Crivven! Jings! And Help Ma Boab! The triumphant return to Tower Hamlets by the English Defence League was pretty disappointing and they only got as far as Aldgate in much smaller numbers than expected. Not only that, but Mr Tommy got a tug as his handlers needed a word. On a major downer, nearly 300 anti-fascists were arrested.
The EDL plotted up on the south side of the river and, after the usual brouhaha and mischief, set off over Tower Bridge where they suddenly decided to hold a sit-down protest. This lasted about 30 seconds before they got a toe up the hole and told to move on. The actual route kept them out of sight, surrounded by City and Met plod as they trudged along lacking their usual bravado and looking increasingly unspectacular.
The anti-fascist RV point was Altab Ali park at the bottom end of Brick Lane with the usual tedious speeches, paper selling and recruitment drives from the various groups. There was a couple of 1,000 anti-fascists of all political persuasions, races, ages and religions alongside a good selection of union banners.
The EDL managed to pull about 5-600 – which is piss poor for a national demo by the ‘world’s biggest protest movement.’ They took a handful of arrests for the usual silliness and plod kept them well kettled. By the time they had got to their ‘designated protest area’ plod had secured a no-man’s land of about 500 yards between them and us. Plod was also in position to kettle the entire anti-fascist demo and had secured the side streets to stop anyone nicking off and confronting the EDL.
We had plotted up at Liverpool Street where we saw a handful of EDL eejits drinking outside the pub who were then escorted away to the demo. We set off to Tower Hill where we saw another small group of EDL under escort and bereft of their usual blather. We got a bit of plod bother and had to move off sharpish to avoid being nicked or Section 60’d and headed back to Brick Lane following the EDL route with a piece of A4 paper and a lot of caution. We circumnavigated our way back to the park which was an impressive sight. As we arrived the black bloc broke out of the park sharpish and headed east trying to find a way round plod and into the EDL. We stayed at the park and had a mooch about (and a couple of delicious samosas) then headed down to Cable Street guided by our facially hirsute navigator where we bumped into a mob of antifa who had just ‘intercepted’ the march as it headed to Aldgate. There were cops everywhere by this time and as we all headed back to the park we saw a large number of anti-fascists kettled on Commercial Road. They were held for ages then mass-arrested and we heard tell of another mob who had also got trapped by plod. This was blatant political policing. Plod had it down tight and left nothing to chance. We managed to get out and about but it was impossible to get anywhere near the EDL. We hardly got any photos or footage and could hardly see them for vans, cops and dogs.
Plod seemed ready to 'close the door' on the whole anti-fascist demo - as we had predicted they would last week! – so we took off back to Stepney to find a pub that was A/ open, B/ not covered in cops. We finally found sanctuary in the cheap embrace of Wetherspoons. As S. said as we settled down to some serious drinking, this was not a victory for anti-fascism but for plod: they kept the EDL well contained, had the park and counter-demo well surrounded and there was very little contact apart from the ‘ambush’ by the comrades we met at Cable Street (how apt!). Despite the celebrations in the park and cries of ‘No Pasaran!’ the EDL did not pass but neither did we. However, this was the best turnout by antifascists since the March For England got battered all over Brighton a few months back. It was good to see local youth out in force alongside trade unionists, anti-fascists of all stripes and local community groups. Mr Tommy was arrested for ‘incitement,’ which will no doubt complicate his ever-increasing legal woes, as did a couple of other EDL bugles. We also heard that Dave ‘Maid In Britian’ Bolton was stewarding and got battered by his own side. Again. Well done Dave, give us your address and we will send you peppermint Aero to cheer you up. Of course, the worst situation was the mass arrests of antifascists who were then given restrictive bail conditions about not protesting fascist demos within the M25 area. The next EDL do is in Bradford so the bail conditions shouldn’t be a problem.
The EDL plotted up on the south side of the river and, after the usual brouhaha and mischief, set off over Tower Bridge where they suddenly decided to hold a sit-down protest. This lasted about 30 seconds before they got a toe up the hole and told to move on. The actual route kept them out of sight, surrounded by City and Met plod as they trudged along lacking their usual bravado and looking increasingly unspectacular.
The anti-fascist RV point was Altab Ali park at the bottom end of Brick Lane with the usual tedious speeches, paper selling and recruitment drives from the various groups. There was a couple of 1,000 anti-fascists of all political persuasions, races, ages and religions alongside a good selection of union banners.
The EDL managed to pull about 5-600 – which is piss poor for a national demo by the ‘world’s biggest protest movement.’ They took a handful of arrests for the usual silliness and plod kept them well kettled. By the time they had got to their ‘designated protest area’ plod had secured a no-man’s land of about 500 yards between them and us. Plod was also in position to kettle the entire anti-fascist demo and had secured the side streets to stop anyone nicking off and confronting the EDL.
