There are countless images which could be used to illustrate this post, but this one in particular stuck out when doing a Google Images search. It was taken by the Birmingham Post during an English Defence League protest in Dudley last year.
The EDL plan a march through Tower Hamlets on September 3. Mayor Lutfur Rahman, Glynn Robins and everyone else of sane mind are right in saying that should not happen.
After the events in Norway, I doubt that it will be allowed to take place. David Cameron will chair a session of the National Security Council and I suspect very strongly that the question of Anders Breivik’s admiration for the EDL will be discussed.
The PM will want to send a message out that Right-wing extremism will not be tolerated. I suspect there will be some discussion about whether the EDL can be proscribed under terror legislation, even temporarily so while investigations continue into Breivik’s background.
The Government has banned Al Muhajiroun and its many guises over the years and having reported on a couple of Anjem Choudary’s silly little marches through London, it’s actually quite easy to feel sympathy for him when the EDL turn up.
They are dangerous thugs who actually play straight into the hands of religious extremists by forcing moderates to sit alongside nutters and hate-peddlers.
Yes, we have some issues in Tower Hamlets, but having talked to people about them in various traditional East End pubs, it’s very clear to me that the EDL are neither welcome nor supported here.
Here’s the message from the Hope not Hate campaign:
Ban the march of hate
On Saturday 3 September the English Defence League plan to march through the streets of Tower Hamlets. They want to peddle their racism and hatred through the heart of one of Britain’s biggest Muslim communities. I would like your help to stop them.
The EDL want to whip up racism and terrorise the local Muslim community. There can be no other explanation for their provocative march. They are coming to East London looking for a confrontation and trying to provoke a violent reaction. This is the last thing the people of Tower Hamlets want or need.
We are calling on the authorities to ban this hate march.
We have shown before that we can force the authorities to act. We stopped the EDL from marching through a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood of Bradford last year. More recently we forced the Home Secretary to ban the controversial US preacher, Pastor Jones, from entering Britain.
Now we need to stop the EDL from marching in Tower Hamlets in September.
Tower Hamlets has a long and proud history of immigration and resistance to racism and fascism and so we must stand up against the EDL now. We’ve made a difference before and I know we can be successful again. Please sign our petition.
Trial by Jeory 