The police registered 265 crimes with an extremist motive in the 10.5 million Czech Republic last year, which was 0.07 percent of all crimes and 48 more than in 2008, according to a document the Chamber of Deputies defence and security committee discussed yesterday. The police cleared up 186 crimes last year, or 60 more than in 2008. A total of 293 people were prosecuted, which was about 100 more than in 2008, and courts convicted 103 people of racially motivated crimes. Deputy Interior Minister Zdenek Salivar said "the extremist scene is on the defensive" now. He said that is why rightist extremists have moderated their rhetoric. The militant wing is now trying to change the neo-Nazi label and focuses on environmental themes. Salivar said the abolition of the Workers' Party (DS) last year was a step of European importance. The party, however, practically continues its acitivities under a new name, the Workers' Party of Social Justice (DSSS). The number of neo-Nazi concerts roughly halved to 18 last year, and only one sole was held after last June's raid on rightist extremists, the report says. The concerts have been moved abroad, mainly to Poland and Slovakia, Police President Oldrich Martinu said. He said the concerts were a significant source of money for the extremist groups. The police inspection also checked six cases on suspicion of police involvement in criminal activity with an extremist subtext last year. The suspicion was not proved in three of them, another two continue to be checked and one case ended in a disciplinary punishment. A total of 24 police members were involved in the cases, the report said. It said the military police investigated ten cases, involving 12 soldiers. Salivar said everyone who seeks a job with security corps is checked for extremism now.
Prague Monitor
Monday, 13 September 2010
English Defence League members attend New York mosque protest
Members of the far-right English Defence League protested in New York this weekend against plans for an Islamic cultural centre and mosque near Ground Zero.
The group's leader, who goes by the pseudonym Tommy Robinson, and at least seven other EDL supporters flew to the US to oppose the plans on the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Robinson was refused entry at JFK airport, taken into custody and flown straight back to the UK, according to a report published on the anti-Islam Gates of Vienna website sourced to EDL activists travelling with him.
The rest of the delegation joined far-right leaders including Geert Wilders, the Dutch leader of the Freedom party, at the demonstration in lower Manhattan.
The contingent was pictured holding banners incorporating St George's cross, Israel's flag and the US stars and stripes, as well as the slogans "No Mosque at Ground Zero", "The more Islam, the less freedom", "No Sharia", and "No Surrender". They wore EDL T-shirts sporting the group's crusader shield logo.
Over the past 18 months in town centres across England the group has protested against the spread of Islamic institutions and in support of the armed forces. EDL demonstrators have been heard chanting racist slogans and have clashed with anti-fascist activists, and marches have been banned for fear of violence.
The decision to send protesters to America reflects the organisation's self-proclaimed "new phase of international outreach and networking", which began in April when supporters attended a Berlin demonstration in support of Wilders. The Dutchman said yesterday that New Yorkers must defend themselves against "the powers of darkness, the forces of hatred".
In June, the EDL sent delegates to speak at a "counter jihad" conference organised by the International Civil Liberties Alliance in Zurich, where they gave a presentation entitled The Anatomy of an EDL Demo.
Nick Lowles, of Searchlight, the anti-fascist monitoring organisation, said: "The EDL operates on two levels. There are the street activists such as the 120 that demonstrated in Oldham and 100 in London this weekend. But then there is the political agenda driven by a group of leaders whose ideas come from Christian fundamentalism. They are running a dual strategy and they see an international aspect to their goals where the uniting issue is anti-Islam."
The EDL is planning to join a far-right demonstration in Amsterdam on 30 October under the banner of the European Freedom Initiative. Organisations from Austria, Germany, Italy and France are also due to attend.
The Guardian
Ground Zero mosque Imam blames Sarah Palin for 'growing Islamophobia'
The Reverend Terry Jones abandoned his "international burn a Koran day" in Gainesville, Florida on Saturday but there were isolated instances in Tennessee and New York of the Muslim holy book being set alight.
"What has happened is that..certain politicians decided that this project would be very useful for their political ambitions," Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said, adding that this had prompted a "growing Islamophobia" in the US.
Imam Rauf's proposal for an Islamic Centre, containing a mosque, two blocks from the site of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centre, has become embroiled in controversy.
Mrs Palin was the first major national figure to get involved in what had been a localised dispute when she sent a Twitter message in July stating: "Peace-seeking Muslims, pls understand, Ground Zero mosque is UNNECESSARY provocation; it stabs hearts. Pls reject it in interest of healing."
Imam Rauf said Mrs Palin's intervention had been "disingenuous" and played a part of the issue being "hijacked by the radicals" over the summer.
In Springfield, Tennessee, the Reverend Bob Old and the Reverent Danny Allen, both evangelical pastors, burned Koran to coincide with the anniversary of the September 11th atrocities.
"It's about faith, it's about love, but you have to have the right book behind you. This is a book of hate, not a book of love," said the Rev Old as he held up a Koran.
In New York, an unidentified man ripped pages from a Koran and lit them near the proposed site of the Islamic centre. "If they can burn American flags, I can burn the Koran," he said.
Imam Rauf said that he would not have proposed his Islamic Centre had he anticipated the furore that has resulted. "I would never have done it."
But he was reluctant to consider a different site because of how this would be interpreted by Islamic extremists. "My major concern with moving it is that the headline in the Muslim world will be Islam is under attack in America.
This will strengthen the radicals in the Muslim world, help their recruitment, this will put our people -- our soldiers, our troops, our embassies, our citizens -- under attack in the Muslim world and we have expanded and given and fuelled terrorism."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has given his backing to the mosque proposal and President Barack Obama intervened to remind critics that religious freedoms in America allow anyone to open a holy place. But several senior Democrats including Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader, publicly distanced themselves from the presidents position.
Official commemorations for the attacks on the New York's Twin Towers and the Pentagon were solemn affairs but took place against a backdrop of fierce debate about the relationship between Islam and terrorism.
"As Americans we are not – and never will be – at war with Islam," said Mr Obama. "It was not a religion that attacked us that September day – it was al-Qaeda, a sorry band of men which perverts religion."
The Telegraph
Swedish PM candidates to keep far-right at bay
Sweden's two main prime minister candidates agreed in a debate aired Sunday, a week before elections, that they would not work with the increasingly popular far-right Sweden Democrats.
"We won't touch them (the Sweden Democrats) with pliers," Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt vowed on behalf of his four-party centre-right coalition during a long and heated debate broadcast live on Swedish public television.
Mona Sahlin, who is vying for his job at the front of the so-called red-green opposition coalition made up of her Social Democrats, the Greens and the formerly communist Left Party, agreed.
"The Sweden Democrats ... always make the immigrants the culprits, either for taking jobs or for not taking jobs. Such a party can only be met with a crystal clear message: that we will not touch them, not cooperate with them," she said.
There comments came as a Novus Opinion tally of five different polls published Sunday by Swedish public radio handed 4.6 percent of voter intentions to the far-right anti-immigrant party, which would be enough to secure them a place in parliament for the first time.
Observers have pointed out that if neither of the main political blocs, which been neck-and-neck in polls for months, manage to secure more than 50 percent of the vote on September 19, the Sweden Democrats could easily become the kingmaker in the parliament.
