Tag Archives: UAF

Multiculturalism has not failed, Cameron has.

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Unite Against Fascism (UAF) hosted an event on the 9th March in response to David Cameron’s comments made in Munich that state multiculturalism has failed leading to extremism. Over 260 people attended in support of multicultural Britain.

The question I’d like to pose to David Cameron is exactly what part of multiculturalism has failed? If he is referring to the lack unity within different groups, then yes, there are clear divisions. This is due to misleading misconceptions portrayed within the mainstream media over and over again, inevitably leading to prejudice and discrimination.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the British Prime minister said: “The biggest threat we face comes from terrorist attacks, some of which are sadly carried out by our own citizens”. If he is referring to the London 7/7 bombings, which I’m sure he is, then it should be noted that indeed all four of the bombers were British citizens. But is the failure of integration the cause of terrorist attacks?

George Galloway, Respect Party provides an answer that David Cameron failed to mention in his speech: “If you go around the world invading and occupying Muslim countries, if you go to war with Muslims abroad, you will end up making war against Muslims back home”. Cameron’s speech failed to mention the impact that British Foreign policy had on the failure of multiculturalism and the rise of extremism.

Ismail Patel, British Muslim Initiative, put forward another explanation. He said that multiculturalism has failed because of this government’s and the previous government’s social policies .In particular, the previous government’s policy of funding millions of pounds to different social groups. The aim Patel says: “was not to enforce multiculturalism to bring about a unity amongst the people, it was there to divide the people of this country”.

It’s undeniable that there are groups within society that have become isolated. Especially distinctive Muslim groups have formed. But why has this happened? Is it because these groups have chosen to isolate themselves? Is it because they feel that they are not part of British society? Have they been pushed out? Did previous government’s social policy encourage divide? Or were they simply never included in the first place?

The most aggravating thing about Cameron’s speech for me was its disastrous timing. The same day the far-right English Defence League (EDL) took to the streets for their most successful was the day Cameron chose to deliver this speech. Unlike some who attended the UAF event, I am unconvinced that Cameron’s intentions were to legitimize the EDL’s actions.

EDL March in Luton: 5th February 2011

However Cameron will have been aware of the EDL’s plans, infact the EDL’s leader Stephen Lennon appeared on Newsnight the night before stating the EDL’s plans for Luton. The speech by Cameron clearly boosted the EDL. Cameron needs to be more responsible. Let’s not forget that the speech was given at the Munich Security Conference amongst European countries who themselves have claimed that multiculturalism has failed. This is not the first time Cameron has made irresponsible provocative comments with the potential of fuelling hatred: July 2010 he accused Pakistan of “exporting terror” whilst on a trip to India.

Back to multiculturalism, can we ever truly define what multiculturalism is? Is there a set criterion we follow that allows us to simply say that yes it works or no that it fails? How could David Cameron make such a bold statement?

We are all unique. Our attributes collectively are our own. We chose who we are, which clothes we wear, what music we listen, which faith we follow and the foods we eat. I personally believe you cannot place blame with those who chose to embrace their identity. You cannot steal it away from the people of this nation. Multicultural Britain is what today’s Britain looks like. I hope David Cameron finds a way to integrate communities. Forcing them to integrate to stop them being pervcieved as an ‘extremist’ or a threat is not the way forward..

Dangers of ignoring the fear instilled by the EDL

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On Saturday 5th February, Luton witnessed the EDL (English Defence League) hold their largest and most successful demonstration. Due to my own naivety combined with unclear directions from the police I found myself stuck in the middle of the EDL whilst their speeches were taking place instead of the counter-demonstration held by UAF (Unite Against Fascism).

I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to could write in terms of being an Asian woman, activist, student, and journalist at the demo when it hit me: I don’t need to write about my entire experience of how I felt, where I went, you can simply ask me but for now I want to focus on the precise reasons I go to these demonstrations.

And it comes to this man right here: [Please watch the video].

“We don’t feel intimidated. We don’t feel terrorized“

He calls himself Ali. This man is the epitome of the simple values we need to fight h*tred spread by the likes of EDL. I felt huge amounts of respect for this guy for doing what no-one else had done but at the same time I felt sad that I was admired him so much for doing what I believed should be the norm. I mean ultimately he is a man going about business and that’s how it should be.  Just live your life as you should. Don’t let anyone stop you. It really is that simple!

Open for buisness. Ali outside his restaurant refuses intimidation by the EDL

The thing that scared me the most about Saturday is that yes, the majority of people disagree with what the EDL are doing, but why are more members of the EDL willing to march and take to the streets than the people who oppose them?! They were in their thousands on Saturday yet only a few hundred at the counter demonstration?! Why are people prepared to fly out from the US and Europe to support them? And why was Luton a ghost-town on Saturday? Aside from activists and police, there was not a soul in sight! Every business had closed. Only 2 places were open: Mc Donalds (which had to have bouncers) and Ali’s restaurant.

It’s one thing for me to criticize the lack of counter-demonstrators, I understand that people are busy or do not agree with counter-demonstrations, but if they come to your town and are capable of instilling a fear that makes you afraid to leave your house, a fear that makes you close business, a fear that makes you board-up your windows, then there is no freedom!  And there is nothing to stop them growing!  It’s easy to say members of the EDL are just ignorant morons but when they turn a town like Luton into a ghost town, they have control. And that scares me. 

Masked members of the EDL on Saturday

What now for the EDL? Personally, I fear it will expand. Listening to some of the EDL’s speakers also concerned me. These people are indoctrinating with distortion to the same extent that was capable of creating a mandate that lead us into Iraq. Honestly, I probably could’ve found some credibility with what the speakers said had I not known better than to let the media’s distorted portrayal of Islam consume me. If a person is not Muslim, does not interact with Muslims, does not read further into Islam, the violent ‘radicalism’ they see in the news will form their entire perception of Islam as that is the only Islam they are exposed to. I’m not saying this is how all people function, but it seems as though this was the case. Ignorant as this is, another thing that struck me about the atmosphere was that these people were angry. Though some members of the EDL are merely ignorant fools who go to drink and cause trouble, the strength of h*tred and anger should never be underestimated. The EDL are becoming more recognized, appearing on newsnight. The fact that Saturdays demo was fairly peaceful (in comparison to other demonstrations) is a massive step forward for the EDL.

The EDL are being underestimated. They will use Cameron’s recent criticisms of multi-culturalism in their favour. People will listen. According to BBC News,  Secretary of State William Hague said that “the Prime Minister’s speech should not be shelved because some people have chosen to march down a street”.  The first thing that concerns me about this is that the EDL’s demonstration was not merely some people marching down a street. I mean forget the fascism for moment and just look at the fact that this has cost £800,000 to police! If someone like William Hague in a powerful position can dismiss the EDL so easily, what does it tell us? What does it mean for the people being persecuted? And then the people persecuted after that? I don’t genuinely believe that Cameron timed his speech to coincide with the EDL’s march. The timing was simply unwise suggesting perhaps that the administration did not recognize the EDL and its impact which leads me to my next question. Why isn’t this fascist organization being dealt with more seriously?

The next EDL demonstration planned for Saturday 19th March will take place in Birmingham. The full impact of the Luton demonstration will be revealed in terms of the groups progression. I just hope there will be a visible increase in the number of people who attend counter demonstrations.

Here is some extra footage I managed to capture of the EDL leaving Luton:

Chants include: “I h*te Muslim bombers”, “Muslim Paedo’s, off our streets”, “Muslim bombers, off our streets”, “Who’s streets, Our streets”.