[PEN-L:9556] The Internet Anti-Fascist: Tues, 20 July 99 -- 3:56 (#297)

[Paul Kneisel <tallpaul@xxxxxxxx>]

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            The Internet Anti-Fascist: Tuesday, 20 July 99
                       Vol. 3, Numbers 56 (#297)
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                    ANTI-FASCIST ACTION ALERT #86:
               24 JULY ANTI-KKK RALLY IN MARION INDIANA
                        Artists Against Racism

On July 24, due to the recent election of Indians's first black
sheriff, Otis Archey, city of Marion will be closing down its core will
be closed down for a large KKK Rally, organized due to the recent
election of Indiana's first black sheriff, Otis Archey, of Marion.

This KKK rally, in Marion's small community town of 40,000 is being
supported by the American Civil Liberties Association, and is being
counteracted by groups such as Artists Against Racism who feel there's
a need to demonstrate a clear moral opposition to racism.

In light of the safety of the sheriff, and the recent murders of
minorities by a white supremacist in Chicago, the Littleton minority
murders, last year's lynching of a black man in Jasper, Texas, a huge
counteractive response.

The planned response is a  huge protest that includes:

  - A Rally
  - Postering
  - Placards
  - Violet Ribbons
  - Radio and TV Ads,
  - Huge benefit concert (Peace in the Park) where John Mellencamp is
    amongst many who may perform
  - Human rights groups speakers

that will sweep the city as a powerful, educational counteractive.

                               - - - - -

Artists Against Racism is a non-profit organization which does
International projects where artists reach out as role models to youth.
Projects include TV & radio ads, Posters, Billboards, School Videos,
CDs, Magazine Ads, and much much more!

Box 54511, Toronto, Ont. M5M 4N5 Canada
416-410-5631
<aar@xxxxxxxxxxx>
<http://www.ArtistsAgainstRacism.com>

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             ANARCHISTS TO BURN CZECH FLAG OUTSIDE EMBASSY
                     London Solidarity federation

On Friday 30th July at noon members of the anarcho-syndicalist
Solidarity Federation the British Section of the International Workers
Association (IWA) will mount a protest outside the Czech Embassy in
London. The Protest will highlight the case of Michal Patera, a member
of the FSA, the Czech section of the IWA.

The Solidarity Federation believes Michal has been framed for his
active opposition to fascist and Neo-Nazis activities in the Czech
Republic.

                           Ferocious attack

The case stems from an incident which took place in a Prague Club on
Friday 27th November last year. The Club was attacked by neo-nazis,
knocking one person unconscious and injuring another. The ferocity of
this attack (the second on him in 6 months) convinced Michal that its
aim was to kill him. He shot the leading nazi with his legally held
pistol, and escaped. Shortly afterwards, Michal was arrested and
charged with attempted murder. He has recently been released on bail
but still faces up to 15 years imprisonment. None of the neo Nazis have
been charged with any offence. The IWA believe that Michal has been
framed for his political activity, in a country where more than one
third of police officers are members or active sympathisers or neo-
fascist, racist or extremist nationalist organisations. Direct co-
operation between police and neo nazis is well known, as is the Czech
Governments failure to deal with racism and xenophobia: For instance,
the State Citizenship Act, in 1992, effectively made thousands of Roma
people homeless when the Czech and Slovak Republics separated in 1992.

A spokesperson for the Solidarity Federation said: "The horrific
results of such growing ultra-nationalist ideology in post-communist
Europe are currently being witnessed in Kosovo."

Members of the IWA and other libertarian organisations in many
countries around Europe are actively opposing such activities on the
ground, and attempting to create solidarity and peaceful and safe
multi-ethnic communities, while fighting off attacks from neo-nazis. It
is vital that people such as Michal are defended from victimisation
from the state. They added: "On July 30th we will have a Czech Flag
which will be defaced with a swastika and burnt, symbolising the Czech
States collusion with neo-nazis and publicising Michals vicitmisation.
We call on the Czech prosecution service to drop the charges".

Photographs of the demonstration will be available on the day. For more
information, interviews, photographs etc. telephone the Solidarity
Federation 0181 374 5027, leave a message and we will get back to you.
You can also write to North/East London Solidarity federation, PO Box
1681, London N8 7LE Great Britain.
<da@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
<www.directa.force9.co.uk>

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                        ANTI-FASCIST ACQUITTED
                           via David Turner
                               15 Jul 99

On Tuesday 13th July 1999 anti-fascist Jonathan Insole was acquitted of
public-order charges arising from the National Front demonstration in
Dover on Saturday 9th January 1999.

