Leeds Market selling nazi Icons

anti-fash | 08.01.2010 20:18 | Social Struggles | Sheffield

A stall on Leeds Market is selling flags with the neo-nazi celtic cross symbol on. The celtic cross is a banned symbol in Germany, Italy (and some other countries) due to the wide spread use by neo nazis, not only is this gentleman selling the black on white celtic cross, he is also selling the Red celtic cross flag.

the celtic cross flag in question

I URGE you ALL to complain to the market inspector, the office is convieniently next door to his stall. you can either go in and complain to the inspectors office, write to:

Market office
34 George Street
Leeds
LS2 7HY
call: 0113 2145162
at least email:

markets@leeds.gov.uk

Further information

The celtic cross is the symbol used by nazi group strom-front (www.stormfront.org)

According to www.crwflags.com "The celtic cross is probably the most popular symbol among (seemingly not only) european neonazis, even more than the traditional swastika (but that’s maybe because the swastika is banned or has its use “protected” in many countries). They base it in that Celts are “true” Europeans (i.e., of “pure” breed)."

http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/qt-z_sym.html

The celtic cross is also the basis for the KKK logo

http://www.mediamouse.org/wp-content/plugins/old-imgs/resources/i/rl/kkk.gif

Further information.

http://gbgm-umc.org/UMW/anti-hate/symbolsofhate.html

http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/qt-z_sym.html

http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Celtic-cross

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_cross

http://hatemonitor.csusb.edu/hate_extremism_symbols.htm

Nazi groups using the symbol.
www.stormfront.org/forum/ Stormfront
www.bpp.org.uk The British Peoples Party
www.aryanunity.com A group Unifying white supremasist groups

Fascist uses of the symbol

http://www.hagatekst.no/eufimages/enteneller.jpg WW2 nazi propaghanda

http://politicalsoldier.netfirms.com/shop//catalog/images/stickers%20-%20fc%20cc.jpg

http://www.antifa.org.uk/nucleus3.32/nucleus332/media/1/20080922-bpp111.jpg

http://www.hagatekst.no/eufimages/leftistscum.jpg

http://www.farenet.org/images/news/57.jpg

http://www.bpp.org.uk/hangpaedos.jpg

http://europelostandfound.net/files/elf/images/NaziScum_NoviSad_0.jpg

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/pictures/20071106BelgianWNRat3.jpg

http://www.harunyahya.com/images_books/images_fascism/211c.jpg

http://www.whiteknightseuropa.de/Ku-Klux-Klan-Knight_&_Medieval-Knight_with_Celtic-Cross_Large.jpg

Nazi online stores selling the same flags.
www.ns88.com
www.9percentproductions.com
www.politicalsoldier.net

anti-fash

Comments

Hide the following 30 comments

yeah

08.01.2010 20:28

they also sell hooligan firm 'leeds service crew' hats.

passer by

more nazi shit on sale...

08.01.2010 21:27

A pound shop in Wakefield has hats with a swastika and a skull. 'Pound M'pire' - Cathederal precinct. Maybe worth other people checking their locals as most of the stuff they sell ends up in them all.

Shakey Wakey

What are you going to do?

08.01.2010 22:51

Back in the real world now pretty much every military surplus shops also sells waffen ss skull badges, German military medals, and even uniforms.

You going to ban all that too?

The cross symbol has also been heavily adopted in the metal music scene too, you going to go round all the rock clothing shops and tell them to pull any clothes with the symbol on?

You're just being pedantic and pissy, like children. Fair enough you see a racist in this garb on the streets and you know for definite who he is and what he stands for then give him hell. But there's plenty of others out there on the streets who wear this symbol who aren't associated with the right.

Back to reality

? eh?

08.01.2010 23:27

of course people should complain, WHO would fly a celtic cross flag?
nowhere sells nazi memrabillia, except run down army surplus stores, thats why this is news.

(A)

Yeah, your logic doesn't work (A)

08.01.2010 23:51

Millions were killed in Russia and Eastern Europe under a banner of the hammer & sickle, can I go round thumping people who fly those flags or complaining to shops that sell them?

Roles reversed

(A) says...

09.01.2010 00:02

"WHO would fly a celtic cross flag?"

Never been to Download festival in the UK or Ozzfest in the US have you? The symbol has been widely adopted by the metal music scene and stripped of its racist connotations. You see a fair few of these on t-shirts and flags there.

"nowhere sells nazi memrabillia, except run down army surplus stores, thats why this is news."

