Review: ‘Proud and Prejudiced’, Channel 4 Dispatches

The publicity in advance of this documentary revealed that the makers of this programme had set out with the intent of portraying Sayful Islam’s Islamists and Tommy Robinson’s EDL as morally equivalent “extremists”, who both should be condemned for their “intolerance”. In this narrative expectation, we were not to be disappointed, although of course it was disingenuous of the Dispatches editorial team to portray the EDL as a “far-right threat” to be feared as much as England’s burgeoning Islamist movement. In the opinion of the author, the EDL represent a genuine grassroots working-class movement that has arisen to fill the vacuum created by mainstream politics’ unwillingness to address the real concerns that they articulate, albeit in a working-class idiom not as polished as that of the professional political class. In its treatment of the EDL, the Dispatches team on this occasion thus fell into the typical inverted snobbery characteristic of the mainstream media, treating EDL supporters contemptuously simply because of the manner of their speech. That said, this programme was in an altogether different class to Stacey Dooley’s ‘My Hometown Fanatics’ which covered much of the same ground in a more superficial manner last week.

Robinson (real name Stephen Lennon) may have commented at the latest EDL demo in Hyde on Saturday that the title of the programme could be interpreted as representing his “pride” and Sayful Islam’s “prejudice”, but Channel 4 would not concur, for “a plague on both your houses!” was its effective message, echoing the standard line now peddled by the anti-democratic leftist pressure group ‘Hope Not Hate’.

The documentary opened with Robinson driving through Luton town centre, noting how he used to walk through the area as a child, but could no longer do so for fear of being beaten up. Soon enough, Sayful Islam was spotted, and within a few moments he had strolled over to Robinson’s car for an ill-tempered verbal exchange which ended with Islam hitting Robinson in the face. Islam called Robinson “racist”, to which the latter retorted, “What race is Islam?”

Luton, intoned the narrator, has a population of circa 200,000, 15% of which is Muslim – five times the national average. Having set the demographic context the documentary moved on to the formation of the EDL in 2009 in response to a Muslim protest against a homecoming parade of the Royal Anglian Regiment in the March of that year. Throughout, the documentary tended to intercut interviews with Sayful Islam, formerly of ‘Muslims Against Crusades’ (now banned), and Tommy Robinson, giving their contrasting perspectives. However, Robinson tended to enjoy more of the limelight throughout.

Islam has five children and studied accountancy at local university, and worked for a time as a tax inspector: 

“We wanna shake the people and wake them up from their slumber. . . . The real heroes are people who have no homes, who have been raped, who have been violated.” 

And when we awake from our slumbers, what would he like to offer us? An Islamic state. In that case, please do not disturb my sleep.

He grew up in Bury Park and became a disciple of Omar Bakri, founder of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun. Sayful’s followers are banned from most local mosques. One of the fertiliser bomb plotters and the Stockholm suicide bomber came from Luton. He, like others of his ilk, claims that Shariah Law will deal with the problems of contemporary society, preventing drug problems, prostitution and promotion of homosexuality. He sees a society “full of sexual deviancy and every sin.”

Lennon too is married and has three children. The narrator stated that he had served time for assaulting an off-duty policeman during a domestic dispute, but provided no explanation as to what had happened. Why is he alarmed about Islamisation? “If this is happening now when 3% of the country’s population is Muslim, God help us if it gets to 20%!” In twenty years time, he fears that such an eventuality could unfold. As for Muslims being offended, he retorted “I’m offended when I see a woman in a burqa. . . . We’re offended on a daily basis.”

Returning to the genesis of the EDL, it was Muslim barracking of the Royal Anglian Regiment together with Muslims spitting in a soldier’s mother’s face that generated the anger that precipitated its formation. Robinson managed to gather together 200 people, mostly Luton football fans, to mount a protest calling for a ban on Islam’s group, with Robinson spending £400 getting a cameraman to film the protest. This resulted in him receiving a banning order from the town centre and an ensuing “summer of tension”. Two hooded men attacked a local mosque with firebombs. An imam – billed as a “moderate” -  opposed Sayful Islam, and claims that had Robinson stuck to attacking “Muslim extremism” he would not have a problem with that, but in his opinion he had now gone well beyond this and started attacking Islam as a religion. 

The EDL claims 100,000 supporters, and dozens of demos have been held since its inception. However, although the narrator claimed that many had turned violent, he did not explain the nature of the violence or indeed point out that on the majority of occasions when violence had flared, it had been instigated by UAF and most of those who turned out to be arrested were so-called ‘antifascists’. The shadowy world of the SWP-dominated self-styled ‘antifascist’ movement was not examined, which constituted a serious flaw in the documentary’s approach.

The documentary, as covered in the preview article and attendant clip a couple of days ago, then moved on to the ‘Luton in Harmony’ initiative, which has attempted to paper over the wide and deep cracks between the town’s Muslim population and the rest. Lennon stated: that living in harmony wasn’t a problem for “The Hindus, the Jews, the Sikhs, the gay community”, but only one “with the Muslims.”

Sayful Islam concurred that there was an absence of harmony in the town: 

“If you want to say Luton is in harmony, then why was the EDL born here?”

On the second anniversary of the EDL’s birth in 2011 Luton witnessed its largest EDL protest to date, and another one is planned for this year. As often on such occasions, UAF staged a counterdemonstration, which necessitated a massive police operation, with in excess of 1500 police being drafted in: “Luton was bracing itself for violence” intoned the narrator. Thankfully, the demonstration was remarkably peaceful. Only eight arrests were made throughout the £800,000 police operation.

