The English Defence League and the London Pro-Israel Rally

Blogger Junipus in the Desert reports from Wednesday’s Zionist Federation rally in support of Israel, which took place outside the Israeli embassy in central London as a response to the Gaza flotilla raid:

There were about 2000 of us, including the EDL, JewishEDL set up by the wondrous Joe Bloggs who set up the LGBT EDL.

Th EDL had reportedly previously announced its intention to join the rally, although there is not much information about how many showed up or what part they played; Tony Greenstein, who was part of a pro-Palestinian counter-protest nearby, alleges that at least one steward was EDL, but other than “Junipus” those who took part in the rally itself have been keen to stress that the EDL was not involved. The BBC reports:

Organisers of the pro-Israel protest said they had made it clear that the EDL, who have been accused of Islamophobia, were not welcome but that a separate space had been reserved for them.

Jonathan Hoffman of the Zionist Federation writes on his own blog at the Jewish Chronicle that

There may have been EDL members in the vicinity but to my knowledge there were none with the ZF in the area enclosed by barriers…. The BNP and EDL have known links. The ZF will have nothing to do with either organisation.

The Jewish Chronicle tells us that

Rumours that the English Defence League were planning to attend the demonstration appeared to be unfounded. One EDL member was spotted by protesters on the other side of the street but he did not join the throng.

The JC also has an article with further details of the “EDL Jewish division”, noting that

The former CST member, Mark Israel, claimed Jews should back the EDL as an alternative to existing community groups.

However,

Mark Gardner, CST communications director, said: “The EDL intimidate entire Muslim communities, causing tension and fear. Jews ought to remember that we have long experience of being on the receiving end of this kind of bigotry.”

Jon Benjamin, Board of Deputies chief executive, said: “The EDL’s supposed ‘support’ for Israel is empty and duplicitous. It is built on a foundation of Islamophobia and hatred which we reject entirely…”

The “English Defence League Jewish Division” has a Facebook page here. Last year, the EDL website had a hyperlink to the Kahanist “Jewish Defense League” in the USA, although this was taken down shortly after I wrote a blog entry about it.

13 Responses

  1. CST says EDL is “empty and duplicitous”, yet it is easy to notice who is being “empty and duplicitous” when former CST members are now recruiting for EDL.

    These organisations might all have fancy names, but ethnocentrism does nothing except lead people astray.

  2. […] Richard Bartholomew reports on the English Defense League and the London Pro-Israel rally. […]

  3. Jon Benjamin, Board of Deputies chief executive, said: “The EDL’s supposed ‘support’ for Israel is empty and duplicitous. It is built on a foundation of Islamophobia and hatred which we reject entirely…”

    Talk about living in the past and not knowing who your friends and enemies are.

    http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/douglasmurray/100042023/proof-that-our-new-government-is-grovelling-to-islamists/

  4. […] Richard Bartholomew makes a strident case on how the racist EDL have jumped into bed with the repugnant zionists. […]

  5. I think you are being targetted by certain trolls and spammers. Time to consider check codes before posting.

  6. […] right-wing, racist party turns pro-Israel Publié le juin 5, 2010 par ibnkafka Just read this on Bartholomew’s indispensable blog: the English Defence League, an islamophobic (they resent […]

  7. Don’t forget to mention any Hamas or Al-Muhajoorun Jihadist supporters amongst Palestinian supporters.

    Article 32 of the Hamas Covenant http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp refers to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion as a real historical document which is proof of an International Jewish Conspiracy.

    “The Zionist plan is limitless. After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates. When they will have digested the region they overtook, they will aspire to further expansion, and so on. Their plan is embodied in the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, and their present conduct is the best proof of what we are saying. ”

    http://www.memritv.org has disturbing anti-semitic programmes on contemporary Muslim-Arab TV.

  8. The Kahanist link has returned, with the Arizona chapter praising the new ‘Jewish Division’. Links to the settler group Arutz Sheva have also been posted by the person in control of the facebook group.

  9. The mindset of the person in control of the facebook group is revealed by their comments.

    Anti-Jewish
    Any Jew who doesn’t support EDL is called a dhimmi or a Kapo:
    “Message to dhimmi Jon Benjamin: look up Cable Street! You don’t even know your own history! WAKE UP!”
    “The only reason Obama was “nice” to Bibi and invited him to Washington, was to smooth the way for Kapo-in-Chief, Rahm Emanuel, to take his son to Jerusalem for his Bar Mitzvah”

    Anti-Catholic: “catholicism is just islam in a western format. You irish are being islamised at such a rapid pace, with muslims writing stuff in gaelic, you’ll be circumcised in a burka before you can say: begorrah! or is that Gomorrah!(with Sod’em!)”

    Anti-Muslim
    “Islam is a curse. They will kill their own children to bring others under the curse”
    “go swallow some more muslim spunk – I mean propaganda!”

    The insults often take a strangely sexual slant:
    “This mincing paedo has his marching orders from Israel! At last!”
    “Anti-Israel propaganda from Prince Alaweed of Saudi Arabia and his bum-chum Rupert Murdoch”
    “go swallow some more muslim spunk!”

    Perhaps this Joe Bloggs is not actually LGBT himself.

  10. […] anti-Semitism – Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News even the right wing English defense League The English Defence League and the London Pro-Israel Rally Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion __________________ Don't lie,Tell one lie,then you gotta tell another lie to compound on the […]

  11. […] blogged on the nascent EDL “Jewish Division” here; the group was condemned by the British Board of Deputies and by the Community Security Trust […]

  12. […] l blogged on the EDL “Jewish Division” here. […]

Leave a Reply to entdinglichung Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.