The rise of the English Defence League, whose protests against Islamism have sparked violent city centre clashes, has been chaotic but rapid.

Three months ago, no one had heard of the EDL. But the organisation has risen to prominence in a spate of civil unrest in which far-right activists, football hooligans and known racists have fought running battles with Asian youths. The leadership insists they are not racist and just want to “peacefully protest against militant Islam”.

Yet at EDL events, skinheads have raised Nazi salutes and other EDL supporters have chanted racist slogans such as “I hate Pakis more than you”. One protest in Luton in May ended with scores of people attacking Asian businesses, smashing cars and threatening passersby.

Insiders have talked of plans to enlist football fans to march for the cause on the basis that “you need an army for a war”.

Guardian, 12 September 2009

See also “Minister warns of 1930s-style fascists on Britain’s streets”, Guardian, 12 September 2009

“This is the story that the news should be telling you, but probably isn’t. I was there, so I will tell you. I have rarely been so heartened in my political life.

“The English Defence League, whose marches have been wreaking chaos in Luton and Birmingham, attempted to target a mosque in Harrow today. Their official aim was to demonstrate outside the mosque in opposition to ‘Islamic extremism’.

“That this mosque has no connection with Islamic extremism tells you that any mosque would have sufficed for their purposes. As their organisers have explained, they believe that Islam itself is inherently extreme.

“I believe only few dozen of their activists actually made it to Harrow, but I can’t say for certain, because I never laid eyes on a single one. Where these fascist provocateurs intended to ‘protest’ were thousands of antifascists attending the UAF’s counter-demonstration.”

Lenin’s Tomb, 11 September 2009

See also “SIOE demo called off!”, SIOE website, 11 September 2009

Update:  See UAF statement, 12 September 2009

And pictures of the Harrow events here.

Hordes of rampaging young Asian men chased a small group of men through the civic centre car park after they apparently came to protest against Harrow Central Mosque.

Hundreds of people had gathered in Station Road, united against any protest against the mosque, and determined to protect their religion.

When the small group of men arrived, chanting from the crowd turned to anger and groups of protesters, some armed with sticks, broke ranks and began to chase the men.

The men, who had arrived at Harrow and Wealdstone station to head down to the mosque, quickly turned and ran through the car park when faced by the hostile crowd, hotly pursued by the protesters.

Police tackled the protesters on the edge of the civic centre car park, stopping them catching up with the group of men, and a short stand-off ensued between officers and the marauding protesters.

They were eventually coaxed into returning to the mosque, as hundreds spilled into Station Road, forcing police to shut it down.

Harrow Times, 11 September 2009

Ken Livingstone, chair of Unite Against Fascism and former mayor of London, spoke out today against the anti-Muslim rally called by far right organisations outside Harrow Central Mosque this Friday. Livingstone said:

“If anyone were to call a demonstration outside a synagogue or church, this would rightly provoke a national outcry. There should be exactly the same response from the government, politicians, all religious faiths and the media to the call for a demonstration outside a mosque. The only possible meaning of this event is a protest against Muslims and Islam – a religion followed by more than a billion people in the world.

“People should wake up to the fact the protests outside mosques are taking us back to the fascism of the 1930s when fascist thugs marched against Jews and their places of worship. This demonstration should be condemned and banned on the grounds of blatant religious discrimination and a threat to public order.”

The anti-Muslim protest has been called by groups such as the BNP-linked “English Defence League” – which ran riot in Birmingham last weekend, throwing bottles at Asians and making Nazi ‘sieg heil’ salutes – and “Stop the Islamisation of Europe”, which declares that it is against all Muslims and all forms of Islam. They are calling their protest on the anniversary of the 9/11 in an attempt to whip up hatred against all Muslims by falsely branding them as terrorist sympathisers.

Unite Against Fascism has called a vigil and rally to defend the mosque from these anti-Muslim bigots. Speakers at the rally include Tony McNulty, MP for Harrow East, and Navin Shah, the London Assembly member for Brent & Harrow. The anti-racist vigil is backed by a variety of local community organisations and trade unions.

Weyman Bennett, joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism, said: “Nobody should be fooled by the bigots when they claim that they are ‘not racist’ or ‘peaceful’. They are here for one simple purpose: to intimidate and abuse the Muslim community. Back in the 1970s the National Front would march through black areas on the pretext of opposing ‘mugging’. Today the racists and fascists use opposition to ‘Islamic extremism’ in the same way.

“We all have a duty to show solidarity with Muslims in the face of these racist provocations. We will bring together people from all of Harrow’s different communities to send a clear message to the racists: we will defend our multiracial and multicultural society – and anti-Muslim bigots are not welcome here.”

Unite Against Fascism press release, 10 September 2009