Pro UK fascists get tae fuck 07.09.24
200 fascists descended on George Square Glasgow and were outnumbered 10 to 1 by 2000 antifascists in what can only be described as a bigger victory for the Scottish anti racist movement than Celtic’s 3 nil victory over Rangers at Celtic Park last Sunday.
Antifascists arrived at 11am and took over the square early with fascists starting to arrive from mid day onwards. Fascist conspiracy nuts set up what resembled a protest camp full of badly painted banners with slogans like “No More Brother Wars”, “5g + Chemtrails = Covid 19”, “God Save King Charles III”, “Free Sam Melia”, “Free James Costello”, “Two Tier Kier”, “Stop Anti-White Uniparty” and “Deport Not Support” as well as “No Justice No Peace” which they’ve stolen from us. The man responsible for the display, a white hippy nazi (nippy?) with dreads was non ironically wearing a tin foil hat!
Sam Melia was sent to prison for running a network called the hundred handers which mass produced stickers with racist slogans and slurs and tried to cover the UK with them from Cornwall to the north of Ireland. When police raided his house they found books by Oswald Mosley leader of the blackshirts in his bedroom and a poster of Hitler stuck up in his garage.
James Costello is a pseudo-scientific and pseudo-religious fascist who calls himself “The reverend”. He was sent to prison for 18 offences of stirring up racial hatred on a website he ran which called for the establishment of a white master race through a purification process as he claims the white race doesn’t currently exist. Stickers were also key to his plans to create a white race and recordings on his website called for the violent subjugation and destruction of Jewish people, black people and people of colour. He also exchanged letters and postcards with his friend the convicted terrorist and national action member Jack Renshaw.
The majority of the fascists were masked up and dressed in black bloc. The fash bloc was a mix of “peaceful hooligans” from the rangers firm Union Bears and bus loads of English fascists including individuals associated with the BNP and networks close to the banned terrorist group National Action, who’s members are starting to get out of prison and back onto the streets. Some of the fascists shouted “We’re not racist! We’re not Nazis” while other fascists sieg hailed. There clearly hadn’t been consensus over whether to be open about their racism or to be in denial about it. Some fascists waved Isreal flags while other fascists got on the megaphone and gave speeches about how the people of Israel weren’t really Jewish and that the Scottish people were the real Jews of the bible, descended from the bloodline of Judah, and that they were reclaiming the Star of David as a Scottish flag.
Celtic’s green brigade were the largest and most active black bloc group on the antifascist side, alongside the newly re-formed Glasgow Antifascists and autonomous anarchists also masked up. SUTR were also present along side a number of socialist groups and trade unions. The vast majority of people on the antifascist side however were politically unaligned and ordinary members of the Glaswegian public there to make clear that Glasgow is an overwhelmingly anti-racist city.
Antifascists brought a huge soundsystem and drowned out all fascist speeches and chants by blasting a set list of Palestinian and Kurdish revolutionary songs, folk music from the International brigades, rebel songs, glaswegian hiphop and donk. People from some of Glasgow’s Muslim communities were teaching everyone dubkeh and Kurdish dancing and there was a mood of celebration at the communities victory and safety in unity, following the racist riots across much of the rest of the UK. The mood of celebration on our side was a sharp contrast to the anger and embarrassment on the fascist side and it was making the fascists depressed and wishing they could switch sides.
At one point hundreds of antifascists were clapping and singing “if you all hate racists clap your hands”. A little girl one of the fascists had brought with him was enjoying the chant and started smiling and clapping her hands with us. Sadly her dad responded by taking her aside, yelling at her and telling her off until she started crying. We can break the chain of generational trauma and hate being handed down and are convinced she will remember the experience and be free and stand on our side of the lines one day.
The police demonstrated their bias and allegiance to the fascists by kettling half of the green brigade for the whole of the demo, while the rangers firm were never kettled and permitted to freely mingle with the rest of the fascist demo. The police escorted the cordoned section of the green brigade right next to the rangers firm so that the rangers firm could throw bottles at them, but all the bottles missed, just like Rangers attempts to score last Sunday. The police tried to march the green brigade away from the square but antifascists blocked the road in front of the police and refused to allow them to move the bhoys away from our demo.
