Searchlight have launched a petition. Will Griffin sell his soul?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Refinery strikes spread across UK
Refinery worker: 'They're giving all our jobs to other people'
Strikes have been breaking out across the UK in support of a mass walkout by energy workers in Lincolnshire angry at the use of foreign workers.
Hundreds gathered for the third day of the original strike at Lindsey Oil Refinery after owner Total gave a £200m contract to an Italian firm.
They have been supported by hundreds of other "sympathy" strikers in Scotland, Wales and other parts of England.
Total said there would be no "direct redundancies" as a result of the deal.
The firm added that staff employed by the Italian company IREM would be paid the same as existing contractors on the project. More than 300 of its workers have been brought in to do the work.
Sites affected by sympathy walk-outs include Fiddlers Ferry power station, Warrington, Cheshire; Grangemouth oil refinery in central Scotland; South Hook Liquified Natural Gas terminal in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire; and Kilroot Power station near Larne, County Antrim.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said the angry British workers were "entitled to an answer".
ENERGY WORKERS' PROTESTS
1. Grangemouth oil refinery, Central Scotland
2. Scottish Power's Longannet power station, Fife
3. Scottish Power's Cockenzie power station, East Lothian
4. Shell gas processing plant, St Fergus, Aberdeenshire
5. British Energy power station, Torness, East Lothian
6. Mossmorran chemical plant, Fife
7. Npower Aberthaw power station, south Wales
8. South Hook natural gas terminal, Milton Haven, Pembrokeshire
9. ICI chemical refinery at Wilton, Teesside
10. Corus steel plant near Redcar, Teeside
11. Scottish & Southern's Fiddler's Ferry power station, Cheshire
12. AMEC Kilroot power station, County Antrim
13. Marchwood power station, Hampshire
Total bosses said the Italian firm IREM, which employs a specialist workforce, had won the contract to construct the new HDS-3 unit at the Lindsey plant, after a "fair" tendering process.
Unite regional officer Bernard McAuley told Friday's rally in Lincolnshire: "There is sufficient unemployed, skilled labour wanting the right to work on that site and they are demanding the right to work on that site."
He said the leaders of Unite and the GMB had urged the prime minister to call an urgent meeting with the heads of industry in the engineering and construction industry.
Later the prime minister's spokesman said the government would hold talks with the construction industry in the next few days "to ensure they are doing all they can to support the UK economy".
He said the contracts at the Lindsey refinery were awarded some time ago when there was a shortage of labour in the construction sector, which was now not the case.
Unite Regional officer Bobby Buirds said shop stewards would meet in Glasgow on Friday afternoon to discuss the Scottish protests, none of which involved pickets.
Some of the Scottish strikers have travelled to Lindsey to join the picket there.
Speaking on Friday from Wilton, on Teesside, one protester urged the prime minister to take action, saying: "All we want is for Gordon Brown to fulfil his promise. He said British jobs for British workers."
A protester at the Lincolnshire plant said British workers should have priority of access to jobs.
"It's been a kettle ready to boil and the lid has blown off now," he said.
When asked about the growing action, Gordon Brown - speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos - said he "understood" people's worries.
Where is the humanity in ruining someone's local environment by building a massive industrial refinery and then bringing in people from around the world to work there?
Ben Platt, Liverpool
He said the government was doing "everything we can" to shore up the economy as well as help individuals back into work.
Ben Platt, Liverpool
He said the government was doing "everything we can" to shore up the economy as well as help individuals back into work.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said he hoped workers would return to work quickly after making their point.
Unite's governing national executive has called for a national protest in Westminster, and joint general secretary Derek Simpson said it was consulting its lawyers over the legality of engineering and construction employment practices.
"The union is doing everything in its power to ensure that employers end this immoral, potentially illegal and politically dangerous practice of excluding UK workers from some construction projects," he said.
In a statement, Total said it "recognised" the concerns of contractors.
"It is important to note that we have been a major local employer for 40 years with 550 permanent staff employed at the refinery.
"There are also between 200 and 1,000 contractors working at the refinery, the vast majority of which work for UK companies employing local people."
The HDS-3 unit affected is separate to the main refinery. Total said the action has not affected normal operations.
See this link...http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5617015.ece
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Collet is a TW*T
Story from Sharon Ebanks:
The maestro and benefactor of huge quantities of BNP money has outdone himself once again.
Mr Mark (all bend down and kiss my arse) Collett has f*cked up royally on the first round of the BNPs Euro election leaflets.
Mr Collett omitted the printer/publisher and election agent details from said leaflets thus making them illegal for distribution to the public.
One can only wonder why the omission was made, but phone calls that I’ve been receiving today from ANGRY members suggest that they finally agree that the BNP is indeed a government run safety valve with stupid tw*ts in charge of it, and who am I to disagree.
The poor BNP members are currently amending 700,000 leaflets with stickers so that they can be delivered and posted out, but I also wonder if this batch will be delivered after the fiasco of the previous Euro election when Mr David(I’m a thick lazy bastard unable to do basic arithmetic which is why I'm deputy treasurer) Hannam, left 250,000 leaflets to rot in someone’s house because he was to bone idol to take them to the sorting office.
Imagine how those members felt after donating a week of their time to stuffing them in envelopes…………………….
NWN:
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Court Decision Boosts Party of Dutch Lawmaker Who Criticized Islam
Controversial Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders has seen his party’s popularity rise following a court ruling that he should stand trial for his statements about Islam. Last week’s decision by an appeals court in Amsterdam instructing prosecutors to indict Wilders for “inciting hatred and discrimination” has directly contributed to increased support for his Party for Freedom (PVV), according to Dutch pollster Maurice de Hond. The court ruling “has had a clear positive effect on the size of the electoral support for the PVV,” which now stands at a 16-month high, he said. The Maurice de Hond poll found that if an election were held now, the PVV would win 20 seats in the Tweede Kamer, or lower house of parliament – three more than a similar poll showed last week. Since Nov. 2006 elections the PVV has controlled nine seats in the 150-member legislature. That election result made Wilders’ party the fifth biggest in the house, but this week’s poll showing would make it the third largest, behind the Christian Democrats (29 seats) and Labor (27). Wilders, who lives under tight security because of death threats, last year released a short documentary film linking the Koran to terrorism. Entitled “Fitna” (an Arabic word sometimes translated as “strife”), the movie shows images of major terror attacks carried out by Muslims over recent years and footage of radical Islamists – in the Netherlands and elsewhere – inciting violence, interspersed with translations of verses from the Koran. He appealed in the film for Muslims to repudiate violence-inciting verses in the Koran, but the film’s release instead sparked angry protests and boycotts, and provided further ammunition for the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)-led campaign to outlaw the “defamation” of Islam. Millions of people have viewed the film online. Also controversial was an open letter by Wilders, published in a Dutch newspaper in 2007, calling the Koran a “fascist” text that should be outlawed in the Netherlands, in the same way as Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf is banned. Muslims believe the Koran to have been divinely revealed to Mohammed in the seventh century, and they view the text in the original Arabic to be the infallible “final revelation” of Allah. Last June Dutch prosecutors dismissed complaints against Wilders, saying his statements were made “in the context of public debate.” But a three-judge Amsterdam Appeals Court panel last week overturned that ruling, ordering that he be indicted “for inciting hatred and discrimination, based on comments by him in various media on Muslims and their beliefs.” “The court also considers appropriate criminal prosecution for insulting Muslim worshippers because of comparisons between Islam and Nazism made by Wilders,” the judges stated. “In a democratic system, hate speech is considered so serious that it is in the general interest to ... draw a clear line.” In the Maurice de Hond poll, 50 percent of respondents said the court had made the wrong decision; 43 percent agreed with the ruling and seven percent expressed no opinion. Shortly after Wilders learned that he would go on trial, Britain’s House of Lords reportedly bowed to pressure and protest threats and called off a private screening of Fitna, which had been scheduled for later this week. Pakistan-born Lord Nazir Ahmed, the first Muslim to be appointed a life peer in the British upper house, led efforts to get the event cancelled. He told Pakistani media the outcome was “a victory for the Muslim community.” Wilders, who was to have attended the screening and taken part in a discussion, called the decision “very sad.” “It is yet more evidence that Europe is losing its freedom and bowing to Islamic pressure and protest,” he told the Dutch news agency ANP. According to Wilders, the screening in London was arranged after senior officials at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France blocked an attempt last month by a British member for the film to be shown there. The British Euro-lawmaker, Gerard Batten of the libertarian U.K. Independence Party, in a statement called that ban “a direct attack on free speech.” “A parliament that constantly talks of freedom, democracy and tolerance has shown once again that these are empty words when it does not agree with what is being said,” he said. Meanwhile a new online petition in support of Wilders has attracted more than 23,000 signatures. Addressed to the Dutch government, the petition says that if it attempts to punish Wilders “for exercising his freedom of expression, the undersigned will initiate a boycott of any and all Dutch goods.”
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=42574
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=42574
Monday, January 26, 2009
Waddon byelection: Andrew Pelling blasts BNP at Holocaust service
Croydon MP Andrew Pelling has urged voters to “keep the BNP at bay” at a Holocaust memorial service.
He said the annual event, held at Ruskin House, Coombe Road, on Saturday, had “a special relevance” to Waddon residents because they were “the subject of a strong push for votes from the openly racist British National Party” in their local council byelection.
"I urge all tolerant people to vote in this election in the name of good neighbourliness and good community relations to keep the BNP at bay,” Mr Pelling said.
However, Waddon BNP candidate Charlotte Lewis said: “I think it is cheap and sick of him [Mr Pelling] to compare the Holocaust with voting BNP.
“We do not want to genocide the Jewish people, we just think the Labour Government is trying to genocide the British people.
“We don’t want to kill anyone, we just want to preserve our country. We just want to put a stop to immigration, we have to close the doors.
Mr Pelling also used Saturday’s event to call for the government to work with its European partners to secure January 27 as an EU-wide public holiday marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
He said: “The Holocaust event is an important way of recalling the grief, the hate, the horror, the sorrow and the evil that calls to us down the decades.”
It is a reminder that modern society is still capable “to cast out and to persecute the outsider”, he added.
“The Stand up to Hatred theme of this year's Holocaust events emphasises how combating racist hatred must continue today.”
The second annual Holocaust event held at Ruskin House was organised by Croydon Trade Union Congress, Croydon Labour Party, Croydon Co-op, Folk & Blues Club and the Croydon Communists.
NWN:
We like this response
"
ron duron, Croydon says...1:16pm Mon 26 Jan 09
The Conservative leadership has distanced itself from Andrew Pelling, the MP who was arrested after his pregnant second wife accused him of assault.Mr Pelling, who will be defending a majority of 300 after boundary changes, faces an uphill battle to secure his reselection as candidate in Croydon Central.His wife, Lucy, who is 20 years his junior, has said she will never return to the marital home. Mr Pelling, 48, was having an affair with her while married to Sane, the mother of his three children.Members of Mr Pelling's association may take the view that the party's high command want a new candidate in the key marginal seat.Meanwhile, the former Labour minister Nick Raynsford, 62, has left his wife of almost 30 years to set up home with Alison Seabeck, 53, the Labour MP for Plymouth Devonport."
http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/4076282.Pelling_blasts_BNP_at_Holocaust_service/
He said the annual event, held at Ruskin House, Coombe Road, on Saturday, had “a special relevance” to Waddon residents because they were “the subject of a strong push for votes from the openly racist British National Party” in their local council byelection.
"I urge all tolerant people to vote in this election in the name of good neighbourliness and good community relations to keep the BNP at bay,” Mr Pelling said.
However, Waddon BNP candidate Charlotte Lewis said: “I think it is cheap and sick of him [Mr Pelling] to compare the Holocaust with voting BNP.
“We do not want to genocide the Jewish people, we just think the Labour Government is trying to genocide the British people.
