced.
Keith Porter will appear in court the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday for carrying out an unprovoked assault on a Polish victim in prison.
The High Court in Inverness heard that 22-year-old Porter had been remanded in custody for an earlier assault when he decided to attack Daniel Kaizer, 28. The attack happened in the gym at Craiginches Prison in Aberdeen on December 4 last year.
Months earlier, Porter had pounced on Jaroslaw Janeczek. Porter punched and stamped on the 39-year-old, and kicked a three-foot stick inside him until it was hidden in his body.
In November, Porter pleaded guilty to attempted murder and co-accused George Stewart admitted assault to severe injury. Sentence had been deferred for a month for background social inquiry reports to be prepared.
On December 4, while awaiting sentence, Porter decided to launch another vicious attack on Mr Kaizer, leaving him scarred for life.
At the same time, Stewart attacked another Polish inmate in the prison gym. He too was convicted of assault on Friday. Lord Woolman told Stewart that it was a minor assault which would not normally have come to the High Court and fined him £250 with no time to pay.
Advocate depute Andrew Bowen told Lord Woolman of Porter's history of previous convictions which included a racially motivated assault in 2005, and two other more serious offences of assault to sever injury.
However it was the attempted murder conviction in November last year which prompted Mr Bowden to seek a risk assessment order on Mr Porter because, he said, "of the pattern of offending which posed a serious risk to the public."
Lord Woolman agreed and told Porter: "It is extremely troubling that you have been convicted on a second charge of attempted murder in such a short period. It is entirely appropriate that a risk assessment should be sought before deciding what the proper disposal should be."
STV
A violent thug who battered his Polish victim with a 10kg weightlifting bar while in jail for a racially-motivated attack is to be sentenced.
Keith Porter will appear in court the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday for carrying out an unprovoked assault on a Polish victim in prison.
The High Court in Inverness heard that 22-year-old Porter had been remanded in custody for an earlier assault when he decided to attack Daniel Kaizer, 28. The attack happened in the gym at Craiginches Prison in Aberdeen on December 4 last year.
Months earlier, Porter had pounced on Jaroslaw Janeczek. Porter punched and stamped on the 39-year-old, and kicked a three-foot stick inside him until it was hidden in his body.
In November, Porter pleaded guilty to attempted murder and co-accused George Stewart admitted assault to severe injury. Sentence had been deferred for a month for background social inquiry reports to be prepared.
On December 4, while awaiting sentence, Porter decided to launch another vicious attack on Mr Kaizer, leaving him scarred for life.
At the same time, Stewart attacked another Polish inmate in the prison gym. He too was convicted of assault on Friday. Lord Woolman told Stewart that it was a minor assault which would not normally have come to the High Court and fined him £250 with no time to pay.
Advocate depute Andrew Bowen told Lord Woolman of Porter's history of previous convictions which included a racially motivated assault in 2005, and two other more serious offences of assault to sever injury.
However it was the attempted murder conviction in November last year which prompted Mr Bowden to seek a risk assessment order on Mr Porter because, he said, "of the pattern of offending which posed a serious risk to the public."
Lord Woolman agreed and told Porter: "It is extremely troubling that you have been convicted on a second charge of attempted murder in such a short period. It is entirely appropriate that a risk assessment should be sought before deciding what the proper disposal should be."
STV
Man knifed in racist attack at Southport takeaway (UK)
A takeaway owner was stabbed in an alleged racist attack in Southport.
The 30-year-old owner of Bluto’s eaterie on Shakespeare Street, known locally as Rio, was taken to Southport Hospital.
He was stabbed in the leg at around 5pm on Thursday.
The attacker had allegedly shouted racist abuse at the victim and threatened his girlfriend with a metal pole near the Promenade earlier that day.
Kirsty Nolan, 19, the victim’s girlfriend, said: “He got a metal pole out and tried to hit me with it.”
The man, who is described as being in his twenties, visited the takeaway later that day with another man.
It is alleged he started waving a knife around and the other man smashed a chair against the counter.
The owner, who is originally from Jordan, managed to chase them out of the shop but was stabbed in the leg.
Kirsty said: “He was trying to get Rio with the knife.He just kept swinging and got him in the leg.
Rio, who is still recovering from his injuries, said: “This was a one-off racist incident and this kind of incident will not be happening in my shop again. I’d like to thank everybody who has shown their concern.”
House-to-house enquiries were carried out and shop CCTV is being examined.
Neighbourhood Inspector Tony Jones, said: “We are determined to catch the person responsible for this attack.
“I would appeal for anyone who was in the area at the time and saw this assault take place or the offender to come forward and help our investigation. I would like to advise the public that incidents such as this are rare, and we have stepped up our patrols in the area to reassure the public and provide a visible presence.”
Anyone with information should call police on 0151 777 3165 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Southport visitor
The 30-year-old owner of Bluto’s eaterie on Shakespeare Street, known locally as Rio, was taken to Southport Hospital.
He was stabbed in the leg at around 5pm on Thursday.
The attacker had allegedly shouted racist abuse at the victim and threatened his girlfriend with a metal pole near the Promenade earlier that day.
