June 19, 2011

EDL Attack Rage Against Racism Gig

Last night The Oppressed, among other acts, entertained hundreds of militant anti-fascists at the excellent Rage Against Racism gig at The Well in Leeds. The gig was organised by local anti-fascists for the benefit of Leeds and Cardiff Anti Fascist Action, the event was not related to Unite Against Fascism or Hope not Hate despite what the EDL thought. Manchester Anti Fascist Alliance were, again, offered to do a stall at the gig selling our merchandise .

The English Defence League had threatened to disrupt the event on the grounds that the “UAF racists” shouldn’t be at an anti-racist gig. Around a dozen members of the EDL, thought to be from Bradford, turned up to conduct a smash and run type operation. Unfortunately it was successful in that they put through two windows, three of them got banged (including one leading mixed race EDL member who was sporting a cracked head) and then ran away only to be arrested latter on. One anti-fascist was injured by a stray bottle thrown as the legged it. Hope Not Hate claim to have photographic evidence but they have handed it over to the police *groan*. The gig carried on and the consensus is that it was fantastic!

However this is another worrying development the EDL are carrying out their threats against anti-racists although they are yet to realise there is a difference between the UAF and Anti Fascist Action types, hopefully the cracked skull will make them realise. The EDL have stepped up their militant activities especially in the North due to the North West Infidel and North East Infidel (NWI & NEI) split. These two groups, along with what remains of the Scottish Defence League, are disillusioned with the pathetic marching from the train station and back in some racial diverse town or city.

The NWI & NEI want to take the fight to the UAF and other “reds” and we must be prepared to defend ourselves and our activities. the UAF are constantly turning a blind eye to these attacks, which are mostly aimed at the UAF due to the intense hatred the EDL have for the UAF. The UAF must not allow themselves to be beaten off the streets and their ever decreasing turn outs to their useless counter demonstrations give evidence to this happening already. The UAF denounce militant anti-fascists as chuvenistic and “squaddist” but militant anti-fascist must be a weapon always in our arsenal and we must not be afraid to deploy it. Let us be prepared to defend the working class communities from fascists and to prevent their infiltration by fascists. The UAF has failed working class communities and allowing the EDL to take the place of what should be the left. The NWI & NEI must be watched too, if these groups move outside of the EDL they will no longer be constrained by the EDL marching tactics. They are a more openly racist group, openly using “white power” on their facebook group, and are more inclined to militant and violent tactics than the EDL officals.

To end on a positive note: MAFA would like to thanks the organisers for holding an excellent gig and we hope that we see more of them. Also thank you for inviting MAFA to do a stall. A special mention has been requested to thank the anti fascist organisation who stewarded the meeting so professionally and well and thwarted the attempted attack outnumbered.

This article will be updated once new information comes out. All the specifics in this article have already been written about in the public domain, if you have any further information and amendments please post it in the comments.

No Retreat

Written by Fat Lad at Manchester Anti Fascist Alliance

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

So if i've read this correctly ,the 635 lads smashed the EDL over the head with coshes lol.

Anonymous said...

Good that the Oppressed and others showed the right way to stand up to the scum, wish i could have been at the gig and am very glad it went well.

For the record, Uaf are not turning a blind eye to attacks on them, what nonsense is this and are certainly not against mass, militant action against the likes of the Edl. If the person who wrote this post checked his facts, he would know that uaf are taking edl attacks aginst them seriously and are acting accordingly.

Just ask the edl if you dont believe me, the edl may think anti fascists are a soft touch and will lie on their websites ad infinitum to this effect,

some of their members know different. Various edl members have learnt the hard way, enough said.

Anonymous said...

THE FASH SCUM LOSE OUT AGAIN, JUST LIKE THEIR IDOL ADOLF HITLER!

Anonymous said...

THE FASH SCUM LOSE OUT AGAIN.


Sadly not true,i was at this gig.

We need more muscle!!


Kev,leeds uni.

Anonymous said...

including one leading mixed race EDL member who was sporting a cracked head

Name?

Anonymous said...

This is very worrying, but well done to Leeds for sending them packing

Anonymous said...

This article is an embellished unhelpful account lifted from Machester AFA (they have now edited out the majority of the sensationalism and I'd ask you to do the same).

The EDL turned up, they were prevented from gaining entry by four people who stood their ground and refused to be intimidated. The EDL then threw bottles/cans/bricks breaking some windows and hitting one person in the face. A number of the EDL idiots were subsequently arrested.

John P said...

Anonymous said...

This article is an embellished unhelpful account lifted from Machester AFA (they have now edited out the majority of the sensationalism and I'd ask you to do the same).

