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STRATEGYMEETING5-7pmFriday20th NovRoom B102SOAS Russell Sq

A pre-NUS BlackStudents Conferencefringe meeting.Organised with SOASUnison Black MembersOfficer & S.U BlackStudents OfficersMfJ: 07930 30 22 63mail@movementforjustice.org.uk

Stop the Fascists from Marching

in HARROW & NOTTINGHAM

PASS LABOURS EQUALITY BILL NOW

DEFEND THE RIGHT of MUSLIM COMMUNITIESTO WORSHIP AND LIVE AS FREE AND EQUALCITIZENS

BUILD THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

WIN EQUALITY, DIGNITY & PROSPERITY FOR ALL

On September 11, the English Defence League (EDL), an openlyracist and fascist organisation, threatened to shut down Fridayprayers at the Mosque in Harrow during Ramadan. Our

community mobilised in defence of the right of the Muslimcommunity to pray in peace and to protect the right of everyone in

our society to enjoy religious freedom. Our integrated, massmobilisation of thousands of people in Harrow scared the fascistsoff, stopping their march and rally before they ever got started.Our mass mobilisation in Harrow and the mass youth led militantmobilization in Birmingham at the end of the summer, decisively

defeated the fascist efforts in those two communities. The key toour success was that in both Harrow and in Birmingham, the

Asian communities turned out in force to defend our rights withyoung Muslim woman and men providing militant leadership tothe very large and integrated anti-racist and anti-fascistdemonstrations.

While Harrow and Birmingham provided excellent examples of how the civil rights movement needs tomobilize to stop local fascist marches and rallies, our successful efforts were not enough to demoralize

and prevent the EDL from holding other rallies. We also did not prevent them from continuing to getsignificant behind the scenes financial backing. On Sunday 13 December the fascist are planning to try

and march and rally again in Harrow. They are also planning to march in Nottingham on Saturday 5December. Our aim must be to use these two EDL events to politically orient and organize the anti-

racist, anti-fascist civil rights movement so that we can deal the fascists the kind of defeat that willprevent them from trying to march and rally anywhere in Britain in the foreseeable future .

PASS LABOURS EQUALITIES BILL NOW TO STOP THE FASCIST MOBILIZATIONS

The quickest and simplest way to demoralize the fascist and stop their marches and rallies would

be to win immediate passage of the Labour sponsored Equalities Bill before Parliament. An aimof the EDL mobilizations is to prevent passage of the Equalities Bill prior to the spring elections.

The fascist understand that passage of the Equalities Bill would not only extend new andimportant anti-discrimination rights and protections to the Asian and black communities, it woulddemonstrate how dynamic, powerful and important these communities are to the future of thesociety. If the Equalities Bill is put up for a vote before the spring elections the majority of Toryand Liberal MPs will support it even though that would increase Labours popularity and

chances for victory next spring. And while simply passing the bill will not in and of itself securebroad new rights for minorities and women, having every major political party feel that they had

to enact some of the most far reaching new employment and civil rights protections for allBritish workers would embolden the Asian black and immigrant communities and give new life

and confidence to the whole British left. If however, Labour delays passage of the Equalities Billso that they can cynically use it as an election plank to garner more Asian and black votes orbecause they fear offending white voters, there is a real danger that the Equalities Bill will not be

passed at all in the near future and that the racist will gain an important victory.

The EDLs tactic of making anti-Muslim racism seem like a popular political trend with real supportamong white youth is an electoral tactic aimed at strengthening the far right wing of the Tory Party with in

the party itself. The openly racist right wing Tories who do not support their Parties current stance ofhaving to give tacit support to Equalities Bill can not prevail prior to the elections because the Tory

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