Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 17:58:13 -0400 From: Paul Kneisel <tallpaul-AT-nyct.net> Subject: The Internet Anti-Fascist: Tuesday, 19 Jun 2001 -- 5:47 (#569) __________________________________________________________________________ The Internet Anti-Fascist: Tuesday, 19 June 2001 Vol. 5, Number 47 (#569) __________________________________________________________________________ Announcements: UNITED for Intercultural Action, "20 June 2001 International Refugee Day -- 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention: a celebration with mixed feelings," 18 Jun 01 Web Sites of Interest: United Against Racism ADL Law Enforcement Agency Resource Network Lisa Gill (NewsFactor), "Hate Group Opponents Unveil New Internet Database," 18 Jun 01 Anti-Immigrant Actions and Protests In New York City Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants, "Seeking witnesses to police behavior," 17 Jun 01 David L. Wilson, "Immigrant Rights Organizers Announce Plans to Fight Police Harassment," 5 Jun 01 Fascism In the News: Peter Moore (365Gay.com Newscenter), "Italy's prime minister names anti -gay cabinet," 13 Jun 01 Joe Menard (Ozark News-Leader), "Man stabbed at north-side diner: Nonfatal attack on Maurice Wilson was racially motivated, witnesses say," 18 Jun 01 WTAE Action News (Pittsburgh), "Racist Messages Distributed In Shadyside," 14 Jun 01 What's Worth Checking: 10 stories -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANNOUNCEMENTS: 20 June 2001 International Refugee Day -- 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention: a celebration with mixed feelings UNITED for Intercultural Action 18 Jun 01 On 4 December 2000 the General Assembly of the United Nations unanimously adopted a resolution to proclaim 20 June World Refugee Day. The first such World Refugee Day would coincide with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1951 Geneva Convention on refugees. It is a celebration with mixed feelings as European governments debate whether the Convention should be reviewed and tightened in response to the growing numbers of asylum seekers seeking safe refuge in Europe. European grassroots non-governmental organisations debate the validity of the Refugee Convention in another manner. Discussions centre around the definition of the term refugee and whether this definition should be widened to include all who need protection, whether this is from environmental disasters, terror by a non-state agency or hunger. It is almost one year ago that 58 Chinese died in an attempt to reach Great- Britain. Discussions on the issue of 'illegal migration' have focused on persecuting traffickers, instead of on the sources of the problem: European restrictive migration and refugee politics. People continue to die as a result of such "Fortress Europe" policies. Around 20 June 2001 activities in support of refugees take place all over Europe. Demonstrations, Conferences, Festivals and Exhibitions - mainly linked to the celebration of the Geneva Convention - are organised by organisations from Portugal to Russia and from Great-Britain to Georgia, for example: * Online-Demonstration Against Deportation Business "Lufthansa Goes Offline" will be started from computers throughout Europe on 20 June 2001. Lufthansa is involved in 10.000 deportations a year. More information: http://go.to/online-demo or http://stop-depclass.scene.as * "Celebrate Sanctuary", the annual Refugee Week, will take place in Great-Britain from 23.-29. June 2001. Many activities are organisied that aim to give people the opportunity to celebrate the contribution that refugees make to life. More information: http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk * In Spain, the multimedia exhibition "Through Them - Six Torn Childhoods" will take place from 21.06- 09.07 2001. More information: http://www.eacnur.org/evento.cfm?eventoID=33 Find an updated list of activities in more than 20 countries all over Europe on http://www.unitedagainstracism.org as well as a full list of documented refugee deaths 1993-2001 (click under 'campaigns' on 'Refugee Campaigns'). UNITED for Intercultural Action supports organisations throughout Europe in their refugee campaigns by providing posters and information material free of charge. UNITED for Intercultural Action is the European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees, supported by more than 500 organisations in 45 European countries. For more information call Saskia Daru at the office +31-20-6834778 or (mobile) at +31-6-24503415 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEB SITES OF INTEREST: United Against Racism <http://www.unitedagainstracism.org/> European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees UNITED Voluntary cooperation of more than 500 organisations from 49 European countries working together - united in the biggest anti-racism network. FOR The rights of refugees and migrants. For an end to racism, nationalism and discrimination. INTERCULTURAL Respecting different approaches. Promoting cooperation across national and cultural borders. Making our multicultural societies work. - - - - - ADL Law Enforcement Agency Resource Network <http://www.adl.org/learn/> "Let me again thank the Leadership ("ADL") . . . for giving the FBI the kind support and insight and direction in some cases that have enabled us not only to do our job with respect to counter-terrorism, but to really bring home to the United States the dedication to the principles of the ADL, which resonate not just in civil rights cases, but also in human rights cases, and how important that guidance and inspiration have been to use now for many, many years." -- FBI Director Louis J. Freeh to ADL National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. 