That the EDL were having a political impact on the national stage appeared to be made clear by the fact that David Cameron chose to make a speech in Munich on the eve of the demonstration, stating that multiculturalism had failed (meaning nothing of the sort however, for his administration has continued to be a vigorous advocate of this policy). Lennon chose to disagree with Cameron, stating to the crowd:

“David Cameron is wrong, multiculturalism has worked. We live side by side as brothers and sisters.”

 However, he stated:

“Stop building mosques in our community, we’ve had enough of it!”

“Every single one of you is in the forefront of the struggle against militant Islam.”

It seems to me however that it is precisely multiculturalism that has failed, for it is this ideology that has allowed Islamisation to take root and flourish. Lennon, it would appear, is confusing multiculturalism with multiracialism. He has always strongly objected to allegations that the EDL are racist, and was at pains to rebut this on a number of occasions, contrary to UAF claims which cited comments made on the EDL’s Facebook page as evidence. As he pointed out, he and his organisation could not be responsible for every comment posted. He himself had joined the BNP for a year in 2004, but claimed that he failed to renew his membership because he objected to the way that they barred blacks not only from the party, but also from social activities. 

The rest of the documentary covered a number of other protests in 2011, including the EDL Tower Hamlets demo and a MAC demo at the American Embassy. Lennon was also shown being interviewed by Jeremy Paxman in the wake of the Breivik atrocity, during which he acquitted himself well (click here for full video of the interview). Interestingly, the programme did not touch upon the EDL’s proposed collaboration with the British Freedom Party announced last November. Why was this not mentioned? Will Robinson eventually declare that he will join the BFP and perhaps stand as a parliamentary candidate? If so, the documentary gave no hint of this possibility. Is however, a credible new party about to emerge which will fully address the concerns of the EDL without being as narrowly focused as the BFP? This is a distinct possibility, as is discussed here.

Overall therefore, this was an interesting documentary that gave us a view into both the EDL and to a lesser extent the world of Sayful Islam’s Islamists (see ‘My Brother the Islamist’ for a better treatment of Islamism in England today). However, the documentary would have been greatly enhanced if it had set its subject matter against the backdrop of the real trends towards Islamisation in England today, and examined the concept of Islamisation. In all likelihood though, this would have necessitated a two-part documentary. Dispatches has produced a number of excellent documentaries on Islamist extremism in the past, but this one did not quite live up to those high standards. As such, it was something of a curate’s egg.

On Thursday evening Channel 4 will be screening a documentary entitled ‘Make Bradford British’. It used to be, but it is no longer. Rather like buses, it would seem that documentaries dealing with the problems posed by Islamisation (although not explicitly framed that way) come in threes, for in the past ten days we will have had two documentaries on Luton and one on Bradford. Does this tell us something significant about the public mood and the preoccupations of the mass media, or is it just coincidence?

Luton’s vibrant video ‘Welcome’

Whilst we basked in belated summer’s welcome heat, the benign Sun beaming from on high, the malcontents of Luton troubled the eye with their shrouded forms, and the ear with their jarring speech and chanting foul. Bearded, wishing to be heeded, their presence, most certainly unneeded, imposing their message upon the passers-by, who would far sooner avert the eye, and hurry to some other place, for this was hardly to their taste. Why? Why should this have been? A parade of Muslims, once more obscene, described in doggerel, yet real, not another bad dream. In Bury Park they barked their chants, “Allahu Akbar” and sundry rants, about two Muslimahs stripped and searched, upon terror charges as is the policeman’s work.

These people go by many names, and show us kuffar but fierce disdain, but we shall not flinch from their parades, whether it be Al-Mahajiroun or Muslims Against Crusades. In other words, the stirrers were at it again in Luton’s Bury Park yesterday as shown in the video below. Welcome to Luton? No thanks. Is Stevenage any better?

Videos from Muslims Against Crusades and EDL 9/11 Protests

More videos have come to light of today’s Muslims Against Crusades (MAC) protest and EDL counter protest near the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square. The first of the videos shows both MAC and the EDL, as well as a small group of non-doctrinaire Muslims forming a third group, embittered at MAC sullying their reputation. One of the signs held aloft by a member of the latter group read: ‘If you want Sharia, go to Saudi’. Good man!

As for MAC, the slogans on their placards were of the same nature as those displayed last year, some variations upon previous themes including: ‘United States – Terrorist State’, ‘Islam is for the Whole of Mankind’ and ‘9/11: Beginning of the end for Democracy’. The police allowed MAC to conduct their protest, whilst eventually shunting away members of the EDL who had come to express their objection to Choudary’s group’s violation of the act of remembrance. The only manhandling by the police witnessed in either video occurs in the first, involving a young EDL supporter. Nonetheless, it was wise to ensure that the two groups were kept physically apart from each other.

The second video is comprised only of excerpts from MAC’s demonstration: chanting, speeches and the burning of the American flag.

Two Members of EDL Stabbed
According to the Casuals United blog, two EDL members were stabbed today and there have been unconfirmed reports that two MAC supporters were arrested. It is stated that the stabbing was captured on video by a female member of the EDL, which should hopefully prove sufficient to identify the culprits. The Demotix website states that violence flared between MAC and the EDL on the Edgeware Road after the demonstration in Grosvenor Square had finished, with the stabbings occuring outside of a JD Wetherspoon's pub. A police forensics team is reported as having secured the site. Reports suggest that there were between 50 and 100 EDL supporters present at the time, but details at this stage remain sketchy.