Kirsty Nolan, 19, the victim’s girlfriend, said: “He got a metal pole out and tried to hit me with it.”
The man, who is described as being in his twenties, visited the takeaway later that day with another man.
It is alleged he started waving a knife around and the other man smashed a chair against the counter.
The owner, who is originally from Jordan, managed to chase them out of the shop but was stabbed in the leg.
Kirsty said: “He was trying to get Rio with the knife.He just kept swinging and got him in the leg.
Rio, who is still recovering from his injuries, said: “This was a one-off racist incident and this kind of incident will not be happening in my shop again. I’d like to thank everybody who has shown their concern.”
House-to-house enquiries were carried out and shop CCTV is being examined.
Neighbourhood Inspector Tony Jones, said: “We are determined to catch the person responsible for this attack.
“I would appeal for anyone who was in the area at the time and saw this assault take place or the offender to come forward and help our investigation. I would like to advise the public that incidents such as this are rare, and we have stepped up our patrols in the area to reassure the public and provide a visible presence.”
Anyone with information should call police on 0151 777 3165 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Southport visitor
Germany Is Becoming Islamophobic
The Pied Piper of Hamelin knew how to fight the plague. He knew catchy, seductive tunes and was successful against the scourge with his unconventional methods. But because society paid him no tribute and refused to pay him the wages he had been promised for his service, he decided to take a radical step and lure away the children of Hamelin. In doing so, he destroyed the very community he had once set out to save.
It is unclear when and why Dr. Thilo Sarrazin, 65, the child of a doctor and a Prussian landowner's daughter, who supposedly did a decent job during his time as finance minister for the city-state of Berlin and who had unusual ideas, became a seducer. Did he see himself as a future chancellor, and was he bitterly waiting in the wings to be nominated by his Social Democratic Party (SPD)? Would he have preferred to become the CEO of Deutsche Bank instead of "merely" a member of the executive board of Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank? Does he relish the role of agent provocateur and popular guest on German talk shows? And is he truly worried about the absurd concern that Germany is "doing away with itself" -- as the title of his new book claims -- by tolerating too many foreign influences in its society?
Opinions may differ among those who seek to interpret Sarrazin's behavior. The important thing is that he is someone who has gone from being a tough-talking, audacious politician and anarchic prankster (see quote gallery) to a racist anti-Muslim who makes up nonsense about the genetic basis of intelligence and the "German-Jewish origins of intelligence research." Those ideas have prompted him to voice his concerns over Germany's "cultural identity" and "national character," and to blame Muslim immigrants and their supposed non-culture for all the problems of integration -- ignoring the fact that both the immigrants and the host country have a responsibility.
"We," he says, referring to German society as a whole, are unavoidably becoming less intelligent because Muslims, who Sarrazin characterizes as being unwilling to integrate, alien and cognitively challenged, are producing the most children in Germany. Sarrazin magnanimously allows that there are, of course, exceptions in the Islamic world, perhaps a few intelligent Turks here and there. But his views essentially eliminate the need to even address the issue of a controlled immigration policy, of which Sarrazin himself has been such a vehement proponent in the past. Sarrazin, in one of his typical turns of phrase, said that Muslims ought to "disappear." From that point of view, integration is unimaginable, possible only through death -- which is naturally also one way to solve the problem.
Selective Statistics
The respected Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper called Sarrazin's book an "anti-Muslim dossier based on genetics." Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted with irritation. Stephan Kramer, the general secretary of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, suggested that the author consider joining the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD).
The interior minister of the city-state of Berlin, Ehrhart Körting, a member of the SPD, expects the book to trigger legal action over hate speech. "Thilo is currently drifting away," he says. "He always had a fondness for statistics. But in the integration debate he uses only those statistics that fit in with his image of the enemy."
Christian Gaebler, who is head of the SPD in the Berlin neighborhood of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, where Sarrazin is registered, said: "Enough is enough. Should Mr. Sarrazin not go willingly, we are initiating proceedings to throw him out of the party. We will carefully analyze his book and discuss the issue at our next state executive board meeting on Sept. 6."
Sarrazin's rhetoric has even triggered outrage abroad. In France, the daily newspaper Le Monde called him a "racist provocateur." But the widespread rebuke among politicians and in the media (his fellow bankers have remained eloquently silent on the controversy) is only one side of the coin. Sarrazin's theories, in the form of excerpts from his book and quotes published in SPIEGEL, the tabloid newspaper Bild and the weekly newspaper Die Zeit, have also found willing listeners within a highly anxious population. In fact, they almost have majority appeal.
Socially Acceptable
The Turkish-German writer and sociologist Necla Kelek made a speech at the presentation of Sarrazin's book on Monday in which she defended his ideas. Kelek is a fan of Sarrazin and has won several awards in Germany, bestowed by people who -- like her -- see all the problems of the world as being caused by Islam.
The book was already at the top of the German Amazon's list of bestsellers when it was published. Every threat to eject Sarrazin from his party or his position at the Bundesbank only enhances his notoriety. But if nothing happens, he can feel all the more validated.