8 May 2000 - - - - - Hate Group Opponents Unveil New Internet Database Lisa Gill (NewsFactor) 18 Jun 01 Hate group members can rest assured that they will be noticed on the Internet -- at least, by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which on Monday launched a new Internet database designed to allow law enforcement officials and the general public to track and investigate hate groups. The ADL's new site follows hundreds of groups, listing a chronology of criminal activities, a state-by-state calendar of upcoming hate-oriented events, and an online database of ADL archives and reports, among other tracking and law enforcement training information. "Our new Web page is intended for one-stop shopping for current and archival information, trends, analysis and programs," explained Abraham H. Foxman, ADL's national director, in a statement. "It will regularly be refreshed with new entries and updated information on existing groups and individuals, as well as be available in a loose-leaf book format," he said. The new site is part of the ADL's Law Enforcement Initiative of training programs that specialize in hate crime, extremism, and anti-bias curricula. The training is intended to "equip [law enforcement personnel] with tools to better understand and deal with the issues they confront relating to extremism, hate crimes and diversity issues," explained Glen A. Tobias, ADL national chairman, in a statement. Unintended Consequences While the ADL's primary intention is to provide access to information for crime fighters and the public, another population segment often takes advantage of such indexing sites: current and potential hate group members. "We do get people now and then who actually became members from looking at these sites and learning about us through them," Matt Hale of the World Church of the Creator told NewsFactor Network. Hale's organization is among those cited by the ADL as being tracked, along with David Duke's NOFEAR "civil rights" group, William Pierce's National Alliance, and The Hammerskin Nation, the latter two of which are neo-Nazi organizations. "ADL wants anti-Semitism so they can justify their own existence," said Hale. "That's why they put out press releases saying, 'Hey, there's 500 new hate groups,' or 'hate is coming to your town' -- so they can come to your rescue and justify their donations." Fighting the Fight "We always think about what happens when we expose haters to the light of day, but feel it's important for something to be done," Myrna Shinebaum, spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League, told NewsFactor. "I'm not sure children will happen upon it, but they might." Shinebaum noted Benjamin Smith of the World Church of the Creator's use of the Internet before he went on his 1999 shooting spree in Illinois and Indiana, killing two and wounding nine before he committed suicide. Prevention Takes Precedence Of the ADL site, Shinebaum said, "We understand there's some risk involved, but we feel it's more important, given how these haters are trying to seduce young people and are using the Internet to promote their hate." Recent studies list over 1,400 such hate group sites online, though Shinebaum conceded that as the Net is ever-changing, the numbers could vary. "There's enough out there to be concerned about it," Shinebaum added. The Anti-Defamation League has operated since 1913 as an international organization against hatred. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ANTI-IMMIGRANT ACTIONS AND PROTESTS IN NEW YORK CITY Seeking witnesses to police behavior Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants 17 Jun 01 If you witnessed arrests at the May Day 2001 march for immigrant rights in NYC, or saw or heard questionable police behavior or comments just before, during and after the police assault on the march, please contact us. Your story will help us defend immigrant rights. Your identity can remain anonymous at your request. We are gathering the stories of police misconduct at the march (see article below). More stories and photos of the arrests are available at http://nyc.indymedia.org. For information: Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 tel 212-254-2591 / 888-575-8242 (888-57-LUCHA) fax 212-674-9139 email <chri-AT-itapnet.org> web site: http://www.itapnet.org/chri - - - - - Immigrant Rights Organizers Announce Plans to Fight Police Harassment David L. Wilson 5 Jun 01 NEW YORK CITY -- "Very intimidated," "very upset" and "terrified" were some of the words immigrants rights organizer Saru Jayaraman used to describe the feelings of a group of immigrant workers when police charged into a peaceful demonstration in Manhattan's Union Square area on May 1 to arrest performers in a street theater show on the basis of a 19th- century law against masks at demonstrations. Jayaraman, an organizer at the Long Island-based