Nowhere sells Nazi memorabilia? I've been in military surpluss shops all over the country (London, Portsmouth, Manchester, Peterborough, Newcastle) and seen nazi trinkets and relics on sale. Ebay is packed full of them, military enthusiast festivals are often full of them, auction houses up and down the country often get a fair amount of them too. I've increasingly seen military hats and uniforms worn by the Luftwaffe for sale in those indy clothes style shops. Lots of places sell items associated with Nazi Germany, but it doesn't mean that they're directly supporting it.

Back to reality

Can see the problem...

09.01.2010 00:43

was quite shocked to see badges of Lenin on sale at the last London Social forum. He was an insaniac who authorised killing people with no scruples. How is he a hero?

Gold Star

09.01.2010 00:54

"Millions were killed in Russia and Eastern Europe under a banner of the hammer & sickle"

Its cute that you think "reversing roles" in this instance involves the hammer and sickle. Shows a good grasp of what symbols mean, and the relationship between anarchism and soviet state-capitalism. Have a gold star.

Smooth Move

Smooth Move

09.01.2010 01:31

You don't really get it do you?

They're more than happy to moan about celtic crosses being on display but when it comes to a hammer & sickle they don't really give a shit do they that millions were also killed under the guise of that? More than happy to share a march through London with teens and CPGB types waving it, albeit there's ideological differences but there's unlikely to be any physical altercations or real opposition to it.

It's hypocrisy.

Roles reversed

Nazi Merchandise

09.01.2010 01:34

You should see all the Nazi shit they sell in the Barras Market in Glasgow (alongside pro-IRA and UVF cassettes etc). There's also the Soldier of Fortune shop in Corwen, Denbighshire, which is allegedly run by ex-British Movement types and sells tons on Nazi flags, Hitler busts and armbands, and even Hitler Youth knives (seriously, if knuckle-dusters are an illegal weapon it's ridiculous SoF can escape prosecution for selling shit like that)

UK Fightback

No comparison

09.01.2010 02:40

You really can't compare nazi with communist symbols. Inherent in nazism is racial hatred, persecution and ultimately the holocaust. We all know about Stalin's purges and gulags, but the point is these aren't intrinsic to communism any more than genocide of jews and gypsies is intrinsic to capitalism

Owain

Owain? No comparison?

09.01.2010 12:17

You only think there's no comparison because you had the fortune of being born into privilege, you take for granted your freedoms. You fly the hammer and sickle in Kiev, Vilnius, or Prishtina and you'll soon find yourself attracting a lot of anger from locals who see that flag as a symbol of Russian imperialism, oppression, and the thousands that simply disappeared.

How grossly offensive it is for you to say that there is no comparison. I dare you to walk around Kiev with it, maybe then people will talk some sense into you.

Roles reversed

What really goes on...

09.01.2010 13:04

Dear Roles reversed, I take it you have never really been abroad then. In Prishtina, Kiev and Vilnius, and also Moscow, Belgrade, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Skopje, Tirana, Sofia, Bucuresti, Budapest, Sarajevo, Bratislava, Praha, Berlin, Warsaw, Minsk, Riga, Talinn, Tbilisi, and probably even more places, not only do you see loads of communist (and nazi) symbols for sale, you also see coffee shops, night clubs, bars and restaurants with full-size portraits of communist leaders, sometimes even named after them. There's still a very strong sense of communism-nostalgia with people there, which, beyond what you'd like to think, is because a lot of them would rather live under communism. Most of them acknowledge it is less than ideal, but the version of capitalism they were forced to adopt is far worse. I am personally not a communist and I wouldn't really want to live under communism, although I would choose it any day if I had to choose between that or what we have now. Most of what you hear on TV and you read from government controlled media is you being lied to by your government, which you seem to love so much. They are actually trying to protect you from realizing the truth, which is that communism, although it sucked in many ways, sucked just a bit less that what you live in nowadays. Some of the people who have experienced it still feel like that, whether you like it or not. If everyone was to suddenly realize this, they would no doubt feel very cheap and useless. Which is because, um, they are!

As for the nazi things for sale, I personally don't mind them, but I fully support people who want to do something about this. This is my opinion, what was stated in the article was someone elses opinion, and we're both doing what we feel is right. This is what direct action is all about. We don't give a rat's ass about Lenin badges, because we're godless commie scum, so we're not going to do anything about it no matter how much of a pathetic loser each one of you who commented is. If you care so much, then why not let go of your 2-litre bottles of KY and go out there and do something about it? What are you waiting for? Zee Germans to come here?

