The EDL & A ‘Different’ Kind of Racism

[Malatesta]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Why is the EDL like a hedgehog? Because although they’re small they’re still a pest and full of pricks. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]The EDL have been busy again over the last week or so, what with pelting a handful of Muslims Against Crusades with sausages in Barking, then being escorted out of Whitechapel for their own safety later that day, holding a badly attended rally in Kilmarnock on Saturday and finally being confronted by mass opposition in the East End on Sunday. Meanwhile, the BNP, following the appalling election results, is now facing a semi-serious leadership challenge from Eddie Butler which is gaining a small head of steam. The pro-Griffinite machine is attempting to smear Butler as either gay and/or a frequenter of Belgian brothels. Butler has released a statement containing his ambitions and a list of what is wrong with the party, most notably the financial irregularities, Griffin’s weak point. Cambridge BNP is organising a meeting this week claiming that the BNP is finished. All of which, combined with the fallout of the EHRC case, the changing in rules on membership and general malaise is benefitting the EDL. Never a dull moment eh? However, the EDL represent a ‘different’ kind of racism than the BNP. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Different Racism[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Although the EDL have BNP members in their ranks, many EDL have a low opinion of the BNP which is seen as too inactive on the streets and not particularly relevant or useful. The EDL try to be different and trumpet their ‘many’ Sikh and black members but really they amount to very few. Although the ‘leadership’ like to flag this aspect many of the supporters dislike the Sikh feller and the Joel Titus golliwog Facebook incident demonstrates the Neanderthal BNP politics of some of the membership. The EDL draws mainly on football crews and offers the potential of a brawl and a beer without the drastic repercussions of anti-hooligan legislation and heavy sentencing. And it is important to understand this football mentality in order to see where the EDL’s appeal lies. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]The modus operandi of the EDL is to take liberties. For football firms, to forcibly occupy an opponents’ end, over-run or destroy their local boozer or take over their manor for a night is a ‘liberty.’ It is a simplistic territorial achievement. And this is similar to what is going on with the EDL. They choose places likely to cause a reaction - Birmingham, Bolton, East London - and being kettled into a local boozer by the cops for a while winding up the locals is deemed as successfully ‘taking a liberty.’ [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Football teams have often featured visible and vocal support from local black communities such as in Manchester, London or Birmingham and despite the presence of the racist element some black firms have flourished. At Manchester City in the 70s and 80s the NF dominated firm co-existed with the mainly black Kool Kats with any differences being put aside for the team. The Birmingham Zulus gained considerable respect on the terraces and Cass Pennant was one of West Ham’s ICF. There are other examples. Football firms and the EDL represent a spectrum of views: there are some who refuse to applaud a goal by a black player, others who have respect for the black hooligans’ prowess on the terraces and others who have black mates or are not bothered either way. For many supporters, the strong presence of successful black players who have helped take their sides to victory has changed their attitudes. The influence of pop culture has also played its part. The Black community has physically confronted violent racism in the 1950s in Notting Hill and Nottingham, at Lewisham in the 1970s and police racism was one of the causes behind the riots in the 1980s. They have never been seen as an ‘easy target.’ Many casual racists see the black community as ‘alright.’ [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]However, many firm members still harbour resentment against the Asian community and this is well documented in hooligan literature which tends to downplay the outright criminal and fascist elements. They see everyone, whether from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or India as a ‘Paki.’ They see the local Asian community as isolationist and, despite enjoying a tasty tandoori, see them as an easy target. For the EDL, all Muslims are extremists and privately support terrorism. Which is as simplified as their view of the opposition to their fascist tactics. They naively think that Antifa, local Asian youth and the UAF are all the same and that militant anti-fascists are ‘protecting’ Islam. It is obvious from this week at Whitechapel that local Asian youths are more than capable of looking after themselves. Militant antifascists are there to confront pissed up racist street gangs in their local communities not to attend mosques. The EDL also like to portray antifascists as ‘soft middle class students’: they clearly have not attended a university in the recent years and do not understand the diverse nature of the opposition. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Indymedia Conference[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Despite continuing with their absurd claims to be ‘peacefully protesting’ the EDL’s forum contains threads praising violence such as the thread on the Indymedia Conference this Wednesday calling for local members to turn up, sabotage or disrupt the meeting. This could be annoying but we will be well organised to rebuff any serious threat from them. Also, if EDL members hate Indymedia so much, why do they spend so long reading it and posting their ridiculous remarks there? [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]‘Malatesta’[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]NB: all material by ‘Malatesta’ is copyright free.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman]Please pass it on to anyone who may find it useful.[/FONT]