If Sarrazin were a lone wolf, an agitator in a desert with no supporters, he could be dismissed as a freakish phenomenon. But with his seductive flute-playing, the man now has a host of acolytes, including women of Muslim descent who ostentatiously refuse to wear a headscarf and other copycats. Shrill rhetoric is in vogue, and hysterical Islam-bashing is in full swing. Sarrazin and his fellow cynics became socially acceptable long ago.
Their efforts are having an effect, and are bringing about changes in Germany. The changes aren't sufficiently dramatic to jeopardize democracy right away, but are gradual, like a slow-acting poison. From a cosmopolitan country characterized by religious freedom, Germany is slowly becoming a state that is dominated by exaggerated fears and that exhibits the beginnings of an Islamophobic society.
Of course, these fears are not completely unfounded. Conditions in areas like Berlin's Kreuzberg neighborhood give rise to very real, justified concerns. There are schoolrooms where three-quarters of the students are from immigrant families, students whose German is barely good enough to get by. There are Arab and Albanian family clans that control crime syndicates and receive welfare benefits. There are phenomena like forced marriages and honor killings. In some mosques, imams are encouraging the faithful to engage in Islamist terror. All of this exists, and yet it has nothing to do with ordinary Islam and the day-to-day lives of well over 90 percent of Germany's Muslims. And yet these are precisely the kinds of things that fuel cheap attempts to create stereotypes of Muslims as the enemy.
Part 2: Parallels with 19th-Century Anti-Semitism
"In no other religion is the transition to violence and terrorism so fluid," Sarrazin writes. Former FAZ correspondent and bestselling author Udo Ulfkotte, another prophet of doom, expresses similar concerns when he warns: "A tsunami of Islamization is sweeping across our continent." Dutch writer and columnist Leon de Winter, who is much celebrated in Germany and a frequent contributor to SPIEGEL, claims to have recognized "the face of the enemy" in the outlandish religion and is generally disparaging of Muslims, writing: "Since the 1960s, we have been deceiving ourselves that all cultures are equal." The journalist and writer Ralph Giordano, a moral authority in Germany, is sharply critical of new mosque construction and sweepingly characterizes Islam as a totalitarian religion.
And aren't those who tolerate totalitarianism nothing but appeasers? And haven't we seen this once before?
Potential for Violence
There is no question that there are Muslims in Germany who sympathize with Islamist ideas (which doesn't necessarily mean that they are prepared to use violence). A report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, includes 36,270 Muslims in this group, a number that has increased slightly in recent years -- by about 9 percent since 2007. It is also undeniable that suicide bombers worldwide frequently invoke Islam -- a deplorable but not an isolated phenomenon. Every monotheistic religion, through its claim to exclusivity, contains the potential for violence.
But no one condemns Christianity as a whole when Northern Irish breakaway factions commit murder in the name of God. We don't blame all Catholics when some of them kill abortion doctors while invoking their faith. And we don't take all of Judaism to task when a Jewish terrorist named Baruch Goldstein slaughters dozens of Muslims during prayers in Hebron while invoking Yahweh.
But we do condemn Islam, whose holy book contains about as many passages glorifying violence as the Old Testament (which, unlike the Koran, does mention stoning as a punishment).
Of course, the widespread mistrust of Muslims, which has only grown in recent years, has a lot to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. It is everything but a purely German phenomenon.
'Growing Hostility' in US
In the United States, traditionally a country of immigrants, where Muslims are much better integrated into society than in Germany, the planned construction of an Islamic cultural center and mosque room near Ground Zero in New York has triggered a heated controversy. Comments by hate-mongers from Fox News and leading Republicans prompted Time magazine to conclude, in a cover story in its latest issue titled "Is America Islamophobic?" that there are signs of "growing hostility" toward Muslims. The new government in the Netherlands will be forced to tolerate the right-wing populist politician Geert Wilders, who has even proposed banning the Koran.
In Italy, Denmark and Austria, populist right-wing parties are scoring political points with their crude anti-Islamic slogans. In Switzerland, a country with a very small Muslim population, they even managed to win a referendum to ban minarets. And in France the banlieues, low-income areas on the outskirts of major cities, are in flames because the French government can offer no solution to the lack of prospects for most Muslim youth.
In Germany, which has had at least some success in integrating foreigners, the mood against Muslims is now just as hysterical. A man like Sarrazin is applauded for behaving like a toned-down version of Wilders. But why?
Popular Scapegoat
The widespread support for Sarrazin also shows that there is potential in Germany for a party to the right of the pro-business Free Democratic Party and the conservative Christian Democrats. If Sarrazin were to establish such a party after possibly leaving the SPD, he could be expected to capture at least 10 percent of the vote. Passive, unimaginative politicians, major parties with no real integration policies and, most of all, the quarreling Islamic associations, have contributed to the possibility that the seed of Islamophobia in Germany could germinate and begin to grow when fertilized by people like Sarrazin.
The concept of Muslims as the enemy is becoming more targeted, with Islam being held accountable for many social problems, like unemployment, the supposed inundation of foreigners and deficits in education. A religion has become a scapegoat -- and a focal point for intolerance and hate.
