THE FOREIGNER (Norwegian News in English) 28 MAY 2014: NORWAY ANTI-TERROR POLICE ARREST FIVE

Police Security Service (PST) officers apprehend two further people in connection with The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) raid, Tuesday. According to PST information manager Martin Bernsen, they classify both men as “witnesses”. Regional publication Budstikka also reported they know that one male is 28, born in Algeria, and has been previously convicted of drugs offences. “The two men have been brought in for questioning”, said Mr Bernsen, “I have no further comment to make,” he told Dagbladet. One man was subsequently released, and the other indicted for attempting to obstruct police officers in carrying out their duties, NRK was informed. The new arrests come following today’s swoop on addresses in Oslo and Bærum, eastern Norway. Three Norwegian citizens, a 29-year-old man born in Somalia and two former Yugoslavia-born males aged 27 and 24, respectively, were arrested and charged as a result of that operation. Norwegian security personnel allege the three had breached 147d of the General Civil Penal Code regarding “participation in, or provision of financial or other material support to a terrorist organisation.” “There are reasonable grounds to suspect two of the persons charged of having participated as foreign fighters for The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria. The three persons charged were arrested to prevent additional support of or adherence to ISIL,” the PST said in their statement. Security police, who describe ISIL as an al-Qaida splinter group, also state they regard and treat ISIL as being “a terrorist organisation pursuant to Norwegian law.” NRK reported only two of the three arrested men fought in Syria. All deny guilt regarding the charges. Both the PST and military intelligence have expressed concerns about Norwegian citizens travelling to join those fighting against Syrian President Assad’s regime. They are concerned these individuals may use weapons knowledge gained during training against Norway. LINK: http://theforeigner.no/pages/news/norway-anti-terror-police-arrest-five/

THE GUARDIAN 6 MAY 2014: AUSTRALIA'S FAR-RIGHT FRINGE GROUPS SHOW SIGNS OF STEADY GROWTH

A POLITICAL OPINION FROM Antony Loewenstein It was a pitiful sight. In Brisbane last Friday, the far-right Australia First party announced that it would rally on the streets in solidarity with Greece’s neo-Nazi aligned political organisation, Golden Dawn. In the end, less than 10 supporters arrived and faced off with around 200 unionists and members of the Antifa group shouting "immigrants are welcome, Nazis are not!”. Before the rally, Australia First released a statement that called on the Greek government to “release from gaol the illegally imprisoned Golden Dawn members of parliament, including the leader of the Golden Dawn party, Nikolaos Michaloliakos.” Golden Dawn are one of the most aggressive and successful fascist parties in Europe, surging into the Greek parliament and assaulting immigrants and minorities. They’re a sign of the times across Europe in the 21st century, with far-rightists becoming more mainstream as a reaction to the extreme austerity policies imposed by the European Union and global organisations in the wake of the financial crisis. Not long ago, it was politically acceptable to blame Jewish people for economic uncertainty; today it’s migrants (often from a Muslim background) and asylum seekers. In Britain, the English Defence League (EDL) and some members of the popular UK Independence party (Ukip) are already manipulating public insecurity and targeting the vulnerable. On the face of it, the paltry showing of far-right backers on Australian streets indicated that such views thankfully remain on the fringes of society. There’s no question that Australia has nothing like the formidable presence of a Golden Dawn or Ukip at the heart of its political system, but it's worth noting the last years have seen a steady growth in disturbing far-right activity in Melbourne, Sydney and beyond (the anti-Islamic Australian Defence League, for example, is actively seeking to expand its membership). Although it remains on the edges, the broader movement is increasingly finding resonance with people who feel left out in our globalised world. A key chronicler of these movements is Andy Fleming - he uses a pseudonym because he’s spent the last decade following extreme-right parties and groups on his blog, Slack Bastard. He describes himself as an “anarchist, blogger and writer with a particular interest in the far right.” I asked him if these groups are growing in Australia and he tells me that it remains marginal – but with a big potential for growth. He said: Both major parties have adopted exceptionally punitive measures with regards asylum seekers and refugees. These policies, and the politics which inform them, help to fuel the xenophobia which the far right feeds upon. In terms of growth, existing groups on the far right are struggling to capitalise upon this sentiment, both as a result of their own inadequacies but also because the audience they appeal to is often politically unengaged. The challenge for the far right is to develop the means to overcome this lack of political sophistication. The vast bulk of far-right activity occurs online. Golden Dawn has an office in Melbourne and an active presence there; its Facebook page explains the party’s public activities and online key supporters and fundraisers aren’t shy about their backing. Fleming argues that Golden Dawn has real potential to implant itself in the Greek Australian community, but that to do so, it will need to tone down its fascist image. Fleming explains that the rhetoric by Golden Dawn and similar groups has shifted their target away from Judaism and towards Islam in recent decades for “pragmatic reasons”. But for others, he says, "antipathy towards Muslims is driven by genuine paranoia regarding Islam. In either case, both tendencies understand that Islamophobia sells: Muslims have been portrayed by important segments of the mass media and politics as a threat to Australian values and customs.” One of the most prominent anti-Muslim organisations in the country is the Q Society. It hosted the prominent, Dutch anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders in 2013 and organised a conference this year in Melbourne with some of America’s leading Islamophobes. Its public face isn’t the crude racism so relished by other ideologically similar organisations, and yet some of its policies advocate Australia ending all Muslim immigration and removing the country from the UN Refugee Convention. Debbie Robinson, president of the Q Society, tells me that her organisation opposes any groups that “espouse a racist or anti-Semitic element”, such as Golden Dawn and the Australia First party. So far so good, but then she explains that “we consider organisations propagating totalitarian ideologies like fascism, nationalism, communism and Islam as anti-democratic and often acting in violation of basic human rights.” It would then be fair to deduce that for the Q Society, Islam is akin to fascism. Robinson says that her group’s strategy involves using citizen lobbyists to engage with politicians, schools and “other entities involved in the Islamisation process.” If the Q Society isn’t flirting with violence, other far-right groups are. ABC TV’s 7.30 recently detailed the Australian Defence League (ADL) and its attacks on the Muslim community. There is growing evidence that Australians are most likely to be prejudiced against people of Middle Eastern background. Sydney-based Muslim woman, Miran Hosny, writer and host of the weekly radio program The Y Factor, tells me that the intimidation of her community is worsening. She recalls a recent media story of a Sydney Muslim girl whose photo had been taken and posted on the ADL Facebook page without permission (Facebook eventually removed the image). “The ADL simply reacted by re-posting the photo onto Facebook along with a status asking its members to take photos of random Muslim women to humiliate them online”, shetold me. “Hearing that definitely made me anxious. My commute home that day was very uncomfortable. I kept glancing around me, keeping an eye out for anyone who might be trying to snap a photo of me due to my hijab.” Hosny argues that she’s noticed an increase in racist behaviour. “Previously, most Islamophobic encounters that my family and friends experienced took place in the CBD. But it feels like the ADL now has an increased presence in western Sydney, where many Muslims reside. Watching this right wing extremism take a grassroots grip on Sydney makes me even more frustrated about the proposed amendments to section 18C of the racial discrimination act.” Fascism comes in various modern stripes and we can never be too vigilant against its insidious agenda. LINK: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/06/australias-far-right-fringe-groups-must-not-be-allowed-to-become-mainstream

