Day 1 - Misconceptions and hypocrisy of the EDL and supposed rascistsSo where else to start then a topic where everybody will disagree with me and ultimately stop reading the blog. I am determined not to start it with the most famous line of the last 2 weeks "I'm not a rascist but.."
I have been in England 2 times in the past 3 years but in that time the EDL (English Defence League) has grown quite a lot. I play a lot of poker and always have played with 2 screens, I hate having tables of both of the screens so always have a youtube video on the other screen with anything from Britains Got Talent, to Louis Theroux to Football Hooligans. The latter I assume had an "associated" (suggested) video to the EDL and from the start I was always really intrigued.
My family were always old school Labour, my Dad was actually a Labour Councillor and my parents met in a Labour rally against Thatcher I think. When the regime went more left wing in the 80s and 90s they basically gave up hope of the party and thus growing up never really pointed me in any direction on a political party but would often curse about the Conservatives.
Anyway, fast forward these 3 years and Lee Rigby gets "be-headed" in the capital and all hell breaks loose. My facebook feed basically turns into a burst of patrioism and those who have previously wrote, and I quote "Can't wait to get out of this fucking country, fucking misery" , "Bring on Ibiza, 5 months out of England get in" and "Failing to see what I did wrong in a previous life to be born in the UK" now started saying things such as, and again I quote "Its about time we all stand up for our country, things NEED TO CHANGE" , "I'm not rascist, but we have to do something against all these foreigners thinking they can take over the country" and "I don't care what you think, I'm going to go on the rally on Saturday its time we stood together for what we believe in".
So then I was pretty intrigued by how everything would be, the rally was going to be in my hometown in Newcastle where almost all my family and friends live.
So I speak to them in the following order:
Parents - "Its a disgrace son, things are getting out of hand with these Muslims just doing whatever they feel like"
Best Friend (is a sikh) "Yeah the EDL are bad, but the Muslims are 100000x worse, its pretty sad that I cant go to town on Saturday because people will think I'm a Muslim when in reality Sikhs and Muslims can't stand eachother"
Other Friend, Oxford University "EDL are so stupid, they literally have no idea what they are talking about"
Friend, Manchester "This happens on a weekly basis in Manchester, just the newspapers blowing everything out of proportion and sensationalizing everything.
Then the last friend I see who went from Newcastle to Sheffield with me and was on my course at University.
"Newcastle Unites Against the EDL. Important action, 1pm at City Hall today."
So now, these Anti Fascist marches and organizations are some of the most tilting things I have ever seen and I already know its going to rile me.
So the March finishes and whilst I'm bluffcatching vs the weekend fish I keep re-freshing YouTube and checking for the most recent videos from "EDL Newcastle 2013, upload - Today".
They start coming in slowly but surely. I then log on to Facebook and a lot of people from school are uploading videos.
One of, if not the first video I saw was the following
"EDL Scumbags Start Fight With Peaceful Demonstrators"
So from the videos I basically see the EDL walking around, very calmy with some pretty silly yet harmless chants like "God save the Queen" "Who's streets? Our Streets" and "En-ger-lannnnnd" of course there was probably some "Allah Allah, who the fuck is Allah" and "Allah is a pedo" both of which I condemn but on the whole I would say 7000, mostly working class men, mostly intoxicated on a bank holiday acted very well and respectful. The leaders of the EDL both gave 20 minutes speeches and people listened and tried to educate themselves.
Now lets look at the "peaceful protestors" who were "peacefully" protesting against the "Nazi" scum who were trying to inflict hate on the country. The same protestors who in their dozens were physically assaulting and attacking 2 guys because of their political beliefs. Other videos show EDL members walking very calmy through their own streets to go to a protest/march that they are legally allowed to do and being attacked by hundreds of people.
The funny thing is this should all be the opposite, or thats how the media would like you to see it. We have lets say 800, mostly university educated middle aged people on the streets against 7000 working class, largely unemployed and intoxicated men, a lot who are the stereotypical football hooligan. One is protesting peacefully, their leaders giving insightful speeches talking about their opinions and beliefs, the other side is shouting "SCUM SCUM SCUM" (often found at a football ground) throwing missiles (often happening at a football ground) and attacking individuals in groups of 10-20.
There was a lot of young people in the opposition too, either sons/daughters of the people protesting, or just generally kids who are in "town" on a Saturday. The people who should be their role models that are trying to fight against rascism are instead acting exactly like the people they are protesting against, they are not trying to educate the new people in the March about why the EDL and similar organisations are in the wrong, they are not tying to protest peacefully as they claim rather showing young people that if you don't agree with somebody you should get in their face, call them scum and them assault them. They are in fact the scum and whilst I would never want to be on either side of the demonstration the last place you would find me would be with these hypocritical scumbags.
The main point is that one side is educated and the other isn't. Most of the people on the EDL march will have been there because
1. They have a relative in the army and were pissed
2. They were with some friends on bank holiday and "kind of agree"
3. They believe there is a major problem in their country that they want to help fix
4. They are just shocked by the last week and think they have to do something
5. They live in an area that is heavily populated with Muslims and have became "anti-Muslim"
6. They watched the documentary on channel 4 about Muslim pedophile rings/rape gangs
7. They hate anybody who is not English
So the opposition so eloquently put it "Nazi scum off our streets" of the above only number 7 could be really argued for being "Nazi Scum" all of the rest is just uneducated working class guys who are pissed off because of media sensationalization and went to the streets on a sunny bank holiday and had a few drinks with friends from football or the local pub.
Now just a little bit more hypocrisy for those who are still reading.
On the morning on the rally there were 3 people arrested because of inciting racial hatred via Twitter, they were all English. Their tweets said something about hating muslims and I assume about fighting/kiling them. I'm not sure as I didn't see them.
I started following EDLtrobinson on Friday before the March to see pictures and videos of the Saturday Rally. He re-tweeted around 30 messages between Friday and Satuday from Mulims and members of the opposition (Newcastle Unites etc) promising him that he was going to die, promosing that his family would die and that his kids would be raped. There was 0 arrests. He is the same guy who gets attacked every day, both physically and verbally and continues to lead the party. He isn't the best guy in the world, hes been in jail, ironically, for going into a country without the required documents
but he has had his fair share of assaults from the opposition.
Slapped by Muslim leader on the TV.
The whole EDL actually arised because in 2009?? Soldiers returning from Iraq?? were met my Muslim protestors calling them scum, telling them to go to hell and then spitting on them. Still to this day they are allowed to burn poppies as part of their "right to protest" and be in touching distance of the Soldiers as they (again peacefully) walk through the streets. If there is a Muslim protest the EDL and anybody else who wants to share their disgust has to stay away.
The whole hypocrisy topic is one that completely tilts the fuck out of me, the way the educated opposition act, the way that (part of) the Muslim community is allowed to act and the way the press and the police act is just completely ridiculous. The more these things get out, the more that these parties will actually gain followers and ultimately voters.
I hope that I don't come across as a EDL sympathizer, or a rascist/fascist or whatever bracket you get thrown in these days for speaking about what you think, my whole point is that those who could do a great deal of change, who are educated, who are mature (at age at least) and who DO CURRENTLY HAVE THE SYMPATHY of 90% of the nation act in the most ridiculous way. The people on the EDL side are also not mindless Nazi rascists, they are just angry (whilst still calm!) uneducated working class guys.
I only made this the first entry as its not so relevant later in the month and its fresh on my mind right now. Will speak about 3betting or something tomorrow!
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