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Revealed: Figures show there are six racist incidents a day in our schools
Yakub Qureshi

There are six racist incidents in Greater Manchester classrooms every day, we can reveal.

New figures show more than 2,000 cases of abusive language, racist graffiti and violence were reported in the region’s schools last year. No disciplinary action was taken in nearly a third of those cases, school bosses admit.

The figures were obtained by the M.E.N. under freedom of information rules.

Incidents which were highlighted by teachers included racist jokes and name-calling, intimidation, and even pupils bringing racist literature into schools. One school in Oldham – which was not named – dealt with 62 racist incidents last year.

Another unnamed school in the borough has seen 139 cases over the last four years – 26 of which were referred to outside agencies, including the police and social workers. Across all of Oldham’s primary and secondary schools there were 396 race incidents last year, up from 281 the previous year.

In Rochdale, there were 290 incidents last year, up from 242 the previous year. Action was taken on all incidents – including one at a council-run nursery school – with 36 children excluded from secondary schools for racist behaviour.

But schools in Manchester saw a significant drop in race problems. In 2009 there were a total of 598 incidents, but last year the figure was 435 – although action was taken in fewer than half of cases.

Under race equality laws, schools must report all racist incidents – and what follow-up action they have taken.

In some cases, staff tried to deal with the problem by mediation between pupils.

Offenders were also given formal or informal warnings, put on behaviour plans or given mentoring. In more serious cases, pupils were given repeat detentions or temporarily excluded.

Figures from Bolton council reveal that the majority of its 261 cases last year – down from 313 in 2009 – were dealt with through pastoral support. But of these a total of 74 pupils were disciplined, including 36 who were excluded.

In Stockport, where the number of incidents fell from 148 in 2009 to 129 cases last year, 33 took place at just three schools.

There were also falls in the number of cases in Salford (172) and Bury (68). But there was a rise in Wigan, up from 187 incidents to 207.

Deborah Brownlee from Trafford council, where the number of incidents rose from 50 to 57, said: “All of our schools take incidents of this nature extremely seriously and have robust procedures in place for addressing the behavioural issues and any other associated problems.”

Tameside council was unable to provide comparable figures.

Racist incidents in schools 2010 (2009 in brackets):
- Bolton – 261 (313)
- Bury – 68 (75)
- Manchester – 435 (598)
- Oldham 396 (281)
- Rochdale – 290 (242)
- Salford – 172 (188)
- Stockport 129 (148)
- Tameside – not available
- Trafford – 57 (50)
- Wigan – 207 (187)
- TOTAL – 2,015 (2,082)
menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews, July 27, 2011
August 1, 2011
Breivik and Eurabia

By Institute of Race Relations

28 July 2011, 7:00pm

Hours before he set out on his murderous spree, Anders Behring Breivik – the man who shot dead 68 young Socialists at a youth camp on Utoeya island after mounting a bomb attack on the centre of Oslo – placed a PDF of his 1,500 page political manifesto online.

ENTITLED 2083: A European Declaration of independence, Breivik’s manifesto reveals an obsession with the Crusades and the threat to Europe posed by Muslim immigrants and mainstream political leaders. Previously, on the Norwegian site Dokument.no, Breivik had listed one of his ideological influences as Bat Ye’or who first coined the term Eurabia.

Back in 1996, Race & Class published ‘You are now entering Eurabia’, the first ever dissection of the Eurabia conspiracy theory. Author Matt Carr warned that ‘What first began as an outlandish conspiracy theory, has since become a dangerous Islamophobic fantasy’ which is moving ‘ever closer towards mainstream respectability’. Many of the organisations and individuals cited in Breivik’s manifesto and on Dokument.no have condemned the mass murders and disavowed any links to him. Breivik cites various conspiracy theories as having influenced him, and it’s important to examine them. Race & Class is making Matt Carr’s ‘You are now entering Eurabia’ available as a free downloadable PDF document (see link below).

Giselle Litmann (who writes under the pseudonym Bat Ye’Or or Daughter of the Nile) argued in Eurabia: the Euro-Arab Axis(2005) that a secret project exists between European politicians and the Arab world for the ‘Islamisation of Europe’, the purpose of which is to destroy America and Israel, with Europe, a doomed continent on the brink of cultural extinction in the face of a relentless and coordinated campaign of domination by Muslims to transform it into an Islamic colony called Eurabia. In this colony, Europeans would be turned into the slaves of Muslims and forced into a state of ‘dhimmitude’ or subject status – in accordance with the ‘dhimmi’ or treaty enforced on the ‘Peoples of the Book’ during the Islamic caliphate.