“We don’t want to kill anyone, we just want to preserve our country. We just want to put a stop to immigration, we have to close the doors.
Mr Pelling also used Saturday’s event to call for the government to work with its European partners to secure January 27 as an EU-wide public holiday marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
He said: “The Holocaust event is an important way of recalling the grief, the hate, the horror, the sorrow and the evil that calls to us down the decades.”
It is a reminder that modern society is still capable “to cast out and to persecute the outsider”, he added.
“The Stand up to Hatred theme of this year's Holocaust events emphasises how combating racist hatred must continue today.”
The second annual Holocaust event held at Ruskin House was organised by Croydon Trade Union Congress, Croydon Labour Party, Croydon Co-op, Folk & Blues Club and the Croydon Communists.
NWN:
We like this response
"
ron duron, Croydon says...1:16pm Mon 26 Jan 09
The Conservative leadership has distanced itself from Andrew Pelling, the MP who was arrested after his pregnant second wife accused him of assault.Mr Pelling, who will be defending a majority of 300 after boundary changes, faces an uphill battle to secure his reselection as candidate in Croydon Central.His wife, Lucy, who is 20 years his junior, has said she will never return to the marital home. Mr Pelling, 48, was having an affair with her while married to Sane, the mother of his three children.Members of Mr Pelling's association may take the view that the party's high command want a new candidate in the key marginal seat.Meanwhile, the former Labour minister Nick Raynsford, 62, has left his wife of almost 30 years to set up home with Alison Seabeck, 53, the Labour MP for Plymouth Devonport."
http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/4076282.Pelling_blasts_BNP_at_Holocaust_service/
Reaction in BBC Gaza appeal row
The BBC's decision not to air a charity appeal for aid to Gaza has come in for fierce criticism.
Director general Mark Thompson has said by airing the appeal the BBC would risk reducing public confidence in its impartial coverage of the conflict.
Director general Mark Thompson has said by airing the appeal the BBC would risk reducing public confidence in its impartial coverage of the conflict.
Sky News has similarly declined to show the appeal, also citing incompatibility with its objective coverage of the conflict in Gaza.
Politicians have urged a review of the BBC's decision, and a crowd of 2,000 protested outside the BBC's London HQ.
"We are passionate about defending the BBC's impartiality and we worry with such an emotive and such a political story - the United Nations this morning describing it as a political crisis with humanitarian consequences.
We do want to cover the humanitarian story, we want to cover it in our news programmes where we can put it in context, we can do it in an even, carefully balanced, objective way.
We worry about being seen to endorse something which could give people the impression that we were backing one side. "
Police Seize UK Indymedia Server (Again)
On 22 January 2009 an Indymedia server was seized by the Police in Manchester. The warrant was issued by a Judge to Kent Police. This was probably related to postings about the recent SHAC trial.
Kent Police had e-mailed imc-uk-contact in the morning requesting that personal information about the judge in the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) trial be removed from the site.
However this information had already been quickly removed in line with IMC UK policy. The e-mail also requested information relating to the poster be retained. Indymedia as an open posting news service does not log such information about its sources.
The warrant, as yet not seen by Indymedia, was we believe, specifically for this one server colocated in Manchester which is a mirror of the site. So it can only be concluded that the judge didnʼt check the legality and validity of the request to remove it, and that the police wanted to attack the infrastructure within the UK.
Other sites that have been affected as a result of this seizure include London Indymedia, the global Indymedia documentation project server, la Soja Mata – an anti-GM soya campaign focusing on South American development, Transition Sheffield and a Canadian campaign against the 2010 olympics.
NWN:
We may not like those at Indymedia, but the same police state aggression could be exacted against any of us. Be vigilant!
Saturday, January 24, 2009
The traitors who sell you out
Lord Peter Mandelson
UK Secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reforms Lord Peter Mandelson made a pitch for Indian lawyers to set up offices and explore opportunities in the UK.
Launching a resource book here, Mandelson said, it will “demonstrate how easy it is for Indian law firms to work in UK”. As more and more Indian companies were making acquisitions in the UK, there was more scope for Indian law firms there, he said, adding “there are a host of untapped opportunities for Indian firms to succeed there”.
Mandelson was speaking at a seminar on opportunities for Indians lawyers in legal sector in the UK. Mandelson, along with Union law minister Hansraj Bhardwaj, launched Setting Up In UK: A Resource Guide For Indian Law Firms, a guide book on opportunities for Indian lawyers in that country.
Acknowledging that a free trade agreement (FTA) would provide much-needed stimulus to both India and the European Union, Mandelson said the FTA may not be signed before the next general elections in India. “I believe the FTA is very important. It would be a stimulus to our economies,” Mandelson said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/uk-pitches-for-indian-law-firms/414694/
UK Secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reforms Lord Peter Mandelson made a pitch for Indian lawyers to set up offices and explore opportunities in the UK.
Launching a resource book here, Mandelson said, it will “demonstrate how easy it is for Indian law firms to work in UK”. As more and more Indian companies were making acquisitions in the UK, there was more scope for Indian law firms there, he said, adding “there are a host of untapped opportunities for Indian firms to succeed there”.
Mandelson was speaking at a seminar on opportunities for Indians lawyers in legal sector in the UK. Mandelson, along with Union law minister Hansraj Bhardwaj, launched Setting Up In UK: A Resource Guide For Indian Law Firms, a guide book on opportunities for Indian lawyers in that country.
Acknowledging that a free trade agreement (FTA) would provide much-needed stimulus to both India and the European Union, Mandelson said the FTA may not be signed before the next general elections in India. “I believe the FTA is very important. It would be a stimulus to our economies,” Mandelson said.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/uk-pitches-for-indian-law-firms/414694/
Britain ranks 13th in the well-being accounts
The UK is ranked 13th, out of 22 European nations, when combining ratings for personal and social well-being, managing only 15th for social well-being and 13th for personal well-being alone.
The UK fares particularly poorly compared to other Western European nations where we fall third from the bottom on both personal and social well-being
Although people in the UK are relatively satisfied with their lives, they score poorly on measures of vitality and sense of meaning and engagement.
Denmark, Switzerland and Norway show the highest levels of overall well-being, while Central and Eastern European countries such as the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Hungary have the lowest.
The UK comes 20 out of 22 nations on levels of trust and belonging ahead of only Slovakia and Bulgaria.
For the 16-24 age group people in the UK report the lowest levels of trust and belonging anywhere in Europe, only Bulgarian and Estonian young people report similarly low levels of trust and belonging.
People over 75 score highly on this component, an indication perhaps of the legacy of the more recent development of a highly individualistic culture in the UK. (NWN: We think they mean immigration)
http://www.nationalaccountsofwellbeing.org/explore/indicators/zwbi
The UK fares particularly poorly compared to other Western European nations where we fall third from the bottom on both personal and social well-being
Although people in the UK are relatively satisfied with their lives, they score poorly on measures of vitality and sense of meaning and engagement.
Denmark, Switzerland and Norway show the highest levels of overall well-being, while Central and Eastern European countries such as the Ukraine, Bulgaria and Hungary have the lowest.
The UK comes 20 out of 22 nations on levels of trust and belonging ahead of only Slovakia and Bulgaria.
For the 16-24 age group people in the UK report the lowest levels of trust and belonging anywhere in Europe, only Bulgarian and Estonian young people report similarly low levels of trust and belonging.
People over 75 score highly on this component, an indication perhaps of the legacy of the more recent development of a highly individualistic culture in the UK. (NWN: We think they mean immigration)
http://www.nationalaccountsofwellbeing.org/explore/indicators/zwbi
Friday, January 23, 2009
Daily Mail caught lying again!
The headline reads:
Hidden from Hitler: The toys a little boy packed away as war loomed
It was more than 70 years ago when young Dewi Rowlands began packing his favourite toys away.
Perhaps, with war clouds gathering over Europe, he feared Hitler and his men might get their hands on them.
Into his toy box went a train set, tin soldiers, a clockwork flying machine called an autogyro and a cork gun, along with wooden figures, games and letters of the alphabet.
There they remained hidden - a time capsule containing everything a small boy needed in the days before TVs and computer games - until after Mr Rowlands died at the age of 77. Even his wife Brenda knew nothing about them.
Once, when she asked what was inside the box - by this time installed in her husband's garden shed - he declined to say and she never asked again.
But more than a year after Mr Rowlands died in late 2006, her curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box. She said: 'Inside was a train set, helicopter, soldiers and wooden farm and zoo animals, all from the 1920s and 30s.
'It was amazing. I also found a tin containing marbles, broken toys, nuts and bolts - just the things which might have been found in the pockets of a boy during the 1930s.
'For some reason Dewi did not want me to open the chest,' recalled Mrs Rowlands, 70.
'Years ago I remember him saying "just leave it" and I never questioned him. I never thought about it until I was clearing out the shed.'
The chest was lined with newspaper from 1937, when Mr Rowlands, aged eight, started hiding away his collection.
The couple, of Aberystwyth, Mid Wales, had no children so she has loaned the toys to the town's museum where they are on display for the Xbox generation to see.
'It is an absolute treasure, showing the childhood of a boy growing up in the 1930s,' said museum curator Michael Freeman.
'Some of the toys were a bit damp and mouldy but most of the contents were in good condition and you just cannot put a value on them now.
'We are extremely grateful to Mrs Rowlands for lending us the toys for this special exhibition.'
NWN:
Here are 3 responses to the article.
He put his toys in a box two years before war even broke out - He didn't 'hide them from the Nazis' at all.
- Tom, Middlesbrough, UK, 23/1/2009 15:04
What a wonderful find!
- Kay, Cheltenham, England, 23/1/2009 15:02
I dont see how a toy helicopter could be in a toy box packed before WW2, as there where still only in development at the end of the war, therefore no child would have a toy one
- AA, Liverpool, 23/1/2009 15:00
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1126948/Hidden-Hitler-The-toys-little-boy-packed-away-war-loomed.html
Hidden from Hitler: The toys a little boy packed away as war loomed
It was more than 70 years ago when young Dewi Rowlands began packing his favourite toys away.
Perhaps, with war clouds gathering over Europe, he feared Hitler and his men might get their hands on them.
Into his toy box went a train set, tin soldiers, a clockwork flying machine called an autogyro and a cork gun, along with wooden figures, games and letters of the alphabet.
There they remained hidden - a time capsule containing everything a small boy needed in the days before TVs and computer games - until after Mr Rowlands died at the age of 77. Even his wife Brenda knew nothing about them.
Once, when she asked what was inside the box - by this time installed in her husband's garden shed - he declined to say and she never asked again.
But more than a year after Mr Rowlands died in late 2006, her curiosity got the better of her and she opened the box. She said: 'Inside was a train set, helicopter, soldiers and wooden farm and zoo animals, all from the 1920s and 30s.
'It was amazing. I also found a tin containing marbles, broken toys, nuts and bolts - just the things which might have been found in the pockets of a boy during the 1930s.
'For some reason Dewi did not want me to open the chest,' recalled Mrs Rowlands, 70.
'Years ago I remember him saying "just leave it" and I never questioned him. I never thought about it until I was clearing out the shed.'
The chest was lined with newspaper from 1937, when Mr Rowlands, aged eight, started hiding away his collection.
The couple, of Aberystwyth, Mid Wales, had no children so she has loaned the toys to the town's museum where they are on display for the Xbox generation to see.
'It is an absolute treasure, showing the childhood of a boy growing up in the 1930s,' said museum curator Michael Freeman.
'Some of the toys were a bit damp and mouldy but most of the contents were in good condition and you just cannot put a value on them now.
'We are extremely grateful to Mrs Rowlands for lending us the toys for this special exhibition.'
NWN:
Here are 3 responses to the article.
He put his toys in a box two years before war even broke out - He didn't 'hide them from the Nazis' at all.
- Tom, Middlesbrough, UK, 23/1/2009 15:04
What a wonderful find!
