Here A Nazi, There A Nazi

Blinded by an accumulation of years of their own barnyard excrement, the Germans didn't see this one coming.

Social Democrats Behind Neo-Nazis in Saxony Survey
That Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) are in free fall is nothing new. The center-left party, despite being Angela Merkel's coalition partner in Berlin, is overshadowed by the popularity of the chancellor. SPD leader Kurt Beck is unpopular and has a hard time even keeping his own party in line. And party membership is lower than it has been in half a century.

But on Thursday, the party hit a new low. A survey in the eastern German state of Saxony shows that, were voters to head to the polls on Sunday, more people in the state would mark the box next to the neo-Nazi party National Democratic Party (NPD) than would vote for the center-left SPD. The poll, carried out by Forsa, has 9 percent of those surveyed supporting the NPD with just 8 percent for the SPD.

The NPD celebrated the result in a press release, calling the numbers "really sensational." The poll comes just three weeks after Saxony was in the news after a xenophobic mob chased eight Indians through the town of Mügeln shouting "Foreigners Out!" before beating them up. The NPD on Thursday said the most recent poll is a result of the fact "that we didn't join the media-driven witch hunt against our own countrymen as happened in Mügeln." The press release also said the coverage of the Mügeln attack was "racist" and ended with the words: "Don't worry, the next elections are coming for sure."

Of course, in der Fatherland, Bush is evil.

via der Spiegel

Graphic/DDP

UPDATE: 09/09/2007 @ 7:00 AM - ISRAEL didn't see this one


Israeli Neo-Nazi Ring Busted
In a case that would seem unthinkable in the Jewish state, police said Sunday they have cracked a cell of young Israeli neo-Nazis accused in a string of attacks on foreign workers, religious Jews, drug addicts and gays.

Eight immigrants from the former Soviet Union have been arrested in recent days in connection with at least 15 attacks, and a ninth fled the country, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, in the first such known cell to be discovered in Israel.

All the suspects are in their late teens or early 20s and have Israeli citizenship, Rosenfeld said. A court decided Sunday to keep them in custody.

"The level of violence was outrageous," Maj. Revital Almog, who investigated the case, told Israel's Army Radio.

Gang members were arrested in recent days, and a gag order on the case was lifted early Sunday.

News of the arrests came as a shock in Israel, which was founded nearly 60 years ago as a refuge for Jews in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust and remains a most sensitive subject. Any forms of anti-Semitism around the world outrage Israelis, and the discovery of such violence in the country's midst made the front pages of newspapers and dominated talk on morning radio shows.

The gang documented its activities on film and in photographs. Israeli TV stations showed grainy footage of people lying helpless on floors while several people kicked them, and of a man getting hit from behind on the head with an empty bottle.

Police found knives, spiked balls, explosives and other weapons in the suspects' possession, Rosenfeld said. One photo that was seized showed one suspect holding an M16 rifle in one hand and in the other, a sign reading "Heil Hitler," he added.

Police discovered the skinhead ring after investigating the desecration of two synagogues that were sprayed with swastikas in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva more than a year ago, Rosenfeld said.

Police computer experts have determined they maintained contacts with neo-Nazi groups abroad, and materials seized include a German-language video about neo-Nazis in the U.S.

The group planned its attacks, and its targets were foreign workers from Asia, drug addicts, homosexuals, punks and Jews who wore skullcaps. In one case they discussed planning a murder, Rosenfeld said, without providing details.

Under Israeli law, a person can claim citizenship if a parent or grandparent has Jewish roots. Authorities say that formulation allowed many Soviets with questionable ties to Judaism to immigrate here after the Soviet Union disintegrated. About 1 million Soviets moved here in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Rosenfeld said all the suspects had "parents or grandparents who were Jewish in one way or another."

Israel doesn't specifically have a hate crimes law, and suspects in past cases have been tried as Holocaust deniers, he said.