In ‘You are now entering Eurabia’ Matt Carr points out that ‘the fear of cultural and racial extinction has a long pedigree in European history’, traceable back to the ‘racial Darwinism of the nineteenth century, and articulated by writers such as Count Joseph-Arthur de Gobineau, who argued that only races that maintained their racial purity would survive’.

Matt Carr is available for interview. Please contact the IRR.

The Institute of Race Relations is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed are therefore those of the authors.

RELATED LINKS

You can download the article ‘You are now entering Eurabia’ (for free) here (pdf file, 184kb)

August 1, 2011
UK Prime Minister’s Message for Ramadan

Prime Minister David Cameron has sent his best wishes to all Muslim communities in Britain and around the world at the start of the month of Ramadan.

Mr Cameron said Ramadan was a time to remind us of our duties and responsibilities and the importance of charity.

The PM said:

“To all Muslim communities in the United Kingdom and around the world, I send you my warmest wishes at this time of Ramadan.

“This is a time for Muslims all over the world to put aside thoughts of themselves, and think of others. The terrible scenes of famine and suffering in the Horn of Africa cry out to all of us. They remind us of our duties and responsibilities to those beyond our shores.

“The importance of charity at this time is clear and I am proud that many different communities in the United Kingdom continue to come together to support many thousands – indeed millions – in desperate need.

The Prime Minister’s Office

“As the holy month of Ramadan begins I wish you all peace and happiness.”

July 31, 2011
UK: Policeman charged with sex offences

A high-ranking police officer has been charged with sexual offences against a child, his force said.

Inspector Russell Dew from Nottinghamshire Police is accused of two counts of sexual activity with a child which are alleged to have taken place in Newark, Notts, over the past year.

The 44-year-old, who is based at Mansfield police station, was arrested on Thursday.

He will appear at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on Monday, Nottinghamshire Police said.

Press Association

July 31, 2011
Natalie Cassidy stays in shape on holiday in Turkey with jetskiing, swimming and yoga

All action girl: Natalie Cassidy keeps herself occupied – and in shape – on holiday in Turkey with jetskiing, swimming and yoga

By Jody Thompson

Jet set: The former EastEnders star has decided she needs cheering up after her former fiancé Adam Cottrell's conviction for assaulting her Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2016688/Natalie-Cassidy-stays-shape-holiday-Turkey-jetskiing-swimming-yoga.html#ixzz1TUnACWu8

Jet set: The former EastEnders star has decided she needs cheering up after her former fiancé Adam Cottrell’s conviction for assaulting her

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2016688/Natalie-Cassidy-stays-shape-holiday-Turkey-jetskiing-swimming-yoga.html#ixzz1TUnACWu8

She’s had one of the most traumatic years of her life – and former EastEnders star Natalie Cassidy has got away from it all on a last-minute holiday to Turkey.

The soap actress has gone on the break with a friend and baby daughter Eliza to stay in a five star hotel in the south of the country – and to escape everything surrounding her 31-year-old former fiancé Adam Cottrell’s conviction for assaulting her.

Heartbroken Natalie, 28, who has suffered from yo-yoing weight over the years, looked like she had shed the pounds too during her recent ordeal – and appeared determined to keep it off whilst abroad too.

via Natalie Cassidy stays in shape on holiday in Turkey with jetskiing, swimming and yoga | Mail Online.

July 29, 2011
UK : Anders Behring Breivik was in contact with the EDL

Searchlight Press Release | Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Anders Behring Breivik was in contact with the EDL, supported their aims and was involved in the Norwegian Defence League, Searchlight can reveal.

Only months before he went on his murderous killing spree he exchanged several messages with EDL supporters using his internet pseudonym Sigurd Jorsalfare, the name of the 12th century King of Norway who led one of the Crusades.

In one message on the EDL forum, dated 9 March 2011, he wrote:

“Hello. To you all good English men and women, just wanted to say that you’re a blessing to all in Europe, in these dark times all of Europe are looking to you in surch of inspiration, courage and even hope that we might turn this evil trend with islamisation all across our continent. Well, just wanted to say keep up the good work it’s good to see others that care about their country and heritage. All the best to you all Sigurd”

Asked by EDL supporters if he was active in the Norwegian Defence League, Breivik replied:

“I was but, the site has been put down now. There was to be a demo in Oslo on the 26 of February but after the police security service put us on the “danger-list” the the internet site was sadly shut down.”

He went on to describe his hatred of society in Norway and specifically picked out the Norwegian Labour Party for his criticism.

“The biggest problem in norway is that there is no real free press, there is a left-wing angle on all the political topics so most people are going around like idiots. And offcourse with our norwegian labour party beeing in power for most of the last 50 years dont help. but i i think there is an awakening now atleast i hope so. Do some of you know the truth about what happened to the ndl, there was some clames that neo-nazis had hijacked the organisation, but on the ndl site i cant really say i noticed anything like that. So may guess is that there were some kind of police pressure to stop the movement. Anyone here heard anything?”