Reinfeldt's Moderate Party and its coalition members, the Liberal, Centre and Christian Democrat parties, have in recent polls taken a lead and in Sunday's tally scored 50 percent of voter intention, compared to 43.6 percent for the leftwing opposition.
The prime minister has in recent weeks met criticism for saying he plans to hold onto his job if his coalition wins most votes, even if it means creating a minority government, with critics saying he then could be open to pressure from the far-right.
On Sunday however, he stressed that if his bloc does not secure a majority, it will need to seek "a broader parliamentary solution," most likely looking to the Green Party for support.
Sahlin meanwhile reiterated in Sunday's debate that she will not create a minority government which could be open to influence by the Sweden Democrats, insisting that "Sweden needs a majority government."
She has in recent weeks said she may try to woo over the Centre and Liberal parties if the opposition wins most votes but not a clear majority, but both of those parties have said they would decline such an offer.
Swedish Wire
"We won't touch them (the Sweden Democrats) with pliers," Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt vowed on behalf of his four-party centre-right coalition during a long and heated debate broadcast live on Swedish public television.
Mona Sahlin, who is vying for his job at the front of the so-called red-green opposition coalition made up of her Social Democrats, the Greens and the formerly communist Left Party, agreed.
"The Sweden Democrats ... always make the immigrants the culprits, either for taking jobs or for not taking jobs. Such a party can only be met with a crystal clear message: that we will not touch them, not cooperate with them," she said.
There comments came as a Novus Opinion tally of five different polls published Sunday by Swedish public radio handed 4.6 percent of voter intentions to the far-right anti-immigrant party, which would be enough to secure them a place in parliament for the first time.
Observers have pointed out that if neither of the main political blocs, which been neck-and-neck in polls for months, manage to secure more than 50 percent of the vote on September 19, the Sweden Democrats could easily become the kingmaker in the parliament.
Reinfeldt's Moderate Party and its coalition members, the Liberal, Centre and Christian Democrat parties, have in recent polls taken a lead and in Sunday's tally scored 50 percent of voter intention, compared to 43.6 percent for the leftwing opposition.
The prime minister has in recent weeks met criticism for saying he plans to hold onto his job if his coalition wins most votes, even if it means creating a minority government, with critics saying he then could be open to pressure from the far-right.
On Sunday however, he stressed that if his bloc does not secure a majority, it will need to seek "a broader parliamentary solution," most likely looking to the Green Party for support.
Sahlin meanwhile reiterated in Sunday's debate that she will not create a minority government which could be open to influence by the Sweden Democrats, insisting that "Sweden needs a majority government."
She has in recent weeks said she may try to woo over the Centre and Liberal parties if the opposition wins most votes but not a clear majority, but both of those parties have said they would decline such an offer.
Swedish Wire
Marine le Pen: Mightier than her père? (France)
Daughter of the Right lays out for John Lichfield the future course of a party she says was 'misunderstood' If she takes over its leadership from her father in January (which she almost certainly will), she intends to "sweep away the caricatures" and transform the National Front from a party of protest into a "party of government". She said: "To exercise power is the objective of all politicians. The National Front is still a young party. We should now be ready to take a step upwards and have no fear of assuming responsibility. If the party does not want to win, I don't want to lead them. That wouldn't interest me. I'm not ready to settle for a permanent posture of complaint."
When she entered politics, Jean-Marie Le Pen's youngest daughter was a large and somewhat lumbering woman. She looked like Stephen Fry in drag. Ten years later, as she prepares to replace her father, 42-year-old Marine is slender, elegant and tanned. She wears a grey jacket, a grey blouse, tight blue jeans and high heels. Her supporters hope – and her enemies inside and outside the party fear – that she will achieve an equally startling transformation (or, in French, un re-looking radical) of the National Front.
Alain Duhamel, France's shrewdest political commentator, says: "Marine is just as demagogic as her father and even more dangerous. Jean-Marie Le Pen wanted only to be a player, to be noticed, to show off. Marine Le Pen wants to win and to rule."
Her 82-year-old father will retire as president of the National Front in January. A party conference will choose his successor from a short-list of two. The candidates are his bookish, grey, unreconstructed, hard-line deputy, Bruno Gollnisch, 60, and the youngest of his three, daughters, Marion Anne Perrine Le Pen, always known as "Marine". Jean-Marie, the founder and colossus of the party, has already made it known that he thinks that Marine will, and should, win.
Nicolas Sarkozy, who won the French Presidency in 2007 partly by reclaiming votes from the NF, is worried. His decision in July to make a theatrical link between foreigners and crime by declaring war on Roma immigrants from eastern Europe is admitted in the Elysée Palace to be part of an "anti-Marine" strategy.
But is her drive to "sweep away misconceptions" about theNF not, de facto, an attack on her dear old dad? She says that the media "demonised" the NF. But what about Jean-Marie Le Pen's own extremist statements over the years? (Too many black players in the France football team; immigration is a Jewish-led conspiracy to destroy France.)
That was then, she says. This is now. "It's true that, 30 years ago, Jean-Marie Le Pen maybe used a few provocative remarks to make himself heard when the political and media classes would give no space to our ideas. There is no need to use such methods today because, in so many areas, the facts have proved that the National Front was right. On uncontrolled immigration. On the EU. On globalisation. On ultra-capitalism. Even President Sarkozy seems to agree with us on a number of subjects. We are now in a position where we can offer solutions, not just try to convince people that we have identified the right problems. That changes everything."
Marine Le Pen believes that not only in France, but all across Europe, the time is right for a less histrionic, more pragmatic form of populist nationalism. This would be anti-immigration but "not racist"; anti-EU but not anti-European; anti-globalisation but not anti-market. Every country is different, she says (as a good nationalist should) but the rise of Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and Gianfranco Fini in Italy and a middle class, populist right in Flanders, all point in the same direction.
"In many European countries, there is a growing tide of anxiety driven by uncontrolled immigration, globalisation and the rules of the EU," she says. "People feel pushed around, threatened with losing their identity, their traditions and their jobs."
In her quest to modernise, and "de-demonise" the Front, she says wants to "abolish a number of ambiguities linked to our past". What does she mean? "I will give you an example. People say we are a free-market party. Yes, we believe in free-enterprise but we are not an ultra-capitalist party. We believe in frontiers. We also believe that the state should have a strategic role in the economy. We fight against 'ultra-liberalism', which we consider to be a totalitarian system which insists on the free movement of people, goods and capital, something we reject." In American terms, she says, the NF, is not a right-wing party. It is certainly much less right wing, she says, than the Tea Party movement, which distrusts all government and hates all taxes.
OK, d'accord, lets consider another "ambiguity". Marine Le Pen insists that she is not a racist, that France is "not a racist country" and that the NF was "never a racist party". Why then, I asked, did she tell her first campaign meeting in the Var in southern France that all the other parties wanted to "Islamise" France and that they had plans to introduce "sharia law" into the country? How could a country which is about to ban the burka be said to be preparing to live under sharia law? In any case, France now has large black, brown and Islamic communities. Many of them are French citizens, born in France. Like it or not, multi-culturalism is a fact of French life.
Marine became a little heated for the first time. "We are are in a trial of strength between Islam and the secular values of the French republic, an insidious trial of strength and one that we are losing," she said. How so? The signs are all around us, she said. Her evidence scarcely seems overwhelming.
