EDL’s Dutch Courage Runs Out!

Well, what a wash-out. After months of trumpeting and blether the English Defence League’s band of hooligans and ‘chav scrotes’ were humiliated in Amsterdam yesterday, attacked by antifascists and Ajax fans and harried by the cops. At least they didn’t have time to fight amongst themselves as they usually do. There is some interesting YouTube footage, involving some shaky camera work, of them running around cluelessly, pursued by Dutch Antifa and plod. At one point there seemed to be more photographers than EDL all believing the hype that this was going to be another Bradford ‘little big one.’ In the end it was ‘the little little one.’ The images show a faintly confused bunch of fat blokes in hoodies wandering about. One of the EDL vans was trashed and there were 34 arrests. They had a little stage and Tommy Robinson AKA Steven Yaxley-Lennon, ex-BNP and jailed for assaulting a copper, gave a ‘rousing speech’ to his mates and then they went home. No surrender? They did. Completely.

According to Hope Not Hate about 60 turned up to ‘support’ Geert Wilders, the anti-Islamic Dutch MP who has publicly distanced himself from the lager swilling, loud mouthed hooligans for obvious reasons. So if that is the case, why did the EDL bother? So they can get their necessary media injection and show their mates in the pub how famous they are. This kind of behaviour shows the EDL as a vanity operation, boosting the egos a of a few nobodies with criminal records.

Battered

A poster on the EDL website said a group of EDL turned up on Friday night and the following day were attacked by Ajax fans who told them to go away in no uncertain terms. The EDL are now making threatening noises about revenge should Ajax come to the UK. We shall see … One hapless EDL got battered and ended up with a shattered leg. He had the misfortune to have no travel insurance either and had to travel back to the UK in considerable discomfort. The ‘Malatestas’ have had a whip round and will be sending 50p to the EDL as fast as possible. The poster admits that the public were also opposed to the EDL presence – which comes as no surprise. The EDL seriously think that ALL the ‘public’ and ALL football fans have the duty to support them. Well, they don’t: lots of people despise them or are merely bored by their posturing. The Dutch authorities didn’t want them there either and throughout the week the demo was moved about and they ended up with an out of town spot at the Western docks. In his ‘rousing speech’ Yaxley-Lennon criticised the mayor for moving the demo – as if a gang of drunk hooligans with a violent reputation should be welcomed with open arms wherever they go. The Dutch will have seen what the EDL have done in place like Stoke, Bradford and Leicester and have the absolute right to move them wherever they want. Would the EDL like the Ajax fans to demonstrate in the middle of Luton?

A Successful Failure

The Gates of Vienna website has declared the event a success but this is difficult to reconcile with the facts. The EDL had a poor turn out. The local football supporters attacked them. The person who they were ‘supporting’ publicly rejected them. The general public were hostile. The media coverage was negative. And the hope of uniting with other anti-Islamic factions and footie fans did not materialise. Well done. They had difficulties in getting the numbers for various reasons, mainly that the DSS won’t pay for ‘chav scrotes’ to go abroad on a jolly. One poster wrote: ‘I’m going, most people will be meeting round the red light district where the bars are next to the canals. I’m going on my own my mates cant afford it or aren’t allowed by there Mrs.’ Which just about sums them up.

What Price Fame?

What is more alarming than the EDL’s ‘international mobilisation’ is the relationship between Tommy Robinson and Katie Price. There was a picture of them schmoozing widely circulated on the net but now Katie is doing a desperate PR job distancing herself from the EDL. Meanwhile on the EDL web forum there is anti-Katie consternation and it is difficult to tell who is disowning whom. Both seem embarrassed by the turn of events. As they should be.

Anyway…

Despite all the photos of the EDL seig-heiling, and the dual membership of fascist groups by key members – Jeff Marsh, Steven White, Luke Pippin (Combat 18) etc. – they are still going on about being non-racist and this process of denial is sounding politically weak. The next ‘big one’ scheduled is in Preston on 27th November but there could be a few flash’ demos on the way.