Workplace Project, was one of several activists who attended an early- morning press conference outside Manhattan's Criminal Court building today to charge that police actions at recent demonstrations are having a chilling effect on organizing among immigrant workers. The press conference preceded a preliminary hearing for three of the five young native-born activists arrested at a demonstration for general amnesty for immigrants last May Day. The trial of 14 activists arrested at a similar demonstration on May 1, 2000 was also starting today. "We participate in these demonstrations every year," said Jayaraman, whose organization has won a number of important legal victories for immigrant day laborers and domestic workers on Long Island, "because it's important to our members to fight for a general amnesty." The demonstrations are family events for Workplace Project members, who bring their babies in strollers, Jayaraman noted. But the unprovoked attack by police this year "created a situation where children could be hurt," she said, with the result that her group had to step away from the march and consider whether it was too risky to continue. "The police are saying to immigrants: `If you raise your voice, we're going to arrest you,'" charged Jose Schiffino, an organizer for UNITE! Local 169. Schiffino's union has led an unprecedented, high-profile campaign to organize the mostly Mexican workers in New York's greengrocers stores. The May 1 street theater, which pitted a local version of Mexico's famous Superbarrio against various unionbusters, was staged in front of East Natural on Fifth Avenue and 13th Street, the site of an exceptionally bitter struggle in the campaign. The police are using the mask law "to profile and intimidate...people who are trying to enliven demonstrations creatively," according to Mary Xmas, a member of the Radical Cheerleaders performance group and one of the defendants. Xmas was arrested for protesting verbally when police agents attempted to arrest a young man near her. She and another woman detainee were held for eight hours handcuffed to the bars in a holding cell for male prisoners. They were subjected to sexual harassment, but police turned down their repeated requests to be moved to a women's cell. Jonathan Rosen, a law student at New York University who volunteered as a legal observer at the demonstration, described "officers randomly grabbing people" during the May 1 attack. Rosen himself was pushed to the ground by the police and stepped on; a white-shirted police officer beat him with a cardboard pole seized from a demonstrator's placard. Rosen was clearly identified as a legal observer. "You can imagine how they treated other people," Rosen said. Despite the harassment, immigrant rights organizers do not intend to be intimidated, said Nestor Solano, a member of the Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants (CHRI) who has extensive experience organizing under repressive conditions in his native Guatemala. Mary Xmas announced that activists were planning a civil suit against the New York Police Department over its efforts to abridge the right to demonstrate. She is also seeking stories from women activists, she said, to use in a possible suit against the NYPD for sexual harassment of arrested women protesters. Charging that the police were using the arrests as a way to divide immigrant workers from young native-born supporters, Local 169's Schiffino reminded listeners of the German pastor who wrote that he didn't speak out when the Nazis came for the Jews, because he was not Jewish, and kept silent when the Nazis came for the trade unionists, since he was not a trade unionist. "Well, I am a trade unionist," Schiffino said, "and this time we're all going to get together and speak out." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FASCISM IN THE NEWS: Italy's prime minister names anti-gay cabinet Peter Moore (365Gay.com Newscenter) 13 Jun 01 ROME -- Newly elected Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been sworn into office and immediately unveiled a cabinet that includes former neo-fascists. His selections immediately raised concerns in Italy's GLBT community. Gianfranco Fini has been named Deputy Prime Minister. As recently as 1987, Fini, labeled Mussolini "the greatest statesman of the century" and predicted he would himself "build the fascism of 2000." Fini transformed the party of the heirs to Mussolini's Black Shirts to bring it more into the right-wing mainstream. He now claims that his National Alliance represents a "modern, democratic, national and social" system. He has consistently attacked gays and lesbians. But even greater concern is Umberto Bossi. His Northern League calls for Italy to abandon Europe and refuse to allow foreign immigrants into the country. Bossi, who has a long list of verbal abuse to his record, continually uses disparaging terms for gays and lesbians. A significant number of cabinet members, including the new premier himself, are currently facing judicial probes for possible criminal wrongdoings. Berlusconi was sentenced to a total six years and five months in prison for forgery of documents, corruption and illegal party financing, but the cases eventually came under the statute of limitations. A number of cases against him are still pending. New Social Affairs Minister Roberto Maroni has been given an eight-month suspended sentence for contempt of the national colors. He still faces trial for violating the integrity of the Italian state. Justice Minister Roberto Castelli publicly insulted a magistrate investigating the former separatist Northern League's activities and compared Berlusconi's predecessor, Giuliano Amato, to Adolf Hitler. Former Justice Minister Oliviero Diliberto, a communist, said Berlusconi's government was so right wing it would have made Britain's former conservative Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher "green with envy." Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said he regretted that while Berlusconi "could have assembled a government without the extreme right- wing, xenophobic party of Bossi, he chose to include him in the government." Michel labeled Bossi "a right-wing extremist supporting fascist ideas." - - - - - Man stabbed at north-side diner: Nonfatal attack on Maurice Wilson was racially motivated, witnesses say Joe Menard (Ozark News-Leader) 18 Jun 01 A Springfield man was stabbed three times Sunday morning at a Springfield restaurant by a man in a group a witness described as skinheads wearing swastika tattoos and Aryan Nation T-shirts. A 23-year-old Springfield man was arrested after the fight, but had not been charged Sunday night, police Sgt. Dave Zuhlke said. Other suspects were being sought. The incident apparently stemmed from the fact that the victim was a black man with a white woman, Zuhlke said. Maurice Wilson, 39, and his girlfriend, Chris Ruble, 27, had attended a wedding Saturday night and had stopped at Denny's, 2823 N. Glenstone Ave., afterward for breakfast with the newlyweds, Ruble said. She said the two interracial couples entered the restaurant about 1:30 a.m. Sunday and were immediately harassed by a group of about 15 patrons. Ruble said the men started giving Wilson a hard time and then began beating him up. "Somebody hit him in the mouth first," she said. During the fight, one of the men pulled out a knife and stabbed Wilson, police said. The men then fled, Ruble said. Wilson was stabbed twice in the left ribs and once in the buttock, she said. According to police, other customers administered first aid to Wilson until paramedics arrived. He was taken to St. John's Regional Health Center, where he remained Sunday night. Ruble said a Denny's waitress was also injured. Denny's employees declined to comment. Ruble said she believes the men attacked Wilson because he is black and she is white. Zuhlke said suspects "may be involved in a skinhead-type gang." - - - - - Racist Messages Distributed In Shadyside WTAE Action News (Pittsburgh) 14 Jun 01 A white supremacy group is spreading its message in the city's Shadyside section, WTAE Action News reports. Residents found flyers promoting the World Church of the Creator on their car windshields Wednesday. The flyer provides statistics on crime, poverty and disease for both blacks and whites, and encourages hatred of minorities. The group's headquarters is in Illinois. Local contact information found on its Web site lists only an e-mail address and Post Office box in the 15217 ZIP code. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT'S WORTH CHECKING stories via <ftp://ftp.nyct.net/pub/users/tallpaul/publish/story8/> Sewell Chan (Washington Post), "Huge Backlog Saps D.C. Anti-Bias Law: Clearing Hundreds of Cases Will Take Years, Chief of Human Rights Office Says," 4 Jun 01, "The backlog of cases at the D.C. Office of Human Rights is so huge that employment lawyers are advising their clients to head directly to D.C. Superior Court rather than endure the city's process for challenging discriminatory employers and businesses. Hundreds of individuals who have filed complaints at the agency must wait for months, sometimes years, to get a finding of fact, much less relief. Chronic understaffing and recent staff turnover, particularly among lawyers for the office, have created a backlog of more than 500 cases. As a result, the District's far-reaching human rights law has gone virtually unenforced." <2271.txt> "Mumia's Baccalaureate speech at Occidental College" <2272.txt> Robert Lederman, "Hizzoner Has No Honor: Rudy Giuliani v Tony Soprano," 25 May 01, "Next to the Godfather films, HBO's The Sopranos is NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's favorite popular entertainment. Giuliani, who opens most speeches with an imitation of Marlon Brando's Godfather, has had the entire Soprano cast over to Gracie Mansion and frequently comments on how much he enjoys the show. Too bad Rudy the Rude can't achieve the level of decency Tony Soprano, the fictional Mafia capo, displays in the television series. Not that Tony is anyone's idea of the perfect father, husband or citizen. A role model for impressionable youth he's not. It's just that compared to the disgraceful Rudy Giuliani, Tony's looking pretty good. Although 'T' cheats on his wife with an assortment of exotic strippers and girlfriends, he doesn't try to bring them to the family home and introduce them to his kids. Unlike Donna Hanover, Tony's wife Carmella is always treated with respect in front of his children and in public." <2273.txt> Todd Zwillich (Reuters Health), "Gay, Bisexual Teens at Risk for Violence," 1 Jun 01, "A new