Several swimming pools have allowed women's-only times for Muslim bathers; 22 Quick burger restaurants (out of many hundreds) now sell only halal meat; pork has been taken off the menu in some schools, and a few streets are occasionally blocked to allow Muslims to pray in the open air.
"You say to me that a multi-cultural country can live in peace," she said. "I don't think that can ever happen. Anywhere that communities with different cultures have tried to live together in the same territory, we have had tragedies, we have had conflicts."
Marine is distrusted by many within the NF, a disparate coalition of mutually suspicious tribes from die-hard patriots, to Catholic fundamentalists, to pagan nature-worshippers. Her support for abortion and the rights of homosexuals angers social conservatives. Her arguments for the "secular values" of the French Republic irritate the fundamentalist Catholics.
Marine says she knows that she is not to everyone's taste in the party but she does not care. "That's the beauty of this [internal] election," she said. "It gives me the chance to be very clear about what I stand for. I don't want to seduce the National Front. I want to convince it. For nine years now I have been defending our values to my own music. Lots of factors, the polls, the anxiety within [President Sarkozy's centre-right party] the UMP [Union pour un Mouvement Populaure] suggest that I am the person best placed to take the Front's ideas as far as they can be taken."
On the door of her office are photographs of three beautiful children. She says, proudly, that she had them "all in one year", 11-year-old twins and a 12-year-old daughter, Jehanne, the original spelling for Joan of Arc. Marine has twice been married and twice divorced. Her parents divorced, spectacularly, when she was 19. She is a lawyer, a Euro MP and a town councillor in Hénin-Beaumont, near Lille in northern France.
A recent poll in the Nouvel Observateur magazine suggested that Marine would come third with 13 per cent of the vote in the first round of a presidential election. This is not an extraordinary breakthrough but it is better (by five points) than her father was polling two years before he took 17 per cent of the vote in the 2002 presidential election and reached the two-candidate run-off.
Marine says that a spectre is haunting Mr Sarkozy's UMP. What really worries them, she says, is that she will come ahead of Mr Sarkozy in 2012 and go into the second round against a candidate of the left. "In 2002, all the left-wing voters turned out to vote for Chirac in the second round and against my father. Faced with the same choice, would the great majority of UMP voters cast ballots for the left and not for me? I don't think they would. And many people in the UMP don't think they would."
During an hour of polite probing and pushing, Marine remained resolutely on-message. Only occasionally did she stray beyond what might have been repeated by a Conservative Party right-winger or an editorial in the Daily Mail.
But she did make one startling declaration. Seventy years ago, she said, she would have been on the side of Charles de Gaulle and les résistants". She would not have been on the side of Marshal Philippe Pétain and Vichy. This may seem like a banal statement. In the context of the tribal, history-soaked politics of France – and especially of the National Front – it is a striking declaration of who Marine Le Pen thinks she is. Or at least who she wants people to think she is.
Vichy-sympathisers, people who believe that Marshal Petain was a hero, not a Nazi collaborator, in 1940-44, are one of the many tribes of the NF. Jean-Marie Le Pen has always been morbidly obsessed by the Second World War. (The gas ovens, he famously said, were only a "detail" of history, and the occupying Germans behaved "on the whole correctly" in France.)
As far as I know, no one has ever publicly asked Marine a question about the war. So I asked her. Twice. She did not specifically repudiate Marshal Petain as a traitor but she did eventually say: "Many French people resisted. They were right to do so. They were only a minority. That doesn't mean that all the rest were collaborators. Most were neither. But my instinct would have been to be on the side of the Resistance."
So there it is. Marine Le Pen would have been wearing a beret and a trench-coat and planting bombs under German troop trains in 1940-44. Her statement will anger many Vichy sentimentalists within the NF Front. It remains to be seen, when (not if) she is elected, whether she can hold the disparate clans of the NF together.
Marine believes that she can put the nationalist-patriotic, anti-European, anti-immigration, anti-globalisation argument in ways that appeal to previously moderate voters of both the right and left. She believes that the populist far right (a term she rejects) can finally be on the right side of history. With President Sarkozy floundering and the French centre-left still muddled, in 2012 she could be a very dangerous opponent indeed.
The Independant
Sunday, 12 September 2010
Wilders' New York speech passes off without incident
In his address, Wilders drew a connection between New York and its Dutch roots. 'No mosque here,' he said. 'For their sakes, we must draw the line. So that New York, rooted in Dutch tolerance, will never become New Mecca'
Deviating from his written script, Wilders attacked the imam behind the cultural centre for his 'crazy and idiotic remarks'.
'The west has never harmed Islam before Islam has harmed us, over and over gain, for centuries,' he said.
Wilders also quoted US president Abraham Lincoln saying: 'those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.'
The rally's organisers claimed 40,000 people had packed in to the area close to Ground Zero to hear Wilders and other conservative US speakers.
Although few people in New York have heard of him, Dutch politicians awaited Wilders's speech because of its implications for the ongoing formation talks.
Coalition
His party, the PVV, is involved in negotiations on forming a new right-wing government with the VVD Liberals and Christian Democrats.
Wilders has already said he feels free to say whatever he likes about Islam, despite his association with the possible next government.
And the three parties agreed to 'respect' each others' position on Islam before sitting round the negotiating table.
Nevertheless, there were fears that Wilders' appearance could damage the discussions - particularly because the PVV leader is seen by some as a representative of the Netherlands.
Candidate prime minister
Caretaker foreign minister Maxime Verhagen stressed after the speech that Wilders was speaking personally. Like the US government, the Dutch government respects the right of everyone to chose their own religion, he said.
VVD leader Mark Rutte did not comment on the speech.
Alexander Pechtold, leader of the Liberal democrats D66 and a vocal Wilders' critic, said earlier he felt VVD leader Mark Rutte should comment on Wilders' performance because Rutte is 'candidate prime minister'.
'On the eve of the the next step in Wilders' domination of Dutch politics, the completion of his marionette cabinet, he is going international,' Pechtold said. 'Not as a minister of foreign affairs but as as a speaker in a planning issue in New York.'
According to a Maurice de Hond poll, 20% of Dutch voters support Wilders' appearance in New York, 39% are opposed and 41% are neutral.
In The Hague, up to 150 people gathered in the city centre to demonstrate against Wilders' appearance at the New York protests.
Hirsi Ali
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the anti-Islam campaigner and former Somali refugee turned Dutch politician who now now works in the US, said she felt Wilders should have stayed in the Netherlands.
'If I was Wilders I would have been at the negotiating table,' the Telegraaf quoted her as saying.
In the Netherlands, Wilders has called for a ban on new mosques, the closure of Islamic schools and a tax on headscarves worn by Muslim women
To read the full speech please click Here.
Dutch News
‘We are not and never will be at war with Islam’
Shortly before the start of ceremonies in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania to remember the day nearly 3000 people lost their lives, Florida Pastor Terry Jones confirmed he had backed off his threat to burn copies of the Koran.
News of the plan continued to outrage Muslims around the world yesterday, triggering outbreaks of violence in Afghanistan where demonstrators took to the streets in the northeast of the country for a second day.