Malatesta

Antifascist Film Day at Bradford's 1 in 12

Click image for full-size

To commemorate the liberation of the survivors of Auschwitz, a day of antifascist films is being held at Bradford 1 in 12 Club on Saturday 23rd January. Drop in for one film or come and watch them all. There’ll be fab food throughout the day, as well as the Leeds Anarchist Black Cross bookstall.

Entry is free of charge, but donations are welcome, and any money made will go to support antifascist prisoners. Doors open at 12 Noon.

Film Times:

• 12.30pm: Hitler – The rise of Evil – Robert Carlisle stars as history’s biggest bastard.
• 4.30pm: The Pianist - Adrian Brody stars in an epic story of survival in Nazi-occupied Poland.
• 7.30pm: The 43 Group – The inspiring story of the Jewish ex-servicemen and women who smashed Mosely’s fascists off the streets of post-World War 2 Britain.
• 8.00pm: Edelweiss Pirates – The true story of young antifascists taking on the Nazis in war-time Cologne.

NO PASARAN!

Antifa

Antiracists and far-right battle in Moscow

A simmering confrontation between far-right youths and ant-racist activists has erupted into Moscow's streets after the fatal shooting of an anti-racist activist known as the Bonebreaker

The violence stems from deep animus between two aggressive camps with starkly different visions of Russia's future - neo-Nazi skinheads who rank in the tens of thousands and militant anti-racist groups that call themselves Antifa, short for anti-fascist.

Former punk rocker Ivan Khutorskoi, 26, provided security for meetings of antifascists. He also was known for organizing underground bare-knuckle boxing matches among them, and taking part in violent attacks on ultranationalists. Khutorskoi was gunned down in his apartment building on the city's outskirts Monday night. A day later, dozens of masked men pelted the headquarters of the pro-Kremlin youth group Young Russia with stones, trash and steel rods, Young Russia's leader said.

Kremlin critics say Russia's leadership created Young Russia and similar youth organizations to keep its political opponents in check and provide support, and sometimes muscle, on the streets. Anti-racist groups claim they have close ties with the ultranationalists they call fascists or Nazis.

Nobody was hurt in the attack late Tuesday on the office of Young Russia. But its message, delivered first with projectiles and then over the Internet, seemed clear.

"If no one but us tries to stop Nazis and those who provide cover for them, we will act by all means necessary," blogger Anarcho Punk wrote Wednesday. Other anti-racist bloggers said the attack was retaliation for what they claimed were the group's links to Russian neo-Nazis. They "dedicated" the assault to their leader, Khutorskoi, an outsized figure and a role model among antifascists, who say he had survived three previous assassination attempts. He was shot twice in the back of the head near the door to his apartment on Moscow's eastern outskirts, police said.
Khutorskoi sometimes provided security at press conferences of Stanislav Markelov, a human rights lawyer hated by ultranationalists but not at the one last January after which Markelov and a journalist were fatally shot on the street.

Antifa groups have been rapidly adding to their ranks in Russia in recent years, said Galina Kozhevnikova, the director of Sova, a respected independent hate-crime watchdog monitoring group. She said their ideology attracts leftist-minded youth and people concerned about persistent hate crimes and xenophobia in today's Russia.

"The army of ultranationalists is definitely bigger, as the movement is much older," Kozhevnikova said.

Pro-Kremlin youth groups like Young Russia are also a significant force. Experts believe their emergence was a Kremlin response to the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, where youth groups played a key role in street protests that ushered a pro-Western presidential candidate to power. Young Russia is known for street rallies and pranks against anti-Kremlin politicians. The group has also been involved in attacks on anti-government protesters and opposition youth activists.

Young Russia's leader, Maxim Mishchenko, said about 80 masked men attacked the office in central Moscow. A 22-year old attacker was seized by Young Russia activists and handed over to police, he said.

Anti-fascist bloggers claimed Mishchenko, a Russian parliament member with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party, has close ties with Russky Obraz, a radical ultranationalist group that antiracists claim was behind Khutorskoi's killing. Mishchenko denied the allegations, calling them "an absolute lie."

