Don't be fooled by fascist lies

WHO ARE WE?
The 635 Group is a group of militant anti-fascists based in West Yorkshire.
We exist to confront fascist ideas, activities and organisations wherever and however they occur.
We utilise a wide range of tactics and believe it is important to confront fascism on the streets as well as ideologically.
We do not advocate the electoral process as a means of defeating fascism nor will we work with groups that do.
Our structure is anti-authoritarian and non hierarchical. We oppose discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality, ability or age.
We will not work with, accept information from, nor pass information to the magazine Searchlight.
FASCISTS BEWARE !!!

FASCISM?
It is a mistake to see fascism solely in terms of extreme far-right nationalist political parties such as the BNP, NF etc. While these are the most obvious target for an anti-fascist campaign, many policies promoted by other parties are equally fascist in nature, and demand an appropriate reaction. The media is also guilty of pushing far-right ideology (the tabloid treatment of the issues surrounding refugees for example) and their actions often fall within the remit of an anti-fascist group. We should oppose fascist ideology whatever its source. Equally, fascism is often used as a synonym for racism. Racism is a tool frequently employed by fascist movements, but it is important to be aware that fascists can be non-racist and indeed most racists are not fascists. While our major target is fascism, we must be aware that bigotry in all forms (racism, sexism, homophobia etc) needs to be fought, whether it comes from the mouths of fascists or from elsewhere.

PHYSICAL CONFRONTATION
Fascism is a violent ideology, which throughout history has been prepared to use violence against those it opposes, and against those who challenge it politically. The 635 Group is part of the ‘physical force’ anti-fascist tradition, prepared to confront fascism by force when we deem it necessary and appropriate. Physical confrontation is only one of our tactics though, we do not aim to fetishise it as one tactic above all others, nor will we allow a hierarchy to develop based on the kudos of street-fighting. If an individual member feels unable to engage on this level they are no less worthy as an anti-fascist than any other member of the group, however those with a ‘moral’ problem regarding this issue should be advised that this is not the group for them.

HIERARCHY AND GROUP STRUCTURE
In keeping with our anti-authoritarian ideas, we seek to challenge hierarchy within our own group and elsewhere. We do not believe in fixed leadership or power structures. Within the group we make decisions on a consensus basis to ensure that the opinions of all within the group are represented as far as possible. Where an organising role needs to be taken on by one or more people (for example, acting as chief steward during an action), we accept that this is immediately revocable should the members of the group be dissatisfied, and that the appointment of any role that could be seen as leadership is temporary and based on group consensus. There are situations in militant anti-fascism where decisions have to be made quickly (e.g. chief stewarding) and it is vital that the group trusts the person who is making those decisions. It is also vital that appointing those decision-makers does not create any unspoken hierarchy, so we encourage the rotation of roles as far as possible. This extends to meetings, where we encourage a rotating chair. The structure of our own group needs to reflect our political goals.

INCLUSIVITY
Within militant anti-fascism, the role of women has often been reduced to simply ‘spotting’ and fund-raising. A culture of chauvinism and a ‘boys club’ mentality has often prevailed, with a group often being made up exclusively of young white men. It is vital that a group’s demographic reflects the society it wishes to change, and we should expect to see far greater balance in terms of gender, race, disability, etc. We make a conscious effort not to discourage anyone from involvement, but we will not engage in ‘tokenism’ either. As the tactics of the group are not expected to rely solely on physical confrontation, hopefully the make-up of the group can become more representative, and the perception of militant anti-fascism as ‘politics-meets-football hooliganism’ can be reversed.

SEARCHLIGHT
We will not work with, accept information from, nor pass information to the so-called anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, and we will not work with individuals who have any connection to them. As an organisation that works hand-in-glove with State agencies, we cannot trust them or the agenda they pursue. Their influence within, and manipulation of, militant anti-fascism has been deeply divisive over the years, their methods and involvement with State security services are well documented and entirely incompatible with our own position.