Popular Internet sites like the German blog Politically Incorrect don't even begin to take the trouble to draw the necessary distinctions. Some of the postings on the site are indicative of this tendency to paint with a very broad brush, postings like: "Islam is a voluntary mental illness," "It is pointless to grapple with this inferior culture," and "There is only one word to describe Islam: barbaric." The anonymity of the Internet enables a boundless, blind hatred to cross the last thresholds of inhibition. Worshippers of the Prophet Mohammed are variously described as "goat fuckers" or "veiled sluts." "Dirty Muslim!" and "God-damned camel driver" are among the most popular derogatory expressions among young people today.
The Prophet Mohammed has more than an image problem. According to an Emnid poll, a majority now finds him almost as distasteful as Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who authorized Jesus's crucifixion. Some 52 percent of Germans would be opposed to one of their children marrying a Muslim or would only accept it with very strong reservations, while 46 percent would be against one of their children marrying a Buddhist and 30 percent a Jew.
'Unbelievable Hatred'
Professor Wolfgang Benz, the long-standing director of the Center for Research on Anti-Semitism at the Technical University of Berlin and the co-founder of the Dachau Review with which he established research into concentration camps, now sees parallels between anti-Semitic agitators and extreme "Islam critics." "Populists in the West are responding to the image of the West as the enemy, propagated by demagogues within the Islamic world, with their own image of Islam as the enemy." They use similar tools, exploiting distorted images and hysteria. "The act of equating German citizens who are Muslims with fanatical terrorists is deliberate and is framed as an appeal to popular sentiment."
Benz sees the phobia against other cultures or minorities as a defense mechanism. An image of the enemy is constructed by means of generalization and the reduction of factual information to hearsay. A classic example is the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," an anti-Semitic pamphlet written in the late 19th century, which supposedly furnished evidence of a Jewish global conspiracy. Although every detail of the text was debunked as incorrect, Russian czars and, most of all, the Nazis used it to incite the people against Jews. The text is still available today in Islamic countries that agitate against Israel. "Anyone who is -- rightfully -- indignant over the narrow-mindedness of anti-Semites must also take a critical view of the portrayal of Islam as the enemy," Benz wrote in January.
Benz has now come under sharp attack for this reasoning. He is the target of verbal abuse and even threats. "I am confronted with an unbelievable hatred," says Benz, even though he has absolutely no intention of trivializing anti-Semitism. But in today's Germany, it appears that few people are interested in taking a differentiated view.
Never Seen Again
Germany is changing. And although it is not yet a consistently Islamophobic society, a Sarrazin republic, it is certainly on its way to becoming one.
The Pied Piper of Hamelin was never seen again after his disappearance. It would, with all due respect, be an appealing thought to not hear anything from Thilo Sarrazin for a long time. However, the Pied Piper did not return the children he had abducted. Only two escaped, one blind and the other deaf. Neither of them was able to help the other children -- and so all were lost.
speigel
ENGLISH NATIONAL ALLIANCE ANGRY SCENES IN BRIGHTON (UK)
A right-wing march in Britain’s “gay capital” ended in running battles yesterday.Police struggled to contain angry scenes at the English National Alliance’s rally in Brighton.
Streets packed with Bank Holiday trippers were transformed into scenes of chaos.
Hundreds of campaigners chanting anti-racist slogans met the march head-on.
As violence erupted, members of the public were caught up in the carnage.
One eyewitness said: “I’ve never seen anything like it, certainly not in Brighton. It was like a war zone.
“There were hundreds of people on both sides. We thought there might be trouble but nothing like this. It seemed to start when one group broke off from the main body of marchers. They slipped off down an alley and it just went from there.”
Police closed pubs and sealed off streets trying to contain the fights that were breaking out all over the city.
A spokesman for Sussex Police refused to confirm the exact number of arrests or comment on the police response.
Both sides had vowed to make it a peaceful day, but each said the other side contained violent members.
Daily Star
FBI raids linked to suspect with supremacist ties (USA)
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation are searching several locations in Spokane County today in two cases.
Frank Harrill, agent in charge for the FBI’s Spokane office, declined to offer details but said one case involves Wayde Lynn Kurt, a 52-year-old convicted felon arrested Monday for illegally possessing a firearm.
Kurt drew federal attention last year after authorities learned he’d been in contact with a white supremacist leader despite being ordered by a judge to refrain from meeting with other felons. Now he’s accused of unlawfully possessing a 9mm handgun, an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle on Aug. 21, according to an indictment in U.S. District Court. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail Monday at 9:26 p.m.
Harrill declined to discuss the case and said he doesn’t expect further details to be released today.
"We’re fairly static in what we’re going to be able to release today,” he said.
Kurt was sentenced in October 2004 to 18 months in prison and three years probation for theft of government property. In April 2009, he was found in violation of probation for contacting a convicted felon without his probation officer’s permission.
That felon, Keegan Van Tuyl, is a white supremacist whose parole was revoked in January after federal prosecutors said he’d violated his release conditions by contacting white supremacists and leaving the state to attend a skinhead meeting in North Idaho.
Van Tuyl cofounded two Odinist-skinhead groups, Vangard Kindred and Valhalla-Bound Skinheads, while in federal prison, where he recruited members.