Some background can be found at today’s earlier post, ‘Loud, Bearded and MAC: Muslims Against Crusades latest 9/11 Protest’.

My Brother the Islamist: the Tears of a loving Mother

In watching BBC3’s ‘My Brother the Islamist’ this evening, I was deeply moved. Not by the story of the filmmaker getting back in touch with his Islamist convert brother and trying to understand his motivations, but by the love of a mother for her son. For most of us, the Dorset town of Weymouth will forever hold happy associations, and what we saw this evening will not, thankfully, displace those positive sentiments. Such a place, idyllic as it is, and largely removed from those negative changes that have so blighted urban England in recent decades, has not, so it seems, managed to insulate itself entirely from the malign influence of Islam.

Robb Leech made this film largely in an attempt to try and comprehend what it was that had motivated his half brother – Rich – to convert to Islam and join with Anjem Choudary’s band of anti-English anti-rationalist Islamist malcontents. The fact that the two had grown up together in what appeared to be a happy and conventional middle-class background in an English seaside town, gives lie to the claims that jihadists are motivated to attack our society because of relative deprivation and ‘racism’: what was driving Rich – now the self-styled Salahuddin – to hate his family and his country was one thing and one thing only: the poisonous ideology of Islam.

At the time of the documentary’s inception, Rich was a recent Muslim convert who had moved to London two years earlier, and converted to Islam only six months before filming began. Since moving away and converting, Rich had come to hate and denounce everything that his family and native society stand for. Strangely, in the short period that he had lived in London, he had lost all trace of a Dorset or conventional English accent, and had acquired instead the peculiar pretentious lilt of the East London (Bangladeshi?) Muslim. This was not touched upon in the documentary, but I suspect that he was not always possessed of such a manner of speaking. He had come to fall in with Anjem Choudary’s jihadist group, which had recently rebranded itself as ‘Muslims Against Crusades’, and had taken part in two provocative demonstrations in 2010: one in Barking, and the other outside of the American Embassy in London. At the age of 27, Rich, now the self-styled Salahuddin, had become an advocate of global jihad and would only speak to his brother and allow the documentary to be made for the sake of Dawah. The fact that he would only shake hands with his brother using the hand that he used to clean his backside was something which, not unnaturally, caused his brother a degree of angry irritation.

It must be hugely upsetting for Rich’s parents to have seen their son undergo what appears to be a mental breakdown, and to have experienced his purposeful estrangement from them. He seems however, to be a lost cause. Worryingly, a seemingly likeable Weymouth lad named Ben, a mere 17 years old, had allowed something rather more sinister than death metal or the latest youth subculture to take a hold on his tractable young mind, for he had instead chosen to convert to Islam. This is the aspect of the documentary that I found the most worrying, for it seemed as if Robb Leech had actively introduced Ben to his elder brother, taking him to London to meet and stay with members of Muslims Against Crusades. As a consequence, Ben became less likeable as the programme progressed, as it became evident that this change of milieu served to solidify and intensify his sense of estrangement from English culture and his mother, whilst strongly reinforcing his self-identification as a Muslim; so much so, that he had his foreskin removed at the East London Mosque. Perhaps Robb Leech hadn’t given this introduction much thought at the time, but I do not think that this was an ethical thing to have done with an evidently highly impressionable teenager.

Ben’s mother – Maggie – struck me as a loving, supportive and very worried mother. Her upset was palpable, and as her son spoke in front of her, repeatedly stating his belief in the superiority of the Islamic doctrine of hate and misogyny, tears welled up in her eyes. As her tears flowed, so too did mine. How must she feel? How would you feel, if one of your children embraced the evil of Islam and turned against you? Every word he said must have smarted and stung. Evidently not wanting to lose him, and deep down hoping that one day he will grow out of this highly damaging and negative phase, she did her best to put a brave face on the situation. Maggie, I hope for your sake and for everyone else’s, that your Ben awakens from this nightmare soon, and comes to see what he has gone through as an uncharacteristic aberration, rather than continuing in his current vein and doing something dangerously stupid.

Why is this happening in our society? Islam has no place here. The fault lies with the education system and the mass media which indoctrinate our children into ethnic self-hatred, whilst elevating other peoples and cultures above our own, and deeming it only permissible to say positive things (i.e. lies) about Islam. Why is Islam finding converts? Because our political class cares not for the well-being of the indigenous people of this country and allows Islam to flourish. Our elite would sooner treat with sordid Saudis for petrodollar kickbacks and agree to their funding the Islamisation of England through mosques, madrassahs and ‘interfaith’ (sic) dialogue, than preserve our culture, way of life and identity. This was evident in last night’s documentary, which showed the police allowing Muslims Against Crusades to practise Dawah on the streets of Weymouth, whilst arresting a local man for voicing his objection. Why should they have the right to spread their lies and hate upon our streets and thereby seek to undermine us and deceive our people, whereas we are subject to arrest for so-called ‘hate speech’ or ‘religious hatred’ if we object to this? They are the agents of hate and our self-declared enemies, and as such, we should seek to make it known to them that they are unwelcome and should leave. Show them the slightest kindness or weakness, and they’ll mercilessly exploit it.

The fact that our media and our mainstream politicians continue to defend Islam and enable its spread provides reason enough to share the tears of a loving mother. It is now up to the EDL, to help wipe those tears away.

