Anti-Fascist Network

Oppose the racist EVF demonstration in Croydon – stick up for migrants

13 07 2013

Sat 27th July, East Croydon – Keep the date in your diary!

On Saturday 27th July a splinter group of the EDL called the English Volunteer Force have called a demonstration outside Lunar House in Croydon, which is the main asylum seeker processing centre in the UK, where asylum seekers and migrants are obliged to come by the Home Office. The EVF are more openly and virulently racist that the EDL and will be supported by a number of other far-right splinter groups.

Their aim is to scapegoat migrants for many of the problems of society and to stoke up anti-Muslim hatred. They aim to capitalise upon anti-immigrant feeling connected with the rise of UKIP and on the recent surge in Islamophobia since the killing of Lee Rigby in Woolwich in May.

Lunar House will be operating on the day and migrants, many of whom are vulnerable people having fled torture and abuse, will have to queue outside suffering abuse from fascists.

The EVF are being opposed by a broad coalition of local residents and the local Trades Council, South London Anti-Fascists, the local Green Party, UAF, One Croydon, Croydon SolFed, the Anti-Fascist Network and others.

Say no to racism, Islamophobia and migrant scapegoating – Join us on the 27th to stand together against the hatred of the EVF and to defend people’s right to seek asylum.

The EVF have announced their demonstration for 12 noon. More information will be made available nearer the time about precise time and location of our counter mobilisation.

Brighton Anti-Fascists

brightonantifascists.wordpress.com
brightonantifascists@riseup.net

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Tags: evf
Categories : events

Oppose the EDL in Tower Hamlets

12 07 2013

Public meeting, Tuesday 30 July, 7.30pm
Scott Room, Oxford House, Derbyshire Road (off Bethnal Green Road), E2 6HG

The racist English Defence League plan to march through Tower Hamlets on Saturday 7 September: how can we stop them?

London Anti-Fascists, part of the national Anti-Fascist Network, are calling a mobilisation for the day that will aim to be mobile and fluid in order to disrupt the EDL’s plans as much as possible.

Join us for a public discussion on how to build that mobilisation, as well as discussion of the politics and tactics necessary to beat the EDL and other racist organisations.

The Anti-Fascist Network is a national network of local grassroots anti-fascist and anti-racist groups which fight the EDL, BNP, and other racist and fascist organisations on the basis of direct action and working-class politics.

For more info, see:
londonantifascists.wordpress.com

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Tags: edl, London Anti-Fascists
Categories : events

UK Antifascism is a genuine anti-fascist site

24 06 2013

The Anti-fascist Network would like to help clear up some false rumours about the new UK Antifascism Facebook page and the Twitter account associated with it. It has been suggested that these are run by Joshua Bonehill, the leader of the Strong movement, in order to spy on anti-fascists. This is completely untrue. The sites are run by a comrade of ours in order to provide a newsfeed for anti-fascists.

This is not to say that you will not be spied on if you use social media. The recent revelations about Prism and GCHQ only confirm what we have suspected for years – that states use these platforms to spy on us. Anti-fascists need to make sure their security is strong whenever they use social media. Check out this guide for some ideas.

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Categories : other

Fascist remanded after Gloucester mosque arson attack

23 06 2013

[Reblogged from 3 Counties Anti-Fascist Alliance]

Following on from an arson attack on a mosque in Gloucester on Tuesday morning, two local men have been charged with conspiracy to commit arson and remanded in custody. It’s interesting to note that Clive Ceronne, one of the accused, is a known far-right activist in the local area. He was previously involved with the Gloucester English Defence League ‘division’ as well as setting up and administrating the ‘South West Infidels’ Facebook page. Ceronne is also listed as the Gloucestershire ‘officer’ for the New British Union, you can find out more about him and his fellow fascists here.

Cheltenham man charged with mosque ‘hate crime’

A CHELTENHAM man has been charged with conspiracy to commit arson following a “hate crime” at a mosque.

Ashley Henry Juggins, 20, of Brooklyn Road will appear before magistrates today following the blaze in Gloucester.

Clive Michael Ceronne, 37, of 23 Redwood Close in Gloucester faces a similar charge after an attack on Masjid-E-Noor in Ryecroft Street in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

A number of mosques across the country have been targeted since Drummer Lee Rigby was killed in Woolwich last month.

