I was meeting a friend in Preston City Centre, just after the EDL/UAF demonstrations ended. I managed by accident to be swept along in a mass of EDL supporters, as I tried to walk up Church Street to meet a friend. The abhorrent racist shouting, the all-surrounding threatening behaviour, the sea of balaclavas and the abject hooliganism can't be described in enough realism to anyone who hasn't witnessed it first-hand.
At first, I was a little scared - they were your typical football hooligan look-a-likes, some wearing hoodies proudly describing them members of a "division"; which was interesting as surely a movement with such belief in "English Defence" shouldn't need to be divided? There was a massive Lancashire Constabulary presence and my fears, once I got out of the thick of it were abated. Then I wanted to feel angry, wanted to vent and rage and make them see they were wrong. But that didn't arrive; sadness did. I felt deflated.
In that moment I started to feel ashamed that I was born in the same country as these people. The Britain I grew up believing in was fair, just and welcoming. The England I grew up in was tolerant, liberal and secular. These people weren't from my Britain, my England. They singled out a large portion of English society for hatred under the guise that they were protecting English Christian values. Moreover, it was thinly veiled under a wash of political demands for protection of the Justice System, but hatred was there all the same - I saw two men have chanted at them "Fuck off Pakis" and "Burn a Mosque".
That's the key here, the right wing groups like the English Defence League and British National Party have a knack, no matter how "fair" they wish to appear, to attract those in society who wish hatred on others. In essence, these parties raise a patriotic emblem and ask that the traditional way of life is adhered to; which I'm sure Americans, with their Constitution, would have no problem with. However, there are those in these parties who use their banner - borrowed from the nation - to spout abuse, hatred and violence on others; which isn't very patriotic at all.
Given the example I witnessed in Preston on Saturday, I'm not English. I'm not British. I'm in exile in my home country. That's why I felt so sad.
A little research will show you that it's not just the 'footsoldiers' of the EDL that display these racist views and criminal behaviours, it's their leaders too. Have a look at the wealth of evidence that 'Searchlight' have gathered on the EDL's leadership.
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