BRISBANE TIMES 2 MAY 2014: GOLDEN DAWN SUPPORTERS CLASH WITH ANTI-FASCISTS IN BRISBANE

Anti-fascist protestors outnumbered their far-right opponents at dual rallies in Brisbane's CBD on Friday. Police officers put themselves between the opposing groups as they gathered on Queen Street outside the offices of the Consul-General of Greece about midday. Members of the Australia First Party organised a protest to show solidarity with the neo-Nazi-linked Greek political party, Golden Dawn. But less than 10 Australia First Party supporters attended the rally, which began outside The Greek Club on Edmonstone Street, South Brisbane. Advertisement Their protest was overshadowed by a counter, anti-fascist rally staged by up to 200 unionists and members of the group Antifa. The two groups first confronted each other on opposite sides of Edmonstone Street, with anti-fascist protesters yelling, "Immigrants are welcome, Nazis are not!" The groups made their way over the Victoria Bridge to Queen Street where they gathered outside the offices of the Consul-General of Greece, separated by a line of police. The Golden Dawn Party, which was founded by a Holocaust denier Nikos Michaloliakos, has been linked to dozens of violent protests in Greece. Michaloliakos and several other Golden Dawn MPs were arrested and charged with forming a criminal organisation following the murder of an anti-fascist Greek rapper Pavlos Fyssas in September last year. “We shall call on the Greek government to release from gaol the illegally imprisoned Golden Dawn Members of Parliament,” the Australia First Party said on its website ahead of the protest. “This action is about nationalists supporting nationalists, about patriots helping patriots.” After a brief standoff, the Australia First Party members were whisked away in a maxi-taxi to the cheers of the anti-fascist group. The Australia First Party has eight core policies, which include ending “government funded and institutionalised policy of multiculturalism”. It also champions policies that “strengthen and protect the traditional family”. Queensland Multicultural Affairs minister Glen Elmes on Thursday criticised the Australia First Party’s protest. "Racism should be rejected outright at every opportunity,” he said. "I condemn the views of the misguided Golden Dawn organisation, and call on all Queenslanders to do likewise." Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/golden-dawn-supporters-clash-with-antifascists-in-brisbane-20140502-37msg.html#ixzz334wZjMnZ

