Category Archives: Far right racists

Blackburn: EDL supporters end up fighting each other

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL supporters fighting in BlackburnProtests by the English Defence League and opposing groups in Blackburn led to 12 arrests in a major police operation.

About 2,000 EDL supporters gathered for their protest near King George’s Hall on Northgate, according to police. Opposing protesters, who were kept about 150m (490ft) away, said their gathering was a celebration of multi-culturalism.

The 12 arrests made during the day included a 48-year-old man, from Blackburn, who was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer. Others were arrested on suspicion of offences including breach of the peace, affray, being drunk and disorderly and using threatening words or behaviour.

Skirmishes broke out among supporters during the EDL rally, despite an appeal for a peaceful event from the organisers. One man was punched to the floor, while coins and a pint glass were thrown. EDL spokesman Tony Curtis blamed the fracas on a more extreme splinter group. A small group of EDL supporters also broke away from the main demonstration area and were quickly brought under control by police, the force said.

BBC News, 2 April 2011

Update:  See Unite Against Fascism, 2 April 2011

 

Wilders announces second anti-Islam film

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders is planning to make a follow up to his anti-Qur’an film Fitna. This time he will focus on the Muslim prophet Mohammed.

The controversial MP announced on Friday that his film on “the barbaric life and the sick mind of Mohammed” will come out in 2012.

RNW, 1 April 2011

I’ve lost count of the number of times Wilders has announced a follow up to Fitna. He first did so two years ago and said it would be out in 2010.

Six due in court today over Redbridge mosque attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A wedge will not be driven between Redbridge’s diverse communities, a mosque chairman has insisted, after a gang attacked his imam and worshippers.

Frightened men and women ducked for cover and the imam of Redbridge Islamic Centre (RIC), Eastern Avenue, Redbridge, was injured during last week’s attack before the final prayer of the day. Racist and islamophobic abuse was allegedly hurled as the gang smashed windows and tried to get into the main prayer hall.

But RIC chairman Abul Khayer Ali said this week he will not allow the attack to create divisions. He said:

“Redbridge is a strong and cohesive community with a long standing record of unity. We will not allow such callous attacks to create a wedge in the community. Rather, this will inspire the RIC to work harder to engage and work closely to reduce stigma and discrimination towards Muslims.”

Neighbouring homes and cars were also damaged during the incident, which happened at about 7.45pm.

Cllr Sohaib Patel, cabinet member for environment and community safety, said:

“Redbridge has a very successful diverse, multicultural and cohesive society where residents are able to live in harmony, respecting each other’s faiths and values. As the cabinet member for environment and community safety in Redbridge, I assure you that the council and its partners, including the police, will not stand by and let this incident change the very nature of these successes.”

He also praised the community safety partnership team for their work in the borough.

• Six people appeared at Redbridge Court on Saturday charged with violent disorder. Matthew Stephenson, 19, of no fixed address, Daniel Leal, 19, of no fixed address, Rockylee Beale, 19, of Wood Green, Essex and a 15-year-old boy have been bailed. Elliot Jones, 19, of no fixed address and Ryan Jones, 22, of Ilford, have been remanded in custody. They will all appear again at Redbridge Magistrates’ Court this morning.

Ilford Recorder, 1 April 2011

Nine men now charged with Kingston Mosque attack

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Kingston anti-Muslim protest (4)A total of nine men have now been charged in connection with an attack which saw beer thrown at Kingston Mosque and the building urinated on.

The attack is alleged to have followed a march through Kingston town centre against Muslim extremism on Sunday, November 21, 2010. None of the men charged are from the Kingston area.

Martin Pottle, 22, of Eldridge Close, Feltham; Jordan Ellingham, 20, of Camden Road, Feltham, and a 17-year-old man from Shepperton were charged with affray and religiously aggravated criminal damage by Kingston police today, Friday, April 1. They were bailed to appear at Kingston Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, April 12.

Yesterday Alfie Wallace, 18, of Hetherington Road, Shepperton; Paul Abley, 24, of Hounslow Road, Shepperton, and Karl Matthews, 20, of Brentford High Street, were charged with the same offences. They will appear at Kingston Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, April 7.

Terence Earl, 31, of Aspen Lane, Northolt; David Morris, 20, of Elm Way, Epsom, and Adam Khalfan, 18, of Feltham Road, Ashford, were charged with the offences on Wednesday, March 30. They will also appear at Kingston Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, April 7.

Surrey Comet, 1 April 2011

Tunbridge Wells: English Democrats chairman exposed as Muslim-hating EDL supporter

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Adrian Ratcliffe 3An ex-preacher and hospital chaplain from Tunbridge Wells is an associate of a “terrible” far-right anti-Islamic group, we can reveal.

