Jock Palfreeman : May 2011 Update

Posted on May 17, 2011 by @ndy

[Update : See also : Amnesty International Annual Report on Bulgaria, 2011. “Roma faced widespread discrimination. Demolitions of Romani homes and evictions of families continued. An NGO investigation found that children had died in care homes due to preventable causes, including starvation, neglect or cold, between 2000 and 2010.”]

Australian Jock Palfreeman currently sits in a jail in Sofia, Bulgaria, serving a 20-year sentence for murder. In the same city in December 2007, Jock came to the aid of Roma subject to assault by a large gang of fascist hooligans. As a result of attempting to defend these men from attack, one member of the gang, Andrey Monov, died of a stab wound (while another gang member was wounded). Further infos on Jock’s case, and the basis of his defence, is available at the Free Jock website.

After a previous, unsuccessful appeal, Jock is now making a final appeal against his sentence. You can read an extensive interview with Jock (‘Darkness at noon – the Jock Palfreeman interview’, Gabriel Hershman, The Sofia Echo, April 22, 2011) here.

See also…

Father of Palfreeman’s victim speaks out, The Sydney Morning Herald (AAP), April 27, 2011;
Jock Palfreeman verdict is ‘confused, illogical and unfair’, his father says, Gabriel Hershman, The Sofia Echo, May 16 2011;
Jock Palfreeman begs for retrial in final appeal, Milena Hristova and Peter Wilson, The Australian, May 17, 2011;
Jock Palfreeman’s last appeal heard in court, Boel Eriksson, The Mosman Daily, May 17, 2011;
Palfreeman makes final appeal in Bulgaria, The Sydney Morning Herald (AAP), May 17, 2011;
Australian man Jock Palfreeman, jailed in Bulgaria, launches final appeal, Herald Sun (AAP), May 17, 2011.

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Australian Defence League Anti-Muslim Rally : Interrupted

Posted on May 16, 2011 by @ndy

Well, that was the rally that was.

Or wasn’t.

In brief, on Sunday approximately 20 or 30 members and supporters of the ‘Australian Defence League’ (ADL) gathered at midday at Federation Square. Gathering in opposition were perhaps 1 or 200 or so anti-racists. For about an hour the anti-racists–gathered under the umbrella of ‘The Rally Against Racism and Fascism’–listened to a number of speeches, a man singing about how we are all brothers, and the screams and shouts of the ADL.

Vision of both sides can be found elsewhere on the web, but the featured speaker for the ADL was not, surprisingly, the Londoner Martin Brennan (parachuted in, with EDL leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon‘s blessing, to take charge of the incompetent Australians) but some other bloke. I dunno what he was on about–quite a lot judging by the array of placards he’d placed in front of his impromptu platform.

Anyway, after an hour so, it was decided that it was probably time for the Englishman to lead the defensive Australians in a retreat from the Square. And so, after some five or so minutes of pushing, the ADL was evicted.

And that was pretty much it.

Not an auspicious beginning to Martin’s plan to whip the convicts into shape, but certainly an improvement upon the (other) ADL’s attempt to stand about the steps of Flinders Street Station in April last year. Nobody was arrested and nobody was injured (that I know of) although one older woman–I think there to protest the ADL–was jostled and quite upset when she was finally able to make her way out from the brief melee. Presumably, if he doesn’t piss off back to London, Martin will rally his followers again at some point, and the cycle will be repeated.

Props to all those who took a public stand against the ADL’s bigotry, ignorance and rampant paranoia; the Herald Sun has a report–Protesters clash at anti-Muslim rally in Melbourne, John Masanauskas, May 16, 2011–and presumably there’ll be others in the days ahead…

Counter-demonstration against Fascist rally – Federation Square, peter, Indymedia Australia, May 16, 2011 | Photo of Martin Brennan.

Also: Derryn Hinch.

Posted in Anti-fascism | Tagged , , | 65 Comments

Kyle Chapman ~versus~ Patrick O’Sullivan ~versus~ ZOG

Posted on May 12, 2011 by @ndy

Ding ding!

