FPÖ leader StracheThe southern Austrian state of Carinthia was long a source of inspiration for right-wing populists across Europe. As early as 1989, the Freedom Party of Carinthia (FPK) briefly nabbed the governor's mansion in the state. In 1999, the right-wingers – behind the charismatic leadership of Jörg Haider – emerged victorious in state elections once again, and have managed to hold onto the state since.

Until Sunday, that is. In a key state election seen as a bellwether for the Austrian general election approaching in September, Carinthian voters delivered a painful blow to the FPK, the state chapter of the national Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ). Sunday evening exit polls indicated that the FPK managed a mere 17.1 percent of the vote – a veritable collapse since their 45 percent result four years ago. It was the largest vote-on-vote disintegration ever seen in postwar Austria.

The Social Democratic party SPÖ won with 37.1 percent of the vote, while the center-right ÖVP landed in third place with 14.2 percent.

Sunday's result – combined with their meager 8.2 percent showing in the other Austrian state election on Sunday, in Lower Austria – does not bode well for the right-wing populists this autumn. "It was a clear rejection and a … clear demand for a restart," said a visibly irate FPÖ head Hans-Christian Strache on Austrian television on Monday morning.

Spiegel, 4 March 2013

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The fragmentation of the far right could spark a new wave of political violence and Anders Breivik-style lone-wolf acts of terrorism, according to the head of the UK's first research centre into contemporary fascism.

The warning comes as new figures reveal that there have been nearly 500 anti-Islamic attacks since March, with more than half linked to supporters of far-right groups. Professor Nigel Copsey told The Independent that the electoral decline of the British National Party (BNP) and the splintering of street-based protest organisations such as the English Defence League (EDL) had created a potentially dangerous political vacuum on the far right.

He said the relative success of right-wing groups in recent years had radicalised thousands of people online who could seek new and more violent ways to express their opposition to Islam, immigration and economic stagnation.

"We have disturbing levels of hate crime in this country which gets under-reported, and we need to know more about the level to which the far right is involved in this," he said. "This fragmentation and disintegration of the far right could increase the potential for political violence from small aggressive groups or lone-wolf or sole-actor terrorism."

Speaking to mark the launch of the new Centre for Fascist, Anti-fascist and Post-Fascist Studies at Teesside University, he said there was no room for complacency: "We ignore them at our peril because the demand for and the causes of the far right are still with us – they haven't gone away and in some cases are getting worse."

Independent, 28 December 2012

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The setbacks suffered by the English Defence League – shrinking numbers attending its demonstrations, its leader in prison, its deputy leader arrested for incitement to racial hatred – are seen by others on the far right as an opportunity to build a new organisation under their own control to replace the EDL.

EDL News draws our attention to a far-right unity meeting that took place in Dartford at the weekend, evidently on the initiative of the group Britain First, the aim of which was to "lay plans for a unified, well organised new street protest movement".

Britain First was formed as a breakaway from the British National Party. Its leaders are former BNP councillor Paul Golding and Jim Dowson, who headed the BNP's at one point highly successful fundraising operation.

So far, Britain First's attempts to emulate the EDL have not have been marked by any notable success. Despite all sections of the far right being invited to participate, its protests against "Muslim grooming" and against a Southend mosque attracted very limited support. Dowson, however, has recently been playing a prominent role in the loyalist flag protests in Belfast and no doubt fancies himself as the leader of a new mass movement against Islam in Britain.

One of the participants at the Dartford event was Paul Pitt, the EDL's former South East organiser, who last year was responsible for holding demonstrations against a proposed mosque in Chelmsford. In July he led a few dozen EDL members through the town in a flash protest during which they shouted racist abuse at passers-by and chanted "You burn our poppy, we burn your mosque". Pitt has since broken with the EDL and has launched a new organisation called the South East Alliance, which piously claims to be a "non-political community based street movement".

Also worth noting is the presence at the Dartford meeting of English Democrats party leader Robin Tilbrook. Although the EDP is not itself of fascist origin it has attracted a significant number of former BNP members as a result of the crisis in that party, notably the BNP's one-time elections organiser Eddy Butler. Dowson himself has pursued a twin-track approach of building Britain First while at the same time placing his fundraising abilities at the service of the EDP (presumably in exchange for a large cut of the proceeds).

The EDP is a political party that is committed to pursuing an electoral strategy, which it has done with some limited success. It won the election for mayor of Doncaster in 2009 and did quite well in last year's police commissioner elections, coming second in South Yorkshire with 15.6% of the vote. It is difficult to believe that Tilbrook is so stupid as to imagine that association with a revamped anti-Muslim street movement with its full complement of racists, fascists and thugs would boost his party's appeal to voters. Even if he is, it is likely that many members of the EDP will disagree.