- Kay, Cheltenham, England, 23/1/2009 15:02
I dont see how a toy helicopter could be in a toy box packed before WW2, as there where still only in development at the end of the war, therefore no child would have a toy one
- AA, Liverpool, 23/1/2009 15:00
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1126948/Hidden-Hitler-The-toys-little-boy-packed-away-war-loomed.html
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
John Pilger: Holocaust denied
John PIlger17 January 2009“When the truth is replaced by silence”, the Soviet dissident Yevgeny Yevtushenko said, “the silence is a lie”.
It may appear the silence is broken on Gaza. The cocoons of murdered children, wrapped in green, together with boxes containing their dismembered parents and the cries of grief and rage of everyone in that death camp by the sea, can be viewed on Al Jazeera and YouTube, even glimpsed on the BBC. But Russia’s incorrigible poet was not referring to the ephemeral we call news; he was asking why those who knew the why never spoke it and so denied it. Among the Anglo-American intelligentsia, this is especially striking. It is they who hold the keys to the great storehouses of knowledge: the historiographies and archives that lead us to the why. They know that the horror now raining on Gaza has little to do with Hamas or, absurdly, “Israel’s right to exist”. They know the opposite to be true: that Palestine’s right to exist was canceled 61 years ago and the expulsion and, if necessary, extinction of the indigenous people was planned and executed by the founders of Israel. They know, for example, that the infamous “Plan D” resulted in the murderous depopulation of 369 Palestinian towns and villages by the Haganah (Jewish army) and that massacre upon massacre of Palestinian civilians in such places as Deir Yassin, al-Dawayima, Eilaboun, Jish, Ramle and Lydda are referred to in official records as “ethnic cleansing”. Ongoing ethnic cleansing Arriving at a scene of this carnage, David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, was asked by a general, Yigal Allon, “What shall we do with the Arabs?” Ben-Gurion, reported the Israeli historian Benny Morris, “made a dismissive, energetic gesture with his hand and said, ’Expel them’”. The order to expel an entire population “without attention to age” was signed by Yitzhak Rabin, a future prime minister promoted by the world’s most efficient propaganda as a peacemaker. The terrible irony of this was addressed only in passing, such as when the Mapan Party co-leader Meir Ya’ari noted “how easily” Israel’s leaders spoke of how it was “possible and permissible to take women, children and old men and to fill the roads with them because such is the imperative of strategy … who remembers who used this means against our people during the [Second World] war … we are appalled”. Every subsequent “war” Israel has waged has had the same objective: the expulsion of the native people and the theft of more and more land. The lie of David and Goliath, of perennial victim, reached its apogee in 1967 when the propaganda became a righteous fury that claimed the Arab states had struck first. Since then, mostly Jewish truth-tellers such as Avi Schlaim, Noam Chomsky, the late Tanya Reinhart, Neve Gordon, Tom Segev, Uri Avnery, Ilan Pappe and Norman Finklestein have dispatched this and other myths and revealed a state shorn of the humane traditions of Judaism, whose unrelenting militarism is the sum of an expansionist, lawless and racist ideology called Zionism. “It seems”, wrote the Israeli historian Ilan Pappe on 2 January, “that even the most horrendous crimes, such as the genocide in Gaza, are treated as desperate events, unconnected to anything that happened in the past and not associated with any ideology or system … Very much as the apartheid ideology explained the oppressive policies of the South African government, this ideology — in its most consensual and simplistic variety — has allowed all the Israeli governments in the past and the present to dehumanize the Palestinians wherever they are and strive to destroy them. “The means altered from period to period, from location to location, as did the narrative covering up these atrocities. But there is a clear pattern [of genocide].” In Gaza, the enforced starvation and denial of humanitarian aid, the piracy of life-giving resources such as fuel and water, the denial of medicines and treatment, the systematic destruction of infrastructure and the killing and maiming of the civilian population, 50% of whom are children, meet the international standard of the Genocide Convention. Holocaust in the making “Is it an irresponsible overstatement”, asked Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and international law authority at Princeton University, “to associate the treatment of Palestinians with this criminalized Nazi record of collective atrocity? I think not.” In describing a “holocaust-in-the making”, Falk was alluding to the Nazis’ establishment of Jewish ghettos in Poland. For one month in 1943, the captive Polish Jews led by Mordechaj Anielewiz fought off the German army and the SS, but their resistance was finally crushed and the Nazis exacted their final revenge. Falk is also a Jew. Today’s holocaust-in-the-making, which began with Ben-Gurion’s Plan D, is in its final stages. The difference today is that it is a joint US-Israeli project. The F-16 jet fighters, the 250-pound “smart” GBU-39 bombs supplied on the eve of the attack on Gaza, having been approved by a Congress dominated by the Democratic Party, plus the annual US$2.4 billion in war-making “aid”, give Washington de facto control. It beggars belief that President-elect Obama was not informed. Outspoken on Russia’s war in Georgia and the terrorism in Mumbai, Obama’s silence on Palestine marks his approval, which is to be expected, given his obsequiousness to the Tel Aviv regime and its lobbyists during the presidential campaign and his appointment of Zionists as his secretary of state, chief of staff and principal Middle East advisers. When Aretha Franklin sings “Think”, her wonderful 1960s anthem to freedom, at Obama’s inauguration on 21 January, I trust someone with the brave heart of Muntadar al-Zaidi, the shoe-thrower, will shout: “Gaza!” The asymmetry of conquest and terror is clear. Plan D is now “Operation Cast Lead”, which is the unfinished “Operation Justified Vengeance”. The latter was launched by then-prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2001 when, with Bush’s approval, he used F-16s against Palestinian towns and villages for the first time. In the same year, the authoritative Jane’s Foreign Report disclosed that the Blair government had given Israel the “green light” to attack the West Bank after it was shown Israel’s secret designs for a bloodbath. It was typical of New Labor Party’s enduring, cringing complicity in Palestine’s agony. However, the 2001 Israeli plan, reported Jane’s, needed the “trigger” of a suicide bombing which would cause “numerous deaths and injuries [because] the ‘revenge’ factor is crucial”. This would “motivate Israeli soldiers to demolish the Palestinians”. What alarmed Sharon and the author of the plan, General Shaul Mofaz, the Israeli Chief of Staff, was a secret agreement between Yasser Arafat and Hamas to ban suicide attacks. On 23 November, 2001, Israeli agents assassinated the Hamas leader, Mahmud Abu Hunud, and got their “trigger”; the suicide attacks resumed in response to his killing. Something uncannily similar happened on 5 November last, when Israeli special forces attacked Gaza, killing six people. Once again, they got their propaganda “trigger”. A cease-fire initiated and sustained by the Hamas government — which had imprisoned its violators — was shattered by the Israeli attack and homemade rockets were fired into what used to be Palestine before its Arab occupants were “cleansed”. On 23 December, Hamas offered to renew the cease-fire, but Israel’s charade was such that its all-out assault on Gaza had been planned six months earlier, according to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz. Dagon plan Behind this sordid game is the “Dagan Plan”, named after General Meir Dagan, who served with Sharon in his bloody invasion of Lebanon in 1982. Now head of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence organisation, Dagan is the author of a “solution” that has seen the imprisonment of Palestinians behind a ghetto wall snaking across the West Bank and in Gaza, effectively a concentration camp. The establishment of a quisling government in Ramallah under Mohammed Abbas is Dagan’s achievement, together with a hasbara (propaganda) campaign relayed through a mostly supine, if intimidated western media, notably in America, that says Hamas is a terrorist organisation devoted to Israel’s destruction and to “blame” for the massacres and siege of its own people over two generations, long before its creation. “We have never had it so good”, said the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gideon Meir in 2006. “The hasbara effort is a well-oiled machine.” In fact, Hamas’s real threat is its example as the Arab world’s only democratically elected government, drawing its popularity from its resistance to the Palestinians’ oppressor and tormentor. This was demonstrated when Hamas foiled a CIA coup in 2007, an event ordained in the western media as “Hamas’s seizure of power”. Likewise, Hamas is never described as a government, let alone democratic. Neither is its proposal of a ten-year truce as a historic recognition of the “reality” of Israel and support for a two-state solution with just one condition: that the Israelis obey international law and end their illegal occupation beyond the 1967 borders. As every annual vote in the UN General Assembly demonstrates, 99% of humanity concurs. On 4 January, the president of the General Assembly, Miguel d’Escoto, described the Israeli attack on Gaza as a “monstrosity”. When the monstrosity is done and the people of Gaza are even more stricken, the Dagan Plan foresees what Sharon called a “1948-style solution” — the destruction of all Palestinian leadership and authority followed by mass expulsions into smaller and smaller “cantonments” and perhaps finally into Jordan. This demolition of institutional and educational life in Gaza is designed to produce, wrote Karma Nabulsi, a Palestinian exile in Britain, “a Hobbesian vision of an anarchic society: truncated, violent, powerless, destroyed, cowed … Look to the Iraq of today: that is what [Sharon] had in store for us, and he has nearly achieved it.” Dr Dahlia Wasfi is a US writer on Palestine. She has a Jewish mother and an Iraqi Muslim father. “Holocaust denial is anti-Semitic”, she wrote on 31 December. “But I’m not talking about World War Two, Mahmoud Ahmedinijad (the president of Iran) or Ashkenazi Jews. “What I’m referring to is the holocaust we are all witnessing and responsible for in Gaza today and in Palestine over the past 60 years ... Since Arabs are Semites, US-Israeli policy doesn’t get more anti-Semitic than this.” She quoted Rachel Corrie, the young American who went to Palestine to defend Palestinians and was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer. “I am in the midst of a genocide”, wrote Corrie, “which I am also indirectly supporting and for which my government is largely responsible”. Reading the words of both, I am struck by the use of “responsibility”. Breaking the lie of silence is not an esoteric abstraction but an urgent responsibility that falls to those with the privilege of a platform. With the BBC cowed, so too is much of journalism, merely allowing vigorous debate within unmovable invisible boundaries, ever fearful of the smear of anti-Semitism. The unreported news, meanwhile, is that the death toll in Gaza is the equivalent of 18,000 dead in Britain. Imagine, if you can. Then there are the academics, the deans and teachers and researchers. Why are they silent as they watch a university bombed and hear the Association of University Teachers in Gaza plea for help? Are British universities now, as Terry Eagleton believes, no more than “intellectual Tescos, churning out a commodity known as graduates rather than greengroceries”? Then there are the writers. In the dark year of 1939, the Third Writers’ Congress was held at Carnegie Hall in New York and the likes of Thomas Mann and Albert Einstein sent messages and spoke up to ensure the lie of silence was broken. By one account, 3500 jammed the auditorium and a thousand were turned away. Today, this mighty voice of realism and morality is said to be obsolete; the literary review pages affect an ironic hauteur of irrelevance; false symbolism is all. As for the readers, their moral and political imagination is to be pacified, not primed. The anti-Muslim Martin Amis expressed this well in Visiting Mrs Nabokov: “The dominance of the self is not a flaw, it is an evolutionary characteristic; it is just how things are.” If that is how things are, we are diminished as a civilized society. For what happens in Gaza is the defining moment of our time, which either grants the impunity of war criminals the immunity of our silence, while we contort our own intellect and morality, or gives us the power to speak out. For the moment I prefer my own memory of Gaza: of the people’s courage and resistance and their “luminous humanity”, as Karma Nabulsi put it. On my last trip there, I was rewarded with a spectacle of Palestinian flags fluttering in unlikely places. It was dusk and children had done this. No one told them to do it. They made flagpoles out of sticks tied together, and a few of them climbed on to a wall and held the flag between them, some silently, others crying out. They do this every day when they know foreigners are leaving, believing the world will not forget them. [Reprinted from http://www.johnpilger.com/.]
January 27th
January 27th is Holocaust memorial day
People should attend these events in peaceful demonstration with
banners and billboards which read
REMEMBER GAZA
---------------------------------------
Barack Obama's team to stop the BNP
Barack Obama's web strategists have been brought on to support a UK campaign 'to counter racism and fascism'.
