Polish campers vow to stay put despite racist attacks (UK)

They came to Edinburgh hoping to earn more money and build better lives for themselves. But four Polish friends have told how they instead ended up living in a tent at the side of the road and fell victim to racist thugs.

After pitching up the tent a month ago in woods on Orchard Brae, their makeshift home has now come under a string of attacks. Youths have repeatedly trashed the campsite, stealing their belongings, and cutting holes and daubing racist graffiti on the tent.

But incredibly, the friends have all pledged to stay in the Capital despite their difficulties in finding jobs and the persistent harassment.

One of the campers, Dariusz Serafinski, who moved to Edinburgh from Poland seven months ago, said: "When I first came to Edinburgh, I was staying at the home of my friend's uncle while I looked for work. But it has taken so long and been so difficult that last month myself and three friends decided to pool our benefits and scrape together enough money to buy a five-man tent while we kept looking.

"The police knew about us living here and they said we were not breaking the law and could stay as long as we want.

"When I was in Warsaw, I decided I wanted to move out from my parent's house and strike out on my own. I was wondering where to go and a friend of mine said Edinburgh was really lovely and the people were very friendly.

"I can't understand how difficult it has been to get work, though. There seems to be a lot of jobs out there. It is not easy, but we'll keep trying."

The 25-year-old has been living rough with his friends, three men aged, 25, 30 and 35, while sending out hundreds of CVs to firms, and visiting the Job Centre two or three times a week to search for vacancies.

The thugs have targeted their campsite on five occasions, including pulling down their tent and wrecking their belongings.Mr Serafinski said: "We spend most of the day going from place to place to put in job applications. That means we can't always have someone staying at the tent to make sure it is not vandalised.

"We repaired the holes in our tent with tape but they returned on Thursday and set about destroying our belongings yet again. This time they spread litter and food all over the inside of the tent, and put most of our belongings in the middle of the tent and squirted tomato ketchup and mayonnaise all over our belongings.

"They wrote "Polish *****!" on the side of our tent with mayonnaise sauce, basically leaving our only shelter un-inhabitable."

He added: "We're not looking forward to the colder weather but we are prepared. Hopefully we may find somewhere else before then.
We still want to stay here and find jobs."

A police spokesman said: "Officers are investigating after a tent in Orchard Brae was vandalised with graffiti of a racist nature. Anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area is asked to contact police. Lothian and Borders Police treat all hate crime incidents as an operational priority ensuring that they are thoroughly investigated."

A council spokesman said racist attacks could not be condoned but encouraged the men to ask for help with accommodation, and added: "A range of services are provided by the council and their partners to ensure no one needs to sleep rough. In the first instance these young men should contact the council."

News.Scotsman

70 racism complaints against Kent Police (UK)

Almost 70 complaints of racism have been made against police in the county in the last three years.

The grievances since the start of 2008 range from racist jokes told at the station to an officer mimicking the accent of a complainant.

Five of the complaints resulted in misconduct hearings, with one officer resigning last year for being "a member of a group whose members made discriminatory comments".

Another faced a rap in the same year after bosses investigated claims he was "unjustifiably targeting black people for stop checks".

One officer didn't even wait for a misconduct hearing, resigning after it emerged they made discriminatory remarks while off-duty.

The majority of the 69 complaints alleged that the officer's actions "were due to the complainant's ethnicity".

Almost a quarter were "locally resolved", described by police as "a way of dealing with a complaint by solving, explaining, clearing up or settling the matter directly with the complainant".

A further 38 were discontinued, unsubstantiated, withdrawn or dispensed with, while seven - some going back to 2009 - are still classified as "live".

Officers in north Kent received the most complaints with 20 filed, while Medway followed in second with 16.

Mid Kent officers - covering Maidstone - had 14 complaints made against them and there were seven allegations against officers in west Kent.

South Kent police faced 11 complaints.

By Jow Walker at Kent Online

Public order arrests following Nuneaton Gurkha parade (EDL news)

Seven people have been arrested for public order offences following clashes after a parade in Warwickshire.

About 1,000 people watched the Queen's Gurkha Signals parade in Nuneaton on Sunday to mark the unit being given the Freedom of the borough.

The arrests happened when the English Defence League clashed with officers as they were ordered to disperse, police said.

The force is now studying CCTV footage as part of its investigation.

'Minor disorder'
Ch Insp Adrian Knight, from Warwickshire Police, said the Gurkha parade itself passed off without incident.

"Post parade there were several incidents of minor disorder which were dealt with," he said.

"Arrests were made but it was an appropriate and proportionate response from police."

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council awarded the Freedom of Entry to the regiment - the highest honour a council can award to a serving unit of the armed forces.

The Second Battalion, The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was presented with Freedom of Entry to the borough earlier this month.

BBC

Grahame Park Estate youngsters designing hate crime mural for peace week event (London, UK)

Youngsters from a range of backgrounds are designing a mural for the Grahame Park Estate to give an idea of what hate crime means to them.