[durhamleft]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Why is the EDL like a hedgehog? Because although they’re small they’re still a pest and full of pricks. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]The EDL have been busy again over the last week or so, what with pelting a handful of Muslims Against Crusades with sausages in Barking, then being escorted out of Whitechapel for their own safety later that day, holding a badly attended rally in Kilmarnock on Saturday and finally being confronted by mass opposition in the East End on Sunday. Meanwhile, the BNP, following the appalling election results, is now facing a semi-serious leadership challenge from Eddie Butler which is gaining a small head of steam. The pro-Griffinite machine is attempting to smear Butler as either gay and/or a frequenter of Belgian brothels. Butler has released a statement containing his ambitions and a list of what is wrong with the party, most notably the financial irregularities, Griffin’s weak point. Cambridge BNP is organising a meeting this week claiming that the BNP is finished. All of which, combined with the fallout of the EHRC case, the changing in rules on membership and general malaise is benefitting the EDL. Never a dull moment eh? However, the EDL represent a ‘different’ kind of racism than the BNP. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Different Racism[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Although the EDL have BNP members in their ranks, many EDL have a low opinion of the BNP which is seen as too inactive on the streets and not particularly relevant or useful. The EDL try to be different and trumpet their ‘many’ Sikh and black members but really they amount to very few. Although the ‘leadership’ like to flag this aspect many of the supporters dislike the Sikh feller and the Joel Titus golliwog Facebook incident demonstrates the Neanderthal BNP politics of some of the membership. The EDL draws mainly on football crews and offers the potential of a brawl and a beer without the drastic repercussions of anti-hooligan legislation and heavy sentencing. And it is important to understand this football mentality in order to see where the EDL’s appeal lies. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]The modus operandi of the EDL is to take liberties. For football firms, to forcibly occupy an opponents’ end, over-run or destroy their local boozer or take over their manor for a night is a ‘liberty.’ It is a simplistic territorial achievement. And this is similar to what is going on with the EDL. They choose places likely to cause a reaction - Birmingham, Bolton, East London - and being kettled into a local boozer by the cops for a while winding up the locals is deemed as successfully ‘taking a liberty.’ [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Football teams have often featured visible and vocal support from local black communities such as in Manchester, London or Birmingham and despite the presence of the racist element some black firms have flourished. At Manchester City in the 70s and 80s the NF dominated firm co-existed with the mainly black Kool Kats with any differences being put aside for the team. The Birmingham Zulus gained considerable respect on the terraces and Cass Pennant was one of West Ham’s ICF. There are other examples. Football firms and the EDL represent a spectrum of views: there are some who refuse to applaud a goal by a black player, others who have respect for the black hooligans’ prowess on the terraces and others who have black mates or are not bothered either way. For many supporters, the strong presence of successful black players who have helped take their sides to victory has changed their attitudes. The influence of pop culture has also played its part. The Black community has physically confronted violent racism in the 1950s in Notting Hill and Nottingham, at Lewisham in the 1970s and police racism was one of the causes behind the riots in the 1980s. They have never been seen as an ‘easy target.’ Many casual racists see the black community as ‘alright.’ [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]However, many firm members still harbour resentment against the Asian community and this is well documented in hooligan literature which tends to downplay the outright criminal and fascist elements. They see everyone, whether from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh or India as a ‘Paki.’ They see the local Asian community as isolationist and, despite enjoying a tasty tandoori, see them as an easy target. For the EDL, all Muslims are extremists and privately support terrorism. Which is as simplified as their view of the opposition to their fascist tactics. They naively think that Antifa, local Asian youth and the UAF are all the same and that militant anti-fascists are ‘protecting’ Islam. It is obvious from this week at Whitechapel that local Asian youths are more than capable of looking after themselves. Militant antifascists are there to confront pissed up racist street gangs in their local communities not to attend mosques. The EDL also like to portray antifascists as ‘soft middle class students’: they clearly have not attended a university in the recent years and do not understand the diverse nature of the opposition. [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Indymedia Conference[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Despite continuing with their absurd claims to be ‘peacefully protesting’ the EDL’s forum contains threads praising violence such as the thread on the Indymedia Conference this Wednesday calling for local members to turn up, sabotage or disrupt the meeting. This could be annoying but we will be well organised to rebuff any serious threat from them. Also, if EDL members hate Indymedia so much, why do they spend so long reading it and posting their ridiculous remarks there? [/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]‘Malatesta’[/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman]NB: all material by ‘Malatesta’ is copyright free.[/FONT]


[FONT=Times New Roman]Please pass it on to anyone who may find it useful.[/FONT]

Interesting read.

