WHITE PRIDE WASHOUT national front in Swansea

via SchNEWS

After days of spreading misinformation to the police, council and opposition groups, the National Front finally held their annual ‘White Pride’ demonstration at Swansea Castle on Saturday. By doing their best to convince residents that it wasn’t going ahead and keeping their rally point secret – it was obvious that the organisers didn’t expect any public support and were worried about the size of the opposition.

Unfortunately, one group that fell for the trick were Swansea Unite Against Fascism (UAF) who called off their counter demo after apparently being assured by police that the event wasn’t going ahead.

However by midday groups of skinheads were congregating in the vicinity of Castle Square around Yates bar, and a diverse counter-demonstration was gathering in the square itself.

Around thirty NF supporters unfurled fascist banners outside the castle, they were quickly outnumbered by around 100 antifascists on the other side of the road. The NF found themselves served with restrictions by police, and were ordered to disperse after only an hour.

As they were being dispersed a few up for it antifascists were able to directly confront the White Pride supporters. A small scuffle broke out and a fascist flag was snatched before the NF could be escorted to Ice bar on Wind St, where the boneheads consoled themselves by getting pissed and shouting racist abuse.

“I personally witnessed them shouting at a Muslim couple, who had joined the antifascist demonstration,” Al Brown of South Wales Antifascist Action told SchNEWS “They called the man a “paki” as police officers looked on. The cops did nothing to try to stop the abuse, and wouldn’t listen to the man’s wife when she tried to complain about it.”

After Ice bar, the NF were escorted up to another bar – Static on Kingsway, where antifascists kept watch behind a police cordon. A phone blockade was organised , and the bar’s management in Bristol responded by travelling to Swansea in order to have the racist crowd removed. The NF were then quickly marched by police to the station and made to get on a train.

“South Wales Antifascist Action had a 30-strong bloc and we opposed them every step of the way. It seemed like some kind of pathetic racist pub crawl facilitated by the police, who seemed content to turn a blind eye to all the harassment the NF were causing to Swansea residents. Officers could even be seen exchanging handshakes with NF supporters outside Static. It’s really troubling that they would fraternise in this way with people who were shouting racist insults and threats of violence during the day,” said Al Brown.

“I don’t think Unite Against Fascism can take any credit at all for the counter demonstration on Saturday. They took the fascists’ bait and called off their demo, then ignored other groups who had assurances it was still happening. But SWAFA, Swansea Trades Council and a lot of interested local residents went ahead without them. We want to thank everyone who took part, whatever their background, because we know that true strength lies in diversity.”

For more information please contact South Wales Antifascist Action:

swafa@riseup.net

@swafa05

Call-out to Oppose Worldwide White Pride in Swansea April 5th

Reposted from Anti-Fascist Network

From Cardiff Antifa Caerdydd:

Urgent Call Out To All The Antifacists In Britain

A WHITE PRIDE WORLD WIDE DEMONSTRATION HAS BEEN CALLED BY THE NATIONAL FRONT IN SWANSEA ON THE 5th OF APRIL 2014. THE DEMO IS CO-ORGANISED BY AN UMBRELLA GROUP OF BRITISH WHITE NATIONALIST THAT CALL THEMSELVES ‘FOR RACE AND NATION COLLECTIVE’.

The National Front is on the rise in south Wales. In January 2014, they held their Annual General Meeting in Swansea. This meeting went ahead un-disrupted by any antifascist and/or Antifa.

Since then, people from several areas throughout south Wales have contacted the NF to organise local demonstrations. In one of them, a small group of people confronted them. However, no call out was made nationally.

In March 2013, the first UK-wide White Pride World Wide event was held in Swansea organised by the National Front. Up to 100 fascists attended and although outnumbered, they held a static demonstration with minimal confrontation or disruption. This time, they are trying to make it bigger than last year.

This were the scenes in Swansea at last year’s White Pride World Wide event for which Christopher Philips was jailed

The NF is also part of For Race and Nation Collective: a combination of multiple fascists groups who believe in white supremacy. They are co-organising this demonstration.

If they are not properly confronted again, the city of Swansea is in danger of becoming the White Pride UK Capital. Swansea is becoming the NF capital in Wales, as mentioned earlier.