We had plotted up at Liverpool Street where we saw a handful of EDL eejits drinking outside the pub who were then escorted away to the demo. We set off to Tower Hill where we saw another small group of EDL under escort and bereft of their usual blather. We got a bit of plod bother and had to move off sharpish to avoid being nicked or Section 60’d and headed back to Brick Lane following the EDL route with a piece of A4 paper and a lot of caution. We circumnavigated our way back to the park which was an impressive sight. As we arrived the black bloc broke out of the park sharpish and headed east trying to find a way round plod and into the EDL. We stayed at the park and had a mooch about (and a couple of delicious samosas) then headed down to Cable Street guided by our facially hirsute navigator where we bumped into a mob of antifa who had just ‘intercepted’ the march as it headed to Aldgate. There were cops everywhere by this time and as we all headed back to the park we saw a large number of anti-fascists kettled on Commercial Road. They were held for ages then mass-arrested and we heard tell of another mob who had also got trapped by plod. This was blatant political policing. Plod had it down tight and left nothing to chance. We managed to get out and about but it was impossible to get anywhere near the EDL. We hardly got any photos or footage and could hardly see them for vans, cops and dogs.
Plod seemed ready to 'close the door' on the whole anti-fascist demo - as we had predicted they would last week! – so we took off back to Stepney to find a pub that was A/ open, B/ not covered in cops. We finally found sanctuary in the cheap embrace of Wetherspoons. As S. said as we settled down to some serious drinking, this was not a victory for anti-fascism but for plod: they kept the EDL well contained, had the park and counter-demo well surrounded and there was very little contact apart from the ‘ambush’ by the comrades we met at Cable Street (how apt!). Despite the celebrations in the park and cries of ‘No Pasaran!’ the EDL did not pass but neither did we. However, this was the best turnout by antifascists since the March For England got battered all over Brighton a few months back. It was good to see local youth out in force alongside trade unionists, anti-fascists of all stripes and local community groups. Mr Tommy was arrested for ‘incitement,’ which will no doubt complicate his ever-increasing legal woes, as did a couple of other EDL bugles. We also heard that Dave ‘Maid In Britian’ Bolton was stewarding and got battered by his own side. Again. Well done Dave, give us your address and we will send you peppermint Aero to cheer you up. Of course, the worst situation was the mass arrests of antifascists who were then given restrictive bail conditions about not protesting fascist demos within the M25 area. The next EDL do is in Bradford so the bail conditions shouldn’t be a problem.
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Anti-Fascist Network + South London Anti-Fascists
12.09.2013 01:37
1. What LAF disparage as "moderate" and "respectable" anti-fascism has never been "the only show in town", and the only people who could think it was, must be people who've rarely attended anti-fascist protests! Equally, what LAF disparage as "moderate" anti-fascism has no intrinsic link with what LAF lazily dismiss as "deference" to the State. Often those who engage in moderate protest do so because they're not physically capable of militant action, in many cases because they're too old, too frail, or lack experience of and confidence in their abilities when it comes to confrontation (it is often people who lack physical confidence who Fascists seek to intimidate and bully the most, and arguably it takes more courage for physically less strong people to oppose Fascists than it does for people who're physically tougher). Many of those who can't personally engage in physical confrontation still believe direct action is justified, sometimes necessary, and many of those who do engage in confrontation hold liberal views (after all, most people, including most liberals, believe it was right to use violence against Fascism in WW2, even in countries where Partisans fought Fascism without the approval of the State). Also, even those who believe that confrontation can be justified, don't always think it's good to rise to far-right provocation (for instance in situations where the media could misrepresent images of young "immigrants" fighting Fascists as race-riots). Finally, if ANY protestors believed that "deference" to the State was part of anti-fascism, they'd probably leave it to the State (to the police) to control Fascist mobilisations, and stay at home, not taking part in anti-fascist protests at all.
2. In many cases what's "spouted" at "static rallies" aren't "liberal platitudes", but are instead versions of the Trotskyist, class-struggle politics promoted by revolutionary groups like the SWP, especially seeing as how Unite Against Fascism is organised by the SWP (with UAF, for all their faults, having organised many dozens of anti-fascist protests, at most of which AFN had no presence at all)
3. There clearly is a "real mood" for forms of anti-fascism that "go beyond static rallies" (bearing in mind however notes 1 & 2), and of course it's good to encourage people to have confidence in their ability to oppose Fascists and not be intimidated by the often hollow posturing of Fascist thugs (as long as the people you attract through that approach aren't outnumbered by the other people that you put off). It is also important to recognise that just because physical opposition can be justified, sometimes effective, sometimes really exciting, satisfying, great fun, etc, doesn't mean physical opposition is always the BEST strategy or won't just plain back-fire. In this case, far from the fact of that "mood" confirming AFN's analysis, what happened in Tower Hamlets was that AFN's march landed nearly half of the 600 people who supported their call-out under police arrest, leaving those arrested incapable of offering further resistance to the EDL's march, tying-up resources in helping the arrested that could have been used campaigning against Fascism, and leaving Casuals United, far-right bloggers and general EDL / BNP scum cock-a-hoop with joy at the sight of hundreds of Antifascists getting led away in handcuffs.
