Four men at the forefront of a riotous crowd who tore down barriers and attacked the police during an EDL march in the Black Country have been locked up.
The men all pleaded guilty to charges of affray at the EDL demonstration in Stafford Street car park, Dudley, on July 17 last year. They were sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday with Judge Patrick Thomas telling them it was a “significant, highly unpleasant and wholly unnecessary public disorder”.
National Democrat protestors make up for lack of numbers with lots of flags
Hundreds of proponents and opponents held rallies in Sweden’s second-largest city Goteborg on Saturday to voice their opinions over the building of a mosque there.
Heavy police presence kept the two groups appart and a spokesman for the force said only one person had been arrested for violent behaviour toward an officer. It was the biggest police effort in the city since the EU Summit in 2001, when several thousand people gathered to protest against U.S. President George W. Bush, the EU and globalization.
Mosque opponents claim the construction will ruin a nearby park and that the area is not suitable, while supporters say the opposition is racist. The mosque – which will be the city’s second – is due to be completed in mid-June.
The anti-mosque demonstration involved the National Democrats and the Swedish Defence League – the sister organisation of the EDL, who sent a delegation. But the National Democrats reportedly refused to co-operate with the SDL who they regard as pro-Zionist.
The National Democrats, who split from the far-right Sweden Democrats in 2001 because they opposed the party toning down its racist rhetoric in the interests of electability, distributed a leaflet headed “Warning! Sweden is occupied by a foreign power!” which claimed Islam was responsible for suicide terror attacks, rape gangs, child marriages and robbing pensioners.
The counter-protest was organised by Göteborg Against Racism and the Left Party. About a hundred people joined the anti-mosque protest and they were met by 700 counter-demonstrators, according to police figures, though the organisers put the figure at over 2,000.
Exposure by the Courier of anti-Muslim remarks on the Facebook pages of local English Defence League activist Adrian Ratcliffe and English Democrat candidate JoJo Stanley have led to calls for a festival of cultural diversity.
Ideas centred on a fete are being backed by social housing chiefs Town and Country, which said many residents had found content on the website both “racist and upsetting”.
A spokesman said: “Residents felt that it was not a true reflection of life on the estate, which in their experience was a diverse and welcoming place to live. They wanted to counter any negative impression and felt the best way to do this would be to focus on the many positive things which make it such a friendly and inclusive place to live.”
Plans to celebrate different races and cultures on the estate include proposals for a music and dance stage, along with marquees containing various attractions and diversity themes.
Inspiration has been gained from a recent Spirit of Kindness project in which more than 20 events celebrated all the good things that Sherwood residents did for each other.
It is hoped the initiative will help soothe tensions arising in the community following the exposure of Ratcliffe last month.
The 61-year-old, who lived in Greggswood Road and was a preacher at St Philip’s Church in Sherwood, had denied he was racist but claimed he would do “whatever necessary” to fight “militant” Islam in the UK.
Nasir Jamil, president of the West Kent Muslim Association, said it welcomed efforts to improve cultural relations. He said: “We always campaign for community cohesion. We have difficulty with negative propaganda all over the world and need these type of events.”
Anyone wishing to contribute ideas or help out is invited to talks at the Robin Hood pub on Thursday, May 26 from 6pm. For more information call Brendan McGowan on 01892 523464.
Kent & Essex Courier, 20 May 2011
Update: Exposing… draws our attention to the fact that the EDL are threatening to attend both the organising meeting on Thursday and the festival itself.
More than a hundred English Defence League protesters have marched through a Flintshire town to the site of a proposed new Islamic cultural centre.
The site at the Shotton Lane Social Club was burnt down in a suspicious fire in February. Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society was planning to turn the property into a multi-cultural centre. Police said their strategy ensured the protest passed off without incident.
Early reports had suggested between 200 and 300 people were taking part but police said it was just over 100. The march ended with speeches outside the Shotton Lane Social Club before the protesters dispersed.
Update: And over at the Casuals United blog you can find the EDL endorsing the arson attack on the social club.
The racist thugs of the English Defence League teamed up with their Nazi pals in the British National Party to attack an anti-racist meeting in Barking on Thursday night.
They smashed the windows of Crown House on Linton Road, where the meeting was taking place. A woman NHS worker who was attending the meeting was injured in the attack. She had to receive hospital treatment.
The meeting went ahead despite the EDL’s attempts to storm it. It had been called by local councillors and trade unionists together with UAF to defend multiculturalism in Barking & Dagenham.