On the “likes” listed on his Facebook page, local politician Adrian “Charlie” Ratcliffe has a link to an offensive joke about strapping pork on to oneself and running into a mosque. The page also contains a picture depicting the Koran in a highly offensive light.

Mr Ratcliffe’s views were condemned across the town this week, with West Kent Muslim Association president Nasir Jamil saying: “This is absolutely concerning for all Muslims in this area.”

But the 61-year-old, an English Defence League (EDL) activist, was unrepentant, and endorsed extremely insulting remarks made by others about the prophet Mohammed. He also made inflammatory comments that English girls needed to be on the lookout for gangs of Islamic rapists.

Mr Ratcliffe, also chairman of the Tunbridge Wells branch of the English Democrats party, said he would do “whatever necessary” to fight “militant” Islam – a term he used to describe “a very large number” of people following the faith in the UK. He denied he was a racist.

The retired trade union official from Greggswood Road was once an assistant chaplain at Pembury Hospital and a preacher at St Philip’s Church in Sherwood. Both organisations distanced themselves from him this week.

The EDL regularly stages protests about the building of new mosques – and Mr Ratcliffe was proud to have taken part in one in Dagenham, east London.

Mr Ratcliffe – the one-time chairman of Sherwood Community Action Group – and his fellow EDL members openly discuss their beliefs on their Facebook pages, pointing each other in the direction of anti-Islamic material.

An online quiz question posed by a Facebook friend of Mr Ratcliffe asked recipients what they thought of Muslims. The choices were: “They’re OK”, “I hate ’em” or “I can’t stand ’em, send them all back”. Mr Ratcliffe chose the last option.

After originally denying he had taken part in the quiz, he told theCourier his answer was referring to “extremists”. When pressed on having a link to the offensive website suggesting people should strap pork on to themselves and run into mosques, Mr Ratcliffe said he had found it “humorous” and would not advocate doing such a thing in real life.

And he claimed he was unaware the anti-Islamic picture was on his Facebook page at all – despite the fact it was displayed at the top, directly below his name.

This is Essex, 31 March 2011

See also This is Kent, 1 April 2011

Geert Wilders denounces Prophet as ‘insane, paedophile, rapist murderer’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

EDL England Needs a GertGeert Wilders has stepped up his anti-Islam rhetoric by describing the Prophet Mohammed as an “insane, paedophile, rapist murderer” just two weeks before the opening of his trial on charges of inciting race hatred.

The leader of hard-Right Dutch Freedom Party will be prosecuted in an Amsterdam court on April 13 for previous comparisons of Islam to Nazism. On Thursday he fuelled the controversy surrounding his anti-Muslim politics and trial by publishing an article citing academics who accuse Islam’s founder of crimes ranging from child rape to murder.

“The historical Mohammad was the savage leader of a gang of robbers from Medina. Without scruples they looted, raped and murdered,” Mr Wilders claimed in the Dutch magazine HP/De Tijd.

Continue reading →

Transport police hunt for EDL racists

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The British Transport Police are hunting for a group of men who chanted racist slurs onboard a train on Saturday 5 March – the group are believed to have been travelling to Rochdale for the EDL demonstration which took place that day. The incident happened on the 11.08am Leeds to Manchester Victoria service, when a group of around 50 men boarded the service at Halifax.

Detective Constable Jason Ridgway, of BTP’s Criminal Investigation Department, said:

“The group’s behaviour included chanting racist and inappropriate remarks and aggressively punching and banging on the train’s interior, causing unnecessary fear for passengers and staff onboard the train. The behaviour of these men was outrageous and has no place on the railway – or in the wider community – especially at a time when families are travelling between cities.”

DC Ridgway added: “Racism and Islamophobia in our community and on the rail network is totally unacceptable. Everyone has the right to travel without fear of abuse or threatening behaviour, and when that behaviour is further exacerbated by racist undertones, our stance becomes firmer still. BTP and the wider rail industry will not tolerate any form of racism on the rail network and we will do everything in our power to take action against those responsible.”

If you have information contact British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 quoting background reference B12/NWA or call the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Rochdale Online, 30 March 2011

Update:  See also Exposing the English Defence League, 31 March 2011

Mail resurrects ‘smell of bacon offends Muslims’ story

Posted on by Bob Pitt

You may remember the “Cafe owner ordered to remove extractor fan in case smell of frying bacon offends passing Muslims” story in the Daily Mail last October (as you can see from the url, that was the original headline – it was later amended).

