These demonstrations are in response to the court appearance of 11 men from Rochdale, accused of operating a child sex ring. The crime they are accused of is a despicable one, and we will shed no tears if they are jailed for a very long time. Yet the far-right is demonstrating here because they happen to be of Asian origin.

The fascists are exploiting the abuse of children to promote their nationalist agenda. They claim that Asians and Muslims are more likely than any other group to abuse children and that there is a media blackout to cover up this fact. But how do they propose to change things? If there is less coverage of the issue than is deserved, it is precisely because the far-right use it to stir up racial and religious hatred. They use such horrific incidents to turn people against entire communities.

The vast majority of those arrested for sex crimes in the UK are White British. In the past year, the world’s attention has been drawn to the scandal of widespread child abuse by Catholic priests. Where was the fascists’ demand that the “white community” or “Christian community” be held accountable for these crimes? The fact is, they only show their face when they can pin the issue on Asians and Muslims.

These crimes are not an attack on white people by muslims or Asians, but on vulnerable children by sexual predators. Abuse of children is an indescribably revolting crime, whoever commits it. Racist spin won’t save children from abuse, and nor will the sick opportunism of the EDL.

Don’t let fascists exploit child abuse for political gain.

Oppose the BNP and EDL – assemble by the Victoria Monument, Derby Square, from 8.30am on Monday 6 February.

CITY leaders are attempting to have a Liverpool club’s licence revoked after it hosted the annual conference of the British National Party (BNP).

They are applying to licensing bosses to come down hard on the Cricketers Club in Wavertree after the October event, which prompted protests outside its Long Lane site.

Merseyside Police are also bidding to have the licence curbed on the basis of incidents of alleged under-age drinking and assault in the premises.

But the club denied the underage drinking allegations, while the BNP accused city bosses and the police of a “sinister” witch-hunt.

The club’s spokesman said he had not been aware it was the far-right extremist group who had booked the venue – for around £1,000 – until a week before, and it had been booked in the name of a “private individual”.

A copy of the booking request form, obtained by the ECHO, was signed in the name of party leader Nick Griffin six weeks before the event.

 
The ECHO has also obtained photographic evidence that the BNP has held other meetings at the clubhouse, but the club said it did not receive payment for those.

Wavertree Cllr Jake Morrison, who is leading the campaign to see the venue stripped of its licence, said: “I think the licence should be removed altogether. It’s clear from the 45 residents who have also objected to the licence that they’re terribly unhappy to have the BNP in the area.”

Council leader Cllr Joe Anderson, who joined the protests outside the venue for the two-day conference, has also submitted an objection to the renewal, writing that by hosting the BNP the club had “caused a potentially dangerous situation to develop with no regard for the community in which their pub is based”.

The club spokesman, who did not wish to be named, denied the allegations of underage drinking but confirmed there had been a violent incident on one occasion which was swiftly dealt with.

He added: “The response we’ve had from people, saying Joe Anderson was out of order, has been tremendous.”

He added: “All we have done is hire a room out, which is our business, and there was no trouble until the councillors and demonstrators came and started shouting and screaming at by-passers and people going to other functions.”

BNP spokesman Simon Darby added: “I feel very sorry for the owners because they’ve done nothing wrong. It’s a bit unhealthy if you think about it. It’s very sinister that (the club) should come under pressure from the police.”

Merseyside Police wants conditions imposed on the club, including identity scanners used from 8pm on weekends, door staff on site and alcohol not to be sold after 2am.

A spokesman for Merseyside Police added: “The Force can confirm it will be putting forward representation at the upcoming licensing hearing for the Cricketers. As the hearing has not taken place it would be inappropriate to comment any further.”

The licensing committee will meet on January 30.

From The Liverpool Echo 23.01.12. Report by Marc Waddington

Members of the right-wing English Defence League (EDL) shout at Islamist demonstrators protesting outside the US embassy in London on Sept. 11, 2011 during a ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Around 50 people brandished anti-US banners, chanted slogans and burnt a small piece of paper with a picture of the US flag on it. (Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images)

Far-right anti-Islamic groups from ten European countries are planning to rally in Denmark on the last day of March, for what organizers are describing as the birth of a European movement.

The rally signals the further expansion of the English Defense League (EDL), the anti-Islamic group, which has become the most significant far-right force in the UK since the National Front in the 1970s, drawing 3,000 supporters to a March in Luton last year.

