Wilders not welcome in Philadelphia

Posted on October 18, 2009 by Bob Pitt

The David Horowitz Freedom Center (which would probably outpoint the Centre for Social Cohesion in a competition for the most inappropriate name) has invited the Dutch far-right racist Geert Wilders to speak at Philadelphia’s Temple University on 20 October as part of its Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week and its Stop the Campus War Against Israel and the Jews campaign.

Alas for Horowitz and his supporters, it appears that following a letter from the Muslim Students Association the Temple administration will probably withdraw permission to hold the event. (Or, as the inimitable Pamela Geller puts it: “In a stunning act of cowardice and dhimmitude, Temple University may be caving to the demands of the student jihad.”)

LoonWatch comments that, contrary to Horowitz’s claims, “Geert Wilders was not planning to travel to Philadelphia from the Netherlands solely for the purpose of informing Americans about terrorism…. Based on Wilders’ record, it is clear that the purpose behind the speech was to convince Americans that Islam as a religion is the root cause of terror and that the United States must seriously consider curtailing the civil liberties of its Muslim population if it wishes to survive as a free nation.”

Unfortunately, it appears that another speaking engagement for Wilders, at Columbia University on 21 October, is still going ahead. As LoonWatch states: “Temple University was right to rescind their offer to have Wilders speak and Columbia should follow suit. Slander has no place in a free and just society; especially slander that utilizes hate speech to promote discrimination.”

Nazi-saluting Islamophobes take to the streets of Swansea

Posted on October 18, 2009 by Bob Pitt

Welsh Defence League Nazi salute

They denied being fascists ahead of their first Welsh march – but at yesterday’s Welsh Defence League protest against Islamic extremism onlookers were confronted with scenes of jeering men giving Nazi salutes. It was the first time the newly-formed group have been out on the streets in Wales.

The controversial march had sparked a counter-demonstration, with about 200 protesters occupying the city centre. A heavy police cordon on either side of Castle Street in Swansea city centre kept the two groups apart.

Speaking before its demonstration, the Welsh Defence League (WDL) said the event would be peaceful, and consistently denied allegations of fascist tendencies. But the ugly scenes, in which grown men among the group of around 60 were seen making Nazi salutes in front of small children, seemed to prove otherwise.

Keith Ross, one of the organisers of the counter demonstration by groups including Swansea City of Sanctuary and Searchlight Cymru, said: “My first reaction to the WDL is who are they defending us against? I don’t need to be defended against Muslims and I’m sad that the WDL has made a public call for no more mosques, which is a breach of human rights. Yet they have been given the right of freedom of speech.”

Plaid Cymru Assembly Member Leanne Woods was among those who had turned out to oppose the Welsh Defence League. She said: “This is the first time they have come to Wales and a lot of people from different organisations have come out to say far-right extremism isn’t acceptable on the streets of Swansea. We are happy to live together with the Muslim community and we are not prepared to accept divisive and hate-based politics on our streets.”

Dr Mohammed Rahman, who attends Swansea Mosque, said Muslims in Swansea were very much an accepted part of the community.

Wales Online, 18 October 2009

See also “WDL humiliated in Swansea”, Hope not Hate blog, 18 October 2009

All in all, a total disaster for the few dozen WDL supporters, who were heavily outumbered by anti-fascists.

Anti-WDL protest

Muslims: ‘give them an inch and they will take a mile’

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Bob Pitt

“If people were convinced that Islamic extremists had little support among British Muslims it would be easy to write the off as an eccentric fringe element. In such a context, plans for rallies by fundamentalists to press claims for a wholesale switch to sharia law in Britain could be regarded with equanimity rather than alarm.

“Unfortunately, that is not the case. With the threat of Islamist terrorism a major factor in our national life and with a bewildering array of Muslim pressure groups always ready to press for new cultural concessions, the British public has come to a depressing conclusion: give them an inch and they will take a mile.”

The Daily Express tries to defend yesterday’s hysterical and entirely misleading front-page coverage of the planned al-Muhajiroun demonstration in London. Predictably, the leader goes on to attack “moderate Muslims” for failing to “marginalise extremists”, which of course entirely ignores the direct action taken against al-Muhajiroun by Muslims in Luton.

Update: See also ENGAGE, 16 October 2009

Further update: The Express editorial has been reproduced word for word in the latest issue of National Front News.

