Category Archives: Resisting Islamophobia

Anti-fascists run EDL out of town

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Anti-fascists run EDL out of townFar-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

EDL protest in Manchester

Posted on 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

How to improve the Prevent strategy – stop giving taxpayers’ money to Ed Husain

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Quilliam FoundationWriting at Comment is Free, Ed Husain of the Quilliam Foundation takes up the report by the Taxpayers’ Alliance attacking the government’s Prevent strategy.

The report, Ed writes, reveals that “many groups that have received handsome grants of taxpayers’ funds are groups whose leading members include supporters of hardcore Islamist ideologies. Such organisations include the Islamic Society of Britain (with some exceptions), the UK Islamic Mission, the Islamic Foundation, the London Muslim Centre and Da’watul Islam”.

Happily, a solution is to hand: “The government needs to begin working with Muslim partners who will actively contribute towards making British society more cohesive and harmonious – rather than groups that can only promise not to actively sabotage such aims. Quilliam, with the help of Prevent funding, aims to do just this.”

But, according to Ed, the government needs to look beyond Quilliam to find partners with similar politics, “who are unafraid to say that terrorism is driven by an ideology of victimhood and notions of reward in the afterlife”. Ed makes no proposals as to who these partners might be. And that is hardly surprising. There are, after all, few Muslim-led organisations who are prepared to promote the Daily Mail‘s agenda with quite the same fervour as Ed Husain does.

If John Denham and DCLG are really concerned to re-establish the Prevent strategy on a more effective basis – and it appears that they are – then the first step should be to withdraw all state funding from the loathed and despised Quilliam Foundation and redirect it towards organisations that actually have roots in the Muslim communities.

Update:  See also ENGAGE, 10 September 2009

Further update:  Interestingly, in the USA the right-wing magazine Human Events takes a very similar line to Ed Husain, condemning the FBI for allying with Islamist organisations in order to fight terrorism. For US conservatives, as for Ed Husain, their obsessive campaign against Islamism takes precedence over the obligation to defend the nation’s citizens from terrorist attacks.

Robert Spencer: teaming up with Euro-supremacists again

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Spencer in BerlinRobert Spencer of Jihad Watch was dead chuffed that he was recently invited to speak at a rally in Berlin organised by an outfit called Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa, which Spencer described as “the most important German human rights organization, seeking to preserve European values, freedom and democracy”.

LoonWatch examines the actual ideology of the BPE. They note “an emerging trend amongst some right-wing and fascist groups proclaiming their unconditional support for the state of Israel. What is likely is that many of these organizations, whose roots are steeped deep in a history of anti-Semitism are recreating themselves; dropping a now unpopular prejudice (anti-Semitism) for one more in vogue – anti-Muslim Islamophobia. Gone are the days when what they claimed to champion were the ‘Christian values and traditions of Europe’; now they have added ‘Christian-Jewish’ values to their slogans.”

Grayling accused of double standards on ‘extremism’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Race Hate Row EruptsThe Tories were blasted yesterday for “perpetuating dangerous myths about the law” and “scapegoating the Muslim community” in a shallow attempt to grab votes.

Addressing the Conservative conference in Manchester, shadow home secretary Chris Grayling outlined his proposals for law and order.

In particular he dredged up the perennial spectre of Islamic extremism, pledging to outlaw groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, which he accused of “actively inciting hate and violence.”

“Under this government the extremists have been free to protest on our streets and incite violence and hatred in the most blatant ways,” he said. He also pledged a crackdown on immigration, saying there would be “no open door to Britain.”

At no point, however, did he refer to far-right extremist groups such as the BNP and the English Defence League, which has staged anti-Muslim marches in cities across the country in recent months.

This omission was condemned by anti-racist campaign group Unite Against Fascism, which accused Mr Grayling of further demonising the Muslim community while ignoring the fascist threat.

A spokesman for UAF said: “There has been a rise in racist attacks, particularly on the Asian and Muslim population. There is a direct link between this increase and the atmosphere of fear and hatred whipped up against the Muslim community in the popular press.

“When Christopher Grayling goes on about extremist beliefs, the only time he mentions Muslims seems to be to further demonise them.

“Why not mention the extreme right-wing groups, who we have seen recently involved in bomb plots amongst other things? Why not address the issue of the EDL which has held marches and incited hate and violence?

“The issue of racism doesn’t seem to have been addressed. I hope this isn’t a signal that the Tories are not going to take this issue seriously.”

Morning Star, 8 October 2009

See also “Tory lies about Hizb ut-Tahrir are populist attempts to boost poll ratings”, Hizb ut-Tahrir press release, 7 October 2009

Home Office in state of denial over EDL

Posted on by Bob Pitt

“Some idiots in the Home Office might be fooled by the English Defence League but the racist agenda of the hooligan gang is becoming more obvious by the day.

“At the end of last week the EDL got hold of an email that had been widely circulated by the North West TUC advertising a meeting of trade unions to discuss the planned EDL protest for Manchester City Centre next Saturday. The EDL response was illuminating. The EDL administrator – who publicly claims not to be racist – riled against ‘building mosques’, ‘uncontrolled immigration’ and the ‘multicultural hell hole of a country’ Britain had become.

“The racist sentiments were also evident in the latest EDL posting to their members, where the woman who has been liaising with police, said that many of their followers were planning to wear masks during the protest in opposition to the burka.

“Despite the glaring racist agenda of the EDL the Home Office continue to bury its head in the sand. It refuses to even classify the group as right wing and says that they are not linked to hooligans.”

Nick Lowles at the Hope Not Hate blog, 4 October 2009

Muslim groups hit out over ‘funding with security strings attached’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The government is facing a rebellion over its anti-terrorism strategy from Muslim groups that claim public funding to tackle social deprivation has been made contingent on security co-operation.

Leaders of Muslim organisations have told the Guardian that the Prevent Violent Extremism (PVE) initiative is stigmatising Muslims and that much-needed money to tackle widespread social problems is only being granted with strings attached.

Guardian, 5 October 2009

UAF Manchester cemetery vigil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

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“I came to visit my father’s grave today. I was shocked to find the stone has been pushed over. I cannot understand why people would do such a thing. I am very upset,” explained Habib Dar. “Thank you for organising the vigil today,” he said.

Twenty Muslim gravestones at Manchester’s Southern Cemetery were vandalised last week in what the police have called a “race hate crime”, as the gravestones desecrated were all in the Muslim part of the cemetery.

At just a few hours notice eighty people turned out to show solidarity with the Muslim community at a vigil called by local activists from Unite Against Fascism. Many local people came, including a delegation of local Jews, as well as leading trades unionists, families, pensioners and people from the Muslim community.

“Nothing like this has ever happened at this cemetery,” explained Ahmed. “But we know it is not just a coincidence that on Saturday the EDL are in Manchester. They are trying to intimidate us, but we will all be out there on the protest.”

A spokesperson for UAF Mile Killion said, “The election of Nick Griffin of the British Nazi Party has only encouraged the people who committed this outrage at the cemetery. This despicable attack has strengthened our resolve to build the UAF protest against the EDL in Manchester next Saturday.”

Stop the EDL. Assemble 12 noon, Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, Saturday 10th October.

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