Statement on Tommy Robinson’s announcement

Repost from South London Anti-Fascists

“We do not welcome yesterday’s announcement. If anything this is the vindication of the State’s ability to absorb proto-fascist movements into its own processes. Tommy Robinson has not renounced his views or ideas, but is simply trying to revise history and portray himself as an ‘anti-extremist’.

This is the same guy who in May of this year was filmed saying ’Islam is not a religion of peace, it is fascist and violent’. Last week he was attempting to intimidate one of the people behind the anti-racist website EDL News. Yesterday he was still calling for a ban on new mosques and ‘Islamic immigration’ unless his conditions were met.

Tommy Robinson, aka Paul Harris, aka Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is a notorious liar and fraudster. But he doesn’t need to renounce his views to be accepted into the mainstream. According to Government policy, his racist views are not extreme. We know who the Government and the police considers ‘extreme’: Anti-Climate Chaos groups, Stop Arms Fair campaigners and anti-racist movements. The police infiltrate our groups and spy on our members. We, who challenge the racist, capitalist and anti-democratic status quo, are monitored as a threat and our personal information is stored on police domestic extremist databases, along with information about many unfortunate and innocent Muslims and people of colour.

There are serious questions to ask of the Quilliam Foundation, too. Their attempt to rehabilitate a fascist follows years of demonising any Muslim who does not fall in line with state policy. In 2009 Quilliam co-director Ed Husain called for mass spying on all Muslims, regardless of whether they are suspected of any crime. Since 2008 the organisation has received over £1.2 million of Home Office funding. Now they want to help Lennon manoeuvre his way into the political mainstream. Quilliam is desperate to gain credibility after losing Government funding and Lennon, facing serious court cases and eyeing a political future, is desperate to detoxify his brand.

The fact remains that the Home Office’s Immigration Enforcement, the ‘Prevent’ programme, ‘Counter-terrorism Command’ and various sections of the Police are terrorising migrants, intimidating anti-racists and demonising Muslims more effectively than the EDL could: this is a broad agenda of criminalising difference. Street fascism may be dwindling due to anti-fascist mobilisations, but the racist ideology that feeds it is as pervasive as ever.

We will continue to organise and fight racism and fascism from the street to the state.”

Come to our two public events on this week:

• Friday 11th October – Policing the Police: https://www.facebook.com/events/602721683112177/
• Sunday 13th October – Annual General Meeting: https://www.facebook.com/events/338430389636531/

PRESS RELEASE: Anti-Fascist Network statement on Saturday 7th September EDL demonstration

The Metropolitan Police arrested over 280 anti-fascist activists, local community members, and passersby in East London on 7 September, as up to 700 English Defence League supporters were allowed to march over Tower Bridge and rally at Aldgate without encountering any mass opposition.

A large community demonstration was restricted to Altab Ali Park, well out of sight of the EDL’s march route and rally point. A bloc of around 600 within the demonstration, coordinated by the Anti-Fascist Network (AFN), attempted to hold a march to get within sight of the EDL’s route and present a visible opposition, which was then blocked and kettled by police. Despite police attacks the front of the AFN bloc did manage to get within sight of the EDL march, meaning the only political opposition the racists saw on the day was a direct result of the AFN mobilisation.

Sarah Smith from London Anti-Fascists said:

   “The number of people who joined the Anti-Fascist Network bloc on the day shows that there is a real mood for forms of anti-fascism that go beyond static rallies where mainstream politicians and religious leaders spout liberal platitudes. The 600 people who attempted to march with AFN on Saturday shows that a moderate, ‘respectable’ anti-fascism based on deference to the state and the political status quo is no longer the only show in town.”

Anti-fascists, independent legal observers, and people who were just passing by were detained on the street for over six hours before the police announced their intention to make mass arrests. Arrestees were taken to police stations on the outer extremities of London — including Colindale, Sutton, and elsewhere — mostly under the pretext that they had committed an offence under the Public Order Act. Their alleged ‘crime’ was to march down a street the police didn’t want them to march down.

Some arrestees were held for up to 15 hours in total. Were it not for the work of arrestee support groups, many of those detained would have been thrown out of police stations in the middle of the night on the outskirts of London with little way of getting home. Most have now been released with highly restrictive bail conditions preventing them from opposing the EDL and other racist groups.

