Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Calls for Prosecution after German Politician Says Obama Win 'a Declaration of War'

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Photo of Juergen Gansel courtesy of Google Images

THE TELEGRAPH: German authorities have been called on to prosecute a far-right politician for describing Barack Obama's election as a "declaration of war" on white people and accusing his supporters of being "swept up in Obama fever which resembles an African tropical disease".

In a statement headed "Africa conquers the White House," Juergen Gansel, a deputy in the Saxony state legislature from the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany, said multicultural America was seeking the destruction of "pure" national cultures.

Accusing Mr Obama of aiming to destroy the US's "white identity", Mr Gansel said: "A non-white America is a declaration of war on all people who believe an organically grown social order based on language and culture, history and heritage to be the essence of humanity."

Warning that "Barack Obama hides this declaration of war behind his pushy sunshine smile," Mr Gansel, whose party sympathises with neo-Nazi groups, said that Mr Obama's election was the result of "the American alliance of Jews and Negroes".

He concluded by declaring his hopes that Mr Obama's government is unsuccessful.

"It would be a gross irony of history if the first black president drove his clientele of minorities to openly revolt due to his grandiose domestic failure, and the much-touted American dream became a nightmare," he said. >>> By Jon Swaine | November 11, 2008

WASHINGTON POST: Racism Rears Its Head in European Remarks on Obama: Some Public Figures Display Open Scorn

BERLIN -- Europe erupted in cheers to celebrate Barack Obama's election as president, but the continent is seeing its share of insensitive racial blunders, too.

Over the past week, a number of European lawmakers and journalists have made foot-in-mouth comments regarding America's black president-elect, suggesting that some otherwise respected public figures in Europe are far from enlightened on racial matters.

The day after Obama's victory, a leading Austrian television journalist said on camera that he "wouldn't want the Western world to be directed by a black man." A Polish lawmaker stood up in Parliament and called the election result "the end of the white man's civilization."

One of the milder gaffes came from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. On Thursday, during a visit to Moscow, he praised Obama for being "young, handsome and even suntanned."

Berlusconi's remark caused a stir in Italy, as critics chided him for sounding like a fool. But the prime minister was unrepentant. "What's the problem? It was a compliment," he told journalists the next day. Anyone who did not get the joke, he added, was an "imbecile."

Some racist comments have come from people who have expressed such views before. "Africa Conquers the White House," read a headline on the Web site of the National Democratic Party of Germany, a political party that sympathizes with neo-Nazi groups. In an accompanying article, Jürgen Gansel, a party leader and an elected lawmaker in the German state of Saxony, blamed Obama's victory on "the American alliance of Jews and Negroes."

Offensive opinions have also originated from the other end of the political spectrum. Die Tageszeitung, a Berlin newspaper that supports socialist and leftist causes, predicted Obama's election in June when it published a large front-page photo of the White House under the headline, "Uncle Barack's Cabin." >>> By Craig Whitlock | November 10, 2008

DEUTSCHE WELLE: Jewish Group in Berlin Condemns Neo-Nazi Obama Slurs

A Jewish group in Germany is up in arms after a far-right politician characterized Barack Obama's triumph as a "US alliance of Jews and Negroes" and condemned the German public for supporting the US President-elect.

The Berlin chapter of a prominent Jewish group condemned racist statements made by a German deputy from the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) against Barack Obama's election as the first non-white President of the United States.

"Africa conquers the White House" is the heading of a statement issued from the office of the NPD deputy Juergen Gansel from the eastern German state of Saxony.

The NPD has never cleared the five-percent minimum for representation in the German Bundestag on a national parliamentary level, but the party holds seats in two regional states in eastern Germany, where its anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant platform has attracted a following among disaffected youth and the unemployed.

Gansel characterized Obama's election triumph as "the American alliance of Jews and Negroes" and even condemned the German public for their outpouring of enthusiasm for the US President-elect, who was born to a white American mother and a Kenyan father.

"Many people in the 'diverse' republic Germany have been swept up in Obama fever which resembles an African tropical disease," he said. >>> DW staff (df) | November 11, 2008

AFP: Jewish Group Mulls Charges over Neo-Nazi Obama Slurs

BERLIN — A prominent Jewish group said Monday it was reviewing legal options against a German neo-Nazi party for "racist" remarks calling Barack Obama's election a "declaration of war" on non-white America.

The Berlin chapter of the American Jewish Committee (AFC) condemned statements made by Juergen Gansel, a deputy in the Saxony state legislature for the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany, against Obama's election as the first African-American US president.

In a statement from his office entitled "Africa conquers the White House," Gansel said multicultural America sought the destruction of "pure" national cultures and that Obama aimed to destroy the United States' "white identity." >>> | November 11, 2008

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