The National Union of Journalists is planning to raise concerns over far right threats to journalists in Scotland with the first minister, Alex Salmond.
The Journalist reports that the move "follows threats and defamatory comments made on unofficial football supporters' websites."
The NUJ's Scottish organiser, Paul Holleran, said: "We are aware of several journalists working in the area of Scottish football that have been threatened and smeared...
"These people are no ordinary football fans; they are far right elements using intimidatory behaviour to attack journalists who write copy they disagree with."
One targeted journalist identified by Holleran is Phil Mac Giolla Bhain, a member of the union's Irish executive council. He writes regularly about the politics and culture of Scottish football, including for The Guardian (see here).
Holleran said: "Alex Salmond has already spoken out against this behaviour as unacceptable, and I hope we can agree steps to prevent publication of this bigoted diatribe which borders on fascism.
"I know that Mr Salmond and the SNP want to be seen to be cleaning up Scotland. They can start with these toxic websites that defame and threaten our members and other people."
The Scottish government is preparing to fast track legislation to deal with football bigotry following a series of incidents over the past season.
Neil Lennon, the manager of Celtic, has been sent bullets and letter bombs, and was assaulted during a match in Edinburgh. He has also been subjected to a vicious online campaign.
Ministers are said to be considering making sectarian conduct at football matches a specific criminal offence, which would carry a five-year jail sentence.
Guardian
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
MPACUK Press Release: EDL's Vicious Attack on Muslim Bystanders (UK)
The Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPACUK) reports an attack on two Muslim bystanders during an anti-Muslim march in Dagenham by the far-right group, the English Defence League. The viscous attack occurred on Saturday 18th June, when the two Muslim men, both in their mid 20’s, were walking through their town when they encountered the EDL march. It is estimated that around 250 EDL members were present at the march and were shouting Islamophobic and racist chants.
Surprisingly, there was not a single uniformed policeman in the area and local residents were not warned by the police prior to the march that they must remain vigilant.
The two victims, Aftab Baig and Mohammed Baig crossed over to the other side of the road to avoid the EDL thugs but some of the EDL protesters followed them and started hurling abuse at the two men. Six of the EDL members then launched a violent attack on the two men, throwing them to the ground where they were kicked and punched repeatedly.
Both men sustained multiple injuries and Mohammed Baig was hospitalised suffering head injuries and a broken jaw.
MPACUK would like to know why the problem of the EDL is not being taken seriously by the government or the police despite the EDL having a track record of violence and disorder. A number of EDL members have criminal records for violent offences. The EDL is an extremist group that should be banned.
MPACUK
Surprisingly, there was not a single uniformed policeman in the area and local residents were not warned by the police prior to the march that they must remain vigilant.
The two victims, Aftab Baig and Mohammed Baig crossed over to the other side of the road to avoid the EDL thugs but some of the EDL protesters followed them and started hurling abuse at the two men. Six of the EDL members then launched a violent attack on the two men, throwing them to the ground where they were kicked and punched repeatedly.
Both men sustained multiple injuries and Mohammed Baig was hospitalised suffering head injuries and a broken jaw.
MPACUK would like to know why the problem of the EDL is not being taken seriously by the government or the police despite the EDL having a track record of violence and disorder. A number of EDL members have criminal records for violent offences. The EDL is an extremist group that should be banned.
MPACUK
Norwich man sentenced over racist Twitter comments (UK)
A Norwich man who made racist comments on a social networking site about a new Norwich City signing has been ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
Luke O’Donoughoe, of Johnson Place, was handed a lifetime ban from Carrow Road by the club following his comments on Twitter, and today he was sentenced to community work after pleading guilty at magistrates’ court.
O’Donoughoe, 23, made racist comments about James Vaughan and the Canaries’ current playing squad shortly after the Premier League club’s signing of the former Everton striker at the end of May.
A complaint from a member of the public to Norfolk police was investigated and O’Donoughoe was subsequently charged with sending an offensive message by public communication network.
Today, he appeared at Norwich Magistrates Court, where he pleaded guilty.
At the beginning of the month he became the first person to be banned from a football ground for making racist remarks on Twitter.
In taking the action, the club reiterated that they took a zero tolerance policy on racisim or discrimination of any kind, something that is in its supporters’ charter and ground regulations. This action was backed by Kick It Out – the national campaign for equality and inclusion in football.
O’Donoughoe, who was a season ticket holder for nine years at Carrow Road before 2007, had also seen his original comments deplored by Canaries fans on Twitter, while football pundit and former player Mark Bright was the loudest in his protests at the original comments on the website.
Shortly afterwards he deleted the offensive comments and offered his “sincere apologies” to James Vaughan via Twitter. His account has been deleted.
O’Donoughoe was sentenced to a 12 month community order and 120 hours of unpaid work.
Evening News 24
Luke O’Donoughoe, of Johnson Place, was handed a lifetime ban from Carrow Road by the club following his comments on Twitter, and today he was sentenced to community work after pleading guilty at magistrates’ court.
O’Donoughoe, 23, made racist comments about James Vaughan and the Canaries’ current playing squad shortly after the Premier League club’s signing of the former Everton striker at the end of May.
A complaint from a member of the public to Norfolk police was investigated and O’Donoughoe was subsequently charged with sending an offensive message by public communication network.
Today, he appeared at Norwich Magistrates Court, where he pleaded guilty.
At the beginning of the month he became the first person to be banned from a football ground for making racist remarks on Twitter.
In taking the action, the club reiterated that they took a zero tolerance policy on racisim or discrimination of any kind, something that is in its supporters’ charter and ground regulations. This action was backed by Kick It Out – the national campaign for equality and inclusion in football.
O’Donoughoe, who was a season ticket holder for nine years at Carrow Road before 2007, had also seen his original comments deplored by Canaries fans on Twitter, while football pundit and former player Mark Bright was the loudest in his protests at the original comments on the website.
Shortly afterwards he deleted the offensive comments and offered his “sincere apologies” to James Vaughan via Twitter. His account has been deleted.
O’Donoughoe was sentenced to a 12 month community order and 120 hours of unpaid work.
Evening News 24
English Defence League to march in Cambridge (UK)
The right-wing English Defence League (EDL) is to hold a march in Cambridge for the first time.
Cambridgeshire police has confirmed it has been approached by the organisation to hold a demonstration on Saturday, July 9.
A counter-demonstration will be held on the day organised by the Cambridge branch of Unite Against Fascism, which will meet in market square at 11am.
Martin Booth, spokesman for Unison at Cambridge health branch, said: “We have a lot of diversity at Addenbrooke’s and in Cambridge and we don’t want these characters coming to the city.”
An EDL march in Peterborough last year was policed by about 1,000 officers from 18 forces.
A police spokeswoman said: “We have been approached by a member of the English Defence League to inform us of a protest in Cambridge on July 9.
“Plans are underway to ensure an appropriate police response on the day.
“The force fully supports people's right to peaceful protest, as well as ensuring minimal disruption to the people of Cambridge.”
Trade unionists, politicians, faith group and community leaders have already signed up to a statement opposing the EDL and supporting the multi-cultural “We are Cambridge” event.
Cambridge News
Cambridgeshire police has confirmed it has been approached by the organisation to hold a demonstration on Saturday, July 9.
A counter-demonstration will be held on the day organised by the Cambridge branch of Unite Against Fascism, which will meet in market square at 11am.
Martin Booth, spokesman for Unison at Cambridge health branch, said: “We have a lot of diversity at Addenbrooke’s and in Cambridge and we don’t want these characters coming to the city.”
An EDL march in Peterborough last year was policed by about 1,000 officers from 18 forces.