Tony Dixon from the Anti-Fascist Network said:

    “These mass arrests, following a similar operation at an anti-BNP demonstration in May, show how the state is using political policing to criminalise protest and intimidate people out of taking political action. Only the tamest, most moderate forms of protest are sanctioned; anything else is met with police violence, kettling, and mass arrests.”

Val Swain of the Network for Police Monitoring (NetPol), added:

“Carrying out mass arrests on any demonstration is an excessive and draconian measure. In this case it was clearly not necessary to prevent disorder – many, if not most of the arrests were carried out after the EDL had left the area.

“In this case the police have taken 286 sets of names, addresses, fingerprints and dna. It has been a highly effective data gathering exercise. They have also imposed bail conditions preventing all of those arrested from participating in future protests – even though they have not been charged, let alone convicted of any offence. The police have had a successful operation to disrupt, deter and prevent anti-fascist protest.”

Notes for editors:

– The Anti-Fascist Network is a network of independent anti-fascists and anti-racist groups from across Britain, fighting the far right on the basis of direct action and working-class politics.

– The Anti-Fascist Network can be contacted on afncontact@riseup.net

SchNEWS: Tower Power

The Met Police made up to 300 arrests (07/09/13) in order to allow the EDL to march across Tower Bridge and into the outskirts of Tower Hamlets.

The day started well enough with hundreds answering the Anti -Fascist Network‘s call to stop the EDL. The AFN responding to earlier threats by the Met to march the league into the heart of Tower Hamlets had announced their meeting point as Altab Ali park – effectively as a side rally to the Unite against Fascism shindig.

The UAF affair went down much as expected – a platform with speakers firmly within the designated protest zone. In the end they produced nearly fifty speakers (all the usual suspects and local worthies). It also has to be said that the UAF really only started banging the drum for Tower Hamlets when it was clear that a police ban on an EDL march into Tower Hamlets proper would be enforced.

Meanwhile the AFN quietly assembled towards the back of the park and when the moment came around 500 surged out behind the banners and to the cops’ surprise marched east in order to outflank them and exploit a few undefended side streets. Many locals joined in with the break away.

Swinging round, the block made for Tower Bridge and tried to make its way through the hastily improvised police cordons. Some were kettled or turned back but one group of around a hundred made it to within sight of the EDL’s rally point on Tower Bridge. Determined attempts to break through were met with the threat of horses and dogs. In the end the exchange between anti-fascists and EDL was limited to shouting abuse.

Other anti-fascists operated in small groups along the route of the EDL’s march. After the huge build up and with all the benefits of the Lee Rigby incident the league only numbered around 600 on the day. One SchNEWS reporter who walked alongside them said “They seemed pretty despondent, there was very little shouting or chanting”.

At the EDL’s rally point at Aldgate station one brave couple, who’d evaded police detection, unfurled a banner with the pithy slogan “Racists fuck off”. This provoked a hail of bottles from the enraged EDL. The banner wielders were then nicked for ‘breach of the peace’. There were also (unconfirmed) reports that non-aligned anti-fascists got into a building site to the south of the rally and hurled bricks into the crowd.

The EDL were permitted a half hour rally, during which Tommy Robinson announced a series of charity walks in the Tower Hamlets area, an obvious move in light of the astounding success of the last one. They were then marched directly back along their route and embarked on their buses. A handful remained drinking under the watchful eyes of cops in pubs near the bridge. No EDL supporters managed any kind of visible presence in Tower Hamlets on the day.

As the news of the EDL’s departure came through the UAF staged a ‘victory march’ along Whitechapel High St. The celebration of this ‘victory’ while nearly two hundred comrades were being held in police kettles and being prepared for mass arrest was condemned by at least one AFN activist as a “fucking disgrace”.

Police brought commandeered buses to the two kettles and began loading prisoners into them to be distributed to police stations across London. Arrest support was organised by Green and Black Cross across the capital, with activists waiting outside police stations for released detainees. As far as SchNEWS is aware virtually nobody has been charged with an offence or even interviewed. They have all been bailed away from ‘demonstrations by the BNP, EDL or EVF inside the M25’. These are the very same bail conditions handed out to activists who confronted the BNP’s attempted march on the Cenotaph . Clearly the Met at least are worried about the growing presence of militant anti-fascists on the streets.