Zee German

the rise of the flag

09.01.2010 13:22

Yes, I think it would be quite appropriate to ban the israeli flag considering their behaviour. The political stance in israel is one of National Socialism. The regime persecutes a people because of their race, religion and culture.(Palestinians,Syrians,Lebonese etc)
The EDL display the israeli flag, the BNP openly support the israeli regime - I hope people will take alittle time to check out these facts. The so called 'terrorists', Hamas and Hezbollah are re-actions to israels terror regime. This isn't about jews, this is about zionism.
25,000+ jews live in peace in Iran. Before the israeli occupation of Palestine, the jewish people lived peacefully with the indiginous Palestinians.
Yes, the 'star of david' has been hijacked by the zionists, just like the swastika by the nazis.

Feeadore Schmertzl

@Back to reality

09.01.2010 13:35

"Never been to Download festival in the UK or Ozzfest in the US have you?"

Yeah the same Download festival where people threw banana skins at lethal b, no racism there at all...

Charlie

the Celtic Cross is a specifically neo nazi symbol

09.01.2010 17:57

Hello BNP trolls and general water-muddying types.

This not a case of an arny surplus shop selling German Nazi memorabilia. This is clearly a Neo Nazi Celtic Cross. Its the exact same one as Stormfront's logo, its the same as countless nazi groups logo, its the fucking Celtic Cross - it is the symbol of neo nazism. There is simply no other interpretation of that particular symbol. There is no grey area here, it doesn't even slightly look like something else.

not a clanging retard

racists and nonces.

10.01.2010 12:02

What's with all the "The metal scene adopt it and have stripped it of it's racist meaning"?

The "metal scene" is one of the most racist (and sexist) subcultures! It's hard to find a gegger without a twisted, racist outlook on life.

Next you'll be telling us the neofolk scene isn't full of racists, fascists and nonces.

{A}

Racism? Yeah right.

10.01.2010 13:55

Yeah that's right the metal scene is full of racists, piss off. You sound like one of these mall cops (read: PCSO) or politicians that berates any young person seen in a hoody. They listen to a certain type of music, they dress in a certain way yup they must be antisocial.

Charlie and {A} like to make nonsense claims that metal fans are racist purely on lone incidents like Lethal b having stuff chucked at him. Well this might be common sense here and little difficult for you to grasp seeing as you only work within pre-formed glass boxes but it's because he makes shit music. At download festival people pay good money to go see metal acts, if he'd been a metal singer the crowd would have loved him. The Killswitch Engage frontman is coloured, and funnily enough he doesn't get stuff chucked at him. Answer being: He produces decent music in the style the crowd wanted to hear. Funny that.

You want to leave your bedrooms every once in a while and travel the world and realise that metal is diverse, travel to South Africa's Cape Town or Detroit/Chicago in the US to hear some great metal acts fronted by black singers.

Mr Metal Head

gi' your head a wobble, kid.

10.01.2010 15:48

WTF is a mallcop? I'm not an american.

I make the claim that (many) metal fans are racist from over 20years of listening to metal, going to rock nights at pubs and going to festivals. The metal scene has a whole has a very right-wing attitude, and is (correctly) seen by most as an immature, racist and sexist scene.

Gotta love how "someone is 'coloured' and everyone loved him". Just like those neofolk artists and their "But I'm gay,how can I be racist" distractions.

Get a grip - there is some fantastic antifash metal, but their is also lots that is NS,along with the acceptance of racist by quite a lot of geggers. Maybe you should try leaving YOUR bedroom, you'll soon see it.

{A}

@the bedroom boys

10.01.2010 17:56

hey, calm down you two it's only music. Thought this was gonna be a bit of a weak thread but after checking out the subject matter it set off a whole new perspective.
Was Sid Vicious a nazi for wearing a swazi on his t-shirt in the Swindle? - Maclaren is jewish
The wearing of a swazi by punks,bikers etc was to piss the squares off. Symbols are given their meanings by those who use them.Its a great tool for bringing together and dividing people and requires alittle forethought before signing on the dotted line,so to speak. See, you're all correct in a way,but don't let that stop the squabbling. Who gives a shit what symbol someone wears? It's what they do that matters.
There are plenty of hypocrites on all sides - look around. People wear crosses but carry out not a word of christs doctrine,same for those wearing jewish,nazi,masonic,military etc symbols, and thank f**k they dont.
If you're interested in symbols you could do worse than check out 'Signs and Symbols of primordial man' by Albert Churchward 1910, there's also some eye opening pieces near the back.
Many, many people are shackled by their pre-occupation with symbols, I wonder why.

