A hoax leaflet has been distributed in Thurrock, Essex, where there will be by-elections on Thursday 01 December in the Grays Riverside and the Homesteads wards. The leaflet has shocked local communities and appears to be an attempt by the far right to stir up racism in the area.
The leaflet is in the name of “The London East Islamic Movement”, which no one appears to have heard of, including established Muslim organisations. The leaflet uses Unite Against Fascism’s logo without obtaining authorisation and mentions Thurrock UNISON – a local trade union branch. UAF and Thurrock UNISON have contacted the local police.
The British National Party (BNP) is standing candidates in both the Grays Riverside and the Homesteads wards. BNP leader Nick Griffin and former BNP Youth leader Mark Collett were charged with inciting racial hatred earlier this year.
Ken Livingstone, Unite Against Fascism Chair said: “This is clearly a hoax leaflet by racists and should be consigned to the dustbin. Extreme racists are trying to inflame local community tensions by distributing this racist leaflet. The London East Islamic Movement does not exist and UAF will continue to campaign against racists and fascists. We note that the leaflet is being distributed in the two wards where there will be by-elections on 01 December. We urge the decent majority of people to use their vote to stop racists.”
Home Secretary Charles Clarke has authorised Babar Ahmad’s extradition to face terrorism charges in the US. The decision follows a long fight by the US for his removal and by Mr Ahmad and his supporters against the move. The 31-year-old computer expert from Tooting, south London, is accused of running websites supporting terrorism and urging Muslims to fight a holy war.
“Mr Fernando is right to say that racism has no place in the lesbian and gay community. As I wrote in the Gay & Lesbian Humanist magazine ‘… racism is the antithesis of Humanism. We are not concerned where people come from genetically or geographically, but we ought to care very much about where they are going, ideologically. Racial discrimination is abhorrent …’ In other words, no one should be discriminated against or victimised because of their race, ethnicity, or skin colour – however, we should (and I quote again from the article) ‘… hold people to account for their beliefs and the actions that arise from them’.”
“It’s time, apparently, that I woke up and smelt the cardamom, or whatever scent it is one associates with Islam. I’m wasting my time, some people reckon, stuck in a cushioned ante-room off a corridor leading away from reality while asserting – as I did last week – that the French riots were not to be explained by the religion of many of the rioters. Last Tuesday my e-mail box declared itself full after a small deluge of readers wrote in, most declaring that, although they weren’t French and hadn’t been there for a while, they knew – absolutely knew – that Islam was behind it all. And that those who thought otherwise were in a state of denial.”