Greater Surbiton And Douglas Murray.

Greater Surbiton has a superb post on Douglas Murray:

“Murray has spoken in defence of the English Defence League, a fascist, Islamophobic organisation of street thugs, and of Robert Spencer, proprietor of the anti-Muslim hate-site ‘Jihadwatch‘ (see the video at the start of this post). With some nuance, arguably, but unambiguously enough to be described as a ‘ringing defence’ by Spencer, who writes ‘At a recent conference… devoted to attempting to smear many anti-jihad forces, including the English Defense League and our own Stop Islamization of America, as neofascists, the extraordinarily eloquent English writer Douglas Murray offers this ringing defense (of me also, for which I am grateful) and denunciation of the Left’s guilt-by-association tactics.’ Murray praises Spencer as a ‘brilliant scholar’. Yet Spencer is a promoter of Srebrenica genocide denial. The EDL has also promoted Murray’s defence of it on their website.”

Blogs in June 2011.

I thought I should see what others are doing:

Flesh is Grass has an important post on how the EDL managed to march, unescorted, from Redbridge to Dagenham.

Yaacov Lozowick has given up blogging. Pity, I didn’t agree with him, much, but he has a thoughtful way and articulates many intelligent ideas.

Johnny Guitar thinks about the Troubles, the Good Friday Agreement and the need for a South Africa-style truth commission, just not at the moment.

Weggis on the case against biofuels. Completely agree, it seems so questionable to use food stuff or related material as fuel for the internal combustion engine.

Harry Barnes on Sorting Out The Labour Party, which I think is very optimistic. In the short term they could ditch Ed Miliband, try to be a bit radical, really, seriously distance themselves from the skeleton of New Labour. Chance would be a fine thing.

In related news, I am not surprised that Ed Miliband is less popular than Iain Duncan Smith or William Hague, when they were in a similar position. Frankly, Miliband’s inarticulate, has the charisma of a saucer and he’s politically useless.

Jams looks at an evil cat, great photos.

Mark Gardner at the CST has a reflective post on the situation at UCU and its wider implications, From UCU to MEMO and “Israel’s British hirelings”.

Ten minutes hate on the ‘miracle villages’.

Chris Dillow considers Miliband’s power blindness.

Nick Lowles provides a photo and details of the EDL thugs racial attack in Dagenham.

Sorrel Moseley-Williams ponders Journalists’ Day in Argentina.

Not a blog, but worthwhile all the same. Searchlight on the BNP’s use of Facebook and Twitter.

Rosie looks at Fact and Fiction.

James Bloodworth has a couple of cracking posts, Will the Defence Secretary’s links with Sri Lanka compromise British calls for an enquiry? and Isn’t it time for an apology, Mr Chomsky?

Rebecca provides an update on the Gaza flotilla. Personally, I think the Israeli Government should allow them into Gaza with minimum fuss or hassle. I think Gazans should get as much as they can, after all living under Hamas must be terrible.

Jack of Kent looks at the arrest of blogger Jacqui Thompson and the many unanswered questions.

Greens Engage on Cynthia and Jello.

At Greater Surbiton, a guest post by David Pettigrew, Justice in Bosnia after Mladic.

Eric Reeves has a piece in the Washington Post, In Sudan, genocide anew?

Engage has an abundance of posts which should be read, just a small selection: Open antisemitism doesn’t harm your reputation, Sally Hunt pretends not to understand the term “institutional racism” and Richard Kuper on the Working Definition of Anti-Semitism (by Eve Garrard)

Enjoy!

Syria And Assorted News.

The news coming out of Syria is terrible, Left Foot Forward covers it.

Amnesty International highlights the plight of medical staff in Bahrain that are scheduled to go on trial on Monday.

It seems that the Iranian state is getting people accustomed to the idea of a nuclear test, or at least that is one plausible reading coming out of this piece in the Guardian.

This extract is for Sally Hunt, UCU General Secretary lest she forget what institutional racism means. [Thanks to Flesh Is Grass.]

Apparently, a Tory MP has sexually assaulted a woman, and guess who he blames? The woman. Then he proceeds to cast doubt on the veracity of the victim’s account of the assault. I am sure if UCU members read the Indy article with a critical eye they will see a message there.

Another EDL thug.

An eyewitness account from Syria.

Finally, the Washington Post has a page on the Palin emails. I liked this bit, Sarah Palin emails hint at her governing style.

Boozy Neo-fascists In Blackpool.

The EDL were in Blackpool today, stirring up hatred as usual.

Here is a photo from one of their many drinking sessions, note the bloke in front:

Anyone tempted to comment should first read the comments policy.

The English Defence League, Red Watch And Neofascist Thugs.

Many readers will be familiar with Red Watch, a neofascist outfit which publishes the details of its political opponents.