Police confirmed yesterday it was being treated as a hate crime after CCTV appeared to show someone pouring petrol around the door and igniting it with a lit rag.

Officers initially believed a person could have been engulfed by the flames, but later stated no one was thought to be injured in the fire.

The fire left minimal damage to the place of worship’s doors after a Good Samaritan, believed to be a Polish taxi driver, leapt from his car and tackled the flames with a fire extinguisher.

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue service confirmed flames were out when they arrived on the scene, just before 1am.

Since the attack police have been talking to the Muslim community in Cheltenham to allay fears. They have vowed to step up patrols around Gloucester’s mosques and said the two in Cheltenham were on current routes.

One Cheltenham Muslim, who only wanted to be identified as Mohamed, said any hate crime was sad for the community.

He said: “Many of us have been worried about reprisals since Lee Rigby, which was condemned by us all here in Cheltenham. Gloucestershire generally has a welcoming attitude to everyone and that is one of the reasons I live here. But something like this can make a community feel isolated.

“Personally the way to combat any kind of hate crime is by having a ‘business as usual’ approach and not being beaten, but it is tremendously hard when things like this happen.”

The Gloucester Muslim Welfare Association said in a statement: “The mosque will continue and remains committed to work towards promoting peace, tolerance and community cohesion across all sections of the community.”

Chief Inspector for Gloucester Richard Burge said: “Gloucestershire has a wonderfully diverse and welcoming community and people will be upset and angry about this.”

The pair who have now been charged were remanded in custody last night following their arrest.”

Updates

Cheltenham man in court on mosque attack

Terror march through Gloucester is cancelled

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Tags: new british union
Categories : news

Woolwich Strong and the EDL

22 06 2013

Since the murder of Lee Rigby, various chancers have attempted to use the tragedy as a bandwagon for their own financial and political gain. The EDL leaped at the chance to exploit the murder, setting up Facebook fronts and organised memorial marches in order to expose more people to their anti-Muslim propaganda. Now they’re saying they will march from Westminster to Woolwich in order to get on TV again. Help For Heroes have rejected their sponsorship money so Tommy & Kev will be pocketing it instead.

The far right aren’t the only ones cashing in. Joshua Bonehill, a UKIP supporter and former Tory hopeful has stolen an idea from the US and has appointed himself the Chairman of Woolwich Strong. The Strong movement is set up to appeal to ordinary people who want to pay their respects to Lee Rigby but has, unsurprisingly, attracted the vultures of the far right as well. Nottingham Strong was shut down after it was revealed to have been run by the EDL and Strong events in Doncaster, Manchester, Exeter, Brighton and Mansfield have all been shown to have involvement with known fascist activists.

One of the main aims of Bonehill’s Strong movement is selling branded T-shirts. Lee Rigby’s family, who have spoken out against attempts to capitalise on his death, have not been contacted about where the proceeds are going.

This Sunday, the Strong groups are organising local marches up and down the country. The fascist activists involved will be trying to infiltrate these events to spread their poisonous propaganda and anti-Muslim conspiracy theories. Anti-fascists will be monitoring these events and exposing fascist involvement in them. There is no place for fascism in our local communities.

Brighton Anti-fascists, who exposed the fact that the Brighton & Hove Strong group was set up by the local EDL division, have these questions for the Strong movement:

‘What really is extremism?’ And: ‘Why isn’t “Strong” concerned about the rise of the right wing extremism of EDL?’

East Midlands Anti-fascists exposed the fact that Mansfield’s EDL organiser was involved in organising Mansfield Strong and that a number of local far right activists were planning to travel to the event on Sunday:

We ask the other organisers of Mansfield Strong to resist attempts by the EDL to infiltrate their event. We hope that they make it clear that the EDL and other far right groups are not welcome.

The Antifascist Network will be mobilising to oppose the EDL’s further cynical attempts to cash in on this tragedy. Keep an eye on this blog and join your local anti-fascist group to keep up to date.

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Tags: East Midlands Anti-Fascists, edl
Categories : events

Call outs for Saturday

14 06 2013

Apologies for people who have been checking this blog to find it unattended – Please be assured it is not due to anything other than the current author being tied up with more pressing anti-fascist matters! Anyway this weekend for those in the south-

Posted on June 9, 2013 (re-post from Essex Antifascists)

UPDATE: for the meeting point email essexantifa@hush.com.

