Great stuff!,

One word of advice, stay well clear of UAF. They will use you as their 'muscle', and won't give a shit about how many of you get sent down as a result.

If you don't regret standing shoulder to shoulder with them now, you soon will do. If you go to those daft demos you will be penned in by the cops and everyone of you will be under the watchful eye of the state from then on.

It's up to you, but think how you can avoid this.

No one should end up in prison on the back of opposing some beer-swilling lager louts.

Good stuff though, it's massively empowering to see Muslims defending themselves and taking the initiative...

All power to you!!

MDL are not UAF.

fair play mate, I hear what you're saying but you're just adding fuel to the fire. If you're angry and want to organise then why not go down the antifa route and add numbers to an established group rather than make this something about religion?

You sound very patronising. For Muslims who are being attacked by the EDL on the grounds of being Muslims, this is about religion. People who have joined the MDL want to join the MDL, not Antifa or an anarchist group.

How about some links to the MDL websites?

from the article:
"the reason for this posting is that we want you to know that the MDL is a genuine group"

Anyone can post an anonymous message to Indymedia, so we still don't know this is a genuine group. How do we know the MDL hasn't just been set up by EDL people to gather personal details of their opponents?

I think this is the main MDL Facebook link:
 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=369931931134

Do they have a main website too?

And @Southerner: I have a quick look and didn't see racism, antisemitism, homophobia, etc. Maybe the comments have been deleted. I think with Facebook anyone can join so it wouldn't be surprising if trolls post comments just to shit stir.

The Muslim Defence League facebook does not contain racist or extremist content. All political facebook groups get trolls and the MDL will remove any troll posts put on the MDL facebook from EDL types etc. The MDL does not support hate, extremism or terrorism. I don't see why the anarchists seem to think that they have a right to tell Muslims that that it's "better to add to existing groups such as antifa rather than form the MDL" etc and I think that anyone who can ask "...why turn this into something about religion?" is utterly ignorant. Anarchists are mostly against religion in any case. The EDL hate campaign IS about religion. The MDL does not need "permisssion" from anarchists.

I wasn't telling you to do anything. I was simply asking why because I didn't understand. Antifa aren't an anarchist group they are an anti-nationalist, anti-fascist group. I'm sorry if you found it patronising, it wasn't meant to be so. I wasn't attacking religion or your right to believe what you want to I was just putting forward the thought that maybe to organise around your religion would play into the EDLs hands. As you say I am not religious so I don't really understand how this affects you personally, as such I was just asking in order to learn and understand. Peace

While I imagine it must be an empowering experience for Muslims to organise and defend against those who target them based on their faith - and I do not say this patronisingly - those of us who identify as anarchist or, like myself, simply as people who organise autonomously, have to take a principled political position vis-a-vis the MDL. Anybody who chooses to organise in a non-hierarchical manner and who rejects repressive groups should not compromise their politics. It would a dangerous and opportunistic compromise, comparable to that made by the Respect/SWP trots during and after the StW movement who welcomed aboard any minority group - many of whose ideological tenets were fundamentally opposed to those of a true socialist. I find the start of the article "the MDL has the support of Muslims and non-Muslims alike" presumptuous and, indeed, patronising. This is exactly the kind of rhetorical trap that the EDL fall into - declaring some nebulous "community" or broadbrush support which is quite inaccurate. While we have no right no tell anybody how, or on what ideological basis, to organise, that does not mean that we should blindly show support to groups who are fighting our enemy. Do you think that everyone inside these religiously-identifying groups would be as welcoming to atheist (or at least laïque) leftists? No - because they are not naive, and nor should we be. I couldn't make it down to Leicester but a friend of mine said that one of his antifa comrades approached the MDL saying "alright mate, we are here on your side" and was told promptly to fuck off. Think before making any rash decisions of support.

I agree with the anarchists I don't like the sound of the mdl I would not support them in anyway!