THE REAL RACISTS IN PERFIDIOUS ALBION
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/9878
The English Defense League
by Brian of London
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The EDL has attracted attention in Israel and the UK. We leave the reader to
judge for himself.
The English Defence League (EDL) has attracted some attention in Israel
because of the incongruity of non-Jews waving Israeli flags at
demonstrations dubbed “far right” by the press and the Israeli Embassy in
London’s virtually unprecedented step of condemning a pro-Israel local group
in another country. The irony is compounded by the fact that this happened
immediately after the EDL held a large pro-Israel rally outside the embassy.
This distancing was presumably motivated by the attacks on the EDL in much
of the British media and fear that failure to denounce the group will
increase anti-Israel feelings in the United Kingdom, already at an all-time
high. In fact, however, the people attacking the EDL are already Israel’s
enemies while this group is one of its few friends nowadays. Moreover, the
accusations of the EDL being a racist or fascist group are simply not true.
Indeed, the slander against the EDL is another example of how special
treatment for Islam and radical Islamists compared to the repression of
forces criticizing them so often prevails in Britain today. Here’s a little
case study of how things work.
On December 11 the EDL held a demonstration in Peterborough. The EDL
proclaims itself as “dedicated to peacefully protesting against radical
Islam” and on that December day they largely fulfilled this role. Around
2,000 people marched through the town and listened to speeches. A handful of
counter-demonstrators claiming the EDL are “fascists and racists” were kept
at bay by the police. The day passed with fewer arrests than a typical
Saturday night in any English town.
But not according to the police and the Crown Prosecution Service. Ten days
later, an EDL leader was arrested and charged under Section 4b of the Public
Order Act with “Racial Aggravation” in relation to a speech he gave in
Peterborough. That speech can be viewed on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC_kScYYn9o.
One doesn’t need to condone the speech’s content or agree with it to
acknowledge that it is a normal expression of free speech. But there are
also additional points of interest to this case.
The man who gave the speech is Guramit Singh, a Sikh whose family comes from
India. During his talk he noted that he has been called a “racist” for
criticizing Islam, though he is from the same ancestry as Pakistani or
Indian Muslims. Indeed, many or most Sikhs are actually the descendants of
Muslims.
Singh also explained that he was particularly passionate that day because it
was the anniversary of his grandfather being killed fighting in the British
army during World War Two. He was angry that some Islamists burned poppies,
the symbol of honoring Britain’s war dead on November 11, British
Remembrance Day. This is an emotional issue in the UK. I don’t need to point
out to readers in Israel how we would feel if the Israeli authorities
allowed aggressive Islamic demonstrations outside military cemeteries on Yom
Hazikaron.
Singh says nothing trying to inspire violence, whereas it has been shown
that some mosque sermons in the UK are directly inflammatory (including
derogatory statements about Christianity and Judaism). I wouldn’t be in
favor of arresting Muslims who said something I don’t like or agree with
either, though I’d be happy to see the statements publicized so more people
are aware of the things being said.
But consider the double standards at play. When a television program played
examples of mosque sermons demonizing Christians and Jews a few years ago
the police filed a complaint with the media watchdog against the program
makers, and nothing against the sermon-givers. The program makers eventually
sued the police and won considerable damages.
Meanwhile another EDL leader, who goes by the pseudonym of Tommy Robinson,
has been arrested on three separate and apparently trumped-up offenses. One
of these is related to the Remembrance Day poppy burning incident. The first
charge is that when Robinson grabbed a flag from an Islamist protestor
during the struggle the pole might have accidentally hit a police officer.
At his first appearance in court on November 22, the judge expressed
surprise that the police had placed restrictions on his freedom of
association and voided them.
In addition, Mr. Robinson has been charged with some vague financial
irregularities. The authorities have frozen his bank accounts, virtually
shut down his business, and demand that he ask permission before he can
spend any money to pay for his living expenses. He and his pregnant fiancée
was arrested by heavily armed police. He has made a detailed accusation that
the police have been shopping for informants to give false testimony against
him.
One tactic being used against the EDL is a court-imposed “Anti-Social
Behaviour Order” or ASBO. In one case, two men were ordered not to engage in
any EDL-related activity—including even posting anything on the Internet,
for ten years. In effect, this is a specially created law used only against
the EDL in which the rights to free speech and peaceful protest are simply
taken away from them.
Why is there so little protest against this repression? The answer is that
once demonized the EDL and its members can simply be deprived of democratic
rights. This is bad enough without Israel’s government or Jewish groups
adding to the slander and untruth about the most visibly active pro-Israel
organization in the United Kingdom today.
What makes all of this even more ironic is that radical Islamist groups,
including those engaged in incitement against Jews and Israel, are treated
with kid gloves by a police force and court system that is literally too
frightened to take them on. Here’s one example: recently, a group of
extremists on trial for doing massive damage to a factory making goods for
Israel were released after the judge told the jury to find them not guilty
since, he said, conditions in the Gaza Strip were so terrible as to justify
their vandalism.
The erosion of civil liberties combined with what at times seems like an
anti-Israel lynch-mob atmosphere especially in much of the media and on
campuses cannot be good for British Jews or for Israel.
Brian of London made aliyah in 2009 after deciding that the anti-Israel
lynch-mob atmosphere in London would not be good for his children. By day he
runs a business in Tel Aviv in addition to writing and broadcasting on the
Internet on sites such as Israellycool and Israpundit.
Tevet 20, 5771 / 27 December 10
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