The trial, which was held at Ashford Magistrates' Court, began on
Monday 12th July. The prosecution case looked distinctly shaky right
from the outset. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) greatly annoyed
the magistrates on Monday morning by delaying the start of the trial
twice (from 10:00am to 10:30am and then to 11:00am), as police
witnesses had failed to turn up and "we don't know where they are".
When the court resumed at 11:00am even the CPS barrister was absent (he
was said to be on the phone, presumably still desperately trying to
round up the missing policemen).

Only two out of nine promised police witnesses actually materialised.
They put on a poor performance in the witness box, effectively
admitting that Jonathan was only arrested because he happened to be
there and he looked threatening as he is 6ft 5in tall. A supposed
"confession" signed by Jonathan while he was in police custody was
completely discredited when the police admitted that it had been based
on hypothetical questions ("what would you do if you met a fascist?")
rather than what had actually happened when the alleged offence
occurred. One of the police witnesses stated that "it was our duty to
guard the National Front" and that he did not know whether the National
Front was an extremist organisation. The CPS also flouted the rules on
evidence by trying to introduce into the case video footage which had
not previously been disclosed to the defence.

After acquitting Jonathan, the magistrates asked the prosecuting
barrister, Mr A Scott-Phillips, and the police officer in charge of the
case, Detective Constable Moss, to stay behind. We are reliably
informed that this was in order to deliver a sharp rebuke to the
hapless pair for wasting the court's time with such an ill-founded,
badly-prepared and poorly-presented case.

Since November 1997 there have been 34 arrests of anti-fascists in
Dover. So far just one person has been convicted. There remains one
outstanding case, arising from the NF march in January; this is against
Gill Emerson and is due to be heard by Folkestone Magistrates on
Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th August 1999.

Meanwhile, it has been announced that Kent Police will receive
additional funding to cover extra work associated with asylum seekers.
This follows the publication of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary's 1998
Inspection of Kent County Constabulary (1999; ISBN 1 84082 245 7),
which states as follows at para. 3.48 (pp. 25-6):

"Illegal immigration through the ports in Kent is also causing
significant logistical problems for the Force. Between 1 January and 19
September 1998, 2,326 suspected illegal immigrants were detained in
custody areas, over 800 of these were detained for more than 24 hours
and more than 200 were detained for more than 48 hours. Multiple
detentions immediately impact on other policing by absorbing uniformed
officers for: Arrests; Transportation of detainees; Processing of
detainees; and Gaolering/caring for detainees.

This activity disproportionately affects the policing of communities
within Kent. Asylum seekers are causing an additional burden on the
Force as recent national publicity has created a backlash against them
with National Front marches to protest against them."

For background on the campaign against the National Front in Dover, see
<http://www.canterbury.u-net.com/Dover.html>

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                         HATEWATCH ONLINE CHAT
                 David Goldman (Director of HateWatch)

"Interested in talking with others about the growth of online bigotry
and what we can do to solve this problem? HateWatch's Online Community
Chat (HOCC) is similar to the old town square. Where the town square
was a place to meet and discuss issues of current interest with
neighbors and friends, HOCC is an online public forum where you can
discuss issues relating to hate sites and bigotry online. For more
information and to see how you can join go to
<http://hatewatch.org/main.html>

HateWatch
PO Box 380151
Cambridge, MA 02108-0151
617-876-3796
ICQ: #5023998
<goldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

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             WOMEN'S SOCCER: WAS A.B.C.'S COVERAGE RACIST?
                Mitchel Cohen (Green Party of New York)
                               12 Jul 99

Briana Scurry dove to her left and, horizontal to the ground, stretched
to the fullest and just barely managed to tip Liu Ying's penalty kick
aside, denying the team from China what would have possibly been a
winning (or at least tying) goal. Scurry's last minute heroics were
well appreciated by the crowd of 90,000 in Pasadena California's Rose
Bowl, which applauded wildly.

Not so the commentators on ABC, who immediately changed the subject.

At first I thought: "okay, there's something going on here that I just
don't understand." I don't know the rules of soccer. Being a baseball
junkie, this was the first soccer game I'd watched in 10 years, and, it
seemed to me, both teams were fantastic. As I found myself rooting for
the American women I had to catch myself and wonder at how
nationalism's long fingers still manage to squirm unexpectedly through
ancient dust, despite all. But, exhausted from watching the women run
full tilt for 90 minutes, and then another 30 in the two overtime
periods, I thought maybe there was something I just wasn't getting.