Blue State Digital, the consultancy behind Obama's online success will work with The Hope Not Hate campaign.
The campaign was founded by Searchlight, an anti-British National Party (BNP) organisation.
The web strategists will help Searchlight work to stop the BNP winning a seat in the European election. They have already invited thousands of people to join the campaign online.
The company is working on providing tools for Hope Not Hate's new website and will be developing messaging, emailing and fundraising campaigns.
Blue State Digital, which has offices in New York, Washington, and Boston, opened a London office in December 2008. The office is run by London director Matthew McGregor, who has worked for political campaigns including Livingstone's 2008 mayoral bid.
http://www.prweek.com/uk/sectors/technology/article/874950/obama-web-team-works-anti-bnp-brief/
NWN:
Not that we particularly like Mr Griffin, or his ideas on Europe, but if he wishes to use their services the link is below. They have also helped
London Mayor Ken Livingstone (Is this the Searchlight funder?)
European Council on Foreign Relations
Open Europe Coalition
Wine and Spirits Trade Association
http://www.bluestatedigital.com/spotlight/get-elected/
Blue State Digital, the consultancy behind Obama's online success will work with The Hope Not Hate campaign.
The campaign was founded by Searchlight, an anti-British National Party (BNP) organisation.
The web strategists will help Searchlight work to stop the BNP winning a seat in the European election. They have already invited thousands of people to join the campaign online.
The company is working on providing tools for Hope Not Hate's new website and will be developing messaging, emailing and fundraising campaigns.
Blue State Digital, which has offices in New York, Washington, and Boston, opened a London office in December 2008. The office is run by London director Matthew McGregor, who has worked for political campaigns including Livingstone's 2008 mayoral bid.
http://www.prweek.com/uk/sectors/technology/article/874950/obama-web-team-works-anti-bnp-brief/
NWN:
Not that we particularly like Mr Griffin, or his ideas on Europe, but if he wishes to use their services the link is below. They have also helped
London Mayor Ken Livingstone (Is this the Searchlight funder?)
European Council on Foreign Relations
Open Europe Coalition
Wine and Spirits Trade Association
http://www.bluestatedigital.com/spotlight/get-elected/
Monday, January 19, 2009
Church asked to ban BNP members
The Church of England is to be asked to ban clergy from joining the British National Party (BNP).
The general synod - the Church's parliament - will be urged to adopt a similar policy to other bodies which forbid BNP membership, like the police.
The move comes after the leaked publication of the names of 12,000 BNP members in November.
The list contained five "Reverends" but the Church said none was a licensed or serving clergy member.
Police policy
The Association of Chief Police Officers policy states that no member of the police service may be a member of an organisation whose constitution, aims or objectives contradict the general duty to promote equality.
It specifically mentions the BNP as one such organisation.
At the meeting of the synod next month one of its members, Vasantha Gnanadoss - who works for the Metropolitan Police - will submit a private members motion calling for a similar policy to apply to all clergy, candidates for ordination and lay persons speaking on behalf of the Church.
She said the policy would make it more difficult for organisations like the BNP to exploit the claim that there are members of the Anglican clergy that support them.
"Of specific relevance to this motion are some of the tactics adopted by the BNP, which in recent years has sought to identify itself as Christian and sometimes specifically with the Church of England, in order to further its agenda," she said.
Disciplined clergy
William Fittall, secretary general of the general synod, said it was already Church of England policy that people should not enter ordained ministry if they held racist views.
He added, however, that it would be harder for the Church to enact a formal policy aimed at the BNP.
"Not long ago the synod passed the Clergy Discipline Measure, which specifically said you could not discipline a member of the clergy for political views or membership of a political party," he said.
A BNP spokesman said the party was aware of the efforts of Ms Gnanadoss and denied it was racist.
"There are members of the general synod who are sympathetic towards us," he said.
"This is a disgraceful way to politicise the Church. The Church has got far more important things we feel to worry about... rather than a vindictive campaign against a perfectly legitimate political party".
Griffin's Letter
For Urgent Attention, Chief Constable, Lancashire ConstabularyPolice HQHuttonPrestonPR4 5SB
17th January 2009
Dear Chief Constable Finnigan,
I wish to make a formal allegation of incitement to racial hatred, contrary to S.5 of the Public Order Act, whereby it is an offence to use words intended or, having regards to all the circumstances, likely to incite racial hatred.
The offence was, I believe, committed by Lauren Booth in the course of her speech to the Muslims for Gaza rally in Corporation Park, Blackburn, on Sunday 11th January 2009, a copy of which may be found on the BNPtv footage posted together with my analysis of the speech and situation on the main news section of www.bnp.org.uk on Saturday 17th January.
As you should already be aware, this rally was attended by many thousands of mainly young Muslim men, already in a high state of anger as a result of media coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in Gaza. As one of Britain’s leading experts in this particular piece of legislation, I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a prima facie case against Ms Booth. In particular, her use of the plural in the phrase “you are the criminals we detest”, juxtaposed with comments such as “we want Israel out of this country”, (not, please note, “the Israeli Embassy”, but simply “Israel”) are clearly likely – if not intended – to be taken by those present as a green light for hatred, indeed quite possibly actual physical violence, against individual Jews and against Jewish businesses in our High Streets.
That she intended mischief is indicated by her deliberately setting out to enrage the audience with stories – totally fictitious as far as any news reports coming out of Gaza would suggest – of “chemical weapons” being used by Israel in the targeted attacks on Hamas terrorists which she presents as random attacks aimed at innocent women and children.
Given the deep-rooted traditional hostility to Jews, simply on account of their being Jews, in the Koran and the Haddith, to make such a speech to a large Muslim audience can only incite hatred against Jews; the legal threshold of ‘likelihood’ cannot fail to be crossed.
If it should be that a ‘softly softly’ policing policy meant that you did not feel able to station a police video team in the park to capture speeches as evidence in the event (clearly foreseeable under the circumstances) of incitements to violence or racial or religious hatred, then you only need to ask and BNPtv will supply you with the original footage recorded by our camera crew in the park. Although it is shaky it is clearly audible throughout and the speaker can be very clearly identified.
I am also told that Wayman Bennett of the criminal conspiracy operation ‘Unite Against Fascism’ addressed the same rally and said, among other provocative statements that “Israeli Jews should go back to wherever they came from – New York or wherever it is”. I have not seen this footage myself, but urge that you also investigate this.
As the Gold Commander during the 1981 Burnley riots, you must have a very good appreciation of the very serious danger involved here, with outside agitators doing their very best to increase tensions in Blackburn. Should the situation in Gaza not be permanently resolved very soon, it is highly likely that Ms Booth’s call for a far larger demonstration in the town will be answered. That being the case, it is vital if the peace is to be maintained and the law upheld that the police force take action now to show that incitement to racial hatred and violence is unacceptable not only if the alleged victims are Pakistani Muslims, but also members of other races and religions.
I look forward to hearing that you have set in motion the appropriate action very shortly, not least because – as my analysis which accompanies the video makes clear – we do not have much time left in which to damp down the growing hysteria and alienation being produced by agitators such as Ms Booth.
Yours sincerely
Nick Griffin
PO Box 14
Welshpool
Powys
SY21 0WE
UPDATE:
Blair’s Sister-in-Law Incites Moslems: “We Want Israel Out!”
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com)
At a rally of 10,000 Muslim men in England last week, Lauren Booth called to Israel: “You are the criminals that we detest!”
Booth, sister of the wife of UK Middle East envoy Tony Blair, spoke at an anti-Israel rally held last Sunday, Jan. 11, in the large town of Blackburn, 35 kilometers north of Manchester. An estimated 10,000 people, mostly young Muslim men, were in attendance.
Sources in England report that the rally was totally ignored by national media, including the BBC, despite the fact that it was “probably the largest Islamic protest march in the UK since the Bradford book-burnings against Salman Rushdie and free speech twenty years ago.” So writes far-right politician Nick Griffin.
Booth fired up the crowd by calling for the closing of the Israeli Embassy in London, accusing Israel of “blasting” women and children with chemical weapons, and exhorting the Moslem community to “bring 40,000” to their next anti-Israel protest in “the middle of your city.”
“Today we are all Palestinians,” Booth ranted. “We will fight for you and your children! And we have a message to you, Israel. You’re finished. That’s it. No more stories about self-defense. No, no, that’s over. You – you are the nation of hate! And you are the criminals – that we detest! … We are angry, and we want Israel out of this country!”
Booth said she represents the “good people of our country who are angry and disgusted now, because our country has an ambassador in Israel! Withdraw him! We do not want an Israeli embassy in London – they are criminals! Say it with me now: Israel – out! Out! Out! [Crowd screams: Out! Out! Out!]"
She then entertained the crowd by asking them if they remember Tony Blair, how they feel about him as Middle East envoy - the crowd booed in response - and then said, “I have his number here, let me call him; hang on a second.” As the crowd laughed with approval, Booth apparently dialed Blair’s Jerusalem office, telling the crowd, “Hang on, let me put this on speaker phone,” and then saying into the phone, “Hello? Hi, I have a message here from the British people for Tony Blair, about Israel and his role: Shame on you! Shame on you!” She then let the crowd’s roars of agreement be heard on the phone.
Griffin later filed a complaint with the local police constable, writing as follows:
“I wish to make a formal allegation of incitement to racial hatred, contrary to S.5 of the Public Order Act, whereby it is an offence to use words intended or, having regards to all the circumstances, likely to incite racial hatred. The offence was, I believe, committed by Lauren Booth in the course of her speech to the Muslims for Gaza rally in Corporation Park, Blackburn, on Sunday 11th January 2009… This rally was attended by many thousands of mainly young Muslim men, already in a high state of anger as a result of media coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in Gaza. …[H]er use of the plural in the phrase “you are the criminals we detest”, juxtaposed with comments such as “we want Israel out of this country”, (not, please note, “the Israeli Embassy”, but simply “Israel”) are clearly likely – if not intended – to be taken by those present as a green light for hatred, indeed quite possibly actual physical violence, against individual Jews and against Jewish businesses in our High Streets.
“That she intended mischief is indicated by her deliberately setting out to enrage the audience with stories – totally fictitious as far as any news reports coming out of Gaza would suggest – of “chemical weapons” being used by Israel in the targeted attacks on Hamas terrorists which she presents as random attacks aimed at innocent women and children.
“Given the deep-rooted traditional hostility to Jews, simply on account of their being Jews, in the Koran and the Haddith, to make such a speech to a large Muslim audience can only incite hatred against Jews…”
The press office of Griffin’s British National Party informed IsraelNationalNews that the complaint, filed on Saturday, has not yet been acted upon.
Anti-Semitism on the RiseThe Community Security Trust, the main Jewish body that monitors anti-Semitism in London, says there were 150 anti-Semitic incidents in the first 18 days of the conflict in Gaza, representing a steep increase. Among the incidents were a suspected arson attack in a north London synagogue, verbal abuse, offensive graffiti, and more. The Metropolitan Police agrees that it has recorded an increase in anti-Semitism in London of late.
Booth's Candy Bars in GazaBooth made headlines four months ago when she took part in an anti-Israel stunt by arriving in Gaza aboard a ship, in a challenge to Israeli sovereignty over the coastal waters. Egyptian and Israeli authorities delayed her departure from Gaza. She said that conditions in Gaza were worse than in Darfur, and compared the area to Nazi concentration camps – yet was photographed buying candy bars and soft drinks at a well-stocked Gaza grocery.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129509
17th January 2009
Dear Chief Constable Finnigan,
I wish to make a formal allegation of incitement to racial hatred, contrary to S.5 of the Public Order Act, whereby it is an offence to use words intended or, having regards to all the circumstances, likely to incite racial hatred.