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A mosque at Val-de-Reuil in Normandy in north-western France was sprayed with far-right graffiti last Wednesday night. Slogans included "Anti-Islam", "Long live the FN" and "France, love it or leave it". As the Collectif contre l'Islamophobie en France points out, these days every week brings new acts of Islamophobic vandalism.

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Byker Grove will be transformed into an Islamic school. Council planning chiefs have given the go-ahead to plans to convert Bishop's Palace – used to film the popular TV series – into a fee-paying faith school.

The BAHR Academy will cater for up to 340 boys and girls between 11 and 16 in Benwell, Newcastle. But the development of the currently empty and run-down site will also include a community building, coffee shop and events space open at weekends.

The plans were approved by Newcastle City Council at a meeting yesterday despite some objections being raised by residents about traffic congestion and noise around the site, which was used to film the children's TV show which launched Ant and Dec and Donna Air to fame.

BAHR Academy principal Mufti Muhammad Abdulmuheet welcomed the decision, which he said will see a derelict building put back into the community.

"When it was run by the BBC, the site was not open to everyone but we want the public to come along, the community facilities are for everyone to use," he said. "We want to show that Islam is inclusive and we want to be a part of Benwell and Scotswood. At the moment the building is in a dire state but the community has raised funds to bring it back into use."

Evening Chronicle, 15 December 2012

Needless to say, the English Defence League are not happy.

The EDL staged a protest at the site in November 2010, during which they chanted "scum" and "no surrender to the Taliban". A week earlier a pig's head was left outside the building. The British National Party was also involved in the campaign against what it called "Burka Grove".

The EDL demonstration was organised by former BNP parliamentary candidate Alan Spence, who recently served a 7-month prison sentence for his part in an attack by an EDL gang on Tyneside Irish Centre.

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A fourth protest at the site of a new mosque in Sunderland ended with no violence and with only two arrests.

Around 40 officers policed the demonstration on St Mark's Road in Millfield.

Between 50 and 60 protesters gathered and one man was arrested for breach of the peace and another for racial chanting.

Police say organisers from newly-formed far-right group the Northern Patriotic Front assured them there would be no trouble.

The group was founded in August 2012 and made up most of the right-wing presence at the latest demonstration.

A counter-protest was also held by anti-fascist groups and members of the Muslim community.

Sky Tyne and Wear, 17 November 2012

See also Hope Not Hate, 17 November 2012

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Forgotten estates: far right extremists move into community politics

By Dave Porter and Owen Jones

HOPE not hate, November-December 2012

FAR-RIGHT EXTREMISTS looking to spread their message of hate are infiltrating community protest groups and hijacking them for their own political ends.

Leicester has become the latest battleground for extremists spreading messages of hate under the banner of community activism.

Self-declared racists from the EDL and BNP are hijacking sensitive community issues to their own ends – using them as a fertile recruiting ground while pretending to be non-political.

Through these means, large sections of the community who would normally shun such hate groups are being hoodwinked by racists looking to capitalise on and stir up local feelings.

In Leicester, a group calling itself the Committee for the Forgotten Estates of Thurnby Lodge and Netherall has been central in organising protests against a former scout hut in Thurnby Lodge being converted into a community centre by a Muslim organisation called As-Salaam Trust.

HOPE not hate has conducted an investigation into the activities of Forgotten Estates and uncovered direct links from organisers to groups such as the EDL and the East Midlands Infidels.

Self-professed EDL supporter Chris Hopewell was pictured handing over a 1,500-name petition to the city council over the issue of Thurnby Lodge scout hut, while local EDL Craig Elliott has also been spotted on marches organised by the group. EDL thug James Elliott – convicted of head butting a member of Leicester Unite Against Fascism at a Love Music Hate Racism Festival – has also appeared at Thurnby Lodge protest marches.

BNP leader Nick Griffin has also tried to jump on the bandwagon by appearing at the marches in Leicester. In one of his tweets about his visit to the estate, he talked about going on the "anti-Mosque march" and how "great it is to see English people stand up!". In another he boasts about "many buses and cars hooting support" adding "My speech very well received". Those on the ground, however, report a different story, with Griffin all but ignored by local residents.

Griffin also claimed on Twitter that following one march, Thurnby Lodge estate was "invaded by 50 Muslim youths plus carloads" and that "ladies from neighbouring estate warn that since it has got a prayer room they get sexist and racist abuse". The usual uncorroborated rumour-mongering.

Forgotten Estates has been openly provocative in its tactics. Marches to the Thurncoat Community Centre – where As-Salaam currently meets – have been routed to go past the house of its imam, Mohammed Lockhat. And it was even claimed that a cross on neighbouring Anglican Christ Church had to be covered up to protect the sensibilities of local Muslims, something Canon David Monteith, the acting Archdeacon of Leicester, called a "malicious rumour" and "totally unfounded".

Also witnessed taking part in protests against Thurnby Lodge have been members of Casuals United and Islamophobic group, 212 Poison.

