East Midlands Anti-fascists

Over the weekend, campaigners in Nottinghamshire came together to remember the volunteers from the county who joined the International Brigades. The re-dedication ceremony marked the return of the memorial to the volunteers, which was removed under the previous Tory leadership of the council.

The Spanish Civil War didn’t end well for the republic and the malignant influence of Stalinism on the Spanish Communist Party, and the International Brigades which were affiliated with it, is well known. Nonetheless, the bravery of those who volunteered to go to Spain is not in doubt and remains an inspiration to anti-fascists today. It is good to see that they will not be forgotten.

Following in the footsteps of the National Front and the BNP, the EDL went to Skegness to demonstrate against the halal slaughterhouse on Saturday. About 40 members of the far right group turned up carrying English and British flags and pictures of cows on sticks. They’re obviously not that clued up on how halal slaughter works.

Louth EDL and a muppet: Which is which?

According to their spokesman, the demonstration was not about race or religion, just about cruelty. Someone should’ve told the people who turned up with an English flag emblazoned with “No more mosques”. Someone should probably have reminded them that the English Defence League is not an animal welfare organisation! We have never seen these people oppose veal, foie gras or fur. The EDL claims to be concerned with what it paranoidly calls “creeping Sharia”, something which is all about religion (and many would say is a coded reference to race as well). The organisation’s mission statement says that “No one should be made to consume halal produce unwittingly”, suggesting that halal food should always be labelled and that people should have a choice whether to eat it or not. In reality, the EDL’s actions suggest that they are opposed to halal and the freedom of choice to consume it or not.

Flag with No More Mosques logo and slogan

Perhaps even more so than the openly racist National Front and BNP, the EDL are hypocritical when they oppose halal slaughter without saying anything about kosher slaughter. The EDL spokesman in Skegness complained about pre-stunning. In fact, figures produced for the Food Standards Agency in 2011 showed that that 84% of cattle, 81% of sheep and 88% of chickens slaughtered in the UK for halal meat were stunned prior to their deaths. Kosher slaughter prohibits pre-stunning, so by the EDL’s own criterion, kosher is worse. But the EDL has a long history of pandering to Jewish islamophobes such as Roberta Moore, former head of the Jewish Defence League, and Rabbi Nachum Shifren, and the organisation has held a solidarity demonstration with Israel. The EDL leadership don’t want to upset the small number of Jewish islamophobes it has brought into the fold. The organisation knows that it can make more political capital out of hatred against Muslims.

Saturday saw the EDL Travelling Circus (freak show?) return to Birmingham.

Although the EDL managed to turn out around 1,000 racists to spend three hours getting pissed before a two hour static rally, this was less than the leadership had hoped for.

It is unclear whether the stated intention of Nottingham EDLer Joanne Dickens to turn up and get her “tits & tatts” out to “insult” the “muzzies” had any impact on turnout.

Joanne Dickens to get her “tits & tatts out” at EDL demo in Birmingham

Dickens’ previous contribution to the fight against the Global Jihad involved her getting pissed and falling out of a coach in Tower Hamlets only to be rescued by an Asian man.

We’re pleased to announce the relaunch of Lincoln Against Racism and Fascism in response to EDL splinter group, the East Anglian Patriots. The EAP held a demo in the city last month at which they chanted “burn the mosque” and have threatened to return soon. They are also trying to jump on the Skegness anti-halal slaughterhouse bandwagon having announced that they will be demonstrating in the town on 27th August, following in the fascist footsteps of the National Front and BNP.

We wish the anti-fascist group all the best.

A little bit close to the bone?!