A police spokeswoman said: “We have been approached by a member of the English Defence League to inform us of a protest in Cambridge on July 9.
“Plans are underway to ensure an appropriate police response on the day.
“The force fully supports people's right to peaceful protest, as well as ensuring minimal disruption to the people of Cambridge.”
Trade unionists, politicians, faith group and community leaders have already signed up to a statement opposing the EDL and supporting the multi-cultural “We are Cambridge” event.
Cambridge News
Monday, 20 June 2011
Purported Conn. white supremacist faces sentencing (USA)
A purported white supremacist from Connecticut faces sentencing for what authorities describe as a plan to sell a rifle to the Ku Klux Klan.
William Bolton of Milford is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Bridgeport for robbery conspiracy and sale of a firearm to a felon.
Prosecutors say Bolton joined Connecticut's largest white supremacist group, Battalion 14, formerly known as the White Wolves, and participated in a plan to sell a sawed-off rifle to the KKK. The buyer was a cooperating government witness.
Authorities said in court papers supplying a gun to the KKK "is like putting a match to the dry kindling of one of this country's most well-known, long-term and destructive reigns of hate motivated violence."
Bolton faces about three years under sentencing guidelines.
NECN
William Bolton of Milford is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Bridgeport for robbery conspiracy and sale of a firearm to a felon.
Prosecutors say Bolton joined Connecticut's largest white supremacist group, Battalion 14, formerly known as the White Wolves, and participated in a plan to sell a sawed-off rifle to the KKK. The buyer was a cooperating government witness.
Authorities said in court papers supplying a gun to the KKK "is like putting a match to the dry kindling of one of this country's most well-known, long-term and destructive reigns of hate motivated violence."
Bolton faces about three years under sentencing guidelines.
NECN
Rise in racist abuse reported (Switzerland)
Reported cases of racism against blacks and Muslims went up in Switzerland in 2010.
Incidents mainly happened in public areas, at work and in contact with the police, according to the 2010 report by the Federal Commission against Racism and the non-governmental humanrights.ch.
It mainly took the form of verbal abuse.
“It is striking how often those accused were in socio-economic positions of power and used this position, directly or indirectly against the victims,” the report says.
Those affected came from a wide range of backgrounds, and were both Swiss and immigrants.
Not all abuse is reported and the real figure is believed to be much higher, the report says.
The report calls on cantons to improve measures protecting people against discrimination.
Swiss Info
Incidents mainly happened in public areas, at work and in contact with the police, according to the 2010 report by the Federal Commission against Racism and the non-governmental humanrights.ch.
It mainly took the form of verbal abuse.
“It is striking how often those accused were in socio-economic positions of power and used this position, directly or indirectly against the victims,” the report says.
Those affected came from a wide range of backgrounds, and were both Swiss and immigrants.
Not all abuse is reported and the real figure is believed to be much higher, the report says.
The report calls on cantons to improve measures protecting people against discrimination.
Swiss Info
Saturday, 18 June 2011
DUTCH JEWS, MUSLIMS APPEAL RITUAL SLAUGHTER PLAN (Netherlands)
Jewish and Muslim representatives Thursday appealed to Dutch lawmakers not to enforce plans requiring animals to be stunned before halaal and kosher slaughtering rituals. "We are against any form of stunning because it's against our religion," Yusuf Altuntas, president of the CMO -- an organisation that links the Muslim community with the Dutch government -- told a parliamentary commission. "One of the first measures taken during the occupation (during World War II) was the closing of kosher abattoirs," Dutch Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs added during the debate in The Hague. Dutch law required animals to be stunned before being slaughtered but made an exception for ritual halaal and kosher slaughters. The country's Party for Animals (PvdD) which holds two seats in the 150-seat Dutch parliament, has submitted a proposal, if implemented, would see this exception abolished.
Dutch media widely reported that the PvdD's proposal was expected to get a majority nod from parliamentarians. "It will cause an irreversable fracture in our society," said Ronnie Eisenmann, who leads Amsterdam's Jewish community. "Changes in the law will do nothing to ease the suffering of animals," he added. Jewish and Muslim representatives Thursday insisted the ritual slaughter respected the animals' welfare, notably restriction methods used to limit suffering and those slaughtering received expert training. They did however offer to implement some measures which they said would ease the animals' suffering, especially better controls in abattoirs where ritual slaughters were performed and an improvement in conditions under which animals were being transported.
AFP.com
Dutch media widely reported that the PvdD's proposal was expected to get a majority nod from parliamentarians. "It will cause an irreversable fracture in our society," said Ronnie Eisenmann, who leads Amsterdam's Jewish community. "Changes in the law will do nothing to ease the suffering of animals," he added. Jewish and Muslim representatives Thursday insisted the ritual slaughter respected the animals' welfare, notably restriction methods used to limit suffering and those slaughtering received expert training. They did however offer to implement some measures which they said would ease the animals' suffering, especially better controls in abattoirs where ritual slaughters were performed and an improvement in conditions under which animals were being transported.
AFP.com
Youth party fights for rights of whites (Denmark)
A new nationalistic Danish party was established last Saturday by defectors from the Danish National Socialist (DNSB) movement, led by a 21-year-old self-confessed racist and holocaust denier. Danskernes Parti (The Danes’ Party) will stand in the 2013 council elections and will seek to deport all non-European foreigners, withdraw from the EU and fight for the environment. The party’s young leader, Daniel Carlsen, reportedly said he believes they stand a good chance in the elections. “We are still experiencing massive immigration and we are still controlled by the EU despite promises of the opposite,” he told TV2 News. Carlsen, who calls himself a ‘modern nationalist’, and other members of the DNSB left the party in April to establish the new party in order to fight for the rights of white Danes. “We are all Danes before we are anything else. Before you are an academic you are a Dane, before you work you are a Dane, and even though I am a student I am first and foremost a Dane,” he said. “But despite this all we hear about are parties that either fight for workers or academics, ‘the rich’ or ‘the weak’. You never hear about people who fight for Danes. But that’s what we do.”
The party’s website demonstrates sympathy for far-right nationalist parties and movements and features an article written by the leader of the American Third Position, a newly established party that works to promote the interests of white Americans. Their website also indicates a co-operation with Svenskarnas Parti (The Swedes’ Party). “Our fight is not only about Denmark, but the whole of Scandinavia, the north and Europe. All Europeans face the same challenges as us,” reads a statement from the website. Carlsen joined the DNSB when he was 16 and his far-right beliefs have often brought him into the media spotlight, most notably when his parents were interviewed on DR’s Aftenshowet about his beliefs.
Copenhagen Post
The party’s website demonstrates sympathy for far-right nationalist parties and movements and features an article written by the leader of the American Third Position, a newly established party that works to promote the interests of white Americans. Their website also indicates a co-operation with Svenskarnas Parti (The Swedes’ Party). “Our fight is not only about Denmark, but the whole of Scandinavia, the north and Europe. All Europeans face the same challenges as us,” reads a statement from the website. Carlsen joined the DNSB when he was 16 and his far-right beliefs have often brought him into the media spotlight, most notably when his parents were interviewed on DR’s Aftenshowet about his beliefs.
Copenhagen Post
Friday, 17 June 2011
Police probe far-Right links to 'poison packages' at mosques (UK)
Muslim leaders across London are on high alert after fake anthrax was posted to five mosques by suspected far-Right extremists.
Detectives from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command are investigating after imams at the mosques received bags of white powder.
One package, sent to the Finsbury Park mosque, also contained "evil drawings" of the Prophet Mohammed similar to cartoons published in Denmark.
The Evening Standard understands up to five other mosques in pockets of extremism outside London - thought to be Luton and Birmingham - were targeted in the past 10 days.