President Barack Obama had warned that the burning of the Koran could harm America’s image abroad, endanger lives and act as a recruiting tool for al Qaeda. Obama told a memorial service in Washington that those who attacked the country with hijacked planes on September 11, 2001, had tried to deprive Americans of their ideals.
“They may seek to spark conflict between different faiths, but as Americans we are not and will never be at war with Islam. It was not a religion that attacked us that September day, it was al Qaeda – a sorry band of men which perverts religion,” he said.
As Obama spoke at the Pentagon, family and friends of those who died in the New York attacks placed flowers in a pool at the site. The names of the 2752 World Trade Centre victims were read out in alphabetical order during the ceremony.
In lower Manhattan, hundreds of supporters of the mosque project, which organisers say is intended to build bridges between communities, called for religious tolerance and brandished placards saying “Your bigotry and hatred is a national security risk” or “the attack on Islam is racism”.
Herald Scotland
France condemns Castro Roma 'holocaust' remark
France says comments by former Cuban leader Fidel Castro about its treatment of Roma migrants are unacceptable and show his ignorance of history.
Mr Castro accused Paris of carrying out a "racial holocaust" over its expulsion of members of the Roma community.
France has come under increasing international criticism after about 1,000 Roma were deported recently.
The European Parliament has urged the government to halt the deportations - a call rejected by Paris.
"The use of 'holocaust' by Mr Castro demonstrates his ignorance of history and disdain towards its victims," said French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero. "Such words are unacceptable."
In a clear reference to Cuba's treatment of dissidents, Mr Valero added: "That Fidel Castro shows an interest in human rights is truly revolutionary."
French irritation
Mr Castro, 84, made his controversial remark at an event in Havana to promote the second volume of his autobiography.
"The last thing one would expect is the news of the expulsion of French gypsies, who are victims of the cruelty of the extreme right wing in France," he said.
Migrants were, he said, "victims of another kind of racial holocaust".
Fidel Castro's words have clearly angered the French government, the BBC's David Chazan reports from Paris.
It has been irritated by international condemnation of its treatment of the Roma and comparisons with the round-ups of Jews under the Nazi occupation.
It says it is scrupulously observing French laws and European regulations.
Since Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, many Roma have come to France.
But the government has blamed them for a rise in crime and violence and says they cannot stay in France without jobs.
BBC News
Mr Castro accused Paris of carrying out a "racial holocaust" over its expulsion of members of the Roma community.
France has come under increasing international criticism after about 1,000 Roma were deported recently.
The European Parliament has urged the government to halt the deportations - a call rejected by Paris.
"The use of 'holocaust' by Mr Castro demonstrates his ignorance of history and disdain towards its victims," said French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero. "Such words are unacceptable."
In a clear reference to Cuba's treatment of dissidents, Mr Valero added: "That Fidel Castro shows an interest in human rights is truly revolutionary."
French irritation
Mr Castro, 84, made his controversial remark at an event in Havana to promote the second volume of his autobiography.
"The last thing one would expect is the news of the expulsion of French gypsies, who are victims of the cruelty of the extreme right wing in France," he said.
Migrants were, he said, "victims of another kind of racial holocaust".
Fidel Castro's words have clearly angered the French government, the BBC's David Chazan reports from Paris.
It has been irritated by international condemnation of its treatment of the Roma and comparisons with the round-ups of Jews under the Nazi occupation.
It says it is scrupulously observing French laws and European regulations.
Since Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, many Roma have come to France.
But the government has blamed them for a rise in crime and violence and says they cannot stay in France without jobs.
BBC News
Some neo-Nazi webpages heroizing Slovak shooter (Czech Rep)
The crimes of Ľubomír Harman, who shot seven people and then committed suicide last week in the Devínská Nová Ves quarter of Bratislava, seem to have prompted other emotions in the Czech Republic and Slovakia besides condemnation and horror. The shooter is starting to acquire fans, especially on neo-Nazi and nationalist internet forums. The weekly “Plus 7 dní” reports that while the motive for Harman’s shooting spree is unknown the authors of many articles on the web are claiming he wanted to settle scores with his allegedly problematic neighbors because police were unable to.
The victims of the shooting were six members of a single family. Two of them were of Roma origin. In the aftermath of the tragedy, media speculated that the unemployed man’s motivation had been racism. The theory has also surfaced that the shooter committed the murders because of disputes with his neighbors. Police have reported that the family, who were neighbors of the man who murdered them, led a busy social life.
Police have not reported any motive for the shooting and their representatives admit they may never succeed in discovering the murderer’s motivation. The seventh victim was a woman whom Harman evidently hit randomly while shooting up an adjacent housing unit.
"It is clear that when we put all these factors into the equation, we find the solution: The murderer wanted to rid his building of a problematic family. He has inscribed himself into the annals of history as a controversial figure, but for many of us he is a hero – what’s more, he died in battle with representatives of the system (the police), who bear their share of responsibility for the entire situation,” the authors of an article on one of the neo-Nazi web pages write.
An article on the nationalist web forum Prop also pleads Harman’s case. "As can be seen from the emotional reactions of many people, they are sick of multiculturalism and it seems that if Ľubomír Harman had not shot others in addition to the main target, he would have been celebrated by many as a hero," a contribution on this web page reads. The weekly “Plus 7 dní” points out that many Facebook pages are lauding Harman’s behavior.
As news server Romea.cz determined, one such Facebook group has been founded by someone under the name Jerry O'Thomas, whose profile includes photos of the logo of the Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS). Other members of this Facebook group are being recruited from the promoters and even members of the DSSS. One member is Iveta Machová, who ran in fifth place on the DSSS ticket in the Moravian-Silesian region for the Czech lower house. Another member of the group is the “fragile” DSSS girl Lucie Šlégrová, who is also Vice Chair of the Workers’ Youth. After news server Romea.cz reported on the existence of this Facebook group on the afternoon of Thursday, 9 September 2010, its author removed it for a short while, but as of Saturday 11 September the group is again completely operational with more than 130 members.
“Plus 7 dní” reports many neo-Nazis are doing their best to learn where the shooter will be buried. The weekly points out that the place of his final rest might become a rallying point for neo-Nazi and racist groups. However, the media have reported that Harman will evidently be buried secretly.
Harman, who was a member of sport shooting club, shot his victims with a machine gun. Possession of such a weapon in Slovakia is legal only if it has been modified to fire single rounds, but Slovak Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic said in an interview that preliminary information shows the machine gun shot multiple rounds. The Slovak Interior Ministry announced new restrictions on weapons possession rules after the massacre.
Romea.Cz
The victims of the shooting were six members of a single family. Two of them were of Roma origin. In the aftermath of the tragedy, media speculated that the unemployed man’s motivation had been racism. The theory has also surfaced that the shooter committed the murders because of disputes with his neighbors. Police have reported that the family, who were neighbors of the man who murdered them, led a busy social life.
Police have not reported any motive for the shooting and their representatives admit they may never succeed in discovering the murderer’s motivation. The seventh victim was a woman whom Harman evidently hit randomly while shooting up an adjacent housing unit.
"It is clear that when we put all these factors into the equation, we find the solution: The murderer wanted to rid his building of a problematic family. He has inscribed himself into the annals of history as a controversial figure, but for many of us he is a hero – what’s more, he died in battle with representatives of the system (the police), who bear their share of responsibility for the entire situation,” the authors of an article on one of the neo-Nazi web pages write.
