Over the last week Victoria Police have spread hysteria about an anti-racism rally planned for this Saturday May 27 in Coburg, a diverse suburb in Melbourne’s inner-north. The police have encouraged locals to stay indoors and traders to close up shop and hide their Halal signage, essentially creating a voluntary curfew so neo-Nazis can march unhindered through the streets of Melbourne.

This is a disgrace and will only embolden the far-right.

The ‘Moreland says “NO” to Racism’ rally was initiated by Moreland socialist Councillor Sue Bolton and has the formal endorsement of the local council, Victorian Trades Hall Council, the Islamic Council of Victoria and No Room for Racism (See the full list of endorsers here).

Over recent years the aggressive anti-Muslim and anti-refugee rhetoric pushed by politicians and the mainstream media has stoked racial tensions in society. Incidents of street harassment are reportedly on the rise, directed mostly at Muslim women and people who appear to be from Middle Eastern backgrounds. The constant fear mongering about terrorism and scapegoating of refugees has opened up space for racists and bigots to thrive.

Far-right groups, made up of white supremacists and neo-Nazis, have jumped on this opportunity to build a violent, anti-Muslim movement in the streets. They have taken inspiration from the growth of far-right groups in Europe and hope to replicate their success here.

After more than a year of failed rallies and factional disputes, the remnants of the far-right anti-Muslim group Reclaim Australia are searching for a reason to remain relevant. The neo-Nazi Hitler-sympathising group United Patriots Front has joined with white supremacist group True Blue Crew to attack the “Moreland says “NO” to Racism” rally on Saturday.

Viewing this as an opportunity to exert more control over who has the right to protest, the police have demanded the anti-racism rally be cancelled! In credit to the organisers, they have refused to back down to the threats of the far-right and insistence of the police. The rally will go ahead, as it should, and we need everybody to come out in defence of it.

To back down to the threats of the far-right would only encourage them further. At the moment they represent only a few dozen violent individuals with a strong ideological commitment to the far-right. But this time last year they were attracting thousands of supporters online and hundreds of people to their rallies. It was only after numerous anti-racist blockades, organised by No Room for Racism and other anti-racism activists, that their numbers began dwindling, demoralisation set in and they began infighting and splintering.

To back down now, and allow the far-right to march through the streets of Coburg, would be a huge mistake. Even the dairy farmers stood up to the United Patriots Front leader when they booed him offstage at their rally this week! This rejection was demoralising for the far-right. Stopping them from marching through Coburg on Saturday would represent another demoralising defeat. Every time they attempt to intimidate our communities or spread their violent brand of Islamophobia in public spaces, we need to mobilse en masse in peaceful yet determined protests to shut them down. Anything less allows them space to grow.

Unfortunately, not everyone will be on their best behaviour on the day. In the past we have witnessed police use force against onlookers and anti-racism protesters while giving neo-Nazis full protection to march down our streets. On occasion, some anti-racists have taken things too far. But this is no reason to retreat and give free reign to the far-right. The more people with discipline and determination to stand up to the far-right who turn up on Saturday, the more likely we will have a positive outcome.

Unfortunately, the Greens have been rattled by the scare campaign and have pulled out of the rally. This is a selfish act that leaves the rest of our community to fight for ourselves. We hope that Greens members will ignore their leaders direction and stand with us on Saturday.

Many of us do not have the luxury to choose to abstain from this battle. We have become targets of the growing far-right because we are Muslim, people of colour, or vocal anti-racists (or all three!). If we stay home on Saturday, we still have to worry about our safety on Sunday, Monday and every day after that.

We are not interested in violence. We want to end the violence already occurring on our streets. But we can’t do that by caving in to threats from the far-right. Our best defence is a mass, peaceful, community defence. That requires large numbers of people to stand with us this Saturday and defend our streets from being taken over by racist thugs. If we don’t stop them now, we will regret it in years to come.

Meet 10am at Coburg Library (Victoria Street Mall, Coburg) for a 11am rally start. See you all there.

Whose streets? Our streets! Whose land? Aboriginal land!

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Fascists out of Coburg!

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