FOR THE HOLIDAYS: Many shift their e-mail providers around this time of year. Please be sure to send us a change of address if you do so. We don't ask you for money to support the journal. But you can help by mentioning the newsletter to friends you see over the holidays and suggest they subscribe. __________________________________________________________________________ The Internet Anti-Fascist: Tuesday, 7 November 2000 Vol. 4, Number 90 (#485) __________________________________________________________________________ Action Alerts: London, 12 Nov: Stop the Nazi National Front Tokyo, 7-10 Dec: Women's International War Crimes Tribunal On Japan's WW II Sexual Slavery Fascism In the News Information on the 1st session of the 7th [German] PDS Congress [excerpts]: Cottbus, Germany 14-15 Oct 00 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, "Austria: Freedom Party-Police Allegations -- Police Believed Order Came from Haider," 29 Oct 00 Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, "[German State] Premier Urges Monitoring of More Far-Right Parties," 29 Oct 00 Johannes Leithäuser (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), "Moves to Ban NPD Focus on Hostility to Constitution, Violence and Racism," 29 Oct 00 Troy Wolverton (CNET News.com), "Watchdog group urges Yahoo to end racist auctions," 1 Nov 00 AP, "Police detain neo-Nazis after Berlin march ," 5 Nov 00 Reuters, "Scuffles break out at neo-Nazi march in Berlin," 4 Nov 00 Web Sites of Interest: Partners In Human Rights Education Human Rights Resource Center United States Report to the UN Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Book Announcement: Tim Wohlforth "On The Edge: Political Cults Right and Left," co-authored with Dr. Dennis Tourish What's Worth Checking: 10 stories -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACTION ALERTS: Stop the Nazi National Front march to the Cenotaph Assemble - 12 noon, Sunday 12 November 2000 Bressenden Place, London SW1 Supported by the Jewish Socialist Group and Searchlight The Nazi National Front want to hold a demonstration in central London this Sunday. They intend to march to the Cenotaph to lay a wreath. This is the same Nazi National Front that boast on their web site that "Hitler should have won the war" and "the Jews started World War Two". Mayor Ken Livingstone has been in contact with the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and the Home Secretary over his concerns about the intention of the NF to march. The Anti Nazi League are mobilising to stop the National Front. Anti Nazi League PO Box 2566, London N4 1WJ Tel: 020 7924 0333 Fax: 020 7924 0313 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <http://www.anl.org.uk> - - - - - Women's International War Crimes Tribunal On Japan's Military Sexual Slavery Tokyo, 7-10 Dec 00 This is to announce that the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal On Japan's Military Sexual Slavery ("Tokyo Tribunal") will take place from 7-10 December 2000 followed by a Public Hearing On Crimes Against Recent Women In Recent Wars and Conflicts on 11 December in Tokyo, Japan. The TOKYO TRIBUNAL will be a 3-day event where former "comfort women" (those women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army in World War II) will testify in a judicial setting to demand legal accountability from the Japanese government. Prominent international law experts and authorities will serve as judges and prosecutors. Former 'comfort women' will testify from at least 8 countries including, North and South Korea, Peoples Republic of China, Taiwan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Netherlands, as it was women from each of these countries who were victimized by Japan's military sexual slavery. The PUBLIC HEARING is a one-day event, which will bring together women who have survived violations in recent and ongoing wars and conflicts. This will serve to illustrate that the experiences of the 'comfort women' are not a thing of the past and impunity for violence against women continues to this day. Women will present testimonies and analysis from many countries including Sierra Leone, Burundi, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Indonesia, Mexico (Chiapas), Vietnam, Somalia, Burma, Okinawa, and Korea among others. The convenors of the Tokyo Tribunal are the Violence Against Women in War Network (VAWW-Net Japan) represented by Ms. Yayori Matsui, the Korean Council for Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan represented by Ms. Yun Chung-Ok, and the Asian Center for Women's Human Rights (ASCENT) represented by Ms. Indai Lourdes Sajor. They form part of the International Organizing Committee, which includes an International Advisory Committee composed of women and human rights activists. The one-day Public Hearing will be coordinated by Women's Caucus for Gender Justice and co-sponsored by VAWW-Net Japan and ASCENT. Registration is necessary for attending the Tokyo Tribunal. For more information or to register, please visit the official Tribunal website: <http://www.jca.apc.org/vaww-net-japan>. There is no registration for participating in the one-day Public Hearing. Please visit the Women's Caucus website <http://www.iccwomen.org> for more information about the Public Hearing and the Tokyo Tribunal. See you in Tokyo! If you cannot attend the Tokyo Tribunal but want to support the effort, your contribution to the local coordinating organization, VAWW-Net Japan, would be greatly appreciated. Postal Transfer Account No.: 00120-2-31955 Account Name: VAWW-NET Japan Please clearly specify "Women's Tribunal Fund 2000" Bank name TOKYO MITSUBISHI BANK Shinjuku Chuo Branch Account No.: 3424965 Account Name: Women's Tribunal 2000 N.B. Please do NOT send cheques. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FASCISM IN THE NEWS Information on the 1st session of the 7th [German] PDS Congress [excerpts] Cottbus, Germany 14-15 Oct 00 ... [Retired PDS Chairman] Lothar Bisky demanded that the [Party of Democratic Socialism] PDS and all anti-fascist democratic forces should learn the lessons of history. While in the 1920s and 1930s communists and social democrats looked at each other as the main enemy the nazis took the upper hand. The present increase in right- wing extremist activities urgently calls for a closer co-operation of all democratic forces. Right-wing extremism was an all-German problem, Bisky stressed. ... As right extremist violence in Germany is alarmingly growing the congress discussed the essence of the problem and unanimously adopted a resolution on anti-fascist resistance actions. It called for the broadest possible alliances whose diversity and internal contradictions should be met with due consideration. As the problem is deeply rooted in the midst of society, any strategies must help creating a social climate ostracising all kinds of nationalism, xenophobia, racism and inhuman violence in Germany and everywhere in Europe. ... - - - - - Austria: Freedom Party-Police Allegations -- Police Believed Order Came from Haider Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 29 Oct 00 VIENNA -- Several Austrian police officers under investigation for allegedly handing over confidental police information to the populist-right Freedom Party say they believe the order came from the party's former leader, Jörg Haider, according to press reports published over the weekend. The Format and profil newsmagazines both reported that Mr. Haider's closest aides had demanded information on political opponents from police officers who were Freedom Party members, telling them "the boss needs it." Investigators, the reports said, think this points directly to Mr. Haider. The Austrian Interior Ministry, meanwhile, announced that several police officials would be suspended on Monday. The affair began when a former police officer and member of the Freedom Party, Josef Kleindienst, announced that he had provided the party with information from the central police computer. Last week, state prosecutors launched an official investigation against Mr. Haider and other high-ranking members of the party, which is the junior partner in Austria's coalition government, for suspected abuse of power. Also being investigated are Justice Minister Dieter Böhmdorfer, who was the Freedom Party's lawyer before taking office. - - - - - [German State] Premier Urges Monitoring of More Far-Right Parties Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 29 Oct 00 FRANKFURT -- The state premier of Rhineland-Palatinate, Kurt Beck, has called for consideration of a ban on other far-right parties besides the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party (NPD). In particular, Mr. Beck said he was concerned about the German People's Union and the Republikaner. "In my opinion, the term anti-constitutional applies to all three of these parties," Mr. Beck said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Therefore, the German People's Union and the Republikaner should be monitored, he added. With regard to the NPD, Mr. Beck, a Social Democrat, said he saw no alternative to banning the party. Of course, political confrontation is necessary, Mr. Beck maintained. But "I cannot accept that we finance a party with public funds that, for everybody to see on the Internet, calls outright for ousting the system," Mr. Beck said, adding that the NPD "obviously is the organizational platform for all those who run around and kill people." Mr. Beck said a combination of demonstrations against right-wing extremism and repression by the state was necessary. "The democratic state has to show its teeth," he said. - - - - - Moves to Ban NPD Focus on Hostility to Constitution, Violence and Racism Johannes Leithäuser (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung) 29 Oct 00 BERLIN. The legal case for banning the National Democratic Party (NPD) will be based primarily on its aggressive behavior in public, its role as a leader and organizer of the right-wing extremist scene, and its identification with neo-Nazi elements, a report prepared by the German Interior Ministry reveals. The report, obtained on Sunday by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, was presented to the state premiers and their interior ministers last week to help them decide whether to back an appeal to the Federal Constitutional Court. On Thursday, 14 of the 16 states supported the move. The report documents the NPD's progression from a party contesting elections to a "cadre" party that increasingly takes its