The project being co-ordinated by the Colindale Safer Neighbourhoods policing team is being run for Peace Week.

On Saturday the group gathered on the estate for a talk about hate crime and what it means to their lives, and are now developing the mural.

The images, with the theme we are one peaceful community, will be painted onto a wall in the estate before a grand unveiling next month.

PC Paul Sparks from Barnet's diversity team, said: "This is an important event that enables youths from Barnet's less privileged areas to discuss how they are perceived by the police, adults and what hate crime means to them.”

Times Series

UK Home Office to ‘Rigorously’ Defend New Immigration Cap

The British Government Home Office has said that it will rigorously defend itself, against a High Court challenge over its temporary immigration cap.

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) said that the interim immigration cap brought about the Government in June was “disproportionate” and has asked judges to consider the policy as unlawful.

The JCWI also went on to claim that the government had “side-stepped” the proper parliamentary process when it brought in the policy, which will be implemented next year, the UK Independent reported.

A permanent yearly cap will follow the current interim cap on skilled migrants from outside the EU. The cap was brought in to prevent a “surge in applications” from skilled migrants from outside Europe. The latest official immigration figures show that more than 500,000 people came to the UK in 2008. Almost half of those were returning British nationals or EU citizens.

The Court of Appeal had earlier ruled that, the Home Secretary had acted unlawfully, with reference to changes made to the, now in question, points-based system without prior parliamentary agreement.

JCWI’s lawyer Shahram Taghavi, of Simons Muirhead and Burton, said he was “surprised to see that, despite that ruling, the Secretary of State has again sought to avoid parliamentary scrutiny on such an important change to British immigration laws, a change which, unusually, also impacts upon British businesses”.

He added: “The coalition Government has once again sought to rush through significant changes to the United Kingdom’s immigration laws while side-stepping proper parliamentary process.”

However, many businesses fear that the cap would stop them from hiring people to fill any vacancies during really high demand. Others voice out that it could have a bad to detrimental effect on higher education, which is reliant on income from foreign students, the BBC reported.

Habib Rahman, JCWI chief executive, said it was “very concerned about the immense damage the interim cap appears to already be doing to British businesses”.

“JCWI considers that the caps are a further attempt by the government to blame part of the financial difficulties the country finds itself in on migrants,” he further added.

But Immigration Minister, Damian Green, says he is committed to getting net migration back to levels of those incurred in the 1990s.

“We will rigorously defend this challenge and are confident of success, “he said.

The case is expected to come for hearing in October by the High Court.

A video report on this issue.




MAARS

THE ROMA'S STRUGGLE TO FIND A HOME

Another day, and another ram-shackle encampment where Roma once lived is gone. The scrap-wood shelters have been pushed to the ground. The tents, collapsed. The inhabitants, scattered. In Rome, the eviction of the Roma — a European minority sometimes referred to as Gypsies — is taking place with the full force of the law: military police, bulldozers, German shepherds. But, in contrast to the international firestorm over such evictions in France, Italy's have attracted little attention. Even as French President Nicolas Sarkozy tussled with the European Union over the repatriation of dozens of Roma to Romania (despite the name, Roma don't historically come from the country, although many live there), the mayor of Rome announced the demolition of his city's 200 illegal squatter camps, at a rate of three or four a week. This means another wave of expulsions for the Roma, who have faced similar efforts all over the country. Meanwhile, Italy's Interior Minister, Roberto Maroni, took to the airwaves and declared the country's Roma problem — and many here see it as a problem — "practically resolved." He added, "The controversy around Sarkozy's decision made me smile a little. For us, it's a movie we've already seen." The Roma and their camps have been present in Italy since the Middle Ages. But a steep rise in their numbers after Romania's entry into the E.U. raised tensions in a country where bigotry runs deep: in Italian, to call somebody a Gypsy is to call him a thief and a liar. At its height, Italy's Roma population more than doubled to somewhere around 160,000, many of them living in unregistered squats without running water, electricity or sanitation. And they are not welcome. In 2008, after a teenage Roma girl was caught in a Naples apartment allegedly trying to steal a baby, a mob burned down the nearest camp. The government declared a state of emergency and announced it would fingerprint the country's Roma and expel those who were there illegally. Objections from the E.U. halted the fingerprinting, but the censure stopped there.