THE AUTHORITARIAN LEFT
For decades certain Marxist-Leninist groups, most obviously the “Socialist Workers Party”, have opportunistically used the mobilisation against fascism as a way of trying to swell their membership numbers and the coffers of their party. We are not interested in working with these groups, nor with their front groups, such as the ‘Anti-Nazi League’ or ‘Unite Against Fascism’. Our experience is that these front groups exist merely to try and recruit members on behalf of the controlling party, to peddle their papers, and to manipulate and marginalize genuine anti-fascists. In the past we have seen the leadership of such fronts collaborate not only with the State, but also with the fascists themselves. We will not be fooled again, and advise genuine anti-fascists within these organisations to leave, after which we may be able to work with them.

VOTING
Voting is something that allows the State to pretend we live in a democracy, and it is a tactic used by fascist parties such as the British National Party to promote themselves and their policies. While the BNP may be in a position to throw bricks through the windows of a few Asian households, it is New Labour that is locking up refugees and bombing Iraqi civilians. It is ridiculous to suggest that voting helps to stop fascism, and the sort of insult to working class communities that has allowed the BNP to grow. This is the case whether we are being told to vote for the old Statist parties or opportunist fronts, such as ‘Respect’, which has helped to promote bigotry (sexism and homophobia) in order to further the agenda of its leadership. The problems that allow racism and fascism to flourish will not be solved simply by voting for parties which mask their fascism slightly more cleverly than the BNP, nor for some middle-class tourist standing on a Left-Wing ticket.

THE WIDER STRUGGLE
Eliminating the threat of fascism will not magically correct all the wrongs of the world; only the overthrow of global capitalism will offer any chance of real lasting change. Members of the group are involved in a wide variety of other anti-capitalist struggle, but The 635 Group itself remains focussed on the fight against fascism, which we believe is linked to the wider struggle. The State will employ fascist tactics if necessary in the cause of suppressing dissent, and the fight against openly fascist ideology, wherever it comes from, is a critical part of the fight against the ultimate enemy of capitalism itself.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Fascism can be suppressed by the use of street-level tactics against their attempts to publicly organise. Its electoral ambitions can be defeated by the use of counter-propaganda. But a meaningful impact on fascism requires far more than this. We believe that involvement in local communities is critical (and this does not mean parachuting in as outsiders, but people taking action in their own communities.) Education and presenting workable solutions to the problems faced by communities are absolutely vital to the struggle. These may be outside the remit of The 635 Group, but we will support these tactics, and while we may not be able to initiate such activities, we strongly encourage our members to involve themselves in this sort of grass-roots work.

SECURITY AND RECRUITMENT
For tactical and security reasons, The 635 Group is not an ‘open’ group. Some of our work may put us in conflict with the authorities, and of course with fascists themselves. We do not seek mass-recruitment and we do not hold regular open meetings. That said, we are always on the lookout for potential new members. In the early stages of the group we are admitting new members on the basis of personal recommendation from one or more existing members of the group, with their admission on the basis of consensus. As the group progresses, this situation will probably change, and our policy on involving new people will be constantly monitored and updated as required.

"The struggle against fascism is one where we must be ever vigilant, and we should of course not expect the fascists to play fairly. They will use every tactic possible, from nail-bombs in Gay pubs to street-attacks upon asylum seekers and on known anti-racists, and from raising their profile and influence through the smokescreen of electoralism to the manipulation of the anti-racist movement from within."

Who are the fascists you refer to? What do you mean by fascism?

Would they maybe include Respect Coalition?

"Indymedia is an important tool in the movement’s arsenal, and these postings seek to undermine people’s trust in it by exploiting its openness and lack of censorship. Most of the news postings should have been rather easy to spot, but they have undoubtedly fooled some people, and are at best a waste of time. Please be vigilant when discussing anti-fascist issues on Indymedia, or any other open forum. Do not speculate about groups or actions you are not part of, because by doing so you are not only giving information to the fascists, but also to the State, and you are risking the arrest and possible imprisonment of people who may not even be involved. "

Good idea.

"For those who are sincere in their opposition to fascism, and who want to get involved in the anti-fascist struggle, there are a variety of groups and organisations that you can contact. Antifa is a national organisation of militant anti-fascists, and The 635 Group are their West Yorkshire arm. The platform of The 635 Group is reproduced below. If you do not agree with our position, that is your prerogative, we are not interested in justifying ourselves to you. If you do however, and wish to commit to the anti-fascist struggle, or if you have information on fascist activity, please contact us DIRECTLY."