Alistair Markland, head of Leicester HOPE not hate, says: "What is most shocking about the Thurnby Lodge case is the sheer length the EDL and other far-right groups will go to fabricate lies and myths about minority groups in the community. I think this issue should be seen as a warning against complacency for anti-racist activists, particularly considering the extent this issue has spiralled out of control, even in the context of a wider perception of far-right decline."

Members of far-right groups regularly use Facebook to boast of their activities and encourage other members of hate groups to join in the Leicester protest. The East Midlands Infidels are known for their flash demos against Muslim groups in the city centre, while other far-right groups active on the estate include the BNP and English Community Group (led  by former BNP activist Clive Potter).

There is genuine anger among local residents on Thurnby Lodge estate over the issue, although when the council invited more than 100 groups to bid for the lease on the former scout hut, the only bid to meet the lease criteria was from As-Salaam. Residents have told the council they want the hut retaining for community use, possibly as the base for a boxing club.

The momentum created by Forgotten Estates has been helped by both Leicester City Council and ward councilors being caught off-guard by the strength of feeling about Thurnby Lodge scout hut.  

In August, 400 residents took to the streets during Friday prayers to protest against As-Salaam taking over the hut (although they have later claimed it was against the Council). BBC footage showed many walking around in EDL tops. Lies were later spread that 50 Muslims attacked the demo and that the next-door pub would have to be closed on Fridays when the 'mosque' opens (sic Nick Griffin's tweets).

A meeting planned on the issue in July by ward councillors was inexplicably cancelled although elected Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, has pledged to sit down with both sides to try and reach a compromise.

Councillor Luis Fonseca admits that the council and ward councillors have been taken aback by the level of feeling on the estate, although he stresses that the council did everything correctly in terms of procedures. He also recognises that the residents' protest is in danger of being taken over by the far-right.

"It is worrying. These people should not be there, it is a matter between the residents and the councillors and council. That should not have happened – they are trying to use the protests as a tool for power," he said.

Much of the organising for the Thurnby Lodge scout hut marches takes place at the Stirrup Cup pub on the estate. Anger stems from people saying they were not consulted over the scout hut use, adding to an already existing feeling that the council does not care about residents on the estate. Landlady Maxine Williams has been quoted as saying that protests are not directed against Muslims but against the council.

In its petition to the council presented by Chris Hopewell, objections to use of the scout hut by As-Salaam were centred round the issue of car parking, a familiar and all-embracing tactic. Most members of As-Salaam live within walking distance of the scout hut and would not drive to use the building.

As-Salaam has been meeting in a nearby community centre for some time. Imam Mohammed Lockhat is on record as saying that he is willing to sit down and meet with any community representatives to allay their fears.

Because of the protests and marches As-Salaam have taken a defensive stance and are no longer making any public statements on the issue.

On its website, Leicestershire Community Voices – avowed supporters of the BNP – boasts of BNP activists turning up at ward surgeries to protest to "traitorous councillors" over the issue of the scout hut. They also boast about BNP activists turning up with placards and jeering members of As-Salaam as they leave the community centre.

One post which gives a clear indication of their intentions of hijacking the residents' cause states: "Local BNP members offered their support and advice to the organisers but agreed to keep the group non-political."

HOPE not hate has also uncovered evidence that similar protests in nearby Hinckley against a former police station being transformed into a community centre are being fomented by those with links to the BNP and EDL.

Protests over the conversion of the police station into a community hub have been gathering momentum, with the involvement of far-right elements who have taken their inspiration – as well as guidance – from Forgotten Estates.

Bosworth House Community Hub is set to take over the building next month. One of its uses will be as a meeting place for the Suyuti Institute which intends to hold weekend theology seminars on different faiths including Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

Interestingly, the leader of Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council, Councillor Stuart Bray, has complained to the local police authority about the sale of the station, claiming that neither the council nor the public were consulted and – similar to the Thurnby Lodge saga – citing issues of parking as an objection to its proposed future use.

While still in its early stages, protests against the mosque have included the police station being daubed with far-right posters protesting about sharia law being implemented, and a Facebook page set up called "Hinckley People Against the Mosque" with racist comments, clear references to the BNP and 'jokey' comments about the building being burnt down.

Well-known BNP/EDL supporter and Hinckley resident Mike Shore, who has in the past stood as a candidate for the BNP in local elections, also looks to be involved in the Bosworth House protests in the town, with Shore leaving a post on a Facebook page called "Keep Hinckley Sharia Free, Say No to an Islamic 'community hub'". The Hinckley plans are a hot topic of discussion on the EDL Leicester division's Facebook page.

The implication is clear from what is happening in Leicester and Hinckley: far-right elements are using the grassroots protests to further their own profiles, both as individuals and as groups.

