EDL in Redbridge: More violence against Asians
The English Defence League marched through Redbridge and Dagenham yesterday (unusually with no police escort in Redbridge), and, true to form, they Asian local residents, one of whom had his jaw broken. More from Flesh is Grass and Hope Not Hate.
Added: And the EDL brought violence to Leeds over the weekend too (h/t WS in comments). They are due in Romford this weekend - and the same story will most likely be repeated there.
Added: And the EDL brought violence to Leeds over the weekend too (h/t WS in comments). They are due in Romford this weekend - and the same story will most likely be repeated there.
Comments
More positively, there seems to be a bit of a re-grouping in smaller cities away from London (Manchester, Cardiff, Leeds, Liverpool) of independent anti-fascists as a viable alternative to UAF.
I think MAFA are overstating it there. That was more the case with the BNP. I think it's more that the UAF tactics aren't effective at countering the EDL. In particular, the "everyone against the extremists" tack isn't working against the EDL, who don't see themselves as part of the political mainstream anyway. So I don't think the inference is quite what you suggest. (Although there is still the issue of how the left should react to far right Islamists, obviously). It's more that the UAF aren't countering the EDL effectively. Obviously, they aren't in any position to physically oppose them. But they aren't ideologically effective either. A failure to make the class element clear in their propaganda means they aren't really putting a different analysis out to weaken the EDL. Liberal "defend multiculturalism" stuff isn't the same thing. We should be linking specifically to the cuts and pointing out how the EDL have repeatedly sided with the Tories in attacking workers.
On top of that, they seemingly can't get the numbers out anymore. One of their main arguments against squadism has always been to counterpose it to mass mobilisation. But now they're getting squaddist numbers without having the capability of doing anything with that.
Glasgow and Edinburgh as well. It is interesting that, with the sole exception of Cardiff, this seems to be specifically a northern trend. Although that's not entirely surprising. The last century left has always had a bit of a stranglehold on London politics and that has a knock-on effect for the rest of the south.
Could you expand on that further Waterloo? What are good ways to demonstrate that the EDL are inimical to the interests of almost everybody?
And where does tackling political Islam fit in? Hardly any organised anti-fascism does, which is real mistake. So while Nick Lowles knows and says that Islamism breeds the EDL and the EDL breeds Islamism, in practice Hope Not Hate doesn't tackle political Islam, UAF has absolutely no interest in doing so, and the subject is entirely absent from the Mancesterafa site.
I would have thought a good way to tackle it, given the (I suppose understandable) anxiety HnH seems to have - would be to support anything organised by British Muslims for Secular Democracy or similar.
In terms of the anti-fascist movement more broadly, I think the best recent model we have is the Whitechapel United Against Division mobilisations last summer (or was it summer before? I lose track).
I think the most important tack when putting out anti EDL literature is not to focus it on "almost everybody", but to specifically try and undermine their support among potential recruits.
Some specific ideas.
* Point out their links with sections of the rabidly pro free market tea partiers in the US
* Their support for certain terrorists/terrorist acts
* EDL members stating that they are in favour of banker's bonuses for "English bankers"
* Their attacks on anti-cuts campaigners
* The fact that much of their leadership really doesn't come from the "salt of the earth working class lad" background they try to portray. Steven Yaxley-Lennon is a small businessman with a property portfolio. Their funder, Alan Lake (who has links to the Swedish Democrats) is a multi-millionaire.
* The fact that one of their founders was done for child porn. (That last one is possibly a bit controversial, as it's not capital p Political. But I think it's a useful tack to take).
In summary, the message I think we should be trying to put across is that the EDL are a scab organisation.
On far right Islamism, the honest truth is I don't have an easy answer on what we should do because I'm not entirely sure.
I think Sarah has a good point about supporting any elements of the Muslim community trying to do something around this. Much as I think we should target anti BNP propaganda towards their potential supporters, I think the same applies here and I think there are obvious issues with trying to do that with no Muslim involvement.
Aside from that, I think that Bob is right that "Whitechapel United Against Division" showed a good way forward. They put out statements condemning both the EDL and the Troxy conference, with a lot of involvement from the local community. A bit before that, I remember Antifa holding a counterdemo to both the NF and Abu Hamza in London. On the day, they managed to link up with some Sikh lads who'd turned up. I think more activity along those lines is the way forward.
I see them as a symptom of larger forces at work.Many people unfortunately see themselves connected through shared hatreds rather than shared ideology.Tabloids run negative stories on the poor ,immigrants,benefit claiments and politicians in general.They do this not only because it suits the proprieters beliefs but they think it sells papers.
EDL members seem to think they are being patriotic and standing up for Britain however warped their view of that is.
Therefore it is essential that those who oppose them provide a positive alternative .
That alternative should include a view of britain as a tolerant ,vibrant place with the self confidence to be inclusive.
But part of this pride in tolerance must show opposition to racism and intolerance.
So opponents of the EDL must not only opposse them but any other groups promoting intolerance.
Bob: I thought you might be interested in this, if you haven't seen it yet:
http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/89650/letters-rosa-luxemberg-review
Agree with most of what WS says re EDL, but am doubtful about the effectiveness of the scab line given very low level of "class consciousness" of EDL recruits - Lake as an American millionaire compelling, but not Yaxley-Lennon as a businessman.
Btw, EDL are marching in Plymouth on 9 July.
Back later hopefully - more to say!
And Yaxley-Lennon as a businessman does at least go some way to countering the whole "EDL are working class hardmen" image, sadly reinforced by some leftists.
Mind you, the more I think about it, the more I think the "nonce" angle is one of the strongest, cynical though that is.
Noticed this with interest. After the Gay Free Zone business last year, LGBT activists negotiate a pledge from the East London Mosque to stop hosting homophobic speakers:
"Hate and division have no place in Tower Hamlets or anywhere else. Extremists, of both the religious and political variety, seek to keep us divided and at each others' throats. Through this action, the East London Mosque will help to rebuild trust between and within communities and to thwart the attempts of those who would try to play us off against each other."
Isn't everything weird.
BUT I am aware of no problems at all with the Cambridge mosque - there was a comment on a local website which described Mill Road in a way (as a resident for over ten years) I don't recognize at all. The only unwanted presence from my point of view is the EDL - there's some kind of family w/e in Cambridge on the day of the march but I won't feel like taking my children out with the EDL marching.