Tag: Hate Crime (Page 1 of 2)

Lega nel Mondo in Liverpool

February 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Matteo Salvini was the Deputy Prime Minister in Italy until the end of last year. He has been held responsible for a lot of the far right anti-immigration hate in Italy and has also been reported as saying he wanted a “mass-cleansing” of the country. Shortly after becoming Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister,  Salvini announced his intention to conduct a compulsory census of Italians in order to identify and deport Roma people from the country.

On 12th February the Italian senate formally authorised a criminal case against Salvini,  This is due to Salvini allegedly depriving 131  asylum-seekers, who were on board the Gregoretti coastguard ship, of their liberty, by not allowing them to disembark.  He will now be tried for kidnapping.

Unfortunately Salvini’s right-wing views have had support both in Italy and in other areas of the world. In 2018 Salvini ‘s party, The League, formed a global network of supporters. Some of The League’s supporters are in the UK and have organised a dinner at a restaurant in Liverpool for 28th March 2020, which has caused outrage amongst residents of Liverpool. The advert implies that Salvini will be present. However, since it was first published, Salvini has denied this,  saying that he will not be present, and that: “What is happening there is not a rally, but a dinner among supporters of the League in Liverpool – they are going to eat fish and chips.”

The Mayor of Liverpool, Steve Rotheram, said “division and hate” was not welcome in Liverpool and “the only audience he’ll find here is one that won’t be shy in telling him what they think of fascists like him.”

Liverpool has a strong history of opposing far-right visits to the city and standing up for what is right. They have had a 30-year boycott refusing to sell The Sun newspaper after the Hillsborough disaster.  We expect this event will not be ignored and that, if it does go ahead, there will most likely be protests and rallies.

 

 

Multilingualism is here to stay!

February 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We wrote our own blog post about an increase in hate crime incidents in Sheffield since Brexit, and the importance of supporting our international friends and students. Now, the Big Issue have also reported that EU members have been subjected to hate crime in Brighton & Hove and London amongst other places.

The crimes appear to be happening after members of the public hear people speaking in other languages apart from English. There is a lack of acceptance of different cultures by some individuals, and this is making people feel unsafe. The UK is a vast multicultural country where hundreds of different languages and dialects are spoken. We need to be proud of our multicultural community and celebrate the diversity that enhances our every day lives rather than persecute those who are different. Just because Brexit has happened does not mean other languages should disappear in the UK. The ability to speak more than one language is increasingly important nowadays and the people who live here who can do that should be appreciated more.

Perhaps the British public should learn from, as the Big Issue recall, the story of protesters in Warsaw. “After a man on a number 22 tram in Warsaw punched a university professor for speaking German to a visiting German colleague, protesters rode number 22 trams in Kraków speaking foreign languages and reading aloud from books in German and Russian.”

Demonisation of Gypsies?

February 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

In November last year, Priti Patel proposed new legislation which will target the gypsy community.

Today am I announcing the Government’s plans to consult on criminalising the act of trespassing when setting up an unauthorised encampment in England and Wales. I recognise the distress and misery that some unauthorised encampments cause to many communities and businesses across the country. Currently, this kind of trespass is a civil matter and the powers available to the police are limited.

The legislation suggests that the police should be able to immediately confiscate the vehicles of “anyone whom they suspect to be trespassing on land with the purpose of residing on it”.

The Guardian reported:

Patel’s proposed laws belong to the most dangerous of all political categories: performative oppression. She is beating up a marginalised group in full public view, to show that she sides with the majority. I don’t know whether she really intends to introduce these laws, or whether this is empty electioneering. In either case, she is playing with fire. Already this month, three caravans in Somerset have allegedly been torched by suspected arsonists. Travelling peoples have been attacked like this for centuries, and sometimes murdered. In 2003, a 15-year-old Traveller child, Johnny Delaney, was kicked to death by a gang of teenagers in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

The consultation acknowledges that there is nowhere else for these communities to go, other than the council house waiting list, which means abandoning the key elements of their culture. During the Conservative purge in the late 1980s and early 1990s, two thirds of traditional, informal stopping sites for travellers, some of which had been in use for thousands of years, were sealed off. Then, in 1994, the Criminal Justice Act repealed the duty of local authorities to provide official sites for Roma and Travellers.

If this legislation goes ahead it will most likely result in an increase in hate crime towards gypsies. Those committing hate crimes will feel they can justify their crimes as they will believe the government is supporting them through the legislation. A lot of people will lose their homes and culture as well as state protection meaning they won’t be able to report hate crimes. This could result in a very dangerous case of persecution. The consultation is currently open and you can contribute here. It closes on 4th March 2020.