Muslims Against Crusades threaten Royal Wedding

The Muslims Against Crusades website has issued a rather ominous threat relating to the forthcoming royal wedding on 29 April. It reads as follows:

OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

On 29th April 2011, what is probably one of the most anticipated events in recent years will be due to take place at Westminster Abbey; Prince William and Kate Middleton, will soon exchange matrimonial vows, in the presence of a global audience.

Unfortunately, Britain's continued interference in Muslim lands is showing no signs of abating; the plundering of resources, the murdering of innocent (Muslim) men, women and children and the forced indoctrination of the satanic democratic creed have become hallmarks of a brutal regime led by a very brutal dictator.

In the backdrop of all this, we find that one of the biggest advocates of British imperialism, Flight Lieutenant Prince William, wishes to enjoy an extravagant wedding ceremony, ironically at the expense of the tax-payer.

His direct involvement with the murderous British military and eagerness to inherit the reigns of a kingdom built on blood and colonialism clearly demonstrate what type of legacy he wishes to leave.

In light of this, sincere Muslims have decided to organise a forceful demonstration, to once again highlight that as long Britain continues in its quest to occupy Muslim land and wage war against the religion of God (Allah) that we too shall continue in our efforts to undermine their regime and condemn all of their representatives, military or otherwise.

We strongly advise Prince William and his Nazi sympathiser, to withdraw from the crusader British military and give up all affiliation to the tyrannical British Empire.

We promise that should they refuse, then the day which the nation has been dreaming of for so long will become a nightmare and that it will inshaa'allah (God willing) eclipse the protests in Barking, Downing Street and the events of November 11.

A ‘nightmare’? What kind of ‘nightmare’ do they have in mind? Is this just hollow posturing, or are these seventh-century paedophile-worshipping fanatics really issuing a threat to unleash violence? What are the police going to do about it? At the very least, I’d like the Met to use a liberal amount of pepper spray against members of MAC on the day, as it would be so touching to see them cry at the wedding of the royal couple. However, it might prove difficult to get this through burqa slits, so a hefty wallop around the head with a baton may have to suffice instead. If MAC supporters use violence, shoot them (at least with fast-acting tranquilliser darts).

So, brace yourself for the sight of poppy-burning garden gnome lookalike Emdadur Choudhury and his hirsute helpers going down a bomb with the guests and onlookers at the royal wedding. By all means, let MAC members self-detonate, but please make them do it in an area where they’ll cause no harm to anyone else. We’d love them to bits if they did us the favour.

Anyway, enjoy the wedding bank holiday everyone, and I thank the EDL in advance for their security operation. We know you won't let us down. Hat tip to Gandalf.

Garden Gnome fined for ill-tempered Poppy Burning

The Daily Mail reports that a humourless garden gnome look-alike by the name of Emdadur Choudhary was today fined £50 for burning a number of large plastic poppies during the two-minutes’ silence on Armistice Day and yelling “British soldiers burn in Hell!” In effect, he won't even be paying this fine as he's on state benefits. He, and about 35 other members of the cult of garden gnome impersonators – Muslims Against Crusades – staged their stunt with the intent of insulting Britain’s war dead and causing offence to their living relatives. It certainly caused some agitation amongst EDL supporters who were nearby at the time. Moreover, the Mail reports that:

Shaun Rusling, vice chairman of the National Gulf War Veterans and Families Association claimed the sentence was 'disgusting'.

Choudary was caught on camera unfurling several large plastic poppies on the ground before burning them at the end of the two-minute silence to honour the war dead

'If we set fire to a Qur'an there would be uproar and they would go after us but because this is Britain people just get upset. It is a futile sentence.

'For them to insult those who have given their lives for freedom is an affront. It is one law for them and one law for others.

Very Idle Speculations

What are the real reasons underpinning Choudhary’s anger and hatred for the society in which he resides? Apologists might point to such canards as ‘racism’, ‘relative deprivation’ or ‘British foreign policy’. Generally, the leftist exoneration of folk such as Chodhary invokes all of these justifications, but I have other ideas.

Digging out an old oil lamp I gave it a rub and out popped out a genie (I know, Choudhary would prefer me to refer to it as a jinn, but I’m sticking with our traditional anglicised version).

“Your wish is my command!” said the genie.
“Cheers. I don’t want you to do much; just find out what that Emdadur Choudhary has swirling around in that odd noddle of his, and report back. Is that a deal?”
“Of course, sire!”
And off popped the genie, to return half an hour later to report back on his conversation with Choudhary, and this is what he said (unfortunately, owing to the genie's residence in Bradford since his arrival from Mirpur in 1975, he communicated the message in his contemporary 'Bradistani', so I apologise to the reader if the passage is somewhat unclear):

“I, Emdadur Choudhary, do declare before the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon Him), that I and me brothers is standing up for us rights by fighting the kuffar in this Dar-al-Harb. I have chosen to take the path of righteousness, to practise Dawah and to be a soldier of Allah, ‘cos I feel very insecure about me ‘ight. I’m shorter than me mates! Someone also cut off part of me penis when I was even smaller, which 'as filled me and me mates with righteous Muslim anger (that's why it's done y'know). It's given me a right bad temper.

I am making a stand (I know, I’m not tall, so shut up about it!) for me mates, who like me, are gnomes; noble Muslim gnomes with ‘luxuriant’ beards, who have too often been ignored in your racist media. Why is all your gnomes white and kuffar? We’re gonna ‘ave ‘em big style ‘n’ smash ‘em up bro’! Gonna make ‘em and you respect us, ‘cos gnomes deserve respect. Why don’t your white gnomes prostrate themselves before Allah? And what is it with them gettin' on with fairies, like?! They ought to string 'em up from cranes like they do in Iran! Kuffar gnomes is gonna pay, Muslim gnomes is on their way!”

