Twenty thousand anti-racists marched through London at the weekend in defiance of a hate march summoned to the capital by fascist thug Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson.
The demo, called by Stand Up to Racism and backed by the TUC, trade unions and peace and faith groups, pledged to defend refugees and communities under attack — with Muslims the most prominent target of today’s far right.
Organisers warned, however, that Robinson’s supporters still likely outnumbered the anti-fascists on Saturday, with Stand Up to Racism estimating the far-right march attracted 20-25,000 people.
Co-convener Sabby Dhalu said the counter-demonstration “showed a massive display of diversity and unity.
“We mobilised in our thousands against Robinson’s hate march and the racism and Islamophobia that fed this movement.
“Chants on the far right demo included ‘Who the f*** is Allah’ and ‘We want our country back.’ The same slogans were chanted during the riots.”
Ms Dhalu pointed out that “since June there have been three ‘Tommy Robinson’ demonstrations — the first mobilise 10-15,000, the second 15-20,000 and the most recent one 20-25,000. Meanwhile the counter-demonstrations went from 100 to 5,000 and 20,000 on Saturday.
“The momentum is behind the anti-racist and anti-fascist demos. We will continue to mobilise until we outnumber the fascists and drive this scourge off our streets.”
Addressing the rally as it moved off from Piccadilly, Stand Up to Racism’s other co-convener Weyman Bennett told marchers they were “the leadership that stops fascism.
“When the fascists came out in August and tried to burn down hotels with refugees in them, we stood outside and said, ‘you shall not pass.’
“We are the anti-fascists, and our message [to them] is we will put you in the dustbin of history.”
Gesturing around the crowd of people of all ages, ethnicities and religions, train drivers’ union Aslef leader Mick Whelan said people could tell from his accent he was a Londoner — “and this is my London. This is who we are, what we stand for. Those people down the road do not speak for us.”
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the left had to counter the far right’s message “ to those in housing stress, whose children are in overcrowded classrooms, who are on waiting lists for hospital appointments — that this is somehow the fault of your Muslim neighbour, your black neighbour, or the refugee across the road.
“It’s not. Migrants do not cause the problems so many young people face.
“It’s inequality, it’s an economy that works for the few not the many, that causes those problems — so let’s unite to demand decent wages, council housing, the proper funding of our National Health Service.”
Mr Corbyn and Stop the War Coalition convener Lindsey German also addressed the link between the anti-racist and peace movements.
“Wherever you have war abroad, you have racism at home,” Ms German stressed, pointing to the links between Islamophobia and wars from Iraq to today’s in Palestine, and the British far right’s adoption of Israeli flags on demos as a sign of their hatred of Muslims.
Communications Workers Union leader Dave Ward called for a wider strategy to defeat fascism, one that “addresses the roots of the problem — not just the symptoms.”
He blamed a “growing imbalance of power and wealth… hammering working-class people” of all races and religions.
The trade unions needed to turn “every workplace into an anti-racist workplace” through building the collective power of workers and class consciousness, he argued.
Source: Morning Star