[Sasha]

[FONT=Times New Roman]Indymedia Conference[/FONT]
[FONT=Times New Roman]Despite continuing with their absurd claims to be ‘peacefully protesting’ the EDL’s forum contains threads praising violence such as the thread on the Indymedia Conference this Wednesday calling for local members to turn up, sabotage or disrupt the meeting. [/FONT]

defending free speech against those evil opresive muslims huh?

[TRS]

defending free speech against those evil opresive muslims huh?

Whilst Malatesta's article makes it clear the EDL aren't traditional Neo-Nazis in the vein of B&H, Combat 18 and the NF, the UAF's treatment of them as such has ingrained them with an Anti-leftist sentiment, effectively driving them further right.

EDL's recent threats towards left wing groups are chillingly reminicent of the more extreme right.

For example, their threats to invade SWP & Indymedia meetings, and their anti trade union press releases:

“unions have become more powerful, more influential and more militant in the political sphere, this is where vested interests infringe upon a democratic political platform, so much so that democracy seems to be ebbing away right before our eyes and its replacement………COMMUNISM!!!!
Great Britain doesn’t do Communism, it never has, yet Communists are afforded more influence and more power as the Labour party look to fund its upcoming election campaign. This is a sad reflection of the corrupt political climate we live in here in the UK.
It is no secret that the Labour party is affiliated to Unite, recently the Labour party have been exposed for taking monies from this militant Union. Since Gordon Brown became the Labour party’s leader and current prime minister he has taken a staggering 11 million pounds from Unites militant coffers, people such as Charlie Whelan and Tony Woodley are now allowed to roam the corridors of power in the houses of parliament because they have been given parliamentary passes! No guessing as to the reasons why they have such privileged access to the corridors of power! Is it any wonder that half of the Labour cabinet are bankrolled by Unite? You can see a more in-depth article from The Sun here….”
EDL website, frontpage, 29 / 3/ 10.

This is a direct result of the UAF's simple minded agenda. We need to talk to the EDL and distinguish ourselves as real leftist, as opposed to the SWP etc.
The only tactic that can ever work on the edl is subversion.

[Luther Blissett]

Whilst Malatesta's article makes it clear the EDL aren't traditional Neo-Nazis in the vein of B&H, Combat 18 and the NF, the UAF's treatment of them as such has ingrained them with an Anti-leftist sentiment, effectively driving them further right.

Disagree. The 'anti-left' rhetoric already existed within their founder members and their early recruits. Anti-left sentiments didn't become 'ingrained' as a result of UAF - they knew UAF would mobilise against them from the outset. As for UAF driving EDL further to the right - I dispute this analysis too. They already had this tendency amongst their movers and shakers.

EDL's recent threats towards left wing groups are chillingly reminicent of the more extreme right.

R*dw*tch turned its sights on antizionists several years ago. It's no surprise to me the EDL are targetting pro-Palestinian and pro-Peace groups. Again, this has been going on some years from the same people. Search for 'Paul Andrews ISM' and tell me what you find.

For example, their threats to invade SWP & Indymedia meetings, and their anti trade union press releases:



This is a direct result of the UAF's simple minded agenda. We need to talk to the EDL and distinguish ourselves as real leftist, as opposed to the SWP etc.
The only tactic that can ever work on the edl is subversion.

No, their threats to invade leftists'/anarchists meetings is not a result of UAF at all. It already existed. You're newly aware of it. It doesn't mean it wasn't already there.

The anti-union stance, which became most noticeable to me in March deserves a separate thread to discuss this in.
Several EDL members tried to organise a non-EDL anti-union, anti-anarchist, anti-communist demo on facebook back in March. It got 20-something supporters and didn't go ahead. The rhetoric is straight from the anti-communist propaganda model (fifth filter - manufacturing consent). It's an import to Britain, and only really held sway in far-right Tory circles (e.g. Baroness Cox's failed anti-marxist academic 'witchunt' of early 80s)