A spokesman for Russky Obraz, Yevgeny Valayev, told The Associated Press that the group had "no Kremlin-appointed supervisors" but had cooperated with Mishchenko on several initiatives, including an extreme nationalist march in Moscow early this month.

Guardian

EDL: Early Departure from Leeds

Image of EDL thugs in Leeds today taken from Indymedia

Back into the vicinity of a computer from the anti-EDL march in Leeds city centre, here's a dogs eye view of the turns of the day so far.

Arriving at about 9:30am into Leeds train station, the streets were notably clear already of anyone but worried looking police and disinterested shoppers. A low line of fencing surrounded city square, where statues were covered up with green tarpaulin and the distictly premature christmas tree that had been there a few days previously had disappeared. Electronic signs and loudspeaker systems were being erected around the square, which was to be the location of the EDL "against muslim extremism" (but of course not racist at all should the shaven headed hordes be believed). Ironically, this location had apparantly been chosen by the EDL as there is a giant statue of a knight on a horse there, who they believed to be St George, but is in fact a statue of "The Black Prince".

A TV van outside the church opposite was having it's doors tested by a couple of policemen seemingly looking for something to do, whilst a policewoman nearby was saying that she hoped noone would show up.

The EDL in Leeds with informant Tony White on the extreme left for a change

Leaving the area for a bit to get some flyers for the Northern Indymedia reporting number photocopied, disturbingly few outside of the area around the station were even aware of what was planned that day. A worker at a coffee shop nearby had heard however and asked if we were planning to attend. They wished the anti EDL demonstrators luck and a free coffee on the house should they return thirsty.

After an hour or so of handing out flyers to various friends and groups who were making their way in ever greater numbers to the city centre, we headed towards the library where various antifascist groups and anti racism campaigners were planning to meet. Again, there was a cordon around the "designated protest zone" and an even heavier police presence at this location. By the time we arrived at about 11.15am, there were very few people, those that were there mainly comprising of UAF stewards in their high visibilty jackets and several people trying to sell a certain newspaper to anyone who showed more than a passing interest in the activity going on.

The police at the entrance to the cordon were struggling to install a metal detector, of the type used at airports and football matches. "I think the batteries about to die Sarge" One policeman was heard shouting across the road. Later in the day, with the protest in full swing, there was still a couple of policemen struggling to make it work, by which point hundreds of people had already passed.

We took some pictures of the line of around 6 police vans and the "battle of the metal detector", and left the cordon to go back down Park Row to see if there was a similar presence at that end of the street. 10 yards down the street however, we were stopped by a police medic who asked what my name was.

"I'm not so sure I want to tell you that" was my first response to this question, unwilling to comply with any attempts to draw me into casual conversation.

"Look, if you're not going to tell me your name, I'm going to arrest you and we can get your name at the station" came the not so friendly reply.

What a surprise - nazi salutes from the EDL

"Surely I'm not required to tell you that" I responded, to which I was told that a blanket section 60 had been placed over the whole of Leeds, authorised by Chief Supt Milson of West Yorkshire Police. This meant, I was told, that they had the power to detain and search me if I was acting in any way suspiciously. When I asked what my suspicious behaviour was, I was told that it was due to me taking photographs of the police.

My efforts to explain that I was covering a major event to contribute to Indymedia, and that it was perfectly natural to be taking pictures when confronted with hundreds of police, a line of police vans and an airport style stop and search area, seemingly carried very little weight. A tense few moments led to a FIT cameraman with a video camera worthy of Universal studios was beckoned to within 3 feet of me to capture the remaining exchange.

As my bag was emptied of the spare socks, bourbons and computer equipment it contained in front of me, a stop and search slip was written out giving the reason "Sec 60 stop. Seen taking photos of police equipment" Of particular note to myself was when I was asked

"Are you a Gypsy or Traveller?"

At first assuming this was some stunning deductive guesswork from the medic, I was surprised to discover that this question actually has it's own y/n box on the form (with an absence of any other similar question on the form, other than the standard "Self Defined Ethnicity Classification" box to which a code was also entered. When I objected to this, and pointed out that it's a fairly offensive thing to include, I was told to bring it up with the home office.

