We didn't start it. They started it. And as I have no reason to believe our governments or security services have learned a damned thing, it looks all too likely to get ugly.
The gathering is remarkable, as on a match day these men would be fighting each other. But it is politics that has drawn them together. They are headed for Manchester to support a march by the burgeoning English Defence League.
The police are here in force, too. 'Take that mask off,' barks a sergeant to one young man. He does so immediately but protests: 'Why are they allowed to wear burkas in public but we're not allowed to cover our faces?'
'Just do what you're told,' the policeman snaps back.
'It's always the same these days. One rule for them and another for us. I'm sick of this country,' a man standing next to me says in a West Country accent.
From the sound of this, you've got a bunch of people who've decided that since they're going to be called- and treated as- racists no matter what they do or say, they're doing to meet with/work with/talk to various groups they wouldn't have in the past.
Ghost of a Flea's post here.
Couple of things about the Daily Mail article:
In the headline it has This is England: Masked like terrorists, members of Britain's newest and fastest -growing protest group intimidate a Muslim woman on a train en route to a violent demo, with a picture of a woman in hijab below, part of the caption ...while a woman dressed in a black hijab appears intimidated. Then, in the article,
'We had joy, we had fun, we had Muslims on the run,' he starts up. Nobody joins in and a couple of his mates tell him to 'shut up' as they point to a woman dressed in a black hijab sitting at a table.
A man standing close to her is masked and holds a placard. It has a picture of a Muslim woman crying with red blood streaming down her face. 'Sharia law oppresses women!' the slogan reads.
Sounds like a mix of people, some of whom- probably a good many- believe what this EDL leader said:
'For more than a decade now there's been tension in Luton between Muslim youths and whites. We all get on fine - black, white, Indian, Chinese... Everyone does, in fact, apart from these Muslim youths who've become extremely radicalised since the first Gulf War. This is because preachers of hate live in Luton and have been recruiting for radical Islamist groups for years. Our Government does nothing about them so we decided that we'd start protesting.'
It's liable to get real interesting over there. What happens when there's some terrorist attack or open threat to kill people and the government throws some words around and does nothing? And then threatens anyone who speaks out? And people start saying "Screw you! You don't like it, come and get us!"?
The police are here in force, too. 'Take that mask off,' barks a sergeant to one young man. He does so immediately but protests: 'Why are they allowed to wear burkas in public but we're not allowed to cover our faces?'
'Just do what you're told,' the policeman snaps back.
'It's always the same these days. One rule for them and another for us. I'm sick of this country,' a man standing next to me says in a West Country accent.
From the sound of this, you've got a bunch of people who've decided that since they're going to be called- and treated as- racists no matter what they do or say, they're doing to meet with/work with/talk to various groups they wouldn't have in the past.
Ghost of a Flea's post here.
Couple of things about the Daily Mail article:
In the headline it has This is England: Masked like terrorists, members of Britain's newest and fastest -growing protest group intimidate a Muslim woman on a train en route to a violent demo, with a picture of a woman in hijab below, part of the caption ...while a woman dressed in a black hijab appears intimidated. Then, in the article,
'We had joy, we had fun, we had Muslims on the run,' he starts up. Nobody joins in and a couple of his mates tell him to 'shut up' as they point to a woman dressed in a black hijab sitting at a table.
A man standing close to her is masked and holds a placard. It has a picture of a Muslim woman crying with red blood streaming down her face. 'Sharia law oppresses women!' the slogan reads.
Sounds like a mix of people, some of whom- probably a good many- believe what this EDL leader said:
'For more than a decade now there's been tension in Luton between Muslim youths and whites. We all get on fine - black, white, Indian, Chinese... Everyone does, in fact, apart from these Muslim youths who've become extremely radicalised since the first Gulf War. This is because preachers of hate live in Luton and have been recruiting for radical Islamist groups for years. Our Government does nothing about them so we decided that we'd start protesting.'
2 comments:
"Tension in Luton for more than a decade"
It was either summer 1983 or 1984, when a street full of angry Muslims was separated by a cross roads full of cops from a street full of equally angry Irish.
Reason for the near riot; someone (reputedly a West Indian) had defiled the new built mosque, and the Moslems were blaming the Irish.
I forget whether it was '85 or '86 when the BPYP (Bury Park Youth Posse - a Moslem youth mob) were petrol bombing out houses.
Yeah, I lived in Luton quarter of a century ago. It was not a good idea to be in town on a football match day (the threat to whites was from mostly Moslem teenagers, west indians Hindus sikhs and Irish were no bother, my best mates sister had a West indian boyfriend etc etc etc).
Friends decided to move house after their landlord was arrested and done for firearms offences before Rajiv Ghandi came to Britain (Semi auto rifles and pistols were still legal then!).
Luton has had problems for a very long time, they've just been swept under the carpet.
Thank you successive British governments of both parties, for bringing the place to a Wiemar moment.
"'Take that mask off,' barks a sergeant to one young man. He does so immediately but protests: 'Why are they allowed to wear burkas in public but we're not allowed to cover our faces?'"
It would probably be prosecuted as some assinine "insensitivity", but perhaps the masks ought to be made to resemble burkas.
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