Celebrating Britain's Rich 'Diversity' of gnomic Heritage: which One's Choudhury?  

 

UAF Gnome - currently allied with Choudhary's Islamist Confederates in the MDL

  Choudhary captured in Duet with David Bowie

UAF Protest Against EDL Demo in Luton: the Unsavoury Truth

The inappropriately named trades-union funded body ‘Unite Against Fascism’ (UAF) is organising a national effort to counter what is being billed as the English Defence League’s (EDL) biggest yet demonstration against the Islamisation of the UK tomorrow in Luton. From as far afield as Edinburgh and Glasgow the Trotskyite-led UAF organisation is calling upon what it describes as ‘antiracists and antifascists across the country to mobilise against the English Defence League in Luton on Saturday 5 February.’ In pursuit of this objective it is organising numerous coaches for protesters, with Scottish UAF supporters leaving this evening because of the long distances involved.

Amongst the hardcore leftists who enjoy turning up for such festivals of self-created mayhem will be a number of gullible trade unionists and students who will not be aware of the modus operandi of UAF and its masters – the Socialist Workers’ Party (SWP) – a Trotskyite party that seeks to foment ‘class war’ through the patronage of a surrogate working class in the form of the predominantly immigrant-descended Muslim population which it sees as particularly ripe for violent mobilisation. Although UAF poses as a ‘peaceful’ organisation/movement, the clenched fist emblem of the SWP belies the reality of its violent intent; after all, two of the leading lights of UAF – Martin Smith and Weyman Bennett – are SWP Central Committee members.

Weyman Bennett was arrested at a UAF counterdemonstration against the EDL in Bolton on 20 March 2010. The arrest was for ‘suspicion of conspiracy to commit violent disorder.’ Of the 74 arrests that took place that day, 55 were of UAF demonstrators, thus far outweighing the number of EDL supporters detained. SWP National Secretary Martin Smith was convicted of assaulting a police officer in an anti-BNP demo at the time of Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time in September 2009. Both the SWP and UAF believe in a ‘no platform’ policy for those whom they deem to be beyond the pale of acceptability, amongst whom they include the EDL and BNP, both of which they brand ‘racist’, along with the recently formed British Freedom Party.

The links between the Trotskyite Left (whether the UAF, the SWP or the ‘Respect’ Party) and Islamism are clear to see. In June 2010 the One Law for All (OLFA) anti-Shariah campaign held a demonstration in Downing Street, whilst that same day former Respect MP George Galloway used rhetoric to whip up hatred amongst a mainly Muslim crowd in East London that had turned up to protest against the EDL. After Galloway had finished, a contingent of Muslim UAF headed off to Westminster where they joined with the Islamist group Muslims Against Crusades with cries of ‘Allahu-akbar!’ in a show of united rage against OLFA (click here for video footage).

Trotskyism and Islamism have come to an accommodation in the UK because each thinks it can use the other to forward its own agenda. Both believe in the transformative power of violence and detest free speech and free thought, and each is anti-nationalist in its own distinctive way. With the fortunes of the BNP on the wane, those who make a living from ‘anti-racism’ need a new target, and for them the EDL will serve as good a target as any for the time being. However, the words ‘racism’, ‘racist’, ‘bigot’, ‘fascist’ and ‘Nazi’ are all simply part of the Trotskyite toolkit deployed to unleash irrational hatred upon those stigmatised by these epithets, thereby keeping members of the movement/party in a state of perpetual and readily manipulated mobilisation. Throughout history Communists of various hues have used terms such as 'kulak', 'bourgeois', 'reactionary', 'capitalist running dog', 'wrecker', etc to stigmatise, dehumanise and destroy their opponents' reputations and lives. UAF continue in that ignoble tradition.

Since its early days the EDL has won the support of a number Sikhs and West Indians amongst others, and has also made clear the centrality of defending the rights of women and homosexuals, which is a reality that clearly rebuts the allegations of UAF about the EDL’s position. From the outset, it has declared itself to be a popular protest movement against ‘radical Islam’ and ‘Islamisation’. Islam is an ideology and there are of course considerable numbers of indigenous Muslim converts in the UK. Islam has no colour. Islam is not a ‘race’. Don’t believe in the lies peddled by UAF such as ‘The EDL, [is] a violent racist organisation with links to the British National Party and other fascist groups’. Remember: Stalin called the brave Polish patriots who rose up against the Nazi occupiers in the Warsaw Rising of 1944 ‘fascists’ and let the Nazis wipe them out before crossing the Vistula and imposing Communism. Men such as Smith and Bennett, although Trotskyites rather than Stalinists, are cast in the same mould.

American Embassy 9/11 Protest: Anjem Choudary’s back!

Whilst the global media understandably focused its attention upon the commemoration of 9/11 in New York and rival protests against and for the ‘Ground Zero Mosque’, a smaller protest was underway outside of the US Embassy in London. Unsurprisingly, the face and voice of Anjem Choudary were to be seen and heard as he addressed protesters from a group naming itself ‘Muslims Against Crusades’ (MAC). Highly vocal and bad-tempered, members of the mob shouted themselves hoarse as they chanted qur’anic slogans, cursed America and set fire to American flags and a picture of Tony Blair. One protester held aloft a rather comically worded placard reading ‘Jesus will destroy the cross and follow the Quran’.