Scotland Yard is so concerned about the threat to community cohesion that it has sent a warning to more than 200 mosques in the capital. An email from the Association of Muslim Police warns staff to avoid touching any mail they deem suspicious.
It says: "The inquiry relates to suspicious but non-hazardous packages sent to mosques. Inquires are ongoing and no arrests have been made at this stage. We recognise the distress and disruption caused by such incidents and will continue to investigate them, and any others which come to light, robustly.
"Anyone receiving an item they think is suspicious should treat it seriously and follow the following advice: Call 999; 1. Do not touch or handle it any further; 2. Remain calm; 3. Move everyone away to a safe distance; 4. Safely communicate instructions to staff and public; 5. Ensure that whoever found the item or witnessed the incident remains on hand to brief the police."
Detectives are studying hours of CCTV footage as many of the packages did not have stamps and are thought to have been hand-delivered to the mosques.
Some of the mosques were evacuated while specialist officers in protective suits checked the suspect material.
When a package arrived at the Finsbury Park mosque last Thursday, police closed the building and surrounding roads for four hours.
Ahmed Saad, the imam at the mosque, told the Evening Standard: "Our security guard was in the office when I opened the letter and he called the police right away.
"He told me to wash my hands and face just in case the powder was dangerous. The police arrived with ambulances and evacuated the building.
"It could have been anything in the envelope, my first thought was that it could be anthrax, or it could be some kind of [other] poison.
"It was very frightening. Something like this should not happen, we live in a multi-cultural society."
Mohammed Kozbar, the manager of the mosque, said: "We often get a lot of malicious communications but this is worse than anything that happened before. The envelope also had nasty, devil, evil drawings of the Prophet Mohammed and Muslim women in hijab clothing.
"It is very bad - we have worked hard to change the culture of the mosque since the case of Abu Hamza [the extremist former imam]. These racists won't succeed and we will carry on with our work."
In 2005, a Danish newspaper published 12 offensive cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The row triggered protests across the world and led to the bombing of the Danish embassy in Pakistan.
Mr Kozbar believes the package was sent by someone with far-Right views.
A BNP spokesman said: "We are in the political business now and we certainly do not indulge in any activity of that sort."
Scotland Yard said "no line of enquiry had been ruled out".
Meanwhile, a counter-extremism group has warned British Muslims could also end up victims.
Ghaffar Hussain of Quilliam, a counter-extremism thinktank, said: "This is a reminder that British Muslims can also be victims of extremism and intolerance."
This item continues at This is London
Detectives from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command are investigating after imams at the mosques received bags of white powder.
One package, sent to the Finsbury Park mosque, also contained "evil drawings" of the Prophet Mohammed similar to cartoons published in Denmark.
The Evening Standard understands up to five other mosques in pockets of extremism outside London - thought to be Luton and Birmingham - were targeted in the past 10 days.
Scotland Yard is so concerned about the threat to community cohesion that it has sent a warning to more than 200 mosques in the capital. An email from the Association of Muslim Police warns staff to avoid touching any mail they deem suspicious.
It says: "The inquiry relates to suspicious but non-hazardous packages sent to mosques. Inquires are ongoing and no arrests have been made at this stage. We recognise the distress and disruption caused by such incidents and will continue to investigate them, and any others which come to light, robustly.
"Anyone receiving an item they think is suspicious should treat it seriously and follow the following advice: Call 999; 1. Do not touch or handle it any further; 2. Remain calm; 3. Move everyone away to a safe distance; 4. Safely communicate instructions to staff and public; 5. Ensure that whoever found the item or witnessed the incident remains on hand to brief the police."
Detectives are studying hours of CCTV footage as many of the packages did not have stamps and are thought to have been hand-delivered to the mosques.
Some of the mosques were evacuated while specialist officers in protective suits checked the suspect material.
When a package arrived at the Finsbury Park mosque last Thursday, police closed the building and surrounding roads for four hours.
Ahmed Saad, the imam at the mosque, told the Evening Standard: "Our security guard was in the office when I opened the letter and he called the police right away.
"He told me to wash my hands and face just in case the powder was dangerous. The police arrived with ambulances and evacuated the building.
"It could have been anything in the envelope, my first thought was that it could be anthrax, or it could be some kind of [other] poison.
"It was very frightening. Something like this should not happen, we live in a multi-cultural society."
Mohammed Kozbar, the manager of the mosque, said: "We often get a lot of malicious communications but this is worse than anything that happened before. The envelope also had nasty, devil, evil drawings of the Prophet Mohammed and Muslim women in hijab clothing.
"It is very bad - we have worked hard to change the culture of the mosque since the case of Abu Hamza [the extremist former imam]. These racists won't succeed and we will carry on with our work."
In 2005, a Danish newspaper published 12 offensive cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed. The row triggered protests across the world and led to the bombing of the Danish embassy in Pakistan.
Mr Kozbar believes the package was sent by someone with far-Right views.
A BNP spokesman said: "We are in the political business now and we certainly do not indulge in any activity of that sort."
Scotland Yard said "no line of enquiry had been ruled out".
Meanwhile, a counter-extremism group has warned British Muslims could also end up victims.
Ghaffar Hussain of Quilliam, a counter-extremism thinktank, said: "This is a reminder that British Muslims can also be victims of extremism and intolerance."
This item continues at This is London
Scottish bill to tackle Twitter hate crime (UK)
Anyone who makes sectarian comments on Twitter could be put behind bars for up to five years, under new proposals unveiled on Friday by the Scottish government.
The Scottish government's plans follow attacks on Celtic manager Neil Lennon, his lawyer Paul McBride and the Celtic-supporting former MSP Trish Godman in March, when they were sent suspected letter bombs.
Social networking site Twitter has also been a source of conflict, and earlier this year 19-year-old Rangers Ladies player Lisa Swanson was forced to apologise following her remarks about Celtic and Lennon.
The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill includes online hate crime, such as abusive or offensive comments posted on Twitter and any behaviour deemed to be threatening, abusive, disorderly or offensive, which both carry the maximum jail term.
Celtic's chief executive, Peter Lawwell has welcomed the proposals.
"The issues this legislation seeks to address are problems for society as a whole and not just football," he said.
"The type of behaviour intended to be covered by this legislation has no place anywhere in Scottish society."
Ministers hope the new laws, which would see the upper sentence for sectarian offences raised from six months to five years, could come into effect by the end of the month.
This has prompted some criticism of the bill, which the Law Society of Scotland say is being pushed through Parliament too quickly and the subsequent lack of scrutiny means any discrepancies in the legislation may not be found.
Bill McVicar, convener of the society's criminal law committee, said sectarianism must be tackled.
"This is a very serious issue and one that needs both attention and action from our political leaders," he said.
"However, it is because of the importance of this issue that the Scottish Government needs to allow adequate time to ensure the legislation can be properly scrutinised.
"It is particularly vital for sufficient time to be allowed at stage one, the evidence gathering stage, for proper public consultation."
But Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan has welcomed the wide-reaching bill.
He said: "In particular, we are pleased to see that it covers sectarian and other forms of unacceptable chanting and threatening behaviour.
"As we approach the start of a new season, it is important we look forward with anticipation and excitement. Football is this country's national sport and we all have a responsibility to ensure that entertainment replaces aggravation and that a family atmosphere is generated inside our grounds instead of a hostile one.
When the letter bomb plot was uncovered, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said that sectarianism was a 'parasite' which needed to be eradicated.
It was the latest in a string of security incidents against Neil Lennon who said if it "was to escalate further then I would seriously have to reconsider my position".
The Celtic manager claims his background as a Catholic and a Northern Irishman at the club fuels plenty of the treatment he is subjected to.
