Ham Steaks of Hatred

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/208385-3/LewistonAuburn/Hate_incident_in_city/

LEWISTON - One student has been suspended and more disciplinary action could follow a possible hate crime at Lewiston Middle School, Superintendent Leon Levesque said Wednesday.

On April 11, a white student placed a ham steak in a bag on a lunch table where Somali students were eating. Muslims consider pork unclean and offensive.

The act reminded students of a man who threw a pig's head into a Lewiston mosque last summer.

The school incident is being treated seriously as "a hate incident," Levesque said. Lewiston police are investigating, and the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence is working with the school to create a response plan.

"We've got some work to do to turn this around and bring the school community back together again," Levesque said.....

 

And in a related story.....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070419/wl_afp/eujusticeracism

LUXEMBOURG (AFP) - The European Union on Thursday made inciting racism and xenophobia crimes throughout its 27 member states in a landmark decision tempered by caveats to appease free speech concerns. ​

That could include the sending of "tracts, pictures or other material."
The deal, reached by EU justice ministers in Luxembourg, display's "Europe's "common moral values", EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini told reporters.
It comes after almost six years of wrangling and falls short of Germany's ambitions of specifically outlawing Holocaust denial.

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