If Italy managed to avoid the opprobrium being heaped on France, it's not because it treats its Roma any better. The criticism leveled at France accuses Sarkozy's government of singling out a specific ethnicity. Italy's campaign came in a context of broad xenophobia: discrimination against the Roma is not much stronger than that against, say, Romanians in general (indeed, many Italians don't make a distinction between the two). Italy's politicians insist they aren't performing mass expulsions, but simply enforcing the law, closing camps and arresting criminals. But to many Roma, it all amounts to much the same thing. Frequent evictions, widespread discrimination and the risk of vigilante violence create constant pressure to go. Rebecca Covaciu, a 14-year-old immigrant from Romania, spent two years on the move, enduring police raids, beatings by thugs and a close brush with a mob in Naples before finally settling with her family in an apartment in Milan. "My family has had a terrible time finding work," she says. "When they see that we're Roma, they tell us, 'We don't need anyone.' And then you walk out, and there's 'Help Wanted' on the door." In theory, evicted Roma are to be resettled, but so great is the mistrust that when Rome started destroying camps in September, the inhabitants — alerted by the arrival of journalists — dispersed before the police and social services could arrive. Evictions continue, even though a dozen new settlements the city has planned won't be completed for several months. Other municipalities are following suit. As a result, say activists, most of Italy's immigrant Roma have already left — to Spain, Switzerland, France and beyond. Indeed, as more countries follow Italy's and France's leads, the pattern of rousting risks being replicated on a European scale. Italy's politicians have seized on the current uproar to up the ante, proposing laws that would allow the country to expel and bar entry to E.U. citizens who breach the conditions of their stay — just in case the Roma pushed out of France head their way.

Time Magazine

Racism at Commonwealth Games? Africans upset (New Delhi)

South Africa led the charge of the African nations against the shoddy Commonwealth Games preparations on Sunday. As the Delhi government carried out frantic clean-up operations in the Games Village, South Africa set the cat among the pigeons by saying a snake had been found in an athlete's room.

South Africa's high commissioner to India Harris Majeke told reporters a snake had been found in the room of an athlete at the Games Village. "That was really a threat to the lives of our athletes," he said, complaining of filth in the living quarters including basements of the buildings. "When everything is done, then we will ask our teams to come," he added.

The South African criticism is part of a larger grouse of the African nations against organisers of the Commonwealth Games. While the OC has been overly sensitive to the wishes of countries like the UK, Australia and Canada, the African countries found that they had been virtually ignored by the organisers.

The first site visit for the African countries to Games venues was arranged only this week. For months, said sources, African countries have been asking for information from the government, but in vain. Last week was the first time they got any briefing from the ministry of external affairs.

MEA has itself been kept out of the Games preparations, and was brought in virtually at the last minute when the damage control exercise had to be rolled out. Since they are the most familiar point of contact for the African nations, it was particularly frustrating that nobody was telling them anything, least of all the organisers. The first briefing was, sources said, little more than a bare bones briefing, because the MEA itself was not kept on board.

In fact, privately, the word from many African countries is that India was practising the same kind of racism against the African countries that India itself has complained against.

Out of the 53 nations in the Commonwealth, there are 19 from the African continent, all of whom are participating in the Games. This week, India will also play host to the president of Mozambique, a member of the Commonwealth, though it used to be a Portuguese colony and not a British one.

On Saturday, a visibly upset high commissioner of Rwanda -- a former Belgian colony and one of the most recent additions to the Commonwealth -- was seen looking for the Indian quarters in the Games Village. "I want to see their quarters. The place they have given us for our accommodation is not clean and my athletes are arriving here tomorrow," was his explanation.

However, India got a vote of confidence from South Africa's Olympic boss. In a statement, Gideon Sam said he would himself clean toilets to ensure the success of the Games. "Our athletes will have no excuses if they do not perform at the Games," Sam, president of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), said ahead of the team's departure on Sunday.

"If they are unhappy with their rooms because they have not been swept, they must take off their jackets and sweep them themselves. We will not complain. South Africans do not do that," Sam added. "And when I get there on Friday, if a toilet is not clean, I will clean it myself."

It only adds to India's shame.

Times of India

Gamers battle racism online

Heartbeats drum to the rhythm of steady machine gunfire and adrenaline is pumping high. Unaware of what the opponent will do next, the player analyzes each and every sound, the ultimate goal being to conquer the enemy.

Gamers indulge in this out-of-body experience every time they pick up a controller. Unfortunately, it also describes how gamers feel when they are bullied by other online gamers.

Gamers are misusing the live online communication feature on Sony's Playstation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 by shouting racial slurs and life-threatening attacks.

Online attacks have become so intense that they cause people like 21-year-old Kender Massillon, a third year accounting student from Orlando, to refrain from gaming online.

"Go kill yourself nigger," include one of the many racist remarks he has received.

These hate attacks might come to as a surprise to first-time online gamers, but racial comments are commonly made about every race and nationality. Some ethnic groups have even organized online clans.

"There's KKK and Nazis, or Jew-killers as they like to call themselves, all over Call of Duty," Harold Bruney, 20, a third year information technology student from Hallandale, Fla., said.

These online clans blurt out repeated hate attacks to anyone they believe belongs to a different race or ethnicity.

Outside of the virtual world, it would be uncommon for 22-year-old Thanh Nguyen, who is Vietnamese, to receive comments like "go pick cotton" or "go hang yourself."

