martes, 26 de abril de 2011

The Threat of Intolerance



The resurgence of racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, and intolerance in Europe indicates important political, economic, and social contradictions that are occurring throughout the continent. The international economic crisis, popular pressures and demographic movements, radical changes within Eastern countries, the slow and complicated process toward European unity, and the fear and insecurity for the future given unemployment and poverty, are all, among others, elements that the European Institutions have identified as factors that promote the reemergence of this social problem within of the countries of the Old World.
Along with these identified factors, a cultural and psycho-social environment is forming across broad sectors of the population. In this environment, uncompromising fanaticism based on the trivialization of violence in the leisure culture spreads through demonstrations of homophobia and exacerbated nationalism and facilitates the development of outbreaks of intolerance that fuel the wide range of attitudes and behaviors that depreciate, deny, and incite the violation of the application of Human Rights, making the possibility of democratic existence extremely difficult.
Looking back at recent European history, it remains clear that the intolerance that emanated as a threat in the late 90s is now, following the electoral results of France, Italy, Hungary, Holland, Germany, Austria, Finland, etc. a terrible reality.

European Alarm

In the nineties, alongside major European and global events and transformations, grave incidents such as murders, arson attacks, and new and growing social and political fascism developed in response to ethnic, religious, cultural, social, or national differences and verified the general advance of intolerance and racism.  

In 1984, approximately ten years after the bloody attack in Bologna that marked the renaissance of extreme violence, the European Institutions began to devote much attention to the increasing racism and other demonstrations of intolerance and to the emergence of extreme right-wing and ultranationalist groups.

The extraordinary and valuable report by the Greek Democratic representative Dimitros Evrigenis revealed the social and ideological background and objectives of European racist and fascist groups, making the way for the European Institutions to take a common stance in 1986 with the Declaration against Racism and Xenophobia.

Several years later, in 1989, Glyn Ford, a British, socialist European representative and speaker for the Commission on Racism and Xenophobia, presented the European Parliament with an evaluation of the adherence of Member States to their commitments against discrimination and intolerance. The results were worrisome; the documents that had been passed earlier had been essentially forgotten, and foreigners from third world countries that were not members of the European Community became excluded from the united Europe. This explained the growth of intolerance, murders and hostility toward gypsies, homosexuals, beggars, and foreigners, as well as the burning down of Jewish synagogues, the desecration of gravesites, and other atrocities that accompanied the spectacular growth of the extreme right-wing, especially among young people, as it found an authentic juvenile breeding ground within the context of hooligans and extreme football fans. The report proposed numerous measures for prevention, protection, and integration of disadvantaged groups, most of which were ignored. Later, in 1993, Picoli, a European representative from Italy, created a new report that was not approved but that once again reminded, evaluated, warned, and called for urgent programs within school settings, the media, and again in the social integration of disadvantaged groups. This latter report included a resolution about the rise of racism, the proliferation of anti-Semitic and intolerant groups and movements, the advance of malicious revisionist theses about the Holocaust, the attacks against immigrants and refugees, and the grave danger that the democracy was facing. It also proposed the adoption of a directive by the European Council for the legislative harmonization about the topic.

In the European elections in June 1994, the alarm went off when almost 10 million Europeans voted for racist parties. In some areas, like Antwerp, racist votes surpassed 25 out of every 100 votes. In October of that same year, in the municipal elections in Belgium, the rate reached 30 out of 100 in some cities, with Vlams Block, a party with special prestige among youth, picking up the racist and ultranationalist votes. In Austria, in the general elections celebrated that same day, another right-wing extremist, Jorg Haider, the leader of FPOE ultra, received a voting rate of 23 out of 100 votes and gained the responsibility of the government in 1998.

Along with these chilling statistics, one must mention the presence of fascist ministries in the Italian government, the consistency of the contemporary Le Pen in France, the proliferation of neo-Nazi  groups in the Germany, and the unification of extreme right-wing groups in Spain for various new projects. Furthermore, new extreme right-wing leaders emerge and create foundations within the young population and appeal to marginalized members of society using the economic recession to promote their own brand of nationalist xenophobia.

The successes of the extreme right-wing in European elections have systematically provided them with public funds and platforms to present their theses. The shadow of a lepenized Europe has advanced steadily and the central focus of these groups is immigration, which they claim is the basic cause of unemployment, increasing insecurity, and crime. The subject of the bloodless “Invasion of Europe” by foreigners, especially those from North Africa, has been crucial for the extreme right and its diffusion of racist nationalism, allowing them to easily scope out their enemy and create a scapegoat that they extend to include Jews, beggars, homosexuals, and senior citizens.

In 1999, the European observatory warned of the increase in racism and xenophobia, emphasizing the growth of racist crimes and informing that it had been trivialized within everyday life. Of particular concern is the linking of African immigrants to discourse about health risks, especially the accusation about the spreading of AIDS and their responsibility for crime and drug trafficking.