“We’re hoping this will be the launch of a wider European Defense League,” said Stephen Lennon, the former football hooligan who formed the group three years ago.

Kasper Mortensen, leader of the Danish Defense League, said he would soon officially announce the rally, which will take place in Aarhus, Denmark’s second city, on March 31.

More than 10 anti-Islamic groups from across Europe are expected to send representatives, including the EDL’s eight sister “Defense Leagues.”

Weyman Bennet, a spokesman for Unite Against Fascism, warned the march could lead to people being hurt.

“Everywhere they’ve called a demonstration there’s been violence,” he said. “Across Europe, the Sweden Democrats and the Danish People’s Party, all of them are growing by using this rhetoric. We see them as a group of people who will try and encourage fascist politics. They’ve simply swapped anti-Semitism for anti-Islam.”

Mr Lennon, who was convicted of assault in November 2011 after head-butting another EDL member at a rally, said his members aimed to march in peace.

“The likelihood is that the local Islamic community will come and attack us, aided and abetted by the far-Left,” he said. “We come to protest peacefully, it’s not our fault that when we come out, that they come to try and bash our heads in.”

Imran Shah, the spokesman for the Islamic Society of Denmark, urged Muslims in Aarhus to stay away from the streets.

“There’s no reason for Muslims to be there, that would just be asking for trouble,” he said.

He said the massacre of 77 people by Norwegian far-Right terrorist Anders Breivik in July, should push the Danish government to act against the growing movement.

“We’ve seen what the rhetoric of hate can do in Norway. Do we want some deaths here before we react?” he said.

Denmark is a natural choice for the EDL to launch its first European march.

The Danish People’s Party is one of the most electorally successful anti-immigrant parties in Europe, winning 12.3 per cent in elections last September and the Danish Defense League has grown rapidly since its founding a year ago, with chapters already set up in more than 10 Danish cities.

The EDL has held one European rally before, sending members to Amsterdam in 2010 in support of Dutch anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders, who was in court accused of insulting religious and ethnic groups.

Mr Wilders, who has moved to distance himself from the EDL, is not expected to attend the event.

But Mr Lennon said that this visit had inspired him to link up with other far-right groups in Europe, setting up the European Freedom Initiative, which is run by his associate, Steve Simmons.

Breivik was an early European supporter of the EDL, attending an EDL rally in Bradford in 2010, and claiming hundreds of EDL members as his Facebook friends.

Mr Lennon said he expected March’s rally to be the first of many.

“We don’t expect it to be big, but our first event wasn’t that big, and they’re just going to get bigger and bigger.”

From Global Post. 19.01.2012. Article by Richard Orange

EDL paedophile and founding member, Richard Price

The organisation’s original Facebook group with 15,000 members was hacked recently by ZHC Hacking company and a screenshot of the admin list was released,. One of the admins was Paul Lancashire and the other was Richard Price. Price was one of the founding members of the organisation.Price was outed by the Sunday Times earlier last year after being convicted of processing indecent photographs of children and The EDL’s leadership tried to cover it up. The organisation originally tried to claim he was not part of the EDL but soon backtracked when a previous statement by Tommy Robinson was found EDL Paedophile Michael Coates [pictured, right] contradicting this. He was also convicted of possession of cocaine and crack cocaine. Price was banned from owning a computer for a year, given a three-year community supervision order and placed on the sex offenders register for five years.
 
Price recently contacted EDL News to claim he was innocent and the only reason he pleaded guilty was so he would be quietly put on the sex offenders register without anyone finding out about his charges.

The EDL have spent a lot of their time demonstrating against Asian only paedophiles with several demonstrations in Blackpool against Asian takeaway workers who they claimed murdered Charlene Downes. After a failed court case the police have failed to provide any link with any Asian gangs.

ZHC have destroyed the EDL’s presence on social networking groups. In June last year they took their main 100,000 members page and many of their regional divisional pages. Their new page is struggling to get more than 2,000 members with many of those being trolls, antifa, journalists and security services.

The far right organisation have had further paedophile scandals since with the recent jailing of Michael Coates aka Mickey Blueeyes and Brett Moses who was convicted of trying to groom a 13 year old Canadian schoolgirl after travelling to meet her.