However, within the world of gaming, gamers are judged by the sound of their voice, which leaves anyone vulnerable to inaccurate hate attacks.

"Most people don't know I'm Vietnamese online, everyone says I sound black," the fourth year biology student from Orlando said.

Nguyen admits the prejudiced remarks are frustrating and even provoke him to respond back to racist gamers.

Though most players express racial tension through their microphone, others get their point across by creating hateful usernames or sending attacking messages.

"I won't forget the time someone made their user ID name Jew killer," Bruney said. Such hateful usernames may come as a shock to gamers at first, but it quickly becomes a natural occurrence.

Because of the popularity of online gaming nationwide, prejudiced remarks are bound to surface.

Also, with millions of online game users, some hate attacks go undetected by Microsoft Corp. and Sony Computer Entertainment.

Despite the difficulty of this task, both Microsoft and Sony have online complaint systems to try and reduce the amount of online attacks.

According to the Microsoft website, gamers who "witness a player behaving in an inappropriate or vulgar manner, cheating or harassing others" can file a complaint using their Xbox's feedback system and "appropriate action will be taken against offenders."

Gamers may also make use of the Xbox five star rating systems, which gives players the opportunity to rate their competitor's character without ever leaving the game.

A customer service representative from Sony urged gamers to report inappropriate content by filling out and submitting a complaint form online which could lead to a player's online access being suspended.

"Reporting everyone that says a racist remark would take up a lot of time, plus it's their freedom of speech so I just let it go," said 20- year -old Kevin Sharperson, a third year business administration student from Miramar, Fla. and daily online gamer.

Regardless of the constant hateful remarks, some gamers have not let it interfere with their love to play. Most gamers ignore the foul remarks and continue playing online for the opportunity to play against more challenging players.

Some gamers solve their racial gaming problems with online disputes while others find comfort in only playing with the people they are familiar with or simply pushing the mute button on opponents who insist on using racial slurs.

the famuan online

POLISH GROUP BEGINS LEGAL ACTION AGAINST DAVID IRVING

A Polish organization began legal action this week to convict British Holocaust denier David Irving for  “minimizing” the scale of Nazi atrocities, as the revisionist historian begins his controversial tours of the Nazi death camps in the country. The Open Republic Association Against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia lodged a complaint with the Institute of National Remembrance- Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (IPN) on Wednesday claiming Irving seeks to “minimize” the scale of Nazi crimes as well as deny the extermination program in his book Hitler’s War, which was recently published in Polish. The legal action comes as Irving, who was jailed in Austria in 2006 for Holocaust denial, embarks on a weeklong tour to concentration camps and the former site of the Warsaw Ghetto. “Let’s not wait for the moment when David Irving commits a new crime in Poland; the evidence indicates clearly that he has already committed this crime,” Open Republic said in its complaint to IPN, which prosecutes both Nazi and Communist era crimes against the Polish people. The group was set up in 1999 in response to the manifestations of xenophobic tendencies in Polish public life and the revival of anti-Semitism and racism, its remit states. Dariusz Gabrel, from Open Republic, described Irving as one of the “foremost Holocaust deniers” and called for his prosecution under Polish laws that prohibit the denial of Nazi crimes.

“Material evidence clearly shows that he has broken the law,” he said. “Poland, the country in which the Nazis committed their crimes against humanity, should be especially sensitive to Irving’s kind of crime.” Irving arrived in Poland on Tuesday to lead his much criticized tour of Nazi sites, which is expected to attract a number of far-right sympathizers from across Europe who will pay $2,650 each. Advertising material for the tour promises an experience far removed from the “tourist attractions of Auschwitz.” However, the museum at Auschwitz has banned Irving from giving a guided tour there. A spokesman for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum said Irving can visit as an individual but that he would be “closely monitored.” Last week, the convicted Holocaust denier claimed that Treblinka was a real death camp site, as opposed to Auschwitz, which he described as a “Disney- style tourist attraction.” Speaking to the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday he said, “I am baffled by the reaction I’ve had in Poland because they should be very grateful that I am here. “Here I am lecturing to the revisionists and setting the record straight. I am saying to them – those who believe that not a hair was harmed on the head of the Jewish community – that you couldn’t be more wrong.” He described people who branded him a Holocaust denier as “criminal, lying lunatics.” In 1996, Irving attempted to sue American historian Prof. Deborah Lipstadt for libel, after she called him a Holocaust denier in her book Denying the Holocaust. Three courts subsequently found in favor of Lipstadt concluding that Irving was a Holocaust denier, an anti- Semite and a racist.

Jerusalem Post

Vote to ban EDL march in Leicester 'unanimous'

Councillors in Leicester have voted unanimously to ban a planned English Defence League (EDL) rally in the city.


The right-wing group said about 3,000 members would march on 9 October.