Over in New Zealand/Aotearoa Kyle Chapman, leader of the neo-Nazi skinhead group ‘Right Wing Resistance New Zealand’ (RWRNZ), is busy capitalising on the publicity surrounding the group’s latest propaganda campaign, one which centres on the distribution of flyers calling on members of the public to ‘Stop the Asian Invasion’ and to join RWRNZ.

Anti-Chinese leaflets spark fear and anger
Lincoln Tan
New Zealand Herald
May 11, 2011

Anti-Asian leaflets investigated
Radio New Zealand
May 11, 2011

Anti-Asian group says campaign is to recruit members
TVNZ
May 11, 2011

In other words, Kyle is continuing to engage in the same brand of political activism he was pursuing when he was a member of the New Zealand Hammerskins in the late 1980s and 1990s. Indeed, the two groups bare an uncanny resemblance to one another, both in terms of their political perspective but also size, shape and organisation. Of course, Kyle has played a leading role in other far right political formations in-between his leadership of these two gangs, most prominently the ‘New Zealand National Front’ (NZNF) (now under the leadership of Colin Ansell). Note that prior to RWRNZ Kyle, a Mormon, got married, and made a public break with his many years of fascist organising, promising his new wife to dedicate his life to religion not politics. The fact that Kyle was unable to keep his promise suggests that his attachment to fascist politics borders on the pathological.

Speaking of pathology…

Back in Melbourne Patrick O’Sullivan (above), the leader of an even tinier neo-Nazi religious cult known as Creativity, has once again had his indefatigable attempts to cover the suburbs of Melbourne with stickers promoting his wacky beliefs rewarded, this time by the ABC.

White supremacist stickers under investigation
Margaret Paul
ABC
May 11, 2011

Previously, local newspapers reported that the stickers had appeared on the entry to a Salvation Army office in Lilydale. In fact, Patrick has been putting stickers up around town for years, his commitment to doing so only interrupted by a short spell in prison (convicted in August 2002 of a “cowardly” and “violent” assault upon another bonehead in May 1999, Patrick was sentenced to 33 months). Given Torquay’s proximity to Geelong, a likely culprit might otherwise be Deakin University student Scott Harrison, another nutty ‘Reverend’ in the White supremacist cult: the fact that Scott belongs to a rival faction of Creatards, however, suggests this is unlikely.

In any case, congratulations to both Kyle and Patrick for subverting The Controlled Media. RAcial HOly WAr is surely just a t-shirt sale away…

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Rally Against Racism and Fascism, Federation Square, Melbourne, Sunday, May 15

Posted on May 8, 2011 by @ndy

[Update : A Facebook page has been created for the ‘Rally Against Racism and Fascism’ Event.]

At midday on Sunday, May 15, the ‘Australian Defence League’ is planning on holding a public rally at Fed Square followed by a march upon Parliament. The rally is being organised to protest the presence of Muslims in Australia and the supposed “Islamification” of Australian society they are (secretly) undertaking.

In response, a ‘Rally Against Racism and Fascism’ has been organised.

Where : Federation Square
When : Midday, Sunday, May 15

Please note that Federation Square will also witness celebrations associated with the Buddha’s Day and Multicultural Festival:

Proudly presented by Fo Guang Shan Melbourne and Buddha’s Light International Association of Victoria (BLIA VIC), the 16th Buddha’s Day and Multicultural Festival marks the Buddhist holidays with a unique annual event celebrating vesak or wesak (Buddha’s birthday), flavoured by Melbourne’s diverse multicultural society.

Buddha’s Day and Multicultural Festival incorporates the traditions of Buddhist ceremonies and celebrations including the “Bathing of the Buddha”, daily Dharma ceremonies, the Wishing Bell and traditional incense offerings, a vegetarian culinary tour of Asia alongside the Yarra on the River Terrace, cultural demonstrations and insights, music, art and craft and community service groups.