The story concerned Stockport Council’s rejection of a retrospective planning application for the retention of an extraction vent to the front of a cafe. This decision was the result of a successful objection by one individual, a Mr Graham Webb-Lee, who lived next door to the cafe and was not himself a Muslim. He stated: “The vent is 12 inches from my front door. Every morning the smell of bacon comes through and makes me physically sick.”

The “Muslim” connection consisted in the fact that Webb-Lee added: “I have a lot of Muslim friends. They refuse to visit me anymore because they can’t stand the smell of bacon.” He also stated that he had “a daughter with an eating disorder” whose health was affected by the odours from the extractor fan and that they made his clothes smell. But the only one among this range of objections that the Mail highlighted was Webb-Lee’s reference to his Muslim visitors.

Richard Bartholomew took the story up at the time, as did Tabloid Watch, and three readers wrote to the Press Complaints Commission objecting to the Mail‘s inaccurate and irresponsible reporting. Predictably, the PCC ruled in favour of the Mail – a decision criticised by Tabloid Watch, Roy Greenslade and Sunny Hundal.

Greenslade quoted the bigoted comments that the Mail‘s misleading report had provoked on its website. Some examples:

“Well how about, you go back to your own country and we can eat our food in peace” … “Absolutely ludicrous! If Muslims are affected let them ‘pass by on the other side of the street!’ I’m fed up of hearing about the possibility of offending Muslims in this God forsaken country!”… “If the Muslims don’t like our way of life they know where the airport is. Sick of listening to whinging religious fruitcakes.” And so on.

Greenslade also reproduced a comment on the Mail‘s report by Mr Webb-Lee himself:

“This vent is affecting my children’s health and that is why the council denied planning! Yes, I have some Muslim friends who it offended, but nothing was said about my English friends who avoid my house within opening hours of the shop! Shame on you Daily Mail. You have stirred up lots of racial tension in my area now, so for you its ‘mission accomplished’.”

Today the Mail has returned for a second bite at the cherry with a story headlined “‘A victory for common sense’: Cafe owner wins extractor fan appeal after neighbour claimed ‘smell of bacon offends Muslims'”. It begins, with characteristic disregard for accuracy: “A cafe owner was yesterday celebrating victory after a six-month legal battle to fry bacon triggered by Muslim complaints.” (The original version read: “A cafe owner who was ordered to tear down an extractor fan because the smell of bacon offended Muslims was celebrating a ‘victory for commons [sic] sense’ today.”)

And, again, the Mail‘s misrepresentation of the facts has fuelled the predictable outburst of anti-Muslim bigotry. Exposing racism and intolerance online has provided a screengrab of some of the Facebook comments by supporters of the English Defence League.

EDL Daily Mail bacon offends Muslims

See also the Sun, which reports: “A café boss ordered to tear down an extractor fan as the smell of her frying bacon offended passing Muslims has won her appeal against the decision.”

And for a critical view of the press coverage, see “There’s a nasty smell about this story”, www.MethodistPreacher.com, 31 March 2011

Epsom man charged over Kingston Mosque attacks

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A man suspected of being part of a gang that threw beer at and urinated on a mosque during a march against Muslim extremism has today been charged by police.

Twenty-year-old David Morris, of Elm Way Epsom, was charged with affray and religiously aggravated criminal damage by Kingston Police following the protests on November 21 outside Kingston Mosque.

He will appear before Kingston Magistrates Court on April 7.

Kingston Guardian, 30 March 2011

Sikh community issues ultimatum to EDL’s Guramit Singh

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sikhs Against EDL 2Sikhs opposed to the English Defence League (EDL) have issued an ultimatum to Guramit Singh, spokesperson for the EDL who claims to be of Sikh heritage. The ultimatum calls for Guramit Singh from Nottingham to publically denounce and distance himself from the EDL by the end of the Vaisakhi festival.

Vaisakhi is a Sikh religious festival that falls on April 13 and it is one of the most significant occasions for the Sikhs, commemorating the establishment of the Khalsa (martial Sikhism) in 1699 by the 10th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh ji. This year will mark the 312th anniversary of this auspicious occasion and will be celebrated globally with recitals of religious hymns and prayers for world peace.

Should he (Guramit Singh) fail to do so the community will appeal to the highest political authority of the Sikhs, the Akal Takht in the holy city of Amritsar, Punjab, India to formally request excommunication orders for him to be permanently expelling from the Sikh faith for bringing it into disrepute.

The excommunication order, if passed could mean the EDL member being permanently shunned from all aspects of the Sikh community, although that would be an ultimate sanction.

Turban Campaign press release, 29 March 2011