The Anti-Defamation League, a U.S.-based group that fights anti-Semitism, condemned the neo-Nazi cell, but urged Israelis not to stigmatize the entire Russian immigrant community based on the acts of what appeared to be a marginal group.

"The suspicion that immigrants to Israel could have been acting in praise of Nazis and Hitler is an anathema to the Jewish state and is to be repelled," the statement read. "The tragic irony in this is that they would have been chosen for annihilation by the Nazis they strive to emulate."

Amos Herman, an official with the semiofficial Jewish Agency, which works on behalf of the government to encourage immigration to Israel, said the phenomenon was not representative of the Russian immigration.

He called the gang a group of frustrated, disgruntled youths trying to strike at the nation's most sensitive core.

"We thought that it would never happen here, but it has and we have to deal with it," he said.''

via AP

Carl in Jerusalem has more.

Gloating Jew-rant from the depths of the premier cesspool of progressive groupthink in 5...4...3 ....

Just don't question their commitment to Tolerance and Diversity.

Look Out Israel, After Selling Out The Brits ....

This comes as no great surprise.

Scepticism hangs over Blair's appointment as quartet envoy
· Former PM to help build Palestinian institutions
· No formal role in finding permanent solution

Tony Blair is to make his first working visit to Ramallah in the West Bank next month as envoy of the quartet of Middle East peacemakers, it emerged yesterday, after his job was confirmed amid scepticism about any chance of his success.

The French Poodle effect?

His role of quartet representative was announced jointly in New York by the US, EU, UN and Russia. Mr Blair will work on building government institutions and the rule of law, mobilising international help, and promoting the economy.

"He will spend significant time in the region working with the parties and others to help create viable and lasting government institutions representing all Palestinians, a robust economy, and a climate of law and order for the Palestinian people," the quartet said in a statement.

They stopped short of giving Mr Blair an explicit role as mediator between the Israelis and Palestinians in the peace process, but did give a broad remit to "liaise with other countries as appropriate in support of the agreed quartet objectives". Sources close to Mr Blair said he expected his role to be bigger than that assigned to his predecessor, James Wolfensohn, a former World Bank president who resigned in frustration in April 2006 after focusing just on the economy, on preparation for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Mr Blair sees his role as preparing ground for eventual talks on a final, comprehensive settlement by Palestinians and Israelis, with his immediate task to help to halt the violence between Fatah and Hamas and heal the divide.

Can we spell d-e-l-u-s-i-o-n-a-l?

His appointment left some egos battered and generated controversy. Russia demanded last minute changes to the terms of reference, clarifying his precise status. Mr Blair also spoke to Vladimir Putin, Russia's president.

Gordon Brown was described as angry at being presented with a fait accompli, making it difficult for him to formulate his own Middle East policy.

"This keeps Blair interminably in the limelight," said a top diplomat, noting the former PM will report to the UN general assembly in September, just as Mr Brown makes his maiden appearance.

Javier Solana, EU foreign policy chief, with a long track-record in the region, is also unhappy, Brussels sources say. The Foreign Office, where top officials knew nothing until last Thursday, is said to be in an "institutional sulk".

There's more. Much more.

Palestinian PM Resigns

It's all about unity.

As if.

Palestinian PM Ismail Haniya has resigned as part of a deal that will set up a national unity government.

The move came after Mr Haniya and President Mahmoud Abbas ironed out last-minute problems in the power-sharing deal sealed last week.

Factional fighting between Mr Abbas's Fatah and Mr Haniya's Hamas has claimed more than 90 Palestinian lives between December and this month.

There are still doubts whether the US will end its government boycott.

Aides to Mr Abbas said the US would continue its boycott unless the national unity government met international demands over Israel.

A US state department spokesman said Washington would not make a judgement until the government was formed.

Meanwhile, they've been told by the U.S. they'll be shunned since they won't recognize Israel.

Though I'm sure they'll pay some lip service and we'll throw more money into the Palestinian rathole.