Waltham Forest has sent a message of defiance to the racist English Defence League (EDL), which plans to march in the east London borough next month.

Over 120 people packed into a We Are Waltham Forest public meeting on Tuesday evening. They pledged to build the biggest possible counter demonstration and to prevent the EDL from taking to the streets.

Speakers included local MP Stella Creasy, Weyman Bennett from Unite Against Fascism, and author Owen Jones. They talked about how the EDL targets areas with Muslim populations and uses its demos to spread hatred and fear.

The EDL has already flinched at the size of opposition to them in Waltham Forest, postponing its march from 18 August to 1 September.

"Let's be clear," Stella Creasy told the meeting. "We didn't want them on the 18th, we don't want them on the 1st – and we don’t want them at any time."

Speakers from the audience celebrated multicultural London and described the way these traditions had been forged in struggle. All agreed that the EDL should be stopped – and that a massive counter protest was crucial.

Socialist Worker, 1 August 2012

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Hundreds of Israelis are running for a seat in the Knesset. Only one is running for a seat in Congress.

Itamar Gelbman was born in New York 30 years ago and as a child moved with his parents to Herzliya, where he was raised. He studied business management and computer science at Tel Aviv University and served as an undercover reserve officer in the Tel Aviv Police District.

After graduation, Gelbman joined the IDF where he was a lieutenant in what he calls the "army special forces." He said he could not be more specific about what he did in the army but that he received multiple awards, including a commendation from the IDF chief of staff.

Eight years ago, he moved to Texas. After US President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, Gelbman decided to get involved in politics.

Gelbman is running in the May 29 Republican Primary in Texas’s Sixth Congressional District, which is outside Dallas. "I'm the only candidate for the seat who is pro-Israel," Gelbman said.

Gelbman said he believes American politicians need to give Israel the benefit of the doubt. He does not believe the US should involve itself in the settlement issue and he would work to block foreign aid to Islamic countries that act against Israel and the United States.

"I would defend Israel and be their voice in the House," he said. "Israel should be allowed to do whatever it needs to do. The Palestinians need to change their education system and accept Israel as a Jewish state with Jerusalem as its capital." Gelbman said he would work to make sure a law requiring the US to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would be enforced.

He received national attention when Muslims in his district were offended by his campaign flyer in which vowed to "fight the Islamization of America."

Gelbman recently came to Israel to spend Passover with family. While he was in the country, he met with MK Danny Danon and other Likud politicians.

Jerusalem Post, 7 May 2012

Not so sure about the "national attention" bit. The only report I can find of Gelbman antagonising the Muslim community is by a local TV station.

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