Leicester Unite Against Fascism

Members of Islamic prayer group As Salaam, based in Thurnby Lodge, continue to be persecuted for practicing their faith at Thurnby Lodge commmunity centre. This is despite the Leicester Mercury reporting that the issue had been resolved.

On the morning of 26th December, members of the As-Salaam Islamic group arrived at the centre to find a pigs head in front of the doors. Racists and Fascists around the country have used pigs heads to intimidate and insult Muslim communities.

This is part of a wider campaign orchestrated by local English Defence League and other far-right activists under the guise of the ‘Forgotten Estates’ group. This campaign is directed against Muslim group As Salaam who accepted an offer to use a derelict scout hut on Nursery Road. The fact that these protests have continued is proof that Forgotten Estates are primarily motivated by Islamaphobia and racism, as we reported back in October.

Forgotten Estates members show their true colours on Facebook

For the last 6 months, the Forgotten Estates group has organised demonstrations outside Thurnby Lodge Community Centre, where As Salaam meet to pray. Their demonstrations have intimidated not only Muslim worshippers but also men, women, children and elderly people attending the centre. The protesters have taken photographs of people attending the centre, blocked the entrance and shouted abuse at worshippers. People who have refused to sign their petition have been subjected to intimidation and even forced out of their homes in some cases.

Ordinary people are outraged at the continuous barrage of abuse and intimidation faced by members of As-Salaam on a daily basis. If this was happening to members of any other community in Leicester it would be exposed on the front page of the Leicester Mercury. Local MPs and councillors would be queuing up to condemn these racists who are making residents lives a misery.

The handful of protesters have tarnished Thurnby Lodge as a ‘racist estate’ – this is not true – most Thurnby Lodge residents are appalled by the behaviour of these racist bigots.

Enough is enough. Leicester has a proud tradition of opposing racism and Fascism. We cannot allow As Salaam to be scapegoated for lack of community facilities and the economic crisis. We call upon all anti-racists, trade unionists, community groups and people of faith to support As Salaam’s right to practice their religion without fear of intimidation in the community where they live.

What you can do:

• Send an email of support to As Salaam via our website.
• Contact Peter Soulsby, your local councillor or MP asking them to publicly condemn the Forgotten Estates group and the disgraceful attacks on As Salaam.
• Contact the Leicester Mercury and ask them why they have failed to report Forgotten Estates far-right involvement in their reports of this story.
• Raise the issue at your trade union branch, asking for messages of support and solidarity.

Fascist groups in Leicestershire have been attempting to divert anti-austerity sentiments into Islamophobic and racist campaigns against Muslims. The ‘Forgotten Estates’ group from Thurnby Lodge, Leicester have been posing as a community group which is simply concerned about lack of facilities and funding on the estate. Backed up by local newspaper, The Leicester Mercury, they have given the impression that they do not welcome links with members of racist and fascist organisations such as the English Defence League.

EDL Involvement

The reality is quite different. Prominent local EDL thugs have played key roles in organising their marches. Forgotten Estates leader Chris Hopewell, for example, was pictured handing the groups petition over to the city mayor in the Mercury a few weeks ago. Hopewell openly identifies himself with the EDL. His own Facebook name includes the ‘East Midlands Infidels’ (EMI) tag – well known to local Nazis and racists. He has posted comments on the Leicester EDL Facebook page bragging about his involvement at several EDL demos including their failed attempt to march through Tower Hamlets last year. Local EDL leader Craig Elliott was also spotted at the groups march on 31^st August. EDL thug James Elliott,  convicted in July 2012 for assaulting a local Muslim at a Love Music Hate Racism festival in October 2011 and resisting arrest, was also present at the same march.

Intimidation

The Forgotten Estates group has spent the last 3 months ‘protesting’ against Muslim group As Salaams bid to take on a disused scout hut. In reality this has meant large groups of mainly men standing at the entrance to the Thurncourt Road Community Centre intimidating not only Muslim worshippers but also elderly people attending Bingo sessions.

The group have been drawing in people who normally wouldn’t touch the EDL with a barge pole, by giving the impression that their protests are driven by community spirit. They are not – the organisers of this group only want to stir up racial tension in the area.

Hinckley

A similar group has been set up in Hinckley, opposing the conversion of a disused police station into an Islamic community centre. The language they use on their Facebook page is almost identical to the Forgotten Estates group – ie denying charges of racism whilst demanding the building be used for ‘the whole community’. This shows that the Fascists are changing tactics slightly in order to draw in a more ‘moderate’ element around them from which they can eventually recruit. They are turning toward locally-based campaigning coupled with concealing their racist views.

