Tower Hamlets is an old London borough just East of the City of London. It encompasses so much of East London, that it’s often said that Tower Hamlets is the East End. It is one of the poorest boroughs in London and one of the most overcrowded.
There are several famous landmarks in the borough, such as Brick Lane, Cable Street (the scene of clashes with Oswald Mosley’s Black Shirts), Tower Bridge and the Tower of London - and more recently, the Docklands development which includes Canary Wharf and Heron’s Quay.
The borough has always been a magnet for outsiders, including those from rural areas seeking employment in the shipping industries that operate in the docks and the Port of London. Several waves of immigrants have historically settled in the area, bringing with them their unique cultures which were absorbed by the local population. These included the French Huguenots, Irish Weavers, Ashkenazi Jews (who made up a very large portion of the local population in the 19th Century), and later, Bangladeshis. It would be fair to say that the Jewish presence from the 19th Century to the end of the Second World War has put a permanent stamp on local history.
In recent years, the numbers of Bangladeshis has grown rapidly - becoming one of the largest demographic groups in the borough. All other aforementioned ethnic minority groups have almost disappeared from the area. This is particularly true of the Jews who have moved to other Jewish enclaves in and around London.
These demographic changes were likely caused by the heavy bombing of the East End during WW2, the end of large scale shipping in and out of London and the general lack of amenities, homes and employment.
Unfortunately, as the Bangladeshi community grew to replace the vacuum left in this cultural exodus, it largely failed to integrate into the British way of life or to reconcile their cultural and religious differences with the people around them. Culminating in self-segregation, this insular behaviour has led to growing hostility towards non-Muslim residents, women, and whomever else their culture regards as beneath contempt.
Recently, Tower Hamlets reached boiling point. ‘Sharia Zone’ stickers began to appear. ‘Muslim Patrols’ roamed the streets at night, looking for haram behaviour to stamp out. No beer allowed, this is a Muslim area. No women without burkhas, this is a Muslim area. No homosexuals, this is a Muslim area. Get out or be brutally assaulted. This was their message to the people of London.
The police do very little to combat this enclave-building activity, and it has only served as a green light to the Islamic supremacists of Tower Hamlets to carry on. While Muslim youths were arrested and given a slap on the wrist for literally forcing Islamic observance on passers-by, the police never intervenes when hate preachers go about their regular work of spouting hatred and inciting their followers to commit acts of violence and debauchery. On the other hand, they’re quick to arrest any non-Muslim in the area who might be thinking of saying something that could be offensive to someone. George Orwell must be spinning in his grave.
Suppose, for example, if a Christian church were to order its congregation to put ‘Christian Zone’ stickers everywhere, or if orthodox Jews put ‘Mosaic Law’ stickers up, and ordered bystanders to comply with their demands or face violence? What would happen?
We would guess that those involved would rightly be charged with all the relevant crimes, and that the church (or synagogue) involved would pay a heavy price in the law court and in the popular press. Not so for a mosque and its mob of Mohammad wannabees.
These aren’t the only reasons why the EDL should revisit Tower Hamlets. The borough has something of a history of electoral fraud and there are suspicions of corruption within the mayoral office; the mayor, Lutfur Rahman, is well-known as an Islamist with direct connections to the Islamic Foundation of Europe. It is the IFE’s policy to push for the adoption of Sharia in Britain and Europe.
We are going back to Tower Hamlets because we want the police to apply the law equally to all peoples irrespective of their religious belief, gender, ethnicity, creed, political persuasion or sexuality. We are going back to Tower Hamlets because true democracy must be returned to the East End. We cannot have democracy subverted by men who use the system to gain control and then act like dictators who employ intimidation and fraud as political weapons.
But by far the most important reason for going to Tower Hamlets is to remind the people that this borough is still part of the United Kingdom and not some province of Bangladesh. It is not a place for Islamic supremacists to dictate law and morality to the people of their neighbourhood, the city, or the country. We will not abandon the East End.