Symbollox

Reality

11.01.2010 11:08

It's a shame this thread has been totally de-railed. This isn't about Minsk or Ozzfest or anywhere else, it's about Leeds, a large city in the north of England, which at one time had a significant number of active fascists swaggering round its streets. It took a lot of hard work by antifascists to win this city back, and we're not going to allow some scumbag to openly fly (and in this case sell) neo-nazi symbols. Maybe there are some fucking morons at metal festivals in other parts of the world who get away with wearing this shit - they won't here. As for military surplus stores selling the same shit, that doesn't happen here. A few years ago one of the shops near the Corn Exchange in Leeds did have a consignment of celtic cross patches delivered and they were put on sale alongside the other patches they sell. They were informed about what the symbol stood for, the patches were removed, and they were told not to sell them again.

Antifascist

Safe Mr Metal Head

11.01.2010 11:27

Lol, I love how you try and defend yourself against racism whilst using the term 'coloured'.

Anyway the point wasn't that he got stuff thrown at him, people get bottled at festivals all the time, but that he got banana skins thrown at him, surely you can see the racism in that? This isn't about whether lethal b is shit or not but that it's pretty racist to say he's shit in the way that download decided to say he was shit.

Charlie

for fucks sake

11.01.2010 14:43

EDL TROLLS GO AWAY.

the swastika and the celtic cross both have original cultural meanings and symbolism from further away in time than modern nazi's and EDL/BNP twats.

i like both symbols for their ORIGINAL meanings, not the newer racist or supremacist meanings. but still, they are good, ancient symbols, we shouldn't hide them away, and we shouldn't just let right wing clag nut chewers claim them.they are ancient symbols of spiritual significance to celts/pagans and far eastern religions. I beleive the swastika is sanskrit/ancient indian.

dont take away these facts.

fran

@fran

11.01.2010 15:58

Yeah spot on fran, what you wrote is what i originally thought but ended up waffling on a bit. Anyway, well said, they're (the symbols) are from a long time ago and have been poached.

Feeadore Schmertzl

Reclaiming the jackboot

11.01.2010 16:52

'Reclaim' the fucking swastika?! Are you idiots for real? Don't you think the deaths of millions of people at the hands of swastika wearing nazis, and the fact it is still the symbol of fascist groups today kind of taints it just a little (in europe at least?) There are many variations on both the swastika and celtic cross, but the device pictured is most definitely a neo-nazi symbol. Hard to believe the nazi apologists trolling this thread, Hitler would have loved you.

Leeds anti-nazi

Words and symbols CAN be reclaimed

12.01.2010 01:31

@Leeds anti-nazi:

It is possible for words or symbols to be reclaimed. e.g. the word "gay" used to be a term of abuse, now it is not.

It is a fact that the symbols used by neo-Nazis today have uses that long pre-date the Nazis or any fascist movements.

Having said that, I'm sure this stall isn't on a mission to reclaim symbols for pagan hippies, so they still deserve some shit. But I wouldn't dismiss the idea of reclaiming symbols out of hand.

anon

come on....

12.01.2010 02:21

you know this shit is wrong. get your complaints in. he's odbviously a scrote.
nazi flags, hooligan hats. get him told, maybe he'll stick to his football flags.

thugwatch

@Leeds anti-nazi

12.01.2010 14:44

Hope you're not suggesting there's any apologizing for the nazi's going on in my post(s).
I treat this comment section under threads, as a place for people to share information and express thoughts, as long as they're non-sexist,non- racist etc. I try to imagine the people are in front of me and try and write with respect. So when you come out with ''Are you idiots for real?'' and ''Hitler would have loved you.'' it appears you have some communication problems.
1.I'm not an idiot
2.I have no respect,care,loyalty etc for hitler,churchill,blair,netenyahoo etc.
All kinds of people read these comments, so as this is our site I'd suggest constructive imput as abuse aimed at fellow activists will earn you the label 'troll' and quite rightly. By the way I agree the symbols on the photo are aimed towards the 'nazi' end of the fashion market and it was right to highlight this.

Feeadore Schmertzl

do it

12.01.2010 22:20

so has anyone actually done anything about it or are you all just whiners?

I bet about 2 people have complained and the market organiser has just talked calmly to them and said everything they wanted to hear..... and then, when the phone was put down, said "What a twat!"

it - not being sat on your hienies

Political correctness works bothways......

19.10.2010 16:51

We are in a christian country that allows freedom of speech end expression. This country is bending over backwards for islam and is losing its own identity as a christian (previously Celtic) country.

The Celtic cross is not a symbol of white supremacy, White supremacists use this as one of there symbols. The Celtic cross is a powerful symbol still in scotland and Ireland to this day and should be flown more, not hidden away because of some moaning person with nothing better to do than complain when they should be getting a life.

The Celtic cross is a symbol of the Celtic people that lived here before anyone from europe invaded and predjudiced them. Its the ST georges cross and the union jack that symbolise racism in this day and age.

BC

B connor