In Spain, the extremist groups with especial prestige among youth, middle class, and marginalized populations use, in addition to discourse about the invasion of foreigners, alarmism and  the problem of corruption in order to demonstrate the necessity of ending democracy and defending Spanish nationalism against the rupture in Spanish unity by Basque and Catalonian nationalists. To these problematic groups one must add the growing esoteric and even destructive cults, some of which are openly neo-Nazi and which experts calculate have tens of thousands of followers, especially among youth and women between the ages of 30 and 40.

Diffusion by editors with racist and neo-Nazi ideas and discourses in the world of film, videogames, and role-playing,  and the notorious presence of ultra groups in the majority of football fields within settings of exaltation and anonymity, configure the strategic map of hatred that, in current international circumstances, finds itself at a good moment for expansion.

We cannot conclude this review of intolerance without mentioning the major dramas and grave conflicts that have shaken European societies. One of these is the drama of Sarajevo. The magnitude of the genocide that was perpetrated since 1992 against the Bosnian population does not leave room for doubts: 140,000 dead (10,000 of them in Sarajevo), 151,000 wounded (50,000 en Sarajevo), 1,835,000 displaced, 156,000 detained in Serbian- Montenegrin concentration camps, 12,000 paralyzed or disabled (1,300 of them children), and approximately 40,000 women raped, according to a quote by Juan Goytisolo in his magnificent book Cuaderno de Sarajevo (Notebook from Sarajevo).
One of the key arguments for the war:  ethnic cleansing.

But the drama of Sarajevo has not lacked company; it is accompanied by the drama of Rwanda, another ethnic war resulting in thousands of deaths, refugees, and displaced people, and also by the terror of a nuclear threat encouraged by the uncontrolled trafficking of plutonium and the existence of more than 5,400 Russian gangster and fascist groups within full metamorphosis and encompassed in the ultranationalist and fascist groups like that led by Zirinoksi.  To these grave facts, one must add the explosion of fundamentalism, as well as the unprecedented violence against gypsies in Eastern Europe that demonstrated its intolerance against this group through legislative measures, as in the case with the Czech Republic, which left 100,000 gypsies within the country defenseless, stateless, and without rights. Or the brigades created in Hungary by militants in the Jobbik Nazi party, which want to kick the gypsies out of the North, while the rest of the Hungarian parties do not seem to be trying to stop them.
Intolerance reaches people with AIDS, who are considered lepers, and who now number 17 million people, with two-thirds of cases in Sub-Saharan Africa. This intolerance is demonstrated, for example, in the Russian Parliament´s passing by majority of a law that requires anti-AIDS certification for all foreigners who wish to enter the country. There also exists intolerance that reverts to the discourse of eugenics and fosters aggression against the disabled, the elderly, and homosexuals, in search of a racial purity proclaimed by neo-Nazi youth groups that still develop in Austria, Germany, Belgium and other European countries.

And the thing is that, INTOLERANCE threatens the world, and logically, it threatens Spain as well. 

lunes, 18 de abril de 2011

Esteban Ibarra's Interview about Office in Solidarity with Victims of Hatred and Discrimination in Valencia

Movement against Intolerance launched the Office in Solidarity with Victims of Hatred and Discrimination in Valencia some weeks ago. It was presented in the frame of an agreement between Movement against Intolerance and General Direction of Immigration of the Valencia’s government in order to assist those victims.

Esteban Ibarra was interviewed by Todos Television on that occasion. He gave some explanation about m Movement against Intolerance, raise awareness campaigns, and Office duties, in order to end up with the triple dimension of intolerance: hatred, discrimination and violence.

You can watch it in Spanish here:


miércoles, 13 de abril de 2011

Rap Music Launches a Video clip against Racism

Leading Spanish rap groups and the NGO Movement against Intolerance denounce xenophobia with a song.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011. El Periódico, Madrid.  

The NGO Movement against Intolerance and some of the most important rappers from the Spanish music scene (such as, for example, El Chojin, Nach, Zatu de SFDK, Sho-Hai de Violadores del Verso, or El Langui de La Excepción) have produced a song and a video clip to denounce growing racism within parts of society. The objective is to distribute it as part of an educational and youth awareness campaign.
In the song, entitled “Rap contra el Racismo” (Rap against Racism), the various rappers each sing one part of the lyrics. They defend, for example, that “each person is unique in his/her kind, there is no motive or reason to despise,” or that “no human being can be illegal, what is illegal is that a human being would not have dignity.” “For however many songs that we make, for however much we may express ourselves, we are not aware,” they complain. El Chojin, whose father is from Equatorial Guinea, defends that “the problem comes when we don´t see the problem, and the problem remains when we deny it.” And in case anyone doubts it, this rapper ends the song saying “I guess it's not necessary to say it, but rap is with racism.”


Raising Awareness of Young People
During the campaign, they will distribute 3,000 copies of the DVD with the video clip that will be given to various educational, cultural and youth centers. The idea is that it will be accompanied by debates about racism and xenophobia in these centers. The video clip will also be spread on the Internet. Additionally, the campaign will include courses in rap and graffiti, musical production, and beginner´s break dance.
The origin of this project stems from the meeting of the president of the Movement against Intolerance, Estaban Ibarra, and El Chojin after the former asked the rapper what Spanish rap music could do against the advance of racism and xenophobia.