Police are alerting people to steer clear of Deeside this weekend as controversial right-wing group the English Defence League (EDL) stages a second protest against “militant Islam”. A march is to be held in Shotton from noon on Saturday, organised by EDL Deeside division member Graeme England.
He said: “We will be meeting at Shotton train station and will march from there to the site of the old Shotton Lane Social Club, where there will be some speeches. It will be an unofficial demo as the EDL leaders won’t be there, but we are expecting hundreds of members. It will be larger than last time we protested.”
About 100 EDL supporters marched through Shotton in January to voice their opposition to Flintshire Muslim Cultural Society’s plan to open an Islamic cultural centre at the derelict site of the town’s former social club, which was torched a couple of weeks later.
Mr England said: “We will also have the North West Infidels with us on the march. They are similar to the EDL in that we are fighting for the same cause – both our groups are against militant Islam. Our primary aim is to protest against a proposed mosque for Shotton. Burning the club down was a sign the community does not want it here.”
Supporting British troops … by endangering their lives
Defence chiefs are investigating a claim that soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment have been photographed showing their support for a far-right anti-Islam group.
Several pictures are under investigation. One shows soldiers from regiment – which recruits in Cumbria – posing next to the flag of the English Defence League (EDL) at a homecoming parade for the regiment in Blackburn last year. Eight soldiers are seen standing next to the flag, bearing the words: “EDL supports Duke of Lancaster Regiment.” Another more controversial picture shows a uniformed solider, allegedly in Helmand Province, his face hidden by a black scarf as he brandishes a pistol and stands in front of before the EDL flag.
The pictures – which have not yet been confirmed to be genuine – could help radicalise some Muslims, and inflame divisions between Islam and the West.
Kevin Caroll, 41, who is joint EDL leader, said the organisation was opposed to racism, but the Cumbrian branch is currently publishing an on-line video crammed with anti-Islamic slogans. The first of these shows a medieval crusader in battle armour, under the slogan: “Jihad works both ways.” Another slogan tells viewers: “Let the crusade begin.”
See also Lancashire Telegraph, 17 May 2011
The photographs were first published in the Sunday Times, captioned “Soldiers flaunt support for anti-Muslim league”. Contributors to Exposing… have suggested that the photos were supplied to the paper by the EDL itself as a publicity stunt. The fact that this is likely to further endanger the lives of British soldiers serving in Afghanistan was evidently of no concern to the “patriots” of the EDL.
In Hull, a group of EDL supporters staged a brief demonstration in the centre of town and then gathered outside the mosque in Pearson Park. The same mosque was targeted by the EDL and members of the fascist British National Party in December.
People from the mosque were joined by antifascists at extremely short notice to defend the religious building. One antifascist protestor says:
About 25 of the EDL rabble came out of a side street and marched past shouting racist abuse and making threats. The police allowed the EDL to spout their abuse but stopped the mosque supporters from approaching them.
The EDL then disappeared. More people turned up including students from the university. By now we had around about 80 people defending the Mosque. The EDL never came back.
However, this comes after we heard the mosque was attacked during the week and had some of its windows broken.
Unite Against Fascism, 15 May 2011
See also the Hull Daily Mail, which reports: “Two arrests were made during the course of the day. The first arrest was made in the Pearson Park area of the city at about 2pm. The second was in Spring Bank, when a man in his 30s was detained after an attack on a car full of Asian men.”
A man from Bolton was given a curfew order by magistrates after he threw a punch while attending an English Defence League rally in Blackburn.
A court was told how a man was being escorted out by stewards for heckling one the speakers when he was punched by a number of fellow supporters.
David Monks, aged 34, of Haydock Street, Bolton, pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour before Blackburn magistrates and was made subject to an electronically monitored curfew between 8pm and 6am for 91 days.
Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said CCTV of the incident showed Monks throwing a punch but it did not show whether it connected. “The other man was in fact punched unconscious but not necessarily by this defendant,” said Miss Allan.
Mr Michael Blacklidge, defending, said: “The irony is that this happened between EDL supporters who fell out amongst themselves.”
See also “Five in court after Blackburn EDL rally”, Lancashire Telegraph, 16 May 2011
Yesterday’s The Big Questions on BBC TV was devoted to the issue “Does Britain have a problem with Muslims?” The very title illustrates how Islamophobic discourse has entered the mainstream. Can anyone imagine the BBC broadcasting a programme that addressed the question “Does Britain have a problem with Jews?” or “Does Britain have a problem with Blacks?”
Racist revelations in Sherwood have prompted concerned residents to plan an event promoting more integration.