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Click now. http://click.topica.com/aaaaqLbz8SnrbAjwjxa/1029ZoomerangComAd2 ------------------------------------------------------------ __________________________________________________________________________ The Internet Anti-Fascist: Friday, 9 June 2000 Vol. 4, Number 48 (#429) __________________________________________________________________________ Action Alerts: 58 "Sans Papiers" found dead Book Review: "Diana Mosley: A Life" -- Morally tone-deaf biography of a Mitford who married a fascist Film Review: "Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace" -- Film documents theologian's resistance to Hitler More News On Austrian Fascism: Vaiju Naravane (The Hindu), "Freedom Party official kicks up another storm ," 6 June 00 Barry James (International Herald Tribune), "Nazi Motto 'Unacceptable:' Austrian Minister Tours Europe to Fight Sanctions," 9 June 00 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACTION ALERTS: Massacre at Dover - 58 "Sans Papiers" found dead National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns Fortress Europe's Draconian anti-immigration policy underlying cause of tragedy at Dover A lorry became a mass grave for 54 men and 4 women entering the United Kingdom "Sans Papiers". They penetrated far into Fortress Europe - but the price they paid was their lives. Who were these unfortunate passengers? Their stories will probably never be told, even in death, they have been labeled criminals. Applying for asylum in the UK has deteriorated to the point where asylum seekers are left without basic human rights forced into dispersal and detention, and discriminated against with vouchers. Political asylum has been so restricted by legislation that there is hardly any way of claiming political asylum in the UK. People fleeing war are not considered to be genuine refugees - they are 'just' fleeing 'general violence'. Those fleeing state persecution (like China with a recognised appalling human rights record, where these 58 people may have come from) have to overcome extensive pre-entry controls, and once they manage to get a visa or a false document to escape they can be detained and then refused asylum for traveling through other countries or like Roma asylum seekers, rejected because Skinheads are not considered to be 'agents of persecution'. The death of 58 passengers "Sans Papiers" discovered this morning was something that could have been prevented with humane and ethical immigration policy, which is of national interest for every civilised, multicultural society. It is essential to keep the asylum issue in perspective and to seek solutions that promote human rights of asylum seekers instead of restricting them. It is also important to recognise that migration is not a new phenomenon and accept that it is not only a fact but also desirable and essential for development of every society. How we treat people in need is a reflection of the true state of democracy and freedom. This tragedy must not be forgotten, not only as a dire reminder of restrictive policies which forces people to leave their country of origin and in this case into the most horrific death, and 58 untold life stories, which abruptly ended. NCADC condemns UK and European anti-immigration policy which forces those who are persecuted or experiencing any other hardship into underground routes which should lead to a better life but in this case lead to a mass grave. It is with great sadness that NCADC noted the death of 58 people in the back of a lorry at Dover. Throughout the day the media speculated whether the 54 men and 4 women were "illegal immigrants". Their humanity was lost. They had no identity other than being "Sans Papiers" in the UK. Our press release, mirrors the somberness of the mood felt by NCADC staff. Yet our sadness turns to anger as we reflect: "Was it wanting to have a better life that caused these deaths, or the evil immigration laws that force people to take such desperate risks?" We would ask supporters to write to the Home Secretary Jack Straw MP to condemn the immigration policies which caused this appalling loss of human life. In this case NCADC feels it inappropriate to produce a standard letter we would ask you to express your own feelings to the Home Secretary. Jack Straw MP 50 Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AT Or you can fax the Home Secretary on : 020-7273-3965 >From outside the UK: +44-20-7273-3965 Please fax copies of any letters to: NCADC 0807-055-4570 - - - - - Actions in support of deceased "Sans Papiers" Newcastle upon Tyne The North-East Campaign for Asylum Rights (NECFAR) has called a candlelit vigil to remember all those who died. We are calling on all those concerned to attend. CANDLELIT VIGIL Friday 23 June 2000 at 7.30pm THE MONUMENT Newcastle upon Tyne PLEASE BRING A CANDLE North East Campaign for Asylum Rights (NECFAR) PO Box 787, Newcastle upon Tyne NE99 IDJ. Cambridge: There will be a vigil in front of the Guildhall in Market Square, Cambridge at 6:30pm on Thursday 22nd June. Please bring candles. For more information contact Cambridgeshire Against Refugee Detention (CARD): email [EMAIL PROTECTED] / www.card.freewire.co.uk - - - - - Try and get you MPs to sign below: Early Day Motion EDM 866 DEATHS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS 19.06.00 Corbyn/Jeremy That this House is horrified at the death of fifty eight asylum seekers