An article on the nationalist web forum Prop also pleads Harman’s case. "As can be seen from the emotional reactions of many people, they are sick of multiculturalism and it seems that if Ľubomír Harman had not shot others in addition to the main target, he would have been celebrated by many as a hero," a contribution on this web page reads. The weekly “Plus 7 dní” points out that many Facebook pages are lauding Harman’s behavior.
As news server Romea.cz determined, one such Facebook group has been founded by someone under the name Jerry O'Thomas, whose profile includes photos of the logo of the Workers’ Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS). Other members of this Facebook group are being recruited from the promoters and even members of the DSSS. One member is Iveta Machová, who ran in fifth place on the DSSS ticket in the Moravian-Silesian region for the Czech lower house. Another member of the group is the “fragile” DSSS girl Lucie Šlégrová, who is also Vice Chair of the Workers’ Youth. After news server Romea.cz reported on the existence of this Facebook group on the afternoon of Thursday, 9 September 2010, its author removed it for a short while, but as of Saturday 11 September the group is again completely operational with more than 130 members.
“Plus 7 dní” reports many neo-Nazis are doing their best to learn where the shooter will be buried. The weekly points out that the place of his final rest might become a rallying point for neo-Nazi and racist groups. However, the media have reported that Harman will evidently be buried secretly.
Harman, who was a member of sport shooting club, shot his victims with a machine gun. Possession of such a weapon in Slovakia is legal only if it has been modified to fire single rounds, but Slovak Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic said in an interview that preliminary information shows the machine gun shot multiple rounds. The Slovak Interior Ministry announced new restrictions on weapons possession rules after the massacre.
Romea.Cz
Leicestershire police and city council may ban English Defence League demo
 |
| Theresa May |
Senior officers at Leicestershire police and Leicester City Council are considering asking Home Secretary Theresa May to prohibit a march it is believed the group is aiming to stage next month.
The English Defence League (EDL), which says it is opposed to Islamic extremism, has said it intends to hold a demonstration in Leicester on Saturday, October 9.
Crucially, it has not said whether it intends to stage a march through the city or a static demonstration.
To obtain permission to march, it must formally apply to the authorities to agree a route and timing.
The Home Secretary can step in to ban marches, if there is a credible threat of violence and disorder but only following a request by a council and police force.
However, neither the police nor the Home Secretary have any power to ban static demonstrations. But conditions can be imposed to control the location, size and duration of a demonstration.
The EDL, whose critics accuse of using violent tactics during recent protests in Bradford and Nottingham, did not respond to a request by the Mercury yesterday for it to clarify its plans.
Leicester City Council also said yesterday it had nothing to add to a statement it issued earlier this week in which it confirmed it was holding discussions with senior police officers.
Councillor Mohammed Dawood, the city council's cabinet member for community cohesion, said the council and police would follow the correct legal procedures if the EDL confirmed its intention to march.
He said: "The EDL has held protests in other cities and there always seems to be public order issues.
"Leicester is a strong city and it will overcome this if the EDL does come here."
Patrick Kitterick, whose Castle ward includes the city centre, said: "There is always a balance to be struck between civil liberties but my feeling is the EDL is not welcome in Leicester."
The Leicester Multicultural Advisory Group, an informal group of community leaders, police officers and city council representatives, will discuss the EDL demonstration today.
The Leicestershire Federation of Muslim Organisations, which represents most of the mosques in the city and county, yesterday said the EDL's presence could cause tensions.
This is Leicestershire
EDL and Muslim against Crusades clash at US Embassy in London
Groups from the EDL and the Muslim Against Crusades clashed as they recognised the 9/11 attacks in London.
The English Defence League held a march of a few hundred people remembering the 9/11 attacks outside the US Embassy by the laying of a wreath. They continued to march to the Saudi Arabian Embassy and shouted the usual anti-Muslim chants.
Later outside the US Embassy a similar sized group from the Muslim Against Crusades, including Anjem Choudary demonstrated forcefully with much anti-Western, pro-extreme Islamic rhetoric. This was followed by the burning of the US and UK flag, as well as a photograph of Pastor Terry Jones.
The EDL returned to the US Embassy to protest against the Muslim Against Crusades prescence, and apart from a few minor scuffles and tension this finished relatively peacefully.
This was one of the few times that the EDL have come close to the focus of their hatred, and on this occasion their voice and prescence had little consequence.
Demotix
The English Defence League held a march of a few hundred people remembering the 9/11 attacks outside the US Embassy by the laying of a wreath. They continued to march to the Saudi Arabian Embassy and shouted the usual anti-Muslim chants.
Later outside the US Embassy a similar sized group from the Muslim Against Crusades, including Anjem Choudary demonstrated forcefully with much anti-Western, pro-extreme Islamic rhetoric. This was followed by the burning of the US and UK flag, as well as a photograph of Pastor Terry Jones.
The EDL returned to the US Embassy to protest against the Muslim Against Crusades prescence, and apart from a few minor scuffles and tension this finished relatively peacefully.
This was one of the few times that the EDL have come close to the focus of their hatred, and on this occasion their voice and prescence had little consequence.
Demotix
Windsor law dean candidate alleges racism (Canada)
A law professor is asking the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to force the University of Windsor to appoint her dean of law, after her candidacy was spoiled by accusations of plagiarism and, she claims, racism and sexism.
Emily Carasco, a one-time NDP candidate who teaches family and immigration law at the university, is also seeking payments for “injury to dignity” of $60,000 from the school, and $15,000 from her colleague who raised the accusation, hate-speech expert Richard Moon.
In her complaint to the HRTO, Prof. Carasco alleges that Prof. Moon “sabotaged” her candidacy in a “personal attack,” with “overblown, hearsay-based allegations of plagiarism,” which the school used as a “convenient pretext” to reject her candidacy with “indecent haste.” All of this, she alleges, was motivated by racism and sexism, and the school’s refusal to accept a woman of colour as a leader.
She claims the school found her “threatening” because of her intentions to “do more than pay lip service to equity” by addressing the “distinct contrast” between the diverse student population and the “white male leadership.”
Her complaint includes a list of all Windsor Law deans back to 1967, of which she says only one was not a white man and she left the post early.
“The University and Faculty of Law leadership remain in the hands of white males,” Prof. Carasco claims, creating a “culture of privilege which white men expect to have continue, and will defend with impunity.”
She claims the alleged sexism and racism behind her rejection is “particularly hard to swallow in a context where I am surrounded by individuals who claim that they understand and live by the values that underlie human rights law.”
The school, now without a law dean since July, has started a new search, which Prof. Carasco is asking the HRTO to block until her complaint is resolved.
Most unusual, though, is her request for an order appointing her dean for a five-year, renewable term, which is likely beyond the tribunal’s practical power.
Prof. Carasco was one of two people on a short list created by the law school’s search committee, which included a judge, a member of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, visible minorities and women, including the chair, Kathleen McCrone. After months of interviews and debate beginning last year, the committee recommended neither candidate, forcing the school to start fresh.
The other failed candidate, lawyer Scott Fairley, said the process seemed to him rigorous and fair, with no sign of racism. He said the process was “structurally very transparent and very public, almost to the point of paralysis.”
