Writing in the Toronto Star, Ihsaan Gardee of the National Council of Canadian Muslims criticises the Canadian government’s failure to take any action, or even issue a statement, in response to Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer’s appearance at a public meeting organised by the far-right Jewish Defence League.
Category Archives: Far right racists
Tower Hamlets stands firm against EDL
Gerry Gable reports on the inspiring demonstration against the English Defence League in East London last week.
Le Pen wants to campaign with Wilders
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen wants to campaign with Dutch anti-Islamic party leader Geert Wilders in next year’s European parliamentary elections, she said in an interview Saturday.
“We could perhaps campaign together for the elections,” Le Pen told Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad. “It’s important that the voter sees that we do not stand alone, that similar patriotic movements are active in every EU country,” she said.
Le Pen said earlier this year that she wants to begin a pan-European far-right parliamentary grouping, including her National Front (FN) party, after the May 2014 European elections.
EDL leaders are refused public venue in Sweden and Denmark
As we have already reported, the “counterjihadist” publication Dispatch International has been having difficulty finding venues for the Scandinavian speaking tour it had arranged for English Defence League leaders Stephen Lennon and Kevin Carroll later this month.
DI editors Ingrid Carlqvist and Lars Hedegaard (pictured) hired the Malmö Konferenscenter/Folkets Hus for the Swedish leg of the tour, only to have their booking cancelled by management. This was followed by the cancellation of the booking at the Odd Fellow Palæet, which was the advertised venue for Lennon and Carroll’s appearance in Copenhagen.
Carlqvist and Lars Hedegaard were reduced to holding meetings at undisclosed venues, the location of which would not be revealed until a few hours before the start of the event. But that plan has collapsed too.
‘Multicultural celebration’ against EDL demonstration
A “peaceful multicultural celebration” is to be held on the same day as the English Defence League is planning a protest in Sheffield.
The EDL is holding a demonstration at Sheffield Lane Top on Saturday, September 21, about plans to convert The Pheasant pub into a mosque – even though the proposals have been withdrawn.
The ‘counterjihad’ movement finds a new ally
Two weeks ago the self-styled Free Press Society and its Danish/Swedish publication Dispatch International announced that they have invited Stephen Lennon and Kevin Carroll to visit Scandinavia for a speaking tour later this month. The English Defence League leaders are to address meetings in Malmö and Copenhagen where they will explain “why they oppose England’s Islamization and how they go about it”.
Dispatch International was launched in August 2012, with Ingrid Carlqvist and Lars Hedegaard as editors, to serve as an organ of the international “counterjihad” movement. The far-right Sweden Democrats party (which observed that it had “many connections … both personal and ideological” with the Free Press Society) was so impressed with the new publication that it sent a free copy to each of its six thousand members. Challenged at a press conference over whether he was happy distributing a newspaper that compares Islam to Nazism, Sweden Democrats spokesperson Richard Jomshof said he thought this was “a perfectly reasonable comparison”.
Canadian Muslims call for action against Geller and Spencer
Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer (recently banned from the UK because of their record of inciting hatred) are due to visit Toronto next week to address a meeting organised by the far-right Kahanists of the Jewish Defence League.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims has issued an action alert calling on concerned citizens to contact the federal Minister of Public Safety Steven Blaney to urge him to review whether these anti-Muslim extremists should be allowed into the country.
Update: See “Canadian Muslim leaders worried U.S. speakers will spread ‘hate’ about Islam”, Canadian Press, 13 September 2013
Norway’s disturbing lurch to the right
Alf Gunvald Nilsen argues that the advances made in Norway’s general election by the anti-migrant Progress Party, which looks set to become a junior partner in a right-wing coalition government, shows the country has not dealt with the roots of Anders Breivik’s crimes.
EDL leader’s Oxford Union appearance cancelled
English Defence League founder and leader Tommy Robinson’s planned appearance at the Oxford Union has been cancelled amid security concerns. The institution, which had faced criticism over the event, said it could not afford the security to welcome him. Mr Robinson said the union had bowed to “threats of violence” but provided no specific details.
Mosque plan dropped but EDL protest to ‘go ahead’ in Sheffield
Proposals to turn a Sheffield pub into a mosque have been dropped – but the English Defence League still plans to hold a protest at the site.
Firth Park Cultural Centre had made enquiries about buying the former Pheasant pub at Sheffield Lane Top, which is for sale, and rename it Firth Park Masjid. But the group now says the £330,000 price tag is “too expensive” and it will be looking for an alternative site.
The English Defence League, which last gathered in Sheffield in June to lay a wreath “in tribute” to murdered soldier Lee Rigby, has organised a protest against the plans. The “peaceful” demonstration is to take place outside The Pheasant on Saturday, September 21 – and anti-fascist protesters are planning a presence.
When told the mosque proposal had been dropped, a spokesman for the EDL’s Yorkshire region, said: “The demo will still go ahead. There’s still a plan for a mosque somewhere in the area and we will be having a general protest.” He added several hundred members of the group are planning to attend the demonstration.
The protest was condemned by Sheffield Council deputy leader Coun Harry Harpham. He said: “The EDL are a right-wing organisation based on hate, and they are not the type of people we want coming into the city.”