in a lorry entering the United Kingdom from Belgium; sends its deepest sympathy to their families and friends; recalls the deaths of other asylum seekers trying to enter Europe with the deepest regret; and resolves to seriously examine the economic, social and political desperation that causes victims to attempt to flee to Europe, rather than looking for even more draconian measures against asylum seekers. Signed by: Corbyn/Jeremy Bottomley/Peter Cable/Vincent Taylor/David Hancock/Mike Smyth/Martin Baker/Norman Russell/Bob Jones/Lynne Godman/Norman A Rapson/Syd Clapham/Michael Cohen/Harry Winnick/David Thomas/Simon Beggs/Roy - - - - - The tragic result of European Refugee policies: Death Toll Rises to 2000 UNITED (press release) 14 June 00 More than 2000 refugees and migrants have died in and around Europe since 1993 as a result of European refugee policies. Instead of finding a safe place and a better perspective for their life people have drowned, suffocated, been beaten to death by racist attackers, gagged to death by policemen or committed suicide in dispair. These deaths can be put down to border militarisations, asylum laws, detention policies, deportations and carrier sanctions, summarised as "Fortress Europe". As possibilities for legal entry for refugees and migrants are more and more restricted, and as borders are made more impermeable, people are forced to take more and more dangerous routes. The cases that have been documented by UNITED include amongst others: Nearly weekly people drown during their attempt to cross the Mediterranean. On the 31st of December 1999, 39 people drowned in the Adriatic Sea when their rubber boat sank. A Reuters news item quotes a Spanish report about 120 assumed deaths in the first four month of this year of people who drowned while attempting to cross the Strait of Gibraltar. On 6 May an Algerian asylum seeker desperately committed suicide at the detention centre at Frankfurt/Main (Germany) airport after being held there over 8 months. In August last year a stowaway clinging to the underside of a lorry was crushed to death while disembarking in Dover (Great-Britain). UNITED protests against the deadly realities of Fortress Europe. It will be impossible to shut the borders totally. As capital and goods freely cross borders, people will continue to follow. We need to work towards long-term solutions for global problems instead of dnying these facts. * * * * * A full list with all 2000 cases, is available from the UNITED office, or you can download it from the UNITED website http://www.united.non-profit.nl This press release is related to the International Refugee Day on 16 June. Organisations highlight the situation of refugees in many European countries. UNITED supports activities by producing a poster informing about refugees and refugee resources. For more information call Saskia Daru at the UNITED office. UNITED for Intercultural Action is the European network against nationalism, racism, fascism and in support of migrants and refugees, supported by more than 500 organisations in 40 countries. Since 1993 UNITED monitors all deaths of the people who became victims of the policies that can be summarised as the creation of "Fortress Europe". -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOOK REVIEW: Diana Mosley: A Life By Jan Dalley. Alfred A. Knopf, 318 pages, $27.50. Morally tone-deaf biography of a Mitford who married a fascist Janet Maslin (New York Times) 5 June 00 In 1936, Diana Mitford Guinness married Oswald Mosley, Britain's foremost fascist, at the Berlin home of Josef and Magda Goebbels. A guest at the small ceremony was her special friend Adolf Hitler, whose wedding gift was a large photograph of himself in a silver frame adorned by the two-headed German eagle. For years the Mosleys displayed this keepsake in their drawing room even though it prompted "discomfiture," in the words of Diana's biographer, Jan Dalley, among "some" guests. But as Dalley makes clear, Diana was not one to fret about the delicate feelings of others. When she created a stir, not long before the wedding, by raising her hand in a fascist salute in Hyde Park during the singing of "God Save the King," she said: "I simply wanted to give my opinion like everyone else." When she began humiliating her first husband, an heir to the Guinness brewery fortune, by conducting an affair with Mosley, she supposed that Mosley would probably not mind. "What difference would it make?" she later wondered, congratulating herself on the happy remarriages that ensued. When, after World War II, she and Mosley found themselves somewhat ostracized in the Wiltshire countryside, Diana's patrician diffidence remained supreme. "The local colonels did not come to call," she observed. There was no love lost between the Britain that had imprisoned the Mosleys during World War II and two people who clung unapologetically to their polarizing political views. Mosley's detachment, and the glaring degree to which her biographer becomes complicit in it, resonate throughout this morally tone deaf book. It's clear that this dauntless creature, now on the eve of her 90th birthday, has always exerted a powerfully seductive pull. She was part of the much- documented Mitford brood of beautiful, headstrong sisters and thus came equipped with attributes that make her a hagiographer's dream. A biographer ready to describe Oswald Mosley, the founder of the British Union of Fascists, as "handsome in the Rudolph Valentino style then in fashion, elegant, witty and very charming to women" is well equipped to celebrate her subject's social and cosmetic virtues. Diana was a cousin of Winston Churchill's and a darling of Evelyn Waugh's (who dedicated "Vile Bodies" to the Guinnesses). It's possible that she might have led a life devoid of controversy without Mosley's influence, even though one of her grandfathers was one of Hitler's favorite Germanophiles and her father hatched a gold-mining scheme in a Canadian locale called Swastika. But Diana, as Dalley sees it, "had an idealistic tendency to hero-worship that welcomed the idea of a single, strong leader who would accomplish wonderful things." Diana wrote her memoir and a book about a kindred spirit, the Duchess of Windsor. Oswald, who died in 1980, had a memoir of his own published in 1968 and was subjected to "very very hostile" questioning when he came to New York to promote it. As Diana remembers it, "he didn't mind." -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FILM REVIEW: Film documents theologian's resistance to Hitler BONHOEFFER: AGENT OF GRACE. Channels 12, 39, 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Lynn Elber (AP) 0 June 00 LOS ANGELES -- In London's Westminster Abbey, there is a hall of fame for 20th-century Christian martyrs. Martin Luther King Jr. is among those depicted in limestone, as is El Salvador's Archbishop Oscar Romero. There is a statue, too, of the Rev. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who opposed Nazi Germany and who became one of its many victims. This remarkable figure is brought to life in "Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace," a dramatization of the Lutheran theologian's last years. Among the words frequently applied to Bonhoeffer are "brilliant" and "brave," and the 90-minute PBS film easily makes the case for his heroic status. The well-born Bonhoeffer was among the first prominent Germans to speak out against Adolf Hitler's anti-Semitic agenda. He condemned church cooperation with the Third Reich and became part of the German resistance that plotted to kill Hitler. Imprisoned by the Nazis, he continued to explore questions of faith and morality. Bonhoeffer was hanged in 1945, at age 39, after rejecting both Nazi deals and rescue efforts that he feared might put others at risk. How Bonhoeffer found a virtuous path in a world of surpassing evil is explored in this respectful film, an international production whose backers include Aid Association for Lutherans, a nonprofit fraternal organization. German actor Ulrich Tukur plays Bonhoeffer in the English-language movie that co-stars Johanna Klante as the pastor's fiancee, Maria von Wedemeyer, and Robert Joy as his Nazi interrogator, Manfred Roeder. The film received a top prize at this year's Monte Carlo Television Festival. Its Lutheran sponsors have even higher expectations. "We wanted to engage the public in a dialogue around the question of 'What does it mean to be a morally responsible person?' " said Dennis Clauss, an executive with Aid Association for Lutherans. Putting a contemporary moral hero in the public eye was another goal. "Dietrich Bonhoeffer is well respected across a very wide spectrum of society," Clauss said. "His theology appeals to people who are theologically conservative; his behavior and his actions appeal to people who are more activist in their lifestyles." The film introduces us to Bonhoeffer in the 1930s, during a visit to America. Despite warnings of increasing German instability, he returns home out of a sense of obligation to his country, and quickly encounters the pervasive evil of Nazism. When Bonhoeffer casts his lot with the resistance, he puts body and soul in harm's way. His humanity, however, is never in question. At one point he consoles a frightened fellow prisoner by leading him in a prayer Bonhoeffer has composed: "Lord, it's dark in me, in you it's day. "I am alone, but you will stay. "I am afraid, you never cease. "I am at war, in you is peace." Dramatizing a life can be a tricky affair. The creators of "Bonhoeffer" made every effort to ensure its veracity, according to director Eric Till. But there were some dramatic liberties taken, he said, for valid reasons. Other elements are factual, such as Bonhoeffer's wartime engagement to a friend's teen-age granddaughter. So is the depiction of Bonhoeffer's modest, even staid demeanor. The film has been scrutinized by experts. Clifford Green, a theologian who is executive director of a project to create a complete English-language edition of Bonhoeffer's works, lauded "Bonhoeffer" for showing his integrity as a Christian pastor fighting Nazism. For an introduction to Bonhoeffer's writings, Green recommended "Letters and Papers From Prison" (Simon & Schuster Inc.). -------------------------------------------------------------------------- MORE NEWS ON AUSTRIAN FASCISM: Freedom Party official kicks up another storm Vaiju Naravane (The Hindu) 6 June 00 VIENNA -- Another controversy has erupted here over the use of a Nazi-era SS slogan by the newly elected head of Mr. Joerg Haider's extreme-right Freedom Party in Lower Austria, underlining the insensitivity often shown by party officials. Mr. Ernest Windholz declared: "Our Honour is called Loyalty" while honouring long-serving members of the Freedom Party at its State convention. The slogan, which in German is "Unsere ehre heisst