 

Number of reported hate crimes in Sheffield increases

February 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Sheffield city council have reported a 7% increase in hate crime over the past year. There were 1,356 hate offences committed of which:

  • 68% were related to race
  • 14% sexual orientation
  • 8% disability
  • 6% religious
  • 5% transgender

The report  was written by Maxine Stavrianakos who is the Head of Neighbourhood Intervention and Tenant Support for Sheffield City Council. The full report can be read here:

Hate Crime Presentation V4

As the Sheffield Star reported:

Giving possible reasons for the rise, the report adds: “Increases are likely to have been driven by crime recording improvements by the police. However, growing awareness of what constitutes a hate crime may also have impacted on the number of recorded offences. Short-term genuine rises in hate crime recorded have also been noticed following terrorist attacks and events such as the EU referendum in 2016.”

Belgian parade features costumes of haredi Jews with insect bodies

February 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

This week it has been reported by Fast Forward that a carnival in Aalst, Belgium prominently displayed horrific anti-Semitic costumes in their annual parade.

Rudi Roth, a journalist for the Antwerp-based Joods Actueel Jewish paper, said the expressions of anti-Semitism in Aalst this year were more numerous and prominent than last year. He called it a “backlash effect.”

“The mayor, Christophe D’Haese of the right-wing New Flemish Alliance, said on Sunday that in the “context of the carnival, these displays are not anti-Semitic.” Any illegal hate speech, he added, would be dealt with by law enforcement.

“This is not an anti-Semitic event,” he told journalists at a press conference.

Joel Rubinfeld, the president of the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, condemned the displays, “which although are the work of a minority of participants and spectators, stain the whole event.”

He said the event “certainly has anti-Semitic elements,” the likes of which he said had not been on display since the end of the Nazi occupation in 1945.

To read the full article please click here.

Stand Up: An important message for today

February 17, 2020 / / 0 Comments

On Thursday evening (13/02/20), a guest speaker from the Stand Up organisation gave a talk on their work in schools across the country. In this case the organisation had just been into a local school in Sheffield to discuss discrimination after reports of anti-Muslim hate. The speaker, Zaynab, delivered a brilliant talk going over how she delivers the sessions in schools, as well as how we can begin to make a difference.

Stand Up itself is an inter-faith charity focused on tackling antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate. Please follow this link for more information on their work. Through their engagement with mainstream schools, they hope to educate young people on discrimination and the impact it can have on individuals’ lives. Zaynab highlighted a particular focus on targeting stereotypes, as if they can get young people to start questioning these stereotypes, it may lead to a decrease in hate crimes against these groups. Another key element of their work is to create a safe space during their talks, so that students can ask questions that they may feel are not appropriate in other settings. By answering these questions, Stand Up can help to disprove stereotypes held by those at the school.

Alongside discussing how she delivers sessions in schools, Zaynab also showed us examples of online antisemitism and anti-Muslim hate as well as examples of this hate taking place in public places. Although these examples showed the stark reality of hate, they also provided an opportunity of empowerment, as we were told how to report these incidents and how to support those affected.

Empowerment was the key message to come from this talk, as if we all feel empowered to make a difference, then one day we could see the end of discrimination. However, to see this change, we all need to work together as a global community and embrace our differences, rather than using our differences as justification for hate.

Should you ever experience or witness discrimination, here are some organisations you can contact to report it:

Antisemitism- cst.org.uk 0800 032 3263

Anti-Muslim hate- tellmamauk.org 0800 456 1226

LGBT+ hate- galop.org.uk 0800 999 5428

Hate in Football- kickitout.org

IN AN EMERGENCY CALL 999

The coronavirus isn’t an excuse for hate crime

February 2, 2020 / / 0 Comments

The news of the Coronavirus has been causing panic and worry across the world. The virus started in China in a city called Wuhan and has sadly caused deaths in the city amongst the most vulnerable members of the population. People are worried about the spread of the virus and the country is taking precautions to keep everyone safe. One of the ways they are doing this is through encouraging people to wear surgical face masks.

Chinese people have been wearing face masks for decades as a way of protecting themselves from pollution and viruses. If someone is ill they also wear a mask to protect other people from catching it and spreading the illness further. This is sensible and respectful to humanity as a whole. In Sheffield there are around 10,000 Chinese nationals and many of them are students at Sheffield Hallam University and The University of Sheffield.

It was reported last week in Sheffield, by The Sheffield Star, that a Chinese student had been a target of hate crime as a result of wearing a mask. The post-graduate student from Sheffield University was walking up West Street alone in broad daylight when she was verbally abused and pushed by three people. The student was wearing a protective mask at the time following advice from Chinese media to keep her and everyone else safe. The student has decided not to prosecute but is hoping the incident can educate others.