"I never envisaged coming here would create such hatred for myself or my persona as it has done. I don't know what it is that brings the worst out in people when it comes to myself," he said.
UTV
The Scottish government's plans follow attacks on Celtic manager Neil Lennon, his lawyer Paul McBride and the Celtic-supporting former MSP Trish Godman in March, when they were sent suspected letter bombs.
Social networking site Twitter has also been a source of conflict, and earlier this year 19-year-old Rangers Ladies player Lisa Swanson was forced to apologise following her remarks about Celtic and Lennon.
The Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill includes online hate crime, such as abusive or offensive comments posted on Twitter and any behaviour deemed to be threatening, abusive, disorderly or offensive, which both carry the maximum jail term.
Celtic's chief executive, Peter Lawwell has welcomed the proposals.
"The issues this legislation seeks to address are problems for society as a whole and not just football," he said.
"The type of behaviour intended to be covered by this legislation has no place anywhere in Scottish society."
Ministers hope the new laws, which would see the upper sentence for sectarian offences raised from six months to five years, could come into effect by the end of the month.
This has prompted some criticism of the bill, which the Law Society of Scotland say is being pushed through Parliament too quickly and the subsequent lack of scrutiny means any discrepancies in the legislation may not be found.
Bill McVicar, convener of the society's criminal law committee, said sectarianism must be tackled.
"This is a very serious issue and one that needs both attention and action from our political leaders," he said.
"However, it is because of the importance of this issue that the Scottish Government needs to allow adequate time to ensure the legislation can be properly scrutinised.
"It is particularly vital for sufficient time to be allowed at stage one, the evidence gathering stage, for proper public consultation."
But Scottish Football Association chief executive Stewart Regan has welcomed the wide-reaching bill.
He said: "In particular, we are pleased to see that it covers sectarian and other forms of unacceptable chanting and threatening behaviour.
"As we approach the start of a new season, it is important we look forward with anticipation and excitement. Football is this country's national sport and we all have a responsibility to ensure that entertainment replaces aggravation and that a family atmosphere is generated inside our grounds instead of a hostile one.
When the letter bomb plot was uncovered, Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond said that sectarianism was a 'parasite' which needed to be eradicated.
It was the latest in a string of security incidents against Neil Lennon who said if it "was to escalate further then I would seriously have to reconsider my position".
The Celtic manager claims his background as a Catholic and a Northern Irishman at the club fuels plenty of the treatment he is subjected to.
"I never envisaged coming here would create such hatred for myself or my persona as it has done. I don't know what it is that brings the worst out in people when it comes to myself," he said.
UTV
RIGHT EXTREMISTS SQUABBLE OVER A CROSSWORD PUZZLE (Germany)
The right-wing extremist party, the NPD, is no stranger to controversy. Usually, however, more than a simple crossword is to blame. But a puzzle included in the party newspaper put out by the Berlin branch of the NPD has managed to infuriate members across the country.
Three months ahead of elections for the Berlin city-state parliament, party members included the puzzle in the internal paper, one million copies of which are set for release in August, according to a report in the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung. One clue for a five-letter word reads: "It's a German first name that has fallen somewhat out of fashion." The answer? "Adolf."
Another clue refers to a "German politician ('freedom flyer') of the 20th century," to which the four-letter answer is "Hess," in reference to Rudolf Hess, who was Adolf Hitler's deputy before he flew to Scotland in 1941 in hopes of coming to a peace agreement with the UK. Those who successfully complete the puzzle can submit their answers for prizes such a bicycle, party literature or clothing. Everybody likes a prize, but party members have been outraged by the puzzle's blatant references to Nazism.
While the NPD is certainly known for its Third Reich nostalgia, in recent years the party has sought to downplay its affection for Nazis, focusing on creating a more palatable image and appealing to a broader voting base. The tactic is meant to earn credibility for the disputed party and prevent critical coverage by the mainstream media.
The crossword puzzle is among "the dumbest PR actions in the history of the NPD" and "stupid squared," Hesse state party leader Jörg Krebs told online publication DeutschlandEcho over the weekend. Meanwhile Michael Schäfer, head of the NPD youth organization Junge Nationaldemokraten, criticized the campaign material in a Facebook entry. "That's how one squanders the points won in the election," he wrote. "Those of us at the base are the fools once again. Great!"
Credibility in Question
National party spokesman Klaus Beier refused to comment on the dispute, but Berlin NPD leader Uwe Meenen told the Süddeutsche Zeitung that criticism from those like Krebs was trivial. "He's not responsible in Berlin," he told the paper.
Meenen also refused to elaborate on the Nazi references in the crossword puzzle for fear of "ruining the fun of the riddle for people."
Meanwhile the neo-Nazi party may have a bigger battle for credibility ahead. State interior ministers plan to discuss the possibility of withholding tax revenue from the NPD at a meeting on June 21. Plagued by a number of financial and donation scandals in recent years, the NPD is funded in large part by German taxes in proportion to the number of votes they earn. In 2009 the party received about €1.2 million -- some 37 percent of their total receipts.
But a December 2010 report by the German parliament's research service may have discovered a loophole that could exclude the NPD from receiving state money in the future. Sources told SPIEGEL that it outlines the legal possibility of "excluding an unconstitutional party from state party financing." Such a measure would, however, require two-thirds majority vote in parliament to amend the constitution.
Spiegel
FAR-RIGHT COULD PUSH SWEDEN INTO CRISIS
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt warned Wednesday the left-wing and far-right opposition parties were pushing his minority government towards crisis. "If you are not prepared to take responsibility for Sweden together and in the long-term, you should not ruin it in the short-term through recklessness," Reinfeldt told Jimmi Åkesson, the head of the far-right Sweden Democrats, during a parliamentary debate of all party leaders. Reinfeldt's centre-right coalition won a second mandate last September but fell two seats short of a majority in an election marked by the spectacular performance of the SD, which entered parliament for the first time, snagging 20 seats and the role of kingmaker. The SD has since sided with the leftwing opposition Social Democrat, Green, and Left parties to defeat the government on a series of key votes, including on the sale of state-owned companies and a controversial back-to-work scheme for the unemployed. "Our protection against having a parliamentary majority take over Sweden is the finance policy framework. It is the core of the government's power, to eliminate the possibilities of short-sighted, irresponsible majorities such as those Aakesson is pushing for," Reinfeldt said.
Reinfeldt also lashed out at the Social Democrats and the Greens, which had vowed ahead of last year's elections never to cooperate with the SD, hinting that their attacks on the government's job policies were undermining the possibility for a minority government to rule effectively. "This is not just about this government and this mandate period. This will create the basis for ruling Sweden for a long time to come," he said. New Social Democrat leader Haakan Juholt was visibly annoyed by the prime minister's comments. "Fredrik Reinfeldt should not lecture us Social Democrats on the economy. We invented the finance policy framework" that in the 1990s simplified minority rule, he said. Wednesday's debate was the first for Juholt, who took over the party in March after his predecessor Mona Sahlin stepped down in the aftermath of its disastrous election results.
The Swedish Wire
Reinfeldt also lashed out at the Social Democrats and the Greens, which had vowed ahead of last year's elections never to cooperate with the SD, hinting that their attacks on the government's job policies were undermining the possibility for a minority government to rule effectively. "This is not just about this government and this mandate period. This will create the basis for ruling Sweden for a long time to come," he said. New Social Democrat leader Haakan Juholt was visibly annoyed by the prime minister's comments. "Fredrik Reinfeldt should not lecture us Social Democrats on the economy. We invented the finance policy framework" that in the 1990s simplified minority rule, he said. Wednesday's debate was the first for Juholt, who took over the party in March after his predecessor Mona Sahlin stepped down in the aftermath of its disastrous election results.