I have a problem with "Anti Fascist Action" because it is trying to ban the BNP. You are trying to deny the voice (whether right or wrong) of thousands of British people. You are totalitarian assholes, the lackeys of New Labour. If you were serious about being left-wing and reducing racial tensions you would not be waging a campaign to shut down the only political party that has a platform of totally stopping immigration.

If you were serious you would be standing in the elections and offering an alternative so that people do not vote BNP. I would have voted (I assure you) if there had been a left-wing party that represented my views. Instead you are destroying democracy...

Reality check please. If you are genuinely against racism you'll stop this stupid, self-defeating 'war' against the BNP and anti-immigrant parties.

PS.
I bet you're going to see this as the beginning of 'fascist infiltration'... well, you're wrong. I'm not defending the BNP, I'm attacking the left for not effectively dealing with the BNP. There's only one way to deal with the BNP and I think deep down you know what it is.

Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) no longer exist. The 635 Group oppose the racism of both the BNP and New Labour. ‘Banning’ is something governments do, not anti-fascist groups.

It is fascist organisations like the BNP that create racial tension, scapegoating immigrants and asylum seekers. It seems more than a little ludicrous to accuse The 635 Group of not being serious about trying to reduce racial tension by opposing the BNP.

It should be clear in the statement above that The 635 Group opposes the sham of electoralism. While it is shameful that some people voted for a fascist party like the BNP, the vast majority of people were not suckered by them. Democracy? The chance to put a cross on a piece of paper every 4 or 5 years, voting for whichever party you least despise. Blair was elected with only 37% of the vote.

Not voting was your choice, who can blame you? But we are not in the business of running up a ‘left-wing’ party just for you, even if we could understand what your views actually were.

It is precisely because The 635 Group oppose racism that we oppose the racist “BNP and anti-immigrant parties”.

The Left deserve to be attacked for not effectively dealing with the BNP. We think the BNP must be confronted by a variety of tactics. If you’re going to call us assholes Kasheem, you could at least bother to read our founding statement, and put forward a coherent argument.

Are you the same Kasheem that is currently being called a Searchlight/MI5 plant on Urban 75 (see Red Action thread)?

I originally gave this fool the benefit of the doubt when his piece appears, but check out his 'Immigration' thread, and the 'Red Action' thread on Urban 75.

Funny, he seems a bit more clued up in this U75 posting:

To compare votes.. multiply average score by the ratio of seats contested.

Respect: 7% * 1 = 7
BNP: 3% * 5 = 15

Another approach: how many deposits did Respect save? The BNP saved (I think) 35. Were close to getting 40-45. They're definitely 'progressing'.

Though honestly I don't think they'll ever make a 'breakthrough' with their current leader and members. If you look at J-M Le Pen in France.. say what you want but that guy is intelligent and knows his facts. Most of his lieutenants are the same. Better than many centrist politicians in fact. Griffin is a dull, unimaginative, mediocre politician. That he is the best the BNP can offer is very damning for them. I estimate that his general low level of intelligence is costing them 1/2 their vote.

When the BNP can stop presenting Nick Griffin, along maybe with Tyndall and the other guy (Bean?) as their brightest intellectual lights and the depression comes along then you can be worried.

He's also being accused of being a fascist.

Hardly surprising considering some of his postings.

Yes, his blatantly racist and homophobic rantings reveal a rather nasty piece of work. He's only just signed up to U75 and has already flooded it with postings railing against immigrants, multi-culturalism, and "faggots". Some of his postings also reveal he's not the nieve fool he at first appears. More likely a fascist troll on the trawl. If this seems paranoid to anyone they should check out Urban 75 or do a Google search on 'Kasheem'.

"It should be clear in the statement above that The 635 Group opposes the sham of electoralism. While it is shameful that some people voted for a fascist party like the BNP, the vast majority of people were not suckered by them. Democracy? The chance to put a cross on a piece of paper every 4 or 5 years, voting for whichever party you least despise. Blair was elected with only 37% of the vote."

That's not the point. Parties aren't only to win seats. Of course you don't want power, but taking part in elections gives you the chance to spread your message (don't vote for racists) and get people on your side. I think rejecting the opposition party idea as part of the 'electoral sham' is very simplistic and only looks at one aspect of the problem.