As at previous outings, members of MAC denounced ‘man-made law’ and called for the introduction of Shariah. Two or three men from the EDL turned up to voice their disapproval of MAC’s actions, whilst the doctrinaire Muslim mob received the sort of photographic attention that is normally reserved for the international catwalk, with photographers from the press and police surveillance snapping away with merry abandon. They must have felt flattered, for after all, these men cannot exactly be described as photogenic. If politics is rock and roll for ugly people, Islamist militancy is the X-Factor for ugly Muslims: “Look at me dad, I’m famous! Inshallah I’ll win me virgins! Good, innit?”

This protest rounded off a week during which Christine Tasin received a Facebook Fatwa in France, the Thilo Serrazin controversy raged in Germany and an Islamist suicide bomber brought death and mutilation to Vladikavkaz. As if this wasn’t bad enough, a Facebook campaign entitled ‘Wear a Hijab Day’ was launched by a Californian dhimmi.

Hat tip to Eeyore of the Vlad Tepes blog for posting the following footage. Photographs of the protest can be accessed at Demotix News.

Campaign Islam Update: Daw'ah in the Park

Logan’s Warning is doing us all a good service in keeping a keen eye on Campaign Islam, so a hat tip to him for posting the next two videos that I link to below. Both feature sinister burqa-clad agents of evil, the first entitled Dawah in the Park, where a female misanthrope baldly states that it is necessary to establish an Islamic state in the UK and elsewhere as “that is the only way that the attacks [on Muslims] will stop.” The threat to impose Shariah in the UK is to me a declaration of war. We need to deal with the people who make this declaration in an appropriate manner. Currently, we can afford to be humane and deport them, but if their numbers continue to grow and our politicians and media continue to defer to them, then mass bloodletting will become a near inevitability, and it will not be the non-Muslims who initiate this.

Witness what happened recently when a Muslim UAF contingent joined up with Muslims Against the Crusades (MAC) in Whitehall. For a time it looked as if the number of police might be insufficient to contain their exuberant presence. In future, this may well be the case. As the Bolsheviks and Nazis have shown, totalitarian governments can be imposed on a large population by a small number of violent ideological fanatics should the incumbent civil power respond to their challenge in an ineffective manner. The people of Campaign Islam and MAC may look like ineffectual idiots, but such idiots can impose their will if they choose to use unrestricted violence and we underestimate their threat.

We non-Muslims would only with great reluctance turn to violence, but once that line had been crossed, such a conflict would assume a total character in which an exterminist logic would reign supreme: kill or be killed. You might think that you would have a choice, but if you are not a Muslim your two primary options would be to fight against Islam or submit to slavery or conversion. I now understand how the Serbs in Bosnia and Kosovo felt (and indeed feel). Our Government and NATO did a great wrong to the Serbian people.

The second video features another burqa-clad agent of evil criticising UK Muslims who have either joined the armed forces or commemorated the deaths of service personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq. Personally, I think that our armed services are being abused by our Government (as they were by its predecessor) for they have been set open-ended missions with no discernible goal. Why should they die and be maimed or suffer from psychological trauma for the sake of saving face? In Afghanistan they prop up a corrupt regime that possesses the death penalty for apostasy from Islam, and there is much talk of negotiating a settlement with the "moderate Taliban". To what end have our men and women had their lives destroyed and blighted? How many orphans and widows have been created for such a pointless objective? We need our servicemen and women back here in the UK. Here, ready to deal with the real emergent threat: the Islamist fifth column.

Campaign Islam and MAC are only two small groups which speak with an Islamist voice in the UK, but there is a significant constituency amongst the Muslim population here (several hundred thousand people at a minimum) that welcomes their message. As I have written many times before, I do not tar all nominal Muslims with the same brush, for as you know, those who are unfortunate enough to be born into a Muslim family are not permitted to openly leave the faith. If they do so, they risk at a minimum social ostracism, but more usually physical violence and threats of death. It is therefore the case that there will be many tens (possibly hundreds) of thousands of Muslims in the UK who are really no more Muslim than you or I, but are Muslim in name only. They remain trapped and enslaved by a combination of religious convention and strict social control. I feel truly sorry for such people. Their lives must be miserable.

Still, anyone who actively subscribes to Islamic doctrine; anyone who believes in the content of the Qur’an; anyone who knows Mohammed’s life and thinks that he was a positive human being; anyone who calls for Shariah and anyone who proselytises for Islam, wilfully advances the cause of evil. Islam is a doctrine of implacable hatred. Those who advocate its spread must be stopped. They must be removed, and removed soon for everyone’s sake. What happened on 7 July 2005 was a tragedy that we will never forget, but let us make sure that it is never repeated, and that there is not worse to come.

Welsh Defence League to demonstrate against Ummah Rise?

Will the Welsh Defence League (WDL) be mounting a counterdemonstration to the Ummah Rise demonstration taking place in Cardiff on Saturday 10 July? Having taken a look at the WDL’s homepage, I’m afraid to say that it’s been hacked and covered in pro-Palestinian anti-Israeli messages as can be seen here. So, there’s no way of telling whether or not the WDL have anything planned, or if they have, how they hope to co-ordinate their effort.

This lack of information prompted me to take look at the EDL site to see if anything is in the offing or whether there might be a bit of cross-border solidarity, but I cannot locate anything indicating that the EDL will be making an excursion to Cardiff. This is a shame, as the WDL have only managed to attract small numbers of supporters to their demonstrations to date.

