Solidarity Vigil at Harrow Central Mosque September 11th

Update from Martin Francis

I leafleted at the Wembley Mosque today. It is clear that some are opposed to a counter-demonstration because it might turn violent but others are clear that we have to make a stand. It is not particularly an age-split. We are monitoring the situation but at present plans are as on the leaflet.

Contact uafbrentandharrow@googlemail.com

THERE IS NO PLACE FOR NAZIS IN HARROW
DEFEND THE UNITY OF OUR COMMUNITY
Join us to show that fascists are not welcome in Harrow.
Friday September 11th from 1.30 pm
Outside Harrow Civic Centre, opposite the Mosque
Rally with local and national speakers at 6.00 pm
The "English Defence League", a group of racist football hooligans linked to the fascist British National Party, is threatening to invade Harrow on 11th September to "demonstrate" against the Harrow Central Mosque.

Islamophobia - bigotry against Muslims - is as unacceptable as any other form of racism. Its aim is to divide us by making scapegoats of one community, as the Nazis did with the Jews in the 1930s.

Today they threaten the mosque - tomorrow it could be a synagogue, temple or church. Today they threaten Muslims, tomorrow it could be Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, blacks, gays, travellers or Eastern Europeans. .

We have beaten fascists and racists before by standing up in unity against them: at Cable Street in the East End in the 1930s, at Lewisham in the 1970s, and recently in Derbyshire where black and white, young and old, Hindu, Christian, Muslim and Jew, gay and straight, all came together to oppose the BNP’s fascist rally.

Let’s protest against the racists and fascists and let's oppose their politics of hatred. Let's defend Harrow’s diverse and united community.

We are black, white, Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Jew
And there are many, many more of us than you!

Called by UAF Brent & Harrow (uafbrentandharrow@googlemail.com)
and national Unite Against Fascism (unite@ucu.org.uk / www.uaf.org.uk or call 020 7801 2782. UAF, PO Box 36871, London WC1X 9XT)
with support from (among others) Harrow NUT, Harrow College UCU, Unite the Union at Harrow Weald, Harrow & Edgware bus garages and Brent Green Party

BRENT & HARROW
UNITE AGAINST FASCISM
●No to Racism
●No to the BNP
Defend Harrow’s multi-cultural community
Fascist thugs not welcome here

Friday September 11th assemble from 1.30 pm
outside Harrow Civic Centre
opposite Harrow Central Mosque
6 pm: Rally with local and national speakers


The "English Defence League" - a group of racist football hooligans with links to the fascist BNP - is threatening to hold a protest against the Harrow Central Mosque. We cannot stand by and let these racists attack any section of our community.
In May the "English Defence League" rampaged through Luton, attacking Asians and Asian owned businesses. In July they marched through Birmingham shouting "Muslims out" at people going shopping.
We don't want these racist thugs in Harrow.
Join our protest when you can, maybe during your lunch break, but especially after work.
Sign the statement defending Harrow Central Mosque against racist attacks.
Solidarity Vigil at Harrow Central Mosque September 11th

The 'English Defence League' and a motley selection of other rightwing groups have said they are going to protest at Harrow Central Mosque on the anniversary of 9/11. This is deliberately provocative, seeking to link the mosque with terrorism and held during the holy month of Ramadan and coinciding with Friday prayers. A similar demonstration in Luton resulted in a mob attacking Asians and Asian-owned businesses.

Brent Green Party is supporting the call by Brent and Harrow Unite Against Fascism for a 'Solidarity Vigil' outside Harrow Civic Centre, opposite the mosque, from 1.30pm on Friday September 11th with a rally at 6pm. Timings may change as these have not been announced yet by the EDL et al. A similar protest, this time against sharia courts, due to be held on Saturday 29th August was recently cancelled and it may well be that evidence of substantial opposition will lead to similar action for September 11th.

NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION AND RALLY

MAKE THIS STRIKE A DAY OF ACTION

THURSDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER 2009

Let’s tell unite how it is!

Get them to STOP their CMA Strike Busting MEMBERS from Doing Our Work

11.30hrs UNITE HEADQUARTERS

128 Theobalds Road Holborn London WC1X 8TN

13.30hrs FRIENDS HOUSE

173 Euston RoadLondon NW1 2BJ

CAMPAIGN FOR A MASSIVE YES VOTE IN THE FORTHCOMING INDUSTRIAL ACTION BALLOT

ALL CWU MEMBERS WELCOME

Climate and Capital A seminar organised by Socialist Resistance and Green Left

Climate and Capital
Saturday 12
September
10.30 - 5.30, Friends Meeting House, Euston,
London
A seminar organised by Socialist
Resistance and Green Left

SPECIAL OFFER

Green Left and Socialist Resistance are offering a one-third discount on their Climate and Capitalism seminar on September 12. The discount is available with the new leaflet, now online at http://tinyurl.com/ClimateSeminar, with advance bookings, and reduced price offer on Ian Angus' new book go to http://socialistresistance.org/?p=635

Sessions on:
* Global Fight for Climate Justice
* The economic crisis and the ecosocialist response
* Gender, ecology and ecosocialism
* Alternatives to the market
* Alternative production
* The impact in the global south
* Direct action prefiguring a sustainable society
* Sustainable cities
* The campaign for green jobs
* Building the fightback and organising for Copenhagen
Speakers: Ian Angus, Grace Livingstone,
Raphie de Santos, Romayne Phoenix, Liam MacUaid, Helen Ward, Sean Thompson,
Sheila Malone, Derek Wall, Terry Conway, Roy Wilkes
and others...