Opposing the NF demo last year

This as we know, must not happen. Fascists should not be welcomed in
Swansea, Wales or anywhere on this planet. We, as anti-fascists in Wales want the National Front and all fascist groups out and out forever.

This is an urgent call out for anyone who identifies as an anti-fascist to come to Swansea on the 5th of April 2014.

This is the time when we urgently need all the support from anyone from anywhere who is against fascism and racism.

Please put the 5th of April 2014 in your diary and come to Swansea to stop the UK’s White Pride World Wide.

See you on the streets! ¡No Pasarán!

We are an independent group of antifa people who live in Wales. Our main objective is to organise resistance against fascism in Swansea. We are currently organising a counter demo.

– Cardiff Antifa Caerdydd

Extra Information

Quiet a lot of info on last year’s event here and here and this is the Facebook event from last time. The White Pride demo pulled about 60 fascists who were opposed by 300-400 anti-fascists.

The demo was followed in the evening by a Blood and Honour gig hosted at the Valley Commandos Motorcycle Club.

VCMC denied all knowledge of the event’s true nature, but given that their logo is an SS death’s head and they appear to have hosted neo-Nazi events before (see comments here), it does make you wonder… Hopefully they will not be repeating their mistake and hosting Nazis again.

 

“SHAMEFUL: Midland man defends mock KKK lynching as a ‘bit of fun'” (updated)

*Article below from The Birmingham Mail (The mail is not naming who they are talking about here so 3CAFA to the rescue .. it’s Darren Clifft from Walsall)

“Shocking fake hanging carried out as band played Johnny Rebel hits while 70 strong crowd gave Nazi salutes.

A Midland Ku Klux Klan admirer has defended his mock golliwog hanging stunt as “just a bit of fun”.

The man, who the Sunday Mercury has decided not to name, said: “I didn’t realise I was doing anything wrong.”

And he stressed that “it wasn’t planned” and that he was “egged on”.

The 23 year-old, from Walsall, was pictured holding a noose around the neck of a black doll at a music gig in Swansea last month. He later posted a video of the incident on Youtube.

His actions have been condemned by a Labour MP.

But the man told the Sunday Mercury: “The gig was absolutely brilliant. One of the best nights of my life. As I was hanging the golliwog the band was playing American Country and Western music and Johnny Rebel hits.

“It was all in jest and I don’t regret a minute of it and would so the same again.

“The mistake I made was to put a video of the ‘lynching’ up on YouTube.

“I didn’t realise I was doing anything wrong. I wasn’t inciting anyone to go out and lynch black people because it’s against the law.”

He added: “I admire the Klan and its Christian values and believe in racial segregation.

“The UK is only for white indigenous folk and everyone of colour should be settled in one small area out the way or better still deported back to their place of origin.”

Labour MP for Perry Barr Khalid Mahmood said the man’s actions were “reprehensible”.

“Police need to carry out a thorough investigation because individuals like this have the potential to cause serious damage in our communities through word and deed.

“He appears to show no remorse.

“His behaviour is just not acceptable in this day and age.”

The shocking images were captured at an event organised by Blood and Honour, a “white power” music ­network.

It took place after a “White Pride World Wide” march in the Welsh city.

The man told the Sunday Mercury that he had not planned to mock up the hanging of the golliwog.

He said: “The lynching wasn’t planned, but somebody from the Welsh National Front had bought along this stuffed golliwog he’d made to the gig.

“Everyone egged me on to re-enact what used to happen in the deep south of America to bad black people who had done something wrong.

“Innocent black people were never lynched and people forget that bad white people were also lynched by mobs too.

“The blacks were targeted for the better good of society there at the time.”

Johnny Rebel is a controversial American Country and Western singer whose songs, with incendiary titles like “Stay away from Dixie” and “Move them N*****s North”, were popular in the Deep South in the 1960s and 70s.

His lyrics were often supportive of the Ku Klux Klan and included derogatory references to black people.

Nearly 3,500 African Americans and 1,300 whites were lynched in the United Sates between 1882 and 1968.” Ends.

Darren Clifft in and out of uniform

update 31.07.13:

Willenhall man remanded in custody over accused racial hatred

Welsh Antifa Showing NF The Door

From The Anti-Fascist Network

Reports and pictures confirm the National Front have pulled in about 60 extreme fascists to the heavily policed white pride rally. The police chopper is up for this? Pathetic!