But Leicestershire Police said the plans posed a "major threat to public order", with intelligence suggesting a mosque would be attacked.

The EDL said it had no plans to target a mosque and the public "should not be worried". The Home Office will now decide whether to enforce a ban.

Concerns about the impact of the march, and a counter-demonstration by Unite Against Fascism (UAF), were outlined in a letter by Simon Cole, chief constable of Leicestershire Police.

Mr Cole said he believed the rally would attract about 5,000 people from the two organisations.

In August, Home Secretary Theresa May imposed a ban on a planned EDL march in Bradford.

However, the group was allowed to hold a static rally, during which a number of skirmishes broke out between members of the group and rival protesters from UAF.

On its website, EDL said: "We have organised a series of peaceful protests across the country. Unfortunately, some of these have been disrupted... we wish to avoid clashes and putting officers, our members and the public at risk."

The Home Secretary is expected to decide whether to ban Leicester's rally next week.

BBC News

Malaysia rapper's anti-racism rant causes storm

An ethnic Chinese rapper who enraged authorities with a profanity-strewn anti-racism rant on YouTube says  he was only trying to speak out against discrimination in multiracial Malaysia.

Wee Meng Chee, 27, better known as Namewee to his fans, was hauled in for a police grilling last month over the clip which saw him accused of stirring up ethnic tensions -- a taboo in a country where race is a sensitive issue.

In the three-minute rap titled "Nah", Wee used obscene language to bitterly criticise a Muslim Malay headmistress who is accused of making racial slurs against her ethnic Chinese and Indian students.

"My purpose is to stand up against racism," insisted the flamboyant rapper, who sports a beanie hat and baggy shorts, and who has developed a cult following among young Malaysians who have a growing political awareness.

His official Facebook page has more than 340,000 followers, and his songs have had more than 600,000 hits on YouTube.

"Regardless of what I did was right or wrong, whether you like it or not, I am just giving you an extra choice -- you can choose not to watch it," Wee said.

The rapper, who began writing songs at 15 and graduated with a mass communications degree from a Taiwanese university, first made national headlines in 2007 over another YouTube clip mocking the national anthem.

Authorities condemned the performance as seditious, and pulled him in for what would be the first of three police interrogations during his short career.

The parody touched on abuse of power, corruption, government bureaucracy and controversial positive discrimination policies designed to advance Muslim Malays who dominate the population.

Wee apologised for that incident, and escaped charges.

But last year he ran into more trouble over a song in which he criticised the national power firm over frequent power outages in his hometown in the southern state of Johor.

His latest clip "Nah", which authorities also said was seditious, prompted criticism including from the prime minister who warned of tough action against those who try to provoke racial tensions.

Elements in the ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), called for his citizenship to be revoked and for the rapper to be held under internal security laws that allow for detention without trial.

"He cannot be let off the hook again," Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin, the chief of UMNO's young women's wing who first made the complaint over the "Nah" video, reportedly said at the time.

"We regret that whenever the Malays talk about their rights, they are described as racist but at the same time the non-Malays are free to say anything," she said, calling for a tough response to act as a deterrent to others.

Wee, who would face up to three years in jail if the authorities pursue sedition charges, insists he has done nothing wrong.

"We should be able to speak up and not keep quiet when we have to deal with injustice," he said.

The headmistress he targeted in the video clip was accused of telling her ethnic Chinese students to return to China and compared Hindu prayer strings to dog leashes -- allegations that unleashed a furore.

The government has ordered a probe into the case but no action has been taken against her yet, angering Malaysia's minorities, who complain their rights are being eroded as the country becomes increasingly "Islamised".

Despite the popularity of his cause, Wee has received mixed reviews from commentators who object to the abusive language and boastful comments alluding to the ethnic Chinese community's economic success.

But he has also received applause for daring to tackle head-on an issue that many in Malaysia -- which suffered deadly racial riots in the 1960s -- are too nervous to broach.

 "Malaysia should be a country that treats everyone fairly, regardless of their different background," said Wee, who is working on a film about national unity.

"Don't be afraid, because we are paying the government to work for us. Put it in simple terms, we are their boss, they are our servants."

AFP

Police accused of helping Bogota neo-Nazis (Colombia)

Youth organizations, supported by a local politician, say that policemen are helping violent neo-Nazis in a Bogota neighborhood, a charge denied by police.

Jaime Caicedo, council member in the Fontibon neighborhood, told local radio station Santa Fe that neo-Nazis have attacked people in Fontibon on several occasions. These assaults are not fights between youths, but well-planned attacks carried out for political reasons, the politician said. Caicedo supports claims by local youth organizations that the police are complicit in the violence.

According to Caicedo, the purpose of the attacks is to silence public protest against abuse and intimation by members of the "Third Force", a local neo-Nazi gang.

On September 14 and 15, when the attacks took place, the police not only took 40 minutes to arrive but also neglected to arrest the attackers or seize the weapons used to beat up two boys, the council member told newspaper El Espectador.