A bunch of EDL supporters with a familiar face popping up?

Finally satisfied with the camerawork of his colleague, the medic turned back into my "Best friend" and helpfully informed me that I wasn't a terrorist after all, with the words:

"If you'd have just given us your name and address when we asked, we wouldn't have had to search you would we as you wouldn't have seemed suspicious", (which is a strange logic when I was stopped for 'acting suspiciously' even before they had chance), before admitting that section 60 is controversial. "It's not very popular, but it works".

Moving down to city square, people were getting ready for the arrival of the fash. The air was noticibly more tense as the police began to grow in numbers and cameras were unloaded from an unmarked BBC van with a satellite dish on the roof. We asked what they were hoping to film, to which they replied they probably wouldn't be broadcasting any coverage unless fighting broke out, and that they were there "just in case". Groups of Antifa activists, clearly and respectably unwilling to be penned in to the "official protest areas" milled about the nearby streets.

Heading back to the library, the numbers were beginning to swell and speakers tried to address the crowd from the steps. A police electronic billboard that had been erected circled in the background with the words "face coverings must not be worn".

A sudden surge of police to block off the Headrow marked the arrival of a few hundred marchers with anarchist flags, seemingly from the Woodhose area of Leeds, being kettled into formation by several rows of police. Scuffles broke out as people tried to break through the lines towards the EDL pen by the station. At least one person was seperated from the crowd and arrested, and police struggled as a flare was lit and the crowd surged forwards, before eventually being pushed back into the barriers at the library.

Once things had calmed down a little, we headed back down Park Row to await the arrival of the EDL from the station. Wheras the Library end of the street was heavily policed, there were noticably fewer at the City Square end at this time. Eventually, a rush of police horses to the station and the distant chanting of "In-ger-land" and other football terrace chants marked the arrival of the fascists, to be held near the bus stops until the police cleared the streets.

Antifascists lined the barriers outside the church, waved flags and shouted "Nazis!", only to be seperated off and silenced by the police who allowed the racist chanting on the other side of the road to continue. A mass of shaven headed people in football shirts stood amongst the antifascists on the side of the road, jeering and shouting support for the EDL, but soon backed off when confonted. Eventually, the EDL, numbering about 150, were penned in city square where they waved st Georges flags and chanted anti muslim slogans, bouncing up and down on the spot as they did so.

And so began the next few hours of the police battling to keep the two groups apart. Whilst the EDL seemed quite happy to drink lager and shout slurred, racist chants, many attempts were made by the anarchist antifascists to break out of the Library pen in numbers, only to be pushed back by both the police and the UAF stewards who were shouting over the megaphone "We have to stay and defend the library". Who they were intending to defend it from is anybody's guess as the fascists were quite happily swaying down the road. Occasionally, a small group of fascists would attempt to make their way to the library, only to be chased down by Antifa activists and spirited away back to their pen by the police to chants of "Police protect the fascists".

The police say 'no masks', yet many of the EDL are masked up

Eventually, at about 3pm, the police surged into city square in large numbers and riot gear and began to push bystanders back to create an area of clear roads around city square. Whilst many hoped that they were finally going to deal with the racist chanting, 2 coaches arrived and the EDL dutifully got on board, leaving the square strewn with beer cans. Antifascists tried to get through, but instead dispersed in small groups to track down groups of skinheads who had slipped away to nearby pubs, most notably Yates's wine bar which had an EDL flag hung up in the window.

Back at the library, groups of frustrated demonstrators attempted to leave the pen chanting "We want to march!", only to be pushed back by a combination of the police and the UAF stewards, still seemingly trying to rally people to "defend the library", despite the fact that the EDL were now sat on 2 coaches and without the stomach to even try. This seemed to be causing tension, and the police were stopping any groups from leaving the pen. A group which had got through, reformed and attempted to break through on Infirmary street were pushed back into the pen by police with batons.