What is Ummah Rise? Well, it’s a rally “to defend the symbols of Islam”; yet another manifestation of the growing strength of our increasingly bold Islamist fifth column. The reality of the problem we have with Islamism in the UK has been underscored only today by a report produced by the Centre for Social Cohesion revealing that 69% of the 124 convicted for Islamic terrorist offences over the past decade have been UK passport holders. It described them as “holding British nationality”, but there is nothing British about such people, as Britons are by definition not Muslims. Of course, most of the convicted are descended from the Muslim immigrant population and its progeny, but not all Islamists are such: some are converts.

Those who convert betray not only their people, but also wider Western culture and civilisation, as well as global norms of decency. For someone to actively embrace Islam when they have the choice to reject it indicates that the individual in question is either mentally ill or evil. Such people should be given the opportunity to recant, and if this is rejected, they should be stripped of their citizenship and ejected from the country. Henceforth they should be permanently barred from setting foot within our jurisdiction. Islam is a totalitarian ideology and culture, not a race.

Still, the largest group of those convicted were Pakistani by descent (some 28%) followed by Somalis clocking in with 6%. The full figures quoted by the Telegraph are worth a look. So far as I could discern, no indigenous converts to Islam figured amongst those convicted, but it is unclear as to whether there were none or the paper chose not to disclose details relating to such cases. Remember, there was one incident involving 22-year old Nicky Reilly from Plymouth who converted to Islam and accidentally blew himself up in 2008 when his backpack detonated in the toilet of the Exeter restaurant to which he was trying to bring carnage. Thankfully, he harmed nobody other than himself and he is now serving time in Broadmoor following the 18-year sentence he received in January 2009. He is variously reported as suffering from schizophrenia, Asperger’s Syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It’s a pity that the courts didn’t recognise the most serious mental illness from which he was suffering: belief in Islamic dogma.

So, who will turn up to the Ummah Rise demonstration? Will we see another outing for Muslims Against the Crusades, joined perhaps once again by the ‘newly formed’ and highly vocal Islamist wing of Unite Against Fascism (sic)? Respect perhaps?

Come on WDL and EDL, don’t let us down! Peacefully tell these people that their totalitarian fascistic ideology is not welcome in Cardiff or anywhere else in Wales. Give a warm “croeso” to the English who choose to stand alongside their Welsh cousins in saying “no to Islamisation!”

England: Islamisation steps up a Gear?

Looking at the events of the past fortnight it would seem that an argument could be made for us having reached a turning point with respect to the Islamisation process in England. I put aside the cases of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, for the demographic processes unfolding in these other constituent nations of the United Kingdom are somewhat distinct from those in England, insofar as they are not so far advanced. What England experiences today, the others will within the next decade if current policies are not reversed. The Muslim malady that is so keenly afflicting England thus seems less relevant and pressing elsewhere, where it can to a certain extent be ignored.

In urban England however, the process of Islamisation cannot be ignored, and even some of our smaller towns outside of those situated in the urban belts of Lancashire and Yorkshire where Muslim colonies are well established are now beginning to experience the first symptoms of this disease. Mosques are proliferating as the demographic composition of entire areas changes, and the world of work, particularly in the public sector, becomes increasingly unpleasant as demands for Islamic exceptionalism are articulated through compulsory ‘diversity training’. What the followers of Islam do not understand is this one simple fact: respect can only be earned, it cannot be demanded. Nonetheless, demand it they do.

The SWP, UAF, Hope Against Hate, mainstream politicians and the mass media all chant the same meaningless mantras: Islam is a religion of peace; we are one community; anyone who criticises Islam or claims that a process of Islamisation is underway and that this is not desirable is “racist”, “far-right” and “fascist”. Meaningless verbiage. Utterly vacuous accusations without foundation.

Is Islam a “religion of peace”? Decide for yourself. The history is there to read should you care to consult it; the Qur’an, the hadith and the sunnah are all freely available (not that I’d recommend ploughing through this turgid, tedious inhumane garbage); and there is a cacophony of Islamic voices to which you can listen. There is also the example of current affairs and recent history and Islam’s interaction with other religions, cultures and philosophical systems. To make its way in the world Islam would render the seas incarnadine sooner than ocean green.

My observation that we may be witnessing a turning point in the articulation of Islamism within England rests upon what appears to be a ramping up of Islamist efforts to forward their political agenda in the UK. On a purely propagandist front, the 'Inspired by Mohammed' campaign has been launched in an attempt to persuade non-Muslims that Islam is benign, whilst in the world of street politics there have been fresh developments. A new group, very much in the mould of Islam4UK – Muslims against the Crusades (MAC) – has sprung up, and not only has demonstrated against the Royal Anglian Regiment’s homecoming parade in Barking, but also against the One Law for All demonstration against sharia law in Whitehall less than a week later. On that second date, we also witnessed some members of the EDL turning up to protest against MAC, only for an exclusively Muslim contingent of the UAF to turn up from Tower Hamlets chanting “Allahu akbar!”

On Sunday 20 June we also saw George Galloway and assorted UAF members addressing an almost exclusively Muslim audience, circa 5,000 in number in Tower Hamlets, and appealing to explicitly Muslim sensitivities which gave rise once again to cries of “Allahu akbar!” and spawned both the splinter group that marched on Whitehall and the 300-strong crowd which ran amok in the East End that evening. Significant sections of the Muslim population in England are acquiring a dangerous collective psychology which combines a sense of moral superiority derived from their religious beliefs with a misplaced sense of victimhood, which is a theme constantly articulated by those of a politically correct multiculturalist disposition. Furthermore, their sense of collective belonging rests with the ummah, not with the fellow citizens of the nation where they reside. Many of them see us as the enemy, and they are increasingly telling us that this is what they think of us.