Van Tuyl and other members of the groups were involved in several racist activities in 2008 and 2009 in the Spokane area and North Idaho, federal prosecutors said at his January court hearing.
Kurt’s connection to Van Tuyl isn’t clear. Court documents filed April 16, 2009, say the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office recorded a phone call Van Tuyl, a jail inmate, had with Kurt on April 3, 2009. Kurt acknowledged speaking to Van Tuyl and said he knew he didn’t have permission to speak with him.
“As an intermediate sanction, the undersigned officer verbally reprimanded Mr. Kurt and again directed him to not associate with Mr. Van Tuyl,” according to a report by U.S. Probation Officer Samuel Najera. “Mr. Kurt acknowledged this directive and stated he would not be associating with Mr. Van Tuyl anymore.”
Spokesman
Frank Harrill, agent in charge for the FBI’s Spokane office, declined to offer details but said one case involves Wayde Lynn Kurt, a 52-year-old convicted felon arrested Monday for illegally possessing a firearm.
Kurt drew federal attention last year after authorities learned he’d been in contact with a white supremacist leader despite being ordered by a judge to refrain from meeting with other felons. Now he’s accused of unlawfully possessing a 9mm handgun, an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and an AK-47 semiautomatic rifle on Aug. 21, according to an indictment in U.S. District Court. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail Monday at 9:26 p.m.
Harrill declined to discuss the case and said he doesn’t expect further details to be released today.
"We’re fairly static in what we’re going to be able to release today,” he said.
Kurt was sentenced in October 2004 to 18 months in prison and three years probation for theft of government property. In April 2009, he was found in violation of probation for contacting a convicted felon without his probation officer’s permission.
That felon, Keegan Van Tuyl, is a white supremacist whose parole was revoked in January after federal prosecutors said he’d violated his release conditions by contacting white supremacists and leaving the state to attend a skinhead meeting in North Idaho.
Van Tuyl cofounded two Odinist-skinhead groups, Vangard Kindred and Valhalla-Bound Skinheads, while in federal prison, where he recruited members.
Van Tuyl and other members of the groups were involved in several racist activities in 2008 and 2009 in the Spokane area and North Idaho, federal prosecutors said at his January court hearing.
Kurt’s connection to Van Tuyl isn’t clear. Court documents filed April 16, 2009, say the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office recorded a phone call Van Tuyl, a jail inmate, had with Kurt on April 3, 2009. Kurt acknowledged speaking to Van Tuyl and said he knew he didn’t have permission to speak with him.
“As an intermediate sanction, the undersigned officer verbally reprimanded Mr. Kurt and again directed him to not associate with Mr. Van Tuyl,” according to a report by U.S. Probation Officer Samuel Najera. “Mr. Kurt acknowledged this directive and stated he would not be associating with Mr. Van Tuyl anymore.”
Spokesman
N.Y. ANTI-MOSQUE LEADER DEFENDS GROUP THAT CLASHED WITH BRITISH POLICE (usa)
A leader in the movement protesting plans to build an Islamic cultural center two blocks from Ground Zero in lower Manhattan is defending the actions of a right-wing, anti-Muslim group that was involved in violent clashes with British riot police over the weekend. Pamela Geller is a conservative blogger, activist, and a principal organizer of Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), which seeks to block construction of the proposed center. The group is sponsoring a protest rally at the site on the 2010 anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a week from Saturday. In a posting on her Atlas Shrugs blog, Geller expresses sympathy for the goals and actions of the English Defense League (EDL), a far-right group implicated in violent clashes with police during an anti-Islamic demonstration last Saturday in the northern English city of Bradford. "The stated goal of the EDL is to oppose militant Islam and the sharia," Geller writes. "What's wrong with that? Everything to the PC, leftist slaves in the media and the government." In an e-mail to Declassified, Geller affirmed her support for the EDL and defended the group's actions in Bradford, which, with its nearby sister city of Leeds, has a substantial Muslim population, many of Pakistani extraction.
Geller wrote: "The media has been defamatory and libelous towards any and all counter jihad activists, including the EDL, which far from being neo-Nazi and racist, is pro-Israel and has Sikh and other non-white members and spokesmen. The EDL's own explanation of what happened in Bradford is here. As you can see from that statement, a group of Islamic supremacists and Communists actually began the violence by throwing rocks at EDL members. White supremacists at the demonstration did not represent the EDL, and EDL members actually removed them from the demonstration." British media reports—including accounts from outlets known for their conservative political slants—and official police statements on the Bradford clashes do not offer much support for, and in some cases contradict, the account offered by the EDL. In an official chronology of last Saturday's events posted on the Web site of the West Yorkshire Police, the first reference to violence is a 2:30 p.m. entry that says: "Missiles have been thrown in the area around the Bradford Urban Gardens, however, this has been contained and the police are utilising their resources to manage the current situation."