With crowds dispersing, batteries dead and the main throng of fascists gone, we boarded a train and headed back to Bradford, the main impression of the day left in me being that the police seemed to have gone to extraordinary lengths to silence the antifascists, whilst giving the EDL centre stage. Looking at the "Gypsy/Traveller - y/n" section of my yellow slip, I tried to imagine why.

Jim Dog
Northern Indymedia

Anarchists arrested after clash with BNP activists in East End

Six anarchists were arrested in a street fight after they discovered BNP activists had duped a vicar into letting them use his church hall for a rally by saying it was a "book club" meeting.

The six were part of a group of about 30 supporters of the Antifa anti-fascist group who had been lying in wait for the British National Party in Bethnal Green on Sunday. The anarchists had found out that some 40 BNP members, including former Millwall councillor Derek Beackon, were staging a strategy rally in the church hall of St John on Bethnal Green.

They tipped off the rector, the Rev Alan Green, who had been told by the person reserving the hall it was for a "book club" discussion. When Mr Green called the group and asked them to leave, the BNP refused. The vicar then called the police.

As six officers escorted the BNP out of the hall, the anarchists pounced sparking a running battle with cops who called in back-up units and used CS spray to fight back.

An Antifa spokesman told the Advertiser: "We had about 40 of our people in the area, but we didn't want to cause problems for the church, so we waited outside for the fascists to come out. We told them they weren't welcome in east London and not to show their faces again."

The Advertiser understands the BNP's meeting was called to drum up support for a new electoral offensive, and possibly a re-formed branch in Tower Hamlets, before next May's European polls.

The Antifa spokesman said: "Getting elected in the London elections has given them confidence and they're slowly marching back into old territory in the city."

Vicar Mr Green, chair of the Tower Hamlets Inter-Faith Forum and one of the most respected religious leaders in the East End, said he was "disturbed" by the incident. He said: "We were told it was a book club, but it was quite clear after the meeting started that this was nothing of the sort. I could hear them from my office near the hall, it was a political rally. When it was quite clear they weren't going to leave, I called the police. I only found out later there had then been fighting."

He also pledged to vet groups wanting to use the hall, which is let out free of charge, more carefully. He added: "They booked under false pretences. We have quite an open policy, but in future I think someone will have to be present when new groups arrive. Extremists are not welcome here."

BNP spokesman Simon Darby said speakers at Sunday's rally included former national organiser Richard Edmonds, Barking councillor Bob Bailey and author Jonathan Bowden. Mr Darby said: "It's a sad reflection of the times that we should have to book legitimate meetings under a false name and then be intimidated and violently attacked by left wing, politically motivated stooges."

The six anti-fascists arrested, aged between 19 and 29 and including one woman, were detained overnight, police said. Five were released on police bail and no further action will be taken against the 19-year-old.

East London Advertiser

The British People’s Party’s Plans For 'Racial Holy War'

Behind the BPP's plans to return to 'street activism' with an 'anti Hip-Hop demo' in Leeds lie bizarre plans for their very own "Racial Holy War".

Kate McDermody (left), shortly before taking control of the BPP

The so-called ‘British People’s Party’, currently led by the odious Kate McDermody, has until recently been content to confine itself to the twilight world of British neo-Nazism. Elements of the party leadership though have long nursed fantasies about what McDermody (or ‘Dermody’ as she prefers to be called) terms “Racial Holy War”. Kevin Watmough, McDermody’s boyfriend, and still (despite all evidence to the contrary) supposed “National Organiser” of the BPP has been a cheer-leader of would-be Nazi terrorists for decades, but the BPP’s flirtation with outright terrorism has not gone well.

Earlier this year, Martyn Gilleard, the BPP’s ‘Goole Organiser’ was sentenced to 16 years for possession of nail-bombs and plans to blow up local mosques, along with nearly 40,000 images of the worst child pornography. While Gilleard, who earned the BPP the sobriquet the ‘British Paedophile Party’, was quickly dumped because of the bad publicity surrounding his child porn collection, the BPP were happy to support him in his plans to start the much talked about ‘RaHoWa’ (‘Racial Holy War.) Nor is Gilleard the only BPP member to go to jail on terrorism charges.

