MANCHESTER: Members of the English Defense League (EDL) attended what they advertised as a “peaceful protest†on Saturday September 5 against Islam. The demonstration, which took place in Birmingham, England, was organized by the EDL in order to express their opposition to militant Islam. In a statement on their website, the organization announced that they would protest against “Islamic Fundamentalists, Radical Islam and Sharia.†The anti-Islam demonstration was poorly attended, despite heavy efforts to publicize the event, with the promoters appealing to “people of all colors, faiths, all Citizens of England and the UK†to attend the protest. Despite claims that the protest would be peaceful, violence broke out when the EDL were confronted by a counter-demonstration. Ninety people were arrested and at least three were injured. Since the demonstrations, many photographs have appeared online depicting the EDL’s protest as anything but peaceful. A passer-by, Emily Bridgewater, speaking to the Birmingham Post said “it kicked off very suddenly and there was stampeding and screaming.†She added that they “ended up being herded into Primark, where they brought the shutters down to protect us. It was very frightening.†In a press release, the English Defense League commented that their activities had been “disrupted by the Unite Against Fascism (UAF) group†and that “the streets were over-run with gangs of Muslim Extremists.†A Unite Against Fascism representative told Bikya Masr, however, that UAF did not take part in the protest as a group. Simon Furze, Regional Organizer for the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), a group which called for the counter-demonstration, spoke to Bikya about the event. According to Furze, “it is difficult to know exactly how many people attended the counter demonstration as it varied throughout the day.†He added that the police made a point of splitting up the demonstration and kettling the participants in order to cut them off from one another. At the busiest times, Furze said “that there was anywhere up to 300 people attending.†Supporters of the EDL claimed that the counter-demonstration also turned violent, with bricks being thrown by some members of the protest. Furze stated, however, that he did not observe any of that violence but that as the counter-demonstrators were mobilizing, “The EDL came charging down Bennett Hill (an area of Birmingham) throwing beer bottles at young Asian lads.†Furze noted that although the EDL claims that it is not a racist organization, its supporters at the demonstration shouted unrepeatable insults against the Prophet Muhammad. The organization organizes its events through its Facebook group and despite the failure of their most recent demonstration, has plans to hold more demonstrations. An attempt at holding a demonstration in Luton has been canceled following a ban by the British Home Office. Although the EDL declare to be anti-fascist, Furze claims that “It is a fact that they are a fascist organization and a front for the British National Party.†The British National Party (BNP) is an ultra-right political group who recently won two parliamentary seats in the European election. Even though the English Defense League claims no affiliation to the BNP, Furze observed that “A BNP councillor was seen at the demo and the man who runs the website is a memberâ€. He added that a number of protesters were seen doing the ‘sieg heil' – the salute made famous by Hilter supporters. There are plans for the EDL to hold another protest in October. BM