We are very pleased to be able to announce that two of the UK antifascists sent down last year were released on 30/12/11 on ‘Home Detention Curfew’ (electronic ‘tag’). We wish sean Cregan and Andy Baker the very best of luck and hope that they can successfully rebuild their lives. Thank you to the many groups and individuals who have allowed us to properly support these comrades. For the moment, the other three antifascists sentenced in relation to the same case remain inside and in need of support.

A recent article by Sean Cregan:

Freedom’s Fight

“Mick, Sean’s up at the bloody window!”

My dad took the stairs three at a time and caught me just before I fell. The window was nailed shut with six-inch nails… That was my earliest bid for freedom. I was not yet a year old but somehow I had made it up to that ledge, as my folks nattered to the neighbours downstairs.

Looking from that point to this, my own struggle for freedom has been and still is a major factor in who I am as a person today. Indeed it is the reason why I write this from a prison cell.

Born to Irish parents, growing up on south London’s housing estates was always going tbe a challenge. I loved my Irish roots but to other “real” Irish I was just a “plastic Paddy”. The English hated me for being Irish. I couldn’t win. My feeling of always supporting the underdog, the downtrodden, probably took root at that early age and has never waned. If a human or animal had no voice and was being mistreated, I’d be there to fight for what I believed to be right.

In my late teens the world of punk rock opened up a whole new world for me. I listened to bands that sang with anger and passion about the way humans and animals were treated. The “safe” music in the charts didn’t rock the boat and that’s how the authorities liked it. Punk music had such a profound impact. It made me aware of things I’d been ignorant of. I was inspired to form my own band to add my voice to the call for freedom and justice.

I naturally gravitated toward like-minded people: people who questioned everything they were told; people who did not blindly accept what they were told; people that cared for others outside the immediate circle of family and friends. These were heady days for me and I felt alive and part of something good and exciting.

In time I moved into the squatting “scene” and started to attend demos and actions, from CND marches to animal rights and anti-nazi demonstrations. I met punks, hippies, crusties and junkies! Many colourful people, some from privileged backgrounds and from all over the world. I found lots of common ground as well as uncommon ground. My working-class roots found some of the people a bit rich. Literally!

Most of my new-found friends considered themselves as anarchists/activists. After a while it became clear that many of these folk used that label to look the part but actually do little more than take drugs and do nothing; a part of the problem not the solution. I remember one time at a squat in Tooting we were sat smoking weed and putting the world to rights when the doorbell rang. I swear not one of us would-be revolutionaries could be bothered to answer the door! I never smoked another joint. It made me paranoid anyway. There were other drugs that I liked better; speed and acid, mushrooms and pills. We were having the time of our lives, squatting rent free, going to gigs and travelling the country to actions of every description. It was a bit hedonistic but I was happy.

The feeling of living in those squatted communities was one of belonging. It was as if I’d found my second family, my tribe even. We believed in freedom of expression, mutual respect and activism against the oppressive system. We shared a common hatred of the state; the futile wars fought in our names, the corrupt politicians, the greed of big business and the sad consumer materialistic society that had grown in the wake of the Thatcher era. What really was free? Not much as far as we were concerned unless you were part of the privileged few.

We live in this western “democracy” and believe we are truly free, and compared to some countries it may well seem that we are, but that is a skewed way of looking at things. In our society today we are more controlled, restricted, spied upon and monitored than at any time in our history. The last twenty years have seen more
and more of our rights taken away from us under new laws that the government stealthily introduce, by for instance telling us it’s for our own protection in the case of powers granted to the police in the fight against terrorism. It may
initially be used for one section of society but could have a range of implications for the public as a whole. We have more CCTV cameras than anywhere else in Europe. We are constantly watched and tracked, and with “smart” phones the authorities can pinpoint you to a place in seconds while Oyster cards keepa handy record of where we have been.

Our mainstream media is largely run by a handful of millionaires that feed us whatever party line they support through their papers; a nice cosy arrangement with the politicians who in turn get their media mates to bury news they don’t want us to know about. We are given a set of rules, laws to abide by. They claim to be for the common good but we are constantly shown that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor. A truly fair and equal society would indeed be free. Free from injustice and a place where we could all meet and live as equals sharing our collective wealth, but that is just not the case. Something like five per cent of the population own ninety per cent of the land! How did these people get to own land in the first place? By taking it by force manyyears ago. I’ve personally always thought that owning the land is a ridiculous notion but their laws ensure that we have no freedom to roam where we choose.