Thilo Sarrazin – racist hero

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Bob Pitt

This summer we saw the ugly face of racism in the US with the rise of the “tea-baggers”. Now racism is being mainstreamed in Germany after a member of the Bundesbank – Thilo Sarrazin – let loose against “Arabs” and Turks living in Germany in an interview with the culture magazine Lettre International:

“A large number of Arabs and Turks in this city, whose number has grown through bad policies, have no productive function other than as fruit and vegetable vendors,” he said.

“Forty per cent of all births occur in the underclasses. Our educated population is becoming stupider from generation to generation. What’s more, they cultivate an aggressive and atavistic mentality. It’s a scandal that Turkish boys won’t listen to female teachers because that is what their culture tells them”, he said. “I’d rather have East European Jews with an IQ that is 15pc higher than the German population,” he said.

Continue reading →

Wilders heads for UK

Posted on October 16, 2009 by Bob Pitt

Controversial right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders is due to arrive in the UK later after the home secretary said he would not try to block his entry. Mr Wilders was turned away from the UK in February on the grounds that his allegedly anti-Islamic views posed a threat to public security. But the Freedom Party leader is now due to visit London on Friday after that ban was overturned by a tribunal. The Home Office says it is considering whether to challenge the decision.

A spokesman for Home Secretary Alan Johnson said on Thursday: “Any European visitor’s right to enter the UK will be considered on its merits by an immigration officer. On this occasion the home secretary is not minded to recommend that Wilders is denied admission to the UK. Clearly Mr Wilders’ statements and behaviour during a visit will inevitably impact on any future decisions to admit him.”

BBC News, 16 October 2009

Death threats against anti-fascist campaigner

Posted on October 15, 2009 by Bob Pitt

EDL incites hatred against Julie Keller

Police are guarding an anti-fascist campaigner who has received dozens of death threats following a right-wing rally in Manchester. Julie Keller has been wrongly accused of disrupting a two-minute silence in honour of UK troops and is now receiving police protection.

She is the target of a Facebook group entitled “Julie Keller UAF SCUM” which has published her home address and telephone number. Next to a picture of Mrs Keller, the website says: “For Those Of You Who Dont Know This Is The Bitch On The Megaphone During Our 2 Minute Silence To Honour Our Troops.”

The webpage was set up by supporters of the English Defence League (EDL), a right-wing group that clashed with members of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) in the city’s Piccadilly Gardens on Saturday. Greater Manchester Police officers are now watching Mrs Keller’s home in Oldham.

“At the time of the EDL silence I was in a sushi bar having my lunch,” she told Sky News. “I’m absolutely mortified. I’ll stand up for the things I’ve done, but I’ve never been a member of the UAF. Enough is enough.”

Unbowed by the onslaught, she has given Sky News permission to show the Facebook page.

Inspector Dave Stopford of Greater Manchester Police is investigating the postings which include threats to “set her on fire”, “stab the slut” and the wish that she contracts cancer. “We are aware that a number of threats have been made,” he said. “These threats have been made via telephone, email and via Facebook. “The victim has been spoken to by my officers and appropriate measures are in place to ensure her safety.”

Mrs Keller, a mother of two and member of the anti-fascist group Searchlight, said she has had 96 death threats made against her online and has lost count of the phone calls she has received from right wing extremists. “People have been shouting abuse down the phone and sending emails, some of them very, very nasty.”

Sky News, 15 October 2009

Geert Wilders wins appeal against ban on travelling to UK

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Bob Pitt

Geert Wilders Extremist2

The far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders intends to travel to London next week after an immigration tribunal ruling overturned a ban on visiting Britain.

The Home Office said it was disappointed after the tribunal rejected its claim that his presence could “inflame community tensions and lead to inter-faith violence”.

The Freedom party leader immediately announced his intention to meet Ukip’s Lord Pearson of Rannoch to discuss a showing of his anti-Islamic film Fitna later this month in the House of Lords.

Judge CMG Ockelton, who chaired the tribunal, said that Wilders’s opinions were expressed strongly and in a way that was bound to cause offence but that the right of freedom of expression was important in a democratic society.

“Substantial evidence of actual harm would be needed before it would be proper for a government to prevent the expression and discussion of matters that might form the opinions of legislators, policy makers and voters,” he said.

The ruling said there had been no evidence of public order problems or damage to community relations as a result of a previous visit by Wilders to Britain. “It was more important to allow free speech than to take restrictive action speculatively,” said Ockelton.

