{"id":4015,"date":"2009-08-07T17:13:10","date_gmt":"2009-08-07T17:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2009\/08\/07\/birmingham-braced-for-anti-muslim-protest-rally\/"},"modified":"2016-01-07T11:39:40","modified_gmt":"2016-01-07T11:39:40","slug":"birmingham-braced-for-anti-muslim-protest-rally","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2009\/08\/07\/birmingham-braced-for-anti-muslim-protest-rally\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham braced for Anti-Muslim protest rally"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Hundreds expected as police mount \u2018substantial policing operation\u2019<\/h3>\n
AN ANTI-Muslim protest group which will demonstrate in Birmingham this weekend has been described as a \u201cmob of far right hooligans\u201d with alleged links to the BNP.<\/strong> <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The claim was made against the English Defence League by the anti-fascist group Unite Against Fascism ahead of their planned anti-Muslim protest in Birmingham city centre on Saturday 8 August. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Supporters of UAF will hold a counter-protest at the same time against the group they have described as \u201cracist\u201d. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

West Midlands Police have organised a major policing operation to stop the rival groups from clashing. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The protest in Birmingham is one of three jointly organised by EDL and a second group called \u2018Casuals United\u2019.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

A message on EDL\u2019s Facebook page said their aim was to \u201cprotest peacefully against militant Islam\u201d. It added: \u201cWe only exist due to the government and police allowing our British culture to be threatened.\u201d <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

They also denied they were racist \u2013 a claim which has angered supporters of Unite Against Fascism. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

UAF claim a similar protest held in Birmingham last month saw protesters chanting anti-Muslim slogans and singing racist songs. They also say an increase of Nazi and BNP graffiti in the city had a direct link to the protest.\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Supporters of both groups also clashed with police in Luton earlier this year in a rally against supposed Muslim extremists who chanted slogans and held placards during a homecoming parade by the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment in March. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Nine people were arrested and Asian businesses were attacked during that rally. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

UAF Midlands organiser Sadia told Socialist Worker, \u201cLots of local people are determined to show these thugs that their vicious racism is not wanted. We are expecting a good turnout from local trade unions and the Muslim community.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Superintendent Matt Ward from West Midlands Police said he was unsure how many EDL protesters would be in Birmingham after the group refused a request to meet with police ahead of the rally. <\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

He said police were mindful that \u201cvery emotive issues and tensions between protesters and counter protesters can run high\u201d, but a \u201csubstantial policing operation\u201d was in place to make sure both groups protest in a \u201cpeaceful and ordered manner\u201d.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

He added that while there was no evidence to suggest any violence has been planned, officers would be videotaping the protests.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n

\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds expected as police mount \u2018substantial policing operation\u2019 AN ANTI-Muslim protest group which will demonstrate in Birmingham this weekend has been described as a \u201cmob of far right hooligans\u201d with alleged links to the BNP. The claim was made against the English Defence League by the anti-fascist group Unite Against Fascism ahead of their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}