As expected, the racist far-right groups have attempted to use the killing of British soldier Lee Rigby in London in order to justify more racist violence.
Despite Muslims’ condemnation of the killing, which of course is against the teachings of Islam, police records show a five-fold increase in racist attacks on Muslims since the incident.
Mosques in particular were targeted: Grimsby mosque was burnt, while Muslims met English Defence League (EDL) racists outside a mosque in York with tea, biscuits and soccer. Arson attacks on mosques are not something new, and members of the EDL and the BNP were convicted previously for attacking mosques, but they were never referred to as terrorists.
Here in Belfast, the Belfast Islamic Centre (BIC) was attacked with a paint bomb, an incident treated by the police as a hate crime. Sadly, however, this was not the end of it for the BIC.
A new racist far right group, the Ulster Defence League (UDL) – a sister organisation of the EDL – posted on its Facebook page that it was organising a protest to start outside the city hall and then to march towards the BIC on 1 June. More than 1,000 people like the UDL Facebook page, but only 17 people clicked ‘like’ at the protest post.
Word about the racist event spread very quickly and anti-racism campaigners started to organise a counter-protest outside the BIC. Trustees and administrators at the centre said that they did not want a counter-protest, in order to prevent any tension between the two sides.
They also said that they informed the police, and it is up to them to ensure the safety of the mosque. The counter-protest was therefore moved to the city hall in order to disrupt the UDL plans.
More than 150 people attended the counter-protest, which started half an hour before the UDL rally. We were all waiting to see the fascists arriving at the city hall. Their event was as pathetic as their ideas. Only two men, one woman and her three children turned up and they never made their march towards the BIC.
Looking at their Facebook page after the event, they acknowledged that they turned themselves into a laughing stock. Material on that same page also, for me, backed up research findings that demonstrate a link between low IQ and racism. For example, one of their posts said they are ‘working class men and womans [sic]’.
What is worrying, however, is that far-right groups tend to grow over time, and to thrive on financial crisis and ignorance. It is also worrying that they advertised for a flag protest on their page, which means they are combining racism with sectarianism and will try to make a presence in particular areas.
Racism against Muslims in particular is more likely to increase. This is mainly to do with UK foreign policy and its invasion and bombing of different Muslim countries, which has resulted in the killing of hundreds of thousands of Muslims. In order to do that, a demonisation of Muslims in general is essential. Therefore, racism and colonialism go hand in hand, and colonial countries will always be racist countries.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair – who wrote an article in the Daily Mail on 1 June that contained incitement – was warned by the head of the MI5 that invading Iraq will make Britain more vulnerable to terrorism. It is mainly these issues that cause some Muslims’ anger, and incidents like the killing of the soldier in London. So it’s not hard to argue that colonialism is the root cause of racism and terror.
Mohammed Samaana is a freelance writer based in Belfast.