Austria arrests former neo-Nazi leader Gottfried Kuessel over website


Former Austrian neo-Nazi leader Gottfried Kuessel has been arrested in connection with a probe into a website targeted by the country's strict anti-Nazi law.
1:10AM BST 13 Apr 2011
Mr Kuessel, 52, former leader of the now-banned neo-Nazi group VAPO, was believed to be one of the main figures behind the alpen-donau.info website, a key forum for Austria's neo-Nazi movement that was shut down in March.
Half a dozen house searches were conducted late on Monday in Vienna and southern Styria province, during which investigators seized documents, computers, hard-disks, weapons and Nazi paraphernalia, Vienna prosecution spokesman Thomas Vecsey said.
Mr Kuessel and a second person were arrested overnight, he added.
The prosecution said it had received help from US investigators to gain access to the website's servers, which were based in the United States and were long out of reach for the Austrian authorities.
Mr Kuessel was the founder and leader of the Volkstreue Ausserparlamentarische Opposition group (extra-parliamentary opposition loyal to the people), before it was banned under Austria's anti-Nazi law in the 1990s.
The 52-year-old, who has described himself as a "national socialist", has made repeated comments in the past denying the Holocaust and even denounced the diary of Anne Frank as a fabrication.
Sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1993 for Nazi propaganda, he saw his term extended to 11 years over a procedural problem but was released in 1999 after six years for good conduct.
Justice Minister Claudia Bandion-Ortner welcomed news of the arrests on the margins of an EU meeting in Luxembourg, telling the Austria Press Agency: "This operation has been going on long enough."
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann also expressed satisfaction, noting however that it was "frightening for our country" that some people continued to uphold far-right ideology, after what the country went through during the Second World War.

Open Bar for Insults

The series of xenophobic incidents in football stadiums has put players on alert and served as evidence that the CSD does not comply with the current law
Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 – Updated at 9:43

Almost a year ago, during the game between Betis and Elche, the referee Amoedo Chas caught the racist insults made against Ghanaian Mubarak Wakasa in the act.

PAMPLONA. Last Sunday, a section in the stands of the Vicente Calderón stadium, in addition to continually taunting about the assassination of Aitor Zabaleta committed in 1998, demonstrated extreme verbal violence, shouting chants against Basques throughout the entire game. A few weeks ago, much of the Athletic Madrid Stadium launched insults against the Madrid player Marcelo and against Christiano Ronaldo, who is now accustomed to this rudeness, which, despite Ronaldo’s attitude, is unjustified. This same season, the Barcelona player Dani Alves, embittered by what took place in Montjuic, acknowledged that “in Spain, I have learned to live with racism.”
In February, 2005, Pérez Burrull ended a Málaga-Espanyol game due to cries against the Cameroon goalkeeper Kameni, and Ramírez Domínguez followed this same practice during the Getafe-Osasuna game, in which Morales was the victim. But the event with possibly the most media attention occurred in February, 2006, when the former FC Barcelona player Samuel Eto'o wanted to leave the field due to the condemnations and onomatopoeic jeers that he was receiving from a section in the stands at the Romareda. Another person who can personally attest to this uncivil behavior is Carlos Gurpegi, who is targeted in many stadiums and who habitually hears expressions such as “junkie” and “drug addict” since testing positive for Nandrolone in August, 2002 in Anoeta.
Although the Law 19/2007 against violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance in sports was enacted on July 11th, these despicable behaviors have multiplied within football stadiums during this season, and a consensus has still not even been reached between the FEF and the LFP as to whether referees are required to include these incidents in their records.
Esteban Ibarra, president of the Movement against Intolerance, denounces that the law is not being properly applied on the part of clubs and organizations, and he laments the way in which partisan journalism instigates an environment in which those who act peacefully are only factions of the extreme right-wing ideology.


