The incident took place at a dance organised for young children between the ages of 6-11 to attend in what should have been a safe environment. It turned out anything but safe! Three children were killed and another eight injured in this sick incident.
There can be no doubt such incidents as these are a recurring practice within the misleadingly called “civilised world” particularly the ‘land of the free’, the USA. Irrespective of where they happen the fact is they should not. However, the reaction by far-right and fascist groups to these murders makes the blood boil even higher. These pro Hitlerites use such tragic happenings to further their own sick political ends including xenophobia, racism, Islamophobia and anti-Hindu feeling along with anti-Semitism. Riots took place after the slaying of these children organised, reportedly, by the ‘English Defence League’ (EDL) who appear to blame all Muslims and black people, if there are no Muslims about, for these atrocities.
A 17 year-old youth, Alex Ruda Kubana, who is of Rwandan extraction and was brought up in a Christian family and in his infancy attended church, not a Mosque, was arrested. Demonstrations turning into riots occurred when gangs of racists began burning Mosques. Maybe these thugs are even less intelligent than previously thought, which is why they are used by the leaderships of organisations like the EDL, and cannot tell the difference between a Christian and a Muslim, a church and a Mosque. Are they really that ignorant? Not that either should have been attacked and burned but to target the wrong building, a total opposite religious structure, is really taking the term ‘imbecile’ to new depths. The fact is these gangs were/are not remotely interested in the building or what religion the assailant is but moreover they are only interested in spreading anti-Muslim hatred.
A 17 year-old youth, Alex Ruda Kubana, who is of Rwandan extraction and was brought up in a Christian family and in his infancy attended church, not a Mosque, was arrested. Demonstrations turning into riots occurred when gangs of racists began burning Mosques. Maybe these thugs are even less intelligent than previously thought, which is why they are used by the leaderships of organisations like the EDL, and cannot tell the difference between a Christian and a Muslim, a church and a Mosque. Are they really that ignorant? Not that either should have been attacked and burned but to target the wrong building, a total opposite religious structure, is really taking the term ‘imbecile’ to new depths. The fact is these gangs were/are not remotely interested in the building or what religion the assailant is but moreover they are only interested in spreading anti-Muslim hatred.
These riots spread all across England (Scotland and Wales so far appear unaffected) and the presence of far-right thugs is in evidence on all of them. Some wave England football flags and sport replica England shirts - an insult to the English national football team - claiming some sort of patriotism. In Sunderland, again supposedly in support of the relatives the deceased children in Southport, gangs rioted, injuring police in the process. These violent instances are spreading with Rotherham and South Yorkshire now adding to the number of venues. The tragedy in Southport is being used in a sick way as an excuse for these thugs, used and abused themselves if they could only see it - by a leadership who never themselves attend such rallies - to do the donkey work. These far-right groups are funded clandestinely by elements in the business community who see fascism as their insurance against the far-left and Marxism.
These strategies used by the neo-fascists today are not dissimilar to those used by the Nazi Party in Germany back in the 1930s. In 1938 a German and Nazi diplomat, Ernst Eduard Vom Rath, was shot and killed in Paris. His assailant, a Jew, named Herschel Grynszpan gave Hitler the excuse to whip up ant-Semitism, something he had been trying to do since his coming to power in 1933, with very limited success until this point. This incident gave him the leverage to push the German people into a fit of rage fuelled by Nazi exaggerations. The result was the ‘Kristallnacht’ of the same year resulting in Jewish Synagogues and property being looted and burned. Jewish people were physically attacked and, in some cases, killed. Many were shipped off to concentration camps. See the similarities? Any excuse, even the tragic killings of children, will do for these far-right groups.