treue," was the motto of the SS, the armed wing of Adolf Hitler's Nazi party. After a public outcry over his remarks Mr. Windholz said he was unaware that the phrase had been used by the SS and that it had a deeper, more sinister significance. "I am 40 years old. I didn't know the phrase in this context," he told journalists. Since he was born well after the collapse of the Nazis in 1945, he never associated the words with them, Mr. Windholz argued. The Freedom Party general secretary, Theresia Zierler, while describing the incident as "very regrettable" defended Mr. Windholz saying it was a mistake born of ignorance. But the opposition Social Democrats said this once again showed the contempt Freedom Party officials had for people's sensitivities. Social Democrats urged the Chancellor, Mr. Wolfgang Schuessel to take a public stand on the issue. The charismatic leader of the Freedom Party, Mr. Haider, who stepped down as party chairman recently but continues to have great influence as Governor of the Carinthia province, has been guilty of making pro-Nazi statements. He has had to apologise several times for showing sympathy towards certain aspects of the Nazi regime. The Freedom Party won 27 per cent of the vote to become Austria's second largest party early this year and joined the ruling conservative coalition with the centrist Austrian Peoples' Party led by Mr. Schuessel. - - - - - Nazi Motto 'Unacceptable:' Austrian Minister Tours Europe to Fight Sanctions Barry James (International Herald Tribune) 9 June 00 BRUSSELS - The Austrian foreign minister on Thursday described a pro-Nazi statement by a member of the far-right Freedom Party as "unacceptable," but insisted that it did not constitute grounds for continuing to apply sanctions against her country. Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner was making a quick visit to Madrid, Paris and London to seek support for lifting the sanctions at the European Union summit meeting in Portugal later this month. EU member countries broke off bilateral relations with Austria in February after the Freedom Party joined the coalition government, although the country has continued to take part in normal EU business. But in London, the Foreign Minister Jaime Gama of Portugal said there were no plans to end the political isolation of Austria, as did the French foreign minister, Hubert Vedrine. If Austria wants to get a medium-term solution, it is necessary not to come in an aggressive manner to all EU meetings, Mr. Gama said. Foreign Minister Ferrero-Waldner acknowledged in an interview that the Freedom Party was sometimes "embarrassing and sometimes unacceptable" but that "I don't have any problems" with the party's members in the government, whom she said had behaved in a solid manner according to the government's program. One such embarrassment came a few days ago when the newly elected Freedom Party head of Lower Austria, Ernest Windholz, slipped the Nazi SS motto, "Unsere Ehre Heisst Treue" ("Our Honor is Called Loyalty"), into a speech to party faithful. Although that motto was engraved on the bayonet blades of Adolf Hitler's shock troops and is common knowledge among German speakers, Mr. Windholz later explained that he was unaware of its symbolism. The Social Democrat leader Barbara Prammer said that unless Mr. Windholz resigned, the Freedom Party would "again show themselves to be outside the acceptable spectrum of democratic parties." However, the European Peoples Party in the European Parliament this week agreed to readmit seven Austrian members and called for sanctions to be lifted. One reason why Austria is seeking the lifting of the sanctions now is that it will be much more difficult to do so once France takes over the presidency of the EU on July 1, since President Jacques Chirac is one of the Austrian coalition's most implacable foes. Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner said it was important for Austria to play a full part in the negotiations aimed at restructuring the EU's institutions. Even if Austria takes part in EU business, she said, the lack of bilateral contacts meant that it was not always fully informed. If the sanctions are not lifted at this month's summit meeting, Mrs. Ferrero-Waldner said the government would carefully consider its options, which could include a "consultative vote" on the country's EU membership. "This government has not violated any law nor done anything contrary to European values," she said. "Judge us by our deeds." But the Belgian foreign minister, Louis Michel, made it clear that he was not about to restore normal relations with Austria. He accused the Austrian chancellor, Wolfgang Schuessel, of "sheer opportunism" for having "set the precedent of including neo-Nazis in the government of a European country." "I will be open to the idea of an exit strategy," Mr. Michel told the newspaper De Standaard, "as soon as the Austrian government changes its attitude; as long as it stops painting the European measures as the work of the devil, as long as it stops threatening to hold a referendum on those measures; as long as it stops threatening to punish those politicians who talk with us." * * * * * In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. __________________________________________________________________________ FASCISM: We have no ethical right to forgive, no historical right to forget. 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