THE INDEPENDENT 27 MAY 2014 - EUROPEAN ELECTION RESULTS 2014: FAR-RIGHT PARTIES FLOURISH ACROSS EUROPE

Europe’s voters lurched towards the political fringes on Sunday night as early European Parliament election results showed gains for parties ranging from the populist to the neo-Nazi, with France’s Front National (FN) leading the Eurosceptic surge in a calamitous defeat for mainstream parties. Marine Le Pen’s FN topped a nationwide poll for the first time in its history, with the anti-immigrant party predicted to take 25 per cent of the vote and as many as 24 seats in the European Parliament, a dramatic gain on the three they won in 2009. Ms Le Pen said France had “shouted loud and clear” that it wanted to be run “by the French, for the French and with the French” and not by “foreign commissioners” in Brussels. The French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, said the victory was “more than a shock – it’s an earthquake”. The outcome was a stinging humiliation for President François Hollande’s Socialist Party, which looked likely to emerge with its lowest-ever score in a nationwide vote with only 14.5 per cent. Early results also suggested a backlash in many struggling eurozone nations against the austerity measures which have sent unemployment soaring and decimated social spending, with parties on the far left and right performing well. Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn will be sending MEPs to Brussels for the first time. As in France, populist parties in Britain, Austria and Germany have also benefited from concern about migration and distrust of the EU. For many people, this disillusionment meant not voting at all: turnout was estimated at 43 per cent, a tiny increase on the last European election in 2009, but a gain unlikely to convince the growing number of Eurosceptics of the democratic credentials of Brussels.Overall the European People’s Party – the alliance of centre-right parties from across the 28 EU member states – retained the most MEPs in the 751-seat assembly, with early projections giving the bloc 211 seats, compared to 193 for the Socialists and Democrats. Early projections showed that protest parties could win around 129 seats. This means pro-European parties will still dominate the Parliament, the EU’s only elected institution, which works with the European Commission and the 28 governments to debate and pass laws. But they will be battling a stronger dissenting bloc than ever before, especially if Ms Le Pen succeeds in her goal to form a new political group specifically aimed at curbing the EU’s powers. She has allied herself with a number of populist parties across the EU. Like the FN, which was in the past accused of anti-Semitism, most of them are trying to shake off the far-right tag and appeal to the more mainstream voters. But there have been slip-ups. One candidate for the far-right Austrian Freedom Party was forced to withdraw after he called the EU a “conglomerate of Negroes”. Despite this, exit polls suggested the party doubled their showing in the European Parliament, winning four seats, which will help boost Ms Le Pen’s ambitions. But her key ally – Geert Wilders of the Dutch Freedom Party – has seen his party drop two seats in the Parliament, after a xenophobic outburst in which he asked his supporters if they would like “fewer Moroccans” in The Netherlands. She is also unlikely to be able to count on support from a new German anti-euro party – the Alternative for Germany – which won six seats. Its leader, Bernd Lucke, said: “We won’t work with right-wing populists.” Some exit polls suggest the National Democratic Party, a radical far right German party with neo-Nazi traits, may also scrape the threshold to send a lawmaker to Brussels for the first time. Golden Dawn – whose supporters perform Nazi salutes and have been arrested for assaulting migrants – managed to get around 10 per cent of the vote, sending at least two MEPs to Brussels. The far left and anti-establishment parties also did well, with anti-bailout Syriza party in Greece winning the vote in a blow for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's New Democracy party, which came second. Italy was the last country to close the ballet boxes, but the Five-Star Movement led by the comedian Beppe Grillo is also expected to gain as many as 19 seats in the parliament. Turnout has been falling every consecutive election since the first poll in 1979. In an effort to boost participation this year, all the major blocs in the European Parliament nominated a candidate to be head of the European Commission, and sent them on the campaign trail on US-style bus tours. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/european-election-results-2014-farright-parties-flourish-across-europe-in-snub-to-austerity-9434069.html