These riots have spread across the Irish sea to Belfast as gangs of racists waving ‘Union Jacks’ and Tricolours took to the streets. Some of these waving the Irish flag were reportedly from Coolock, Dublin, where racist and anti-immigration tensions have been high recently. The Irish far-right are involved here and they are very much the junior partner with the British fascists. This flag waving by erstwhile foes is concerning. The British far-right and fascist groups have for years seen the whole of Ireland as the imperialist property of Britain and have never ruled out the reconquest of the entire island. Now, it would appear, they have support from the indigenous population outside the traditional unionist and loyalist areas. These people from Coolock standing with union flag waving loyalists can only denote a strand of loyalism within themselves! Do these tricolour waving illiterates not realise the flag they are standing in support of is the very same one which flew over Dublin Castle until 1922? Have the residents of Belfast who were also on the protest waving the tricolour forgotten that those who burned the nationalist areas back in 1969 did so under this very same Union Flag? On the other hand, could those in Belfast waving the Irish flag have been stooges put there to create a false image of solidarity by the far-right including loyalists? That is a possibility but somehow I have my doubts. One Belfast youth waving an Irish flag shouted “look we are together now” implying the events of the past including the thirty-year war fought by the IRA and INLA were insignificant. What an insult to those who fell in the conflict.
On a far brighter note in Belfast it was great to see counter demonstrations by anti-fascists which outnumbered the morons of the far-right. Shouts of “shame on you” were directed towards the racists of tricolour and union flag waving half-wits. Thankfully across the island the anti-racists so far still outnumber those of the far-right. That does not mean the fascist threat is not real. Whoever controls the streets, in my experience, has the initiative and despite superior numbers the anti-fascists cannot yet claim this. History tells us the communists (KPD) in Germany easily outnumbered the Nazis both on the streets and in the Reichstag but due to complacency and the failure of the KPD and SDP (Social Democrats) to unite it was the forces of evil which prevailed.
These strategies used by the neo-fascists today are not dissimilar to those used by the Nazi Party in Germany back in the 1930s. In 1938 a German and Nazi diplomat, Ernst Eduard Vom Rath, was shot and killed in Paris. His assailant, a Jew, named Herschel Grynszpan gave Hitler the excuse to whip up ant-Semitism, something he had been trying to do since his coming to power in 1933, with very limited success until this point. This incident gave him the leverage to push the German people into a fit of rage fuelled by Nazi exaggerations. The result was the ‘Kristallnacht’ of the same year resulting in Jewish Synagogues and property being looted and burned. Jewish people were physically attacked and, in some cases, killed. Many were shipped off to concentration camps. See the similarities? Any excuse, even the tragic killings of children, will do for these far-right groups.
These riots have spread across the Irish sea to Belfast as gangs of racists waving ‘Union Jacks’ and Tricolours took to the streets. Some of these waving the Irish flag were reportedly from Coolock, Dublin, where racist and anti-immigration tensions have been high recently. The Irish far-right are involved here and they are very much the junior partner with the British fascists. This flag waving by erstwhile foes is concerning. The British far-right and fascist groups have for years seen the whole of Ireland as the imperialist property of Britain and have never ruled out the reconquest of the entire island. Now, it would appear, they have support from the indigenous population outside the traditional unionist and loyalist areas. These people from Coolock standing with union flag waving loyalists can only denote a strand of loyalism within themselves! Do these tricolour waving illiterates not realise the flag they are standing in support of is the very same one which flew over Dublin Castle until 1922? Have the residents of Belfast who were also on the protest waving the tricolour forgotten that those who burned the nationalist areas back in 1969 did so under this very same Union Flag? On the other hand, could those in Belfast waving the Irish flag have been stooges put there to create a false image of solidarity by the far-right including loyalists? That is a possibility but somehow I have my doubts. One Belfast youth waving an Irish flag shouted “look we are together now” implying the events of the past including the thirty-year war fought by the IRA and INLA were insignificant. What an insult to those who fell in the conflict.
On a far brighter note in Belfast it was great to see counter demonstrations by anti-fascists which outnumbered the morons of the far-right. Shouts of “shame on you” were directed towards the racists of tricolour and union flag waving half-wits. Thankfully across the island the anti-racists so far still outnumber those of the far-right. That does not mean the fascist threat is not real. Whoever controls the streets, in my experience, has the initiative and despite superior numbers the anti-fascists cannot yet claim this. History tells us the communists (KPD) in Germany easily outnumbered the Nazis both on the streets and in the Reichstag but due to complacency and the failure of the KPD and SDP (Social Democrats) to unite it was the forces of evil which prevailed.