IMPORTANT: If you are traveling from Colchester or London, please email essexantifa@hush.com

On the 15th June, the English Defence League plan to hold a meeting in Southend, The Britannia Pub, SS1 2ER at 1pm. We are not willing to let this happen.

Whether it be a march, gathering or meeting – fascists must be countered at every opportunity. This is why locals are calling on anti-fascists from Essex, London and beyond to join them on the 15th June, in Southend, to say no to the EDL.

essexantifa@hush.com

And this weekend for those in the North:

EDL/Casuals(ha ha)/National Front/Infidels – yea, all the usual ‘dual carding’ scumbags, are having a demo in Ashton Under Lyne, in the Greater Manchester Area on Saturday. The demo is about some Asian lads scrapping with some white lads at a bus stop. We don’t know what started the fight, but the fascists are claiming this is a case of ‘anti-white’ racism….we couldn’t make this shit up if we tried!! The EDL meet up point is Ashton train station at 12.00. UAF are doing something at the town hall around the same time.

All the Best to those travelling tomorrow, and to those organising in their localities!

Just for fun here’s a picture from the casuals united blog – eeee, I don’t know….I’d expect a good kicking if I stood at a bus stop dressed like that!

Hot Damn! Check out those cool cats daddio!!

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Tags: edl, Essex Anti-Fascists
Categories : events

South London Anti-Fascists: thanks to the many

3 06 2013

Reposted from the multiculturalpolitic. By South London Anti-Fascists / @SouthLondonAF

This statement of gratitude is to the many who were on the streets on Saturday, those who in the past week who emailed us offering support, to those who came to our planning meetings. We thank the thinkers who thought deeply and practically about how to stop fascists, the activists who got arrested and brutalised by the police, to those who organised childcare and those who were there in spirit. We thank those who met up with individuals including from Lambeth SOS/Unison, South London Solidarity Federation andBloomsbury Fightback who without their help would have travelled alone. Also the Animal Rights activists who joined us while dressed as badgers. We thank all of you for your support, the British National Party because of all of your efforts were shown to be a national joke and didn’t even get close to South London.

London antifascists who have been instrumental in the effective resistance on Saturday have published a detailed report which can be read here.

Antifascist arrests

We are disgusted but once again not surprised by the actions of the police, one female antifascist was hospitalised with a broken leg, while 58 other antifascists were arrested because they refused to allow the fascists to march. The arrests with the prepared buses were clearly planned in advance of the protest. We will continue to show solidarity with the arrestees and we will work with Green & Black Cross to continue to provide legal and financial support. We urge all fellow antifascists who are able to donate to GBC, their help has been incredibly important and vital to organising quick and effective arrestee support.

We saw legal observers were punched and pushed out of the way so that they could not record police brutality. This was planned and prepared by the police and we must learn from this experience.

We note that Weyman Bennett from Unite Against Fascism did not cooperate with the police to divide the antifascist resistance, and also many UAF activists joined us in forming defensive lines against the fascists and the police, this solidarity was welcome.

In Woolwich, we thank activists from the Movement for Justice who kept an eye on the local Islamic Centre and spoke with young black people about the current situation. In Lewisham, various antifascists from the local Trade Union Council, Newham Monitoring Project, and other people from the local community came together to support Lewisham Islamic Centre. The Centre in response held a meal for all who attended on the day.

However, while we defeat the BNP, despite the valiant efforts of antifascists across the country, the English Defence League were able to hold a few unopposed “silent walks” on Saturday particularly in their home town of Luton. They have subsequently raised significant sums of money for their own organisation. We know that at least 13 mosques and Islamic centres have been attacked according to media reports, and many more Muslims have been attacked in the streets.

Our movement has many challenges ahead, we are too white and disconnected from the migrant communities and activists that are directly affected by Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism. Racism, sexism and fascism doesn’t just appear in fascist marches and pitch battles against the police. It happens in the workplace, in the national newspapers, during stop-and-searches, through local councils and the corridors of power in Westminster. Popular racism is endemic in British institutions and mainstream culture. In response to this, we as antifascists must develop a genuine diversity of tactics and a coherent strategy to pull racist ideologies and power structures up from its imperial roots in the British state. Our autonomous struggle is against police brutality, the murder of migrants labelled “asylum seekers”, the countless deaths in custody, the demonisation of Romanians and Bulgarians, and against the inability to leave your home because of the fear of being attacked for being different.