The offence was, I believe, committed by Lauren Booth in the course of her speech to the Muslims for Gaza rally in Corporation Park, Blackburn, on Sunday 11th January 2009, a copy of which may be found on the BNPtv footage posted together with my analysis of the speech and situation on the main news section of www.bnp.org.uk on Saturday 17th January.
As you should already be aware, this rally was attended by many thousands of mainly young Muslim men, already in a high state of anger as a result of media coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in Gaza. As one of Britain’s leading experts in this particular piece of legislation, I have no doubt whatsoever that there is a prima facie case against Ms Booth. In particular, her use of the plural in the phrase “you are the criminals we detest”, juxtaposed with comments such as “we want Israel out of this country”, (not, please note, “the Israeli Embassy”, but simply “Israel”) are clearly likely – if not intended – to be taken by those present as a green light for hatred, indeed quite possibly actual physical violence, against individual Jews and against Jewish businesses in our High Streets.
That she intended mischief is indicated by her deliberately setting out to enrage the audience with stories – totally fictitious as far as any news reports coming out of Gaza would suggest – of “chemical weapons” being used by Israel in the targeted attacks on Hamas terrorists which she presents as random attacks aimed at innocent women and children.
Given the deep-rooted traditional hostility to Jews, simply on account of their being Jews, in the Koran and the Haddith, to make such a speech to a large Muslim audience can only incite hatred against Jews; the legal threshold of ‘likelihood’ cannot fail to be crossed.
If it should be that a ‘softly softly’ policing policy meant that you did not feel able to station a police video team in the park to capture speeches as evidence in the event (clearly foreseeable under the circumstances) of incitements to violence or racial or religious hatred, then you only need to ask and BNPtv will supply you with the original footage recorded by our camera crew in the park. Although it is shaky it is clearly audible throughout and the speaker can be very clearly identified.
I am also told that Wayman Bennett of the criminal conspiracy operation ‘Unite Against Fascism’ addressed the same rally and said, among other provocative statements that “Israeli Jews should go back to wherever they came from – New York or wherever it is”. I have not seen this footage myself, but urge that you also investigate this.
As the Gold Commander during the 1981 Burnley riots, you must have a very good appreciation of the very serious danger involved here, with outside agitators doing their very best to increase tensions in Blackburn. Should the situation in Gaza not be permanently resolved very soon, it is highly likely that Ms Booth’s call for a far larger demonstration in the town will be answered. That being the case, it is vital if the peace is to be maintained and the law upheld that the police force take action now to show that incitement to racial hatred and violence is unacceptable not only if the alleged victims are Pakistani Muslims, but also members of other races and religions.
I look forward to hearing that you have set in motion the appropriate action very shortly, not least because – as my analysis which accompanies the video makes clear – we do not have much time left in which to damp down the growing hysteria and alienation being produced by agitators such as Ms Booth.
Yours sincerely
Nick Griffin
PO Box 14
Welshpool
Powys
SY21 0WE
UPDATE:
Blair’s Sister-in-Law Incites Moslems: “We Want Israel Out!”
by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com)
At a rally of 10,000 Muslim men in England last week, Lauren Booth called to Israel: “You are the criminals that we detest!”
Booth, sister of the wife of UK Middle East envoy Tony Blair, spoke at an anti-Israel rally held last Sunday, Jan. 11, in the large town of Blackburn, 35 kilometers north of Manchester. An estimated 10,000 people, mostly young Muslim men, were in attendance.
Sources in England report that the rally was totally ignored by national media, including the BBC, despite the fact that it was “probably the largest Islamic protest march in the UK since the Bradford book-burnings against Salman Rushdie and free speech twenty years ago.” So writes far-right politician Nick Griffin.
Booth fired up the crowd by calling for the closing of the Israeli Embassy in London, accusing Israel of “blasting” women and children with chemical weapons, and exhorting the Moslem community to “bring 40,000” to their next anti-Israel protest in “the middle of your city.”
“Today we are all Palestinians,” Booth ranted. “We will fight for you and your children! And we have a message to you, Israel. You’re finished. That’s it. No more stories about self-defense. No, no, that’s over. You – you are the nation of hate! And you are the criminals – that we detest! … We are angry, and we want Israel out of this country!”
Booth said she represents the “good people of our country who are angry and disgusted now, because our country has an ambassador in Israel! Withdraw him! We do not want an Israeli embassy in London – they are criminals! Say it with me now: Israel – out! Out! Out! [Crowd screams: Out! Out! Out!]"
She then entertained the crowd by asking them if they remember Tony Blair, how they feel about him as Middle East envoy - the crowd booed in response - and then said, “I have his number here, let me call him; hang on a second.” As the crowd laughed with approval, Booth apparently dialed Blair’s Jerusalem office, telling the crowd, “Hang on, let me put this on speaker phone,” and then saying into the phone, “Hello? Hi, I have a message here from the British people for Tony Blair, about Israel and his role: Shame on you! Shame on you!” She then let the crowd’s roars of agreement be heard on the phone.
Griffin later filed a complaint with the local police constable, writing as follows:
“I wish to make a formal allegation of incitement to racial hatred, contrary to S.5 of the Public Order Act, whereby it is an offence to use words intended or, having regards to all the circumstances, likely to incite racial hatred. The offence was, I believe, committed by Lauren Booth in the course of her speech to the Muslims for Gaza rally in Corporation Park, Blackburn, on Sunday 11th January 2009… This rally was attended by many thousands of mainly young Muslim men, already in a high state of anger as a result of media coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in Gaza. …[H]er use of the plural in the phrase “you are the criminals we detest”, juxtaposed with comments such as “we want Israel out of this country”, (not, please note, “the Israeli Embassy”, but simply “Israel”) are clearly likely – if not intended – to be taken by those present as a green light for hatred, indeed quite possibly actual physical violence, against individual Jews and against Jewish businesses in our High Streets.
“That she intended mischief is indicated by her deliberately setting out to enrage the audience with stories – totally fictitious as far as any news reports coming out of Gaza would suggest – of “chemical weapons” being used by Israel in the targeted attacks on Hamas terrorists which she presents as random attacks aimed at innocent women and children.
“Given the deep-rooted traditional hostility to Jews, simply on account of their being Jews, in the Koran and the Haddith, to make such a speech to a large Muslim audience can only incite hatred against Jews…”
The press office of Griffin’s British National Party informed IsraelNationalNews that the complaint, filed on Saturday, has not yet been acted upon.
Anti-Semitism on the RiseThe Community Security Trust, the main Jewish body that monitors anti-Semitism in London, says there were 150 anti-Semitic incidents in the first 18 days of the conflict in Gaza, representing a steep increase. Among the incidents were a suspected arson attack in a north London synagogue, verbal abuse, offensive graffiti, and more. The Metropolitan Police agrees that it has recorded an increase in anti-Semitism in London of late.
Booth's Candy Bars in GazaBooth made headlines four months ago when she took part in an anti-Israel stunt by arriving in Gaza aboard a ship, in a challenge to Israeli sovereignty over the coastal waters. Egyptian and Israeli authorities delayed her departure from Gaza. She said that conditions in Gaza were worse than in Darfur, and compared the area to Nazi concentration camps – yet was photographed buying candy bars and soft drinks at a well-stocked Gaza grocery.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/129509
Sunday, January 18, 2009
BNP gets a Pop Star
Ex-boyband star Ben Adams has also come under fire after he said he would sing for the racist British National Party at one of its rallies.
NWN:
Will he be appearing at RWB 2009?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Labour Supporting Thug Jailed for Attack on BNP Man’s House
Labour Party supporter thug has been jailed for nearly six months for an attack on a BNP member’s house in an incident linked by police to the leaked BNP membership list.
Daniel Searle, of Roundhay Road, Harehill, Leeds, was jailed today for 24 weeks by Leeds Magistrates Court for an attack on a BNP member’s house on 28 November last year.
The criminal had appeared previously in court before Christmas, and even though he had been warned that he would be sentenced to jail, BNP News’s correspondent reports that Searle was ashen-faced when removed from the court in handcuffs.
He had been charged with causing criminal damage after admitting that he had obtained the BNP member’s address from the leaked list and had decided to attack the house at night.
Searle had beaten on the door with a club, obviously hoping that someone would answer. Fortunately the BNP member had the good sense not to respond and to call the police instead.
When arrested, the criminal thug said he had obtained the address from the leaked membership list.
“It is my view that there should be further charges to answer here so far as certain militant left-wing organisations are concerned, especially when you consider that at least one of these organisations has stated that the publication of the membership list was not intended to incite violence ‘nor would it’,” Peter Hollings, BNP Leeds organiser said earlier.
“Clearly the events have proven that incitement to violence has occurred.”
In his response, BNP leader Nick Griffin said it was a first for a Labour supporter to be sentenced to jail for an attack on a Nationalist. “The sentence was rather light, as one can only imagine what the court’s reaction would have been if a BNP supporter had attacked a Labour supporter’s house,” Mr Griffin said.
“Nonetheless, BNP members can be thankful to the police in this regard for their swift response to this outrage and we look forward to their equally unbiased reaction in the event of any other incidents.”
http://bnp.org.uk/2009/01/labour-supporting-thug-jailed-for-attack-on-bnp-man%E2%80%99s-house/
Daniel Searle, of Roundhay Road, Harehill, Leeds, was jailed today for 24 weeks by Leeds Magistrates Court for an attack on a BNP member’s house on 28 November last year.
The criminal had appeared previously in court before Christmas, and even though he had been warned that he would be sentenced to jail, BNP News’s correspondent reports that Searle was ashen-faced when removed from the court in handcuffs.
He had been charged with causing criminal damage after admitting that he had obtained the BNP member’s address from the leaked list and had decided to attack the house at night.
Searle had beaten on the door with a club, obviously hoping that someone would answer. Fortunately the BNP member had the good sense not to respond and to call the police instead.
When arrested, the criminal thug said he had obtained the address from the leaked membership list.
“It is my view that there should be further charges to answer here so far as certain militant left-wing organisations are concerned, especially when you consider that at least one of these organisations has stated that the publication of the membership list was not intended to incite violence ‘nor would it’,” Peter Hollings, BNP Leeds organiser said earlier.
“Clearly the events have proven that incitement to violence has occurred.”
In his response, BNP leader Nick Griffin said it was a first for a Labour supporter to be sentenced to jail for an attack on a Nationalist. “The sentence was rather light, as one can only imagine what the court’s reaction would have been if a BNP supporter had attacked a Labour supporter’s house,” Mr Griffin said.
“Nonetheless, BNP members can be thankful to the police in this regard for their swift response to this outrage and we look forward to their equally unbiased reaction in the event of any other incidents.”
http://bnp.org.uk/2009/01/labour-supporting-thug-jailed-for-attack-on-bnp-man%E2%80%99s-house/
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
BNP links to immigration service staff
An official investigation has been launched after two immigration service staff working with asylum-seekers were found to have links to the British National Party, The Independent has learnt.
One guard employed to look after asylum-seekers at a detention centre has been forced to resign after his name was found on a membership list of the BNP. Another man has been suspended while his employer investigates alleged links to the same far-right organisation.
Both cases raise serious concerns about racism within the immigration system, where membership of extreme political groups has long been suspected. Over the past two years The Independent has helped reveal nearly 300 allegations of brutality, including 38 claims of racism, made by asylum-seekers about private security and immigration staff. Some of the allegations included abusive and racist language, in which refugees fleeing persecution were referred to as "monkeys" or told to "go back to their own countries".
The only two services where membership of the BNP can be grounds for dismissal are the police force and the Prison Service.
In the case of the immigration service, everyone working in immigration removal centres or in the guarding or removal of asylum-seekers must sign a declaration making clear that they are not members of the BNP, Combat 18 or the National Front. Those who are found to belong to any group that promotes racism will lose their accreditation to work in the immigration system.
Last night, the UK Border Agency said it "will not tolerate racist behaviour by individuals working in immigration removal centres. All allegations are investigated and the UKBA can revoke an individual's accreditation to work for the agency or have any contact with detainees."