We are told it’s wrong to steal and yet we are robbed every single day by landlords, banks, big business marking up huge profits, taxed to death by the government – the list is endless. Most working people are lucky to have enough to get them through to the next week and once they’ve paid out the bills there is preciouslittle left. And that’s just the way the state wants the lower classes to be: reliant wage slaves, given just enough but not nearly enough!

We are also bombarded with the lives of the rich and famous. The TV and magazines like OK and Hellosell us glimpses into their luxury lifestyles. The ever-pouting Posh Spice and her gormless jet-set equals Paris Hilton et al
flaunt their unbelievable wealth in our faces while doing absolutely nothing to earn it. The poor lap it all up and long to be them, knowing the likelihood of that ever happening is zero. The uber-rich live in countries where they can
avoid paying their taxes – so it would seem freedom is obtainable at the right price. If you have the money you can buy it!

Violence, we are told, is not permitted in a civilised society. Yet we watch as those in power sell masses of arms to corrupt regimes around the world that end up in the slaughter of innocents. When there is money at stake and oil to be controlled it would seem that people’s freedom is way down the list where the men of Mammon are concerned. How many indigenous people have been crushed, uprooted and in some cases eradicated in the name of oil, timber or whatever commodity it is that they desire?

There is only the freedom that tyrants and despots around the globe allow us to have. Their double standards and hypocrisy are disgusting and how they still manage to pull the wool over the masses’ eyes is a mystery to many.

As the years passed my involvement in direct action increased. I became a hunt saboteur and regularly attended hunts in defence of the animals’ liberty. The rich and infamous took exception to their “sport” being disrupted and violence was never far away. Arrests inevitably followed with the law firmly on the side of the well-to-do hunters.

I lost my freedom after being sent to prison for kicking a police riot shield on a May Day protest demo. The police had held us for over six hours using the new “kettling” tactic for the first time. We had been crushed and bashed with batons all day and my temper broke loose with one kick. I was sentenced to six months. This did little to deter me and only underlined the injustice of law and order. Losing my liberty was the worst feeling ever.

In recent years my political life has been dominated by the fight against the rise of the far right. On a wet weekend in March 2009 myself and fellow anti-fascists tried to stop a concert by the extreme nazi organisation Blood and Honour. Given the chance, these fascists would deny many of us our freedom. Their message is one of intolerance and hatred. As the police seemed indifferent we felt it was our duty to try and stop these vile people preaching their politics of hate.

I was involved in a fight with one of the “master race” and myself and twenty-two others were arrested in dawn raids in a massive operation by the authorities.We were charged with conspiring to commit violent disorder. Six were found guilty and sentenced to twenty-one months.

I try to make some sense of why I am sitting in this cell. It seems that those who are prepared to stand up for what is right are treated as criminals. I don’t know if losing my own freedom in defence of others’ freedom is too high a price, but I will always believe freedom is worth fighting for. How I carry on that fightremains to be seen.

I won’t dwell too much on Lowles’ version of the fight against fascism in the past year. However, suffice to say that his claim to have “consistently brought communities together, around positive shared identities, to resist the hatred of the EDL” ignores the achievements of militants in this regard. In particular, Bradford demonstrated both that the call for a state ban didn’t stop the EDL from turning up and that direct, physical opposition did prevent them from rampaging.

Likewise, when he claims “persuad[ing] the Metropolitan Police to request a ban on an EDL demonstration in Tower Hamlets” as one of their victories, they ignore the huge negative repercussions. Not to mention that this not only didn’t stop the fascists from turning up, it didn’t stop them from marching. They didn’t get into Tower Hamlets itself, but that was due to a huge anti-fascist presence there rather than a ban.

Lowles’ further claims that “the current problems of both the BNP and the EDL owe much to our ability to combine research and intelligence gathering with both localised and national campaigns.” However, this is at best a selective reading of recent history. The BNP’s failure at the polls in 2010 underpinned a growing disillusionment with Nick Griffin’s leadership – creating a rift that exploded most violently in Liverpool, where Searchlight have minimal to no presence. This isn’t to say that Hope not Hate had no impact – their leafleting campaign in Barking & Dagenham was hugely successful. But, as Liverpool Antifascists have also demonstrated, leafleting of estates targeted by the BNP is not a tactic exclusive to them.