Book now on-line for 1/3 off entry and £2 off new
book by Ian Angus on "The Global Fight for Climate Justice"

Peterloo; A Poem by Joseph Healy 16/8/2009 and clips from GL summer event and Peterloo commemoration august 2009

At Peterloo they fell and died

Those for whom Liberty's price was paid

Now Tomlinson and SOCPA are the theme

Where Freedom's corpse lies in the grave

Lord Liverpool and Captain Burleigh

Who called the Yeomanry to arms

Your heirs - Brown and Ainsworth call for youthful blood in Afghanistan

And Orator Hunt would blanch with shame

Where blood stained the stones of Peter's Fields

There lie the bones of Socialism's hopes

Trod beneath the hooves of New Labour's cavalry

Read out the names of Peterloo and New Labour's dead

- Freedom, Liberty, Suffrage and the Price of Oil!

Talk and discussion part one

Talk and discussion part two

Talk and discussion part three

Talk and discussion part four

Peterloo in 2009

Marchers arrive from Oldham

The Mob assembled

Green Lefties modelling Liberty Caps

A photo op (mishandled?)

Wreath laid at the Peace Memorial

How to organise a spontaneous outcry

Wreath at the Peace Memorial

Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Greenwich and Woolwich, Andy Hewett, welcomes the arrival of Climate Camp to Blackheath.

Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Greenwich and Woolwich, Andy Hewett, welcomes the arrival of Climate Camp to Blackheath. Speaking today after the site was revealed, Andy said

"I am delighted that Blackheath has been chosen as the site of this year's Climate Camp. I hope that the people of Greenwich will show their support for this event and go along to experience the atmosphere. The aims of Climate Camp are to educate, inform and peacefully demonstrate that there are alternatives to the current way of life which are leading us to potentially catastrophic climate change."

With views of Canary Wharf, the site at Blackheath will provide Climate Campers with a constant reminder of the financial system which was the focus of the Camp in Bishopsgate and the events of the G20 protests in April. Andy was unable to get into the camp itself that day, due to Police blockades, but he recounted some of his experiences of the events at the G20 protests.

"I was amongst the many who were 'kettled' for hours by the Police on April 1st, and also the following day at a peaceful vigil outside the Bank of England in memory of Ian Tomlinson who died after being beaten by Police at the demonstration on the previous day. Friends of mine suffered injury at the hands of the police over those two days, many more were detained in police cordons. I hope that the police see sense and desist from using the violent tactics evident at the London Camp in April, that they desist from hassling protestors with unnecessary searches, that they desist from invasive and intimidatory photographing of protestors, and let the Climate Camp flourish with the intended family-friendly atmosphere and communal spirit."

"Some have questioned the choice of Blackheath as a venue for Climate Camp, but it has a rich history of being a centre of protest movements over the centuries. As far back as 1381, Wat Tyler's Peasant Revolt rallied at Blackheath in protests at the third poll tax, and in 1450 it was the rallying point for Jack Cade's Kentish Rebellion. Those events and others resonate through the years to the present day, with the right to protest remaining an essential democratic right. Defending that right is essential as part of protecting our civil liberties and sustaining a healthy democracy, and is another example of why Climate Camp is so important."

Peterloo; A Poem by Joseph Healy 16/8/2009

At Peterloo they fell and died


Those for whom Liberty's price was paid


Now Tomlinson and SOCPA are the theme


Where Freedom's corpse lies in the grave


Lord Liverpool and Captain Burleigh


Who called the Yeomanry to arms


Your heirs - Brown and Ainsworth


call for youthful blood in Afghanistan


And Orator Hunt would blanch with shame


Where blood stained the stones of Peter's Fields


There lie the bones of Socialism's hopes


Trod beneath the hooves of New Labour's cavalry




Read out the names of Peterloo and New Labour's dead -


Freedom, Liberty, Suffrage and the Price of Oil!

VEsTAS Demos 12/8/2009

Photo from Support Vestas workers' lunchtime rally organized by
Oxford & District Trades Union Council in Bonn Square, Oxford City
Centre, Weds 12 August.