But, as it turned out, I hadn't missed anything. It was the same old
same old. Scurry was the only Black player on the field at the time.
And this is a sport that apparently wants white heroes for white
suburban girls.

Several moments later, after five American players successfully
deposited their penalty kicks in the opponent's goal, thereby winning
the match by one goal -- the one Scurry had knocked away -- they all
lined up on the podium to receive their gold medals. ABC-TV showed one
player after another bend down to have the medal placed around their
neck, congratulated and kissed on the cheek by the white man
responsible for distributing such awards. The announcers followed the
cameras and described each player and what they had accomplished.
Scurry was in the middle of the line. Just as the award was about to be
presented to her and the cheering crescendoed, the camera suddenly
switched away from Scurry! (She was the only one this happened to!) The
announcers didn't even mention her name. Instead, the camera and the
announcers focused on a different (white) player who was doing nothing,
just looking off into space -- this, despite the audio of the crowd
cheering loudest for Scurry. As soon as Scurry's moment had passed, the
camera switched back to the next (white) player, and the former
scenario repeated itself through the rest of the team without a glitch.

Did ABC not want to show a white man congratulating a Black woman and
kissing her? Did they not want to highlight another Black sports hero?
TV announcers were sticking microphones and cameras in the faces of
every player -- except Scurry. Why wasn't there any attempt to
interview her, about her game-saving defense?

This racist treatment of Scurry by ABC diminishes the accomplishments
of this terrific team. (The print media has been much more accurate in
its coverage.) As they watch the replays, to the extent that the
players on the team allow such racism to go without comment, unchecked,
they are -- like the rest of us -- complicit in the swirl of racism
generated by the TV reporting. ABC sent exactly the wrong message to
America. Will the players on "America's Team" do right by the millions
of kids, ALL kids, who look up to them, or will they allow the racist
masquerade to continue?

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                         WHAT'S WORTH CHECKING
  stories via <ftp://ftp.nyct.net/pub/users/tallpaul/publish/story4/>

COSATU (press release), "[Union Response to] President Mbeki's Speech,"
25 Jun 99, "President Mbeki?s speech to the opening of South Africa?s
second democratic parliament today signaled the beginning of the phase
of accelerated transformation which the ANC committed itself to in the
elections. The speech outlines a number of core areas identified in the
ANC?s elections manifesto, and governments plans to translate these
into practical reality over the next five years.  It should therefore
be seen as laying the basis for a detailed programme, which will emerge
over the next few months." <1026.txt>

Canadian Press (no author), "Death blamed on police inaction," 22 Jun
99, "Police should charge the youths who have been 'terrorizing'
residents of a farm where a teenager was shot and killed, landowner
Wiebo Ludwig says. Ludwig, whose pitched battle against the oil
industry has made him a pariah in northwestern Alberta, said police
have blood on their hands after the weekend shooting. He said they let
hatred for him and the 35 people who live on his land boil over. 'As
sad as the tragedy is, those kids were terrorizing us and had been
terrorizing us,' he said Monday." <1027.txt>

via Agent Loganberry, "Biotic Baking Brigade Pies Secret Agent Man
Barry Clausen," 29 Jun 99, "Earlier today, Biotic Baking Brigade (BBB)
agents spontaneously served three pastry projectiles to Barry Clausen
the not-so accomplished spy for industries such as logging. The would-
be infiltrator appeared at the site of an anti-logging action that
concluded the 20th annual Earth First! Rendezvous. This year's
gathering was hosted  in the San Juan National Forest of Southern
Colorado. Operation Mid-Snitch marks the 17th successful BBB
entartment." <1028.txt>

Workers Solidarity (no author), "Doctors say no to racist law," No 57 -
 May 1999, "At its annual conference in Killarney the Irish Medical
Organisation (the doctors' trade union) voted to oppose Government
plans to introduce identity checks on asylum-seekers and immigrants as
a condition of treatment at hospitals and GP surgeries. The motion,
proposed by the GPs Joint Cork branch, states that "the IMO rejects any
attempts by Government to introduce legislation which will oblige
workers in the public sector (including doctors) to notify the
Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform when they encounter
asylum-seekers who do not have appropriate documentation with regard to
citizenship and residency'." <1029.txt>

Nick Wadhams (Associated Press), "Man Admits Anti-Semitic Attack," 14
Jul 99, "A young man arrested in the stabbing of a Jewish leader
admitted that the attack was anti-Semitic, but claimed he was not
acting for any political group, according to an interview aired today."
<1030.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)

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