LONDON – An anti-Muslim protest outside a London mosque raises the spectre of a return of the 1930s fascists and threatens to fuel violence and hatred in Britain, a senior minister warned Saturday, September 12. "If you look at the types of demonstrations they have organised, the language used and the targets chosen, it looks pretty clear that it's a tactic designed to provoke, to get a response and create violence,” John Denham, the secretary of state for communities and local government, told the BBC News Online.
He drew parallels between the English Defence League, which organized an anti-Muslim protest outside the Harrow Central Mosque to incendiary marches by Oswald Mosley's Black Shirts through Jewish areas of east London in the 1930s.
"You could go back to the 1930s if you wanted to – Cable Street and all of those types of things,” he said.
“The tactic of trying to provoke a response in the hope of causing wider violence and mayhem is long established on the far-right and among extremist groups."
Clashes erupted late Friday after the EDL organized an anti-Muslim protest outside the Harrow mosque.
"Items including bricks and bottles have been thrown at officers," said a spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police.
Police arrested 8 people after the anti-Muslim protestors scuffled with Muslims and members of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) defending the mosque.
The EDL is affiliated to Casuals United, former football hooligans who want to “fight Jihadists in the community”.
The protest was also organized by a small right-wing group calling itself Stop Islamification of Europe, which claims that “Islamophobia is the height of commonsense”.
Hatred
Khairul Khan, 34, stood guard outside the Harrow mosque to defend it against any attack by the right-wing protestors.
"We are just defending our own mosque. We are doing nothing wrong,” he said.
“We are just trying to stop them attacking the house of our God.”
Muslims accused the anti-Muslim protestors of stirring violence and hatred in the country.
"Anyone should be allowed to demonstrate all they want, but if you are inciting hatred against any human being, then you should not be allowed to do that, said Abdullah Al-Andalusi, 30.
"And under English law you can't do that."
The EDL has held several anti-Muslim rallies in several cities.
More than 30 people were arrested last weekend at a similar protest in Birmingham.
“It's important that we, right across government, make sure this does not happen,” Denham, the cab minister, said.
"We need to make sure people realise we are going to deal with this and that people recognise there is not a need to tackle this through counter confrontation."
British Muslims, estimated at nearly two million, have been in the eye of storm since the 7/7 attacks.
They have repeatedly complained of maltreatment by police for no apparent reason other than being Muslim.
A Financial Times opinion poll showed that Britain is the most suspicious nation about Muslims.
A poll of the Evening Standard found that a sizable section of London residents harbor negative opinions about Muslims.
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