I was caught in the Barcelona attacks: Now Tommy Robinson and trolls call me an Islamic extremist – The i newspaper online iNews

Last Thursday I was a tourist strolling down Barcelona’s famous Las Ramblas. I decided that rather than sit down in one of the many crowded street cafés, I would buy my nine-year-old son Qais, whom I had left behind in Glasgow, his Barcelona FC kit.

I walked on. Seconds later I heard a crashing noise and hundred of screams. As I turned I saw an avalanche of people running with terror. Instinctively I ran, but seconds later stopped to learn that a van metres away from where I had been had mowed down the crowd and murdered innocents.

A campaign of hate and lies, led by Tommy Robinson

I let my family and friends know via social media that I was safe. In the aftermath I spoke to the media of the sea of humanity that walked the length of Las Ramblas, where one could see every race, creed and colour represented. We now know there were in fact 34 countries from which the victims came.

I pointed out that my being a Muslim gave me no immunity from bombs, bullets or a van. But what followed was a barrage of hate from the far right – Trump supporters as well as those of the EDL.

Source: I was caught in the Barcelona attacks: Now Tommy Robinson and trolls call me an Islamic extremist – The i newspaper online iNews

Why we need to break the silence around rape and violence against women | Waqar Azmi | Opinion | The Guardian

Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the worst atrocity on European soil since the second world war, the genocide in Srebrenica. This year, thousands will gather at more than 400 events in the UK to commemorate those who were murdered in the genocide and to reflect on how hatred is affecting our communities here in the UK and what we can do to prevent this.

Last year reminded us that the UK cannot afford to become complacent about community cohesion, with some sections of the media and certain political figures stirring up hatred in our communities and a 41% increase in reported hate crime in the aftermath of the EU referendum. A disproportionate level of this hate crime has been targeted at women. At the same time, reported violence against women in the UK has reached an all-time high. As in Bosnia, the root of these crimes is the dehumanisation of others – the belief that the perpetrator is superior by reason of sex, race or nationality, and has the right to control, humiliate or hurt their victims.

If we want to build stronger, safer, more cohesive communities, we must name and address the issue of male violence against women and girls and recognise that hatred and dehumanisation are the root of this. We must include sexism and violence against women and girls in our fight against all forms of identity-based hatred.

That’s why we are breaking the silence by inviting women such as Bakira Hasečić, president of the Association of Women Victims of War and a survivor of genocidal rape, to speak about their experiences at commemorations in the UK. Bakira is one of the bravest women I have ever met. By speaking out

Source: Why we need to break the silence around rape and violence against women | Waqar Azmi | Opinion | The Guardian

Police force launches review of hate crime procedures, after activist’s complaint | DisabledGo News and Blog

Police have been forced to launch a major review after refusing to treat online attacks against a leading disabled activist as disability hate crimes. And a second police force has upheld a series of complaints made by the activist, Doug Paulley, relating to the same disability hate offences. Paulley’s email hosting provider – which is linked to his website – had been subjected to what his service provider described as a “serious” and “targeted” cyber-attack just a few weeks after he won a high-profile and ground-breaking Supreme Court ruling in January. The Supreme Court found that First Bus had breached its duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, as a result of its failure to ensure that wheelchair-users should have priority in the use of dedicated wheelchair spaces. But in the wake of the ruling, which received high-profile media coverage, Paulley received a flood of “very sweary” emails and online comments attacking him for taking the case. Early the following

Source: Police force launches review of hate crime procedures, after activist’s complaint | DisabledGo News and Blog

Why UK Voted BREXIT

In this current climate security is a very major factor, however, no matter how good your security systems are the percentages for someone being able to conduct an attack will always be greater than the security forces being able to deter.

With radicalisation being a major factor this means the likelihood of someone who is born in a particular country to succumb to radical propaganda is far greater than it was years ago. As previously it was believed that probable terrorists would infiltrate from other countries.

The UK decided not to have open borders, unlike many of the other countries within the EU, so the likelihood of persons coming in is reduced slightly, but not fully.

So it could be assumed to say the the security threats within the UK are slight less than in the rest of Europe. However, this also needs to reflect the capabilities of the persons on the borders checking who is coming in to the UK and who is going out, for it is not possible to fully check everyone.

If we believe the reports about GCHQ then they could be more robust that some of their European counterparts, but again this does depend on the extent of sharing intelligence, as good, if not excellent intelligence sharing is essential.

The public is reliant on what we are being told.

The best way to reduce terrorism is to be open about the causes and then mitigate the reasons why people are being radicalised, to just assume it is not the fault of the respective countries to some degree is not is a wrong path to take.