Elders from Glasgow’s Asian communities and trade union leaders came and tried to negotiate and persuade police commanders to let the bhoys out of the kettle and join our demonstration, explaining that they would cause no trouble at all and were much loved members of the community. Clearly the kettling of the green brigade and separating them from our demo was a complete waste of police resources. The excuse the police gave as to why they were kettling the green brigade and not the rangers black bloc was that Celtic were better fighters and that if there was any disorder the rangers would lose and so would need protection. However this excuse seems obsolete as Celtic were peaceful and on top form throughout and the police made no arrests at all when the rangers firm threw bottles.
Antifascists were well organised with free food, water and tea being distributed, first aiders on hand if needed and later waves of people arriving to replace people who’d been there from very early who were ready to leave. Fascists had to pass through the antifascist crowd to get to their demo and many lost placards and Union Jack flags in the process. The conspiracy fash took down their banners before the end of the demo to prevent them being confiscated but were only able to save some of their banners. Some of the Celtic firm were able to escape the kettle despite the police’s best efforts and they had only managed to kettle half the firm. As the fascists were leaving the police let the bhoys out of the kettle without making any arrests. Despite the best efforts of the police it was still a victorious day for Glasgow’s anti-racist public. Antifascists remained in the area throughout the evening filling the central Glasgow pubs while the fascists were escorted out of the area and back to regular fascist pubs in Govan and Bridgeton.
Historically the Irish republican movement were an inspiration and huge support for the Indian revolutionary movement fighting for freedom from the British Empire. These bonds don’t get forgotten, the Asian Youth Movement made links with Irish republicans in the 80s and Desi antifascists are continuing to support Irish republicanism and the Celtic firm through the current era.
In Glasgow the whole of the republican movement, led by the green brigade have come out as anti-racist, and a growing number of rangers fans are starting to come out as anti-racist and anti-fascist. The green brigade have consistently come out to welcome refugees and support Glasgow’s Black and Asian communities, taking a zero tolerance policy to racism as well as reaching out to and looking to build links and win over people from Protestant backgrounds.
Meanwhile in Ireland most republicans are antifascist but a section of the republicans have united with loyalists on the side of the far right to take part in anti-immigration demonstrations and racist riots. While several working class communities have come out and ran fascist mobs out of their areas, some leading republican groups have responded to the riots by refusing to take sides and march with the antifascists, arguing they need to listen to the views of people in their republican base. The success of yesterday and the far rights failure to build the support and momentum they need to riot and carry out racist attacks on a mass scale anywhere in Scotland is a direct consequence of the strategy and attitude of Glasgow’s republicans. Fascism must be smashed in its infancy and appeasing them by giving into and adopting, or failing to challenge the far right’s political lines scapegoating refugees and all people of colour does nothing but provide succour for the fascist movement. Instead we need to respond with working class unity in the fight against our collective enemies.
Some English communists are beginning to copy the mistakes of the right wing minority among Ireland’s republicans. The YCL and CPB have responded to the racist riots by denying the racism of many of the rioters and calling for the neo-liberal British state to increase deportation and state kidnapping of migrants outcasted and deemed as illegal as part of a “nuanced” position on immigration. We need to dismantle colonialism until no one is forced to become a refugee or pressurised to migrate away from poverty and follow the flow of colonised and stolen resources and wealth. Some long-standing people in the anarchist scene and former anarchists such as Russell Brand have also sympathised with the racist rioters while others have tried to both sides the issue in analysis attributing portions of the blame to what they claim is hatred of white people by some people of colour.
Fascism will never be defeated through solely focussing on a reactive strategy of responding to their moves with counter demos. The arguments against racism also need to be put forward and won among our groups of friends, our families and communities and our political scenes. The sections of the white working class targeted by fascists for recruitment need to and will be won round. The left and antifascist movement need to offer them better than what the far right can. Through the music scenes we can offer them better parties while politically our movements need to be directly improving peoples material situations as well as making clear who is responsible for everyday oppression and subjugation and who exactly the elite really is. There are lessons we need to learn from the success of Glasgow’s antifascist movement and keep moving towards replicating throughout Britain and Ireland.