EDL supporter Chris Hopewell presents petition to Mayor Peter SoulsbyAlthough they get no credit for it in the above article, it was Unite Against Fascism who exposed the links between Forgotten Estates and the EDL. See "Fascists make political capital from Thurnby Lodge scout hut", Leicester UAF news report, 10 October 2012

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Last month stickers produced by the far-right movements Terre et Peuple and Oeuvre Française were stuck on the walls of the mosque at Muret on the outskirts of Toulouse. One of them featured the slogan "In the face of invasion, resistance and reconquest" and another "France for the French", while a third sticker warned that the white race faces extinction because only two per cent of white women are of childbearing age. Over the following days individuals drove at full speed past the mosque shouting "France for the French. Go home."

See CCIF, 3 October 2012 and Al-Kanz, 3 October 2012

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Bulgarian xenophobic party Ataka (Attack) wants the Parliament to pass a moratorium on the construction of mosques in the country.

In a statement sent to the media, the marginal ultra-nationalist formation has reminded that Bulgaria has the highest number of mosques per capita in Europe.

"Let us follow the example of democratic Switzerland, where there is a ban on the construction of new mosques," the party says.

Referring to the "radical Islam" trial recently launched in the town of Pazardzhik, Ataka states that Islamists have been active in the country since 2008.

The party further claims that the ruling centrist-right GERB would "side with Islamism and terrorism" if it does not endorse the moratorium on mosques.

Ataka has also bashed Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov over visiting Ankara, pointing out that Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan "is an Islamist."

In May 2011, Ataka supporters shocked Bulgaria, as the party's rally protesting against the use of loudspeakers by the Banya Bashi mosque in downtown Sofia got out of hand and its activists assaulted praying Muslims in front of the mosque.

Novinite, 1 October 2012

The Swiss ban is of course on the construction of minarets, not mosques as such.

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Five men arrested in dawn raids by counter-terrorism officers on suspicion of posting race hate material will not face any charges, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The suspects – including two men from the North-East – were detained in April when dozens of plain-clothed and uniformed officers swooped on several addresses across the UK. Computers, laptops and mobile phones were seized during the operation.

But last night, the North-East Counter Terrorism Unit revealed that, following discussions with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), it had been decided no charges would be brought.

Paul Duffy, 46, a former regional organiser of the English Defence League (EDL), was arrested in Elgin Avenue, Seaham , County Durham, on suspicion of public order offences on April 19. Darren Yateley, 43 was arrested in Shrewsbury Drive, Backworth, North Tyneside, for the same offences.

Both were believed at the time to be linked to the North-East Infidels, a breakaway organisation from the EDL, whose Facebook page described itself as an alliance of "right-wing nationalists, patriotic and loyalist groups from different parts of the UK".

An 18-year-old man from Merseyside, a 21-year-old man from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and a 56-year-old man from Holloway, London, were also arrested. And an address in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, was searched.

All the suspects were released on police bail, pending further inquiries.

A spokesman for the North-East Counter Terrorism Unit said last night: "Officers carried out a full and thorough investigation into posts made on social networking sites. Five men were arrested on suspicion of publishing or distributing written material which may stir up racial hatred. Following liaison with the CPS, we were advised that no further action should be taken."

A spokesman for the CPS said: "We did not get to the stage where we were provided with evidence to review or asked for a charging decision – so there was no decision not to charge, as it were. We were informed that the police were investigating the matter and then they informed us they had decided to close the investigation. We were made aware, which is entirely normal with cases of that nature."

Northern Echo, 20 September 2012

Note how differently Azhar Ahmed was treated over his offensive Facebook comments. After the initial, ridiculous attempt to charge him with a racially aggravated public order offence was abandoned, he was prosecuted instead under the Communications Act 2003, which makes it an offence to send over a public electronic communications network a message that is "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character". Ahmed was found guilty last week and although he has not yet been sentenced he faces a possible six months in prison.

Even if we accept there was no hard evidence that the Infidels were inciting racial hatred – and Expose had no difficulty finding some examples at the time they were arrested – are the police really asking us to believe that none of the material posted on social networking sites by the Infidels was at least of an indecent, obscene or menacing character? Or perhaps the police think the Communications Act doesn't apply to the far right?

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The York newspaper The Press reported yesterday that the "Islamia Village" event that was due to be held near the city at Thorpe Underwood Estate over the bank holiday weekend had been called off at the last minute after the estate's Trustees cancelled the booking.

This decision followed an extended campaign against Islamia Village, based on the claim that it would be hosting extremist preachers. The Islamophobic blog Harry's Place, which had initiated the campaign, immediately posted a piece yesterday afternoon claiming victory for itself and its supporters.

The obvious question that arises is – why was Islamia Village called off so late in the day? After all, Harry's Place took up the issue well over a month ago, back on 13 July, when it crossposted a piece from the Islamic Far-Right in Britain blog condemning the event. What changed over the past few days?