Watmough, who still (laughingly) sees himself as the leader of ‘Combat 18’, has long enjoyed rubbing shoulders with shaven-headed knuckle-draggers so thick that they’re happy to try and make his fantasies reality. Like Gilleard, they almost always end up in prison – unlike ‘Teflon Kev’ himself. Watmough’s, and the BPP’s latest flirtation has been with a small group of ageing would-be street warriors who currently call themselves the ‘Racial Volunteer Force’ and the ‘British Freedom Fighters’. The most recent claim to fame of this pseudo paramilitary outfit has been trying to turn over a street stall being run by some young women from the Manchester branch of the small Revolutionary Communist Group.

The alliance of the so-called ‘RVF’ and ‘’BFF’ (previously, and just as laughably, called the ‘Aryan Strike Force’) have also run the BPP’s ‘security’ at their most recent meetings. As yet, and despite claims that they have been “threatened by Reds”, this security operation remains entirely untested. Except, that is, by the police, who scooped half of the BPP’s ‘security’ detail up on drugs and weapons charges even before they made it to their last London soiree. Neither Watmough nor McDermody of course were nicked.

Having been lined up and searched by the cops, the BPP/RVF/BFF outfit seem to think they have really been in the trenches! Emboldened by this fantasy, McDermody, whose ‘White Nationalist’ profile is so thin she has to invent silly stories about being responsible for everything from the ‘Common Place’ (Leeds social centre) losing it’s drinks license to phone company ‘Orange’ changing its working practices, is now keen to start a ‘street war’.

In one of the many self-important and hate-filled rants on her fetid blog, McDermody rails against “alien faiths”, children being “brainwashed” about the Holocaust, homosexuality, and of course immigration. In Hitleresque terms, she raves on:

“We have long comprehended that this assault on our once-fine land is like a vociferous cancer, extending its tentacles of annihilation to strike at the heart of every proud man in this Country - this beast is a formidable, tenacious monster and it has been spewing its bile for way, way too long. However, you cannot vanquish such an adversary with benevolence, those tender ZOG promises have been proven the fairytale we all KNEW they were.

“This cancer can never be cured with sticking plaster and aspirin. Call it nazism, call it racism, call it pink-spots-on-your-toes if you like but I call it realisation , I call it fact and I call it the TRUTH! We have been systematically lied to for far too long by far too many people and this inherent state of docility was expected, however we have the antidote and it is called hope - that we can and WILL return this country to its rightful owners. This cancer needs a belligerent cure and we, the British People's Party are it. We are going to take back these streets for those whose heritage gives them claim to ownership, the indigenous White people. Stand by our side, shoulder to shoulder with your brothers and sisters and help us to fight this crusade to preserve YOUR Race and a future for our people.”

Despite McDermody’s bellicose bluster, we are sure that unlike some of her denser cannon-fodder, she is relying on neither being arrested, nor having to fight this ‘street war’ herself. Other fascists who have urged caution, more experienced activists with the scars to prove it, have been dismissed as “keyboard warriors” and even outright cowards, while McDermody’s own courage has extended to doing everything she can to ensure police protection for the BPP’s first street outing.

Sometime ago, McDermody began rambling about her plans to buy a black ‘rap’ CD and then complain about its content. Having researched the lyrics of a 15-year-old Ice T album, McDermody rang HMV in Leeds to see if it was in stock. Despite bellowing down the phone at them about how disgraceful it was that they had managed to locate this CD in their catalogue, McDermody then went into HMV to purchase the album. She then complained to the cops, who really must be becoming rather tired of her.

Having put Part 1 of her ‘master plan’ into action, McDermody then announced that she and the BPP, and whichever other sorry fascist idiots she manages to lure over to Leeds, would be holding a demo outside the HMV branch on Lands Lane in Leeds city centre on October 4th. When a counter demo was announced, and the cops told her that they couldn’t protect her that day, McDermody swiftly moved the demo to October 18th (‘coincidentally’ the same day as the London Anarchist Bookfair.)