Security Delegates Ignore the Problem
 “It is a grave problem. Two weeks ago we suffered in the Rayo-Betis game. We know about the ultra fans from Valencia that cause trouble when they travel to play against Osasuna, about what they say to Gurpegi, and the symbols and banners that appear in many places and that people do not understand,” Ibarra explained to this newspaper. In his recent book, La España racista (“Racist Spain”) (2011, Ediciones Temas de Hoy), he dedicates a chapter to this concern. “They do not intervene because the security guards at each field are not up to par for these circumstances, and the referees are not adequately trained to identify what incites violence. It is excessive that they should be looking for it in the stands. We call for an inspection on the part of the CSD, which is the party responsible for ensuring the strict implementation of the Law,” he says.
Beyond the direct responsibilities and decisions of the disciplinary committees, the CSD exists to enforce the Law, which permits referees to cancel any type of sporting event where racist chants or attempts to dishonor players or referees take place. It even includes provisions for penalties ranging from 150 to 600,000 euro and even imprisonment. The Law also makes clearly provides for the banning of entry to any sports arena for offenders. The problem is that, if there is no denouncement, there is no possibility for punishment.
These chapters are not inherent only for the State (recently, two separate incidents occurred where bananas were thrown at the Brazilian player, Neymar, and his compatriot Roberto Carlos, during games against Scotland and Zenit St. Petersburg, respectively), but that is “no consolation.” In the Spanish League, song traditions have evolved such as “This Portuguese person, he is a son of a….,” “Mourinho, die!” or the “uh, uh, uh” in a hominid allusion. And it seems that, after huge investments in education and awareness campaigns on the part of UEFA and FIFA, and the commendable efforts from both greater and lesser known institutions, there is no way to eliminate this problem. “According to regulations, it is mandatory to record the activity of ultra fans. Nevertheless, they continue reserving tickets and seats. The law requires that they are located and that their leaders are identified, but this is not done.”
An example of good practice took place when the ex-president of Barca, Joan Laporta, confronted the Boixos Nois, who then harassed him throughout the remainder of his term. But normally, “leaders prefer to go along with them as opposed to confronting an organization that can provoke delicate situations such as protests or riots on the field.”
Thuram, Eto’o, Alves, and Cristiano himself are some of the football players that have quit in the middle of a game. “The players can also contribute to ending this by not posing for photographs or celebrating goals with these types of fans,” explains Ibarra, who observes that there is a dead-end with regard to trying to fix this issue. “When the incident with Samuel occurred, it seemed that we were advancing in the harassment that gave place to the Law, but it continues existing with impunity. The groups of ultra fans know this, and they are stimulated by it within this crowd sport. Moreover, the danger lies in the fact that there is now more and more trouble at lower levels.”


"Trench Warfare” Press, Ultra Fan Journalists
The glow of the extreme right-wing ideology that has empowered the political bipolarity of the State has also pervaded football and “trench warfare journalism,” with analyses that transcend the world of sports and enter more rugged terrain. “It is the heater of the parties, the lack of delegitimization of violence….Now it rewards the journalist who aligns with the fanfare colors, with the belligerent behaviors that strain the environment,” emphasizes Ibarra. “And it is the ideological use that the extreme right makes of this. The ideology exists in an exclusive manner,” he laments. Sadly, it is an open bar.

martes, 12 de abril de 2011

Guillem Agulló’s father signs MCI’s petition to create a Public Prosecutor specializing in hate crimes

Valencia – April 11, 2011

Ibarra demands that hate crime victims be treated “at the same level” as those of domestic violence or terrorism.

VALENCIA, 11 (EUROPA PRESS)

Guillem Agulló, father of Guillem Agulló, a young anti-racist killed in 1993, has signed Movement Against Intolerance’s (MCI) petition to create a Public Prosecutor specializing in hate crimes in the Valencian Community, such as those already in existence in Catalonia or Madrid.

Agulló announced this in a statement to Europa Press moments before attending the ceremonies in memory of his sons, who was killed 18 years ago. The same day, Esteban Ibarra, president of MCI, presented his new book “The Racist Spain” (“La España Racista”).

Guillem Agulló has indicated that the government institutions “little by little” are realizing that hate crimes are a “worrying” phenomenon, and are beginning to take some action. He has given the example of creating a specialized Public Prosecutor in Catalonia or in Madrid, and has requested that they also install one in Valencia, “because there are very dangerous groups here and it is needed.”

Meanwhile, he has declared that they will continue “fighting” for the investigation and prosecution of such crimes. “It fell to us to live out the consequences and we will not stop fighting after all that they have made us suffer. The pain they have caused us is invaluable,” he lamented.

When asked if he considers it advisable to strengthen the punishments for this type of crime, he answered: “I am not of the opinion that harsher punishments mean rehabilitation, but what I am conscious of is that if there is education for tolerance, for difference, these things would not happen.” He clarified, “I am not in favor of harsher sentences or life imprisonment.”

Thus, he maintains that “people must rehabilitate themselves and must assume their guilt, but not in life. I neither forget nor forgive, but I also do not wish death on anyone, even my son’s killer,” says Agulló. Nevertheless, he says that it is a “scandal” that the “killer” of his son will only serve four years in prison, when the sentence was 16.

“COMMITMENT TO THE VICTIMS”

For his part, Esteban Ibarra states that the book he presents today assumes a “commitment to the victims,” and makes a special mention of Guillem Agulló. He says that hate crime victims “have been historically mistreated,” for which he demands they be treated “on the same level” as the victims of domestic violence or terrorism.

 “These victims cannot be doubly damaged describing the deeds of urban gangs or fights linked to drugs or alcohol. This is unjust and does great damage, and has the consequence of taking importance away from the problem and hiding it, which is the most serious,” he believes.