Bradford Urban Gardens is the location at which U.K. authorities had allowed the EDL to stage its rally; a left-wing counterdemonstration was booked a half mile away. (The EDL had wanted to conduct a march through the city, but authorities denied permission.) A report from The Daily Telegraph, a newspaper known for its conservative sympathies, says violence broke out "as chanting EDL supporters began throwing missiles towards Asian youngsters and anti-fascist activists who had been taunting them with shouts of 'Nazi scum off our streets.' " The Telegraph said that as EDL protesters got off buses that had taken them to the site, they shouted slogans at locals, including "Allah-Pedophile," "We want our country back," and "We love the floods"—a reference, the paper said, to flooding that's now devastating much of Pakistan. The Daily Maill, a newspaper perhaps even more conservative thanThe Telegraph, also reported on the violence. The paper's Web site carries photos of what it says are EDL protesters, with one caption reading, "Crossing the line: EDL supporters in hats, hoods and balaclavas hurl missiles at police in Bradford today."
By her own account, Geller's support of the EDL and other anti-Muslim groups in the U.K. has put her at odds with what are considered mainstream groups representing Britain's Jewish community. In an interview with the conservative FrontPage Magazine Web site, Geller claims that rabbis and prominent Jewish groups in Britain had urged Jews to boycott a demonstration that a group called Stop the Islamization of Europe (SIOE) organized last December to protest plans to build a mosque in the North London neighborhood of Harrow. According to Geller, the Community Security Trust, which keeps watch on extremist and anti-Semitic activities in the U.K., much like the Anti-Defamation League does in the U.S., urged Jews not to support the SIOE protest, as did unnamed rabbis who said the protest's "only purpose" was "to spread hatred and fear." Geller accused U.K. Jewish groups like the CST of "aiding and abetting Islamic jihad and Islamic anti-Semitism." A person familiar with the views of British Jewish leaders, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said mainstream Jewish groups regarded the English Defense League as "politicized football hooligans."
In an e-mail to Declassified, Geller acknowledged that some epithets that The Telegraph attributed to EDL protesters in Bradford were "in bad taste, although in saying that I am not accepting the accuracy of The Telegraph account, and also understand that words said in anger are not always words the speakers would endorse in moments of reflection." In a move apparently designed to avoid such embarrassments at her group's upcoming 9/11 event, she said, "We have already published several notices warning that inflammatory signs will be removed." Geller said the EDL itself acknowledged that there may have been neo-Nazi thugs among its ranks: "The left and real neo-Nazis frequently attempt to infiltrate EDL rallies in order to discredit the EDL. This is amply documented. Both have an interest in seeing the EDL fail: the left so that there will be no serious resistance to its agenda, and the neo-Nazis so that there exists no respectable alternative to them in opposing the British elite, and also because the neo-Nazis have generally aligned with the Islamic jihad that the EDL resists." She added that while she would not assert that the EDL "can do no wrong, I just refuse to accept accounts of EDL misdeeds from sources that have been proven in the past to have lied about EDL activities."
Newsweek
Geller wrote: "The media has been defamatory and libelous towards any and all counter jihad activists, including the EDL, which far from being neo-Nazi and racist, is pro-Israel and has Sikh and other non-white members and spokesmen. The EDL's own explanation of what happened in Bradford is here. As you can see from that statement, a group of Islamic supremacists and Communists actually began the violence by throwing rocks at EDL members. White supremacists at the demonstration did not represent the EDL, and EDL members actually removed them from the demonstration." British media reports—including accounts from outlets known for their conservative political slants—and official police statements on the Bradford clashes do not offer much support for, and in some cases contradict, the account offered by the EDL. In an official chronology of last Saturday's events posted on the Web site of the West Yorkshire Police, the first reference to violence is a 2:30 p.m. entry that says: "Missiles have been thrown in the area around the Bradford Urban Gardens, however, this has been contained and the police are utilising their resources to manage the current situation."
Bradford Urban Gardens is the location at which U.K. authorities had allowed the EDL to stage its rally; a left-wing counterdemonstration was booked a half mile away. (The EDL had wanted to conduct a march through the city, but authorities denied permission.) A report from The Daily Telegraph, a newspaper known for its conservative sympathies, says violence broke out "as chanting EDL supporters began throwing missiles towards Asian youngsters and anti-fascist activists who had been taunting them with shouts of 'Nazi scum off our streets.' " The Telegraph said that as EDL protesters got off buses that had taken them to the site, they shouted slogans at locals, including "Allah-Pedophile," "We want our country back," and "We love the floods"—a reference, the paper said, to flooding that's now devastating much of Pakistan. The Daily Maill, a newspaper perhaps even more conservative thanThe Telegraph, also reported on the violence. The paper's Web site carries photos of what it says are EDL protesters, with one caption reading, "Crossing the line: EDL supporters in hats, hoods and balaclavas hurl missiles at police in Bradford today."