Yesterday the Islamia Village organisers issued a statement pointing out that groups including the English Defence League had been demanding for some time that the booking should be cancelled. However: "The campaign had intensified at the beginning of the week, whereby such groups had threatened to cause violence at this weekend's event. Threats of burning down the venue with the people in it have also been made publicly by some supporters of this campaign."

A series of comments posted at HP by a spokesperson for the Trustees of Thorpe Underwood Estate outlining the reasoning that led them to cancel the event sheds further light on this.

Up until this week, it seems, all was proceeding well. According to the Trustees' spokesperson: "This booking WAS checked out with ALL the relevant Government bodies possible and opinion sought as to whether the booking should have been refused. Rather than say, suggest or even infer that perhaps it would be sensible to say 'no', the responses were given as 'positive to proceed'."

The Trustees were not necessarily insisting on banning individuals because of what they were alleged to have said in the past but asked for assurances that speakers would not be engaging in hate speech at Islamia Village. The event organisers, for their part, had made it clear that they were prepared to compromise over the question of speakers and offer the required assurances. The Trustees' spokesperson emphasised that "the event was NOT cancelled because the organisers would not agree to what was being asked of them".

The spokesperson confirmed the organisers' account of the prospect of far-right violence, stating that "the threat to 'burn the buildings down with everyone in them' was made in a 'comment' on a 'Casuals Unlimted' [sic] blog site page". The Casuals (who operate as a particularly thuggish faction within the EDL) had also announced that they would be holding a protest at the event, along with other far-right groupings such as the National Front, Combined ex Forces and the Infidels (the latter two organisations being neo-Nazi offshoots from the EDL), with all the potential for violent confrontation that this implied.

The Trustees' spokesperson stated that: "Safety of those attending probably accounted for 80% of the decision making process.... There was a point when we were almost there but other intelligence information received from Police meant we moved to cancellation." Further, by way of clarification: "The intelligence we received suggested those attending, not those organising, were at risk – given to us as 'clear and present threat'."

Another factor that "made the Trustees believe they had come to the end of the line in attempting to host a non-controversial event that would have been safe for all concerned attending" was that Queen Ethelburga's College on the Thorpe Underwood Estate was being targeted by campaigners:

"This event was nothing to do with Queen Ethelburga's College in any way. Regretably within the most recent 72 hours, the focus seemed to be intent on saying this was an event AT Queen Ethelburga's. It was not. Queen Ethelburga's has 1100 pupils from over 45 different Countries and is multi-cultural in EVERY sense of the word. The Trustees of the Estate were very aware that intense bad publicity for an event THEY were hosting would damage the College unfairly. This was another reason the event was cancelled."

Not that this factor was separable from the issue of far-right violence and intimidation. The Yorkshire-based Nationalist Correspondant blog reported that the NF, CxF, Infidels and other fascist groups had all been harassing Queen Ethelburga's with emails and phone calls, threatening that "a massive protest would be held as close to the school as possible" if the Islamia Village event went ahead. In addition to this, "a contingent from Cxf, and the Infidels went to the Principles [sic] house on Wednesday night to have a 'face to face'."

Needless to say, the fascists are jubilant at their success in depriving hundreds of Muslim families of their anticipated weekend at Islamia Village, and self-congratulatory posts have appeared on far-right sites across the internet (see for example here, here, here and here). So much for HP's stupid assertion that "anti-Muslim hooligans ... will not, on this occasion at least, be claiming a victory for themselves on the back of others' hard work". Of course, given that the fascist campaign against Islamia Village was based entirely on material provided by HP and the Islamic Far-Right in Britain blog (see for example here and here), you can understand why they might be in a state of denial over this.

You may have the feeling that we've been through all this before, and indeed we have. HP and its friends conducted the same sort of inflammatory campaign against a Muslim event that was due to be held at the Connaught Rooms in London in June. Here, again, it was the threat of far-right violence that was the primary factor in getting the booking cancelled.

Any responsible organisation would have concluded that questions about the alleged extremist views of speakers at Islamic events should in future be raised in a way that avoids fuelling violent anti-Muslim racism. Rather than learn any lessons from this earlier debacle, however, HP and its associates responded by denying any blame and lashing out against Islamophobia Watch because we had exposed their role in inciting fascist thuggery.

We would hardly expect anything else from Harry's Place, a notorious extremist blog whose politics may be gauged by the fact that its comments section has for years been infested with racists while one of its leading contributors happily endorses terrorist attacks on Iranian civilians. However, the HP/IFRB campaign was also supported by Hope Not Hate whose attack on Islamia Village was itself crossposted at Harry's Place.

As we have seen, the result of this campaign has been to give a boost to the Islamophobic far right, who were becoming increasingly demoralised by the decline in support for their anti-Muslim street protests. It has led to death threats against the Muslim families who would have attended the Islamia Village event and the intimidation of people at the venue where it was to be held. An organisation like Hope Not Hate whose central aim is to combat the far right should know better.

