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| Britain |
| British far-right protest |
| 2010-08-29 |
| [Straits Times] MEMBERS of a 700-strong crowd of far-right protesters threw bottles, stones and smoke bombs at anti-fascist demonstrators on Saturday in the ethnically-mixed English city of Bradford. A heavy police presence swiftly contained the stand-off but the protest has raised fears of a repeat of race riots that rocked Bradford in 2001. Members of the English Defence League (EDL) staged a 'static' demonstration in this northern city, home to one of Britain's largest Pakistani communities, against what they claim is the expansion of radical Islam in Britain. Police said about 700 EDL members turned up, contained in a small area in the centre of Bradford after the government banned them from marching through the city amid fears of unrest. About 250-300 people joined a rival demonstration by United Against Fascism across the road, officers said. Despite two cordons of police, the groups briefly got near each other and EDL members threw bottles, cans, stones and a smoke bomb over the barricades. Chanting 'give us our country back' and holding signs saying 'no more mosques' and 'no to Syariah (law)', the EDL protesters were soon pushed back by police. Saturday's demonstration is being closely watched amid concerns of a repeat of 2001, when a planned march by the far-right National Front sparked riots by local youths. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 EDL was set up when extremist muslims protested against Soldiers marching through Luton on their home coming parade. They are a mixture of working class whites and ex football hooligans who are fed up with how the Pakistani muslim community are pandered to and how little the Govt is doing to stop Islamic radicalisation in Pak communties around England. EDL see appeasement whilst the young lads of EDL want action ie their country back. |
| Posted by: Paul D 2010-08-29 10:44 |
| #4 I don't believe this media write up. The British press attacks EDL like MSNBC attacks the Tea Party, so there is little chance of finding out what really happened at an event. In past, the EDL was peaceful, then attacked by "Asians", then the newspapers reported that it as just the opposite, barely mentioning the "Asians", or pretending them to be innocent victims. It has even taken to calling them "anti-fascists", which is probably what they call the white leftists who support the "Asians". We would call them communists. Right now, on the EDL website, it features the story of a British Afghan war vet who was refused a beer from a store by a Muslim employee, because he was in uniform. The EDL's response: they sent a *letter* to the store management, shown on the page. Typical polite British tone. How radical. How extremist. For their part, the store's management profusely apologized to the soldier. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-08-29 08:55 |
| #3 "The EDL have a right to protest, yes, but we must not allow them to provoke us into violence. Unfortunately many young Asians are very angry at years of police stop and search and anti-terror laws, Islamophobia and continuing economic discrimination." Everyone is at fault here. The government for banning a protest because opponents might cause violence, the EDL for organizing a violent confrontation with police, and the Leftists who organize their own violent counter-protest. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2010-08-29 05:44 |
| #2 'give us our country back' |
| Posted by: Goodluck 2010-08-29 02:52 |
| #1 "Far-right" in this case meaning that: 1) When asked, they identify themselves as "English". 2) They prefer traditional British law to Sharia law. 3) They are not extremist, radical left-wing. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2010-08-29 00:30 |