By her own account, Geller's support of the EDL and other anti-Muslim groups in the U.K. has put her at odds with what are considered mainstream groups representing Britain's Jewish community. In an interview with the conservative FrontPage Magazine Web site, Geller claims that rabbis and prominent Jewish groups in Britain had urged Jews to boycott a demonstration that a group called Stop the Islamization of Europe (SIOE) organized last December to protest plans to build a mosque in the North London neighborhood of Harrow. According to Geller, the Community Security Trust, which keeps watch on extremist and anti-Semitic activities in the U.K., much like the Anti-Defamation League does in the U.S., urged Jews not to support the SIOE protest, as did unnamed rabbis who said the protest's "only purpose" was "to spread hatred and fear." Geller accused U.K. Jewish groups like the CST of "aiding and abetting Islamic jihad and Islamic anti-Semitism." A person familiar with the views of British Jewish leaders, who asked for anonymity when discussing sensitive information, said mainstream Jewish groups regarded the English Defense League as "politicized football hooligans."
In an e-mail to Declassified, Geller acknowledged that some epithets that The Telegraph attributed to EDL protesters in Bradford were "in bad taste, although in saying that I am not accepting the accuracy of The Telegraph account, and also understand that words said in anger are not always words the speakers would endorse in moments of reflection." In a move apparently designed to avoid such embarrassments at her group's upcoming 9/11 event, she said, "We have already published several notices warning that inflammatory signs will be removed." Geller said the EDL itself acknowledged that there may have been neo-Nazi thugs among its ranks: "The left and real neo-Nazis frequently attempt to infiltrate EDL rallies in order to discredit the EDL. This is amply documented. Both have an interest in seeing the EDL fail: the left so that there will be no serious resistance to its agenda, and the neo-Nazis so that there exists no respectable alternative to them in opposing the British elite, and also because the neo-Nazis have generally aligned with the Islamic jihad that the EDL resists." She added that while she would not assert that the EDL "can do no wrong, I just refuse to accept accounts of EDL misdeeds from sources that have been proven in the past to have lied about EDL activities."
Newsweek
Germany: Neo-Nazi attacks grandson of Munich massacre victim
Alexander Paloch convicted of beating 17-year-old Israeli living in Germany, whose grandfather was murdered in 1972 Olympics massacre. Attacker sentenced to eight months probation, avoids jail term.
The grandson of a victim of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre was attacked by a neo-Nazi in Germany. The 20-year-old assailant, Alexander Paloch, was convicted by the Naumburg District Court of assaulting a 17-year-old Israeli who lives with his family in a small town in Germany.
But despite the court's accepting the prosecution's arguments, the man was only sentence to eight months probation, because of the country's laws.
Paloch, who works as a cook, has a long history of neo-Nazi activity, and was suspected in the past of two incidents of assault. On Tuesday, he was convicted of beating the young Israeli on April 16 in the small town of Lauscha. The victim's grandfather was Amitzur Shapira, who was murdered in the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.
During the attack, which went on even after the teen tried to flee, Paloch shouted, "Jewish pig". He punched him and kicked him until a passerby rescued the teen with his car.
The judge accepted the prosecution's claims and sentenced Paloch to eight months probation. The defense requested only five months probation. Paloch was also ordered to pay a fine of 360 euros ($458) which will go toward the memorial site at the former concentration camp at Buchenwald.
Victim's mother 'pleased with ruling'
"We are very pleased with the ruling, since we actually got what we demanded," the victim's mother, Tzipi Lev, told Ynet. "This is the maximum penalty for such an offence."
Lev said that since the incident, she and her partner have brought together a coalition of organizations to fight neo-Nazism in Lauscha.
Like many towns in the former East Germany, Lauscha is considered a center of activity for extreme right and neo-Nazi activity.
Paloch himself is considered one of the "protégés" of a veteran neo-Nazi activist in the town.
Y Net news
The grandson of a victim of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre was attacked by a neo-Nazi in Germany. The 20-year-old assailant, Alexander Paloch, was convicted by the Naumburg District Court of assaulting a 17-year-old Israeli who lives with his family in a small town in Germany.
But despite the court's accepting the prosecution's arguments, the man was only sentence to eight months probation, because of the country's laws.
Paloch, who works as a cook, has a long history of neo-Nazi activity, and was suspected in the past of two incidents of assault. On Tuesday, he was convicted of beating the young Israeli on April 16 in the small town of Lauscha. The victim's grandfather was Amitzur Shapira, who was murdered in the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre.
During the attack, which went on even after the teen tried to flee, Paloch shouted, "Jewish pig". He punched him and kicked him until a passerby rescued the teen with his car.
The judge accepted the prosecution's claims and sentenced Paloch to eight months probation. The defense requested only five months probation. Paloch was also ordered to pay a fine of 360 euros ($458) which will go toward the memorial site at the former concentration camp at Buchenwald.
Victim's mother 'pleased with ruling'
"We are very pleased with the ruling, since we actually got what we demanded," the victim's mother, Tzipi Lev, told Ynet. "This is the maximum penalty for such an offence."
Lev said that since the incident, she and her partner have brought together a coalition of organizations to fight neo-Nazism in Lauscha.
Like many towns in the former East Germany, Lauscha is considered a center of activity for extreme right and neo-Nazi activity.
Paloch himself is considered one of the "protégés" of a veteran neo-Nazi activist in the town.
Y Net news
Two men charged over English Defence League march in Bradford
Two men were charged with offences on Monday after a controversial city centre demonstration by far-right group the English Defence League.