Not the Bookfair
Acronyms
12.09.2013 01:45
Bookies
Mal
12.09.2013 01:55
Jimmy COntent
some responses
12.09.2013 11:07
AFN has been active for 3 years and have featured at numerous demonstrations across the UK against EDL. Tower Hamlets was the first time AFN mobilised publicly and had organised a mass mobilisation for a visible bloc. You say:
"what happened in Tower Hamlets was that AFN's march landed nearly half of the 600 people who supported their call-out under police arrest, leaving those arrested incapable of offering further resistance to the EDL's march, tying-up resources in helping the arrested that could have been used campaigning against Fascism, and leaving Casuals United, far-right bloggers and general EDL / BNP scum cock-a-hoop with joy at the sight of hundreds of Antifascists getting led away in handcuffs."
This is a very weak response but fairly predictable from some quarters.The number of arrests were an outcome of public order policing trends in London designed specifically to quell any opposition that isn't sanction by the police. The arrests were a consequence of this monopoly the police feel they have on the streets and of public protest. To resist that means having to deal with the potential of repression. Equally in other times previously or in future scenarios the outcome may be much worse - baton charges, beatings, torture in police stations...etc. This is the crucial point. It was the repressive practice of the police who had mobilised a force of 3,000 on the streets that are responsible for the arrests. To not bow down to fear and repression, sometimes no matter the cost, is important. The other option was to stay in Altab Ali Park and then go home - was this resistance you were talking about?
With the number of arrestees reaching 286, it is not just an event that happens and then ends. The majority of those arrested had support when they were realised by activists at half a dozen police stations across London. They will continue to have unconditional support and solidarity for those of us involved in the mobilisation. This is where solidarity is born, in the face of repression, in sticking up for each other no matter the consequences and which will create a stronger movement.
For all those brave people that took to the streets and those that faced the police on the day to achieve something the police and EDL did not want to happen. I salut them!
anon
@Not the Bookfair
13.09.2013 16:12
a suggestion
Did the anti-EDL mobilisation on 7 September 2013 also oppose racism?
14.09.2013 14:01
Did the anti-EDL mobilisation on 7 September 2013 also oppose racism?
If it did, will the UAF leaders explain why they had refused the answer questions put to them beforehand about racism in daily life in Tower Hamlets?
What are UAF doing to confront racism in Tower Hamlets on a daily basis?
Or doesn't that matter?
Aainstracistconduct
Huge tactical failure by the Anti-Fascist Network
20.09.2013 23:35
Anon's responses dodge the issue by blaming the cops, but we all know what the cops are like already!
THE POINT IS AFN NEED TO PURSUE STRATEGIES THAT TAKE WHAT WE ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THE COPS INTO ACCOUNT, AND WHICH ACTIVELY THWART POLICE ATTEMPTS TO REPRESS ANTI-FASCISM. Anti-Fascist Network need to NOT pursue strategies that make that repression easier for the police to achieve.
The "form a black bloc, behind a big banner, then all run off together and get nicked" strategy doesn't work. It hasn't been needed in the past, on any of the many often successful demos where AFN were barely in evidence, it didn't work in Tower Hamlets, instead it made militant activists easier to identify, to contain and to arrest.
I love watching Euro Antifa videos, but this is not Germany, we're not Berlin Antifa. Euro Antifa strategies don't work here in the UK - either politically, culturally, as propaganda-of-the-deed or as street tactics. I did not say we should "bow down" to police aggression (and it's at best lazy, at worst dishonest to imply that I did). What I'm advocating is that we should apply common-sense, be street-wise and make sure it's us who run rings around the cops, instead of running head-long into a fucking trap!
When it comes to common-sense, a while ago AFN-linked group South London Anti-Fascists responded to the spike in support for the EDL that followed the murder of Lee Rigby, by posting on Facebook, praising veterans of the only other terrorist organisation, who, they seemed blissfully unaware, had killed a soldier and one innocent bystander in the Woolwich pub bombing! With all due, some recent arrivals in Anti-Fascism have, politically and culturally, shit-for-brains, and I trust their strategic judgement as much as I trust their cultural sensitivity or their knowledge of political history. As for "Anon", if the police successfully making hundreds of arrests really leads to a "stronger" movement then I'm pretty sure the police wouldn't have bothered arresting anyone
Not the Bookfair