Update:  The following response from Thorpe Underwood Estate to a complaint about the cancellation of Islamia Village has been posted on the Islamic Awakening forum:

We regret too that this event was cancelled.

At all times we have been willing to negotiate, and discuss various aspects of this booking that was concerning others, with the organisers, and also with those from "outside" who expressed grave concerns.

All our meetings and discussions with the organisers were good, and agreement was either reached, or virtually reached, in most areas.

As a result of that, we kept resisting the constant, and sometimes abusive, threatening and vitriolic, arguments being piled upon us in huge quantities. In the space of just 48 hours, we went from Special Branch Police Officers suggesting to us; there may be a demonstration, but frankly it is quite possible no one will turn up, to perhaps 40 to 50 will turn up, to it is now looking like many hundreds will turn up.

We were then told as late as midday yesterday, that if we have gone from nothing to several hundred in 48 hours, where will we be in the end, with 48 hours still to go to the planned protest?

One person had suggested burning all our buildings with all the Muslims in them - this and several other specific threats of violence and intimidation are now being investigated by the Police and arrests may follow.

Still we held to the belief that the event could continue with Police safeguarding and that there would be nothing said by the speakers, that other non-Muslims could construe, as "hateful, threatening or proposing violence".

The final deciding factor was when it then became evident there was a belief that up to 50 or more, violent anti-Muslim type thugs, may have infiltrated the booking system.

They would thus be allowed legitimate access into the Estate to reside within the same boarding and sleeping accommodation and other parts of the venues, as would come our genuine guests.

They would then cause anything from public disorder to actual physical bodily harm, from within the venue, to the guests.

Whereas there are some strong looking Muslim men who would have been reasonably capable of defending themselves, that could not be said of women and children.

As a result of concern for the actual safety of those genuine Muslims attending, we no longer felt the risk was "manageable".

The Police confirmed to us that their response to this threat from inside, could only ever be, re-active not pro-active.

The Estate, upon making the regrettable decision to cancel the event, then did an immediate refund in full, to the penny, of all monies we had been paid by the organisers, back to them.

Everyone has lost out in this despicable affair. You have lost out, the organisers have suffered financially as they had invested much considerable time and money, and we as an Estate have lost out, as we too invested time and money in preparing, plus hosting up to 60 pre-event organisers, plus providing all the facilities and numerous phone lines and calls, all at no expense, to notify the hundreds of people of the cancellation. Even now we are caring, in a compassionate and sympathetic way, providing necessary sustenance, and other facilities, for those who may turn up, having not been aware of the cancellation. In the circumstances we have made no charge whatsoever for all of this actual hosting and costs incurred.

Regards

Thorpe Underwood Estate

Update 2:  Richard Bartholomew has posted an interesting piece on the cancellation of the Islamia Village event. He identifies the author of the Islamic Far-Right in Britain blog (with what accuracy I don't know) as an individual named Harry Burns who was formerly a leading activist in the EDL's London division.

Update 3:  It would appear that Richard's identification of the IFRB author is accurate. "Harry" – real name Andy Hughes, apparently – has posted a comment confirming this. He claims piously that he wants to see a situation where "the Islamic far right is dealt with in the same way as the nationalist far right".

This from a man who until recently was himself an activist in the nationalist far right, and still has people like Guramit Singh and Joel Titus listed as friends on his Facebook page.

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A Berlin court has rejected an emergency appeal by three mosques to prohibit a far-right group from displaying caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad at a demonstration this weekend.

The Berlin administrative court ruled Thursday the caricatures were protected by laws allowing artistic free expression and their display alone did not violate laws against slander nor those against inciting hate or violence.

Three mosques had filed the appeal after the far-right "Citizens Movement – Pro Germany" had said it would display the caricatures during its Aug. 18 demonstration in the capital, being held under the slogan "Islam does not belong in Germany – stop Islamization".

Associated Press, 16 August 2012

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Demonstration against the English Defence League, Tower Hamlets June 2010In March this year the English Defence League's political wing, the British Freedom party, launched a letter campaign aimed at persuading MPs who had signed Unite Against Fascism's founding statement to withdraw their support from the organisation. The hook for this campaign was provided by a witch-hunting article by Andrew Gilligan (a journalist greatly admired by right-wing Islamophobes) who had accused UAF vice chair Azad Ali of being a fascist. The model letter provided by the BFP also included the claim that Azad Ali had been "exposed at the web site Harry's Place" (which has been another source of inspiration for far-right racists).

It appears that the only positive response the BFP received was from Brian Donohoe, Labour MP for Central Ayrshire, who took up the issue after being contacted by George Whale, editor of the British Freedom website. To the delight of the BFP, Donohoe replied to Whale with a friendly assurance that he was pursuing the question of UAF on his behalf: "I have written to both the Foreign Secretary and the Home Secretary asking for an update on this website as I am sure the majority of these 'signatories' are unaware their names are listed there." Donohoe also relayed to the Home and Foreign offices Whale's accusation that UAF is an extremist group.