activities into the streets. Its leaders condone or even incite racial violence and call for "resistance" against the "system" using such inflammatory terms as Endkampf, or final battle. The report, which was prepared at the German Interior Ministry by a working party of the federal and state governments, will be issued in the coming days to members of the committee on internal affairs of the Bundestag, the German parliament. After the issue is addressed by the Cabinet on Nov. 8, it will be debated on Nov. 10 in the Bundesrat, the legislative body which represents the interests of Germany's state governments at the federal level. Following that, the Bundestag will vote on it. According to a spokesman for the governing Social Democrats, the Bundestag could possibly file its own application to ban the NPD with the constitutional court. Drawing on NPD promotional material and speeches by party leaders, the report alleges the party's violation of the German Constitution and its aggressive behavior. Adequate proof of the NPD's hostility to the constitution can be found in its program and other writings, which describe "the political system of the Federal Republic of Germany" as "the fundamental evil of the German present." There are references to the "process of rot in the Bonn system," while "Bonn representatives of the people" are described as "cancers on the German national body." Racist attitudes are documented by text passages such as "Mixing the races is not natural and (constitutes) genocide." Most of the material about the NPD was collated over the last four years, thus providing an account of the period during which Udo Voigt has led the party. The Offices for Protection of the Constitution have ascertained, and the NPD itself claims, a rise in membership since 1996 from 3,240 to 7,000. The report notes that in the same period, 80 investigations were conducted into NPD members or known followers who are suspected of perpetrating violence; 120 investigations concerned the use of Nazi insignia. The NPD accompanies its demonstrations with threats describing the tactical sense of the "fight for the streets," the paper states. Writing in the NPD newspaper, Mr. Voigt described the "fight for the streets" as the spearhead of a "national extra-parliamentary opposition." "Our fight is only just beginning," he added. The NPD links its aggressive political actions to efforts to give itself the structure of a cadre party. In spring, the chairman of the NPD's Saxony branch, Winfrid Petzold, wrote in an information sheet that the "imminent Endkampf needs well-trained soldiers ready with conviction to sacrifice everything, indeed, to give their last." The Offices for the Protection of the Constitution see similarities to the Nazi party: the NPD's affinity to the Nazi ethnic ideology, its glorification of the Nazi dictatorship, its use of Nazi terminology, and its self-perceived role as a representative of National Socialism. Moves to Ban NPD Focus on Hostility to Constitution Currently more than 350 investigations are in progress against members or followers of the NPD. The NPD is not only successful in boosting member numbers, but it is also mobilizing neo-Nazi and skinhead groups. Two years ago, Mr. Voigt described how the NPD recruits skinheads. "If I see three or four bald heads standing at the marketplace, I stop and I have my signatures immediately." The cooperation between the NPD and militant skinheads and neo-Nazis is seen as one of the main causes of the party's aggressive nature. The paper argues that the danger the NPD poses to democracy emanates particularly from its affinity to the skinhead elements. Instead of expressly distancing itself from skinheads, the paper says, the NPD not only tolerates them, but relies on their support. A second argument is provided by the public appearances of the party, which increased its registered demonstrations from 50 in 1997 to 87 last year; so far this year there have been 70. The paper notes that there is barely any difference between neo-Nazis and NPD followers in the appearance of marches and demonstrations; bolstered by militant skinheads, NPD demonstrations represent the expression of the party's combative attempts to attain power beyond the confines of parliament. The NPD accompanies its demonstrations with threats describing the tactical sense of the "fight for the streets," the paper states. Writing in the NPD newspaper, Mr. Voigt described the "fight for the streets" as the spearhead of a "national extra-parliamentary opposition." "Our fight is only just beginning," he added. The NPD links its aggressive political actions to efforts to give itself the structure of a cadre party. In spring, the chairman of the NPD's Saxony branch, Winfrid Petzold, wrote in an information sheet that the "imminent Endkampf needs well-trained soldiers ready with conviction to sacrifice everything, indeed, to give their last." The Offices for the Protection of the Constitution see similarities to the Nazi party: the NPD's affinity to the Nazi ethnic ideology, its glorification of the Nazi dictatorship, its use of Nazi terminology, and its self-perceived role as a representative of National Socialism. - - - - - Watchdog group urges Yahoo to end racist auctions Troy Wolverton (CNET News.com) 1 Nov 00 Yahoo is under fire again for permitting the sale of Nazi paraphernalia on its auction site. BiasHelp of Long Island, a Huntington, N.Y., organization that monitors hate crimes, sent a letter Tuesday to Yahoo's chief executive asking the portal giant to ban the sale of Nazi- and Ku Klux Klan-related merchandise. Saying that it found nearly 2,000 auctions featuring those items, BiasHelp called on Yahoo to be sensitive to those who have been victims of hate crimes and to the needs of the auction area's diverse audience. "While we are sensitive to free speech considerations, those interested in purchasing music, toys or antiques via your site should not have to wade through hundreds of Nazi or Klan postings," the group said in its letter to chief executive Tim Koogle. "Furthermore, curious young people surfing your site should not have access to materials that can be used to terrorize their communities, nor should they be left with the impression that Adolph Hitler or the Klan is worthy of memorializing through a merchandise line." BiasHelp representatives said they faxed the letter to Yahoo yesterday, but a representative for the Santa Clara, Calif., company said she did not know if Yahoo received the letter. Although the sale of Nazi and Ku Klux Klan items does not violate the company's current rules, Yahoo would be receptive to the letter, the representative said. "The guidelines we have are not set in stone," she said, adding that BiasHelp "definitely has a legitimate argument and concern." BiasHelp regularly monitors eBay, Yahoo and other auction sites for racist merchandise, said Jeffrey Reynolds, the organization's chief operating officer. The group sent the letter to Koogle after noticing an increase in the number of Nazi and Ku Klux Klan items, especially knives and other weapons. Yahoo does not sell any of the items. Instead, the items are listed by independent sellers who use Yahoo as a venue. The letter comes as Yahoo is embroiled in a related court case in France. A French anti-racism group sued the company in April over the sale of Nazi items on its auction site, which are illegal under French law. A French judge ordered Yahoo to block the sale of the items to French citizens but later temporarily stayed the order. Yahoo is not the only Internet company to be singed by racist merchandise. Earlier this year, BiasHelp sent a letter to eBay asking it to ban Ku Klux Klan-related merchandise. eBay responded to that request and to a similar one from the Simon Wiesenthal Center--a group that fights against bigotry and anti-Semitism--by limiting the sale of items that promote hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Aryan Nation. Meanwhile, online booksellers Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com have drawn criticism for selling racist and anti-Semitic books such as "The Turner Diaries" and Adolph Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in Canada and Germany. A search for "nazi" on Yahoo Auctions on Wednesday yielded 1,839 items, including a new Nazi battle flag, a bayonet with engraved swastikas and a postcard of Hitler with German children. Meanwhile, a search for "KKK" turned up 84 items, including a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. A search for "kkk knife" turned up some 15 auctions of pocket knives with the Ku Klux Klan logo on them. Among the 13 auctions of Nazi knives is a replica of a trench knife. "Items that can be used as weapons, they can be used in the commission of crimes," Reynolds said. "My hope is Yahoo will look at this issue, look at the high number of hate crimes, and realize that it's just not worth it to be in this business." - - - - - Police detain neo-Nazis after Berlin march AP 5 Nov 00 BERLIN - About 1,000 neo-Nazi skinheads marched through central Berlin yesterday, holding up a banner saying "You can't forbid Germany" and scuffling with leftist counterdemonstrators. Police reported 14 arrests. Berlin city officials had allowed the neo-Nazis to march on the condition that they leave flags, drums and torches at home. But 12 were arrested for other offenses, mainly displaying banned Nazi symbols such as swastikas or wearing old Nazi uniforms. Two protesters from the other camp were also arrested. Some 1,000 leftist protesters tried to block the neo-Nazis at several points along their route from the Friedrichstrasse train station to central Alexanderplatz square, but were restrained by police. Scuffles broke out after the march, but police reported no injuries. The neo-Nazis had called the march to protest efforts by the German government to outlaw the far-right National Democratic Party, which security officials blame in part for rising racist and anti-Semitic violence in Germany. - - - - - Scuffles break out at neo-Nazi march in Berlin Reuters 4 Nov 00 BERLIN -- Police battled to keep apart 1,200 neo-Nazi marchers and left- wing counter-protesters in Berlin on Saturday and said some officers were slightly hurt in scuffles. Some 1,800 officers were on duty to try to keep the peace between the far-rightists, who were demonstrating against the government's plan to ban the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), and several hundred left-wingers. The neo-Nazis, many of