When asked about the evolution of such crimes in Valencia, he reports that there are “improvements” in Spain because there are fewer detected violent aggressions, although “there is a greater agitation, propaganda, and hostility.” In his opinion, “the epicenter is moving from street violence to propagandistic hostility,” and this “is seen in a scandalous way online, where homophobia and xenophobia have grown.” Islamaphobia is also growing, according to Ibarra.

SMS informers against racism

Tottenham provides a phone line so that their fans can report xenophobic behaviors in the Champions League game against Madrid.

April 11, 2011
EFE / LONDON

SMS delatores contra el racismo
Adebayor, in the first leg of the Champions League against Tottenham
Tottenham has warned their fans that they will take measures against anyone who repeats the offensive chants that took place in the Bernabéu last week, directed at Real Madrid’s Togolese forward, Emmanuel Adebayor.

According to a report from the “Spurs,” the club will set up a mobile phone so that fans who hear or observe any type of offense toward a player during Wednesday’s game against Real Madrid at White Hart Lane can report it to the club via text message.

“We do not tolerate discrimination of any sort at the club, on the pitch, or in the stands. If you experience any form of discrimination, help us to eliminate it from football by reporting it,” urged Tottenham in their message, posted on the club’s webpage, as a preventative measure before the return leg of the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

As a consciousness-raising message for fans of the club, the “Spurs” asked that they do not support the “mindless supporters who are intent on ruining [the] day” and that, in the event of witnessing any abusive act, they use the text message alert system.

lunes, 11 de abril de 2011

Rap against Racism Campaign






A SONG, A VIDEO, AND A CAMPAIGN AIMED AT YOUTH THROUGH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE BEST OF THE SPANISH HIP-HOP SCENCE.

El Chojin, Locus y Nerviozzo de Dúo Kie, Gitano Antón y El Langui de La Excepción, Nach, Lírico, Kase O y Sho-Hai de Violadores del Verso, Xhelazz, Titó y El Santo de Falsalarma, Zatu de SFDK y Ose.

The “Rap against Racism” campaign is an educational and youth awareness campaign to combat the dangerous problem of racism. At its core is a song and video-clip that features the unselfish collaboration of some of the foremost artists in our country's rap scene – an anthem that, for the first time, has managed to unite the most important Spanish rappers (El Chojin, Locus y Nerviozzo de Dúo Kie, Gitano Antón y El Langui de La Excepción, Nach, Lírico, Kase O y Sho-Hai de Violadores del Verso, Xhelazz, Titó y El Santo de Falsalarma, Zatu de SFDK y Ose).

This campaign, promoted by the NGO Movimiento contra la Intolerancia (Movement against Intolerance), seeks to greatly impact the student audience and is convinced of the civil and social good that it can achieve in the face of the racism and xenophobia that causes so much harm. Using the Hip-Hop movement in general, and specifically rap, as the principle vehicles of expression and combat, the campaign uses the language of young people in order to reach young people. Its purpose is the commitment against racism and its slogan: Haz algo y si rapeas contra el racismo, mejor! (“Do something, and if you rap against racism, even better!”).

Its origin stems from the meeting of Esteban Ibarra and El Chojín after a question arose during a press conference about how Spanish rap could contribute in the fight against the dangerous advance of racism and xenophobia. And El Chojín was not the only one to respond – all of the artists involved in this song have answered as a single voice.

The campaign will distribute up to 3,000 DVDs with the video-clip of the song “Rap contra el Racismo” (Rap against Racism) in THREE THOUSAND educational, cultural and youth centers, in addition to posting it on all of the websites and online channels of the artists involved with the cause. It will serve to encourage classroom discussion with the goal of generating interest among young people and helping them to view racism and xenophobia as genuine problems that they must truly commit to fighting.

Participate in the Campaign, contact:
phone: 91.5307199

You already know: Do something! And if you rap against racism, even better!



¿What does the Movement against Intolerance call for?

The Movement against Intolerance warns that the economic crisis is contributing to the appearance of political messages that seek to provide populist and xenophobic answers to complex realities through the criminalization of society's most vulnerable groups, such as immigrants, gypsies, and religious and social minorities. It requests that democratic political parties permanently renounce the use of xenophobic populism and intolerant discourse as a means of capturing votes in their electoral campaigns and that they work to reduce the rejection of immigrants, gypsies, and other groups that is reflected in the polls.

Through education, mediums of communication, and society in general, the Movement against Intolerance seeks to create greater awareness in the face of the grave problems of racism and xenophobia, neutralizing prejudices, discrimination, and hate crimes and supporting democratic coexistence based on tolerance, interculturalism, respect, and solidarity.

The Movement against Intolerance requests that the government shut down racist and xenophobic websites so that “what is illegal beyond the Web is also illegal on the Internet.” It also begs the government not to authorize neo-Nazi concerts and to eradicate racist groups from among the groups of extreme soccer fans. As the European Union, the OSCE, and the European Council have already verified, the relationship between hateful, intolerant discourse and violence against vulnerable groups is an indisputable fact.

