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FDP Election Slogan '18' Likened to Neo-Nazi Code for Hitler BERLIN -- Controversy is swirling over the widely publicized campaign slogan for Germany's conservative 'liberal' party, the FDP. The slogan, "18 FDP" is, according to party leaders, meant to mean that the FDP seeks 18 percent of the vote in this year's general elections.
All over the country signs are appearing with a large "18" and the logo for FDP. The party has deployed the new slogan in brochures, posters, print advertising and on its online site. It is well known in Germany that neo-Nazis have used "18" as their shorthand code for Adolf Hitler for several years. The code is used in conversations, on t-shirts, bomber jackets and even in big numerals on the soles of boots. FDP officials deny that their use of "18" is a coded appeal for neo-Nazi and racist support. Yet the party's lunge toward the far right and its number two leader's frequent verbal attacks on a prominent Jewish leader and have turned simmering questions about the FDP's direction into a swirling controversy. - 7 June 2002 Spain's Terror Law 'Like the Spanish Inquisition' MADRID -- There is uproar in Spain, where the rightwing parliament has banned all political parties that "foment hatred and violence" according to standards that are being likened to the Spanish Inquisition and fascist Franco's dictatorship. Four Roman Catholic bishops and the United Left Party are leading opposition to the law. United Left chairman Gaspar Llamazares said the law resembles the Spanish Inquisition, an ecclesiastical tribunal in medieval times that condemned thousands of non-Catholics and questioners of doctrine to torture and death. Llamazares said, "Whoever disagrees with the government's anti-terrorist policy gets a hood put on them and is placed alongside ETA." ETA is the Basque separatist organization blamed for countless bombings in Spain. - 4 June 2002 No Probe in Fortuyn Complaint AMSTERDAM -- Dutch prosecutors today
rejected a complaint by attorneys for murdered rightwing leader Pim
Fortuyn, claiming that politicians and the daily NRC Handelsblad incited hatred against him.
- 4 June 2002 Le Pen Tortured Algerians During War, Le Monde Reports PARIS -- French far right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen electrocuted, beat and almost suffocated Algerians during the the 1950s war of independence from France, according to a report in Le Monde today. Le Pen called the accusations and an alleged eyewitness' quotes "lies." -3 June 2002 Duisenberg's Wife Gets Police Protection After Threat AMSTERDAM -- Gretta Duisenberg-Bedier de Prairie, wife of the president of the European Central Bank (ECB) Wim Duisenberg, has been assigned government bodyguards following a death threat stemming from her support for Palestinians. Authorities described a letter that arrived at the Duisenberg home yesterday as "very serious" and "life threatening." Duisenberg-Bedier de Prairie has come under extreme pressure and a wave of hate since she hoisted a Palestinian flag outside the couple's Amsterdam home six weeks ago. The flag has since been removed. In recent interviews, Duisenberg-Bedier de Prairie described the flag hoisting as an expression of "sadness" about ongoing violence against Palestinians. She has said that her husband had no role in her action. Dutch police and security officers from the Netherlands Central Bank and the ECB have been called in to provide security for Duisenberg-Bedier de Prairie. Authorities in both Amsterdam and Frankfurt, Germany are investigating. - 31 May 2002 Not Since the
Gestapo BRUSSELS -- Draconian legislation that will give police power to eavesdrop on all phone calls and internet traffic was approved by the European Parliament today. The law will force telephone companies and internet service providers to maintain detailed logs of phone calls as well as net traffic, and keep them available to police for years. A coalition of forty civil rights organizations immediately issued a warning that the new legislation will be "disastrous" for the "most sensitive and confidential types of personal data". Not since the Gestapo eavesdropped wherever the Nazis held power has Europe witnessed such a sweeping empowerment of police to spy on citizens. MEP Ilka Schroeder condemned the law, calling it transformation of the European Union into the "surveillance union." Schroeder pointed out that the former East German security service Stasi was never granted such harsh and all-encompassing powers. Even the author of an earlier version of the new legislation, MEP Marco Cappato, condemned the measure as a frontal attack on freedom and civil liberties in Europe. Backers of the new spy law say it is necessary to "to conduct criminal investigations or safeguard national or public security." - 30 May 2002 Dutch Rightwing Coalition To Order Immigration Clampdown AMSTERDAM -- When Hitler assumed power in Germany in 1932, Jews fled without even their belongings or identity papers. Thousands went to The Netherlands, where they were given residence permits. That scenario will be banned as part of a harsh clampdown on immigration that has been agreed upon by a coalition including the anti-immigrant Pim Fortuyn List (LPF), which is destined to rule the country following the 15 May elections. The rightwing christian democrats (CDA), LPF and the conservative liberals (VVD) have agreed to forbid asylum seekers from even entering the country if they do not have proper identity papers. Their agreement is part of a pact that is expected to lead to a new Dutch government in which the LPF will be part of the government and hold key ministerial posts. The harsh new anti-asylum rules could spell death sentences for some immigrants, human rights officials warned. They point to the reality that individuals who are forced by repression to flee their home countries seldom have identity documents with them as they seek refuge. When nations refuse them entry and forcibly return them to their homeland, long prison terms and executions are not uncommon. - 30 May 2002 Mölleman Rejects Haider Support BERLIN -- Conservative liberal (FDP) number two leader Jürgen Möllemann has flatly rejected support from Austrian rightwing leader Jörg Haider. Möllemann declared that he and the FDP will have nothing to do with Haider, who he accused of having policies of a "rat catcher."
Haider, in an interview with the Berlin Tagesspiegel, praised Möllemann's "emancipation of democrats."
- 27 May 2002 |
But
in Germany's large, highly coordinated neo-Nazi circles, "18" is the written
and spoken code for Adolf Hitler. The code is simple. Neo-Nazis
translate the initials of names and phrases into numbers. The letter
"A" is the number "1" because it is the first letter in the alphabet. The
letter "H" is thus "8" as the eighth letter of the alphabet. In
neo-Nazi code, "18" refers to Adolf Hitler and "88" means "heil Hitler," the
national socialist salute.