The English Defense League (EDL) that organized an anti-Islam demonstration on Saturday September 5, profusely denies being a fascist group. The motto that they proclaim is “peacefully protesting against militant Islam†and they advertise themselves as a universal body for anyone who opposes “those who wish us harm†and the group invites “people of all colors, faiths, all Citizens of England and the UK†to participate in their activities. It almost sounds admirable. Who wouldn't oppose harm-doers? Unfortunately, the issue it is not that simple. A militant means someone who is combative, particularly in the name of a particular cause. I am the first person to oppose attacks such as those on September 11 in the US or July 7 in the UK. But we are being conned into believing that there is only one type of militancy. Why is it that there is no such term as Christian militancy? The acts of the US government in Iraq are militant. So why is it that we should oppose so-called “militant Islam†alone? Either we support militancy or we do not. If we condemn it then it should be condemned universally, regardless of who is committing the action. If a nation carries out militant acts then it can only expect that it will face a militant resistance. For fear of being misunderstood, this is not an excuse for terrorism; it is simply logical that if violence is used by one party, the other side will react similarly. In the war-hungry world that we have created, violence is seen as a quick solution to everything, but is actually a lazy attempt, which more often than not achieves little. Violence begets violence. If the English Defense League wants to eradicate militancy then we ought to condemn it universally. This is the first mistake the EDL makes. It targets one group of militants as opposed to militancy in general. Another problem with the EDL is that it advertises itself as universal, almost as if it wants to seduce Muslims into joining them because the EDL considers that “Islamic Fundamentalists†and fascists “use the banner of Islam to hide behind thus deforming and defacing the religion.†Hold up. According to eyewitnesses, this is the very same group that was chanting anti-Mohamed slogans at their protest. Hardly pays tribute to the true nature of Islam that they are ever so concerned with preserving. Indeed this attempt at connecting to the Muslim community is frankly offensive. Their feeble attempt at appearing decent seems as if it is straight out of Islam for Dummies. Excuse the language class for a minute and think about it: the very term fundamental means “relating to the foundation.†The EDL states that they want to “remove Islamic fundamentalists from our streets.†By classifying Islamic fundamentalism as evil is to imply that Islam is inherently evil. So either they completely oppose Islam and are therefore fascists or they have no understanding of the subject of their discontent. In addition to this, maybe it is just the cynic speaking, but it is hard to believe that the EDL are actually not fascist. No, it is not because their spelling is painfully dire, although it doesn’t help. It’s because, during their recent protest against militant Islam in Birmingham, England, eyewitnesses saw the members of the EDL “charging down Bennett Hill (an area of Birmingham) throwing beer bottles at young Asian lads.†One can only assume that there must have been a telepathist amongst the EDL supporters, for as a “non-racist organization,†naturally, they would never have dared to assume that simply because the youths were Asian that they were therefore Muslims. Whichever way you look at it, the EDL are racist. They attacked the group of Asians under the assumption they were Muslims. That is psychological and violent racism. Militant racism, one might say. If that is not convincing enough, then why would “non-racists†do a sieg heil Hitler-salute? The EDL proclaims to be “non-racist” and “non-fascist” because that is what keeps it alive. Preaching white supremacy will hardly gain them any moderate support. That appears to be what they are attempting to do; appealing to the masses in order to get a psychosomatic stronghold on the British mind. Thank goodness that Britain is a land of cynics and that fascists like the EDL are a very small, albeit ever-increasing, minority. Solving the problem of the EDL is easy: Get together as many Muslims, anti-fascists, Jews, immigrants and any other characters that the EDL would find unsavory and convince them all to join the English Defense League. Hijack their protests and their meetings until we drive the 100 or so of their hardcore members to the ground. If we join them, they will either be forced to beat us up, thus revealing their true colors – no pun intended – or the group will disappear into oblivion. **Ruqaya Izzidien is a regular contributor to Bikya Masr. BM