The judgment goes further, saying that even if there were evidence that Wilders posed a threat to public order it would still not have been necessary to ban him because the police would have been able to ensure no disorder took place and remove him if there was trouble.

Guardian, 13 October 2009

Anti-fascists run EDL out of town

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Bob Pitt

Anti-fascists run EDL out of town Far-right thugs planning an anti-Islamic demonstration in Manchester were forced back on Saturday following a mass counter-protest by anti-fascists. The English Defence League (EDL) was outnumbered by more than three to one by people of all races determined to defend Britain’s diverse cultural mix.

Unite Against Fascism (UAF) said that the 700 EDL activists had been “run out of town” by 2,500 counter-protesters who occupied most of Piccadilly Gardens, destroying the organisers’ plan to hold a rally and sing the national anthem on the spot.

Greater Manchester UAF spokesman Mike Gilligan hailed it as a “very successful day for the anti-racist movement” against a far-right march on a scale unseen in the city for decades.

“The number of counter-protesters was inspiring, representing a multicultural Manchester,” said Mr Gilligan. “Our protesters reflected the energy, particularly of young people, who showed their disgust at the racists trying to group together in Manchester city centre,” he added.

Members of EDL, which is closely affiliated with hooligan outfits such as Casuals United and neofascist groups around the country, made nazi salutes and traded insults over a line of riot police which separated the two groups of protesters. They waved banners declaring “Make Britain Safe” and “Extreme Islamists Out.”

Five hundred police officers attended the scene and police made 48 arrests, around 32 from the EDL ranks. Grounds for arrest included suspicion of public order offences, affray, possession of an offensive weapon and racially aggravated public order offences.

UAF described the police as “heavy-handed,” with at least three anti-fascists bitten by police dogs. Fellow activists charged the police with “protecting fascists.” One protester was allegedly pushed into a van where a crisp packet had been shoved into the ventilation and the heating turned on full blast.

Links between the EDL and groups such as Casuals United and militant white supremacists Racial Force have sparked calls from some anti-fascist activists for increased activity in the struggle to suppress these groups. Thousands of anti-fascists are currently organising to neutralise planned far-right rallies in coming weeks by the English, Welsh and Scottish Defence leagues in Swansea, Newport, Leeds and Glasgow. Anti-fascists are also planning to hold a national demonstration to allow the British public to express its opposition to the far right.

Morning Star, 12 October 2009

Racists post threatening comments on anti-mosque Facebook group

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Bob Pitt

Threatening and racist comments have appeared on an anti-mosque Facebook group. “No to the new Mosque in Weston-super-Mare” has been set up in opposition to proposals for a new Muslim centre in Orchard Street.

Last week the Weston & Somerset Mercury revealed the Weston Islamic Education Centre group had applied to covert the former Rock Gardens site into a community centre which would also be used for prayer.

But some of the 440 members have written threatening comments in the internet forum. One post said: “Muslims are never gonna take over this country….well at least weston super mare, I swear on my life if they built this new mosque in weston I will set fire 2 it and thats a f***in promis.” Other comments say that all Muslims are terrorists and one aggressive member threatens to drive a bus into the centre and blow it up if it is given planning permission.

Continue reading →

EDL protest in Manchester

Posted on October 10, 2009 by Bob Pitt

English Defence League Hold Demonstrations In Manchester

Ten people were injured and 44 people arrested in the English Defence League protest in Manchester city centre. Police imposed a lockdown around Piccadilly Gardens as EDL demonstrators faced off against Unite Against Fascism (UAF).

The two factions stood on opposite sides separated by a police line with officers on horseback and in riot gear. EDL supporters, who oppose “radical Islam” and Sharia law made Nazi salutes and sang patriotic songs, while UAF protesters maintained a non-stop anti-fascist chant. There were several hundred EDL protesters and more than 1,000 from the UAF.

The stand-off continued for about four and a half hours on Saturday afternoon. Shops were closed around the Piccadilly area. Around 4.30pm some UAF protesters began to disperse. Shortly before 5pm police moved the EDL supporters off Piccadilly Gardens and escorted them to bus and train stations.

UAF spokesman Mike Gilligan said: “It was a tremendously successful day for the anti-racist movement. The EDL were run out of town, they were not very powerful, they completely failed. Our protesters reflected the energy, particularly of young people, who showed their disgust at the racists trying to group together in Manchester city centre. It was a vibrant celebration of multi-cultural Manchester.”

Manchester Evening News, 10 October 2009

EDL Manchester

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