It is understood that a security guard resigned after a list of BNP members was leaked to the media last year.
In the case of the suspended guard, the investigation is being conducted by the private contractor. During his suspension, the man will not be able to work with refugees or enter any immigration building.
BNP policy on immigration stipulates: "We will also clamp down on the flood of 'asylum-seekers', all of whom are either bogus or can find refuge much nearer their home countries."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bnp-links-to-immigration-service-staff-1334236.html
One guard employed to look after asylum-seekers at a detention centre has been forced to resign after his name was found on a membership list of the BNP. Another man has been suspended while his employer investigates alleged links to the same far-right organisation.
Both cases raise serious concerns about racism within the immigration system, where membership of extreme political groups has long been suspected. Over the past two years The Independent has helped reveal nearly 300 allegations of brutality, including 38 claims of racism, made by asylum-seekers about private security and immigration staff. Some of the allegations included abusive and racist language, in which refugees fleeing persecution were referred to as "monkeys" or told to "go back to their own countries".
The only two services where membership of the BNP can be grounds for dismissal are the police force and the Prison Service.
In the case of the immigration service, everyone working in immigration removal centres or in the guarding or removal of asylum-seekers must sign a declaration making clear that they are not members of the BNP, Combat 18 or the National Front. Those who are found to belong to any group that promotes racism will lose their accreditation to work in the immigration system.
Last night, the UK Border Agency said it "will not tolerate racist behaviour by individuals working in immigration removal centres. All allegations are investigated and the UKBA can revoke an individual's accreditation to work for the agency or have any contact with detainees."
It is understood that a security guard resigned after a list of BNP members was leaked to the media last year.
In the case of the suspended guard, the investigation is being conducted by the private contractor. During his suspension, the man will not be able to work with refugees or enter any immigration building.
BNP policy on immigration stipulates: "We will also clamp down on the flood of 'asylum-seekers', all of whom are either bogus or can find refuge much nearer their home countries."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/bnp-links-to-immigration-service-staff-1334236.html
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Enemy of the State
There is something unpalatable about banning political parties. During the coldest days of the Cold War, American voters were never deprived of the chance to vote for Gus Hall and his Soviet-funded Communist Party USA. In Germany, voters can today opt for the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party. The British National Party, whose mission is to secure a future for "indigenous" white people, is there for UK voters.
In contrast, authoritarian countries show little compunction about banning. Saudi Arabia bars the Green Party; Sudan and Cuba outlaw all parties. And Syria allows opposition parties that accept the "vanguard role" of the ruling Ba'ath Party.
On Monday, the Knesset Central Elections Committee, comprising 25 politicians and one jurist, disqualified Balad and the United Arab List from running in the February 10 elections. The consensus was that both support terrorism, incitement and reject Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Arab critics retorted that the decision proved Israel is "racist" and "fascist."
The High Court of Justice, which overruled an effort to disqualify Balad prior to the 2006 elections, will make the final call. The attorney-general's office is on record as determining that there is not enough evidence to disqualify either party.
But overturning the ban this time may be harder. The Knesset recently passed a new law based on clause 7A of the Basic Law: The Knesset, which outlaws candidates who deny the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish and democratic state; engage in incitement, or support violence against Israel by an enemy state or terror organization. The amended legislation adds that anyone who illegally visited an enemy state in the past seven years can be banned.
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on challenges to the amended law.
DEMOCRACIES are not obligated to commit suicide. Spain, for instance, bans the political party affiliated with the terror group ETA. Similarly, US law makes it illegal for an organization that abets the use of violence against the government to seek office.
The case for banning Balad seems fairly plain. While it's off-putting to hear MK Jamal Zahalka say, "We are not Zionists and we will never be," the reason for keeping his party out of the Knesset is that it refuses to dissociate from its former leader Azmi Bishara - with whom Zahalka proudly consults - who fled to Syria after the Second Lebanon War, fearing arrest as a Hizbullah agent.
The case against Tibi's UAL party is not clear-cut. He is perhaps the most intellectually formidable of the Arab anti-Zionists, has a disarming personality, and calibrates his actions to stay just within the law. He won't declare unequivocally that he opposes terrorism, merely "militarization of the intifada."
At a 2007 Fatah rally in Ramallah, Tibi urged continued struggle against Israel "until all of the Palestinian land is freed." Yasser Arafat's former consigliere tells Palestinians that Israel wants to "eliminate" them "en route to the elimination of the ideas of Palestinian freedom and liberty."
Tibi says he does not oppose the state - just its policies. And he too declares that Arab citizens "will never accept Zionism..." He will not, he says, stop visiting enemy states.
Paradoxically, the disappearance of Balad and UAL from the Knesset might allow the emergence of Arab parties that actually cared about building the kinds of parliamentary alliances that can get things done for the Arab sector.
Israel's proportional representation system allowed the UAL and Balad to gain six seats in the current Knesset. The tragic dynamic is that the more radical the party, the more support it garners from the Arab public. It doesn't help matters that the major parties give Arab voters little incentive to shun the extremists.
In a world where 21 states define themselves as "Arab," and 56 proudly identify as Islamic, we do have a problem with Knesset members who begrudge Jewish self-determination within the rubric of a democratic Israel that respects minority rights.
The Likud's Bennie Begin cautions that Israeli society must be "very, very, careful" about outlawing factions or disenfranchising constituencies in wartime. To that we would add: But neither should our polity shy away from making tough decisions to protect the system from those who would destabilize it.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231866575823&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
NWN:
Is it any coincidence that the European Union seek to pass the same laws?
In contrast, authoritarian countries show little compunction about banning. Saudi Arabia bars the Green Party; Sudan and Cuba outlaw all parties. And Syria allows opposition parties that accept the "vanguard role" of the ruling Ba'ath Party.
On Monday, the Knesset Central Elections Committee, comprising 25 politicians and one jurist, disqualified Balad and the United Arab List from running in the February 10 elections. The consensus was that both support terrorism, incitement and reject Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Arab critics retorted that the decision proved Israel is "racist" and "fascist."
The High Court of Justice, which overruled an effort to disqualify Balad prior to the 2006 elections, will make the final call. The attorney-general's office is on record as determining that there is not enough evidence to disqualify either party.
But overturning the ban this time may be harder. The Knesset recently passed a new law based on clause 7A of the Basic Law: The Knesset, which outlaws candidates who deny the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish and democratic state; engage in incitement, or support violence against Israel by an enemy state or terror organization. The amended legislation adds that anyone who illegally visited an enemy state in the past seven years can be banned.
The Supreme Court has yet to rule on challenges to the amended law.
DEMOCRACIES are not obligated to commit suicide. Spain, for instance, bans the political party affiliated with the terror group ETA. Similarly, US law makes it illegal for an organization that abets the use of violence against the government to seek office.
The case for banning Balad seems fairly plain. While it's off-putting to hear MK Jamal Zahalka say, "We are not Zionists and we will never be," the reason for keeping his party out of the Knesset is that it refuses to dissociate from its former leader Azmi Bishara - with whom Zahalka proudly consults - who fled to Syria after the Second Lebanon War, fearing arrest as a Hizbullah agent.
The case against Tibi's UAL party is not clear-cut. He is perhaps the most intellectually formidable of the Arab anti-Zionists, has a disarming personality, and calibrates his actions to stay just within the law. He won't declare unequivocally that he opposes terrorism, merely "militarization of the intifada."
At a 2007 Fatah rally in Ramallah, Tibi urged continued struggle against Israel "until all of the Palestinian land is freed." Yasser Arafat's former consigliere tells Palestinians that Israel wants to "eliminate" them "en route to the elimination of the ideas of Palestinian freedom and liberty."
Tibi says he does not oppose the state - just its policies. And he too declares that Arab citizens "will never accept Zionism..." He will not, he says, stop visiting enemy states.
Paradoxically, the disappearance of Balad and UAL from the Knesset might allow the emergence of Arab parties that actually cared about building the kinds of parliamentary alliances that can get things done for the Arab sector.
Israel's proportional representation system allowed the UAL and Balad to gain six seats in the current Knesset. The tragic dynamic is that the more radical the party, the more support it garners from the Arab public. It doesn't help matters that the major parties give Arab voters little incentive to shun the extremists.
In a world where 21 states define themselves as "Arab," and 56 proudly identify as Islamic, we do have a problem with Knesset members who begrudge Jewish self-determination within the rubric of a democratic Israel that respects minority rights.
The Likud's Bennie Begin cautions that Israeli society must be "very, very, careful" about outlawing factions or disenfranchising constituencies in wartime. To that we would add: But neither should our polity shy away from making tough decisions to protect the system from those who would destabilize it.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231866575823&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
NWN:
Is it any coincidence that the European Union seek to pass the same laws?
Poofters Paradise
Merseyside Police is top employer for gay staff
Merseyside Police has been named as one of the top employers for lesbian, gay, bisexual staff by a leading national gay rights charity.The Force was ranked 8th out of 317 organisations who featured in Stonewall's 'Work Equality Index' this year - the first time the Force has entered it.The Index has been running for the past five years and is the definitive national benchmarking exercise for showcasing the UK's top employers for gay, lesbian and bisexual staff.Organisations are scored across nine policy and practice areas designed to sample workplace culture.The areas included answering questions on the level of support available to staff, the work of the Gay and Lesbian Support Network and how well the organisation engages in community events such as International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) and Gay PRIDE.Independent consultant As part of the process an independent consultant also visited the Force and interviewed managers and staff about the proactive work and how successfully policies were put into practice.Assistant Chief Constable Helen King said: "This is a tremendous achievement in the first year we have entered the Index. "It is a tribute to our staff and community members who have helped us in our work to be an employer of choice for lesbian, gay and bisexual people."We will continue to work with our staff and community members to build on this success in enhancing our workplace and building positive relationships to improve service delivery"Strong message Tracy O'Hara, chair of Merseyside Police's Gay and Lesbian Support Network, said:"This result sends out a strong message to our staff and our community that Merseyside Police is an inclusive, diverse workplace where individuality and difference is embraced."Homophobia remains within our society and Merseyside Police continues to be part of the fight against it."We strive to be the best police force in the country and this is yet another indication of our commitment to achieving this goal."
http://www.southportforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50394928
Merseyside Police has been named as one of the top employers for lesbian, gay, bisexual staff by a leading national gay rights charity.The Force was ranked 8th out of 317 organisations who featured in Stonewall's 'Work Equality Index' this year - the first time the Force has entered it.The Index has been running for the past five years and is the definitive national benchmarking exercise for showcasing the UK's top employers for gay, lesbian and bisexual staff.Organisations are scored across nine policy and practice areas designed to sample workplace culture.The areas included answering questions on the level of support available to staff, the work of the Gay and Lesbian Support Network and how well the organisation engages in community events such as International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) and Gay PRIDE.Independent consultant As part of the process an independent consultant also visited the Force and interviewed managers and staff about the proactive work and how successfully policies were put into practice.Assistant Chief Constable Helen King said: "This is a tremendous achievement in the first year we have entered the Index. "It is a tribute to our staff and community members who have helped us in our work to be an employer of choice for lesbian, gay and bisexual people."We will continue to work with our staff and community members to build on this success in enhancing our workplace and building positive relationships to improve service delivery"Strong message Tracy O'Hara, chair of Merseyside Police's Gay and Lesbian Support Network, said:"This result sends out a strong message to our staff and our community that Merseyside Police is an inclusive, diverse workplace where individuality and difference is embraced."Homophobia remains within our society and Merseyside Police continues to be part of the fight against it."We strive to be the best police force in the country and this is yet another indication of our commitment to achieving this goal."
http://www.southportforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50394928
29 Million Leaflets, Most Professional Campaign Yet Planned by BNP
A total of 29 million leaflets, a month-long fundraising road show and the most professional election campaign ever yet devised by the BNP was outlined at yesterday’s Organisers’ conference.