Thanks for your reply though. I just wanted to get that off my chest.

All these Red N Black, Black N Red whatever are a bunch of liars. Either extremely delusional or just really sick individuals. This guy called Larry O'Hara seems to be the one coordinating this attack against me. I don't know if this usual for him.. smearing completely random strangers for kicks.

Anyway. I second their suggestion that you come and check out my posts and see for yourselves if I'm really a 'fascist'.

Totally agree 100% Kash. Silly names for silly people 'Black and red' 'red and black'. It is impossible to have any kind of reasonable debate with these 'people', so i wouldnt bother. They will only threaten you like they have me.

They talk about fascism and then threaten anyone with a different opinion. Total hypocrisy!!!!!

You talking to yourself Max?

You whining pansy!

Bloody hell, the fascists must be quaking in their boots knowing that you lot are against them. Your street fighting, class warrior methods can only increase the problem of far-right activity. I don't know if you realise this but...FASCISTS LOVE TO FIGHT. Your intentions to fight them give them a reason to exist. I'd have more respect for you if you cut the "everybody's a fascist except us" crap ( you bandy the term "fascist" about so much it has become meaningless) and just admit that you like a ruck.

Why don't you read the statement you retarded fucking idiot?

Yeh thats bright we cool! We is the 635 group! Who? Yeh the group set up to bash the BNP. Who? The group that is da won that is gunna stop da BNP. We is tough, we is strong, we...

Come on guys grow up. Mods v Rockers days are up, you lot must be serious degenerates if you are prepared to be locked up just to bash an old granny from the BNP. BNP = no serious threat. You are boosting the ego of poncy BNP councillors and would be hardcases. People who nonone cares about.

Dont go down the same road of complete sadness!

Only you could take you seriously LOL.

I doubt there's anybody on here who doesn't know Max is just a sad little fascist with too much time on his hands. I'll think about you when I'm pissing on Tyndall's grave Max - What a shame you and your mates weren't invited to the funeral because it had to be held in total secret - Tyndall, a coward in life, a coward in death! Ha! Ha! Ha1

I find it very hard to believe there is all this tooing and frowing of insults and verbals....

Do any of you fully appreciate the Truth behind fascism. If you did, the matter would not be taken so lightly by you all. Read some real history, and dont rely on the word of your next door neighbour, or friend...a real fascist movment would be a highly effective and dangerous collection of people. you would not know their intentions, you would not know when the strike was coming...you wouldnt know, until it came up and bit you on the ass!!
The BNP, and even more so the NF, are a non effective group, and so are the anti fascists..infact the anti fascists seem to be as inclined to violence and hatred as the BNP and the NF...so what makes you any different except in what you believe to be right.

Do You realise every one inclined to lean to the right, is laughing at you...you are playing right into their hands, and you dont even know it!..

I note references to the left in some of the comments, well, what does the left stand for, communism..and the communists are nothing more than fascist either. i suppose it really depends who you want as your murderer really.

I am not a member of any nazi organisation, and i am quite happy to live in this country side by side with different races and religions...but i am incensed about the immigration problem, immigration needs curtailing, and those illegals, and failed asylum seekers must leave our country, where they go is not my concern. But there are british people suffering through illness, homlesness, disabilities, who get nothing any where like the payouts these immigrants get, nor do they get "FREE" cars...i relate that comments to Abu Hanza, the hate filled muslim cleric who stood in the streets of london calling for jihad, and the killing of british citzens, who has another 2 years or so to fight his extradition, but has been given a people carrier in the mean time, paid for by the DHSS, or rather the Brirish Tax payer.
How sick and pathetic is that...unacceptable behviour by muslims, jews or any other religion has to be treat with equal tender..and can not be construde as racist even by the most extensive of views. it is keeping our country in order, and safe and nothing else.
now lets see which one of you decides to call me fascist, or nazi...i am free and honest with my views, i love my country and its traditions, and want to keep them. Im not a Nazi, im loyal to my people.
#You as anti fascists need to be able to decipher between the two. Educate your selves, and worry about the organisations you dont know about, rather than the BNP and the NF, while you concentrate on these two non entities, the real threat grows un noticed..