A total of 14 men were detained on suspicion of a range of offences during and after Saturday's protest in Bradford, which was attended by fewer than 1,000 EDL supporters.
West Yorkshire Police said two men have been charged and eight others have been released on bail pending further inquiries.
During the demonstration, bottles, cans, stones and three smoke bombs were thrown at opponents gathered nearby.
Nearly 100 supporters of the far-right group climbed over a temporary 8ft barricade - aimed at keeping them inside the city's Urban Gardens - to get on to neighbouring waste ground from where they threw missiles at police.
As the skirmishes were breaking out, nearly 300 people gathered for an alternative event hosted by Unite Against Fascism/We Are Bradford about half a mile away at Crown Court Plaza.
In the days before the rally, Bradford community leaders called for calm, fearing demonstrations could provoke a violent reaction to rival the 2001 Bradford riots.
Initially the EDL intended to march in Bradford with a planned protest by Unite Against Fascism on the same day.
A high-profile campaign was started to stop the EDL march and Home Secretary Theresa May eventually authorised a ban on any public processions over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
West Yorkshire Police said the 14 people arrested were dealt with in the following ways:
A 37-year-old Bradford man was arrested for possessing an offensive weapon. He has been charged with the offence and bailed to appear at Bradford Magistrates Court on September 8;
A 32-year-old Bradford man was arrested for assaulting a police officer. He has been interviewed and released without being charged;
A 23-year-old Walsall man was arrested and charged with an offence under Section 4a of the Public Order Act. He has been bailed to appear at Leeds Magistrates' Court on December 6;
A 24-year-old Bradford man was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He has been bailed pending further inquiries;
A 42-year-old Wolverhampton man was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He was released after the event and issued with a fixed penalty notice for disorder;
Two men aged 22 and 20 along with two youths aged 16 and 15, all from Bradford, were arrested on suspicion of wounding after an incident in which a stone hit a man on the head causing a slight injury. All four have been released on bail pending further inquiries;
A 24-year-old Wakefield man was arrested under Section 4a of the Public Order Act and has been given police bail pending further inquiries;
A 23-year-old man from Birmingham was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He was released after the event and was issued with a fixed penalty notice for disorder;
A 24-year-old man from Halifax was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He was released after the event and was issued with a penalty notice for disorder;
An 18-year-old man from Bradford was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder following alleged missile throwing. He has been released on bail pending further inquiries;
A 24-year-old Bradford man was arrested in relation to two alleged assaults and also criminal damage after a missile was thrown at a coach on the M62. He has been bailed pending further inquiries.
The Telegraph
A total of 14 men were detained on suspicion of a range of offences during and after Saturday's protest in Bradford, which was attended by fewer than 1,000 EDL supporters.
West Yorkshire Police said two men have been charged and eight others have been released on bail pending further inquiries.
During the demonstration, bottles, cans, stones and three smoke bombs were thrown at opponents gathered nearby.
Nearly 100 supporters of the far-right group climbed over a temporary 8ft barricade - aimed at keeping them inside the city's Urban Gardens - to get on to neighbouring waste ground from where they threw missiles at police.
As the skirmishes were breaking out, nearly 300 people gathered for an alternative event hosted by Unite Against Fascism/We Are Bradford about half a mile away at Crown Court Plaza.
In the days before the rally, Bradford community leaders called for calm, fearing demonstrations could provoke a violent reaction to rival the 2001 Bradford riots.
Initially the EDL intended to march in Bradford with a planned protest by Unite Against Fascism on the same day.
A high-profile campaign was started to stop the EDL march and Home Secretary Theresa May eventually authorised a ban on any public processions over the August Bank Holiday weekend.
West Yorkshire Police said the 14 people arrested were dealt with in the following ways:
A 37-year-old Bradford man was arrested for possessing an offensive weapon. He has been charged with the offence and bailed to appear at Bradford Magistrates Court on September 8;
A 32-year-old Bradford man was arrested for assaulting a police officer. He has been interviewed and released without being charged;
A 23-year-old Walsall man was arrested and charged with an offence under Section 4a of the Public Order Act. He has been bailed to appear at Leeds Magistrates' Court on December 6;
A 24-year-old Bradford man was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He has been bailed pending further inquiries;
A 42-year-old Wolverhampton man was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He was released after the event and issued with a fixed penalty notice for disorder;
Two men aged 22 and 20 along with two youths aged 16 and 15, all from Bradford, were arrested on suspicion of wounding after an incident in which a stone hit a man on the head causing a slight injury. All four have been released on bail pending further inquiries;
A 24-year-old Wakefield man was arrested under Section 4a of the Public Order Act and has been given police bail pending further inquiries;
A 23-year-old man from Birmingham was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He was released after the event and was issued with a fixed penalty notice for disorder;
A 24-year-old man from Halifax was arrested under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. He was released after the event and was issued with a penalty notice for disorder;
An 18-year-old man from Bradford was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder following alleged missile throwing. He has been released on bail pending further inquiries;
A 24-year-old Bradford man was arrested in relation to two alleged assaults and also criminal damage after a missile was thrown at a coach on the M62. He has been bailed pending further inquiries.
The Telegraph
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