In the face of violent acts against vulnerable groups, the Movement against Intolerance reminds of the necessity of more specific penal instruments to combat hate crimes, and it calls for the reform of the Penal Code to reflect the still pending Framework Declaration of the European Union. It also requests the creation of prosecutors who specialize in hate crimes and discrimination in every province of Spain in order to officially persecute hate crimes and crimes of intolerance in response to the numerous cases of latent impunity. Finally, the Movement promotes the training of legal professionals and security forces in terms of racism, intolerance and hate crimes. 

miércoles, 6 de abril de 2011

RAXEN 2010 Special Report: Xenophobic Offensive During the Economic Crisis


The xenophobic offensive in the context of the economic crisis is a fact in all of Europe. Our country is not on the margin of the problem. This agitation of the new extreme right, without precedent, looks to connect with a sector of the citizenship who distrust immigration, cultural and religious diversity, and the European construction itself. There are multiple factors which make possible unrest and disenchantment, not the least of which is the impact of intolerant discourse spread in various spaces, essentially in the Internet. We have observed a link between incidents oriented toward protectionism, nacionalism, and xenophobia, a reactionary process regarding the idea of an open, cosmopolitan society of global citizenship which should accompany a congruent globalization with democracy and the universality of human rights. It is in difficult moments, moments of uncertainty, that the agitating, xenophobic proclamations become dangerous by affecting the rights of immigrants, social cohesion, and the development of coexistence. A xenophobia that will never be democratic, although the social majority may vote for it.


Contents:

  • Xenophobic Offensive during the economic crisis
  • Intolerance Barometers. Social and Institutional response.
  • Xenopobia. Rejection of immigrants.
  • Racism and Discrimination against Gypsies
  • Antisemitism and the Holocaust
  • Established in Islamophobia
  • Nazi-fascism on the Internet
  • Homophobia advances
  • Ultra violence and racism in football
  • Racist concerts and hate music
  • Judicial, fiscal, and police response against hate crimes
  • Memory of hate crime victims. More than 80 homicides since 1991.
  • Xenophobia, racism, and incidences of hate and neo-fascism in Spain (2009)
  • Xenophobia and neo-fascism on the international level

Click here to download the RAXEN 2010 Special Report.

RAXEN 2009 Special Report: Economic Crisis, Xenophobia, and Neo-fascism in Spain


Over 10 years of the RAXEN Report


Now that we´re in the 21st century, globalization has contributed to the intensification of migratory flows in response to the demands of labor markets. Nevertheless, with the eruption of the neoliberal crisis of capital accumulation, the weakness of the welfare state, and the exhaustion of the current democratic projects, it is a very difficult scene for vulnerable groups. Especially those in places where groups who exploit all types of contradictions and social conflicts to feed hate and xenophobic intolerance can nest comfortably.


Contents:

  • Editorial: Economic Crisis, Xenophobia, and Neo-Fascism in Spain
  • Barometers of Intolerance
  • Institutional and Social Response
  • Xenophobia Against Immigrants
  • Racism Against Gypsies
  • Increase in Homophobia
  • Holocaust and Antisemitism
  • Manifestations of Islamophobia
  • Nazi-fascism on the Internet
  • Ultra violence and racism in football
  • Racist Concerts and Hate Music
  • Judicial action against neo-Nazi and ultra violence
  • International News on Racism and Intolerance
  • Memory of the victims of hate crime
  • Racism, Xenophobia, and Intolerance in Spain (2008 Incidents)

RAXEN 2008 Special Report: The Danger of Xenophobia and Ultra Violence


In order to stop ceding ground to intolerance, and stop feeding fanaticism, we must use all the normative measures within our grasp as well as the invaluable education in human rights and civic values to avoid the installation of hateful thought and agitation in whatever social space, especially in whatever corner of a school. We must not forget that racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and other manifestations of intolerance are not just immoral, but they are also illegal. Education and Justice have the word.


Contents:

  • Editorial: The Danger of Xenophobia and Ultra Violence
  • Crimes of Intolerance and the Penal Code
  • Populism and Xenophobia
  • Nazi-fascism on the Internet
  • Dismantled Violent Neo-Nazi Groups
  • Racist Concerts and Hate Music
  • Racism and Ultra Violence in Football
  • 2007 News on the Web
  • Hate Crimes: An Incomplete list (2007-1991)
  • Xenophobia, Racism, and Hate Incidents in Spain (2007)

RAXEN 2007 Special Report: Ultra Xenophobia in Spain


The data collected in the RAXEN Report during 2006 demonstrate that in our country xenophobia also worsens even though, at the moment, it does not have a clear projection in any political party. These are not isolated episdoes, events without continuity or solution; on the contrary, they should be interpreted as the symptoms of a more serious illness. They are the symptoms of times of growing intolerance, an evil polyhedron of many faces (racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, Islamophobia, ultra populism, homophobia...) and whose substance rests on denying respect, acceptance, and appreciation for the diversity of citizens, society and its culturals, definitively in denying the value of a person, of their dignity and rights.