Its purpose is very clear, to ensure that the houses and dwellings of its political opponents are attacked, bricks through windows, firebombed, etc

It is an old fascist technique that has been updated for the 21st century.

Unsurprisingly, the English Defence League take a similar approach. A secret Facebook group of the EDL are posting the names, addresses and phone numbers of their perceived enemies.

Presumably, the EDL will organise, directly or indirectly for them to be attacked, physically.

Now their apologists will try to explain that the EDL are not neofascists, that is despite the fact that their events are published on neofascist forums, that is regardless of the presence of neo-Nazis, BNPers and certifiable racists at their events, etc etc.

This latest development shows how the EDL are changing from a proto-fascist street gang to a more traditional neofascist setup.

No surprise there.

An EDL Supporter In The Making?

This is where anti-Muslim hatred leads, the Scotsman reports:

“A RACIST former soldier who threatened to bomb Glasgow Central Mosque and behead a Muslim every day has been jailed for 12 months.

Neil MacGregor, 38, made the threats in an e-mail and a series of telephone calls to Strathclyde Police, which led to an anti-terrorism operation being launched.

He claimed to be a member of the National Front and said he would execute Muslims on a daily basis unless every mosque in Scotland was closed down.

MacGregor, from Scrimgeour Court, Crieff, claimed he had been upset after watching video footage of someone being beheaded in Iraq on an internet clip.

Fiscal depute John Malpass told Perth Sheriff Court yesterday: “An e-mail was received in which he made numerous threats against Muslim people and demanded the closure of all mosques in Scotland.”

MacGregor told police: “As a wee extra, one of our members will donate a Semtex plastic explosive with a box of nails in it, sometime on Friday night at the Central Mosque.”

Mr Malpass said: “Because of the nature of the threat, anti-terrorist officers were notified. Enquiries were made in relation to the source of the emails.

“The IP address was identified and traced to the accused’s home address. Police attended the Central Mosque and carried out a search which proved negative.”

PS: If you feel the desire to comment then make an effort to read my comments policy, and remember I have a zero tolerance towards the EDL and their mates.

EDL In Blackburn, April 2011.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, what does the photo below tell us about the EDL?

An EDL supporter giving a Nazi salute during the EDL’s demonstrations in Blackburn, 2nd April 2011:

Update 1: Any dim witted EDLers or their mates tempted to comment should first read my comments policy, and leave.

An Update, The Hanley Mosque Fire.

The racial attack on the Hanley Road Mosque took place in December 2010 but it is only now that we’ve heard of an arrest or two, this is Staffordshire reports:

“TWO men were due to appear in court today accused of starting a fire at a mosque.

Simon Beech, aged 23, and Gareth Foster, aged 28, both from Stoke-on-Trent, have been charged with arson with intent to endanger life following the blaze at the mosque in Regent Road, Hanley on December 3.

Two other men arrested in connection with the incident have been released from their bail without charge.”

There is a suggestion on the web that at least one of them is connected to the English Defence League, I don’t know how true that is, but it seems probable.

Update 1: The Newstatesman has more on the Daily Star and the EDL.

Update 2: Andy looks at the Australian Defence League.

More Thugery, Newcastle EDL Attack Meeting.

English Defence League members and supporters were in court this week after their attack on an SWP meeting at Tyneside Irish Centre, Newcastle, the Chronicle reports:

“TEN suspected right-wing extremists have appeared in court charged with violence.

The men, from across Tyneside, are accused of attacking doormen at the Tyneside Irish Centre during a rival political meeting.

The alleged attack is said to have happened on September 22 last year, when the left-wing Socialist Workers’ Party were meeting at the centre on Gallowgate, Newcastle city centre.

The SWP had called the meeting to discuss ways to counter far-right groups.

Rebecca Gibson, prosecuting, told Newcastle Magistrates Court that the 10 men, all believed to be members of the far-right English Defence League, allegedly gathered in nearby Rosie’s Bar.

She claimed they then descended on the Irish Centre, hurling abuse and attacking the doormen. “

Words Matter.

Thanks to Bob for directing me towards a piece on the JC by Jennifer Lipman, here’s the concluding bit:

“Why cause a fuss.

Here’s why. Let’s look at where Mr Greenslade made the comment – in a blogpost condemning the intolerance and bigotry of the EDL.

An informed reader might well have recognised the wider point – that Jewish people, given the history of the last century, should be at the frontline in the fight against fascism.

It’s an important and logical argument. But here’s the thing. As the famous quote goes: “Those who do not remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

History teaches us as Jews not only to stand up in the battle against bigotry, but also that bigots don’t always read newspaper articles in an informed way.

The generations of ordinary people who hated the Jews did so not least because of the ugly and cheap stereotypes peddled by respected writers and commentators.