The Swedish Wire
English Defence League blames police over protests (UK)
Guramit Singh said police "banned" two protests in Dudley in April and July.
Asked what he thought caused violent demonstrations last year, Mr Singh said police "wouldn't facilitate anything".
The West Midlands force said it went to "great lengths" to facilitate the protests but had to balance the rights and needs of everyone involved.
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Forsyth added: "That includes the local communities, the EDL, other groups that want to protest and also a number of business communities as well who all made representations to us."
Nine people were arrested in April 2010 when rallies were held by the EDL and anti-fascist group Unite Against Fascism.
The two groups organised demonstrations which resulted in the city's market closing and shops being boarded up.
An EDL demonstration was staged in Dudley in July 2010 and Unite Against Fascism held a counter protest. Twenty-one arrests were made.
Mr Singh told BBC WM's Hard Talk series other demonstrations around the country had been peaceful, with "minor arrests here and there", but Dudley was an exception.
'No agenda'
The West Midlands EDL spokesman added: "When they [police] work with me and we come to a good agreement.... then the demonstrations always work.
"But West Midlands was a one off because West Midlands' constabulary refused to facilitate the English Defence League...
"They imposed a ban on us."
Mr Forsyth denied a ban was imposed and said the force "can't ban a lawful protest".
"We've got no powers to do that," he said.
He said officers could however impose certain conditions.
"That would be through the process of an intelligence assessment in engaging with local communities and working out what we think is going to happen on the day," he said.
He said the force had "no agenda against anybody" and had "a very strong history of facilitating protests across a full range and spectrum of groups, including the EDL".
He took issue with Mr Singh's claims over EDL protests elsewhere, adding action was "not by any definition of peaceful as I understand it".
BBC News
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Hackers expose neo-Nazi party supporters
A left-wing hacker group has stolen up to 400 names and home addresses of supporters of Germany’s neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NDP) and published them on Google Maps.
The German hacking crew ‘n0-N4m3 Cr3w’ stole the details of financial backers after hacking 25 NDP websites last month, before publishing them on Google maps and its homepage.
The NPD was founded in 1964 as a successor to the Third Reich.
Leader of the hacking group, Dark Hammer, said the hack was a politically-motivated attempt to prevent the NDP from gaining influence in Germany.
“I love Germany above everything, and I do everything in my power to improve the image of Germany,” the hacker said in a translation.
“We will not allow that which brings the NPD or the right wing to bring our children on the wrong track.
“I know my action will have broad public interest. That is exactly my goal.”
The NDP was left red-faced in April after some 60,000 internal emails were sent to journalists that exposed the party’s 2011 election strategy.
The exposure of German NDP member details follows a declaration yesterday by right-wing New Zealand blogger Cameron Slater that he had obtained 450 names of the country's Labour Party sponsors, which he threatened to publish.
CRN
The German hacking crew ‘n0-N4m3 Cr3w’ stole the details of financial backers after hacking 25 NDP websites last month, before publishing them on Google maps and its homepage.
The NPD was founded in 1964 as a successor to the Third Reich.
Leader of the hacking group, Dark Hammer, said the hack was a politically-motivated attempt to prevent the NDP from gaining influence in Germany.
“I love Germany above everything, and I do everything in my power to improve the image of Germany,” the hacker said in a translation.
“We will not allow that which brings the NPD or the right wing to bring our children on the wrong track.
“I know my action will have broad public interest. That is exactly my goal.”
The NDP was left red-faced in April after some 60,000 internal emails were sent to journalists that exposed the party’s 2011 election strategy.
The exposure of German NDP member details follows a declaration yesterday by right-wing New Zealand blogger Cameron Slater that he had obtained 450 names of the country's Labour Party sponsors, which he threatened to publish.
CRN
EDL leader Stephen Lennon faces Blackburn assault charge (UK)
The founder of the English Defence League (EDL) has been charged with assault following an altercation at a rally in Lancashire.
Stephen Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, was arrested in connection with a brawl at the EDL demonstration in Blackburn on 2 April.
On Wednesday, he was charged with one count of common assault. Mr Lennon, 28, of Layham Drive, Luton, is due to appear at Blackburn Magistrates' Court on 24 June.
BBC News
Stephen Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, was arrested in connection with a brawl at the EDL demonstration in Blackburn on 2 April.
On Wednesday, he was charged with one count of common assault. Mr Lennon, 28, of Layham Drive, Luton, is due to appear at Blackburn Magistrates' Court on 24 June.
BBC News
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Swedish kids invited to neo-Nazi summer camp
A Swedish neo-Nazi political party is offering children free admission to a camp scheduled to be held in a secret location in southern Sweden this summer. But not everyone is welcome to attend.
The camp is being organised by the Party of Swedes (Svenskarnas parti -- SVP), which has its roots in Sweden's neo-Nazi movement.
“Targeting young people is a very conscious strategy of these organisations. It is easier to reach young people with Nazi-propaganda before they have really made their mind up on what Nazism stands for,” journalist Johannes Jakobsson told The Local.
Jakobsson, who writes for Swedish magasine Expo, which studies and maps anti-democratic, right-wing extremist and racist tendencies in society, said there is little doubt about the party's heritage.
“The party leadership is the same as the old National Socialistic Front (National Socialistisk Front – NSF), they represent an ethnic nationalism and they believe in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” he said.
In July, the party is organising a gathering for “all nationalists” under the name of Nordisk Vision 2011 ('Nordic Vision 2011').
The camp, which is described as a “summer-camp with drive” has on its agenda “several interesting lectures, speeches, workshops, competitions, self-defence classes, airsoft, rounders and a lot more,” according to the party's website.
The location of the camp is a secret as organisers fear harassment.
“We have a fixed gathering point but from there the directions are secret. We can’t make the location official after all the harassment we have been subjected to in the past,” organiser Andreas Carlsson told Dagens Nyheter (DN).
According to Carlsson, there is no political agenda to the gathering. He told daily DN that the aim is to “have fun, creating kinship and meeting new people".
Carlsson told daily Aftonbladet that the focus for the kids would be on “having fun” but that everyone will be able to take part in a debate on the Sunday where one of the topics will be “Who is a Swede and who isn’t?”.
But the organisers would not agree that the camp itself is targeting young people, despite Swedish media calling it a "Nazi children's camp".
They are marketing the camp as having activities for both “young and old” and claim that children under 15 go in for free as it is a family event and they want to subsidize the price for families.
However, that doesn't mean that everyone is invited.
“You can have a foreign name, but if it is from outside Europe it becomes more difficult. And we don’t necessarily see someone as Swedish just because they have a Swedish citizenship,” Carlsson told DN.
Jakobsson says that there is no reason to doubt that the participants won't be paddling, playing rounders and taking part in all the activities advertised on the webpage.
However, he doesn't believe that the gathering is without a political agenda.
“They have said that they will have political speeches and discussions so when they say that it’s not political they are contradicting themselves,” he told The Local.
The Party of Swedes party is formerly known as the People's Front (Folkfronten) and was founded by members of the former National Socialist Front (Nationalsocialistisk front, NSF) in November 2008.
At the time it dissolved, NSF was the largest neo-Nazi political party in Sweden. It became a political party on April 20th, 1999, the 110th birthday of Adolf Hitler.
The Local Sweden
The camp is being organised by the Party of Swedes (Svenskarnas parti -- SVP), which has its roots in Sweden's neo-Nazi movement.
“Targeting young people is a very conscious strategy of these organisations. It is easier to reach young people with Nazi-propaganda before they have really made their mind up on what Nazism stands for,” journalist Johannes Jakobsson told The Local.