Plenty for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike!

The festival is a unique introduction to Buddhism for kids and families with special activities and games for the younger of body and mind.

The May 15 rally is the second occasion upon which the ADL has attempted to publicly demonstrate its hatred and contempt for Muslims in Melbourne. The ADL’s first rally (and march) was meant to take place on April 9, 2010. It was effectively countered by the organisation of a counter-rally, in which a broad range of individuals from the labour movement and various faith and political organisations participated.

(See : Far-Right white supremacists planning anti-Islam march on state Parliament, Padraic Murphy, Nick Leys, Herald Sun, March 27, 2010 | Photos of Anti-racism rally in Melbourne, Melbourne Leader, April 9, 2010 | Nazi salutes at Flinders Street protest (Video), The Age, April 9, 2010.)

What is the ‘Australian Defence League’?

The ADL consciously models itself upon the ‘English Defence League’, a network of anti-Muslim bigots whose ranks are swelled by racist football hooligans and whose numerous rallies, marches and protests have triggered widespread disruption and alcohol-fuelled violence.

The EDL was established in Luton in June, 2009, but has since extended itself across the country. Its leader, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka “Tommy Robinson”) is a former member of the ‘British National Party’ and has a conviction for assault. He also likes to say ‘fuck’ a lot. (Guramit Singh is another leading figure.)

Having undergone a series of internal crises triggered by its failure to manifest a public presence in Australia, the ADL has recently been placed under the leadership of another Englishman, Martin Brennan, who promises that the League will not allow its earlier stoopid to be repeated. While the precise level of the ADL’s support is unknown, it would be nice to think that the success of last year’s counter-rally could again be repeated, and the attempt to transport the EDL Down Under defeated.

See also : Malatesta’s Blog, which cuts a dash against the fash / keeps a watching brief on the antics of the EDL and other bizarro groups on the far right in the UK | Australian Defence League: May 15 rally and counter-rally (April 30, 2011).

Posted in Anti-fascism, State / Politics | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

Propagandhi ~versus~ Stormfront Down Under

Posted on May 8, 2011 by @ndy
    Update (May 19, 2011) : So anyway. Propagandhi’s first gig (Wednesday, May 17) was apparently undisturbed. During their second (Thursday, May 18), at about the time the band took to the stage (10-10.30pm) a small group of 10–20 young nazis attempted to gatecrash the (sold out) show, but were told to go away by security. More news (if any) as it comes to hand.

    The band itself rocked; ‘Stolen Youth’ weren’t bad either (didn’t see the first act)…

ROFLMAO.

A handful of nazis on the ‘Down Under’ segment of convicted terrorist Don Black’s Stormfront website have been wailing and gnashing their teef over the upcoming tour (May 18–29) by Canuckistanian band Propagandhi.

Apparently, the delicate sensibilities of the forum members have been upset rocked by the fact that, inter alia, the band sings about how stoopid racism and fascism is, and–what’s worse–their albums are were released on a label owned by–you guessed it–a Jew.

And so and so forth.

[See : ‘Pro gay and anti nationalist band set to tour Australia’ : stormfront.org/forum/t792644]

Like much of the rest of the discussion on Black’s site, the blather is unintentionally amusing.

Silly buggers.

Posted in Anarchism, Anti-fascism, Music, State / Politics | Tagged , | 30 Comments

Ultra-nationalist, fascist and neo-Nazi movements in Russia

Posted on May 7, 2011 by @ndy

Stumbling about The Information Superhighway, I (again) came across this interview Uri Gordon done a coupla years ago with Peter McNally, an anti-fascist researcher. Originally published on infoshop, I think it provides some good background on fascist movements in contemporary Russia, so I’m republishing it here.

See also : The SOVA Center for Information and Analysis | ‘Russian Anti-Racist Skinheads’ : Documentary (May 5, 2011).