The EDL turned up, they were prevented from gaining entry by four people who stood their ground and refused to be intimidated. The EDL then threw bottles/cans/bricks breaking some windows and hitting one person in the face. A number of the EDL idiots were subsequently arrested.

11:32 AM, June 20, 2011

I agree with your statement. A few of my friends were doing the music in the other room and what they have said tallies with what you say.
Could you send the link through and I will update the article.
Cheers John

Antifascist said...

'they have now edited out the majority of the sensationalism and I'd ask you to do the same'

Updated.

Stockport Red said...

How about they adjust the pathetic and sectarian lie:

"Hope Not Hate claim to have photographic evidence but they have handed it over to the police".

Hopenot hate have not made that claim at all. As for "hundreds of militant antifascists" I would ask where these hard militants go when the Fash are actuallyout on the streets?

I'm afraid "bedsit wankers" is a more apt description.

Shame on you Ketlan, I thought you knew better.

Anonymous said...

I would be careful in taking verbatim the accounts of militant anti-fascists and posting them up without checking.

I observed their work in eighties and found that they tend to exaggerate and 'play up' the scale of actual clashes.

Anonymous said...

This account seems to be the most realistic out there

http://sabcat.com/news/uncategorized/edl-attack-rage-against-racism-gig-at-leeds/

C.TWH said...

"Shame on you Ketlan, I thought you knew better."

I'd assume that Ketlan imagined that anti-fascists would tell the truth, no matter how sensational it sounded.

NewsHound said...

EDL TO MARCH IN CAMBRIDGE: -

http://www.heart.co.uk/cambridge/news/local/edl-march-cambridge/

Anonymous said...

I have a million people to thank for yesterdays fantastic gig at the Well in Leeds . I was up nice n early and down to the venue with my girlfriend Jess . We waited around for 5 mins before DJs Jon Firth and Jamie Headcharge turned up to set up their gear . It was on , but i had a nagging feeling that the EDL would be turning up nice and early too as i had info to this effect thanks to the way the idiots twitter and facebook all their intentions . To this end , I made sure there were spotters around the town on motorcycles who checked all nearby pubs for stone island pockets , But ....all was quiet . At the venue by 2 there were perhaps 40 people in the venue , half of them female . I was standing on the door with a few Anti-fa who shall remain nameless when we saw what can only be described as a gaggle of EDL trotting over the bridge towards the venue ....shit !! We got what males were in attendance to come out to the door . I stopped them and asked why they were here , they said they were against racism too and wanted tickets , I said fine , 15 quid . At this point "obviously the leader " tried to barge past with the monkies behind him hollering and whooping like they were watching the messia in action . This lunk head was stopped from getting in and then the brave EDL ran away to collect bricks which makes a change from collecting idiots i suppose. They ran towards the venue all hurling bricks etc Their aim was precise and acurrate as after about 15 bricks were hurled at the windows , they managed to hit 2 the clever boys . At this point there was some sort of pushing and toing and frowing at the main door and a bottle or 10 was thrown directly into the venue flying glass hiting men and women alike , causing one of my mates to lose a tooth and needed 8 stitches ...Not good ! During this tussle , the leader , Lets call him "mongo" appeared to have bood pouring down his head as did 2 of his disciples , they may have hit each other with bottles as i did state earlier , they werent the greatest of aimers as they are only used to throwing shit at each other in the monkey compound so throwing anything on target was proving to be a battle , as they also had to walk and move at the same time as doing all this . Anyway , Off they ran with their brave chants of E E Edl whilst calling me white trash !! Eh???The police arrived ten mins later and from the word go , said it was ok for the event to go ahead as they didnt want these idiots ruining happy gigs for anyone . The manager of the venue sad the same thing . The rest of the day went from good to better to out of this world !! Best gig leeds has seen for a long long time . The next one is gonna be the Angelic Upstarts at the Library in Leeds on the 24th September . See you all there .

I didnt do all this on my own , and thanks must go out to Jess , Cardiff Jo, Paul mason (a true star), jon firth and jamie headcharge for keeping the dancing going all day long in the bar and they did all this for nothing , words cant express how much i am grateful to em . Also thanks to Pauline ,,Joe R , ,Chip , dom r , , Hendo , gogs , gibby , frank, stu etc (the livi punks ) . All the bands and merch sellers and also to everyone who donated raffle prizes . I know i have forgot some of you , but you know im grateful anyway . Last but not least thanks to Roddy Moreno and the Oppressed for putting on the icing at the end . Taxi straight home with mates , drinks laughs etc . then bed . See you all next time , thanks , love you all