Jakobsson, who writes for Swedish magasine Expo, which studies and maps anti-democratic, right-wing extremist and racist tendencies in society, said there is little doubt about the party's heritage.
“The party leadership is the same as the old National Socialistic Front (National Socialistisk Front – NSF), they represent an ethnic nationalism and they believe in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories,” he said.
In July, the party is organising a gathering for “all nationalists” under the name of Nordisk Vision 2011 ('Nordic Vision 2011').
The camp, which is described as a “summer-camp with drive” has on its agenda “several interesting lectures, speeches, workshops, competitions, self-defence classes, airsoft, rounders and a lot more,” according to the party's website.
The location of the camp is a secret as organisers fear harassment.
“We have a fixed gathering point but from there the directions are secret. We can’t make the location official after all the harassment we have been subjected to in the past,” organiser Andreas Carlsson told Dagens Nyheter (DN).
According to Carlsson, there is no political agenda to the gathering. He told daily DN that the aim is to “have fun, creating kinship and meeting new people".
Carlsson told daily Aftonbladet that the focus for the kids would be on “having fun” but that everyone will be able to take part in a debate on the Sunday where one of the topics will be “Who is a Swede and who isn’t?”.
But the organisers would not agree that the camp itself is targeting young people, despite Swedish media calling it a "Nazi children's camp".
They are marketing the camp as having activities for both “young and old” and claim that children under 15 go in for free as it is a family event and they want to subsidize the price for families.
However, that doesn't mean that everyone is invited.
“You can have a foreign name, but if it is from outside Europe it becomes more difficult. And we don’t necessarily see someone as Swedish just because they have a Swedish citizenship,” Carlsson told DN.
Jakobsson says that there is no reason to doubt that the participants won't be paddling, playing rounders and taking part in all the activities advertised on the webpage.
However, he doesn't believe that the gathering is without a political agenda.
“They have said that they will have political speeches and discussions so when they say that it’s not political they are contradicting themselves,” he told The Local.
The Party of Swedes party is formerly known as the People's Front (Folkfronten) and was founded by members of the former National Socialist Front (Nationalsocialistisk front, NSF) in November 2008.
At the time it dissolved, NSF was the largest neo-Nazi political party in Sweden. It became a political party on April 20th, 1999, the 110th birthday of Adolf Hitler.
The Local Sweden
CATHOLIC PRIESTS PROTEST AGAINST ULTRA-RIGHT PARTY IN KRNOV (Czech Rep.)
A group of Catholic priests has protested against neo-Nazism in Krnov. The daily Bruntálský deník reports that the priests protested against a rally there by the extremist Workers' Social Justice Party (Dìlnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS). The priests unfurled a banner reading "Christians against Neo-Nazism" and "We Don't Want E.coli or Neo-Nazism". The daily reports that some DSSS promoters - apparently bored by the lengthy, incomprehensible speech being given by party leader Tomáš Vandas - asked the priests what E.coli was and then asked for an explanation of the relationship between bloody diarrhea and neo-Nazism. They also tried to discuss the role played by the Catholic Church in Czech history with the Catholic activists. When asked what specifically they were doing for a better future for humanity and their country, the priests described their pastoral work among prisoners in Mírov. In his speech, Vandas admitted and emphasized the continuity between the dissolved extremist neo-Nazi Workers' Party (Dìlnická strana - DS) and today's DSSS. "As a result of our electoral results we received CZK 750 000 from the state, and that's the only subsidy we have been given so far," Vandas claimed. The state contribution, however, was made to the treasury of the DS, which has since been dissolved.
Romea
Romea
2 Russian Neo-Nazi leaders sentenced to life in prison for the killings of non-Russians
Two leaders of a neo-Nazi gang were sentenced Tuesday to life in jail for a rash of hate killings that terrorized minorities in Russia's second-largest city.
The St. Petersburg City Court said Alexei Voevodin and Artyom Prokhorenko headed a gang that enlisted Russian supremacists and football fans aged 16 to 22 who preyed on non-Slavs with dark skin or Asian features, kicking and stabbing them to death.
The court also sentenced another 10 gang members to up to 18 years in jail for their roles in dozens of attacks over three years. Their victims included a nine-year old from the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan, and natives of North Korea, China and African nations.
The gang also killed two former members suspected of co-operating with police and buried their bodies in a suburban forest.
In 2004, the gang members gunned down Nikolai Girenko, a prominent expert on African ethnology and a human rights advocate who organized anti-racist conferences and helped police investigate hate crimes.
The killings rattled St. Petersburg, a city long plagued by assaults on labour migrants from ex-Soviet Central Asia and Russia's Caucasus region, as well as natives of African and Asian nations. Critics accused police of doing little to prevent the crimes and find the culprits, and the gang was caught only after a local newspaper ran an investigative report.
Voevodin and Prokhorenko, with shaved heads and bulging biceps covered with tattooed Celtic imagery, stood calmly in a cage in the courtroom as they listened to the verdict. At a court session last week, Voevodin threatened the judge with "a horrible death," Gazeta.ru online newspaper reported.
Celtic crosses are popular among Russian neo-Nazis as substitutes for swastikas.
A handful of their supporters raised their right hands in a Nazi salute and yelled "Hail Russia! Hail heroes!" Some of them were holding small, hand-drawn pictures of Adolf Hitler.
Voevodin formed the gang in 2003 after most of the members of his previous group, the Mad Crowd, were arrested and charged with multiple killings and assaults. He ordered his followers not to name the gang, refrain from wearing Nazi and ultranationalist symbols and advertising their crimes — unlike other neo-Nazi groups that often posted videos of their attacks online.
In recent years, dozens of mostly underage neo-Nazis have stood trial and been convicted across Russia amid a surge in xenophobia and hate crimes triggered by the influx of labour migrants. Some average Russians and nationalist politicians accuse the migrants of stealing jobs and forming ethnic gangs.
Racially motivated attacks peaked in 2008, when 110 were killed and 487 wounded, independent human rights watchdog Sova said.
Since then, the number of hate crimes dwindled, but human rights groups say neo-Nazis are increasingly resorting to bombings and arson against police and government officials, whom they accuse of condoning the influx of illegal migrants. Ultranationalist groups have also stepped up attacks on human rights activists and anti-racist youth groups.
In early May, a member of an ultranationalist group got a life sentence for the Jan. 2009 killing of a human rights advocate and a journalist, his girlfriend and accomplice was sentenced to 18 years in jail.
In April 2010, a federal judge who presided over trials of White Wolves, a mostly teenage group of skinheads convicted of killing and assaulting non-Slavs, was gunned down contract-style outside his Moscow apartment.
Members of a neo-Nazi group accused of planning to blow up a mosque, a McDonald's restaurant and railway stations are currently standing trial in Moscow.
Neo-Nazis operate in small, semi-autonomous groups that co-ordinate their actions through Internet forums and coded messages, rights groups say.
Yahoo News
The St. Petersburg City Court said Alexei Voevodin and Artyom Prokhorenko headed a gang that enlisted Russian supremacists and football fans aged 16 to 22 who preyed on non-Slavs with dark skin or Asian features, kicking and stabbing them to death.
The court also sentenced another 10 gang members to up to 18 years in jail for their roles in dozens of attacks over three years. Their victims included a nine-year old from the ex-Soviet republic of Tajikistan, and natives of North Korea, China and African nations.
The gang also killed two former members suspected of co-operating with police and buried their bodies in a suburban forest.
In 2004, the gang members gunned down Nikolai Girenko, a prominent expert on African ethnology and a human rights advocate who organized anti-racist conferences and helped police investigate hate crimes.
