Anti-Muslim extremists plan Scots protest

By David Leask

ANTI-MUSLIM extremists linked with serious unrest in England are planning a major demonstration in Glasgow, it has emerged.

The English Defence League (EDF) aims to take to the streets of Scotland's biggest city on Saturday, 14 November, sparking major safety concerns among police and council insiders.

The organisation, which denies it is racist and insists it is only against Islamic militants rather than all Muslims, has set up a wing north of the Border called the Scottish Defence League.

An EDF rally in Birmingham erupted into violence this summer, prompting scores of arrests. Supporters are understood to have links with far-right groups and football hooligans. Some have been seen making Nazi salutes.

Communities Secretary John Denham this month raised fears of a return to 1930s fascism when he compared some far-right groups to Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts. The Scotsman understands that the EDF – or its purported Scottish wing – has still to ask for permission to march through Glasgow.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council yesterday said "any application would be considered". However, senior officials at the authority, which has the power to ban marches on police safety advice, would be keen to block any demonstration that is deemed likely to lead to violence.

Strathclyde Police were unavailable for comment last night.

Some city leaders fear that the EDF could spark counter-demonstrations from Glasgow's still highly mobilised left groups and from city Islamists.

"We think these guys (the EDF] want to see pictures of people in Union Jack T-shirts with blood on their heads," said one.

"We are not going to let that happen in Glasgow.

"If they are coming up here looking for a fight – there is no way they are going to get it. The police know how to deal with these guys."

The Glasgow demonstration was announced on the Facebook website this week. Some 132 people have already said they will attend.

The time and place of the rally have still to be settled. Any attempt to approach sensitive areas, such as Glasgow Central Mosque, would present serious public safety problems, city insiders confirmed to The Scotsman.

EDF supporters south of the Border have been seen parading with placards against the building of new mosques.

The Scottish Islamic Foundation yesterday said it would be organising a public meeting within the next seven days to work out how it should respond to extreme anti-Islamic groups crossing the border.

The group's chairman, Asif Ahmed, said: "This is time for Scotland to once again show we will not be divided by extremists. We have faced worse and come through it.

"The last time Glasgow was tested was at the 2007 airport attack. What we saw then was all strands of society coming together for a remarkable show of solidarity in George Square.

"We'll be working again to make sure that the numbers peacefully opposing extremism will far outstrip that of the haters."

Manchester City Council has sought help from the Home Office to find ways of banning an EDF march scheduled for its streets next month.

Source: Scotsman via Winds of Jihad

H/T Gramfan

Labour minister: Anti-Islam extremists no better than Oswald Mosley's 1930s fascists

A Cabinet minister has raised fears of a return to 1930s fascism, comparing modern right-wing groups to Oswald Mosley's Blackshirts.

Communities Secretary John Denham's comments came as he announced a drive to prevent white working class people being 'exploited' by extremists.

He singled out protests being organised by the English Defence League, some of which have turned violent over recent months.

Hundreds of supporters are expected to gather in Trafalgar Square tomorrow.

Yesterday protesters from the Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) group were involved in a demonstration outside a mosque in Harrow, north east London, to mark the anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Ten people were arrested.

'I think that the English Defence League and other organisations are not actually large numbers of people,' Mr Denham told the Guardian. 'They clearly, though, have among them people who know what exactly they're doing.

'If you look at the types of demonstrations they've organised... it looks pretty clear that it's a tactic designed to provoke and to get a response and hopefully create violence.'

Mr Denham pointed to historical 'parallels' with the so-called 'Battle of Cable Street' in October 1936, when Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, attempted to lead supporters through a Jewish area of the East End of London, leading to violent clashes.

'You could go back to the 1930s if you wanted to - Cable Street and all of those types of things. The tactic of trying to provoke a response in the hope of causing wider violence and mayhem is long established on the far-right and among extremist groups.'

EDL's supporters are alleged to include far-right activists and football hooligans filmed at recent protests chanting racist slogans and making Nazi salutes.

Mr Denham said there was a need for a broader strategy from government to 'undercut issues that racists try to exploit'.

In the coming weeks ministers will unveil a programme targeted at mainly white, working-class communities, he said.

'You need to be prepared to let people's real underlying fears and concerns come out, but to be able to address them frankly and openly,' he said.

He gave the example of perceptions of unfair allocation of council housing and new jobs, and said there could be changes at street level to allow local people to 'influence and shape' how resources are distributed in their area.

The clashes on Friday afternoon came after a right-wing extremist group protested against the construction of a new five-floor mosque next to the Harrow Central Mosque.

Riot police stepped in to prevent the rally from going ahead after members of the Stop Islamification of Europe group clashed with more than 1,000 anti-fascist and Muslim demonstrators who gathered to defend the building.

More than 550 police charged at the protesters, largely made up of Muslim men, and corralled them around the mosque.

During one skirmish, a white teenage youth was chased by a mob of up to 200 chanting demonstrators.

Scotland Yard said there were seven arrests for public order offences or possession of weapons while one person was arrested to prevent a breach of the peace.

Weapons confiscated include a hammer, a chisel and a bottle of bleach.

Muslim supporters - some covering their faces with bandanas - could be seen throwing rocks and bricks while one group trampled a wire fence as the two groups goaded each other.

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Source: Mail Online