Austerity

Everyone who opposes racism should not be taken in by any of these groups. These campaigns are led by organised racists and fascists who wish to divide communities and stir up racial hatred against Muslims. People rightfully angry about lack of funding in areas such as Thurnby Lodge should have no truck with racists who want to divert anger towards ordinary Muslims who have as much right to a place of worship as any other religion. The current economic crisis was not caused by such people  – it was caused by rulers who decided to play casino with peoples savings and now want to make ordinary people pay the price.

Leicester UAF sends a message of solidarity to all those organising the We Are Bristol counter-demonstartion against the racists and fascists of the EDL. When the EDL came to Leicester on 4th of February, the police and Mayor Peter Soulsby treated us in the same disgraceful manner that they are now treating Bristol residents. Our officers were threatened with arrest, anti-racists were equated with the racist thugs of the EDL and ‘negotiations’ with the police were a complete joke. On the day, despite the ‘business as usual’ message emanating from the Mayor and Leicestershire police, young asian and black people were kept out of the city centre whilst Fascists were facilitated in parading their filth through our city.

Despite this, we built a large, local counter-demonstration reflecting the diversity of Leicester and gained respect from many activists and communities here. For every person who has the courage to demonstrate there are hundreds of others who feel the same way. The Fascists must be opposed on the streets by everyone that they threaten be they Muslim, Jew, Black, White, Gay or Straight. Good Luck We Are Bristol on 14 July – No Pasaran!

You had to wonder and at the same time be extremely concerned about mass kettles and any rights to free assembly and movement suspended on the 4^th of February 2012 in Leicester. The police used their extensive Public Order powers to limit the right of people to protest against the English Defence League (EDL) marching through Leicester City centre. From where I stood (kettled) EDL marchers could wander without hindrance in the city centre, making gestures of defiance and enjoying the actions of the police.

Pic by Geoff Dexter

Business as usual?

It was business as usual in Leicester, EDL were free to march again and this time the new Mayor and Leicestershire Constabulary acquiesced to their demands and allowed them to march through the city. In contrast Leicester United Against Fascism (UAF), independent anti fascists and groups of young Muslim people were tightly controlled.

I have attended a number of EDL demos up and down the country over the last three years as a Legal Observer and stewarded at the UAF demo on the 4^th of February and in 2010. In both years together with the Network for Police Monitoring and agencies such as The Racial Equality Centre (TREC) and the Highfields Centre I have co-ordinated the deployment of community based Legal Observers. In most cases Legal Observers are externally deployed by groups such as Green and Black and Legal Defence Monitoring Group but In Leicester we took a different route.  By training up people from local agencies and community groups we are recognising the local knowledge and understandings that they will have.  The Legal Observers are representative of the communities but also have clout at street and institutional level and so are better placed to make appropriate interventions rather than make the situation worse. As always the Legal Observers are independent and document police mobilisation and use of powers. In March 2011 Network for Police Monitoring published a report on policing at the last EDL rally in October 2010[1]

Harrassed

It was clear that this year the police were set on a strategy of controlling dissent on the day from anti-fascists and Muslim young people. Throughout the day the story that emerged from activists and Legal Observers was the same. The number of kettling operations conducted by the police on the UAF and young people was in stark contrast to how members of the EDL were treated. When you have a situation where long standing senior councillors are harassed and a newly elected female councillor pushed by the police whilst monitoring the demonstrations and protesting themselves it begs the question about how ordinary citizens are being treated. Throughout the day it was also evident that young people particularly young Muslims people were being stopped from going into the town centre.

The mayor proclaimed that it would be ‘business as usual’ [2] on the 4th of February but many businesses were impacted by the route given to the EDL. Many closed for a half day and the busy outdoor market was reduced to running one stall. Many Muslims – black and brown citizens of Leicester stayed away especially families with children.  In one sense it was ‘business as usual’ for those young Muslims men who did venture into town because they were persistently stopped and searched and harassed by officers from the 17 forces on duty on the day. Legal Observers witnessed countless incidents where local young Muslims were constantly being moved on, stopped & searched and in some cases brutalised.  Young men from St. Matthew and Highfields (the main Black areas of the city) were involved in skirmishes with the police in Abbey Park where dogs were set on them.

Locals kettled

The end of rallies and marches should have been the end of business that day. However, I learned from a legal Observer that an EDL group had managed to get to Charles Street so I ran to provide support and reassurance. At the same time a group of Muslim young men ran into the town centre, and I was caught in a police kettle with them. These lads became very angry about how they were being treated. We have to ask the question about why groups of EDL supporters in the town were not being controlled in this way and allowed to walk around town unchallenged.