Were you arrested? If you haven’t already then it’s probably worth your while to contact Green and Black Cross who are collating information and organising legal support.

For more information on autonomous street based anti-fascism – ANTI FASCIST NETWORK

Link

More reports:

Anti-Fascist Network: East End: Always Anti-Fascist

East Midlands Anti-fascists: Heavy manners in Tower Hamlets

South London Anti-Fascists: Our Thanks

Vice: I Was Arrested for Trying to Report On Saturday’s EDL Rally

Undisinfo: The Hate Agenda’s Transparent This Weekend

Netpol: Mass arrest – an abuse of power

South London Anti-Fascists: Stop the EDL marching to Woolwich

Reposted from South London Anti-Fascists / @SouthLondonAF

On Saturday 29th June, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka “Tommy Robinson”) and Kevin Carroll, the two leading shitbaguettes of the English Defence League, are planning to do a sponsored walk from Westminster to Woolwich.

The sponsorship money raised by the for the walk has been rejected by the charity “Help for Heroes”. So as they pocket the money for themselves, they want this event as a publicity stunt for the cameras.

The Islamophobic and racist EDL plan to walk through Tower Hamlets, and past the London Muslim Centre and the East London Mosque. They want a propaganda victory which makes them look like “peaceful” demonstrators highlight the “violent” muslims and anti-racist activists.

The EDL plan to celebrate the end of the walk in Woolwich with a demonstration. Carroll and Lennon have asked their supporters not to drink as they expect media coverage and don’t want to appear as drunken thugs who attack women in hijabs on the street and set fire to mosques at night.

“Tommy” claims to speaks for the “non-Muslim working class”, but both Muslim and non-Muslim working class people have stopped him from getting into Tower Hamlets and we will do so again.

We are working class anti-racists, we know the truth about EDL’s lies and we know what the racist idiots’ plans are.

We will not let them pass.

If you want to get involved in organising against the EDL contact: southlondon-antifascists@aktivix.org

Join the Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/161516007362471

Spread the word, we will stop the EDL.

NO PASARAN!

=========================================================

Also from Brighton Anti-Fascists..

London Calling: Saturday 29 June

And from EDLNews..

Tommy Robinson’s Walk of Death

Latest from scum central..

BNP agree to hold march in Whitehall. New meet-up point for antifascists

Reposted from London Anti-Fascists

STOP THE BNP
SOUTH LONDON ANTIFASCISTS CALLOUT
***UPDATED***

The Metropolitan Police have banned the BNP from assembling in Woolwich this Saturday and marching to Lewisham Islamic Centre, and the Centre has therefore cancelled its plan to hold a rally. However, as of this morning, Nick Griffin plans for the BNP to meet at the permitted demonstration site in Whitehall and march to the cenotaph. We are therefore calling on antifascists to join us to stop the BNP.

ASSEMBLY POINT: Imperial War Museum Gardens (Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park), near the Russian memorial.

ADDRESS: Kennington Road, SE1

TIME: 11a.m., Saturday 1st June

ORGANISE: It is vital that we form a critical mass to prevent the BNP from marching, while preserving our own safety as much as is possible. This means we need numbers on the day. If you are part of an existing ‘affinity group’, or an informal group of friends, organise among yourselves to make sure you stay together. Be sure to get to the assembly point on time to talk with other people about the day ahead. We will have legal numbers to distribute on the day.

TRAVEL: Don’t travel to Whitehall on your own. Try to travel in a group, and stay in a group, and leave in a group. The nearest stops to the assembly point are Lambeth North or Elephant and Castle. The area is served by many buses, including the 3, 12, 148 and 159.

CLOTHING: Wear nondescript clothing, and bring a change of clothes if you think you might need it. Strong, comfortable footwear is also advised. It’s sometimes advisable to bring something to disguise or cover your face on a demonstration.

FOOD & USEFUL THINGS: Be sure to bring food, water, and sunscreen if you think you’ll need it. It’s good to be prepared.

ALONE? It’s best to try to organise among trusted friends to come to these demonstrations. However, if you don’t know anyone going to the demo, don’t panic! Email us ASAP, and we’ll try to ensure you’re not alone on the day itself. ADDRESS: southlondon-antifascists@aktivix.org