McDermody though does not see herself as the Mary Whitehouse of the modern age. Her objections to this CD, and the BPP’s attempt to re-establish fascism back on the streets of Leeds (which was once its northern ‘hub’), are nothing more than a mechanism. Beneath a transparent veneer about consumer anger, McDermody’s real purpose is causing what she hopes will turn into a riot, something she thinks the BPP can make political capital from. Her blueprint for this is the Bradford riots of 2001.

While she is busy negotiating with the cops about what size banners the BPP may have and where they may stand, as well as applying for a number of marches through “immigrant” areas, McDermody, whose vicious neo-Nazism far exceeds her intelligence, has been stupid enough to announce her intentions on the fascist internet forum ‘Stormfront’. Sparring with 80’s fascist activist Joe Owens, who accuses her of not being up to the job, McDermody, posting under the farcical pseudonym ‘TruthTeller’ declares: “"I shall simply have a paper-sale if they ban me. The Leeds demo has necessitated hours with the Police to gain permission, not to mention a fully comprehensive dialogue of all proposed speeches, a copy of all banners and posters etc. Interestingly and rather relevant, the 2001 NF Bradford riots were banned but look what happened then. If we keep up the momentum and persistently apply to march, they will do the same now. I will apply every week if I have to."

Having already referred specifically to the 2001 Bradford riots, McDermody goes on to say: “We have to have the people who'll put in all the effort in CAUSING these riots that will cultivate a revolution of sorts. And then that is when the street action is needed.” She continues: “I will do whatever I believe it takes… My aim is simply to provoke a revolt and this will only be achieved through persistent presence on the streets or by applying for this. If we could have a 2001 Bradford week after week we'd get somewhere so let's do all we can as White Nationalists to try and achieve this…" McDermody’s plans, and those of the BPP, are thus made clear.

Monstrous McDermody may PRETEND she wants a riot, as a way of bigging herself up to her fellow Nazis. She may even THINK she wants a riot, after listening to the chuntering of other Leeds Nazis claiming to be responsible for starting the 2001 Bradford riots. The truth however, is that if it kicks off in Leeds, or anywhere else the BPP try to ‘take back the streets’, she and her fellow fascists will get the hiding of their lives. McDermody may think she was ‘blooded’ when she was subject to some very routine police attention in London, but she really has seen nothing yet, and neither herself nor witless Watmough could cope with the serious attention they seem intent on drawing in.

No fascist street presence can be tolerated in Leeds, and It is imperative that the BPP’s plans to cause racial conflict here and elsewhere are crushed. The fascists were systematically kicked off the streets of Leeds in the 80’s and 90’s and there can be no return to the days when they swaggered around virtually unopposed. We must come out onto the streets in unprecedented numbers to confront them, and show the neo-Nazis that their racist lies will not go unchallenged here, or anywhere else. Let’s make our voices heard.

SMASH THE BPP – NO NAZIS ON THE STREETS OF LEEDS!
SATURDAY 18TH OCTOBER, 11.00AM
HMV, LANDS LANE, LEEDS CITY CENTRE

Related Stories:

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4
Link 5

Leaflet for the Leeds demo (pdf)
Poster for the Leeds demo (pdf)

Antifa

BNP's Second Licence Application Rejected!

The BNP made yet another abortive attempt to apply for a 'mini' drinks and music licence yesterday morning for their upcoming Red White and Blue event better known as Scumfest.

It was again opposed by the police who held up screen shots from the BNP website the day after the first application was opposed. The screen shots declared the BNP's intention to sell alcohol anyway and the police stated that they had taken this to mean that the British National Party were declaring their intention to deliberately break the law!

Unusually for a licence hearing, this time the decision was reached by the licencing panel and delivered on the same day, within an hour & a half in fact, with a resounding 'NO CHANCE' being sent the BNP's way.

The police are still, apparently extremley concerned about 'extremist activity' on the weekend of the 15th - 17th of August. Aren't we all!