If you are interested in supporting this struggle, we will be holding a debriefing meeting on Monday 10th June from 6pm to 7:30pm in South London. Details will be revealed on our mailing list. Email us to get involved: southlondon-antifascists@aktivix.org

We are also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/SouthLondonAF and Twitter:www.twitter.com/SouthLondonAF

NO PASARAN

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Tags: bnp, South London Anti-Fascists
Categories : reports

Stop the BNP! Oppose their march from Woolwich to Lewisham, Sat 1st Jun

30 05 2013

There’s fascist gatherings all over the bloody place this weekend, if your around London though take note!

A message From London and South London Anti-Fascists –

Battle of Lewisham, 13 August 1977 – 10,000 antifascists confront the NF march in a decisive battle against the far-right.

We are calling on all anti-fascists to oppose the BNP, who are planning to march from Woolwich to Lewisham, on Saturday June 1st.

We must come together to show that their racist ideology will be opposed on our streets and in our neighbourhoods.

More details to follow.

BNP Lewisham – poster

A5 flier – flyer

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Tags: bnp, London Anti-Fascists, South London Anti-Fascists
Categories : events

Countering the resurgence of the EDL: report and thoughts from the anti-EDL counter demo at Downing Street

29 05 2013

This is a repost from While Rome Burns

In the last week the extreme right has been making all the running in the aftermath of the killing of soldier Lee Rigby on Wednesday. We have seen a sudden outpouring of racism and speedily-organised mobilisations by the EDL. The demonstration at Downing Street on Bank Holiday Monday was the first ‘official’ EDL event organised in response to the killing which anti-fascists had any time to respond to. Luckily UAF called a counter demonstration so the racists did not meet unopposed. The EDL demonstration was advertised for 3pm, although they had all organised to meet up earlier in Leicester Square. The rally organised by UAF was announced for 2pm, also at Downing Street.

When I arrived, the main UAF/anti-fascist contingent were behind police lines outside Downing Street and the cops were not letting anyone else join them. There was a small number of EDL the other side of them (estimated at 150). As I was unable to join together with the anti-fascist crowd, I tried to walk around the perimeter of the demonstration. It was then that I encountered a large number of EDL coming down Horse Guards Road. There were at least 500 of them and they appeared to be going wherever they pleased, marching freely through central London chanting, shouting and waving their flags with almost no police in attendance and no opposition. Apparently this main group of 500 or so had come from Leicester Square. There were some police vans tail-ending the march and a small number of police on foot were following them. However, when asked, one of the cops in attendance claimed to have no idea where the EDL were going. So it could be that the EDL were just being allowed to have an impromptu march wherever they liked or that the route had been agreed with the police but the cops were just unwilling to share this with members of the public.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: edl
Categories : analysis

No right turn, oppose the EDL tomorrow! 2pm Downing Street, Westminster London

27 05 2013

re-post from London Antifascists…

No right turn – a call for a mass mobilisation against the reactionary right!

Since the brutal murder of soldier Lee Rigby by two men in Woolwich, the xenophobic and racist EDL have sickenly tried to exploit the atrocity for their own political agenda. Backed up by a compliant media that has over the past decade fuelled the perception of the wider Muslim population as complicit to terrorism. This attack has caused a serious racist backlash to anyone that’s considered to be Muslim so that has meant alot of Asian people other ethnic minorities throughout the country have been the victims of racial violence and we also saw openly racist speeches made at the Edl Newcastle demo.

The recent electoral gains by anti-immigration party UKIP and the shift to the right by the establishment parties, poses a danger on the little freedoms and democratic power we still have left. A population that is fearful of attack, who is suspicious, who are scared from cooperating with each other is the ideal scenario for those with real power over us to continue to their attack on our communities, services, incomes and lives.

London antifascists are calling for a mobilisation from all different communities to oppose the EDL demonstration at 3pm on Monday May 27th at Downing Street . Along with other anti-racist organisations we aim to put a stop to the growth of the EDL and their reactionary ideas.

Stand up against racism in the street, on transport, at work and school.

No right turn – antifascists now and always.

As ever we recommend you travel with a group and stay with that group. Be vigilant and mobile.

London Antifascists (Part of AFN), May 26, 2013

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Tags: edl, London Anti-Fascists
Categories : events