In another posting he attacked the British society and expressed his interest in joining an EDL demonstration:

“i’ve seen with my own eyes what has happened to england, i was in bradford some years ago, me and a friend walked down to the football stadium of bradford, real “nice” neighborhood, same thing in the suburbs of london. well thinking about taking a little trip over the sea and join you in a demo. would be nice with a norwegian flag alongside with union jack or the english flag, that is if a norwegian would be welcome offcourse?”

This message appears to confirm the rumour that Breivik once lived in the UK. His father was a diplomat and is believed to have been based in London for some time.

Breivik was told by EDL supporters that he would be most welcome, to which he replied:

“I hoped so:) it’s our common struggle against the islamofacists.”

EDL supporters were keen to have his support. An EDL forum member, username ‘Concerned’, replied: ‘Bravo sigurd admire your views and courage. no surrender and welcome.”

Breivik then went quiet. A few days later he shut down his facebook site, went offline and began the final countdown to his killing spree.

Friends

Breivik was Facebook friends with dozens of EDL supporters and even some BNP members.

Norwegian Defence League

Anders Behring Breivik was a supporter of the Norwegian Defence League and was known to Ronny Alte, from Tensberg, who created a NDL Facebook group with some friends. The group gathered more than 500 members, including convicted nazis and exiled Russians belonging to the banned Slavic Union.

One of the Russians is Vjoteslav Datsik, who walked into an Oslo police station in 2010 and applied for political asylum while waving a handgun. Datsik is in custody awaiting extradition to Russia, where he is wanted by the police after absconding from a mental hospital.

The group’s reputation was tarnished publically after the involvement of these nazis was revealed, but despite claiming they had been expelled Alte had difficulty explaining why his group still included Datsik, as well as the convicted nazi bank robber Werner Holm and violent nazis such as Johnny “Light” Olsen”, Morten Andre Serensen and Dariusz Arnesen, all previously connected with the now defunct Norwegian ‘Blood and Honour’ network.

Ronny Alte, who knew Breivik under the name Sigurd Jorsalfare, remains one of the administrators of the Norwegian Defence League sites.

In his internet exchanges with the EDL, Breivik makes it clear that he did not believe that there was any nazi involvement in the NDL despite the clear evidence to the contrary.

British links to the NDL

The English Defence League has close links with the NDL. The NDL facebook site is administered by Jeff Marsh, a leading EDL organiser and football hooligan. Marsh was once given a two-year prison sentence for stabbing two Manchester United fans.

In April 2011 the NDL held a demonstration in Oslo. Speaking at the event was Tower Hamlets-based EDL activist Darren Lee Marsh. Marsh has been a steward on EDL demos and is close to the EDL youth leader Joel Titus. He also claims to be a member of UKIP. Marsh’s facebook friends include several EDL organisers, including Jack Smith (the London EDL organiser), Paul Prodromou (aka Pitt) (the Essex EDL organiser), and Guramit Singh, who was the EDL’s press officer until recently.

Shared ideology

In addition to their contact, Breivik and the EDL both share the same ideology and worldview. There are numerous references in Breivik’s 1,500 page book and internet postings to Fjordman, a Norwegian anti-Muslim blogger and writer. Fjordman is a strong supporter of the EDL and an acquaintance of Alan Lake, the Christian Fundamentalist who helped set up and funded the EDL.

Breivik is also influenced by other anti-Muslim bloggers and websites, several of which openly back the EDL. These bloggers and websites push the idea that Western Europe is under threat from Islam and that unless drastic action is taken we will be taken over by militant Islam.

EDL and violence

The EDL claim to be a peaceful organisation but its actions and views of its supporters prove otherwise. Here is a selection of comments made by leading EDL supporters in recent weeks:

Dave Davis: “Ratkoa Mladic is our friend. He killed 8,000 Muslims.”

Bill Baker: “know [sic] we need to kill or be killed and no mercy for anyone once it kicks off. Die or leave is the only choice they should have.”

Bill Baker: “If our Government won’t act against Islam and terrorism then we must arm and protect ourselves.”

North West Infidels: “East Belfast is up in flames, our loyalist brothers certainly know how to riot. Imagine [if] we could that against militant Islam.”

Roger Firth: “Something has to happen mate (and I don’t give a shit if the old bill are clocking this). For too long we have let ourselves be penned, while this scum do as they please, patriots being arrested, well today was the final straw, time to get violent.”

Hope Not Hate

July 27, 2011