The following is reproduced without permission from the June 9th edition
of the Toronto Star newspaper, page A2:
NEO-NAZISM RISE CITED AFTER BEATING OF IMMIGRANT
By Peter Small
TORONTO STAR
A vicious, racially motivated beating that has left a Tamil refugee
claimant partially paralyzed is part of an alarming increase in neo-Nazi
thuggery, anti-racism groups say.
Next week, Metro police plan to release statistic on this year’s number
of crimes based on hatred of race, nationality, religion, or sexual
orientation. A police source has pegged the number at around *70.
Ottawa police are probing 80 hate-based crimes since January, said
Detective Dan Dunlop of that city’s bias crime unit.
“There’s no question that there has been an increase in agressive or
assaultive behavior by neo-Nazis and racist factions in Canada,” said
Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
“The real question is: is it planned, or just part and parcel of a
criminal mindset?”
Farber blamed the increase on a lack of police will to fight. “Racist
groups and individuals are pushing and pushing, and no one is pushing
back,” he said.
Antoni Shelton, executive director of the Urban Alliance on Race
Relations, agreed racist attacks are on the rise and blamed neo-fascist
groups and their successful youth recruitment drives.
“The rise of these groups around the country has been documented,”
Shelton said, adding that the alliance wants more documentation of hate
crimes themselves to better tackle them.
Two weekends ago, more than **500 white supremacists and anti-racist
protesters clashed in front of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. Three
arrests were pending in that melee yesterday.
In Kitchener last week, a man and a youth were charged after a Jewish
store owner confronted three people, two wearing Nazi regalia, and a fight
ensued.
In Sunday’s brutal beating, Sivarajah Vinasithamby, 41, was attacked as
he was finishing his shift as a dishwasher at the Tasty restaurant on
Bloor St. W. near Clinton St. at about 1:30 a.m.
Police describe the attack as unprovoked and racially motivated.
“I’m very worried for his life,” said his wife, Sivarajah Bawany, 33,
through a translator.
She has been spending all day by his bedside in Toronto Western
Hospital, while their three children, girls aged two and eight and a boy
aged six, are looked after by a cousin’s family.
It’s the first instance of bigotry the man’s family has encountered in
Canada, said his cousin, Para Sinnathurai, 40.
Described by fellow restaurant workers as quiet and friendly,
Vinasithamby fled to Canada two years ago to escape persecution after the
Sri-Lankan army took over his village, his cousin said.
He had taught high school science there while working toward a bachelor
of science degree, Sinnathurai said.
His wife has a bachelor of economics degree and is studying English and
typing so she can get a job.
(With files from Dottie O’Neill)
* Keep in mind, over 500 hate crimes were REPORTED in
Toronto last year…
** This is incorrect. Around 500 demonstrators showed up
at the anti-racist rally, and marched to the location where
RoHoWa (Racial Holy War) was playing for a gathering of
neo-Nazi Heritage Front/Church of the Creator members. By
the time of the encounter on Parliament Hill, only about 50
protestors remained to face between 50 and 75 white
supremacists…
_______________________________________________________________________________
PROTEST IN TORONTO
_______________________________________________________________________________
(Adapted from an Anti-Racist Action pamphlet)
UPCOMING DEMONSTRATION AGAINST NEO-NAZIS:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
NAZI
ATTACKS?!
SHUT ‘EM
DOWN
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
@ FRIDAY, JUNE 11, 7PM @
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>> Assemble: JOHN INNES CENTRE <<
<< (QUEEN & SHERBOURNE) >>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
MARCH ON A NAZI
CENTRE OF OPERATION
ANTI-RACIST
ACTION
_______________________________________________________________________________
WHAT THEY’VE DONE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* ARSON: In March, a neo-Nazi campaign of
phone and physical harrassnent of workers at
a residence for young women culminated in a
firebomb attack on the home.
* ASSAULT: That same month five neo-Nazis
jumped one Black community activist after a
night-time community meeting. Last week Heritage
Front members hospitalized anti-racists and
bystanders using baseball bats, bottles, and
chains at a rally in Ottawa
* HARRASSMENT: Neo-Nazis have organized and
directed escalating phone harrassment, death
threats, physical surveillance and intimidation
of anti-racists.
* BOMB THREATS: Neo-Nazis called in bomb threats
to an East End elementary school.
* CONNECTIONS: In April, the Church of the Creator
held a demonstration in Toronto in suppourt of The
Order, an American neo-Nazi terrorist organization
responsible for the assassination of a radio talk
show host in Denver, Colorado.
And just in this past week here in Toronto:
* KIDNAPPING: On Tuesday, at 10:00 a.m. a 22-year-old
Heritage Front member in the process of resigning from
the Heritage Front was abducted by three Church of the
Creator members who handcuffed, beat, and threatened to
inject window cleaner into the former Heritage Front Member.
A raid on the Maxome Ave .residence (Bayview-Steeles area of
North York) of six Church of the Creator members
yielded a 12-gauge shotgun, a .45-calibre semi-automatic and
a .22-calibre pistol, and the arrest of the three kidnappers
Drew Maynard, Elkar Fisher, and Eric Fisher (a former sergeant
of the Canadian Airborne Regiment and head of security and
counter-intelligence for the Church of the Creator AND the
Heritage Front).
* ASSAULT: On Sunday, at 1:30 a.m. a Tamil immigrant,
Sivarajah Vinasithamby, was brutally beaten by neo-Nazis
outside the Tasty restaurant and is now in hospital,
partly paralyzed and in a coma. One Nazi skinhead, Jason
Robert Hoolans, has been charged; he has links with the
Heritage Front and the Church of the Creator. In court
Hoolans admitted to having a drinking problem and an
uncontrollable temper.
——————————————————————————-
+++++++++++++++++
| GET INVOLVED! |
+++++++++++++++++
If you want to join Anti-Racist Action, start an ARA
in your community, or just get some information,
contact at our maiing address (listed below)
=======================
| ANTI-RACIST ACTION |
| P.O. BOX 664, STN C |
| TORONTO, ONTARIO |
| M6J 3S1 |
=======================
Or call us and leave a message at:
##################
# (416) 363-7541 #
##################
——————————————————————————-
– GECKO
Article: 22341 of alt.activism
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive,alt.activism,alt.society.civil-disobedience,alt.feminism
From: GECKO
Subject: Neo-Nazi Attack on TAMIL Refugee & Protest March in TORONTO
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Originator: [email protected]
Organization: The Zoo of Ids
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1993 20:57:11 GMT
Approved: [email protected]
Lines: 192
