Tommy Robinson not welcome here
Demonstrate outside the Oxford Union
7 pm Wednesday 26 November
Category Archives: Far right racists
Another fake anti-Islam quote from the far right
We recently remarked, in connection with the New Daily Patriot falsely attributing a quote to Zakir Naik, on how the far right happily post and repost transparently fake Islamophobic propaganda without making the slightest attempt to check its accuracy.
Here is another recent example, from Britain First’s Facebook page. It quotes Marco Polo as stating that “the militant Muslim is the person who beheads the infidel, while the moderate Muslim holds the feet of the victim”. As you can see, it has proved quite popular, having been shared nearly 1,800 times.
EDL protest in Luton draws around 400
Today’s English Defence League (EDL) march in Luton passed without incident this afternoon (Saturday).
This was down to a high police presence and both the EDL march and protest being kept at a distance from a counter protest organised by groups such as United Against Fascism. Officers from police forces all over the country were brought in, from as far afield as the East Midlands and Essex, to contain the protest.
There was a small incident when speeches were being given by EDL members in the centre of Luton, when some members of the counter protest appeared, with a small number of EDL members trying to confront them, but swift action by the police prevented any violence.
Around 400 members of the EDL, with over a hundred present at the counter demonstration. Six were arrested for breach of the peace in Inkerman Street. One of those arrested, a 43-year-old Luton woman was found in possession of an offensive weapon.
How ‘free speech’ is used to justify Islamophobia
Over at the London Review of Books Adam Shatz has an interesting review of two books – A Norwegian Tragedy: Anders Behring Breivik and the Massacre on Utøya by Aage Borchgrevink, and Anders Breivik and the Rise of Islamophobia by Sindre Bangstad.
Shatz places against the atrocities committed by Breivik against a background of rising Islamophobia in Norway. He concludes with some good points about how anti-Muslim bigotry has gone mainstream, justified by an appeal to the principle of free speech.
Vegemite, ice-coffee and BBQs all in the cross-hairs as halal certification fallout continues
Vegemite is the latest brand to be targeted by an ongoing campaign to boycott halal-certified products, with a member of federal parliament also entering the fray as the fallout from the anti-halal movement continues.
The iconic Australian spread is latest company to draw the attention of an online network of anti-Islam campaigning groups, which SmartCompany recently revealed had political ties to One Nation and were deliberately targeting Australian businesses in an organised social media assault.
National Party MP George Christensen has suggested in a blog post the halal certification fee paid by Vegemite in order to sell its products to Muslim customers is funding organisations with extremist views and activities in Australia. “It’s lovely to know a jar of the salty black stuff is sponsoring the advocacy of robbing women of all of their marital property rights,” Christensen said.
The coalition backbencher said because the products were not clearly labelled as halal, customers were forced to complain. “This is exactly what many consumers are now doing and the commentariat are condemning; they are exercising their rights as consumers,” he said.
Mike Holt, chief executive officer of the Queensland-based anti-Islam lobby group Restore Australia and former One Nation candidate, previously told SmartCompany a network of anti-Islam groups were responsible for the online attacks against a number of Australian businesses. “What we do is target companies and if we coordinate that protest, it has much bigger effect. They start to see all backlash against it,” said Holt.
The ongoing campaign has gathered momentum in recent weeks, with one of the key Facebook groups, Boycott Halal Australia, now boasting more than 36,000 followers – rising by 3000 likes in just over a week.
UKIP member kicked out for attending Britain First anti‑mosque march
A member of Ukip has been kicked out of the party after attending a rally organised by the far right group Britain First, according to reports.
Ukip member Malcolm Jackson [pictured] said he has received a letter from the party saying his membership had been rescinded because of his “connections to Britain First” after attending their 15 November protest rally against a Mega Mosque planned for construction in Rochester.
[The new mosque will hold no more than 400 worshippers, which falls some way short of “mega”, and the site is in Gillingham.]
Jackson said he is not affiliated with Britain First – which describes itself as “probably the only group experiencing growth on the far right” – and was only marching with them to protest against the “evil cult of Islam taking over yet another part of our country”.
He said: “I have no connections with Britain First. I am not a member of any political organisation apart from Ukip, and I am not a member of Britain First. All I have done is take part, last Saturday 15 Nov 2014, in a march organised by Britain First, to demonstrate against a Mega Mosque being built on the borders of Rochester and Gillingham.”
He added: “If I had been with the crowd of left-wing thugs opposing the march against the Mega Mosque, would Ukip have made the decision to rescind my membership?”
Ukip have tried to distance themselves from Britain First ever since three of its members were photographed with the deputy leader of the party, Jayda Fransen, while both groups were campaigning in Rochester ahead of the upcoming by-election.
Racist EDL not welcome in Luton this Saturday
SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER 2014
TIME: 12PM
ASSEMBLE OUTSIDE BURY PARK COMMUNITY CENTRE, DUNSTABLE ROAD, LU1 1BW
EDL Not welcome in Luton!
The racist and Islamophobic EDL have announced that they will hold an Islamophobic demonstration, in Luton on 22 November.
In April and May 2009 the violent and racist EDL held its first protests in Luton. Such mobilisations saw hundreds of thugs rampage through the town attacking the Asian community. Since then the EDL has held a number of protests around Britain. They’ve attacked people and protesters, caused damage to buildings and smashed up a Hindu temple in Dudley when they couldn’t get close to the mosque.
Zakir Naik thinks the earth is flat
(it says here)
A measure of the irrationality and hysteria of Islamophobes is their readiness to accept even the most ludicrous anti-Muslim story as genuine, when just a moment’s intelligent thought would lead to the conclusion that it is obvious nonsense.
As long as it fits with their own mindless prejudices, right-wing extremists happily post and repost transparently false Islamophobic propaganda on social media without the slightest attempt to check whether it has any basis in fact.
Here, for example, is a recent post from the popular far-right Facebook page, the New Daily Patriot.
Predictably, this provoked the usual outburst of abuse and threats, not just against Dr Naik but against the entire Muslim community, ranging from “fuck off to your flat planet then cause you lot are fucking not human and how long do you fuckers think we are going to put up with your bullshit”, to “shoot the cunts” and “can’t we just kill them all”.
Vandals scrawl swear word on Portsmouth mosque wall
Vandals daubed offensive graffiti on a mosque in the city. People have reacted with shock and upset after a vulgar term was written in thin purple letters on a white wall on the outside of the Jami Mosque in Southsea.
The Victoria Road North place of worship was previously vandalised in 2010 when someone painted a large red poppy on a wall outside. More recently members of the English Defence League have protested outside the mosque.
The latest act of vandalism comes just weeks after the exterior of the mosque had been refurbished.
Former EDL leader fined for public order offences
The founder and former leader of the English Defence League Tommy Robinson has been fined £200 by magistrates over public order offences.
He appeared at Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court under his real name of Stephen Yaxley-Lennon on Monday.
Yaxley-Lennon, of Luton, was convicted of incitement and behaviour leading to breakdown of order relating to a march in London on 7 September 2013. He was also ordered to pay a £20 victim surcharge and £80 court costs.