Ultra-nationalist, fascist and neo-Nazi movements in Russia
infoshop.org
August 30, 2007

Peter McNally (not his real name) has been researching the American and European far right for over twenty years. The recent murderous attack on the eco-protest camp in Siberia occasioned this interview, in which Peter uncovers some little-known facts about one of the world’s largest and – to many Western anarchists – least familiar networks of ultra-nationalist, fascist and neo-Nazi movements.

Uri Gordon: I guess the best question to start with is, what kind of activities are we talking about here? What do these people do, and how do they organize?

Peter McNally: Well, it all depends on how well organized they are. Normally it’s your typical skinhead bully-boy politics, beating up a Black or a leftist or whatever. Then a lot of times it’s the tit for tat, fascists vs. anti-fascists politics that has a momentum of its own. Basically, one could say it’s political gang warfare, though on a very minuscule level.

That doesn’t mean that there aren’t areas where people are pretty threatened about a very strong presence of right-wing people who, like in a lot of places, are in full complicity with the cops. Because the cops prefer them to the crazy fuckin’ anarchists, right? So they can go, “OK, I don’t understand your Nazism, but as long as you beat up these fuckers I don’t like, I’ll turn a blind eye. Oh, and here’s some money for beer.”

So that’s the gutter level. Then the next level is the people who are being groomed, not so much for political office but for higher-profile activity. So like in the States or anywhere else, you might be a young, smart skinhead who later gets cleaned up, prettied up and becomes a more serious player within that political scene. And these people are there because they show a much better face than Ivan Ivanov, the stupid fat skinhead, and because they are far more erudite. That doesn’t mean that a skinhead who’s smart couldn’t be one of them, it all depends on circumstances.

Then with the political parties like the National Bolsheviks (NBP) they have rallies and publications, a web site and conventions to show how legitimate the party is. Then you go to people like Zhirinovsky, who is in a sense a right-wing liberal economically, coupled with a Russian supremacist geopolitical belief system. Or in the case of some of the more conservative rightist parties in Russia, there is a serious structure and part of the military and security apparatus is behind them. And these parties all have extra-parliamentary activities and networks as well.

Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-fascism, History, State / Politics | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Scotland Goes to the Polls

Posted on May 7, 2011 by @ndy

Damn.

There’s an election in Scotland, so naturally, being an Australian, I’m gonna blog about it.

I dunno much about Scotland apart from the fact that Scots eat haggis, play the bagpipes, and wear kilts:–which fact probably explains, in turn, why a number of my ancestors fled the place to seek political asylum in Australia, thus ensuring my ability to eat vegan pies, play truant, and wear kilts.

Anyway, one of the more remarkable features of the election–apart from its domination by the SNP, whose members now enjoy sitting in 69 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament (and the fact that only half the registered voters bothered to go the ballot box)–is the collapse in the left vote.* Solidarity and the SSP both done bad; the worst result of the election, however, seems to have been reserved for the SEP. Despite the fact that “The Socialist Equality Party is the leadership workers in Britain need”, according to the BBC, out of a possible 282,371 votes, the SEP candidate in West Scotland has received…

0.

(Of course, the BBC website is trying to be tricky: the SEP done put 0 candidates up. See also : Liberal Democrats hammered in UK elections, Chris Marsden, wsws.org, May 7, 2011.)

*Well, apart from Arthur Scargill’s SLP: “With results still incomplete at time of going to press, it seems likely that the Socialist Labour Party will easily be the main electoral force on the left of Scottish politics. It looks likely that we will also outpoll both the BNP and UKIP even with their high profile media coverage and big business backing – no small achievement!”

International Socialist Group (Scotland)

Cool.

Splitters! from the Socialist Workers Party franchise in Scotland have formed a NEW! party called — with typically imaginative flair — the ‘International Socialist Group (Scotland)’. The ‘International Socialist Group (Scotland)’ is to be confused with the ‘International Socialist Group’ (now part of ‘Socialist Resistance’, the British Section of the Fourth International, to be confused with the British Section of the International Committee of the Fourth International) and will be joining the Scottish Socialist Party, the Socialist Party Scotland and Solidarity (Scotland’s Socialist Movement) in the struggle for sand, surf, socialism, and Scotland.