Whitehall vestas demo 12/8/2009

The Gptu banner prooves that it is waterproof

Phil Thornhill speaks

Ian Terry, a Vestas worker speaking

Andy Hewett speaks

and this is what he said

Comrades,

First of all I’d like to pay tribute to everyone who has come here today, and all those who have been participating in actions across the country, in their communities and their workplaces, to show their support for the Vestas workers, for the fight for jobs, for just transition and the urgent need to build sustainable industries based upon social and ecological need and not for private profit. I’ve been to the Isle Of Wight twice in the last few weeks and what the workers and activists have been doing down there is an inspiration to us all.

There has been a demonstration here outside the DECC in each of the last four weeks, but let’s just take a moment to stop and think what those letters D E C C represent… and it seems to me that it is the Department for DIRTY Energy and for Climate Change.

Whilst they say they are committed to securing green jobs and seriously tackling climate change, their true colours have certainly been revealed during the course of the Vestas dispute – and they are certainly not green, not red except maybe for the blood on their hands from their war for oil resources and gas pipelines – No, they are more of a dirty brown, with a very severe shade of blue.

These last few weeks have also shown the weakness of this govt, their lack of political will and capability in making the decisions necessary to tackle climate change and create green jobs – rather they have once again shown that they are unable to put the demands of people and planet before business and the capitalist drive for profit. They dangled £6m of OUR money in front of Vestas for a R+D plant, yet we have over 600 skilled workers and a facility capable of turning production over to the production of blades to use in this country already in place. £6m is nothing compared to the billions being spent on fighting resource wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. £6m is nothing compared to the cost of building WMDs as they seek to replace Trident. £6m is nothing compared to the trillions which have been thrown into the black hole created by the fat cats in the financial system – and as we know, whilst the debts have been nationalised they have privatised their profits and are still riding the gravy train of bonuses and massive salaries whilst across the country working class people are losing their jobs and their homes as a result of their crisis.

And £6m may not be much to Vestas who seem to be doing very well thank you – only yesterday it was reported that they have received a massive increase in wind turbine orders: 41x 2MW wind turbines and a 5 year service agreement for the Orites project in Cyprus, which will alone increase Cypriot dependency on renewables to 13% by 2020; and 37x 3MW turbines and a 10 year service agreement for the Waterloo Wind Farm project in Australia. We must not be held to ransom, instead of the govt fiddling whilst the planet burns the factory on the IOW should be nationalised, give control to the skilled workforce and let that be the first building block in building the renewables industry and the millions of green jobs that can be generated by transforming our economy to one based upon need and not profit.

And in case you haven’t seen the figures today, unemployment rose by 220k in the last 3 months with 2.435m now out of work, the highest level since 1995 under the Tories. 271k less people are in work, the biggest fall since records began in 1971. 4.9% of the workforce are now claiming unemployment benefit, whilst many more are prevented from doing so as the govt “clamps down”. And if the failure to tackle climate change was not a big enough betrayal of our young people and their future, their employment prospects also look bleak – 928K of the under 25s are now out of work. With apparently half of these unable to claim unemployment benefit. Army recruitment centres are springing up across the country – fighting wars and a wrecked planet must not be the only options left open to them. We must not pay for the crisis, not in jobs, not in blood and not in destruction of our planet.

There is an election around the corner, now is the chance to show them what we think. Now it is their jobs on the line. Vote for candidates who are serious about social and environmental justice, of restoring the rights workers and of trades unions, are serious about jobs and serious about stopping catastrophic climate change. And if there isn’t currently a candidate that you can vote for then make sure that one stands! Of course we may not be able to get everyone we want to elected, we may not form any majority soon enough under an electoral system designed to maintain the status quo and parties committed to pursuing business as usual at the expense of people, planet and peace. But we can have a voice, use it as a platform to put the message across and say enough is enough. This is our planet, this our future and we wont let you destroy it!

But elections arent our only pressure points. The positive of this campaign and all of the other direct actions and occupations across the country and the world is that it shows us that we don’t have to wait for the politicians in power to catch up and get with the program. We can start taking action ourselves right now. The positive action that arises when workers take a stand and say enough – this is our workplace, these are our skills and our jobs and we will take a stand and fight for them. The positive action that emerges when comrades in various organisations come together, any differences aside and work together on a common goal. The positive influence of the organisation of workers and the key role of Trades Unions – Vestas don’t like em, the govt has failed to repeal the ant-trade union laws, and we see why: because they do not want to see us taking action and organising – if we are divided we are no threat. We have heard a lot about red and green alliances over the last few weeks. As an eco-socialist I have never had a problem with the red/green synthesis – what has emerged is that we are finding our common ground and working together, w find strength in our solidarity and we become a greater force, we cannot afford to be divided on climate change as the stakes are too high. Unity is our strength. Now we must build momentum, the campaign must move on from here. We must drink deep from the well of inspiration that the Vestas workers have supplied us. Keep the struggle alive, we can and must make the difference! Viva the Vestas workers!

The first public appearance of the new Green Left banner, Whitehall, london 12/8/2009

Unjum Mirza of the RMT

PHOTOS BY ARTHUR HAYLES