Antifascists gathered with the UAF have around 300-400 participants. It appears that a few militant antifascist groups roaming Swansea have been stopped by police and forced to join the UAF demo or sit in the cells for the day.

More news will follow, there may be a few local fascists hanging around later. Out of towner scumbags (98%?) will be making their way back home by train and car after the police bus them to a safe distance and out of the reach of Antifa’s. If you have a National Front member in your town you may want to collect them from the station to make sure they get home ok!

Here’s a picture of a redwatch photographer looking lonely (tweeted by EDL News):

From the Swansea Antifa facebook group

“Today Swansea spoke loud!

The White Pride skum came along, 40 of them, they didn’t get their march and stayed for a hour before being bussed out, for everyone of them there were 5 across the way, chanting and jeering and letting them know, their hatred isn’t welcome in the pretty shitty city.

Meanwhile several groups of Antifa made their presence felt, in and out, as the police came out in force waving around half a dozen “sections”. No Antifa arrests tho some time spent being detained for having the dangerous weapon they call a flag.

Much respect and love to all the people who came together from across Swansea whether you were in the police pen or dressed in black staying mobile, you all did a an amazing job, even more respect to comrades from across the UK who came down! Many thanks!

— Please remember if you choose to upload photos from your day to blur/block out faces or put the Saffy logo over them, never ever tag people on facebook, this is important for personal security and the safety of ongoing activists —

¡No Pasarán!”

Update 11/03/13:  NF & KKK lynched black people in effigy in Swansea (Indymedia)

SOUTH WEST FASH ON THE MOVE

From The Westcountry Mutineer

ANOTHER ANTI-FASCIST STORY for this week: turns out that the South Wales National Front (yes, they apparently still exist!) and the Plymouth division of the English Defence League have both announced plans to demonstrate their hatred against everything that isn’t white and British. In Swansea, on the 9th of March, the South Wales N.F. are hosting an imaginatively-titled ‘White Pride’ day to celebrate how fucked up and out-of-touch with the people they claim to support they really are.

Meanwhile, on the 13th of April, the already-dwindling E.D.L. will be dragging out their fake Stone Island fashionwear and sloping brows to potential mosque which will replace the Dance Academy, which has been closed now for six years.

The E.D.L., for their part, are enjoying a painful, humiliating nosedive in support, with new splinter factions and minor civil wars dogging them at every turn; theiir Cambridge outing a few weeks was a wash-out, trudging out a shower* of 30 E.D.iots and the festivities involved muchas entertaining infighting; since July, the disorganisation has multiplied into the English Volunteer Force, and previously the Northwest Infidels and also the Combined Ex-Forces. And lets not forget the Judean People’s Front.

The National Front are themselves a living fossil, forgoing the decency if disappearing into the annals of history, desperately clamping onto any modern-day rightwing hate expression, in a lame attempt to recruit new blood, and not die the inevitable death they so richly deserve; but we can say the same for Blood And Honour, a Nazi fetishist music promoter.

Nowadays, they manage to squeeze out showers even smallest than their E.D.L. contemporaries, with turnouts of five blokes and a reluctant dog not uncommon (A.L.F. take note).  It’s fair to assume that their ambitions for Swansea this month is a clumsy bid to siphon off members of disillusioned Welsh Defence Force.

All that being said, it’s important to not just ignore these poor excuses for humanity, or relegate them to being a pure laughing matter; though they are pretty funny. They are violent nutters and can still pose a physical threat to communities, which why it is important to make sure that when we do oppose the, and oppose them we shall, that we don’t resort to the same old liberal/U.A.F. tactics of hosting demonstrations as far away from them in the towns and cities as possible, or ignore them and hope against hope that they’ll go away.

It’s through direct action and physical confronting the bastards, as well as systematically dismantling their bullshit arguments, that they’ll be kept off the streets – after all, no one likes a repeated kicking.

MUTINEER DICTIONARY CORNER

Shower* (v): to wash oneself by partial or full immersion in a continuous spray of water; (n) a device for personal hygiene, moving water through a nozzle with minuscule holes; a short period of rain; a collective of fascists or racists [ i.e. “a shower of fash”]

Facebook event for the counter-mobilisation (Plymouth)

Facebook event for the counter-mobilisation (Swansea)