Tommy Robinson: Bad for the Jews

 From a thread on Twitter, via Threadreader, archived here.

So, "Tommy Robinson" (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) has called for his followers to join a march against antisemitism, to a resoundingly negative response from the organisers and the mainstream Jewish community. Quick thread on him and his supporters...

"Tommy Robinson" (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) joined the fascist British National Party (BNP) in 2004 age 20, stayed for a year. In this pic he's with Holocaust denier Richard Edmonds (convicted of racist violence in the 1990s). But was this just some youthful thing?

In 2012, Yaxley-Lennon became the deputy leader of the British Freedom Party, which was led by disgruntled BNP members and advocated "cultural nationalism". Its logo echoes (L) echoes that of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists (R)

In 2013, Yaxley-Lennon pretended to renounce extremism, quitting the EDL because it was full of Nazis, a political turn that (unsurprisingly) proved to be pretty short-term.

Weighing into the Tommy Robinson debateAlthough I’ve been thinking about it for five or six weeks , this post is still only half-digested (at best). It’s a response to the Oct...https://brockley.blogspot.com/2013/11/weighing-into-tommy-robinson-debate.html

In 2017 he got a job with Canada's Rebel News (formerly The Rebel) run by Ezra Levant. His colleagues included Proud Boy leader Gavin McInnes, who defended Holocaust deniers, and accused the Jews of being responsible for the Holodomor & the Treaty of Versailles...

McInnes said he was "becoming anti-Semitic". and made a video for Rebel called "10 Things I Hate about Jews", later retitled "Ten Things I Hate About Israel".

Another colleague Jack Posobiec, supported Marine Le Pen's election campaign. lobelog.com/gorka-joins-ou…

https://lobelog.com/gorka-joins-outlet-that-published-ten-things-i-hate-about-jews/

Later that year, Robinson joined a far-right Polish rally where protesters held "Pray for Islamic Holocaust" signs. He said he had an "amazing" time at a rally calling for a "Jew-free Europe".
thejc.com/news/uk-news/f…

Former EDL leader attends far-right rally that called for a ‘Jew free’ Poland - The Jewish Chroniclehttps://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/former-edl-leader-tommy-robinson-attends-far-right-march-in-warsaw-where-demonstrators-called-for-a-jew-free-poland-1.447888

In April 2018, Robinson was in court backing his mate Mark Meechan (Count Dankula), charged for shouting "Sieg Heil” & "Gas the Jews" over and over again on YouTube. Meechan spoke at a rally organised by Robinson a few weeks later. cst.org.uk/data/file/5/5/…

@CST_UK Yaxley-Lennon was jailed that summer for contempt of court due to his persistent disruption of court cases he was obsessed with.

Tommy Robinson sentenced to 13 months in prison – BlogTommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sentenced to 13 months in prison for contempt of court on 29 May. Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League, was arrested while film…https://cst.org.uk/news/blog/2018/06/04/tommy-robinson-sentenced-to-13-months-in-prison

In August 2018 (that's just 5 years ago), one of his faithful followers, Austin Ross of Newport, pleaded guilty to setting fire to a school & spray-painting swastikas alongside "Free Tommy Robinson" on a university building. jewishnews.co.uk/far-right-vand…

Far-right vandal jailed over month-long swastika graffiti hate campaignAustin Ross, 23, stuck racist posters on buildings in Newport, including at a masonic lodge which had a Star of Davidhttps://www.jewishnews.co.uk/far-right-vandal-jailed-over-month-long-swastika-graffiti-hate-campaign/

Oh I missed the fact that Robinson's May 2018 rally - called in the name of the Democratic Football Lads Alliance - at which Dankula spoke also featured Gavin McInnes (see above) and various weird alt-right flags, like this "Kekistan" one modelled on the Nazi flag (inset).

In 2018-19, Robinson got increasingly entangled with fascist group Generation Identity, which preaches the antisemitic "Great Replacement" theory (that says Jews are trying to engineer the demographic eclipse of white Europeans)



dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-…
hopenothate.org.uk/2018/03/19/tom…

https://hopenothate.org.uk/2018/03/19/tommy-robinson-delivers-generation-identity-leaders-speech/

Hate group Generation Identity Alba/Scotland spotted at Tommy Robinson rallyThe extremists are using Brexit fears to spread their racist message that white Scots are threatened by “Islamisation”.https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/far-right-hate-group-generation-13760715

@hopenothate @MikeStuchbery_ Robinson delivered a speech written by Martin Sellner, the Austrian leader of Generation Identity, who was refused entry to the UK.

UK GI members travelled to (admittedly comical) paramilitary training camps on Holland.



hopenothate.org.uk/2018/03/19/tom…
newarab.com/news/far-right…

https://hopenothate.org.uk/2018/03/19/tommy-robinson-delivers-generation-identity-leaders-speech/

Far-right Dutch group training members at combat campsA Dutch far-right group are sending new recruits to training camps in France.https://www.newarab.com/news/far-right-dutch-group-training-members-combat-camps

As well as spouting the Great Replacement Theory, Yaxley-Lennon also started talking about "cultural Marxism" (another antisemitic conspiracy theory, based on the Nazi idea of "Kulturbolshewismus").

Tommy Robinson Being Banned From Facebook Is Just The Beginning Of Tackling The Growing Far Right UndergroundIf we are serious about neutralising the threat of the far right, especially as Brexit looms, we should be looking at any attempt by groups and figures to increase both visibility and numbers.https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/tommy-robinson-facebook_uk_5c78fa1ee4b033abd14a91dc

A November 2019 investigation by @JewishNewsUK found that Robinson's Facebook groups were chock-a-bloc with antisemitism, particularly conspiracy theories about Soros and "globalists" but also a lot worse @lmharpin

Pro-Tommy Robinson websites are littered with antisemitic tropes used by Pittsburgh shooter - The Jewish ChronicleUsing the term 'globalist' and decrying 'George Soros' to decy a global conspiracy is a core tactic of extremistshttps://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/far-right-pro-tommy-robinson-websites-are-littered-with-same-antisemitic-used-by-pittsburgh-shooter-1.471868?highlight=far+right

A @hopenothate undercover investigation into Generation Identity found its followers, active in Tommy Robinson's marches and rallies, included military personnel.



theguardian.com/world/2019/aug…
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7…

Infiltrator exposes Generation Identity UK’s march towards extreme far rightEncrypted messages show the racist group was expelled from wider European alt-right for its embrace of dangerous ideologieshttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/24/generation-identity-uk-far-right-extremists

Two Royal Navy members 'are activists in far-Right group'The British wing of the European-wide Identitarian Movement was infiltrated last July at their London conference, Generation Identity UK.https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7392151/Two-Royal-Navy-members-activists-far-Right-group-links-terrorist-organisation.html

Robinson's obsession with starting new movement saw him launch Hearts of Oak in Feb 2020 with Carl Benjamin (aka "Sargon of Akkad") and Dr Niall McRae. McRae is obsessed with "cultural Marxism". Benjamin is mainly famous for his horrible comments on Jews.

In 2021, Robinson tried to insert himself into some pro-Israel rallies. The @BoardofDeputies, John Mann and the @JLC_uk all condemned him for this.

Last year, he moved on to yet another far right party, For Britain, another BNP splinter

https://hopenothate.org.uk/2022/03/07/tommy-robinson-joins-the-far-right-for-britain-party/

He also went a long to a boxing match organised by a really hardcore Nazi, Sam Hyde

hopenothate.org.uk/2022/09/12/sam…

https://hopenothate.org.uk/2022/09/12/sam-hyde-the-antisemitic-troll-making-a-comeback-through-influencer-boxing/

Late last year, he went even deeper into Nazi themes, defending Kanye West in a weird post called "The Jewish Question" which is mainly a rant about the ADL's "tentacles""

getthetrollsout.org/troll-of-the-m…

Troll of the Month – Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (AKA Tommy Robinson) — Get The Trolls OutStephen Yaxley-Lennon AKA Tommy Robinson is our November Troll of the Month for writing a racist and antisemitic article which spreads conspiracy narratives.https://getthetrollsout.org/troll-of-the-month/troll-of-the-month-stephen-yaxley-lennon-aka-tommy-robinson

In classic antisemitic style, Robinson portrays an evil hidden network of elite Jews controlling politics (and backing the Democrats). He blames Jews for "condoning anti-whiteness" and for deliberately importing migrants to Europe. He says being clever is the Jews' racial secret.

OK, that took longer than I thought. In conclusion: Tommy Robinson is not an ally against antisemitism, but has maintained hardcore fascist relationships for two decades and increasingly embraced deeply antisemitic ideas. /Ends 

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Most of my posts on Yaxley-Lennon are filed under the label "EDL", which includes material on its splinter groups and inheritors. This is the most thorough one about Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.