Bradford West MP George Galloway has urged the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire to help ban a proposed march in Bradford by the far-right English Defence League.
The Respect MP said he fears the intended march on October 12 could mirror the EDL’s national rally in London at the weekend, which resulted in more than 160 arrests.
Support for the anti-immigration PVV continues to grow in the latest Maurice de Hond opinion poll, which puts Geert Wilders’ party on 32 seats – or around 21% of the vote. This is up one seat on a week ago and more than double the party’s general election total. De Hond puts the Socialist party in second place, with 24 seats or 16% of the vote.
About 600 supporters of the EDL tried to march to the East London mosque on Whitechapel Road on Saturday but were stopped by police near Aldgate East station, around 600 metres from the mosque.
East of the police lines a far larger counter-demonstration waved Unite Against Facism and Hope Not Hate banners.
The march started just after 1pm south of Tower Bridge and the marchers walked through the City of London shouting and singing: “England” and “I’m English till I die.” Marchers included members of similar groups from Poland, Finland and Germany.
The CCIF has been contacted by the association of the Mosque and Cultural Centre of Ardennes after a series of acts of criminal damage and vandalism at the mosque construction site in the rue Anatole France in Charleville-Mezieres.
According to preliminary information provided by the centre’s officials, supported by photographic evidence, Islamophobic graffiti was written on the walls of the mosque.
On the photographs that have been sent to us the message “No to Islam” and the (far-right) Celtic cross can be clearly seen.
Leaders of the English Defence League have lost a High Court fight for the right to demonstrate in an area which they say is “subject to Sharia law”.
They objected to police preventing a English Defence League (EDL) march – planned for Saturday – entering Tower Hamlets in east London. Police said they had imposed restrictions on marchers because they feared an outbreak of “serious public disorder”.
Judge Mr Justice King ruled that the police decision was reasonable and proportionate, following a High Court hearing in London. He blocked an EDL attempt to pursue a judicial review.
Evening Standard, 6 September 2013
The East London Mosque has issued a statement calling for peaceful opposition to the English Defence League in Tower Hamlets tomorrow.
Leaders of the English Defence League have begun a High Court fight for the right to demonstrate in an area of east London which they say is “subject to Sharia law”.
They told a judge at a hearing in London that they objected to police preventing an English Defence League (EDL) march – planned for Saturday – entering Tower Hamlets. Police have told Mr Justice King that they imposed restrictions on the route marchers could take because they feared an outbreak of “serious public disorder”.
Last Thursday night the English Defence League’s Bournemouth Division held a demonstration outside the Havana Winebar in the Charminster district of the Dorset town. They were protesting against an alleged assault on a woman customer that took place during a fracas outside the bar over a month ago, under circumstances that are unclear and which are still under investigation by the police.
Why should this incident be of particular interest to Bournemouth EDL? As they explained on their Facebook page, their overriding concern was that the bar owner is “of Muslim decent”. This soon expanded into the claim that the Havana Winebar is “notorious for abuse towards non Muslim females”, followed by the assertion that “Charminster is becoming a beach head for Muslims in Bournemouth. Only we can stop it”.
Police should stop the English Defence League from marching coachloads of supporters over Tower Bridge this weekend, the leader of Southwark Council has said.
Cllr Peter John said he was working to the wire to persuade senior officers at the Met to restrict the march to the north of the river. “We don’t want the EDL in Southwark, period, full stop,” he said. “What’s the EDL got to offer a diverse borough like ours? Nothing.”
Mass demonstration against EDL this Saturday!
Thousands of people are expected to turn out in Tower Hamlets this Saturday to oppose the racist English Defence League (EDL). The EDL intends to march upon the East London Mosque. Muslim organisations and trade unions have especially increased publicity in the borough this week, calling upon residents to rally against all forms of racism, but especially Islamophobia.
The calls follow an apparent arson attack upon Harlow Islamic Centre in Essex, last Monday, 26 August. There have also been other attacks, in June, a Muswell Hill mosque and community centre was burnt to the ground and ‘EDL’ was found painted on the walls. In July, three mosques in the West Midlands were subjected to bomb attacks shortly before the fascists mobilised several hundred on a Birmingham demo.