"The local police commander threatened several of those assaulted, warning them not to meet in the 'Parque Fundacional' of Fontibon, a place which has turned into a meeting point for citizens that resist the criminal acts of the neo-Nazi gang members," Caicedo said.

Bogota's metropolitan police rejected the allegations as "completely false."

"There is not one report of fights or physical aggression reported on these dates," said police Colonel Hernandez Aldana.

Colombia Reports

Meet the Polish neo-Nazi skinhead couple who discovered they are JEWISH - and turned their lives around

A married couple have revealed how they turned their backs on their violent neo-Nazi past – after discovering they were both Jewish.

The one-time skinheads grew up as part of a hate-filled white power gang in Warsaw, the capital of Poland and once the site of the largest Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe.

But now they are devout members of an Orthodox Jewish synagogue.

The truth about their roots had been buried by their parents to escape persecution from first the Germans and then the Soviet-controlled post-war government.

Even when the couple started spewing anti-Semitic slogans and attacking Jews, their parents still kept silent about their heritage.

Pawel and Ola – who asked for only their first names to be used in a CNN documentary on their story - met at school when they were twelve and married at eighteen.

By then they were heavily involved in the neo-Nazi movement that was rife in Warsaw’s concrete jungle housing estates.

Just 350,000 Jews remained in Poland after the war, a tenth of the population from before the Holocaust, and many fled in the quarter of a century that followed.

For those that remained, parents often decided it better to keep their true faith a secret.

But Ola remembered something her mother once let slip about her Jewish heritage.

And when she checked at Poland’s Jewish Historical Institute she learned the truth – that not only was she a Jew, but so was her husband.

She told CNN of her shock. ‘Something told me to do it. It was unbelievable.

'It turned out that we had Jewish roots. It was a shock. I didn't expect to find out that I had a Jewish husband.'

She said she did not know how to tell Pawel the truth.‘I didn't know how to tell him. I loved him even if he was a punk or skinhead, if he beat people up or not.'

When she did, a disbelieving Pawel confronted his parents.

He said he had been a skinhead and a nationalist '100 per cent'. 'It was all about white power and I believed Poland was only for Poles. That Jews were the biggest plague and the worst evil of this world,' he told CNN
It was difficult to describe the emotions he felt at learning he was Jewish, he said.

‘My first thought was what am I going to tell people? What am I going to tell the boys? Should I admit it or not? I was angry, sad, scared, unsure.’

He was unable to look in the mirror, he said, because he hated what he saw - a Jew.

But as he came to terms with his identity he approached Chief Rabbi of Poland Michael Schudrich, who became a mentor to the couple.

Pawel, now 33, added that he does have regrets - 'but it's not something that I walk around and lash myself over'.

'I feel sorry for those that I beat up but I don't hold a grudge against myself,' he explained. 'The people who I hurt can hold a grudge against me.’

Today, the couple are active members of the Jewish community in Warsaw.

Pawel is studying to work in a slaughterhouse killing animals according to the Jewish Kosher requirement and Ola is working in the synagogue's kitchen as a kosher supervisor.

Rabbi Shudrich paid tribute to them for having the courage to turn their lives around.

‘The fact that they were skinheads actually increased the amount of respect I have for them,’ he said to CNN.

‘That they could've been where they were, understood that that was not the right way, then embraced rather than run away the fact that they were part of the people who they used to hate.

‘I think also it says on a personal level, never write somebody off. Where they may be 10 years ago doesn't have to be where they are today.

And the human being has this unlimited capability of changing and sometimes even for the better,’ he added.

The white power skinhead revival in the seventies and eighties became closely identified with racist and anti-Semitic attacks and spread to Europe and parts of North America.

According to a 2007 report by the Anti-Defamation League, skinhead groups have becoming more active in the U.S. in recent years, with a particular focus on non-white immigration.


Daily Mail

‘Wanted’ faces of EDL rally in Dudley are released (UK)

These are the faces of 22 men police want to trace after violence broke out following a controversial protest in Dudley.

Detectives investigating reports of criminal damage and disorder in the town centre have today released CCTV images in a bid to identify the men.

Around 600 English Defence League followers descended on the town for a rally on July 17 bringing the centre to a standstill.

Click  HERE to see all the faces.

Houses and cars were damaged, missiles were hurled at officers and steel fences were pulled down as trouble flared between demonstrators and police.

Shops were boarded up, the market cancelled and roads closed in preparation for the arrival of protestors from across the country.An event hosted by the Dudley Interfaith Alliance was also held on the same day in another part of the town.

Police said today 20 offences had been recorded to date, including criminal damage caused to cars and premises as well as pockets of disorder. Home in Alexandra Street, cars parked in roads surrounding Stafford Street, restaurants in Wolverhampton Street and the Hindu Temple were all attacked by vandals.