national survey suggests that homosexual and bisexual adolescents run a significantly higher risk of witnessing, experiencing violence than do their heterosexual peers. The report backs up earlier, smaller studies linking gay or lesbian sexual orientation to an increased risk of violence. It is also the first to suggest that lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) teens may be more likely than straight teens to perpetrate violence." <2274.txt> ZENIT [Vatican] News Service, "Church Apologizes for 1941 Massacre of Jews Poles Took Part, But Details Remain Unclear," 27 May 01, "The Catholic Church in Poland took a step in improving relations with the Jewish community by apologizing today for the Poles who took part in a 1941 massacre of up to 1,600 Jews, Reuters reported." <2275.txt> Michael Martin (ABC NEWS), "Racism as Mental Illness: Could someone who kills because of race or religion have a mental illness?," 30 May 01, "When Buford O. Furrow Jr. turned himself in after shooting up a Jewish community center in Los Angeles two years ago, he explained his actions as a 'wake-up call to America to kill Jews.' Furrow was a member of a white supremacist group and an avowed racist. But he had also had mental problems: a year earlier, he had tried to commit himself to a psychiatric hospital, saying he wanted to shoot people and kill himself. Furrow's case -- and other recent incidents of "extreme racism" -- have reopened debate about whether racism should be considered a mental illness. Advocates say psychological treatment could prevent some people from committing violent acts. But opponents say it would open the way for violent racists to plead insanity to avoid punishment for their crimes." <2276.txt> Julia Lieblich and Stephanie Banchero (Chicago Tribune), "Archdiocese steps in after league rejects black school," 1 Jun 01, "Bishops, priests and nuns gathered at Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago headquarters Thursday to take a stand against a Catholic athletic league that turned away St. Sabina, a predominantly black South Side grammar school. In a rare show of force just two months after Cardinal Francis George's pastoral letter on the sin of racism, the archdiocese said prejudice will not be tolerated and offered to mediate a solution to the dispute." <2277.txt> Randy Dotinga and Gregg Drinkwater (PlanetOut), "U.S. gives $500,000 to Nazis' gay victims," 1 Jun 01, "An international organization that represents and memorializes gays and lesbian persecuted during World War II will get more than $500,000 from a fund dedicated to helping the survivors of Nazi persecution and to preserving their history.The Pink Triangle Coalition, made up of eight advocacy organizations in Europe, Israel and the United States, will distribute the $504,210 grant to projects in Germany and the United States dedicated to public education about the Nazi persecution of gays and lesbians. For nearly 60 years, GLBT advocacy groups have fought for official recognition of the Nazi persecution of gays and lesbians, until now with limited success." <2278.txt> Ian Ith and Dave Birkland (Seattle Times), "Shooting death by police renews charges of racism," 2 Jun 01, "Seattle police Officer Craig Price, who fatally shot a man in Seattle's Central Area late Thursday, is relatively new to the force, and he's never shot anyone before. His partner, Greg Neubert, is a nine-year veteran who once shot and gravely wounded a drug dealer who pulled a realistic but fake pistol on him. Yesterday, the Police Department said the officers, who are white, feared for their lives when Aaron Roberts, an African-American escaped felon, tried to drive away from a traffic stop and dragged Neubert down the street, forcing Price to chase the car down, reach inside and shoot Roberts once. But Roberts' friends, family and neighbors angrily crowded the intersection of 23rd Avenue and East Union Street with signs and shouts yesterday afternoon to protest the shooting and demand that the officers be punished. They say the killing of 36-year-old Roberts, described as a kind-but-troubled father of three, is a symbol of years of police harassment and racism in their neighborhood." <2279.txt> Justyna Pawlak (Reuters), "Poland Exhumes 200 Jewish Victims of 1941 Massacre," 4 Jun 01, "Polish prosecutors found the remains of roughly 200 victims of a 1941 massacre of Jews in a small town in eastern Poland during a contested exhumation that ended on Monday, officials said. The figure was far less than the 1,600 Jews that Polish-born historian Jan Gross claimed were killed in his controversial book 'Neighbors' published last year. The exhumation, criticized by Jewish groups as desecrating the dead, was initiated by Poland's National Remembrance Institute (IPN), a state body probing war crimes, after the book blamed local Polish townsfolk in Jedwabne for conducting the massacre." <2280.txt> * * * * * In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. __________________________________________________________________________ FASCISM: We have no ethical right to forgive, no historical right to forget. (No permission required for noncommercial reproduction) - - - - - back issues archived via: <ftp://ftp.nyct.net/pub/users/tallpaul/publish/tinaf/>
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