The Guardian today has a feature on the British National Party and its threat to appeal to working-class white voters disillusioned by Labour (and with their heads filled with exaggerated stories about asylum seekers). The paper interviews a sixty-year-old cleaning lady who is thinking of voting BNP because of "all the horrible aggro ... all this stuff with asylum seekers". They also interview Neil Albert Walker, a council candidate in Stoke on Trent, who starts off on the subject of opposition to a new mosque (traffic, of course) but before long moves onto more familiar territory:
Does he think Holocaust denial is worth worrying about?
"Well, there's been more holocausts in the world than the Jewish Holocaust. I'm sure it was very wrong, what happened. But there's been bigger holocausts in the world. And every time someone mentions the holocaust, they choose to just link it to the Jewish one."
What does he think about mixed marriage? [Pause] "That's a tricky one, John, isn't it?" Well, I'd ask him it if he called. Because, as he knows, there are plenty of people from the BNP who think it's a very bad thing indeed. Another pause. "Well, it is," he says. "It waters down the gene pool. It's as bad for them as it is for us. It's not just about white and black people. If, like, a Somalian African were to marry an Asian Muslim, it's the same. That's what I think, anyway."
as-salaam alaykum,
One of the things I took from this story is our lack of outreach to the indigenous people here in the West.
I will speak of America as I have not been to the UK, but oftentimes, our masaajid do not reflect in the most remote way the neighborhood around it. One masjid I attend regularly, for example, has a large number of Latinos living nearby, but you can count the Latino Muslims on one hand.
The story said:
///But eventually, he cuts to the quick. "The white people living right by the mosque will have to move away," he says.///
This seems to be a sign of a lack of neighborliness that we often have. This must change.
///"They'd feel intimidated. There's already several mosques in the city, and if you were near a mosque on a Friday afternoon, you'd realise what we mean. It's just absolutely awash with Muslims, and they're aggressive towards people who... aren't Muslims, basically."///
Speaking about America, I know that Americans feel the same way. We, for the most part, are not friendly.
///Can he give me any examples?
"Well ...we have reports from people. Obviously, I've got to be careful what I say. But they just stick their cars anywhere they want, if anybody objects, they just ignore them, or give them a mouthful. They're the reports we're getting." Such tensions, he claims, are down to the fact that "the Muslims will not live peacefully alongside any other religion" because "their religion tells them they must master everyone else".///
Ah, our notorious lack of respect for people. I know this to be the case here in America. This, I feel speaks for itself as it has been mentioned numerous times
But then we act surprised when these people are manipulated by far-right racists like BNP. They don't know us.
Let us take some lessons from some of these things, Insha Allah and begin to be friendly and neighborly
Anyone who thinks the BNP have changed their spots is fooling himself. They are the same old National Front Neo-Nazis.
I wonder, though, if Labour is playing this threat up, so as to get more people voting Labour because of a threat from the BNP. Just a thought.
I personally think the BNP are just working class poverty driven group who have no real ideology at all.
In other words if non-whites weren't here they wouldn't care about being white.
Genuine white/Aryan nationalists tend not to be very popular or well known;
http://www.rosenoire.org/
On the subject according to Nick Griffen Melanie Phillips is a white nationalsist as well as being a jewish nationlist
some Jews like Peter Hitchens and nowadays, Melanie Phillips are basically standing in defence of the white West
http://timesonline.typepad.com/david_aaronovitch/2006/04/archive_hour_in.html#more
The BNP's election campaign in Stoke-on-Trent is based on spreading lies, rumours and misinformation- playing on the fears of ordinary working class people. As the saying goes- if you say it often and loud enough people will start believing you. As a resident of Stoke I have seen how the BNP have exploited the issue of a proposed new mosque to ferment hatred towards the Muslim community.
I don't agree with Tariq Nelson that it's our lack of outreach to the indigenous people that is to blame, because the quotes from the article are outright lies.
Neil Albert Walker, the BNP's candidate says "The white people living right by the mosque will have to move away,"
This is just scare- mongering because the proposed new mosque is going to be built on a main road (between a large car park and a public park) in a neighbourhood (Shelton) where there is a large Muslim community. The existing Mosque, which was converted 25-30 years ago, is in an area where there are still scores of white families.
"They'd feel intimidated. There's already several mosques in the city, and if you were near a mosque on a Friday afternoon, you'd realise what we mean. It's just absolutely awash with Muslims, and they're aggressive towards people who... aren't Muslims, basically."
I attend Jummah prayers as often as I can at the main Mosque in Stoke, and I've never really noticed marauding hordes of aggressive Muslims, giving daggers to any white person they see- why would they? They're aggressive as church-goers attending Sunday mass- not very! It must just be case of a person feeling intimidated when seeing lots of people of the same kind- I get the same feeling when the local football team plays, the place becomes awash with fans.
"Well ...we have reports from people. Obviously, I've got to be careful what I say. But they just stick their cars anywhere they want, if anybody objects, they just ignore them, or give them a mouthful. They're the reports we're getting."
Most Mosques in Stoke, as with other areas, are within walking distance of the community they serve. From what I've seen at my local Mosque, those Muslims who live further afield tend to park on streets where Muslims mainly live.
"When we talk about the Hanley mosque, he first focuses on a claim that the land concerned, leased by the council for a "peppercorn rent", could be sold for a huge sum"
The BNP have insinuated that the local Council have done an underhand deal and gave away valuable Council land to Muslims. The fact is that many councils give away derelict and unviable land to community groups and businesses for peppercorn rents. The land in question is a prime example of this, as it is a former vehicle depot and planning restrictions mean it can not be used to build houses. The council in the past have tried unsuccessfully to find another use for it. The deal to secure this land was overboard and transparent and planning permission was granted after a vote by local councillors. However, this doesn't stop the BNP from claiming the Council have done a dodgy deal with Muslims.
For balance, and to expose the blatant lies of the BNP the Guardian article should have included views from the "other side".
This case is a microcosmic example of how the BNP exploit local issues, through lies and misinformation, to gain support in the local elections. This strategy, it seems, has been more effective than campaigning on national issues.
The new Mosque issue has taken up a lot of column inches in the local paper,- to read some of the bigoted Letters to the Editor, see link below (type "Mosque" in the search box)
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/
I'm not too up on UK politics. How many voters does the BNP get?
Well, not many, because they stand in much less than half the seats. They target working-class white areas where there is conflict between the working-class whites and local blacks or Asians, and exploit hostility whipped up by the right-wing press and where there is none, they tell flat-out lies such as saying a white girl was raped by Muslims or that the council is paying thousands to Africans to settle locally. When they get onto councils they don't do all that much; in fact, they are notorious for their incompetence.
Of course they don't do much because they have nothing positive to offer. Their politics is entirely negative.
At the moment it takes the form of being anti-Muslim. But that is just a cover for hatred of dark-skinned people.
Any Hindus who think Nick Griffin is their champion because he hates Muslims will find out soon enough. When he's moved on from Muslims you'll be next.
(I've got strong views about Islam, as many here know, but there is a difference between being against a religion and against people who happen to believe it.)
I know that people like BNP spread lies about the Muslims. I am in no way justifying that.
All I was saying was that because our neighbors don't know us, they can believe untruths about us when some lunatic comes along to spread them. It also doesn't help when we are rude