Held in a hall in Nottinghamshire and arranged by a serving BNP councillor, the organisers’ conference saw over 100 key officials from around the country come to hear and help map out this year’s Euro election campaign.
“The Euro elections are a crucial stepping stone for the BNP in order to prepare itself on a number of levels for the Westminster elections in March or May 2010,” party leader Nick Griffin told the crowd.
The conference attendees went over the logistics and preparations for the Euro elections, which are important because they are run on a proportional representation list system. This affords everyone in the country an opportunity to vote BNP, no matter where they live.
The superb new Euro election leaflet was unveiled by Mark Collett at the meeting, and was met with great enthusiasm. In order to arrange the logistics behind distributing the 29 million leaflets, organisers were told that each region has to make sure that the money to pay for the printing is raised by 6 April.
To help towards achieving that goal, the party is arranging a highly professional fundraising road show throughout the whole of March, the conference was informed.
http://kuruc.info/r/1/33355/
Held in a hall in Nottinghamshire and arranged by a serving BNP councillor, the organisers’ conference saw over 100 key officials from around the country come to hear and help map out this year’s Euro election campaign.
“The Euro elections are a crucial stepping stone for the BNP in order to prepare itself on a number of levels for the Westminster elections in March or May 2010,” party leader Nick Griffin told the crowd.
The conference attendees went over the logistics and preparations for the Euro elections, which are important because they are run on a proportional representation list system. This affords everyone in the country an opportunity to vote BNP, no matter where they live.
The superb new Euro election leaflet was unveiled by Mark Collett at the meeting, and was met with great enthusiasm. In order to arrange the logistics behind distributing the 29 million leaflets, organisers were told that each region has to make sure that the money to pay for the printing is raised by 6 April.
To help towards achieving that goal, the party is arranging a highly professional fundraising road show throughout the whole of March, the conference was informed.
http://kuruc.info/r/1/33355/
4,000 JOBS AXED ON BLACK MONDAY
BRITAIN’S jobs crisis suffered a Black Monday yesterday as nearly 4,000 workers were told they face the axe.
While the Prime Minister was unveiling “rehashed” plans to help the unemployed back into work, a string of firms announced it was already too late – with thousands set to join the benefit queues.The biggest casualty was logistics giant Wincanton which revealed it is to close two sites resulting in around 1,000 redundancies.
Up to 450 jobs will go from the company’s base at Trafford Park in Manchester while 550 will be lost in Gloucester through a merger with another logistics firm Culina.Elsewhere, machinery giant JCB added to the gloom, announcing it is to cut 684 jobs because of the lack of credit available from banks to fund machine purchases and continuing low confidence.
The losses will affect several sites, including plants in Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Wrexham in North Wales. Workers at the company had already voted to reduce their hours last year in a bid to save jobs, a move which the firm said has protected over 300 employees from the threat of redundancy. But it was not enough.
In a separate blow, some 367 posts are to go at the troubled china and crystal maker Waterford Wedgwood, which went into administration last week.The redundancies will come at the company’s site in Barlaston, Staffordshire, the administrator Deloitte confirmed.
Around 200 jobs are also expected to go from the bookstore chain Waterstones as the company implements a series of cost-cutting measures.Waterstones employs around 4,500 staff at 303 outlets across the UK but has been struggling to ride out the economic downturn.
Adding to the mounting sense that Britain’s recession is likely to be prolonged and deep were a number of announcements from companies that hundreds of jobs were at risk.
Three firms went into administration yesterday putting a further 1,300 jobs on the line. The frozen food firm Newcastle Productions – which is licensed to manufacture and distribute Findus food in the UK – called in administrators after suffering cash flow problems, putting 420 jobs at risk.Meanwhile, the future of 850 staff at furniture retailer Land of Leather was in doubt last night after the ailing firm also called in administrators.
The Kent-based retailer, which has 109 stores, has been crippled by the housing crash and also the slump in the demand for “big ticket” goods such as furniture.
The third company to announce it was going into administration was Hull-based Honda dealership deVries, which employs 130 workers. The firm said it had appointed receivers after being hit by a fall in sales.
Also feeling the strain yesterday was Christie’s the auctioneers, which announced it was planning “a reorganisation which includes significant staff reductions”.
As the tranche of redundancies were being announced, the Prime Minister was busily unveiling a series of measures aimed at holding back the tide of job cuts.
The £500m scheme was branded too little too late by critics with measures including a “golden hello” of £2,500 for firms recruiting people unemployed for more than six months.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
GENOCIDE
Since 1967 the Israelis have murdered 300,000 Palestinians by depriving them of medicine and food.
The Gaza Strip is a self-governing Apartheid Israeli Concentration Camp ruled by the Hamas Government which won 76 out of 132 seats in the Occupied Palestinian Parliamentary elections held under Israeli guns in 2006. The Israelis responded by arresting as many Hamas MPs as they could find , the remainder fleeing to Gaza. In the current Israeli Gaza Massacre, the Israelis are evidently bent on “finishing the job” (they have already destroyed the Gaza Parliament House). The war criminal, pro-Zionist Western backers of Apartheid Israel, followed suit by declaring the democratically elected Hamas MPs to be “terrorists”.
The ostensible excuse for Apartheid Israel’s current Gaza Massacre is “Gaza rocket terror”. However “terror” is directly proportional to “proportion of people killed” and the ACTUAL number of Israelis killed by Gaza rockets and mortars since the start of the Second Intifada 8.25 years ago is TWENTY EIGHT (28), this corresponding to a 21st century “annual homicide rate” in units of persons killed per million per year of 0.5 (Israelis killed by Gaza missiles) – as compared to 15 (Israelis by Israelis), 56 (Americans), 100 (Americans by guns), 164 (Palestinians killed violently by Israelis), 200 (African-Americans), 473 (citizens of Detroit, Michigan, USA) and 902 per million per year (annual Palestinian non-violent deaths through war criminal, Geneva Convention-violating Israeli-imposed deprivation).
The above REALITIES show that Apartheid Israel and racist, anti-Arab anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, pro-Zionist Mainstream media and politicians in the Western Murdochracies are simply and blatantly LYING about “Hamas terror” and “Gaza rocket terror”. Clearly, indiscriminate firing of missiles is WRONG and should STOP – indeed the greatest danger from such acts has been from the horrendous, disproportionate, war criminal attacks by the Israelis on Gaza, one of the most the densely populated urban areas of the Planet.
Rational analysis indicates that the “annual death rate” of Israelis from Gaza missiles is about ONE THOUSAND (1,000) times LOWER than the “annual homicide rate” in Detroit, Michigan, USA – it would be crazy, racist and utterly EVIL to suggest that African-Americans should be listed as “terrorists” and African-American suburbs sealed off as Concentration Camps, shelled by the US Navy and Army and bombed with high explosive bombs and rockets, cluster bombs and phosphorus bombs by the US Air Force.
America and the World have acutely serious problems to face including the Climate Emergency (how to convert rapidly to a non-carbon economy and reduce atmospheric CO2 to less than 350 parts per million), global poverty (from which 16 million people die avoidably every year) and the mounting economic crisis. These problems must be addressed by rational risk management that successively involves (a) accurate data, (b) scientific analysis and (c) informed systemic change to minimize risk to humanity.
Unfortunately this rational risk management protocol is grossly perverted by Mainstream media and politicians in the pro-Zionist Western Murdochracies through (a) lying and censorship, (b) anti-science spin and (c) utterly counter-productive “blame and shame” with war and violence the worst outcomes as in the current, ongoing, Zionist-promoted Palestinian Genocide, Iraqi Genocide and Afghan Genocide. Post-invasion excess deaths in the Occupied Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghan Territories now total 0.3 million, 2 million and 4-6 million, respectively; post-invasion under-5 infant deaths total 0.2 million, 0.6 million and 2.1 million, respectively; and refugees total 7 million, 6 million and 4 million, respectively.
Of all the crimes of the racist Zionists (RZs) and their mass murdering, racist, genocidal Bush-ite and neo-Bush-ite supporters it is fundamentally their LYING that has been most serious for the World as a whole. Thus the World faces a Climate Emergency and an urgent need to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentration to below 350 parts per million. Yet due to Zionist-backed Bush-ite and neo-Bush-ite climate sceptic governments the World is simply NOT responding to the emergency. According to top scientists Drs Anderson and Bows at the UK Tyndall Institute, University of Manchester, and published in the prestigious Philosophical Transactions of the UK Royal Society, given political and economic realities it may be effectively too late to avoid catastrophic 650 parts per million atmospheric CO2 and an accompanying over 2 degrees C warming. Top UK climate scientist Professor James Lovelock has stated that only 500 million people will survive the looming climate genocide cataclysm due to unaddressed global warming.
The horrendous devastation and appalling Nazi-style Apartheid Israeli reprisals on the essentially defenceless Gaza Concentration Camp have horrified the World. The UN Security Council has demanded that the Israelis stop (the US abstained from the vote) – but US-backed Apartheid Israel has rejected this UN Security Council Resolution just as it has rejected numerous other UN Resolutions, including the 1968 UN Security Council Resolution 352 demanding that it surrender ALL conquered territory.
However the World now has the power to act against this mass-murdering, racist, neo-Nazi, nuclear terrorist state, Apartheid Israel, through the UN and DESPITE the support for Apartheid Israel from the US. According to UN General Assembly Resolution 377 , emergency special sessions of the General Assembly are warranted to act when the Security Council “fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.”
The World must act to STOP the current carnage of the Gaza Massacre and the ongoing illegal and abusive Israeli Occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and CAN act by (a) progressive shut-down of oil production by Arab, Muslim and other countries; (b) Sanctions and Boycotts against Apartheid Israel and its US, UK, EU and White Australia backers (a mechanism that was ultimately successful in removing the US-, UK-. White Australia- and Apartheid Israel-backed Apartheid regime in South Africa); (c) direct action against Apartheid Israel by the UN General Assembly through UN Resolution 377; and (d) zero tolerance for LYING, and particularly lying by the racist Zionist (RZ)-backed, climate criminal Bush-ites that threaten not just Arabs in the Middle East but every person on Earth.
Detailed documentation of data sources for this article can be found in “Indigenous/Invader death ratios in Indian Mutiny (5,000), by Nazis (10) & Israeli Gaza Massacre” and in various articles in MWC News (see: http://mwcnews.net/Gideon-Polya ), notably “9-11 excuse for US global genocide. The real 9-11 atrocity: millions dead (9-11 million) in Bush Wars (1990-2008)”: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/25184/42/ .
http://mwcnews.net/content/view/27795&Itemid=1
The Gaza Strip is a self-governing Apartheid Israeli Concentration Camp ruled by the Hamas Government which won 76 out of 132 seats in the Occupied Palestinian Parliamentary elections held under Israeli guns in 2006. The Israelis responded by arresting as many Hamas MPs as they could find , the remainder fleeing to Gaza. In the current Israeli Gaza Massacre, the Israelis are evidently bent on “finishing the job” (they have already destroyed the Gaza Parliament House). The war criminal, pro-Zionist Western backers of Apartheid Israel, followed suit by declaring the democratically elected Hamas MPs to be “terrorists”.
The ostensible excuse for Apartheid Israel’s current Gaza Massacre is “Gaza rocket terror”. However “terror” is directly proportional to “proportion of people killed” and the ACTUAL number of Israelis killed by Gaza rockets and mortars since the start of the Second Intifada 8.25 years ago is TWENTY EIGHT (28), this corresponding to a 21st century “annual homicide rate” in units of persons killed per million per year of 0.5 (Israelis killed by Gaza missiles) – as compared to 15 (Israelis by Israelis), 56 (Americans), 100 (Americans by guns), 164 (Palestinians killed violently by Israelis), 200 (African-Americans), 473 (citizens of Detroit, Michigan, USA) and 902 per million per year (annual Palestinian non-violent deaths through war criminal, Geneva Convention-violating Israeli-imposed deprivation).