Giving Donohoe the benefit of the doubt, we can only assume that he was unaware of Whale's political background – though you'd have to be politically very naive not to suspect that a constituent demanding that you sever links with an organisation committed to opposing the far right might, just possibly, have some connection to the far right himself.

As it turned out, Donohoe was given an admirably firm brush-off in a letter from James Brokenshire MP, parliamentary under secretary for crime and security at the Home Office. Brokenshire made it quite clear that the Home Office didn't buy the BFP's charge that UAF is an extremist organisation:

Unite Against Fascism (UAF) was formed in Great Britain in late 2003 in response to electoral successes by the British National Party (BNP). It began as a coalition that included the Anti-Nazi League, the National Assembly Against Racism, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and leading British unions such as the Transport and General Workers' Union (T&G) (now Unite) and UNISON. Its honorary president in 2012 is said to be Doreen Lawrence.

If Donohoe or any of the other signatories to UAF's founding statement objected to their names appearing on the UAF website, Brokenshire suggested, then the simple solution was to contact UAF and ask for their names to be removed.

The letter concluded:

Your constituent also makes reference to a Daily Telegraph article by Andrew Gilligan about Mr Azad Ali who is the Vice Chair of UAF. Dr Whale is concerned that Mr Ali appears to want to destroy British democracy and replace it with Sharia law. Sharia is not part of the law of England and Wales.

Sharia principles are the code of personal religious law governing the conduct of Muslims. They can extend into all aspects of people's lives (for example requirements to give charitably, to follow certain dietary rules and to pray) but provided an activity prescribed by Sharia principles does not contravene the law of England and Wales, there is nothing that prevents people living by Sharia principles should they choose to.

This is part of people's legitimate right to freedom of expression and we must ensure that where [there] is a need to address something that is a recognised problem, we do not stigmatise the vast majority of Muslims who live peacefully in the United Kingdom and who contribute fully to our society.

I hope this clarifies the situation for your constituent.

You may wish to ask Brian Donohoe why he allowed himself to be used in this way by a leading figure in a far-right group that serves as the political arm of a gang of racist street thugs. He can be contacted at brian.donohoe.mp@parliament.uk

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The International Civil Liberties Alliance and its supporters continue to post material from the ICLA meeting at the European Parliament earlier this week.

A video of EDL leader Stephen Lennon's speech is now online. Not that it provides any fresh insights into the mindset of this whining, self-pitying little bigot, although it does underline the fact that he's a lying toerag. Lennon got a round of applause for his claim that the EDL repudiates the neo-Nazis of the National Front ("Islamism and Nazism, opposite sides of the same coin to us"). You can only suppose his audience was unaware of the EDL's joint demonstration with the NF in Newcastle last month during which they launched a violent attack on a peaceful anti-Jubilee party.

Assisting "Tommy" with the microphone in the above screenshot is Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, who was convicted on a charge of anti-Muslim hate speech in Austria last year. Another participant was Lars Hedegaard, whose own conviction for inciting hatred against Muslims in Denmark was recently overturned on a technicality. Hedegaard was presented with the ICLA's "Defender of Freedom Award" at the meeting in recognition of his role in stoking Islamophobia.

Another speaker, whose warning to the meeting on the dangers of sharia ("Freedom of religion, if it means that any form of religion can have its way, is a recipe for civil war") is being enthusiastically promoted on the ICLA website, was Hans Jansen, a man who openly advocates the use of violence against Muslims. No doubt he and Lennon found they had a lot in common.

Lars Hedegaard reports that the room for the meeting was booked by the Belgian far-right party Vlaams Belang, which recently made the news when some of its members were accused of intimidating children during an anti-halal protest at a school barbecue.

It would be difficult to assemble a more poisonous collection of European Islamophobes.

National Front and EDL hold joint demonstration in Newcastle last month – apparently 'Tommy' knows nothing about it

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The Institute of Race Relations has published an important study by Liz Fekete, Pedlars of Hate: the violent impact of the far Right.

The report "documents patterns of violence, from the peddling of hate online and the drawing up of lists of 'national traitors', to violence, arson and murder on the streets, and the stockpiling of weapons in preparation for 'race war'".

The IRR points out that Islamophobia is just one element in the rise of violence on the part of the European far right. While Muslims are the far right's principal targets in western Europe, in eastern Europe it is the Roma who are the main victims, while anti-black racism and antisemitism are also on the increase.

Another worrying development is that "attacks on Social Democrats, Left politicians, academics and journalists that report on the far Right around Europe are intensifying too".