Contents:

  • Editorial: Xenophobia and Integral Legislation
  • Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Islamophobia - Web News
  • Ultra Political Organizations
  • Hate Music and Concerts
  • Nazi-facism on the Internet
  • Racism and Ultra Violence in Football
  • Municipalities with Incidents of Racism and Intolerance
  • Violence and Hate Crimes in Spain (Brief Summary 2006)

RAXEN 2006 Special Report: The Map of Hate in Spain


Intolerance has progressed in almost all of Europe in recent years and in Spain as well, as is evident, although there are those who would deny this reality. When we analyze the cause of the problem we tend to  repeatedly stress the incidence of socialogical factors, such as immigrant presence, contradictions of religious diversity, cultural conflicts. Without getting into the strong xenophobic charge of many of these explanations which reveal the existence of conflicts but that the majority of the time hides the little value given to real democratic integration of diverse collectives, it worth the effort to point out the role played by the extension of hate speech, as well as the role of groups who spread it and the media which they use to do so, in the social contamination which encourages racism and xenophobia, antisemitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and other forms of intolerance.


Contents:

  • Editorial: Against Racism and Intolerance
  • The Investigation of the Map of Hate
  • Neo-Nazi Groups on the Internet
  • "White Power" Music
  • Racism and Ultra Violence in Football
  • What does the Penal Code say?
  • What are hate crimes?
  • Municipalities with Incidents of Racism and Intolerance
  • Incomplete List of Hate Victims (2005-1992)
  • Violence, Racism, and Hate Crimes (Brief Summary, Spain 2005)

RAXEN 2005 Special Report: Racism and Ultra Violence in Football (Soccer)


This Report registers certain events and facts that contribute to a climate of violence and intolerance. We are patiently carrying out an investigation we have named the Map of Hate. The investigation is always open, always inconclusive because the problem never concludes, lives in continuous metamorphosis, remaining like a cyst which can grow dangerously under certain circumstances. In this special report, we collect part of the investigation of the Map of Hate in Spain, we confront the problem of racism and ultra violence in football, sharing data which absolutely negates the prevalent thesis that is a passing trend among youth, trivializing the problem and its cause, trivializing conduct which is clearly criminal.


Contents:

  • Editorial: An open investigation - The Map of Hate
  • Racism and Ultra Violence in Football
  • Fanaticism and Hate in the Stands
  • Websites and Forums of Extreme Intolerance
  • Racist, neo-Nazi, and anti-democractic symbology
  • 20 years of Ultra Violence
  • What does the Penal Code say?
  • Institutional Response: FIFA and the Coucil of Europe
  • Institutional Repsonse in Spain
  • The Racist Challenge in the Media

RAXEN 2003 Special Report: Racism on the Internet


According to the UN, there are over 4,000 racist, neo-Nazi, and extremist websites spreading hate and encouraging violence. These websites go against democratic coexistence, against immigration, and against anyone who is "different." Movement Against Intolerance, along with other European NGOs, believes that "what is illegal off the Internet is illegal on the Internet" and is working to report such websites to national and international institutions. The legislation to shut these websites down exists already; it is now a matter of reporting and enforcing it.


Contents

  • Editorial: Racism on the Internet
  • Report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the use of the Internet for purposes of incitement to racial hatred, racist propaganda and xenophobia
  • Appendix: Neo-Nazi and Racist Groups in Spain which spread Hate via the Internet

RAXEN 2002 Special Report: Intolerance in Spain: A Look at Three Years




While the RAXEN Report has been making progress in the past three years, we still lack official data on hate crimes in Spain, a situation which must be remedied. The RAXEN Report has, in its first three years, attempted to follow the mandates of the UN and its principal regulations (Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief), the spirit of the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance, and the desire to serve autonomous, national, and European bodies.


Documents included with the 2002 Special Report (click to download):


RAXEN 2001 Special Report: Two Years of the RAXEN Report


With the first two years of the RAXEN Report, we have finally approached the social problems in our society. The first step is to etablish that the problem exists. This is the great contribution of the RAXEN Report. The problem exists in all of Spain's Autonomous Communities. The RAXEN Report's future goals include: 

  • Turning the RAXEN Report into a tool for specialists and analysts
  • Projecting the RAXEN Report to the international level
  • Investigating new fields
  • Studying current fields more in-depth
  • Widening the capacity to report hate crimes
This RAXEN Report also focuses on the Legal and Judicial Response to Violent Urban Groups, from the history and current reach of such groups, to the existing laws in place, to suggestions for future laws.



Click here to download 2001 Special Report: Two Years of the RAXEN Report

martes, 5 de abril de 2011

Journal of Analysis number 36: Laws of Hate Crimes: A Practical Guide (OSCE)

Although the existence of “hate crimes” is as old as humanity itself, its legal recognition began only in recent decades. It was not until the international advance of human rights and judicial order that hatred of what is different could be pinpointed as the singular origin and motivation of a crime. The concept of hate crimes has its roots in Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, and Latin law, although socially it is known as crime motivated by intolerance, that is, by prejudice or animosity that denies dignity and rights to people and groups that are considered different. 