The above REALITIES show that Apartheid Israel and racist, anti-Arab anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, pro-Zionist Mainstream media and politicians in the Western Murdochracies are simply and blatantly LYING about “Hamas terror” and “Gaza rocket terror”. Clearly, indiscriminate firing of missiles is WRONG and should STOP – indeed the greatest danger from such acts has been from the horrendous, disproportionate, war criminal attacks by the Israelis on Gaza, one of the most the densely populated urban areas of the Planet.
Rational analysis indicates that the “annual death rate” of Israelis from Gaza missiles is about ONE THOUSAND (1,000) times LOWER than the “annual homicide rate” in Detroit, Michigan, USA – it would be crazy, racist and utterly EVIL to suggest that African-Americans should be listed as “terrorists” and African-American suburbs sealed off as Concentration Camps, shelled by the US Navy and Army and bombed with high explosive bombs and rockets, cluster bombs and phosphorus bombs by the US Air Force.
America and the World have acutely serious problems to face including the Climate Emergency (how to convert rapidly to a non-carbon economy and reduce atmospheric CO2 to less than 350 parts per million), global poverty (from which 16 million people die avoidably every year) and the mounting economic crisis. These problems must be addressed by rational risk management that successively involves (a) accurate data, (b) scientific analysis and (c) informed systemic change to minimize risk to humanity.
Unfortunately this rational risk management protocol is grossly perverted by Mainstream media and politicians in the pro-Zionist Western Murdochracies through (a) lying and censorship, (b) anti-science spin and (c) utterly counter-productive “blame and shame” with war and violence the worst outcomes as in the current, ongoing, Zionist-promoted Palestinian Genocide, Iraqi Genocide and Afghan Genocide. Post-invasion excess deaths in the Occupied Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghan Territories now total 0.3 million, 2 million and 4-6 million, respectively; post-invasion under-5 infant deaths total 0.2 million, 0.6 million and 2.1 million, respectively; and refugees total 7 million, 6 million and 4 million, respectively.
Of all the crimes of the racist Zionists (RZs) and their mass murdering, racist, genocidal Bush-ite and neo-Bush-ite supporters it is fundamentally their LYING that has been most serious for the World as a whole. Thus the World faces a Climate Emergency and an urgent need to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentration to below 350 parts per million. Yet due to Zionist-backed Bush-ite and neo-Bush-ite climate sceptic governments the World is simply NOT responding to the emergency. According to top scientists Drs Anderson and Bows at the UK Tyndall Institute, University of Manchester, and published in the prestigious Philosophical Transactions of the UK Royal Society, given political and economic realities it may be effectively too late to avoid catastrophic 650 parts per million atmospheric CO2 and an accompanying over 2 degrees C warming. Top UK climate scientist Professor James Lovelock has stated that only 500 million people will survive the looming climate genocide cataclysm due to unaddressed global warming.
The horrendous devastation and appalling Nazi-style Apartheid Israeli reprisals on the essentially defenceless Gaza Concentration Camp have horrified the World. The UN Security Council has demanded that the Israelis stop (the US abstained from the vote) – but US-backed Apartheid Israel has rejected this UN Security Council Resolution just as it has rejected numerous other UN Resolutions, including the 1968 UN Security Council Resolution 352 demanding that it surrender ALL conquered territory.
However the World now has the power to act against this mass-murdering, racist, neo-Nazi, nuclear terrorist state, Apartheid Israel, through the UN and DESPITE the support for Apartheid Israel from the US. According to UN General Assembly Resolution 377 , emergency special sessions of the General Assembly are warranted to act when the Security Council “fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.”
The World must act to STOP the current carnage of the Gaza Massacre and the ongoing illegal and abusive Israeli Occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and CAN act by (a) progressive shut-down of oil production by Arab, Muslim and other countries; (b) Sanctions and Boycotts against Apartheid Israel and its US, UK, EU and White Australia backers (a mechanism that was ultimately successful in removing the US-, UK-. White Australia- and Apartheid Israel-backed Apartheid regime in South Africa); (c) direct action against Apartheid Israel by the UN General Assembly through UN Resolution 377; and (d) zero tolerance for LYING, and particularly lying by the racist Zionist (RZ)-backed, climate criminal Bush-ites that threaten not just Arabs in the Middle East but every person on Earth.
Detailed documentation of data sources for this article can be found in “Indigenous/Invader death ratios in Indian Mutiny (5,000), by Nazis (10) & Israeli Gaza Massacre” and in various articles in MWC News (see: http://mwcnews.net/Gideon-Polya ), notably “9-11 excuse for US global genocide. The real 9-11 atrocity: millions dead (9-11 million) in Bush Wars (1990-2008)”: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/25184/42/ .
http://mwcnews.net/content/view/27795&Itemid=1
LIAR
Doubts cloud Mannichl Nazi stabbing claims
Investigators have found discrepancies in Passau police chief Alois Mannichl’s claim that he was stabbed by a neo-Nazi in mid-December and leads point to a domestic dispute instead, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Friday.
Mannichl was hospitalised until just before Christmas with critical injuries after he said he was stabbed on his front porch by a skinhead on December 13. The 52-year-old reported that the man said something along the lines of, “Greetings from the national resistance,” and said, "You leftist pig cop, you won't trample on the graves of our comrades anymore," before stabbing Mannichl in the stomach with a 12-centimetre knife.Police began immediately looking for right-wing extremist suspects, but "experienced investigators" told the paper that "something doesn’t fit" with the information Mannichl gave them."That kind of setting points towards a relationship-related crime," one officer said. First, the police chief – the only witness to the crime – was able to provide only a vague description of his attacker who he said was about 6 feet tall with a round face with a shaved head, the paper said. A neighbourhood witness said she’d seen a man with a snake tattooed behind his ear and possibly a cross on his face. But investigators told the paper they can't find men to fit either description and that the witness' information may be unreliable."When someone with a tattoo like that commits a crime, it’s as if a bank robber put an identification card on his chest and marches into a bank," one said. "You recognise people like this."Meanwhile, police in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic have combed through their records of documented neo-Nazis to no avail. Another questionable element to Mannichl’s account of the crime is that the knife came from his own home and had been used to cut cake at a neighbour’s party a few days before. But investigators have not yet found traces of cake, foreign DNA or evidence that the stabber was wearing gloves, the Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.Family members are usually investigated immediately in such cases, but Mannichl's family was not questioned until several days after the stabbing. Mannichl has, however, been "cooperative" with the probe into his private life, the paper reported.Spokesperson for the Bavarian state office of investigation, Detlef Puchelt, told the paper that there are currently no new leads in the Mannichl case, and that the special commission for the investigation should be allowed to work in peace. Mannichl returned to work after his convalescence on Wednesday and told reporters then that investigations into cases like this can take weeks to years.
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20090109-16653.html
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20090109-16653.html
Sinister Adverts
The above advert is appearing on forums and blogs. When you click on them they take you to the METROPOLITAN POLICE site where you will read:
If you suspect it, report it
In an emergency
If you think you have seen a person acting suspiciously, or if you see a vehicle, unattended package or bag which might be an immediate threat, move away and call 999.
Anti-Terrorist hotline
The confidential Anti-Terrorist Hotline is staffed around the clock by specialist counter-terrorism police officers and staff.
The terrorist threat remains real and there is no room for complacency. The public should remain alert and aware of their surrounding at all times. If something strikes you as suspicious and out of place then trust your instincts and call the police.
If you think you have seen something suspicious or you are unsure about somebody’s activities or behaviour, however insignificant it may seem at the time, call the confidential Anti-Terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321.A textphone service is available for people with speech or hearing difficulties on 0800 032 45 39 (text messages from mobiles are not accepted).
You can also submit your information using our confidential online form.
Any information passed to the Anti-Terrorist Hotline is treated in the strictest of confidence and is thoroughly analysed and researched before, and if, any police action is taken.
Terrorists have a lot of work to do before they attack. They need to plan and prepare; buy and store materials; and fund their activities.
Terrorists live within our communities and blend in. However, behind closed doors they may be storing bomb making materials or meeting others to plan attacks. Are you suspicious of a property where there is unusual activity or strange comings and goings that don’t fit day-to-day life?
Terrorists use surveillance to help plan attacks. Have you seen anyone taking pictures or filming CCTV cameras or making notes about other security arrangements? Has it made you suspicious? If you have seen this or know someone who takes an unusual interest in security measures, we need to know.
Terrorists need communication. They communicate with others to plan meetings or buy materials and chemicals. To avoid possible detection they use multiple anonymous pay-as-you go mobile phones and swap SIM cards and handsets. If you are suspicious about someone who uses phones in this way, we need to know.
We are asking members of the public to trust their instincts and pass on information which could help stop terrorists in their tracks.
If you suspect it, report it.
Our frequently asked questions page may help If you do not wish to speak to the police direct or require further advice about the Anti-Terrorist hotline.
Further examples of suspicious activity
Van – Terrorists need transport. If you work in commercial vehicle hire or sales, has a sale or rental made you suspicious?
Passport – Terrorists use multiple identities. Do you know someone with documents in different names for no obvious reason?
Mobile phone – Terrorists need communication. Anonymous, pay-as-you-go and stolen mobiles are typical. Have you seen someone with large quantities of mobile phones? Has it made you suspicious?
Camera – Terrorists need information. Observation and surveillance help terrorists plan attacks. Have you seen anyone taking pictures of security arrangements?
Chemicals – Do you know someone buying large or unusual quantities of chemicals for no obvious reason?
Mask and goggles – Terrorists use protective equipment. Handling chemicals is dangerous. Maybe you’ve seen goggles or masks dumped somewhere.
Credit card – Terrorists need funding. Cheque and credit card fraud are ways terrorists generate cash. Have you seen any suspicious transactions?
Computer – Terrorists use computers. Do you know someone who visits terrorist-related websites?
Suitcase – Terrorists need to travel. Meetings training and planning can take place anywhere. Do you know someone who travels but is vague about where they are going?
Padlock – Terrorists need storage. Lock-ups, garages and sheds can all be used by terrorists to store equipment. Are you suspicious of anyone renting a commercial property?
NWN:
You will note there is no mention of Islamic terrorists, or even the IRA. They only state "RIGHT WING"
Orwell would be proud...
May the Tories, Labour, and Unions burn in hell
May the Tories, Labour, and Unions burn in hell
One of our Stoke blog readers sent in this news story with the above title.
Why I weep for Wedgwood:
In the bookstall on the station, they had paperbacks of modern German philosophy, but I could not see one copy of Arnold Bennett's Potteries classic, The Old Wives' Tale.
In that masterpiece, the author celebrates the fact that wherever you are in the world, the plate off which you are eating or the cup from which you are drinking was probably made in what he called the Five Towns of Stoke. Not any more.
When I look back on my father's admirable life - using all his intelligence to make beautiful things, to sell them profitably without exploiting the lives of the workforce - he seems to me an embodiment of all that was best about Britain, an economy founded not on boom and bust, not on the roulette-wheel of speculative capitalism, but on actual skills and commodities.
Whatever happens to Waterford Wedgwood next, none of that will ever come back. When that happy woman told me as a child how much she enjoyed her job painting cups and saucers, Stoke was filled with similarly skilled individuals.
Row upon row of women in the Wedgwood factory were painting cups and plates during my childhood.
When I visited recently, there were none. One man alone was on display painting a plate for the amusement of visitors and tourists. What had been the whole raison d'etre of 'the works' had now become a sideshow.
Norman Wilson had predicted disaster when the firm passed out of the hands of himself and the Wedgwood family. All the same, I am glad that my father is not alive to see the sorry state to which things have sunk since those glory days.
NWN:
The article is worth reading in its entirety
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1111164/Why-I-weep-Wedgwood.html
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NWN: For those that don't want to pay to access the BELFAST TELEGRAPH article in our story before this one.