“The only odd thing was the committee choked at the end,” he said. “This was a hugely expensive and time-consuming process, and the university was left with nothing at the end.”
The scandal began in March, near the scheduled end of the search process, when Prof. Moon, who was not on the search committee, contacted the chair to describe a “very serious” accusation of plagiarism in a 2006 book co-authored by Prof. Carasco called Immigration and Refugee Law: Cases, Materials and Commentary, parts of which had to be recalled from the publisher and rewritten by another co-author.
Prof. Moon, a constitutional law scholar at the University of Windsor, is best known for his 2008 report to the Canadian Human Rights Commission recommending the end of its hate speech mandate.
His note suggested the committee seek out the original chapters to see for themselves the “sources that were not properly referenced,” according to Prof. Carasco’s complaint.
One of Prof. Carasco’s co-authors on the book was Prof. Moon’s wife, University of Toronto law professor Audrey Macklin, a prominent advocate for Omar Khadr.
“Professor Moon’s reasons for making these spurious allegations at the eleventh hour are highly suspicious,” Prof. Carasco wrote, given that he heard them from Prof. Macklin long ago. “[H]e raised them at a time and in a manner that would do maximum damage to my reputation and candidacy.”
Prof. Carasco’s explanation of the alleged plagiarism was that another co-author raised it over email while she was overseas, and that she consented to have him rewrite parts of her chapter.
This co-author, University of Victoria law professor Donald Galloway, “made substantial alterations to the galley proofs of my chapter, removing my material outlining the history of racism in Canada’s immigration policy.” She said her own recent review of this episode “disclosed no problems” and showed she in fact made “voluminous attributions” to the author of the allegedly plagiarized passages, Ottawa journalist Valerie Knowles, who has written two histories of Canadian immigration.
Prof. Carasco said she was the only person of colour among the four co-authors, and now believes that Prof. Galloway’s “focus on the attribution issue” was an excuse for him to “remove material on racism which he believed should not have been included.”
Prof. Galloway could not be reached on Thursday.
Prof. Moon’s lawyer, Freya Kristjanson, denied the allegations of racism and sexism, and said his client raised his concerns in the appropriate manner, “motivated by genuine concern for academic integrity.”
University of Windsor spokeswoman Holly Ward said the allegations are a surprise, and are taken very seriously. She said the school has hired lawyer Raj Anand, a former chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, to prepare a response.
The call for applicants said the new dean should be a “distinguished academic” with administrative experience. It also expressed the school’s openness to candidates from “traditionally marginalized groups.”
Prof. Carasco, who was born in Bombay and grew up in Uganda, studied law at Makerere University in Kampala, then fled as a refugee in 1972, shortly after dictator Idi Amin took power. She has two degrees from Harvard Law School and has been a Canadian citizen since 1983.
She ran for the federal NDP in 1993 against Liberal veteran Herb Gray, and has served on Ontario’s Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee. One newsworthy episode in her past role as human rights commissioner for the University of Windsor — and author of the school’s human rights policy — involved her vowing to punish whoever was responsible for a poster that showed a faculty member’s face superimposed on a picture of Adolf Hitler.
The National Post
Emily Carasco, a one-time NDP candidate who teaches family and immigration law at the university, is also seeking payments for “injury to dignity” of $60,000 from the school, and $15,000 from her colleague who raised the accusation, hate-speech expert Richard Moon.
In her complaint to the HRTO, Prof. Carasco alleges that Prof. Moon “sabotaged” her candidacy in a “personal attack,” with “overblown, hearsay-based allegations of plagiarism,” which the school used as a “convenient pretext” to reject her candidacy with “indecent haste.” All of this, she alleges, was motivated by racism and sexism, and the school’s refusal to accept a woman of colour as a leader.
She claims the school found her “threatening” because of her intentions to “do more than pay lip service to equity” by addressing the “distinct contrast” between the diverse student population and the “white male leadership.”
Her complaint includes a list of all Windsor Law deans back to 1967, of which she says only one was not a white man and she left the post early.
“The University and Faculty of Law leadership remain in the hands of white males,” Prof. Carasco claims, creating a “culture of privilege which white men expect to have continue, and will defend with impunity.”
She claims the alleged sexism and racism behind her rejection is “particularly hard to swallow in a context where I am surrounded by individuals who claim that they understand and live by the values that underlie human rights law.”
The school, now without a law dean since July, has started a new search, which Prof. Carasco is asking the HRTO to block until her complaint is resolved.
Most unusual, though, is her request for an order appointing her dean for a five-year, renewable term, which is likely beyond the tribunal’s practical power.
Prof. Carasco was one of two people on a short list created by the law school’s search committee, which included a judge, a member of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, visible minorities and women, including the chair, Kathleen McCrone. After months of interviews and debate beginning last year, the committee recommended neither candidate, forcing the school to start fresh.
The other failed candidate, lawyer Scott Fairley, said the process seemed to him rigorous and fair, with no sign of racism. He said the process was “structurally very transparent and very public, almost to the point of paralysis.”
“The only odd thing was the committee choked at the end,” he said. “This was a hugely expensive and time-consuming process, and the university was left with nothing at the end.”
The scandal began in March, near the scheduled end of the search process, when Prof. Moon, who was not on the search committee, contacted the chair to describe a “very serious” accusation of plagiarism in a 2006 book co-authored by Prof. Carasco called Immigration and Refugee Law: Cases, Materials and Commentary, parts of which had to be recalled from the publisher and rewritten by another co-author.
Prof. Moon, a constitutional law scholar at the University of Windsor, is best known for his 2008 report to the Canadian Human Rights Commission recommending the end of its hate speech mandate.
His note suggested the committee seek out the original chapters to see for themselves the “sources that were not properly referenced,” according to Prof. Carasco’s complaint.
One of Prof. Carasco’s co-authors on the book was Prof. Moon’s wife, University of Toronto law professor Audrey Macklin, a prominent advocate for Omar Khadr.
“Professor Moon’s reasons for making these spurious allegations at the eleventh hour are highly suspicious,” Prof. Carasco wrote, given that he heard them from Prof. Macklin long ago. “[H]e raised them at a time and in a manner that would do maximum damage to my reputation and candidacy.”
Prof. Carasco’s explanation of the alleged plagiarism was that another co-author raised it over email while she was overseas, and that she consented to have him rewrite parts of her chapter.
This co-author, University of Victoria law professor Donald Galloway, “made substantial alterations to the galley proofs of my chapter, removing my material outlining the history of racism in Canada’s immigration policy.” She said her own recent review of this episode “disclosed no problems” and showed she in fact made “voluminous attributions” to the author of the allegedly plagiarized passages, Ottawa journalist Valerie Knowles, who has written two histories of Canadian immigration.
Prof. Carasco said she was the only person of colour among the four co-authors, and now believes that Prof. Galloway’s “focus on the attribution issue” was an excuse for him to “remove material on racism which he believed should not have been included.”
Prof. Galloway could not be reached on Thursday.
Prof. Moon’s lawyer, Freya Kristjanson, denied the allegations of racism and sexism, and said his client raised his concerns in the appropriate manner, “motivated by genuine concern for academic integrity.”
University of Windsor spokeswoman Holly Ward said the allegations are a surprise, and are taken very seriously. She said the school has hired lawyer Raj Anand, a former chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, to prepare a response.