Windows were smashed and damage was caused to fencing while a number of vehicles were also targeted as they were being driven through the town.

Detective Inspector Carl Southwick from Force CID, who is leading this investigation, said: “We are appealing to members of the public to look closely at these images. If you recognise any of these individuals or believe you have information that may help, I urge you to come forward.

“We are committed to identifying those responsible for the pockets of disorder and criminal damage that took place in Dudley town centre that afternoon.”

Anybody who recognises the men, or who witnessed anything in the area at the time is asked to contact West Midlands Police – Force CID, Operation Belvedere on 0121 428 6123 or 0345 113 5000. People can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

The cost of policing the protest was £400,000 with money being spent on pay for officers, whose rest days were rearranged so they would be available for duty.

It was also used on specialist policing teams such as the dog handlers and operational support units. The English Defence League said it was demonstrating against a planned £12million mosque in Hall Street, Dudley.

 Express and Star

Police fear protesters plan to attack Leicester mosque (UK)

Police fear protesters plan to attack a city mosque before marching into the heart of Leicester's Muslim community.

Concerns were voiced by Chief Constable Simon Cole in a report to Leicester City Council about the planned march by the English Defence League on October 9.

The Chief Constable said that an intelligence and threat assessment indicated a "major threat" to public order.

His report said: "Intelligence dated September 8, 2010, indicated that the EDL intend to come to Leicester and attack a mosque before marching into the Highfields area, which represents the highest resident population of the Muslim community.

"This reflects previous intentions of EDL processions, such as that within Leicester, where actions were targeted to cause disruption to the Muslim community by provoking serious public disorder."

Leicester City Cabinet yesterday agreed to apply to the Home Office to ban the planned procession under the Public Order Act 1986.

However, the EDL, in a statement, rejected the police claims.

EDL event organiser Guramit Singh said: "We are coming to Leicester to peacefully demonstrate and we denounce attacks on any mosques. We are here to fight militant Islam, not moderate Islam. The intelligence provided by the police is incorrect."

The EDL submitted an application to march through the city to police this week. United Against Fascism has applied to hold a counter-demonstration on the same day.

Up to 5,000 people could take part in the rival protests.

If the Home Office agrees to ban the EDL march, the group could still hold a static protest, which the authorities would be powerless to prevent taking place.

Muslim groups said they were concerned by the police intelligence reports.

Suleman Nagdi, chairman of the Federation of Muslim Organisations, said: "An attack on a place of worship is an attack on us all, the relationship and resilience among Leicester's faith communities is very strong and we are confident that this will not break our unity."

Ibrahim Mogra, associate Imam at Evington Muslim Centre, said: "The news of a planned attack is very worrying. There have been a number of mosques up and down the country that have suffered attacks at the hands of far-right groups. Everything possible needs to be done to prevent that."

Speaking after the meeting, city council leader Veejay Patel said the council was determined to secure a ban on the march.

He said: "The evidence we are now able to put to the Home Secretary shows overwhelmingly that this march will bring massive disruption – and possibly violence – to Leicester, and therefore it should not be allowed to take place."

The city's three MPs, who were present at yesterday's meeting, said in a joint statement: "The EDL cannot and will not affect Leicester's long and proud history of community cohesion which the city council, voluntary, community and faith groups, local public services and businesses have all worked hard to build and maintain."

After the meeting, Leicester East MP Keith Vaz said: "I have directly contacted the Home Secretary Theresa May to emphasise the strength of feeling here in our city. All three Leicester MPs will be lobbying her directly on this issue."

Leicester West MP Liz Kendall said: "It is a massive decision to attempt to ban a group's right to protest, but it's the only option available."

In a report on the proposed English Defence League march in Thursday's Leicester Mercury, we reported that campaign group Hope Not Hate was planning a counter demonstration.

We have been asked to point out that Hope Not Hate is, in fact, hoping to hold a peace vigil the night before the proposed EDL protest and is not planning a counter demonstration.

It is also involved in plans for a celebration of the city, which is scheduled to take place a day after the EDL event on Saturday, October 9. We are happy to clarify the situation.

This is Leicester

Guardian Angels Charged With “Hate Crime” (USA)

The fledgling Guardian Angels franchise in Millville, New Jersey was forced to shut down in September of 2009 after several of its members were arrested for their alleged involvement in a “hate crime” attack on a White girl who was dating an African-American boy.

NJ.com reports two adults and a juvenile – James L. Chard, 21, Amanda E. Schemeley, 20, and a 16-year-old Millville girl – were charged in the attack, which happened on either August 20th or 21st.

They are charged with carving racist slurs into the 16-year-old girl’s car and slashing its tires, causing between US$500 – US$2000 in damages.

The Daily Journal reports that Chard and Schemeley were trainees with the Guardian Angels.

Police have also arrested Gilpatrick H. Matos, 26, for allegedly trying to get two of the suspects to recant their statements and give false testimony. Matos was also a member of the Millville franchise.