In terms of the EDL, the “current problems” faced by the leadership boil down to the more hardline elements splitting off into new groups such as the Infidels and those who came along for a piss up and a day trip falling away. That the splinter elements are on the upsurge and have returned to the traditional fascist tactic of controlling the streets demonstrates that this brand of street fascism is first-and-foremost a physical threat, and it has become prominent due to a failure to adequately deal with it as such.

But this doesn’t matter too much to Searchlight. The title of this essay – “beyond the BNP” – reflects an idea that the text doesn’t explicitly state: that the fascists in their present incarnation have been beaten and it’s time to move on. This reflects the same self-assured attitude shown by the leadership of the Anti-Nazi League when they declared the National Front defeated – leaving it to the militant Anti Fascist Action to physically beat them and then the BNP off the streets in the face of increasing street violence and rising numbers of racist attacks as their electoral chances crumbled to dust².

Turning to next year, Lowles cites the Searchlight report Fear and Hope³ when talking of the need to “be more proactive and unite communities around a positive, united vision of society.” Thus, they produce a series of initiatives for the new year on the basis that “there is a clear connection between economic insecurity and pessimism with suspicion and hatred of outsiders.”

This last point is quite correct, as fascists have a long history of offering up a minority section of the working class – Catholics, Jews, immigrants and asylum seekers, Muslims – as a scapegoat for the damage being inflicted by capitalism. However, naturally, Searchlight avoid mention of class and go instead for less terrifying (to mainstream supporters) words like “community” and “shared identities.” However, the proposed initiatives offered do not necessarily follow from this analysis.

Most of them are fairly innocuous or in-line with what Hope not Hate is already engaged in, and so of little concern. One, the “online community organising project” has the potential to be somewhat interesting. But there is also a fair potential for Searchlight to further feed into the narrative of the authoritarian state.

In particular, I’m concerned by the following points;

We will be seeking to engage more actively in public policy debates, such as Prevent and Integration strategies, but do so in a more innovative way that involves our supporters in the discussions and developing responses.

Aside from being a typically wet, liberal illusion in the idea that fascism can be defeated through electoral politics, this is just plain dangerous. We already know that Searchlight is a statist organisation – its first port of call being asking for the government to ban actions and proscribe organisations. We also already know that these calls have manifested in exactly the way that militant anti-fascists predicated – most notably the “ban” on the EDL at Tower Hamlets becoming a mandate for a ban on protests in five boroughs.

Combine this with the organisation’s blind eye to these repercussions and the state’s eagerness to clamp down on dissent at present, and you have a very dangerous combination. Especially since, by deliberately talking of “extremism” rather than of fascism and Islamism, Searchlight is offering the opportunity to view any organisation which goes beyond what it terms “the mainstream middle” as dangerous, seditious and deserving of state repression. Moreover, from its lack of any response at all to the jailing of anti-fascists for taking on the far-right, we can expect the organisation to not acknowledge this problem even when it manifests itself in the heavy repression of the left.

Then there’s this;

Next summer we will host the “Great British Party” as an initiative to unite communities and help develop shared identities in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics. Backed up by over 100 local community newspapers and a new Community Champion award, this has the potential to be our biggest project yet.

Again, this only feeds into “values” and “identities” as defined by the state. Arguably, by focusing on the “Great British Party” at a time of growing “economic insecurity,” it offers a lighter, liberal equivalent to fascism and nationalism – diverting attention towards identity and the nation-state at a time when our class is under attack. It also ignores that the 2012 Olympics bring with them one of the biggest attacks on our civil liberties by telling us all to forget what’s going on in the world and have a party.

2012 brings with it a renewed threat of fascism, particularly in the form of street gangs going on the offensive. What we need in response to this is what militant anti-fascism has always offered – a class analysis of fascism, effective organisation against the far-right in working class areas and physical opposition to their violence. What we do not need, as Nick Lowles offers, is civic (as opposed to ethnic) nationalism and an increased mandate for the authoritarian state.

¹Read a longer version, in PDF format, here.
²The libcom.org link above deals mostly with AFA taking on the BNP – a fuller history which includes the battle against the NF by first the ANL squads and then Red Action can be found in Beating the Fascists: the untold story of ANTI FASCIST ACTION.
³Read my full response to that report here.

On the very first night that Occupy Liverpool set up camp, at the base of Wellington’s Column, members of the English Defence League showed up. This wasn’t unexpected in the context of previous and continued hostility by the EDL towards the Occupy movement, but it did raise some concerns. In particular, with the 24/7 nature of the camp meaning that security would have to be almost entirely left in the hands of the permanent residents, the attitude of the occupiers towards violence and physical confrontation would have to be addressed.