It was also very encouraging to see the residents of the Ormeau Road, a republican and nationalist area of Belfast, coming out to confront and oppose the racists making it abundantly clear they were not welcome in their area. Let us hope that more areas across the island come out, as they have in many instances, in direct opposition to the racists and hate mongers.
It is true, Ireland has a long tradition of far-right involvement, it also has a long tradition of opposing such ideologies. The IRA opposed the Blue Shirts in the 1930s and the Republican Congress was formed, 1934-36, on an anti-fascist platform, and many of its members fought for the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War against Franco’s fascists. Long may the latter tradition last and grow.
As anti-immigration protests, leading to violent clashes with police, grow across Britain waiting in the wings is the far-right face of respectability, Nigel Farage. Farage is a former Thatcherite Conservative and Unionist Party member and was the leader of the right-wing UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) during the anti-EU Brexit campaign. Farage is now the leader, or major shareholder, of Reform UK. This party is unlike other parliamentary parties and is run as a limited company with shareholders which Farage holds the most shares making him leader. Could this be the sign of things to come? Could this be the beginning of corporatism, a key factor of fascism, in British politics?
As anti-immigration protests, leading to violent clashes with police, grow across Britain waiting in the wings is the far-right face of respectability, Nigel Farage. Farage is a former Thatcherite Conservative and Unionist Party member and was the leader of the right-wing UKIP (United Kingdom Independence Party) during the anti-EU Brexit campaign. Farage is now the leader, or major shareholder, of Reform UK. This party is unlike other parliamentary parties and is run as a limited company with shareholders which Farage holds the most shares making him leader. Could this be the sign of things to come? Could this be the beginning of corporatism, a key factor of fascism, in British politics?
Reform has five MPs and captured 14.3% of the popular vote in the 2024 General Election. Much will depend on how Keir Starmer, Labour Prime Minister, fares in his new role. Farage will be watching how the Labour Government manage the affairs of British capitalism. He will also be watching how the government police these disturbances and how much propaganda milage there may be for him to exploit. Nigel Farage represents a far bigger threat than do the cannon fodder on the streets who the likes of Reform use and, if ever in government, will arrest and lock up in camps no doubt. These thugs causing racial mayhem on the streets today fuelling the policies of the likes of Nigel Farage, after they have outlived their usefulness will be then interned as they will be surplus to requirements. Maybe these stooges should read about the ‘Night of the Long Knives’ in Nazi Germany!
It would be reasonable to say most of those used as cannon fodder by these organisations' leaderships are not fascists, they lack the intelligence to spell the word. They are being used by very clever and evil people, faceless souls, behind the scenes. They do not understand the features of fascism like corporatism, in its right wing pro-capitalist big business sense, corporate governance involving big business at the heart of government and one-party corporate states. Even anti-trade unionism would be over most of their heads. This political illiteracy does not mean they are harmless, they are not! Just as Hitler used the less than bright thugs of the SA to gain power in Germany, later executing that organisations leadership in the ‘Night of the Long Knives’, so too are the leaders of these far-right organisations using these politically illiterate folk to cause mayhem and whip up racial hatred on our streets. This ignorance does not mean these youths shouldn’t be stopped because they should and by whatever means necessary, preferably education for starters but after that?
It would be reasonable to say most of those used as cannon fodder by these organisations' leaderships are not fascists, they lack the intelligence to spell the word. They are being used by very clever and evil people, faceless souls, behind the scenes. They do not understand the features of fascism like corporatism, in its right wing pro-capitalist big business sense, corporate governance involving big business at the heart of government and one-party corporate states. Even anti-trade unionism would be over most of their heads. This political illiteracy does not mean they are harmless, they are not! Just as Hitler used the less than bright thugs of the SA to gain power in Germany, later executing that organisations leadership in the ‘Night of the Long Knives’, so too are the leaders of these far-right organisations using these politically illiterate folk to cause mayhem and whip up racial hatred on our streets. This ignorance does not mean these youths shouldn’t be stopped because they should and by whatever means necessary, preferably education for starters but after that?
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| Caoimhin O’Muraile is Independent Socialist Republican and Marxist. |
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