The coronavirus is worrying but, just because it started in China, that does not mean that Asian people across the world should become targets of abuse and hate crimes. Remember a surgical face mask is protecting other people, as well as the person wearing it.

Brexit

February 2, 2020 / / 0 Comments

On 31st January the UK left the European Union. The UK is still in Europe and still abides by the UK Equality Act 2010, but it seems some individuals are finding this hard to understand. As members of the human race we should respect each other and celebrate our different backgrounds and cultures. Diversity makes our lives more exciting and enhances our experiences. However there seems to be an increase in people taking the opportunity of Brexit to give them free rein to preach hate and racial abuse. 

We need to be aware of these crimes and to call people out who do this. We need to defend our international friends. In the past few weeks there have been some worrying incidents of hate crime in pubs and bars in Sheffield as a result of Brexit, which have affected students at Sheffield Hallam. 

One Hallam student, who is originally from Spain, was talking to her mother in Spanish on the phone in a local bar, and was told by a bystander that she should only speak English. No one stepped in to support her, but thankfully she managed to defend herself. However she should not have had to. 

A different Hallam student from Bulgaria was also in a pub drinking with friends from different countries. A man in the pub thought it was appropriate to say racist comments to the group. This was frowned upon by the bar staff but unfortunately they did not evict the individual.

Sheffield is a city of sanctuary with a history of welcoming new arrivals and being multicultural. This sort of behaviour is not what we expect to see or should accept. Sheffield has two universities with many international students and has won awards for the safest UK city, and this needs to continue. Everyone should feel safe and welcome in the UK. Brexit was not an excuse for right-wing propaganda to take hold in our culture. If you hear friends making comments or see someone being abused, please step in, take them away from the situation, show them that Sheffield still has caring people that welcome them.

Rise in antisemitism

January 29, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Earlier in the week marked the 75th anniversary of the Holocaust yet currently anti-Semitism is rising throughout the world. More information on the anniversary can be read in the blog post “Auschwitz 75 years’ on”.

December in New York showed a spike in violence towards Jews. Including a fatal shooting, stabbings and other attacks. In fact, more than half of the hate crimes reported in New York were directed towards Jews.  David Nirenberg – who has written extensively on the history of anti-Semitism discusses to what extent anti-Jewish violence be tied to other hate crimes, and to what extent should it be understood as having a distinct history and motivations.

The Anti-Defamation League noted there were 1,879 attacks against Jews during 2018, which is the 3rd highest year on record since they began tracking data in the 1970s. There are many reasons why anti-Semitism is rising and in his article Peter Dreier examines the reasons and how related they are to politics.

It is not just in the US where anti-Semitism is on the rise , there are numerous issues within the UK including a Nazi salute being given to a Jewish man. It is not just Nazi salutes, there have been attacks on rabbi’s, anti-Semitic rants aimed towards families, swastikas and hail Borris being graffitied in a Jewish suburb of London.  There has been a 10% increase of anti-Semitic crimes since 2018. Alona Ferber shows more evidence of the rise of anti-Semitism in her article.

People are noticing this rise and there have been demonstrations against it. In response to accused anti-Semitism of one party during the general election there was a rally organised by campaign against anti-Semitism “so that Jews and non-Jews alike can say clearly and with one voice that we stand together against antisemitism.” Football club Chelsea, honoured a poppy seller who was a prisoner of Auschwitz as part of their campaign “say no to anti-semitism”. In response to the attacks in December more than 10,000 protesters marched from Manhattan to Brooklyn in a display of solidarity. This “no hate, no fear solidarity march” was organised by UJA-Federation of New York, Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Anti Defamation League-New York, AJC-NY, and the New York Board of Rabbis, to stand against hatred of any kind in New York.  More information on taking a stand against anti-Semitism can be found in the blog post; Take a stand against Antisemitism.

#VisibleHate: together we can stop it

January 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Many people who have a visible difference can become a target of hate crime. Changing Faces state:

  •  Seven in ten people experience negative behaviour such as stares, abuse and bullying because of how they look.
  • 28% of people with a visible difference have experienced a hate crime.
  • Almost half of those who have experienced negative behaviours say they have lost confidence.
  • Over a third (35%) say they now feel anxious when they go out
  • Over a quarter (27%) say it has had a negative impact on their mental health.

Changing Faces is the UK’s leading charity for anyone who has a scar, mark or condition on their face or body that makes them look different.

Their website has a wide range of advice, support and services to help you or someone you may know. They work with children, young people and adults to improve their confidence so they can lead the life they want.

Changing Faces challenge discrimination and campaign for “Face Equality: a world that truly values and respects people who look different.”

You can add your name to their campaign to end #visiblehate by clicking here.

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