There needs to be a radical change in the thinking of our politicians and mass media which leads to a rejection of Muslim special pleading and says once and for all: your faith is not compatible with our society, either abandon it or leave. It is time for a peaceful parting of the ways, for otherwise I fear that Islamist radicals will launch a wave of attacks against we non-Muslims. They have come to view our land as their land, and the fact that MAC are now flying the black flag of Islamic jihad within our shores, shows that they view themselves as being in a state of war with us as a people and as a political unit. They have started the struggle to wrest control of our homeland from our grasp.

In the following compilation video there is footage additional to that already featured on this blog’s reports into the various demonstrations of the past couple of weeks. Importantly, at about four minutes into the video note the numbers of supporters with MAC for their second protest which was against the One Law for All demonstration. Their numbers were considerably larger than in Barking. It seems that the Trotskyists have been willing to try and harness Islamism for their own cause, but the latter has now taken on its own independent dynamic and instead of chanting “black and white unite” UAF members chant “Allahu akbar!” There could be no more vivid testimony to the reality of the process of Islamisation than this significant shift in rhetoric.

Muslims Against Crusades, EDL, One Law for All and UAF Clash

As can be seen from the following report from Russia Today, yesterday's anti-sharia One Law for All demonstration in London found itself subject to an unpleasant and highly vociferous counter-demonstration from Islamists. Once again, it was said to have been carried out by the new group Muslims Against Crusades. The EDL arrived to counter MAC, and then later a contingent of Muslim UAF demonstrators arrived from their leftist anti-EDL hatefest which had been held in Tower Hamlets. This was a very complicated situation which must have caused the Metropolitan Police a headache.

For years I have been warning that the policies being followed by our mainstream politicians - promoting multiculturalism, Islamisation and practically unrestricted immigration from the Muslim world - would have unpleasant consequences. In Britain, we are now seeing Islamists flex their muscles as they have been emboldened by their growing numbers and our weakness. Our politicians like Cameron, Simon Hughes and Gordon Brown have all displayed the most repellent sycophancy in deferring to Islam. Perhaps, if I were feeling charitable, I would say that they have done so with the best of intentions; but if this is the case, they have been painfully naïve. They have sown the dragon's teeth and are now beginning to reap a predictable harvest.

Barking EDL/Muslims Against Crusades Video Footage

As can be seen from the following footage, tempers were running high in Barking today when the Muslims Against Crusades group took to the streets to curse the return of the Royal Anglian Regiment. Still, it is heartening to see that support for the troops far outweighed the disparagement that was forthcoming from this nasty group of Mohammedan loudmouths.

Barking: 'Muslims Against Crusades' Incite Anger

Looking like a group of extras who have walked off of the set of the 1968 film Planet of the Apes, a bunch of Muslims naming themselves Muslims Against Crusades today turned up in Barking to hurl insults at soldiers from the Royal Anglian Regiment as they marched through the borough in a homecoming parade. Their aim of course was to arouse the ire of the British public, and this they succeeded in doing. They had already offered a primer in souring the public mood through their recent fly-posting of posters promoting their demonstration on a local war memorial.

Some EDL members were on hand to shower the protesters with beer and unflattering epithets. The bearded black-flag wavers then scurried away to seek police protection which was promptly provided. It was just such a protest in Luton last year that precipitated the formation of the EDL, and although once again the number of simian-brained Islamists was comparatively small in number (circa 40), the anti-British Islamo-supremacist sentiments to which they give voice are all too widespread amongst concentrations of Muslim population in the UK.

Is this a race issue? No, of course not. Is Communism a race? No. Is Nazism a race? No. Is Christianity a race? No. Is Islam a race? No. Moreover, you can see amongst the protesters one of the worst kinds of Islamic extremist: the indigenous convert (ginger beard) who freely chose to reject his country and civilisation. Islam is a particularly unpleasant ideology which should be no more immune to criticism than any other.

Unsurprisingly, the London Evening Post described the EDL and other unnamed groups who opposed the protest as ‘far-right’ (sic). Then again, the journalist who composed the piece is named Rashid Razaq, so you would hardly expect such a man to be objective would you? Typically, his piece was accompanied by the photograph below which shows some angry white people, rather than the other pictures which I have borrowed from the Shield Wall blog. Razaq’s piece of course sought to portray the protesters and the counter-protesters as being morally equivalent in their respective ‘extremisms’. To whom did he accord the last word in his piece? Any guesses? Here it is:

Muslim councillor Manzour Hussain said: “Muslims Against Crusades do not represent the vast majority of law abiding, peaceful Muslim members of our society who respect Britain's armed forces. They certainly do not represent the views of the Muslim community of Barking and Dagenham.”

That’s right, they never do represent Muslims or Islam do they? Just as Mohammed’s slaving, genocide, torture, rape and paedophilia don’t inform Islam (so they tell us, although they never actually deny that these things took place), even though all Muslims state that he is the paragon of all humanity and for eternity beyond any criticism. The truth is this: those Muslims who practise their faith and actually believe in it, rather than those unfortunates who happen to have been born into it and are not permitted either to leave it or refute it, tell us whatever is expedient to further their agenda. Granted, Muslims Against Crusades don’t represent “law abiding, peaceful Muslim[s]”, but they do represent those who subscribe to the words of the Qur’an and the deeds of Mohammed.

Video Footage of Demonstrators (courtesy of The Iconoclast, New English Review)