They learnt intolerance from the politicians – in Tsarist Russia to Nazi Germany and beyond – who blamed public woes on Jewish conspiracies, from the caricaturists who saw in Jews an easy target, and from journalists who didn’t recognize, or didn’t care to recognise, the power of their words.

Words matter. As Greenslade knows (and blogs about regularly), especially online they have a life beyond themselves.

A throwaway headline in the Daily Star can become another tool in the EDL’s war-chest, regardless of what the story actually was.

A news article about a “Muslim’s” actions – when religion is of little relevance to the story – is fodder for the bigot’s cause.

And an unnecessary line about Jews having “negative views” about Muslims, from an informed and respected writer, is yet another piece of evidence for the antisemitic extremist as to why he hates Jews.
Words always matter. “

The Daily Star And The EDL.

Anyone that has tried to read the Daily Star will know that it hardly counts as a newspaper. It is the type of publication you would put down to catch bird’s droppings, that’s all its good for.

Nevertheless, its open support of EDL is another marker in the rise of modern neofascism and anti-Muslim hatred.

Just as the BNP were falling apart Britain’s Far Right get a rejuvenating shot in the arm from the Daily Star, Roy Greenslade has more:

“Yesterday’s Daily Star broke new ground by publishing a political splash. Over a picture of flag-waving marchers was the headline English Defence League to become political party.

As this reproduction of its front page shows, it was anything but a neutral presentation. It is a clear piece of propaganda on behalf of the EDL, a group that opposes the supposed spread of Islamic extremism in Britain.

The story cannot be read as anything other than a cheer-leading, uncritical piece on behalf of the EDL. Triumphalist in tone throughout, it required no between-the-lines deconstruction to grasp its intention – to build support for the group among its readers.
…
Desmond ought to think very carefully about letting the Star use far right politics to build sales.

He should remember what happened in those societies across Europe in the 1930s where Jewish minorities were demonised in the media for their religious beliefs.

Can he not see that the underlying agenda of groups like the EDL is anti-Semitic? What does he think he is doing? “

Update 1: As Minority Thought says:

“It’s not hard to see why the Star would choose to back the EDL. The paper has a long and well-documented history of publishing stories that paint Muslims in a negative light, some examples of which can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
“

Luton And The English Defence League.

Once more the thugs in the EDL want to stomp their supposed authority on the streets of Britain.

They have tried to do this before, in Leicester, October 2010 and before that in Oldham.

Each time they sought to attack ethnic minorities, intimidate ordinary people and even smash up restaurants. As I wrote before:

“1. The EDL *leadership* is stuffed full of BNPers, ex-BNPers, neo-Nazis and their allies.

2. The EDL always pick towns with high ethnic populations to hold their demonstrations. Their objective is to run amok, abuse and intimidate local people. That’s what they do.

3. The EDL want to start ethnic conflict and anyone that supports or excuses them is beyond the pale of reasoned debate, as they are aiding and abetting racial conflict. “

They are thugs, plain and simple, as their attack on Portsmouth’s Jami Mosque showed.

This time the EDL tried it on in Luton, but they couldn’t manage it despite their own bravado, plenty of booze and police protection, Nick Lowles of HOPE not Hate has more in a rolling commentary of the day:

” Foreign nazis are arriving in Luton looking for trouble. Far right activists from Sweden have been here for a couple of days and Norwegian and Dutch extremists are arriving shortly. Our spotters have also just seen a carload of German Blood & Honour supporters, wearing Combat 18 shirts, driving through the town.

We are also expecting hardliners from Vérité, Valeurs & Démocratie (VVD), a front organization of Bloc identitaire from France. ”

“Further to my last post the police have stopped the car carrying the German Blood and Honour supporters and are currently searching them.

Some of the Dutch Defence League have arrived. I’ve heard that they were staying in Bayswater, West London, along with some of the German Defence League.

EDL groups from North London, Gateshead, Aylesbury and Milton Keynes are already here. A group boarded a train at St Pancras this morning but nowhere near the numbers the EDL gave to the press. The EDL have been given two pubs and a nightclub to meet up in. The landlords/owners are allowed to serve drinks until 12pm and then close the venues an hour later, after which the EDL march will begin. All 300 pubs across the town will be shut from 12pm and not allowed to reopen until 7pm.

Interestingly, the police have been erecting steel barriers across streets, both to keep the EDL and UAF apart but also on some of the roads linking the EDL march route and Bury Park, where the Muslim community are gathering.”

“There are 18 EDL coaches lined up along Dunstable Road waiting to enter Luton. Police seem unwilling to allow them to move until much closer to the time the demo starts.”

“The EDL leadership appear to have their hands full trying to keep their rowdy bunch in order. There’s the drunken Sunderland group, others throwing bottles at the police and now the Scottish Defence League are taunting their English counterparts with chants of “where are your famous EDL?” ”

“I can now reveal that two of the speakers at today’s rally will be Austrian Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff and the surfing rabbi from the US, Nachum Shifren.

Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff is a representative of “Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa” and last year she was charged with “incitement” and “defamation of religious teachings” in Austria.

Nachum Shifren is an extremist Rabbi from California who has close links to the Tea Party.

Just for clarification, the march hasn’t actually started yet. There was some movement 25 minutes ago but it seems that they just moving into position. However, it is about to start any minute now.”

“One really has to question the tactics of the local police. While EDL thugs fight with police Stephen Lennon is helped out of the march and escorted – by police and his own security – to the square where the rally will be held.

Are they affording the same protection to local citizens terrified by the EDL demo?”

Keep on reading here.

No Shots

It is no surprise that the EDL are thick as well as being liars, but their latest grasp for sympathy is not going too well, as Nick Lowles describes events:

“Even after Bedfordshire police concluded that no shots had actually be fired, were unsure of the ethnicity of the assailant and even questioned whether there had been a gun in the first place, Geller blogged with the headline: Muslim in Full Islamic Garb Attempts to Shoot and Kill EDL leader.

Geller has a problem with the truth. In fact, the woman is a complete nutter. Geller, like many Tea Partiers, expresses her racism as a “birther” – the racist conspiracy theory that claims president Obama is ineligible to be president, casting him as a non-white “other” and a non-American. In addition to claiming this Obama’s birth certificate is a “forgery,” she’s called president Obama a “third worlder and a coward” who’s “appeas[ing] his Islamic overlords.”

She has perpetuated the lie the President Obama is Muslim. Geller has referred to Obama as “The Muslim president.” Media Matters for America documented that Geller’s blog contains 267 posts tagged, “Muslim in the White House?” She’s gone as far as to seriously make the argument that Barack Obama is the illegitimate child of Malcolm X.

In addition to supporting the EDL, she has also defended Eugene Terre’Blanche, a founder of the white supremacist Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (or AWB). “

Geller is a well known EDL supporter and frankly off her trolley.

PS: Before any of her supporters feel like commenting please read my previous post, Anti-Muslim Bigots, Feck Off.

Update 1: If anyone is curious about Geller’s comments on the Terreblanche, they might do well to read Jeff Goldberg’s post or her comments via the Google cache:

“Monday, April 05, 2010

Every single headline calls Terreblanche a “white supremacist,” alluding to his position in the waning days of the apartheid government, thirty-odd years ago. But the real story here is not that Terreblanche was a “white supremacist” — if he really was (and I know how the left loves to throw around those labels). Whether he was or not, the man was brutally murdered, and I had to go through ten newspaper accounts to find out how he was murdered. The liberal media had to dehumanize him first. And not one newspaper account speaks of Black supremacism — yet that is the really important story in South Africa today. All I see in South Africa is Black supremacism. Terreblanche may have been a white supremacist, but he’s the dead one. “

Geller can’t even use Google to determine Terreblanche’s background and the neo-Nazi emblem of the AWB. Maybe the Nazi salutes given at his funeral might hint at the political thinking of AWB’s members?

The EDL’s Tommy Robinson on Newsnight, Almost.

Enjoy!

(H/T: HOPE, not hate)

EDL Supporters: Torrent of Racist Abuse.

Lift a stone and some EDL supporter pops out, usually letting their mask slip, Wish FM reports:

“Three English Defence League supporters have been ordered to pay more than £350 each after being found guilty of subjecting rail passengers to serious racist abuse.

Tracey Hurley (33), Stuart Parr (28) and a 17-year old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Wigan Magistrates’ Court on 20 January for trial.

The court heard that, on Friday 25 June last year, the trio had attended an EDL march in Bradford and had been on their way home when they travelled from Manchester Victoria to Wigan on a Northern Rail service.

During the journey they became abusive and intimidating, subjecting several passengers to a torrent of racist abuse.

The abuse began when the three sang songs relating to the EDL and Taliban. At Salford Crescent an Asian man boarded the train and was immediately targeted by the group who shouted derogatory remarks about Allah to the man.

PC Tony McGibbon, of British Transport Police, said: “The abuse continued for some time and was directed at anyone on board the train who the three perceived to be anything other than white British.

“The behaviour of the three was offensive in the extreme, completely unacceptable and made everyone on the train feel incredibly uncomfortable.”

A passenger advised a member of rail staff who reported the behaviour of the three to BTP officers.
After witnesses were spoken to the three where arrested and interviewed.

During interviews they admitted having been at the EDL march and drinking heavily, but denied making any racist remarks or behaving in a racist manner.”

PS: ANYONE remotely tempted to defend the EDL should read my comments policy, again.

Update 1: My moderation queue is slowly filling up with stupid comments from dim witted EDL supporters, forget it, you and your comments ain’t going to see the light of day, now feck off.