This was not the first time the Millville franchise had problems. Several dramatic personality conflicts caused the outfit to dwindle down to three members several months prior to the incident.

It was hoped the new trainees would inject new life into the franchise.

The Right Perspective

Hate crime appeal for attack in Southsea (uk)

Between 10pm on Wednesday and 7am yesterday, paint was poured through the letterbox of the victim's front door in Malvern Road, Southsea.

The words 'Irish F Q' were daubed on the front door in paint, a television set was dumped on the front step and more paint poured over it.

The offender also cut the heads off flowers planted in pots outside the woman's front door.

Anyone with information should contact PC Hannah Buckley at Southsea station on 101.

Portsmouth News

Thomas Honeyman hit couple with bar stool in racist attack (uk)

Thomas Honeyman

Man who carried out a racist attack on a woman and her husband having a night out with friends was jailed for four years yesterday.

Thomas Honeyman, 21, battered Tracey Mitchell and her husband, Melville, with a bar stool in a pub in Bishop Auckland.

Earlier he had hurled racial and personal insults at Mrs Mitchell as they sat with friends in The Cumberland Arms Hotel, said Richard Bennett, prosecuting.

The couple both needed treatment at Darlington Memorial Hospital after the attack, which left Mr Mitchell with a cut head and his wife with an injured hand after she had tried to protect herself.

Teesside Crown Court was told Honeyman had been sitting at a nearby table on November 1 last year when he began making “rather childish” comments about Mr Mitchell.

Mr Mitchell had an argument with him before returning to his table, and then the couple became aware of Honeyman approaching them at speed carrying a bar stool above his head, which he brought down with some force on them, knocking them both to the floor.

Honeyman ran outside as customers and staff helped the couple.

Police officers found him walking along the street, bare-chested and bleeding from a cut to the head.

He said that he had fallen over, said Mr Bennett.

But Honeyman was later arrested for the attack and claimed Mrs Mitchell had called him a “dirty, stinking gipsy”.

Honeyman was released on police bail, during which he robbed a man walking alone past The Llewellyn pub, in Ferryhill, County Durham. A total of £90 was stolen.

Bryan Russell, defending, said Honeyman admitted he had gone “spectacularly off the rails” in the later part of last year, but while in prison on remand he had taken part in courses to tackle his drink and drug problems.

Judge Peter Bowers told Honeyman that if he had wanted to be harsh he could have sentenced him to six years in jail.

The judge added: “Unfortunately, these two offences do merit sentences of one after the other, but I will reduce them.”

Honeyman, of Chillerton Way, Wingate, County Durham, was jailed for four years after he pleaded guilty to racially-aggravated actual bodily harm, assault and unlawful wounding and to robbery.

The Northern Echo

Sweden Democrat 'members' site shut down

The website on which the leaked Sweden Democrat membership list was published has been shut down by the web hosting company where the domain name was registered.

The site, sverigedemokrater.se, was registered with Swedish web hosting from Binero under the company name of Gottfrid Swartholm Warg, founder of The Pirate Bay.

The site’s content, however, is hosted by PRQ, the same company that hosts Wikileaks.

However, when Binero discovered that Swartholm Warg was in fact not the owner of the account, it shut down the domain and contacted police.

“The web should be free, but no wild west,” Binero founder and CEO Anders Aleborg said in a statement.

“We have fought hard to improve the reputation of the hosting business for years, and whenever we find faulty user information, we act.”

The site went live on September 20th, the day following a stunning electoral performance by the Sweden Democrats which gave them 20 seats in the Riksdag.

It contained personal data, including telephone numbers, email addresses, and maps to the homes of thousands of people who were either members of the Sweden Democrats or had requested information about the party.

The data featured on the site, which had a slogan of “Find a buddy near you“, is believed to have been obtained from an April 16th hacker attack of the Sweden Democrats’ official website.

Binero added that, although PRQ is legal responsible for the content of the site hosted on its servers, Binero is within its rights to shut down the site’s domain if there are suspicions of false user information, which amounts to a breach of contract.

The Local Se

MTV, Magyar Rádió block Jobbik ads (Hungary)

Magyar Rádió has refused to broadcast Jobbik's party political broadcasts, saying this would be tantamount to a covert offending of the Roma minority.

"MTV did not even bother to inform Jobbik that the election advertisement will not be broadcast on Thursday," party spokeswoman Dóra Dúró told the Independent News Agency. "Jobbik uses the term Gypsy crime in the criminological sense of the word, not in the ethnic one," she added.

Jobbik will now appeal to the National Election Commission because two state-run media outlets are impeding the dissemination of the party's political views, Dúró said.

MTV later said in a statement that political advertisements must meet specifications laid down in the respective legal regulations and Jobbik's advertisement does not meet those requirements as it contains misleading claims and violates privacy rights.

Politics Hu