The killings rattled St. Petersburg, a city long plagued by assaults on labour migrants from ex-Soviet Central Asia and Russia's Caucasus region, as well as natives of African and Asian nations. Critics accused police of doing little to prevent the crimes and find the culprits, and the gang was caught only after a local newspaper ran an investigative report.
Voevodin and Prokhorenko, with shaved heads and bulging biceps covered with tattooed Celtic imagery, stood calmly in a cage in the courtroom as they listened to the verdict. At a court session last week, Voevodin threatened the judge with "a horrible death," Gazeta.ru online newspaper reported.
Celtic crosses are popular among Russian neo-Nazis as substitutes for swastikas.
A handful of their supporters raised their right hands in a Nazi salute and yelled "Hail Russia! Hail heroes!" Some of them were holding small, hand-drawn pictures of Adolf Hitler.
Voevodin formed the gang in 2003 after most of the members of his previous group, the Mad Crowd, were arrested and charged with multiple killings and assaults. He ordered his followers not to name the gang, refrain from wearing Nazi and ultranationalist symbols and advertising their crimes — unlike other neo-Nazi groups that often posted videos of their attacks online.
In recent years, dozens of mostly underage neo-Nazis have stood trial and been convicted across Russia amid a surge in xenophobia and hate crimes triggered by the influx of labour migrants. Some average Russians and nationalist politicians accuse the migrants of stealing jobs and forming ethnic gangs.
Racially motivated attacks peaked in 2008, when 110 were killed and 487 wounded, independent human rights watchdog Sova said.
Since then, the number of hate crimes dwindled, but human rights groups say neo-Nazis are increasingly resorting to bombings and arson against police and government officials, whom they accuse of condoning the influx of illegal migrants. Ultranationalist groups have also stepped up attacks on human rights activists and anti-racist youth groups.
In early May, a member of an ultranationalist group got a life sentence for the Jan. 2009 killing of a human rights advocate and a journalist, his girlfriend and accomplice was sentenced to 18 years in jail.
In April 2010, a federal judge who presided over trials of White Wolves, a mostly teenage group of skinheads convicted of killing and assaulting non-Slavs, was gunned down contract-style outside his Moscow apartment.
Members of a neo-Nazi group accused of planning to blow up a mosque, a McDonald's restaurant and railway stations are currently standing trial in Moscow.
Neo-Nazis operate in small, semi-autonomous groups that co-ordinate their actions through Internet forums and coded messages, rights groups say.
Yahoo News
ITALY AGAINST THE JEWS
Murky wave of anti-Israel zeal, demonization of Jews growing at alarming rate in Italy
By Giulio MeottiGiulio Meotti, a journalist with Il Foglio, is the author of the book A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism
The first months of 2011 have confirmed Italy’s status as one of Iran’s biggest European trade partners, all while the ayatollahs pursue the means to perpetuate a second Holocaust. Rome is doing business as usual with the greatest totalitarian threat to international peace and security since the defeats of Soviet communism and Nazi fascism, providing a lifeline to an Iranian regime that is cruel at home, sponsors terror abroad and preaches anti-Jewish revolt. Meanwhile, a murky wave of anti-Israel zeal is also growing at an alarming rate in Italy. “The old anti-Jewish libels are now aimed at the State of Israel”, says Stefano Gatti, one of the top researchers at the Center for Documentation in Milan. Pro-Palestinian activists are threatening to “ignite” Milan, the financial capital of Italy where an Israeli exhibit is going displayed in a central square. Meanwhile, the city of Turin hosted a “cultural festival” where the image of Shimon Peres was used as a shoe-throwing target. For one euro, Italian students had the chance to hit the face of Israel’s president, who was fitted with a Nazi-style Jewish nose.
An Israeli student at the University of Genoa has been harassed and threatened with death by Arab students. Muslim students shouted at him “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) and “Itbach el Yahud” (slaughter the Jews.) Another Israeli student at the University of Turin, Amit Peer, confessed that “the Jews here are hiding their own identity because they risk becoming a target.” Meanwhile, demonization of the Jews is spreading in the liberal media. Leftist newspaper “Il Manifesto” published a caricature of a Jewish candidate for parliament, Fiamma Nirenstein, with Fascist insignia, a campaign button and a Star of David. The cartoon “Electoral Monsters” was dubbed “Fiamma Frankenstein.” L’Unità, the official newspaper of the leftist Democratic Party, published an interview with anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes, where she claimed that Israel is a world leader in organ trafficking. The accusation resembled that of the Middle Ages blood libel whereby Jews were accused of kidnapping Christian and Muslim children before Passover in order to murder them and use their blood for matza.
Lists of boycotted Israeli products
Ucoii, the largest Islamic organization in Italy, published an ad in many mainstream newspapers entitled “Nazi Bloodshed Yesterday, Israeli Bloodshed Today.” An Italian court ruled that the Nazification of Israel came under “freedom of expression” and was not a case of incitement to hatred. In 2009, Italy sent the largest European delegation of artists to an Iranian cartoonist festival on the Holocaust. The cartoons presented the Holocaust as an invention of Jews with hooked noses typical of Nazi propaganda. Pisa, Rome and Bologna are among the most prestigious Italian universities that annually host anti-Zionist conferences and pro-Intifada speakers. Israeli attaché Shai Cohen was prevented from speaking at Pisa University after a violent attack by students, who called out “butcher, fascist, assassin.” The Israeli ambassador, Ehud Gol, fled Florence University after a similar “protest.” Meanwhile, the Riccione city council sponsored a meeting against “the militarism of Israel,” explaining that “Israeli governments don’t represent the Jewish people.” The Coop and Conad, two of the largest supermarket chains in Italy, for some weeks last year removed Israeli products from their shelves in the name of a boycott of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. Lists of boycotted Israeli products have been launched also by local Christian communities and leftist groups, targeting L’Oreal, Ahava and other firms. Flaica, a trade union with 8,000 members working in large-scale retail, promoted the boycott of “all Rome shops managed by Jews” and drew up lists of Jewish-owned shops to be avoided, because of “what is happening in Gaza.” In Rome, a new pro-Hamas Freedom Flotilla has just been presented in the official buildings of the Professional Order of the Journalists, a body financed by the Italian government. Some members of Turkish terror group IHH were also on hand.
Anti-Semitism becoming fashionable
The Foreign Press Association in Rome, a state-funded institution, suspended two journalists, both Jews: Yedioth Ahronoth correspondent Menachem Gantz and French journalist Ariel Dumont. Iranian journalist Masoumi Nejad, who has been arrested for a arms trading involving Italy and Iran, has never been expelled by the association. Anti-Semitism is becoming fashionable also among the “chattering classes”, intellectuals and academicians. Actress Sabina Guzzanti attacked the “Jewish race” in a primetime television program. Literary guru Alberto Asor Rosa wrote in a book on the transformation of the Jews from “a persecuted race” to “a warrior persecutor race.” Renowned leftist philosopher Gianni Vattimo declared that he had “re-evaluated” “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and now felt they largely reflect the truth about the Jews. The slandering of Israel is also growing among the most important Catholic journalists. Vittorio Messori, who conducted the first book-length interview with Pope John Paul II, recently wrote an editorial for the Italian daily “Il Corriere della sera” where he stated: “All governments of all Muslim nations are under the tsunami of the violent intrusion of Zionism that has come to put its capital in Jerusalem.”