So for many of our community this was very much business as usual in terms of use their daily experience of being policed in a oppressive and regimental way. The widespread use of Section 60, 12 and 14 powers were applied throughout the day to Leicester UAF, and anti-fascists and most significantly to Muslim young men (Section 3 was also used). The real question we need to ask why there was disproportionate treatment of this group compared to the English Defence League and many young people who were caught up in the kettles were asking the same question. Why were EDL members allowed to walk around town after their rally without police escorts and why were they not kettled in the same way as Muslim youth?

On a wider level we need to understand the anger and frustration that many young people felt with the decision to allow the EDL to march through the city and why in the face of a local leadership abdicating their responsibility to combat racial and faith discrimination, they took this role up. That they wanted to challenge the EDL on their home turf was understandable, but that their very movement was criminalised is extremely worryingly. In many ways this was a continuation of what happened in 2010 in Leicester where Muslim participation in the democratic right to protest was curtailed and controlled. [3]

Appeasement

Let’s get this straight – this was appeasement of the English Defence League on a massive scale. It is alleged that the EDL were offered 11 routes by the police/mayor before agreeing on one that would take them into the City Centre Clock tower. It seems to us that the police and authorities bent over backwards to facilitate the EDL and in contrast tightly control the counter demonstrations and spontaneous mobilisations that young Asian men were engaged in.

There does needs to be a full and proper enquiry into how policing of the 4^th of February was conducted by Leicestershire Constabulary, the local authority and the Mayor. The enquiry must address the question: Why there was disproportionate policing of one section of the community and the impact that this will have on further marginalising Muslim young people from the political system?

About the author

Saqib Deshmukh is an experienced manager, senior youth worker, writer and activist in Leicester and High Wycombe. He has worked in predominantly Muslim communities up and down the country for more than two decades. Currently one of the key organisers of the Justice for Habib ‘Paps’ Ullah campaign who died in 2008 after being arrested by the police in a car park in High Wycombe.

References

[1] http://networkforpolicemonitoring.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Report-on-the-policing-of-the-English-Defence-League-and-Counter-Protests-in-Leicester-on-October-9th-2010.pdf

[2] http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/s-business-usual-despite-marches/story-15107355-detail/story.html

[3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/apr/02/uk-uncut-fortnum-mason-protest?INTCMP=SRCH

Video links

http://www.youtube.com/user/saqibd?feature=mhee

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/EDL-UAF-MARCHES-message-Leicester-Mayor-Peter/story-15130606-detail/story.html

Castle Ward Councillors Neil Clayton, Patrick Kitterick and Lynn Senior have issued a joint statement condemning the police decision to allow the EDL to march through the city centre of Leicester. The statement is as follows:

As local Labour Leicester City Councillors we are appalled and ashamed at the decision to allow the racist neo-nazi English Defence League to march through the City Centre past the clock tower on Saturday 4th February.

We have been continually advised by the Police that the priority would be to ensure that the City Centre was open for business on Saturday.

Indeed, within the Public Order Act the Police have the powers to ban the EDL from marching, to determine the location of any fixed protest, to restrict the numbers taking part and to restrict the duration of a static protest.

Their decision fails to recognise that the City Centre is the home of several thousand of our Constituents and a place where thousands of other decent and law abiding people would normally be spending their Saturday.

The Clock Tower is the heart of our city and the decision to let the EDL march past it is as offensive as it is misguided. This decision gives the EDL recognition that such an organisation does not and never will deserve. This march will cause disruption and danger to the law abiding citizens of Leicester and beyond.

We call upon the police and council to take the necessary steps to stop the march past the clock tower before it is too late.

Neil Clayton
Patrick Kitterick
Lynn Senior

You can download leaflets here for the ‘Love Leicester, Hate Racism’ demo against the English Defence League on Saturday 4 February.

Click here to download the leaflet

On February 4th, the racist thugs of the so-called English Defence League plan to bring their Nazi road-show to Leicester for the second time.

In the year that two of Stephen Lawrence’s killers were finally brought to justice, we cannot afford to ignore the connection between far-right activities and racist murders. This is the first national EDL demonstration this year, and they plan to hold many more up and down the country. They are targeting Leicester because it is a city of many communities that live side-by-side. The EDL want to stir up racial and religious divisions in our city. That is why we must have a massive show of unity against them on 4 February.

Last time the EDL came to Leicester, they attacked local people, smashed up shops and attacked women and children in a fast food restaurant. They also attempted to get into the Highfields area but were stopped by thousands of local residents who came out to defend their area.

This is why Leicester Unite Against Fascism is planning a march and rally against the EDL coming to our city.