THE GUARDIAN 25 MAY 2014 - FAR-RIGHT TAKES VICTORY IN DANISH EUROPEAN ELECTIONS: 27%

Danish People's party won nearly 27% of the vote and has doubled its number of MEPs. The far-right Danish People's party (DPP) triumphed in the European elections, winning Denmark's biggest share of the vote as EU-sceptic parties from across the Nordic countries gained further ground in the European parliament. The DPP, which had campaigned to reclaim border controls and curb benefits to other EU citizens living in Denmark, won nearly 27% of the vote and doubled its number of MEPs from two to four. Denmark's centre-right opposition party Venstre, its leader dogged by an expenses scandal in recent weeks, was one of the big losers, dropping one of its seats and heading for its worst EU election result in 25 years. "I see it as a clear indication that the Danes want the EU back on track," said Morten Messerschmidt, the DPP's leading candidate. "Around Europe we are some democratic, civilised but EU critical parties – such as the Danish People's Party, such as the British Conservatives and others – who now try to steer back EU to what it is all about, to find a solution to trade, environment and energy challenges we have across borders, but not an EU that's going to interfere in everything." In Sweden, the governing Moderate party suffered a disastrous night and was overtaken by the Greens, now Sweden's second-biggest party in the European parliament. The populist far-right Sweden Democrats gained their first seat, as did the Feminist Initiative whose MEP will be the first member of the European parliament to be represented by a feminist party. "The Feminist Initiative party is a real sensation," wrote political commentator Ewa Stenberg from the the newspaper Dagens Nyheter. "The party has shot up like a rocket in public opinion since the beginning of the year. They have been carried both by a feminist wave and an anti-racist one." The leader of the Moderates, Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, said it had been hard being a governing party. "It has been an evening where the voters haven't rewarded parties which believe in European co-operation," Reinfeldt told Swedish TV. Finland's anti-immigration Finns party – previously known as the True Finns – increased its number of MEPs to two, but its share of the vote (13%) didn't match its success in the last national election when it won 19%. The prime minister's conservative National Coalition remained Finland's largest party in Europe with 22.6% and kept its three seats. LINK: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/25/danish-peoples-party-triumphant-in-european-elections

NZ HERALD 27 MAY 2014: EUROPEAN UNION SHAKEN AS FRINGE PARTIES GAIN VOTES

The principles underpinning the European Union are now an open target after parties campaigning against the euro, immigration and loss of national sovereignty scored spectacular gains in elections to the European Parliament. In a vote marked by a near-record low turnout, groups that mainstream parties once ridiculed as lunatic or a joke delivered a message of public disenchantment with the European project and a far-right jolt to politics in their own capitals. The so-called eurosceptics picked up around a sixth of the 751 seats to the Strasbourg-based assembly, according to exit polls and results issued yesterday after balloting among 380 million voters in the EU's 28 countries. The biggest shock came in France, where the National Front was estimated to have a quarter of the vote, by far its best-ever showing at national level, which would earn it a third of the country's 74 seats. The conservative UMP was credited with around a fifth of the vote, while President Francois Hollande's Socialists trailed an abysmal third, with around 14 per cent. "Our people demand only one sort of politics - the politics of the French people, for the French people and with the French people," said Marine Le Pen, daughter of the party's firebrand founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. "They have declared they no longer want to be ruled from the outside, to have to bow to laws they did not vote for, or to kowtow to [EU] commissioners who are not subject to the legitimacy of universal suffrage." In Britain, which voted on Friday, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) was ahead of the governing Conservatives and opposition Labour Party. UKIP leader Nigel Farage described the breakthrough as an "earthquake". He said: "Never before in the history of British politics has a party seen as an insurgent party ever topped the polls to a national election". In Denmark, the anti-immigrant Danish People's Party won around 23 per cent of the vote, enough to gain three of the country's 13 seats, according to pollsters. In Germany, Alternative for Germany, a small party demanding a return to the deutschmark and the end to German bailouts for debt-stricken EU countries, scored above the 5 per cent threshold needed to gain seats. But Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives were comfortable winners, and in Italy, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement did well but was outpaced by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's centre-left Democratic Party. The Parliament will remain in the control of the two mainstream centre-right and centre-left parties that are solidly behind European integration and have co-dominated the assembly for decades. Estimates gave the two blocs 212 and 186 seats respectively. But the hefty protest vote will be seen not only as a sign of anger towards unpopular national governments but also as hostility towards Brussels, battling a reputation for being smug, bureaucratic or dictatorial. Many countries remain in the grip of an economic slump. The EU counts 26 million unemployed, and in some regions more than one in two of the under-25 population of working age is without work. Even in Greece, which is surviving thanks to EU bailouts, the big gainers yesterday were the anti-austerity left-wing Syriza Party and the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn. READ MORE AT: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11262230

BIRMINGHAM NATIONALIST 26 MAY 2014: INTERVIEW WITH KYLE CHAPMAN

Kyle Chapman is a Veteran White Nationalist from New Zealand He was National Director of the NZNF in the early - Mid 2000's and has stood as candidate for Mayor in Christchurch three times Kyle formed the 'Right Wing Resistance' in 2009 and has steadily built his movement up over the last five years He annually speaks at the White Pride World Wide gathering in New Zealand LINK: http://birminghamnationalist2.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/interview-with-kyle-chapman.html