Madiba's example

In the two semifinals of the Confederations Cup currently being played, the captains of both teams have begun reading a manifesto against racism and other forms of intolerance.

While this was happening, the best example of activism and struggle against racism, resists at the hospital in Pretoria. Nelson Mandela is hospitalized in a health center in his home town since two weeks ago. Unfortunately, the end of his life seems inevitable.

Through his example, by his struggle, is that the football players have read these texts. No figures like him, it would be impossible to be where we are now.

We must keep our work, but many steps have been taken ... thank you Madiba.

Wilders raises tension in Australia

Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders’ visit to Australia is raising tension in the country over concerns that his anti-Islam rhetoric would trigger protests from the Muslim community.

Wilders, the leader of the far-right Freedom Party (PVV), has arrived in Australia at the invitation of Q Society, to speak against what he calls the “Islamization” of Europe.

He has been brought to Australia by this organisation, which claims to be "upholding Australian values".

As he arrived in Melbourne, the far-right politician began firing his anti-Islam slurs.

“If you really want to preserve your freedom, if you really want to preserve your identity as a country that is not Islamic, that is based on Christianity and Judaism... you should open your eyes, learn from the mistakes we made in Europe and make sure they don't happen here”, Wilders told.

“Islam has no room for anything but Islam, and Islam will get its way also in Australia. People who are non-Islamic, Jews, Christians and women, would be the first ones to pay the price.”

Australian officials have warned that Wilders could face prosecution if his anti-Islam comments went out of line.

'I Burn Like a Jew' Is Mexico's 6th Most Popular Hashtag on Twitter

“I burn like a Jew” was the sixth most popular hashtag phrase among Mexican Twitter users a week after another anti-Semitic phrase trended in that country. The phrase, #MeQuemoComoJudío, made it to number six among Mexican users on Jan. 23, according to Twed.it, a website which measures the popularity of hashtags – a word, name or phrase preceded by the # symbol which makes Twitter conversations searchable. Some Tweets contained jokes about gas chambers. One Tweet by a user identified as Miguel Angel had attached to it a picture of dead Jews at a Nazi concentration camp juxtaposed with the Milton Bradley Company’s Twister game, in which participants’ limbs are often entangled on a large board. 

“This one is used more like a slang expression, as in ‘I make a fool of Myself = I burn like a Jew,’ according to the Coordination Forum for Countering Antisemitism, an international watchdog. On Jan. 18, the Forum reported that #EsdeJudios, which translates to ‘it’s Jewish to’, or “just like Jews,” was second among trending topics in Mexico. There were mocking references in those tweets people to soap, ashes and gas. A French court on Jan. 24 cited hate speech laws ordering Twitter to share the details of users who made anti-Semitic statements under the hashtag #unbonjuif, or ‘a good Jew’. The social network has yet to decide whether it will comply with the request.

Centre will study fascist and anti-Muslim attacks

A centre dedicated to studying the extreme far right and anti-Muslim attacks has been established by a university.

The Centre for Fascist, Anti-Fascist and Post-Fascist Studies, launched by Teesside University, will look at the historical developments of far-right politics.

Professor Nigel Copsey, along with his colleague, Dr Matthew Feldman, will open the centre at an event to commemorate National Holocaust Memorial Day later this month.

Speaking before the launch, Prof Copsey said recent developments in far-right politics led them to believe there could be more attacks like the one carried out by Anders Behring Breivik in Norway in 2011.

"Over the last year there is no evidence for increased support for the far right. The BNP are fragmented and split and there is growing disillusionment with the EDL," he said.

"All these developments mean we argue it could lead right-wing extremists to think of more extreme actions, like Breivik.

"I'm not saying this will definitely happen but, because of the developments in the far right, there's a vacuum and it raises the potential for more violent actions."

The centre will also look at the opposition to far-right groups and how successful anti-fascist protests are, as well as far-right anti-Muslim activity.

Dr Feldman said: "An important development in radical right activism this century is, without doubt, the turn from anti-Semitism toward anti-Muslim politics.

"One of the things we will be looking at is a quantifiable analysis of far right participation in anti-Muslim attacks."

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MCI puts a demand against a neo-Nazi concert in Valencia

Movement Against Intolerance has denounced in front of Valencia’s Prosecutor Office the neo-Nazi concert that would be held on Friday supported by ‘España 2000’, right-wing political party which is fighting to become prime neofascist reference in Spain.

The concert would be held in Valencia. One of the bands that would play is the Italian ‘Killer Sorpresa’. They spread neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic hatred in their songs. Just an example, one of their lyrics expresses that they would kill the Nobel Prize, Rita Levy-Moltacini, a well-known Sephardic lady.

We will keep you informed. 

Warn of Neo-Nazi Terrorism in Europe

A few months ago a classified internal document from the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) from Germany stated, "We must assume that there will be further xenophobic acts of violence by individuals or perpetrator groups in the form of bodily injury also resulting in death in some cases, arson attacks (against asylum seekers' homes, for example) and, in some isolated cases, also homicide."

Investigators pointed then to the attacks perpetrated in Norway by Anders Behring Breivik as an example of the possibilities.

This is absolutely true. Just a few days ago a 45-year-old academic researcher from Poland has been arrested on suspicion of planning to detonate explosives in a vehicle at the Parliament building during a budget debate.

The man's motives were described as "nationalistic, xenophobic and anti-Semitic" and he is also described by Polish officials as having been inspired and fascinated by Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in Norway last year.

In Spain has happened something similar. In October, a young man from Mallorca planned to use explosives to blow up the University of Illes Balears. He was interested in Adolf Hitler and just a few months before had read the ‘Mein Kampf’; at home had made racist comments and shown repulse among Jews and black people. 

Intolerance in football...

Premier League clubs will be encouraged to operate whistle-blowing mechanisms to ensure racist incidents can be reported in confidence as part of a range of measures agreed by the Football Association to tackle discrimination.

After 18 months in which the issue of racism on and off the pitch has dominated headlines, the recommendations are the result of work carried out in the wake of a Downing Street summit convened by the prime minister in February following the John Terry and Luis Suárez incidents.

But, unfortunately, these kinds of incidents are very common in football. Italian club Lazio was fined $52,000 by UEFA following racist chanting by its supporters in September; the Serbian Football Association was fined $105,000 following an Under-21 match in which opposing players from the England team said they were racially abused. 

Just a few days ago, other case has emerged and the Football Association is investigating that a player was racially abused by spectators during an FA Cup second-round match and in other country, Russia, a fan group has written an open letter to the Russian club's officials, demanding that they refrain from signing black and gay players while maintaining 'We're not racists.'

The 'manifesto' was outlined in a direct letter to the Russian club’s officials, asking that Zenit refrain from signings any new players from outside of their neighbouring nations. The group demanded that only players from fellow Slav nations like Belarus and the Ukraine, along with Baltic and Scandinavian countries should be allowed to play for Zenit.