Or something.

Otherwise, the BNP has fared poorly in council elections: “Extreme rightwing party has so far lost seven of 11 council seats it was defending and has been wiped out in key target areas” (BNP suffers election meltdown, Matthew Taylor, The Guardian, May 6, 2011).

Posted in History, State / Politics, That's Capitalism! | Tagged , | 8 Comments

‘Russian Anti-Racist Skinheads’ : Documentary

Posted on May 5, 2011 by @ndy

Cool.

Sometimes, surfers bring some useful search terms to my blog: ‘Russian Anti-Racist Skinheads’ is one, and the title of a new documentary (2011) by Ian Ivanov.

Searching for moar infos — of which there appears to be little — I also found this blog: skinhead-music-russian-ex-USSR.

The idea that a thriving, if marginal, neo-Nazi movement exists in Russia strikes some as absurd. After all, Hitler and the Nazi regime regarded the Slavs as being suitable for little more than slavery. Further, Russian neo-Nazis (and other racists) direct much of their fury at peoples from the Caucasus; ‘Caucasians’, in other words: a term generally considered synonymous with ‘white’. But the frequent absurdities of neo-Nazi or fascist or racialist thought is hardly new, and explanations for its attractions are just as often found elsewhere…

In any case, despite regular and occasionally murderous attacks by fascists, and more generalised repression by the state, skinhead and oppositional youth subcultures in Russia appear to be growing as well as surviving.

Note that last week:

…a divided jury issued a guilty verdict against Nikita Tikhonov and Yevgeniya Khasis, the neo-Nazi couple accused of murdering Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova in downtown Moscow on January 19, 2009. Seven jurors found the defendants guilty, and the forthcoming sentencing could yield a life imprisonment for Tikhonov and as many as 20 years behind the bars for Khasis.

See also : [For Dion] The life and death of Ivan “Bonecrusher” Khutorskoy (November 18, 2009) | avtonom.org | chtodelat news | Moscow Through Brown Eyes | SOVA | The Other Russia | UCSJ.

BONUS! Hardcore!

HARDCORE IS MORE THAN MUSIC 2011 TRAILER from WHITE LABEL on Vimeo.

Posted in Anti-fascism, Film, History, Music, State / Politics, That's Capitalism!, War on Terror | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Notes on anarchy and May Day and more

Posted on May 4, 2011 by @ndy

In Russia, anarchists and/or gays are unpopular with authorities: about 50 anarchists were prevented from participating in May Day festivities in St. Petersburg, and in Moscow teh gheys had to battle cops as well as Communists. (Fascists were allowed to assemble unmolested.) Elsewhere “[a]round Europe, the May Day activities were generally more subdued than in years past” according to Deutsche Welle. In E E England, “John Catt attended a May Day protest in Brighton and sketched the demonstration”; the “86-year-old artist from Brighton” is also “taking the police to the High Court to try to get records of his political activities removed from their database”. More on the Brighton May Day here.

In London, several days prior to May Day, Paola Totaro–“the only Australian journalist covering the wedding from inside Westminster Abbey”–done a big fat report on the sumptuous wedding of two massively wealthy scroungers named Bill and Kath. A few years ago, Totaro light-heartedly recounted the supposed fact that at the G20 protests in London, “[t]he great majority of the police, seemingly ever-patient and self-controlled, stood for hours as kids baited and yelled, shoved and provoked. A handful of officers used well-placed elbows while batons were raised only in response to the vandalism.” In reality, one man, Ian Tomlinson, was actually killed by police. Yesterday (May 3), London IndyMedia reported that:

Simon Harwood, the police officer who attacked Ian Tomlinson at the G20 summit in London in 2009 could be prosecuted for manslaughter. The inquest jury ruled today that the Tomlinson has been unlawfully killed. In 2010, the Crown Prosecution Service” announced that the police officer who was caught on video striking Ian Tomlinson year who later died will not face criminal charges, sparking a series of protests.