There are a number of things you can do to make the 4 February a good day for Leicester and a bad day for the EDL:

• First and foremost – be in no doubt that the EDL are a Nazi organisation
• Email to us your message of support for the counter-demonstration called by Leicester UAF
• Download our leaflet here and distribute it
• If you have not done so already, sign our Unity Statement and get your family and friends to sign it also. You can sign it here: Sign the Unity Statement
• Make a donation on our website by clicking on the ‘Donate’ button in the top right corner – you will be taken to a secure paypal page where you can enter your card details and choose how much you want to give. If you are in a union – get them to make a donation and pledge their support. This money will be used to put on music events on the day, print leaflets and placards, and ensure a successful event for all of us. Donate to Leicester Unite Against Fascism
• Lobby your elected representatives in the council and your MP. Demand that they support a peaceful march through the city centre against the EDL. Let it be known that you are concerned about the EDL coming here and that they should not be allowed in the city centre. Finally, ask them to sign the unity statement (link above) and speak from the platform on the day.
• Write to the Leicester Mercury voicing your concerns and pledging your support for a peaceful march against the EDL. Email the Leicester Mercury
• Write to the City Mayor Peter Soulsby, ask him why he is allowing racists and fascists to parade through our city centre. Email the City Mayor
• Join our event page on Facebook – share it with your facebook friends as widely as possible and we’ll keep you up to date.
• Tell as many people as possible that you will be attending the march against the EDL on 4 Feb to make it clear that they are not welcome here.

When the EDL tried to demonstrate in Tower Hamlets last year they were stopped by thousands of people taking to the streets in a peaceful demonstration. Brilliant video of Tower Hamlets peaceful demonstration against the EDL. No shops were shut, the counter-demonstration was big, peaceful and determined and the EDL were stopped in their tracks. Leicester can do the same!

LOVE LEICESTER HATE RACISM – RACIST EDL NOT WELCOME HERE ON 4 FEB!

In Leicester on Sunday, around 40 anti-fascists, socialists and trade unionists stood shoulder to shoulder with the young people at the Occupy Leicester camp.

The camp had received threats to ‘smash’ them from EDL members on a right-wing nationalists’ event page last week. The EDL and the ‘English Community Group’ were planning to capitalise on the dreadful attack inflicted on Rhea Page last year by organising a demo at the Clock Tower on Sunday.

The EDL have no right to moralise over anyone with regards to violent attacks. They have spent the last 2 years trying to whip up anti-Muslim hatred on the streets of Britain, constantly lying about their true identities and agenda.

The English Community Group, who originally called the demo, cancelled it on Saturday as they knew that the EDL were planning to attend and did not want to be associated with them.

Knowing that the EDL were threatening to show up, Leicester UAF called a counter-protest outside HMV to defend the Occupy Leicester camp. Despite having only a days notice, over 40 trade union activists, socialists and anti-fascists turned up at 12.30pm.

The EDL were expected to demonstrate at the Clock Tower at 1.30pm. When it became apparent that they were not turning up at 2.30pm, the counter-protest gradually dispersed.

At around 4.30pm, the police then escorted around 35 members of the EDL from JD Wetherspoons Highcross pub on High St to the Clock Tower, past the Occupy Leicester camp. The EDL, some of whom had come from as far away as Stockport and Bournemouth, stood around, in the dark, in the pouring rain, with very few people around, for about 15 minutes, and were then escorted back to the pub.

Later on, around 5 EDL returned to the camp. An eyewitness reported “About 5, mostly middle-aged, men trying to intimidate young people who were protesting against corporate greed – pathetic”. By this time a small group of anti-fascists had returned to stand around the camp.

Once again, we are disgusted that the police accommodated the EDL and put the Occupy Leicester protesters at risk by allowing a march-past. It is also a disgrace that the Highcross pub allowed them to drink there prior to and after their demonstration. You can complain to the Highcross on this number: 0116 2519218. You can also complain to the J D Wetherspoons chain. Trade Unions should also be boycotting this chain until they release a statement that they will no longer host the racists and Fascists of the English Defence League.

The EDL have started to show their true colours. History tells us that Fascists attack trade unionists, picket lines and people fighting back against the establishment. EDL bankroller, Alan Lake (real name Alan Ayling), has been exposed as a rich director of a city investment fund. The EDL have already threatened and attacked anti-capitalist occupations in Newcastle, London, Bristol and Nottingham. They also attacked the Unite offices in Liverpool recently.

The EDL try to pretend that they are defending ordinary white working class peoples’ interests. The reality is that they are bankrolled by rich businessmen.

The anti-fascist movement needs to continue to broaden its networks to enable it to respond to EDL flash demos in the future.  Trade unions should raise motions to affiliate to UAF locally where possible.  The brilliant anti-fascist mobilisation in Tower Hamlets has shown us that the EDL can be easily defeated if we are united against them. Anyone opposed to the racists and Nazis of the EDL should be organising for the 4 February next year when the ‘Executive Defence League’ once again bring their divisive racism to the streets of Leicester.