I was at the camp for the fascists’ first appearance, and my experience then was indicative of these concerns;

Soon after dark, I was alerted to the fact that there were five lads standing outside the camp shouting up at a woman standing by the tent facing them. Nobody else appeared to have noticed, as there was a group of tourists asking questions of the occupiers whilst others were sorting out provisions or chatting amongst themselves. However, from the lads still kept their distance and though at first I couldn’t make out everything they said, their tone was clearly mocking or goading.

I exited the area in which the camp sat, enclosed by pillars connected by chains, and walked around to where the lads were stood. As I came along and leant against one of the pillars, one of them looked up at me and said “alright Phil.” This pretty much confirmed who they were, alongside the pointed question “what do you and Liverpool Antifascists hope to gain by occupying a war memorial?” Only fascists take such obvious pleasure at knowing on sight who a “red” is, and whilst we had shown up yesterday because of the threat of fascists, LiverAF had never previously made any mention of Occupy Liverpool and the local EDL were the only ones to make any connection between the two things.

There were some words exchanged between us, with them – all in their early twenties bar one who looked about twelve – claiming that we were disrespecting a war memorial before denying being any part of the EDL or fascist groups. However, this was quickly belied by their parting shot that they would return later with petrol bombs to “warm our feet up.” Pointing out that throwing petrol bombs at Wellington’s Column was somewhat more disrespectful then camping by it, I got the reply “the petrol bomb’s for you, you cunt.”

During the exchange, a couple of people had come up and asked me not to antagonise them. I was also told that “if you ignore them and don’t rise to it, they’ll go away.”

After I made a point of arguing against this notion, and a later intervention by other anti-fascists at the General Assembly, the point appeared to have been made. They set up rotas for security, and though there were a number of people there who were incredibly politically naive – including more than one who had never heard of the EDL before – there were also a fair few who seemed quite switched on.

However, several days ago, a group of between 9 and 12 EDL turned up at the camp. They had previously tried to nick the camp’s banner, but this time one of the campers approached them and tried to engage a discussion. For his troubles, he was punched in the face and earned a black eye and split lip. I’ve since heard that the attacker was caught on both CCTV and hand-held camera as well as spotted by a cop, who subsequently nicked him. However, following the incident another fascist turned up later on, videoing people - and people still tried to engage with him, and answered his questions! Clearly, the threat they pose still hasn’t sunk in.

The argument over how to deal with fascists, and particular the contrasting liberal and militant approaches, is an old one. If you look around the internet, you can find a number of pieces covering it – including my own on violence and censorship. However, the issue here is not about selling the Anti Fascist Action approach as superior to the Unite Against Fascism / Hope Not Hate one (though I will contend that it is). It is about a group of people who are in the sights of the far right, including some more vulnerable or less experienced than others, believing that “if you ignore them and don’t rise to it, they’ll go away.” That is a dangerous notion which needs to be debunked.

As such, I would make several points very strongly:

1. Fascism is a violent ideology. We are not talking about people who have come to the camp purely to engage, who have since been provoked into a scrap. The English Defence League was born of football hooligan gangs. It has been violent from the offset, even to the point of fighting amongst themselves when there are no reds to scrap with. The Liverpool Division, as if that wasn’t enough, have gone “rogue,” because the national EDL wasn’t racist and violent enough for them. Opposing those they see as communists is now their driving motive, and they see Occupy as the epitome of everything they stand against.

That opposition doesn’t take the form of leaflets and well-written political rebuttals. It is physical, in the form of confrontation, intimidation and – where they can get away with it – assault. The fascists want to hurt you.

2. You cannot reason with them. It may be the case, in certain situations, where engaging fascists in argument can de-escalate a situation, or at least buy time until there are more people who can chase them off. However, those who have mobilised on the streets to oppose you are not wavering in their commitment to fascism. Liverpool Antifascists does a lot of work leafleting working class estates during elections because there are people swayed by far-right arguments on the basis that there appears to be no alternative, and in doing so we have seen the BNP’s support fall. But this is not the same situation and the people threatening to petrol bomb you are not floating voters.

Even if engagement and de-escalation are the best tactic, don’t let your guard down. As we’ve seen, that will only get you a split lip.