them skinheads wearing military-style boots, carried placards reading ``Berlin stays German,'' ``Stop Immigration'' and ``Arguments instead of bans.'' Counter-protesters chanted ``Nazis out'' as the march passed by. The police ended the neo-Nazis' march prematurely, saying they could not guarantee the safety of the demonstrators because of left-wingers blocking the route. A police spokesman said 13 far-right protesters were detained, five for for displaying illegal symbols. Nazi insignia such as the swastika are banned in Germany. One left-winger was also taken into custody. In the eastern town of Dessau, a separate far-right demonstration was denied permission to go ahead, although some 2,000 counter-protesters still took to the streets peacefully. Some 300 people protested against extremist violence in the Bavarian town of Augsburg. Under pressure to react to persistent racist and neo-Nazi violence, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has proposed banning the NPD, although some politicians have raised doubts that the attempt will succeed before the Constitutional Court. While the 6,000-strong, anti-immigrant NPD has never won more than a few percent of votes in any election, the government says it acts as an important organisational hub for skinheads and neo-Nazis intent on harassing foreigners. The cabinet is due to discuss the proposal next week. Mainstream politicians and groups representing Germany's immigrant population plan to hold a demonstration against extremism on November 9 which tens of thousands of people are expected to attend. The day is the anniversary of both the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and ``Kristallnacht'' -- the ``Night of Broken Glass'' in 1938 when Nazi thugs attacked Jewish property across Germany. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEB SITES OF INTEREST: Partners In Human Rights Education http://www.mnadvocates.org/partners/program.htm "In 1992, Minnesota Advocates collaborated with the Human Rights Center at the University of Minnesota to create Partners in Human Rights Education ("Partners Program"). Minnesota Advocates strongly believes that individuals who incorporate the concept of human rights and responsibilities into their world view are less likely to violate the rights of others and are more likely to advocate for the rights of the oppressed." - - - - - Human Rights Resource Center http://www.hrusa.org The Human Rights Resource Center is an integral part of the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center and works in partnership with the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library to: Create and distribute human rights education (HRE) resources via electronic and print media; Train activists, professionals, and students as human rights educators; and Build advocacy networks to encourage effective practices in human rights education. - - - - - United States Report to the UN Committee on the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). http://www.udayton.edu/~race/06internat/hrights/USCERD2000/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: On The Edge: Political Cults Right and Left Tin Wohlforth I am happy to announce that my new book: "On The Edge: Political Cults Right and Left," co-authored with Dr. Dennis Tourish is finally out.. The publisher is M.E. Sharpe. I believe many of my fellow DSA members will find it of interest. We have all suffered, directly or indirectly, from the ravages of political cult activity. Quote from the flap copy: "This is the first book to document the extent of political cults on both the right and the left, and explain their significance for mainstream organizations." Advance praise: "The Tourish and Wohlforth study had great importance not only in revealing the gamut of cultic political movements but in suggesting the common characteristics, and the considerable danger, of cultic politics in general." -- Robert Jay Lifton, M.D., author of "Destroying the World to Save It: Aum Shinrikyo." "Every parent with a college-age child should read this book and sit down as a family to discuss the serious issues it raises about recruitment by deceptive demagogues." -- Chip Berlet, Political Research Associates. The book is available from Amazon.com., barnesandnoble.com., and quality independent bookstores everywhere. I urge those of you who would like to help me promote the book to do one or more of the following: (1) ask your local bookstore to carry it; (2) ask your local library to order it; (3) order it yourself; (3) come to a book signing/talk that I hope to organize in the near future. I am quite optimistic about the prospects for the book. But the key will be word of mouth. Your words. Your mouths. By the way I give a plug to DSA in my bio on the dust jacket. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT'S WORTH CHECKING stories via <ftp://ftp.nyct.net/pub/users/tallpaul/publish/story7/> Diana Griffith (The Dallas Morning News), "Fire leaves newlyweds homeless: Racial slurs found painted on garage," 28 Oct 00, "A newlywed couple were left homeless Saturday after a suspicious fire destroyed most of their rented house in Mesquite. Firefighters responded to the blaze in the 2400 block of Whit Drive, home of Frank and Tonya Turner, about 3:15 a.m. Saturday. They later discovered racial slurs spray-painted on the side of the house's detached carport. The Turners are black." <1921.txt> AP, "France angry as U.S. court OKs suit filed by Jews," 5 Nov 00, "French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin criticized a U.S. court's decision Saturday to hear a suit filed by U.S. Jews against French banks, saying the move could thwart France's efforts toward full restitution of wartime assets." <1922.txt> Bill Morlin (Spokane Spokesman Review), "Judge refuses Butler's request for new trial: $6.3 million judgment against Aryan Nations stands," 23 Oct 00, "A judge has denied the Aryan Nations' request for a new trial, leaving intact a $6.3 million jury verdict that will close down the North Idaho hate compound." <1923.txt> Erica Curless ([Seattle] Spokesman-Review), "Confession of the soles: Churches' racism acknowledged by Walk Against Hate, which draws honks of support," 30 Oct 00, "For 82-year-old Helen McDaniel, countering hate is a much better way to spend Sunday afternoon than watching the Seahawks on television. ... McDaniel joined about 250 people from various Spokane churches for the second annual Walk Against Hate, which came the day after Richard Butler and 30 of his white supremacist supporters marched through downtown Coeur d'Alene." <1924.txt> William R. Levesque (St. Petersburg Times), "Girl's neo-Nazi killer convicted: The 19-year-old, who also injured the child's sister, could be sent to prison for life on the murder and hate crime charges," 27 Oct 00, "Eight-year-old Aleesha Mance knew him as the 'bad guy,' the man from her nightmares. Now, he stood just 10 feet away. Aleesha looked up into her mother's face, unsure why she was crying. The 'bad guy,' Jessy Joe Roten, a self-avowed skinhead who killed Aleesha's twin sister with a shot from an assault rifle, the neo-Nazi who nearly killed Aleesha with the same shot, stood impassively, staring straight ahead. After deliberating eight hours, a jury Thursday found the 19-year-old Roten guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder in the April 1999 shooting that killed 6-year-old Ashley Mance." <1925.txt> Steven S. Johnson (AP), "Time takes toll on prosecuting Nazis: Evidence was destroyed, memories have dimmed, making justice for Holocaust victims hard to secure in court," 1 Nov 00, "As a 16-year-old, Alexander Bergman looked into the eyes of the men who drove his parents and brothers from their apartment to a concentration camp in 1941, and then to their executions along with tens of thousands of other Jews during World War II. But nearly 60 years later, could he help identify any of them, including a man prosecutors think played a key role in Latvia's Holocaust? No." <1926.txt> Warren Woodberry Jr. and Alice McQuillan (New York Daily News), "Nab White Supremacist," 25 Oct 00, "A white supremacist who collects hate literature and guns was charged yesterday with amassing an arsenal of weapons inside his Flushing apartment. Portion of weapons cache seized by cops Monday in Queens. Steven McFadden admitted to detectives that he is a member of the National Alliance, one of the largest and most active neo-Nazi organizations in the country." <1927.txt> Paul Shepard (AP), "Attorneys readying lawsuit to seek slavery reparations," 5 Nov 00, "A powerful group of civil rights and class action lawyers who have won billions of dollars in court is preparing a lawsuit seeking reparations for American blacks descended from slaves. The project, called the Reparations Assessment Group, was confirmed by Harvard law Professor Charles J. Ogletree and appears to be the most serious effort yet to get compensation for American blacks for 244 years of legalized slavery. Lawsuits and legislation dating to the mid-1800s have gone nowhere." <1928.txt> Sam Stanton and Gary Delsohn (Sacramento Bee), "Tactics change in hate case? Matthew Williams may take the Fifth," 22 Oct 00, "There was a time when, it seemed, Matthew Williams couldn't do enough talking. He confessed to two murders, admitted taking part in the torching of three Sacramento synagogues and sought out national news media to interview him. But things apparently have changed. Now, the former Redding-area landscaper and self- avowed white supremacist may invoke his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in his own trial. But Williams supposedly will talk openly of his alleged crimes in the case against his younger brother, Tyler." <1929.txt> Toby Helm (The [Australian] Age), "Germans clash over culture question," 1 Nov 00, "Germany's conservative opposition has become embroiled in a dispute with President Johannes Rau after claiming that multicultural societies do not work and demanding that immigrants accept Deutsche Leitkultur, the "leading German culture". Mr Rau, a Social Democrat, was so furious at the opposition's use of the term - which appeared recently in a neo-Nazi publication and has echoes of the Third Reich - that he issued a public rebuke to Christian Democrat leaders." <1930.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/> ___________________________________________________________ T O P I C A http://www.topica.com/t/17 Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics