Could the EDL prove to be as hopelessly hapless as it is vile? I wrote here that by turning up they handed Mayor Lutfur Rahman a political victory and now his allies in the Islamic Forum of Europe are cashing in.
The East London Advertiser reports:
Hundreds of Muslim youths could be trained as stewards after success of anti EDL protest
By Nadia Sam-Daliri
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
9:58 AMHundreds of Muslim youths could be trained to steward volatile events following the good work of a peace-keeping team deployed on Saturday.
About 300 volunteers – most of them aged 18 to 25 – patrolled the streets around Whitechapel dispersing large groups of youths to prevent trouble breaking out over the English Defence League demonstration at Aldgate.
Volunteers and youth workers played a “vital role” in keeping young people calm, police said.
A Met spokeswoman added: “The stewards who worked on Saturday were well trained and effective.”
Wearing high visibility jackets, the stewards were joined by an extra 500 informal volunteers, meaning their numbers were not far from rivalling the 1,000 or so far right activists being held on the borders of Tower Hamlets by police.
While there were scuffles and arrests in the EDL camp, little trouble was reported in the areas around Aldgate East where a 1,500-strong crowd had gathered for a counter protest.
The London Muslim Centre and Islamic Forum of Europe, which jointly trained the volunteers, now wants to build up a bigger taskforce.
Dilowar Khan, LMC’s executive director, said: “We need to continue to strengthen our unity because the EDL issue is not going to go away.We need more trained stewards – the more we have the better.”
Stewards even stepped in and helped a female EDL member who fell out of the rogue coach that made its way through Whitechapel.
The woman was assaulted by a passerby after scuffles broke out close to the East London Mosque.
Azad Ali, IFE’s head of community engagement, said: “The volunteers escorted her back to where her coach was. They clearly have ideological differences but these Muslims were willing to protect EDL members from harm.”
Mayor of Tower Hamlets Lutfur Rahman said: “If they weren’t there working with police things could have erupted.”
The teams met several times in the run-up to the static demonstrations and agreed tactics with officers.
Stewards are not a new thing at the mosque and LMC.
Many were provided in the anti war demonstrations against the Iraq conflict in 2003.
I congratulated the stewards in my last post but I fail to see the need for a mini-army of marshalls patrolling the East London Mosque. Are the IFE and the mosque hyping up the threat?
The EDL has given the IFE a golden recruiting tool to use on the large numbers of bored Tower Hamlets youths. “Come and join us, help protect the community from these Nazis, we’ll give you a purpose,” seems to be the message.
No doubt the next steps will be: “Hey, we’re training all these people, we’re providing all these hi-vis jackets, can’t you see we need some funding… .”
Let’s keep an eye on those grant applications.
(Photo by Fokrul Hoque.)
Trial by Jeory 
It occurs to me, having read yesterday’s post EDL and Tower Hamlets: Peter Tatchell’s thoughts and the linked post at Harry’s Place that a full assessment of the value of muslim youths as stewards should maybe be left until after they fulfil a role in stewarding an East End Gay Pride march?
Or is the notion that they should just be trained to protect the Mosque ONLY?
I must confess I’d much rather have an organised and well trained bunch of stewards doing some sort of stewarding job than nothing at all given what kicked off towards the end of events on Saturday. If it also teaches tolerance and our duty to protect anybody from attack irrespective of creed or colour, surely that can only be a good thing?
However, to my mind, any organised use of stewards needs a proper and transparent process of accountability for their actions to the community at large – and by community I mean ALL of us, not just a segment of the local population.
Otherwise it smacks a bit of “private armies” – and that would certainly be very unwelcome.
Ah… so these will be the so-called “sharia police” the posters promised…
A Dutch socialist who it was claimed had burned the Reichstag ushered in the fascist dictatorship in Germany and likewise the exaggerated threat posed by the EDL (which was more than adequately dealt with by the police who are impartial) could now mean hundreds of these ‘Islamic police’ patrolling the borough – I have to ask – just what will they do when there are no EDL demonstrations? Will they enforce or “encourage” the following Islamic rules?
Unveiled women, people visiting lap dancing venues, girls sunbathing in the park, people kissing, people drinking, people not observing Ramadan… where will their future duties end?
Once again, the borough only takes notice of half the community. The rest appear invisible.
This vigilantism must be stopped. We have a publicly funded police force to patrol the streets for the benefit of everyone regardless of religion. Who knows what the intentions of the IFE really are. Perhaps some of these “bored youth” who are not yet criminals can be encouraged to become PCSOs instead?
So, it would be like the Scouts? With a uniform?
Why not issue them with brown shirts and swastika arm bands, or the islamic equivalent. On the days when there are no demonstartions they could patrol the streets to ensure that men & women are properly dressed and gay people have not strayed into sharia areas. Excellent news.
Can anyone remind me who was the last British politician, who after being expelled from a main-stream Party for his extremist contacts and ideas went on to organise his own ” strong Stewarding Force” in an attempt to intimidate his political opponents?
You couldn’t make it up – funny, “Private Armies” was precisely the phrase that went though my head.
I can’t agree more. And I have grave reservations about any stewarding that is solely done by a group who clearly all have allegance to a particular party. If there was a repeat of Saturday, common sense would say that if there are a large number of muslim (/UAF) stewards there should be a similar number of EDl stewards.
Let’s also bear in mind how effective those stewards were on Saturday at preventing that lady from being kicked repeatedly in the face while she was lying on the floor. Inability to steward the actions of their ‘own side’ tells a clear story.
And, as Ted says, let’s watch those grant applications.
Sort of related to this post – but actually a comment which maybe presents scope for a new post by Ted! Sorry to be going off topic – but I was a bit surprised the blog post and the article had not already been highlighted by Ted
The Mayor, on Monday, posted this quote on his blog re an article by Dr Robert Lambert on Sunday’s HuffPost
Even though Tower Hamlets is just a short tube or bus ride from Westminster it is disappointing that no members of the government bothered to stand shoulder to shoulder with their local neighbours in the face of threats and intimidation from the English Defence League on Saturday.
See More analysis of Saturday’s events by “lutfur”
http://mayorlutfurrahman.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/more-analysis-of-saturdays-events/
Is it just me – or is that “leave a comment” not-a-link-really on Mayor Lutfur’s blog there for spurious decoration only? It certainly doesn’t work for me. Has anybody else tried leaving a comment?
The comment I was going to leave went something like this
“The very simple reasons why it is ridiculous to expect that members of the government would turn up on Saturday is:
* Parliament was not sitting (The House of Commons returned on 6th September)
* at the weekend and when Parliament is in recess (ie not sitting), most members of the government are in their constituencies – most of which are not in London.
Maybe Dr Robert Lambert, Co-Director, European Muslim Research Centre, University of Exeter should get himself up to speed with the way Parliament works before venturing any more suggestions of the type made in the article referenced by the Mayor?
Plus, and this may come as a surprise to Dr Lambert and some others, but Tower Hamlets and what happens in Tower Hamlets is NOT the centre of the parliamentary universe!”
Also am I not right in thinking that Dr Robert Lambert is the man whose very unacademic actions led to the University of Exeter having to issue a formal and very public apology to various local Labour politicians who were, I understand, libelled by Dr Lambert?
The tenor of Dr Lambert’s article and Mayor Rahman’s recommendation of it really does NOT promote in any serious way the credibility of the Mayor as a rationale politician who understands how law-making and parliament work. Quite the reverse if anything.
I’m also very surprised that HuffPost should allow somebody whose reputation for research is so poor to comment in their columns.
Ted – maybe you should drop a line to Arianna! 😉
“… credibility of the Mayor …”
Well, that little joke cheered up an otherwise dull afternoon for me – thanks!
Tim
Harry’s Place also reports today a particularly bad bit of anti semitism by Abdul Bari on the Huff. He was formerly of the MCB and a mjor player in the ELM and MC. No wonder the great and the good won’t touch the Mayor and his associates.
Sorry forgot something I meant to include
If the Mayor wanted to say that current legislation should be changed so that “static demonstrations” should also be capable of being banned by the Home Secretary then I suggest he gets on and says this – and explains why he thinks this – rather than leaving it up to his sidekick.
Ted, obviously you’re not happy with IFE getting some positive publicity and recognition – perhaps you were hoping some members would be involved in the scuffles and add to the negative spin you and your friends (Gilligan et al) like to indulge?
So you now feel the need to spin it as an IFE strategy to get public funding. A bit desperate me thinks… You probably already know that IFE has NEVER received any public funding nor applied for it, which is why your friend Gilligan has to use the deceptive expression of “and or linked organisations” received public money. Totally meaningless but makes people think it must’ve received money! [YMO, (the youth wing which is separately registered and existed well before IFE was founded) did receive a small youth work grant back in the nineties for things like camping and football clubs, when it did those activities.] Perhaps you think everyone is in it for the money because the (Bengali) people you cosy up to, tend to be so inclined? Whatever your experiences, there’s no excuse to tarnish everyone with the same brush.
Lets stick to the public records and facts, not hearsay and spin from ideological or political opponents. IFE suddenly became extremist at election time for Jim Fitzpatrick, just like Jack Straw suddenly had problems with Muslim dress at election time, and the next election he had problems with Asian men…
You say you congratulated the stewards in your last post, but the link you provide has not mention of it?
Here – at the bottom
Ted my goodness come on man a bit of praise please!
You also need to look at who a lot of the stewards were
Your comment.
” a mini-army of marshalls patrolling the East London Mosque. Are the IFE and the mosque hyping up the threat?
The EDL has given the IFE a golden recruiting tool to use on the large numbers of bored Tower Hamlets youths. “Come and join us, help protect the community from these Nazis, we’ll give you a purpose,” seems to be the message.
Come on man the people who were stewarding were members of the community myself included a 56 year old grandma with a Jewish Irish Catholic background and the stewards were made up from many areas of the community Teachers Doctors Nurses community workers.
And your Undertones with this once again near to the mark comments with your sensationalist interpenetration of events you need to know man you are a newby to the East End and the people that you meet up with around the public houses you hang around in do NOT represent the East End that I know and have lived in all my life…………
I know there are pockets of Raciest around the area but they are a very small minority but my dear these few you seem to know so well with your little stories they feed you it does not represent us EastEnders.
So a bit of Praise to all of us EastEnders for standing united as ONE to keep the Nasty Raciest Fascist brain-dead scum away from the East End hopefully they will get the message that they are not welcome not Then Now or Never.
And perhaps Teddy my boy if you find where you are living the complete nightmare with your little innuendoes that we might all be brainwashed by some mysterious forces and all converted to Islam and everyone is made to wear a burka perhaps its time to return to the sleepy hollow where you will feel safe
http://www.voterespect.org/2011/09/no-joy-for-edl-racists-in-tower-hamlets.html
http://www.edlnews.co.uk/edl-news/edl-not-welcome-in-tower-hamlets
PS if you really want to blog on a worthwhile story perhaps you should attend the meeting tomorrow at the LMC concerning the rise on the dirty little strip clubs that are popping up all over the East End now these dens of inequity are the ones that are damaging the East End so perhaps that’s where you should start
So lovely to have you back, Sister Carole!
Maybe Tesco should hire these new stewards….x
“So a bit of Praise to all of us EastEnders for standing united as ONE to keep the Nasty Raciest Fascist brain-dead scum away from the East End hopefully they will get the message that they are not welcome not Then Now or Never.”
Does Awlaki fall into this category?
@Carole Swords: Be careful where you point the finger, you might just find that together with the drugs dealing, these clubs are probably run by your islamist friends.
http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/archive/2002/03/12/Bradford+District+Archive/8030864.Child_molester_jailed_after_girl_relives_horror/
http://www.edlnews.co.uk/edl-news/another-edl-child-sex-offender-revealed
The EDL must be so proud of there scummy members………..
this is why these disgusting Sex clubs are not allowed to continue to multiply in Tower Hamlets encouraging in these types of unwelcome POS!
I’d be much more interested in a campaign to stop any more Tesco Express’ opening in the Borough. It would at least stop the risk of any more disgraceful incidents like this like this
http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/respect_party_chair_in_court_over_abusive_behaviour_charges_1_1003502
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/09/06/more-lies-from-respects-carole-swords/
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/08/24/press-release-respect-party-tower-hamlets-chair-arrested-after-attacking-elderly-jewish-man/
Newspaniard
@Carole Swords: Be careful where you point the finger, you might just find that together with the drugs dealing, these clubs are probably run by your islamist friends
Newspaniard seeing you are such a coward and cannot print your name when casting aspersions my dear if it were the King of Spain who was running these sex clubs as you say Drug Dealers (not from me ) as I have never ever taken any form of drink or illegal Drugs in my life so I would not know that drugs were there or where to get them and if I did they would not be still distributing them if I knew where they were coming from
Because I have seen the destruction that they cause to families and the community as a whole !
But back to your pathetic raciest little remark
Myself I do not care what bloody religion one said they were because whoever is responsible for doing what you say you know??
I hope that they get caught and tried given the sentence they deserve and I am also going to pass your PASTED AND KEPT post and I am passing it on to the very people who should know that you KNOW where all the disgusting drugs are from and who provides them.
So my dear Newspaniard wait for that little knock on the door because the law is now changed and you might think your ID is safe but sorry to say that is no longer the case!!!!.
And Ted why are you trolling in that disgusting Harry Place
don’t fall for what is there my dear,
Trolls disguise their identity, Carole….I didn’t; I clarified a point made about me.
Now, what about Awlaki, does he fall into the racist fascist category to be banned from the East End?
@Carole Swords of course I hide my identity with looneys like you around, goodness knows what trouble I would heap upon myself if my true identity were known by the kind of people you know. Racism does not apply to islam as it is neither a race, nor is it a religion, it is a cultural way of life which has a religious element, some people like me would call it a (death) cult, particularly in view of what is going on currently in Pakistan vis-a-vis the persecution of Hindus and Christians by the state. Islamophobia is an invented word used to silence the critics of that dreadful cult used in the same way that you used racist as an “insult” and therefore is easily ignored by those who speak the truth.
ha ha ha you call me a loony ha ha ha
What was that about “racist remarks” Carole?
http://www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk/news/respect_party_chair_in_court_over_abusive_behaviour_charges_1_1003502
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/09/06/more-lies-from-respects-carole-swords/
http://hurryupharry.org/2011/08/24/press-release-respect-party-tower-hamlets-chair-arrested-after-attacking-elderly-jewish-man/
I do however agree with you re “EDL has given the IFE a golden recruiting tool to use on the large numbers of bored Tower Hamlets youths.”.
It’s entirely possible that the stewards are a good idea. It does seem that for the most part they did a pretty good job for most of Saturday.
However to my mind, it’s still essentially an issue of accountability to the whole community and behaviour by ALL stewards towards ALL members of the community which will be the test of whether or not these stewards are ultimately a force for good or ill.
Just one steward behaving in an inappropriate fashion – such as being verbally or physically abusive towards members of the public – could be enough to undermine the whole concept and people could lose respect for the stewards as a whole.
Personally I’d like to see an inter-denominational and ecumenical approach to stewarding. That would really demonstrate that those who are stewards are genuinely supportive of the whole community – and the things which connect them all together.
Surprise Surprise you have fallen for the Zionist blogroll lies but your credibility shows when you hang around in these places
as another faceless raciest friend of Harry
so your credibility as we all know is a big Zero
We have seen your own Facebook page Carole. Just further proof that anti-Zionism is just Jew-baiting for lefties. You clearly have the full blown condition. The Khazar-psuedo-Jew theory is something even Nick Griffin would be embarrassed to advance.
Tactically the stewards were a good idea – some Muslim youth would be more likely to pay heed to them than to the police if asked to move on etc. And during the coach incident they seemed to be working in co-ordination with the police in turning away youth running towards the scene. And of couse it is entirely possible that EDL stewards restrained the more violent members on their side – loath though I am to say so.
Rather organised stewards than the officious UAF chap who blocked the pavement near Sainsbury’s standing on a soapbox shouting ‘they shall not pass’ and then more or less called me a racist when I pointed out that the slogan actually applied to facists and not shoppers.
Apparently the training videos, used to instruct the newly recruited “stewards” in their responsibility have already been produced.
Paul W.E.Ingham
No hiding place
Aharit Hayamim Hai