The growing anti-Semitism is also evident by the security around the largest synagogue in Rome, one of the oldest in the world. The Jewish temple looks like a military outpost: Private guards everywhere, metal detectors and policemen at every corner. The Jewish school looks like a “sterilized area” protected by policemen, bodyguards and cameras. All school windows are plumbed with iron grates. I saw the same in the Jewish homes of Hebron and in the schools of Sderot. Pro-Palestinian groups just recently marched into the ghetto, shouting “Fascist” and “Assassins” to the Jews, some of them Holocaust survivors. It was here, on 16 October 1943, that 1,200 Jews were deported to Auschwitz; none of the 200 Jewish children came back home. It was here, on 9 October 1982, that an Arab terrorist opened fire on Jews; a two-year old baby, Stefano Taché, became the first Italian victim of anti-Jewish violence since the war. Not far from the ghetto, in the lower part of the Titus Gate, named after the Roman emperor who destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem, someone wrote in Hebrew: “Am Yisrael Chai.” The people of Israel not only had not been destroyed, but defiantly remained alive. It's comforting to know that there is still someone with the courage to write it.
YNetNews
By Giulio MeottiGiulio Meotti, a journalist with Il Foglio, is the author of the book A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism
The first months of 2011 have confirmed Italy’s status as one of Iran’s biggest European trade partners, all while the ayatollahs pursue the means to perpetuate a second Holocaust. Rome is doing business as usual with the greatest totalitarian threat to international peace and security since the defeats of Soviet communism and Nazi fascism, providing a lifeline to an Iranian regime that is cruel at home, sponsors terror abroad and preaches anti-Jewish revolt. Meanwhile, a murky wave of anti-Israel zeal is also growing at an alarming rate in Italy. “The old anti-Jewish libels are now aimed at the State of Israel”, says Stefano Gatti, one of the top researchers at the Center for Documentation in Milan. Pro-Palestinian activists are threatening to “ignite” Milan, the financial capital of Italy where an Israeli exhibit is going displayed in a central square. Meanwhile, the city of Turin hosted a “cultural festival” where the image of Shimon Peres was used as a shoe-throwing target. For one euro, Italian students had the chance to hit the face of Israel’s president, who was fitted with a Nazi-style Jewish nose.
An Israeli student at the University of Genoa has been harassed and threatened with death by Arab students. Muslim students shouted at him “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) and “Itbach el Yahud” (slaughter the Jews.) Another Israeli student at the University of Turin, Amit Peer, confessed that “the Jews here are hiding their own identity because they risk becoming a target.” Meanwhile, demonization of the Jews is spreading in the liberal media. Leftist newspaper “Il Manifesto” published a caricature of a Jewish candidate for parliament, Fiamma Nirenstein, with Fascist insignia, a campaign button and a Star of David. The cartoon “Electoral Monsters” was dubbed “Fiamma Frankenstein.” L’Unità, the official newspaper of the leftist Democratic Party, published an interview with anthropologist Nancy Scheper-Hughes, where she claimed that Israel is a world leader in organ trafficking. The accusation resembled that of the Middle Ages blood libel whereby Jews were accused of kidnapping Christian and Muslim children before Passover in order to murder them and use their blood for matza.
Lists of boycotted Israeli products
Ucoii, the largest Islamic organization in Italy, published an ad in many mainstream newspapers entitled “Nazi Bloodshed Yesterday, Israeli Bloodshed Today.” An Italian court ruled that the Nazification of Israel came under “freedom of expression” and was not a case of incitement to hatred. In 2009, Italy sent the largest European delegation of artists to an Iranian cartoonist festival on the Holocaust. The cartoons presented the Holocaust as an invention of Jews with hooked noses typical of Nazi propaganda. Pisa, Rome and Bologna are among the most prestigious Italian universities that annually host anti-Zionist conferences and pro-Intifada speakers. Israeli attaché Shai Cohen was prevented from speaking at Pisa University after a violent attack by students, who called out “butcher, fascist, assassin.” The Israeli ambassador, Ehud Gol, fled Florence University after a similar “protest.” Meanwhile, the Riccione city council sponsored a meeting against “the militarism of Israel,” explaining that “Israeli governments don’t represent the Jewish people.” The Coop and Conad, two of the largest supermarket chains in Italy, for some weeks last year removed Israeli products from their shelves in the name of a boycott of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. Lists of boycotted Israeli products have been launched also by local Christian communities and leftist groups, targeting L’Oreal, Ahava and other firms. Flaica, a trade union with 8,000 members working in large-scale retail, promoted the boycott of “all Rome shops managed by Jews” and drew up lists of Jewish-owned shops to be avoided, because of “what is happening in Gaza.” In Rome, a new pro-Hamas Freedom Flotilla has just been presented in the official buildings of the Professional Order of the Journalists, a body financed by the Italian government. Some members of Turkish terror group IHH were also on hand.
Anti-Semitism becoming fashionable
The Foreign Press Association in Rome, a state-funded institution, suspended two journalists, both Jews: Yedioth Ahronoth correspondent Menachem Gantz and French journalist Ariel Dumont. Iranian journalist Masoumi Nejad, who has been arrested for a arms trading involving Italy and Iran, has never been expelled by the association. Anti-Semitism is becoming fashionable also among the “chattering classes”, intellectuals and academicians. Actress Sabina Guzzanti attacked the “Jewish race” in a primetime television program. Literary guru Alberto Asor Rosa wrote in a book on the transformation of the Jews from “a persecuted race” to “a warrior persecutor race.” Renowned leftist philosopher Gianni Vattimo declared that he had “re-evaluated” “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and now felt they largely reflect the truth about the Jews. The slandering of Israel is also growing among the most important Catholic journalists. Vittorio Messori, who conducted the first book-length interview with Pope John Paul II, recently wrote an editorial for the Italian daily “Il Corriere della sera” where he stated: “All governments of all Muslim nations are under the tsunami of the violent intrusion of Zionism that has come to put its capital in Jerusalem.”
The growing anti-Semitism is also evident by the security around the largest synagogue in Rome, one of the oldest in the world. The Jewish temple looks like a military outpost: Private guards everywhere, metal detectors and policemen at every corner. The Jewish school looks like a “sterilized area” protected by policemen, bodyguards and cameras. All school windows are plumbed with iron grates. I saw the same in the Jewish homes of Hebron and in the schools of Sderot. Pro-Palestinian groups just recently marched into the ghetto, shouting “Fascist” and “Assassins” to the Jews, some of them Holocaust survivors. It was here, on 16 October 1943, that 1,200 Jews were deported to Auschwitz; none of the 200 Jewish children came back home. It was here, on 9 October 1982, that an Arab terrorist opened fire on Jews; a two-year old baby, Stefano Taché, became the first Italian victim of anti-Jewish violence since the war. Not far from the ghetto, in the lower part of the Titus Gate, named after the Roman emperor who destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem, someone wrote in Hebrew: “Am Yisrael Chai.” The people of Israel not only had not been destroyed, but defiantly remained alive. It's comforting to know that there is still someone with the courage to write it.
YNetNews
BNP lose another councillor (Hope Not Hate, UK)
The BNP last night lost another councillor when Amber Valley member Cliff Roper resigned from the party whip and became an Independent.
In his resignation statement he said:
"It is with sadness that I have this evening resigned the British National Party whip on Amber Valley Borough Council. I will now sit as an Independent Member of the Council, though I retain my membership of the British National Party and, of course, my nationalist views.
This change will make no difference to the way I assist and deal with enquiries from my constituents, but is a symbolic protest at recent events within the British National Party, both at a national and local level."
Hope Not Hate
In his resignation statement he said:
"It is with sadness that I have this evening resigned the British National Party whip on Amber Valley Borough Council. I will now sit as an Independent Member of the Council, though I retain my membership of the British National Party and, of course, my nationalist views.
This change will make no difference to the way I assist and deal with enquiries from my constituents, but is a symbolic protest at recent events within the British National Party, both at a national and local level."
Hope Not Hate
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