Our people in the know also inform us that Alan Warner, (absent at the licence hearing as he has been declared in some BNP circles as a public relations disaster) ruddy-nosed, suspected drug dealer and owner of the land the RWB is due to be held on, has run crying to the cops who are now taking his personal security so seriously that he has a panic button installed along with what he calls 'covert surveillance' around the bungalow.

Antifa

Solidarity with anti-fascists in Russia

“International support is vital and valued” explains St Petersburg anti-fascist activist Bruno Garmson

It is not easy being an anti-fascist in Russia at the moment. We are under constant attack from racists and fascists and we receive little or no protection from the authorities. Several of our activists have been murdered in recent years and even when the attackers are caught they often walk free with suspended sentences.

The rapid decline of Russia’s fledgling democracy, marked by gross violations of human rights during the government’s Chechen campaigns, the granting by parliament of unprecedented powers to the secret service, the abolition of elected executives (governors, mayors etc), the introduction of censorship and political show-trials and murders have changed the political atmosphere. This has enabled nazis and their extreme-rightist allies to stage campaigns as well as using nationalism as an alibi to commit murders, many of which go unpunished.

Outside Russia, this is not always easy to grasp.

In the heroic stories about the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 against the Nazis that flicker almost nightly on Russian television screens, it is nowadays hard to find any other motives described than “defending the motherland”.

Unfortunately, there are few eyewitnesses left who can describe the genuine anti-fascist enthusiasm they felt for the Republican cause in the Spanish Civil War or spell out the common conviction, held during the Second World War, that the Nazis intended to enslave and exterminate Russian citizens as subhumans and explain how, therefore, the anti-fascist struggle was above all a battle of humanity against fascist barbarism.

Today’s Russian nazis use official nationalist myths about the war both as proof of Russia’s superiority and as an example of how the Stalin regime misled the whole Russian people, sacrificing millions of soldiers and civilians against Hitler’s anti-Bolshevik crusade to “liberate” the Russians. Ignorance about Soviet history, lack of a proper analysis of the theory and practice of fascism and the reduction of the term “anti-fascism” to mean simply a nationalistic fight against the enemies of Russia make it difficult to oppose such obvious lies.

Real anti-fascism, challenging nationalism and facing down nazism, is a risky course of action. Such “dissident” behaviour is viewed as “suspicious opposition” to the policies of President Vladimir Putin and the state. Any person displaying such behaviour is regarded as an “extremist”, like the nazis. Openly opposing fascism means being targeted by the violent gangs of nazis who patrol the streets of Russia’s cities looking for victims to attack in broad daylight.

Young anti-fascists have started to fight back. The courageous stance of young Russian anti-fascists against the growing street violence by nazi gangs is often the subject of court proceedings, which have proved inconsistent. The outcome of trials of nazi killers tends to depend on what charges are brought by the public prosecutors: almost always hooliganism (violently disrupting public order) or being involved in hooliganism.

There is no real pressure from the Kremlin or Duma (parliament) on public prosecutors to use hate crime charges and there is a widespread practice of negotiation between judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers to achieve cooperation in trials. Finally and crucially, there is a lack of pressure from anti-fascists who, because there is no deeply rooted democratic culture, rarely get involved with investigations or court proceedings.

Here in St Petersburg, anti-fascists have actively helped the public prosecutors as expert witnesses since the early 1990s and have run some successful campaigns. The nazis reacted by murdering Nikolai Girenko in 2004, then the most visible anti-fascist specialist supporting the public prosecutors in cases against fascists.

Now a younger generation of anti-fascists is emerging to oppose the nazis in the courts and on the streets. Their battles are essential – the alternative is capitulation – but expensive. It costs a great deal of money to participate in court proceedings even when the lawyers act pro bono. In the case against the murderers of Timur Kacharava, anti-fascist funding enabled his family and friends to help put away his killers.

In Russia, there are no big trade unions, labour movements or long-standing anti-racist structures with democratic anti-fascist traditions that we can turn to for help. As a result, we depend on ourselves and the anti-fascist movement internationally.

Support from our brothers, sisters, comrades and friends abroad is ever more vital and valued.

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