Journal of Analysis number 37: Intercultural Dialogue and Human Rights

European societies are certainly not, and never have been, homogenous communities (despite various all-out attempts to make them so). However, in this era marked by globalization, they are even less homogenous today. According to UNESCO, we live in a world whose diversity is reflected in the existence, throughout the planet, of 300 independent states, 5,000 ethnic groups, more than 6,500 languages and 8,000 dialects, 10,000 societies, more than 2,000 different cultures, and hundreds of monotheistic and polytheistic religions, in addition to millions of people who cross borders as immigrants and refugees to settle in societies that differ from their states of origin. 

Journal of Analysis number 38: Civil Society in the face of Hate Crimes

There is no doubt that in recent years, we have witnessed the advance of intolerance in all of its forms. As a concept, intolerance assumes the violation of people’s dignity and rights based on the denial of respect and acceptance of human diversity. Various European organizations and the United Nations have insisted that in the context of growing globalization, hate crimes (crimes motivated by prejudice and demonstrations of intolerance) have increased and spread. 

Journal of Analysis number 39: Confronting Anti-Semitism

A ghost is haunting Europe. It is the specter of xenophobic populism, which, in a very dangerous way, fuels a totalitarian tsunami that attempts to undo historic democratic gains, especially with regard to universal human rights. The new, xenophobic, right-wing extremists continue their long march toward the institutions of all European countries, encouraging intolerance and hatred and contaminating democratic parties and institutions throughout Europe. 

Journal of Analysis number 40: Xenophobia and Hatred on the Internet

The webs and discourse of intolerance are spread through the internet. It is a fact. By looking through racist blogs and websites, we can verify how neo-Nazi organizations use the Internet in order to deny the Holocaust, distribute propaganda, and incite hate crimes. The connection between intolerant discourse and hate crimes is proven, and today we can observe how an atmosphere of intolerance has been consolidated through websites, blogs, forums, chats, and “newsgroups.” 


lunes, 4 de abril de 2011

The Jewish community warns of a growing antisemitism in Spain




  • They ask for a reform of the Penal Code in order to shut down neo-Nazi websites
  • They alert especially concerning xenophobic and racist expressions on the web
  • What is illegal in the press isn’t illegal on the Internet,” they explain
  • A survey reveals that 34.6% have an “unfavorable opinion” about Jews
Olga R. Sanmartín
Madrid
March 30, 2011
The Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain (FCJE) and Movement against Intolerance warned this Wednesday that in recent years there has been an “extraordinary” and “dangerous” growth of antisemitismin our country.
In a press conference to present the Report on Antisemitism in Spain during 2010, Jacobo Israel, president of the FCJE, and Esteban Ibarra, president of the Movement against Intolerance, warned especially about the racist and xenophobic expressions spread via Internet.
What is illegal in the press is not illegal on the Internet,” Jacobo Israel condemned.
If the defense of hate is a crime, it should also be a crime on the Internet,” he stressed, and he reminded us of two characteristics of the Internet – “anonymity” and “enormous diffusion” – which make it “anideal medium for the diffusion of hate.”
Jacobo Israel and Esteban Ibarra have explained that is impossible to account in numerical form for the growth of Antisemitic acts and opinions in recent years, as much because many are not reported and because they are enveloped in a general concept of xenophobia and not extracted.
Ibarra has affirmed that each year there are some 4,000 racist incidents in Spain. If one were to extrapolate from what occurs in the rest of Europe, where “10% of this incidents have a clearly Antisemitic character,” it could be said, the president of the NGO has confirmed, that “nearly 400 Antisemitic incidents” take place each year in our country.
Jacobo Israel referred to the survey carried out by Casa Sefarad last year, in which 34.6% of those surveyed by the Institute commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were shown to have an “unfavorable opinion” of Jews.
There is no other similar survey in our country, so we cannot compare the evolution of opinions against Jews.
The influence of the crisis
In that poll, 58.4% of the Spanish population reports that they believe “Jews have a lot of power because they control the economy and the media for communication.”
The economic crisis is encouraging racism, xenophobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia,” Esteban Ibarra explained.
Are Jews blamed for the crisis, like the groups of immigrants have been? Leaders of the Jewish community have said yes and have related how on Internet forums the economic downturn has been blamed on “the worldwide Jewish lobby” and it has been repeated again and again that “Madoff is a Jew.”
Reform of the Penal Code
Ibarra has said as well that “Spain is not fulfilling its tasks regarded the fight against antisemitism.” He as well as Jacobo Israel has petitioned for a reform of the Penal Code, as mandated by the EU, so that websites with xenophobic content can be shut down.
They have also demanded that there be Public Prosecutors specializing in hate crimes and antisemitism in all the autonomous community (currently they only exist in the provincial courts of Madrid and Barcelona).
In the report on antisemitism, there are 28 documented acts against Jews reported in 2010, as well as 400 websites that incite “hate, racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia.”