To look at the UK, many of the current Tory policies in force and also probably still to come are causing considerable resentment to large section of the UK population. But that is not to say everyone who feels resentment will turn to terrorism, but it should create an atmosphere for the Governments of today and those to come to question their policies and assess the resentments they are creating.

Much of this is down to trust and many within the UK do not trust any politicians of any party. For when it suits your MP will say they are following the will of the majority of their constituents, but then at the bequest of their party leaders they could then discount their constituents and follow their party line. So just whose MP are they their constituents or the party for in many respects they can not be both.

So all countries need to seriously look inward and be objective whether the paths they are choosing to go down have some serious bearing on persons being open to be radicalised for borders whether they are open or closed or the effectiveness of the security operations are but only two of the many reasons for radicalisation to occur.

More can always be done, do not rest on your laurels.

ukgovernmentwatch

Belgian policemen walk in a street during a police action in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels,

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/salah-abdeslam-isis-suspicious-pizza-order-led-police-to-paris-attackers-hideout-at-molenbeek-flat-a6941111.html

Diamond-Jim
So Cameron says our security would be better in the EU. You have to be seriously demented to believe that after the c/ups reported here. Far more to the point the EU needs us more in this field thanks to GCHQ; an organisation that the Europeans cannot match and that is linked to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the major players in western SigInt.

Intelligence is passed on to EU countries when and where it is specific and relevant, but not on a regular basis as it would be on the bad boys desks within 24 hours. Who needs enemies with friends like that

herman
So this guy is able to drive to Paris with a car full of guns drive unchallenged back to Brussels where he, the most wanted…

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New Labour shadow reveals PMQs access nightmare… and ‘social model’ ignorance | DisabledGo News and Blog

Labour’s new shadow minister for disabled people has spoken about her new role, and the access problems she faces as a disabled MP during prime minister’s questions. Marie Rimmer, one of parliament’s few disabled MPs, was appointed to the role on 1 February, less than two years after she was elected for the first time as MP for St Helens South and Whiston. Born in St Helens, she is a former trade union shop steward and became a Labour councillor in 1978. She led St Helens Council for a total of nearly 20 years over three spells. She told Disability News Service that she does not under-estimate the importance of her new position as shadow minister, or “the magnitude of the role”. “We have got a government that since 2010 has systematically burdened , taken away from finances, affected their housing, their independence… “They seem to have very little understanding of disabled people, and the fact that they are human beings,” she says. Although she did not speak out frequently in the

Source: New Labour shadow reveals PMQs access nightmare… and ‘social model’ ignorance | DisabledGo News and Blog

The Racist Incidents Since Donald Trump’s Election

How will it end, here’s hoping that America sees sense eventually and can come through the Trump era and then bring back normality.

Until then we all need to unify for strength against the Trump excesses.

Stop Making Sense

Rafi Schwartz reports for Fusion:

President-elect Donald Trump still has nearly two months to go before taking power, but America is already feeling one particular effect of his election: A seemingly sharp uptick in incidents of racist harassment and assault across the country. There have been reports of apparently Trump-inspired sexual harassment and anti-LGBTQ attacks as well.

Here is a running—though by no means complete—list of these incidents, as they’ve been reported by various outlets. It will, unfortunately, be updated as new reports are made available.

—A swastika, the words “Sieg Heil” and reference to Trump were painted across a Philadelphia storefront.

—A swastika and the words “Make America White Again” were painted on a wall in a Wellsville, NY park.

—A Muslim woman at the University of California: San Diego was robbed by two men she claimed made references to Donald Trump.

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Noose Put Around Neck of Black Student in Mississippi

After all these years and the progression of civil rights within the USA, who would have thought that these acts of abuse would not still be occurring. However, Trumpism as brought racical hated back into the the open arena, for such an high profile individual to be campaigning on promoting racial aggression should in this day and age not be allowed.

Racial equality should be the agenda of the day, especially in a so called Christian environment, please promote equality and respect for each other.

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JACKSON, Miss.—White students at a south Mississippi high school put a noose around the neck of a black student and “yanked backward,” the state NAACP said

Source: Noose Put Around Neck of Black Student in Mississippi

Homophobic attacks in UK rose 147% in three months after Brexit vote

Challenges of the Disabled: Problems They Face

Even with the passage of many disability rights laws in recent years, the problems and challenges of the disabled are staggering!

Source: Challenges of the Disabled: Problems They Face

Bigots feel they have a mandate to hate. We have to speak out | Owen Jones | Opinion | The Guardian

 

Source: Bigots feel they have a mandate to hate. We have to speak out | Owen Jones | Opinion | The Guardian