The report can be downloaded here

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Germany's Salafist Muslims are back in the spotlight. Since early May, hardly a week has gone by without another regional or national politician in the country proposing new ways to counter the group's extremist version of Islam or a major German newspaper publishing yet another exposé on the group's insular isolation from the mainstream. Just on Friday, interior ministers from Germany's 16 states, at a regularly scheduled conference with federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, resolved to be increasingly firm in their dealings with the Salafists.

Such hand-wringing in Germany about its Muslim population, extremist or otherwise, is not uncommon. This one, however, is different. Far from being an accidental upheaval of angst resulting from the publication of a book by the likes of the anti-immigration treatise by Germany's provocateur-in-chief Thilo Sarrazin or comments from the country's top politicians, its timing and nature was determined far from the country's conventional opinion makers. It is a particularly unique case of the tail wagging the dog – and in this case, the tail is the tiny, Islamophobic political party Pro-NRW.

Spiegel Online, 1 June 2012

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A far-right party on the campaign trial in Germany's most populous state is threatening to put caricatures of Mohammed outside mosques in a string of cities.

The "Pro NRW" party in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia has already shown anti-Islamic caricatures in Essen and Gelsenkirchen, though the police prevented demonstrations taking place directly outside mosques.

Police have also banned "Pro NRW", which is campaigning on an Islamophobic platform, from using the Danish cartoons that caused massive protests in the Islamic world in 2005.

But "Pro NRW" intends to send activists to 25 mosques throughout the state in the run-up to the election on May 13, staging protests in Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Aachen, Wuppertal and Solingen. A report in Die Welt newspaper on Sunday said the far-right party intended to post around 100 what it called "Islam-critical" drawings outside the mosques.

Interior Minister in state Ralf Jäger condemned the campaign and expressed support for planned counter-demonstrations. "Pro NRW is committing spiritual arson," he told the paper. "The party is consciously taking into account that Muslims will feel provoked and upset. The authorities will exhaust all legal avenues to prevent a xenophobic hate campaign."

The federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich is reportedly worried about violent confrontations with the Salafists, the fundamentalist Muslims who began distributing free copies of the Koran in Germany three weeks ago. A report in Der Spiegel magazine over the weekend said his ministry had been in contact with the North Rhine-Westphalia state government in recent weeks to find a way to de-escalate the situation. The election there is on May 13.

"Pro NRW" campaign manager Lars Seidensticker says he did not understand the outrage over the campaign, and says his party would bear no responsibility for any violence.

"If the situation is so tense that you can't do a campaign like this against Islamist influences any more, then the politicians are responsible for doing away with Germany," he said, alluding to the title of a 2010 book by banker Thilo Sarrazin ("Germany Does Away with Itself"), which criticized Islamic immigrants in Germany.

"Mosques are potential centres of a new civil war that we have to prevent," said Seidensticker. "That's why we have to pull out the Islamist evil by its roots."

"Pro NRW", which boasts 250 members, is also planning to award a cash prize for the "best" anti-Islamic caricature, named after Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who was responsible for the 2005 images. Westergaard has distanced himself from the competition and is reportedly considering legal action against the party for using his name.

The Local, 30 April 2012

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The international network of counter-jihadist groups that inspired Anders Behring Breivik is growing in reach and influence, according to a report released on the eve of the Norwegian's trial.

Far-right organisations are becoming more cohesive as they forge alliances throughout Europe and the US, says the study, with 190 groups now identified as promoting an Islamophobic agenda.

The report, by anti-racism group Hope Not Hate, states that since the 33-year-old's killing spree, the counter-jihad movement – a network of foundations, bloggers, political activists and street gangs – has continued to proliferate.

Campaigners cite the formation three months ago of the Stop Islamization of Nations (Sion) group, designed to promote an umbrella network of counter-jihad groups across Europe and the US, as evidence of a global evolution.

An inaugural Sion summit is planned in New York this year to coincide with the anniversary of 9/11. Speakers are set to include Paul Weston, chairman of the anti-Islamic British Freedom Party (BFP), which recently announced a pact with the English Defence League. In the manifesto that Breivik published online 90 minutes before his attacks, he cited blog postings by Weston which discussed a "European civil war" between the west and Islam.

Researchers at Hope Not Hate name the UK as one of Europe's most active countries in terms of counter-jihad extremism, with 22 anti-Islamic groups currently operating.

In Europe as a whole, 133 organisations were named in the report, including seven in Norway, and another 47 in the US, where a network of neo-conservative, evangelical and conservative organisations attempts to spread "negative perceptions of Islam, Muslim minorities and Islamic culture".

Nick Lowles, director of Hope Not Hate said: "Breivik acted alone but it was the 'counter-Jihadist' ideology that inspired him and gave him the reasoning to carry out these atrocious attacks. All eyes this week will be on what Breivik did last July, but we ignore those people who inspired him at our peril."

Observer, 15 April 2012

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