The call for applicants said the new dean should be a “distinguished academic” with administrative experience. It also expressed the school’s openness to candidates from “traditionally marginalized groups.”
Prof. Carasco, who was born in Bombay and grew up in Uganda, studied law at Makerere University in Kampala, then fled as a refugee in 1972, shortly after dictator Idi Amin took power. She has two degrees from Harvard Law School and has been a Canadian citizen since 1983.
She ran for the federal NDP in 1993 against Liberal veteran Herb Gray, and has served on Ontario’s Judicial Appointments Advisory Committee. One newsworthy episode in her past role as human rights commissioner for the University of Windsor — and author of the school’s human rights policy — involved her vowing to punish whoever was responsible for a poster that showed a faculty member’s face superimposed on a picture of Adolf Hitler.
The National Post
Saturday, 11 September 2010
LABOUR READY TO LAUNCH OFFENSIVE AGAINST 'WILDERS CABINET' (Netherlands)
The Labour party (PvdA) has accepted it will be in opposition and is planning a major offensive against the expected right-wing government, the Telegraaf reports on Friday, quoting an internal party document. According to the secret plan, entitled 'opposition strategy', Labour is to go all out on countering what it calls the 'Wilders cabinet'. The right-wing Liberals, Christian Democrats and anti-Islam PVV expect to resume their coalition negotiations next week.
Tensions
'It will be up to us to expose the tensions within this coalition and cause the cabinet problems,' the Telegraaf quotes the document as saying. The right-wing cabinet will have just 76 of the 150 seats in parliament and a number of CDA MPs are opposed to any alliance with Geert Wilders' PVV.
Voters
The document, which was discussed by MPs at a secret meeting last week, also outlines how the PvdA will mobilise voters against the right-wing cabinet. 'The right-wing policy of destruction will lead to a lot of opposition in society at large,' the document says. 'We will not be in opposition in The Hague alone, but in a close alliance with social movements, environmentalists, the elderly and youth organisations. We will actively look for those alliances.'
Dutch News
Tensions
'It will be up to us to expose the tensions within this coalition and cause the cabinet problems,' the Telegraaf quotes the document as saying. The right-wing cabinet will have just 76 of the 150 seats in parliament and a number of CDA MPs are opposed to any alliance with Geert Wilders' PVV.
Voters
The document, which was discussed by MPs at a secret meeting last week, also outlines how the PvdA will mobilise voters against the right-wing cabinet. 'The right-wing policy of destruction will lead to a lot of opposition in society at large,' the document says. 'We will not be in opposition in The Hague alone, but in a close alliance with social movements, environmentalists, the elderly and youth organisations. We will actively look for those alliances.'
Dutch News
PARENTS TO RECEIVE WELFARE ONLY IF CHILDREN ATTEND SCHOOL(Czech Rep.)
The Czech state wants to take away a part of welfare benefits from parents whose children do not attend school in order to improve education among Romanies. The new programme was presented by education and labour ministers, Josef Dobes (Public Affairs, VV) and Jaromir Drabek (TOP 09), in several places of the Usti region where a strong Romany community has been living. "Those who want support from the state must act responsibly," Drabek said. He said there is no need for big changes in laws because under the present legislation a number of welfare benefits may not be granted unless children regularly attend school. The ministers hope that higher education would help young Romanies find better jobs. Dobes said better education is the only way out of the current situation of Czech Romanies who suffer from high unemployment. He said many Romany children are placed into special schools for children with disabilities at the age of seven only because their command of Czech is not good enough. A child attending a special school has a markedly lower chance of being accepted to a secondary school. The new rules are to be introduced along with other measures that are to prevent welfare benefits from being misused, such as stricter checks and punishments of unregistered and untaxed incomes by the unemployed and a set number of hours of community work done by a person to be authorised to get unemployment benefits. Drabek admitted that it would be good to provide positive motivation for Romanies as well but he said the state did not have money to fund such a programme at present.
Prague Monitor
Prague Monitor
Police hate crime scheme extends to takeaways (UK)
An initiative to drive down hate crimes committed against taxi drivers and encouraging cabbies to report crime is to be extended to include takeaways and other fast foot outlets.
The campaign, launched in July, involved taxi firms across Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale being issued with window stickers and posters for cab officers, which encouraged victims to report hate crime and warned offenders that hostility and prejudice caused by a hatred of disability, gender, race, religion, belief or sexual orientation would not be tolerated.
Officers said it was so well received it is now going to be extended.
Det. Sgt Phil Turner, from Pennine Division's Hate Crime & Diversity team, said: "Hate crime of any description will not be tolerated in Pennine Division. It is simply not acceptable to abuse or hurt someone simply because of their race, sexual orientation or gender for example. All incidents reported to us are treated with utmost seriousness.
"That's why we're extending this campaign to encourage people to report incidents and discourage people from committing hate crime offences."
He concluded: "I would encourage anyone experiencing hate crime to act and report it. They can do this either via local police of if they prefer, via Stop Hate UK on 0800 138 1625."
Burnley Express
The campaign, launched in July, involved taxi firms across Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale being issued with window stickers and posters for cab officers, which encouraged victims to report hate crime and warned offenders that hostility and prejudice caused by a hatred of disability, gender, race, religion, belief or sexual orientation would not be tolerated.
Officers said it was so well received it is now going to be extended.
Det. Sgt Phil Turner, from Pennine Division's Hate Crime & Diversity team, said: "Hate crime of any description will not be tolerated in Pennine Division. It is simply not acceptable to abuse or hurt someone simply because of their race, sexual orientation or gender for example. All incidents reported to us are treated with utmost seriousness.
"That's why we're extending this campaign to encourage people to report incidents and discourage people from committing hate crime offences."
He concluded: "I would encourage anyone experiencing hate crime to act and report it. They can do this either via local police of if they prefer, via Stop Hate UK on 0800 138 1625."
Burnley Express
Police appeal after case of racist abuse (UK)
Police are appealing for witnesses and information after a group of women with young children were subjected to racist abuse in Stoke Gifford.
The incident happened between 3.20pm and 4.20pm in Mead Park, Hatchett Road on Tuesday, August 31.
A group of youths were also in the park and one of them was riding a mini motorcycle in a way that made the women worry about an accident with their children, so they called police.
A police community support officer attended and warned the youths about their use of the mini motorbike.
The women later reported hearing racist taunts.
A 19-year-old male has been arrested in connection with the incident and released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Anyone with any information that could help the police with their inquiries is asked to contact officers at Staple Hill police station on 0845 456 7000.
This is Bristol
The incident happened between 3.20pm and 4.20pm in Mead Park, Hatchett Road on Tuesday, August 31.
A group of youths were also in the park and one of them was riding a mini motorcycle in a way that made the women worry about an accident with their children, so they called police.
A police community support officer attended and warned the youths about their use of the mini motorbike.
The women later reported hearing racist taunts.
A 19-year-old male has been arrested in connection with the incident and released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Anyone with any information that could help the police with their inquiries is asked to contact officers at Staple Hill police station on 0845 456 7000.
This is Bristol
Friday, 10 September 2010
Race-row German banker quits post
Thilo Sarrazin, a board member of the Bundesbank, will leave his post at the end of this month.
