There is always someone(s) who pops us and says don't be too militant or you'll just help the other side, or drive away support, or something like that. To them, I say get a life. I refuse to be held responsible for what someone else uses as an excuse to remain mum, to remain a tool of "the empire."
It is always right to stand up to racists and fascists. It is always right to confront them head on. If you want to clap and sing, well, I guess that is your business, but those who take on the jackals are fine by me.
The following is from the UK's Socialist Worker online.
It is right to march against the racist EDL
Racist and fascist thugs are planning to descend on Bradford over the August bank holiday weekend.
The English Defence League (EDL) has one aim—to terrorise and intimidate Bradford’s Muslim population.
Yet some people are arguing that it is a mistake for anti-racists to hold a counter-protest.
They say that previous counter-protests have not stopped the EDL and that the best strategy is to call on the police and government to ban the EDL’s demonstration.
But where the EDL has been met with only limited opposition on the streets, the consequences have been dire. In Stoke at the start of the year hundreds of EDL thugs rampaged through Asian areas, smashing shops and homes.
Since January, counter-protests have gathered support and checked the EDL—in Bolton, Dudley, Newcastle, Cardiff and elsewhere.
A massive anti-racist mobilisation in Tower Hamlets in London’s East End forced the EDL to cancel their racist rally.
Anti-racist protests serve another purpose too. They are a tangible demonstration of solidarity by anti-racists with Muslim communities under attack by the EDL.
The EDL are calling Bradford “the Big One”.
Stoke was a warning about what happens when our side doesn’t mobilise on the streets.
There must be no repeat of Stoke in Bradford—a city with one of the largest Muslim populations outside London.
That’s why it’s right that a “We are Bradford” event to celebrate the city’s multicultural diversity is being held in opposition to the EDL’s racist demonstration.
All anti-racists should campaign to make this as big as possible.
The English Defence League (EDL) has one aim—to terrorise and intimidate Bradford’s Muslim population.
Yet some people are arguing that it is a mistake for anti-racists to hold a counter-protest.
They say that previous counter-protests have not stopped the EDL and that the best strategy is to call on the police and government to ban the EDL’s demonstration.
But where the EDL has been met with only limited opposition on the streets, the consequences have been dire. In Stoke at the start of the year hundreds of EDL thugs rampaged through Asian areas, smashing shops and homes.
Since January, counter-protests have gathered support and checked the EDL—in Bolton, Dudley, Newcastle, Cardiff and elsewhere.
A massive anti-racist mobilisation in Tower Hamlets in London’s East End forced the EDL to cancel their racist rally.
Anti-racist protests serve another purpose too. They are a tangible demonstration of solidarity by anti-racists with Muslim communities under attack by the EDL.
The EDL are calling Bradford “the Big One”.
Stoke was a warning about what happens when our side doesn’t mobilise on the streets.
There must be no repeat of Stoke in Bradford—a city with one of the largest Muslim populations outside London.
That’s why it’s right that a “We are Bradford” event to celebrate the city’s multicultural diversity is being held in opposition to the EDL’s racist demonstration.
All anti-racists should campaign to make this as big as possible.
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