3. You cannot rely on the police to protect you. At the least, this is because they cannot and will not be at the camp 24 hours a day. But through experience most anti-fascists know that it is more than that. We have seen the police protect British National Party marches and stalls, shake hands with fascists and facilitate their events, even turn a blind eye to acts of violence by fascists. Those at Occupy will also have seen police violently evict protesters, kettle peaceful marches and use unprovoked force against the left.

The police are not on your side. If you rely on them for protection, you essentially leave yourself unprotected.

4. Conceding ground to the fascists only makes them stronger. The strategy employed by the EDL and its off-shoots is a typically fascist one – to control the streets through force. If we back off for fear of confronting them, we effectively concede to this strategy and allow them to grow in numbers as they grow in confidence. Whereas, if they are not allowed to go unchallenged on the streets, those less up for physical confrontation will fall away from them.

Adolf Hitler put it most bluntly whilst in power;

Only one thing could have stopped our movement. If our adversaries had understood its principle, and from the first day had smashed with the utmost brutality the nucleus of our new movement.

For those in Occupy, the key point here is that if you do not want the EDL to keep resurfacing and attacking your camp, you have to be prepared to confront them and chase them away. This doesn’t necessarily mean physical violence – anti-fascists have managed to run the BNP out of Liverpool City Centre without a single punch being thrown – but it does mean that non-violence should not be fetishised. Though useful in some situations, it is dangerous in others and should not be an absolute principle.

Most of all, I would argue that when dealing with fascists the key should be security, not engagement. What to do in these kind of situations should be discussed among everyone as far as possible, so that nobody is in the dark either about the threat posed or how to act when it arises.

When confronted, it is vital that you stand together. The task of confronting the EDL or other hostiles should not be left to a small, specialised group. Not only does this leave that group bearing all of the risk, but it also makes others more vulnerable to attack should the fascists get past them. Confront them as a group, keep the most vulnerable safe, and don’t take your attention from the fascists until you know they are gone.

Anti-fascism is neither a game nor merely an intellectual exercise. The far-right pose a significant physical threat, more so in fact now that their electoral support is deteriorating, and those they have chosen as targets need to be able to defend themselves. You cannot ignore them and hope that they’ll go away, as this only makes you more vulnerable. But you can talk to those experienced with anti-fascism, who will always be willing to offer help and support where we can. If you find that the presence of these goons pisses you off enough, you may even want to join us!

The Gates of Vienna blog carries a report that blames “Pakistani youths;”

He was out driving, when he saw a car similar to his wife’s, driven by a blond white girl. The other car flashed its lights so Tommy pulled over.

A group of Pakistani youths wearing knuckle dusters poured out. Tommy was knocked out pretty quickly, and they gave him a good kicking.

He looks pretty beaten up, but no bones were broken, and no eyes or teeth are missing. He had a brain scan this morning. We don’t know the results yet.

He has spoken to The Sun, who asked whether he had called the police. Tommy said there was no point, as a racial attack on a white guy was of no interest to them.

Tommy has apparently since then reported that the gang were shouting “Allah Akhbar” and “Merry Christmas Tommy.” The blog states that they “want Tommy to go to the police,” because if they don’t act upon this, it is “yet more evidence that there is a two-tier system of justice in England.”

This story has been reported faithfully by the EDL’s new political bed-warmers, the British Freedom Party. They add that “our thoughts are with Tommy and his family during this tough time, a time which should be happy but has been devastated by thuggish invaders who would like to see Christmas eradicated from Britain.”

However, rival fascist faction the North West Infidels think differently;

The MIGs, for those who don’t know, are the Luton Town football hooligan firm. It is from their infamous former leader that Tommy Robinson – real name Stephen Lennon – takes his alias. The MIGs also have links with the EDL dating back to its foundation, due to the group’s roots in football hooliganism.

So which is the true story? Both have some degree of credibility as well as room for doubt, but ultimately it is the word of one group of fascists against that of another at this moment in time. Either way, what it means is that the leader of the EDL has been laid up – for some time, given reports that he has “bruising of the brain” – and there will no doubt be repercussions. Revenge attacks on Asian youths by angry EDL supporters, or clashes between rival gangs of thugs. Possibly both.

In the meantime, our thoughts should be with Tommy. As the man who reinvigorated street fascism, inspiring a new generation of goons to go on the rampage against Asians and Muslims, it really couldn’t have happened to a more deserving person.