He has said that Jews "share a particular gene" and has accused Muslims of failing to integrate.
Chancellor Angela Merkel was among several leaders who called for his removal from the board.
Mr Sarrazin, in his book entitled Germany Abolishes Itself, says that Muslim immigrants are a drain on German society.
"Most of the cultural and economic problems are concentrated in a group of the five to six million immigrants from Muslim countries," he stated in the book.
The issue has proved divisive in Germany, with right-wing groups claiming his views vindicate their own stances.
But advocates of improving integration say he has made it harder to hold an objective debate by polarising opinion and obscuring the facts.
Mrs Merkel's office said his controversial remarks were damaging the reputation of the Bundesbank.
And in a brief statement on Thursday, the Central Bank said: "With a view to the public discussions, both sides agreed to end their work together at the end of the month."
BBC News
French 'anti-Gypsy policy' denounced by European parliament
Liberal resolution with 337 majority rebukes Nicolas Sarkozy for deporting Roma and destroying their camps
Nicolas Sarkozy has been accused by the European parliament of stirring up racism through his anti-Gypsy campaign in a highly unusual vote against a leading EU country that has humiliated the centre-right dominating the politics of Europe.
A parliament resolution denouncing the French government's policy of deporting Roma families and demolishing their encampments was carried by a much bigger majority than expected – a vote of 337 to 245, bringing an uncommon victory for the centre-left and liberals in a chamber dominated by conservatives.
The resolution carried by the parliament also strongly criticised the European commission, which polices observance of European law, for appeasing the French and "failing to do its job".
The motion was proposed by social democrats, liberals, Greens and the hard left, and demanded an instant halt to the expulsions in France.
An opposing resolution from the centre-right European People's party, grouping Christian democrats and conservatives including Sarkozy's UMP, failed to criticise the French policy and was defeated.
Eric Besson, the French immigration minister, who was in Romania today pressing Bucharest to do more to integrate its large Roma/Gypsy minority, dismissed the parliament's attack. Paris would not bow to its "political diktat", he announced. "France has taken no specific measures against the Roma," he said.
Last month French police expelled 977 Roma, mostly to Romania, and demolished 128 camps, according to official French figures. The Gypsies from Romania are EU citizens and enjoy the right of freedom of movement in the union.
The French policy's contradictions were highlighted by the case of three Roma from Romania expelled from northern France. They received a deportation order, crossed the border into Belgium, walked a few metres, then turned around and legally walked back into France under the watching eyes of a French official.
"This is to demonstrate the absurdity of French government policy on the Roma," said their lawyers, Clément Norbert and Antoine Berthe.
The European parliament resolution is non-binding, purely a verbal rebuke. But it represents a big blow to French prestige, not least because the parliament sits in France, in Strasbourg. It is rare for the parliament to single out a big founding member of the EU for such a reprimand.
The result of the vote was also a fiasco for the centre-right EPP, the strongest caucus in the parliament representing Angela Merkel's Christian democrats from Germany, Silvio Berlusconi's deputies from Italy and Sarkozy's own UMP MEPs.
The voting figures indicated that many conservatives are deeply uneasy about the French policies, which have also split the Sarkozy cabinet and been denounced by the UN and the Vatican and the United Nations.
The parliament said it was "deeply concerned at the inflammatory and openly discriminatory rhetoric that has characterised political discourse during the repatriations of Roma, lending credibility to racist statements and the actions of extreme rightwing groups".
It accused the European commission of doing too little too late in considering whether France was breaking EU freedom of movement laws and anti-discrimination rules. "This places the commission under renewed pressure to begin legal action against the French authorities for failing to respect the rule of law in the way it has been targeting the Roma as an ethnic group," said Claude Moraes, the Labour MEP who helped draft the resolution.
In Paris on Monday, the European commission chief, José Manuel Barroso, and Sarkozy reached a truce on the Roma row, agreeing to play the matter down. "I've avoided entering the debate about France because it is not my role," Barroso said. "The subject is extremely politicised." He added, in reference to Jean-Marie Le Pen's far-right National Front party: "It's a mistake to say that freedom of movement must be absolute. Doing that, you'll create plenty of Le Pens."
The Guardian
Nicolas Sarkozy has been accused by the European parliament of stirring up racism through his anti-Gypsy campaign in a highly unusual vote against a leading EU country that has humiliated the centre-right dominating the politics of Europe.
A parliament resolution denouncing the French government's policy of deporting Roma families and demolishing their encampments was carried by a much bigger majority than expected – a vote of 337 to 245, bringing an uncommon victory for the centre-left and liberals in a chamber dominated by conservatives.
The resolution carried by the parliament also strongly criticised the European commission, which polices observance of European law, for appeasing the French and "failing to do its job".
The motion was proposed by social democrats, liberals, Greens and the hard left, and demanded an instant halt to the expulsions in France.
An opposing resolution from the centre-right European People's party, grouping Christian democrats and conservatives including Sarkozy's UMP, failed to criticise the French policy and was defeated.
Eric Besson, the French immigration minister, who was in Romania today pressing Bucharest to do more to integrate its large Roma/Gypsy minority, dismissed the parliament's attack. Paris would not bow to its "political diktat", he announced. "France has taken no specific measures against the Roma," he said.
Last month French police expelled 977 Roma, mostly to Romania, and demolished 128 camps, according to official French figures. The Gypsies from Romania are EU citizens and enjoy the right of freedom of movement in the union.
The French policy's contradictions were highlighted by the case of three Roma from Romania expelled from northern France. They received a deportation order, crossed the border into Belgium, walked a few metres, then turned around and legally walked back into France under the watching eyes of a French official.
"This is to demonstrate the absurdity of French government policy on the Roma," said their lawyers, Clément Norbert and Antoine Berthe.
The European parliament resolution is non-binding, purely a verbal rebuke. But it represents a big blow to French prestige, not least because the parliament sits in France, in Strasbourg. It is rare for the parliament to single out a big founding member of the EU for such a reprimand.
The result of the vote was also a fiasco for the centre-right EPP, the strongest caucus in the parliament representing Angela Merkel's Christian democrats from Germany, Silvio Berlusconi's deputies from Italy and Sarkozy's own UMP MEPs.
The voting figures indicated that many conservatives are deeply uneasy about the French policies, which have also split the Sarkozy cabinet and been denounced by the UN and the Vatican and the United Nations.
The parliament said it was "deeply concerned at the inflammatory and openly discriminatory rhetoric that has characterised political discourse during the repatriations of Roma, lending credibility to racist statements and the actions of extreme rightwing groups".
It accused the European commission of doing too little too late in considering whether France was breaking EU freedom of movement laws and anti-discrimination rules. "This places the commission under renewed pressure to begin legal action against the French authorities for failing to respect the rule of law in the way it has been targeting the Roma as an ethnic group," said Claude Moraes, the Labour MEP who helped draft the resolution.
In Paris on Monday, the European commission chief, José Manuel Barroso, and Sarkozy reached a truce on the Roma row, agreeing to play the matter down. "I've avoided entering the debate about France because it is not my role," Barroso said. "The subject is extremely politicised." He added, in reference to Jean-Marie Le Pen's far-right National Front party: "It's a mistake to say that freedom of movement must be absolute. Doing that, you'll create plenty of Le Pens."
The Guardian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)