Tomlinson died of internal bleeding in the abdomen minutes after being struck with a baton and pushed to the ground.

See also : BIT OF STICK (April 8, 2009) | Coroner’s Inquest into the Death of Ian Tomlinson. BONUS! link: First of May Anarchist Alliance (US).

Otherwise, there appears to have been some increase (not surprising, given recent events) in police repression of anarchist dissent in E E England. As it stands, if I was in London and not under arrest, I’d probably rock along to the launch of Soccer Vs. The State by Gabriel Kuhn on May 8.

In Melbourne, I witnessed Collingwood get out of jail, and earlier in the day I even managed to pick up a copy of the Autumn 2011 edition (No.212) of Australasian Spartacist and the April 15, 2011 edition (No.978) of Workers Vanguard. I also gotta copy of a new publication called Black Kite Quarterly (the zine formerly known as Wai Quarterly). The theme of its first edition is “making the world safer for wimmin”. This Saturday @ LaTrobe University’s City campus, the Observatario Internacional Contra las Políticas de las Multinacionales / International Co-ordination Against Multinational Policies will be holding a seminar. For more infos, see the International Multinational Monitor blog.

Posted in Anarchism | Tagged | 2 Comments

Jeff Hall : Another dead neo-Nazi

Posted on May 4, 2011 by @ndy

The US-based Hollywood Nazis of the National Socialist Movement (which, incidentally, appears to have just the one, local member in the person of internet broadcaster Carl D. Thompson) has lost one of its leading members, Jeff Hall. On May 1, Hall was allegedly shot to death at the family home by his young son. The news follows another unfortunate incident last month when, just a few days shy of Adolf Hitler’s birthday, the NSM held a gathering in New Jersey which was attacked by anti-fascists. Hall’s shooting death also follows closely upon the murder of neo-Nazi skinhead and ‘American Front’ organiser David Lynch in March…

White Supremacist Leader Is Shot and Killed at Home; Young Son Is Held
Jesse McKinley
The New York Times
May 2, 2011

RIVERSIDE, Calif. A leader of a Southern California white supremacist group was shot and killed on Sunday at his home here, investigators said.

The victim, Jeff Hall, 32, was a regional director for the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group based in Detroit.

Mr. Hall, a plumber and the father of five children, was shot at his suburban home on Sunday morning, said Lt. Jaybee Brennan of the Riverside Police Department. Lieutenant Brennan said the police responded to reports of gunshots at Mr. Hall’s home just after 4 a.m. The police later detained Mr. Hall’s son, believed to be 10 years old. The department said no other suspects were being sought.

A neighbor said she saw several guns being removed from the home.

An official with the National Socialist Movement in Southern California said that he had seen Mr. Hall on Saturday night and had planned to have breakfast with him on Sunday.

“All I can tell you right now is Jeff’s dead,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the nature of the investigation and his group’s activities.

Mr. Hall was an impassioned speaker seen as a rising force in the National Socialist Movement. On Saturday afternoon, he held a monthly meeting of the Southern California chapter at his home, a gathering of about a dozen members that The New York Times had sent a reporter to cover.

At the meeting, he discussed both mundane housekeeping items — the need for members to sell raffle tickets for a fund-raiser, for example — as well as a May “patrol” at the Mexican border in Arizona, a militia-style activity meant to combat illegal immigration.

“This is a very active area right now,” Mr. Hall told his members, adding that he felt that the federal authorities were dropping the ball on border patrols. “You guys get your Glocks cocked and get ready to rock,” he said. “We’re going to the border. That’s how we do it.”

Mr. Hall discussed a recent rally in New Jersey and praised his members’ participation, which earned several of them promotions in the group.

“You guys get out there in the street, you get out on the border,” he said. “And you did a good job.”

Ian Lovett contributed reporting from Los Angeles.

Posted in Anti-fascism, Death | Tagged , | 9 Comments