- A London rally gave extremists a platform to proudly incite violence and broadcast their hatred of Muslims and Islam.
- The event highlights years of organised Islamophobia seeping into the mainstream. Hate is being normalised, which means Muslims must unite and seek Islamic education.
London, yesterday, became the stage for one of the largest right-wing gatherings Britain has seen in decades. Official estimates placed the crowd between 110,000 and 140,000, though organisers claimed numbers soared into the millions.
Police reports confirm that 26 officers were injured during the ‘Unite the Kingdom’ protest. And, what might have begun as a demonstration of patriotism quickly descended into a chilling display of hostility, Islamophobia, xenophobia, and calls for religious war.
This was not merely a march. It was an unveiling of a movement where ordinary citizens: grandparents, children, families, stood shoulder to shoulder with hardline extremists, united not only by national identity but by announcing that Islam and Muslims are the enemy.
Some cited patriotism as their reason for being there; others insisted free speech was under attack. Many expressed frustration that neither Labour nor the Conservatives represented their views. This vacuum has given space to emergent political ventures, such as Advance UK, led by Ben Habib with Tommy Robinson also attached. It’s important to note, Habib hails from Pakistan and has a Muslim father.
Though unregistered, the group positions itself as a more radical successor to Nigel Farage’s Reform Party.
But what united the marchers most was not political disenchantment. It was anger, fear, and a shared conviction that Islam, and by extension, Muslims, pose an existential threat to Britain.
The Rhetoric of Erasure
What rang out from the podium and across the crowds was not coded language but explicit hostility.
The following words rang out to incite the crowd:
“Ban halal. Ban burqas. Ban mosques. Ban temples.”
“Islam is the most dangerous thing for our society.”
“Islam doesn’t belong to Europe.”
“Islam is our real enemy. We have to get rid of it.”
These words were not shouted in obscure corners but amplified on livestreams, delivered before families and children. Reverends opened the event, blessing the crowd.
A Colombian activist who had publicly burned the Qur’an, Valentina Gomez, was invited to speak. Brian Tamaki, a preacher from New Zealand, declared the rally a “religious war.”
A patriot speaking at The vigil of Charlie Kirk
The contradiction was striking. A march organised in the name of free speech was filled with demands to extinguish the religious freedoms of others. One speaker insisted:“There is no other religion but Jesus Christ’s. Ban any type of expression in our Christian nations from other religions.”
The hypocrisy was staggering. How can one demand freedom of expression while simultaneously calling to suppress it?
Violence Normalised
More disturbing still was the normalisation of open threats. Calls for assassination of political leaders were voiced on camera. One protester declared that London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, “needs to be assassinated.” Another speaker insisted:
“You either fight for this nation or you let rapist Muslims and corrupt politicians take over.”
“Allah, Allah, who the f** is Allah?, the crowd were heard chanting.
The irony, of course, is that “Allah” is simply the Arabic word for God, used by Christians in Arabic Bibles and in Jesus’s own language, Aramaic. In mocking the word, these self-proclaimed defenders of Christianity inadvertently ridiculed their own faith tradition.
Meanwhile, amid the fervor, some protesters were seen eating pakorea from Indian stalls, then returning to chant about purging “foreign influence.” The irony was almost too absurd to miss.
A disturbed and sick individual of the far-right rapes a Sikh woman
Just days before the march, a Sikh woman was raped by two white British men who reportedly told her, “This country is not yours. Go back.” It was troubling to see how Sikh spokesman that had been aligning with the far-right, remained silent about the incident.
Sikhs, courted by certain far-right leaders as proof of inclusivity, are now finding themselves caught in a dangerous paradox: simultaneously weaponised and victimised. This silence in the wake of violence and such an abhorrent crime, demonstrates how shallow such alliances are: convenient when useful, abandoned when inconvenient.
Sikh Advocates of Tommy Robinson:
Hypocrisy Amplified
The contradictions did not end there. Protesters tore up Palestinian flags while waving Israeli ones, insisting they were “putting Britain first,” yet championing another nation’s banner.
Tommy Robinson himself boasted that, despite Westminster Council’s attempts to block the march, police had “let it go ahead.” But police were also targets: traffic cones were hurled at them, one protester even injuring his own comrade in the attempt.
The entire spectacle, framed as patriotism, was rife with hypocrisy, contradictions, and a blatant willingness to incite violence under the cloak of “protecting free speech.”
A Manufactured Enemy
This march was not born in a vacuum. It is the product of years of investment in the “Islamophobia industry.” Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, show that between 2008 and 2013, around $200 million was poured into organisations dedicated to vilifying Islam, funded by some 70 groups.
The impact of that investment is now evident. Many attendees were not lifelong extremists but ordinary citizens radicalised through relentless online propaganda. Social media feeds churn out daily videos of crimes allegedly committed by non-white individuals, feeding a narrative of fear and replacement. These narratives are not only inaccurate but deliberately manipulative.
British Muslims must remain informed of what is happening
The London march was not just another protest. It was a chilling spectacle of how extremism has crept into the mainstream, cloaked in the language of patriotism but propelled by hatred. The rhetoric of erasure: calls to ban, expel, and even kill, was not whispered on the fringes but shouted proudly in the heart of the capital.
To dismiss this event as fringe would be naïve. It is a signal of Britain’s trajectory if such ideologies are left unchecked.
Therefore, Education can no longer be neglected. Cultural Muslims disconnected from their faith inadvertently harm the community, unable to defend themselves or their religion when it is misrepresented. Islamic literacy, instilled from a young age, must therefore be seen as essential.
Unity, too, is vital. Sectarian divisions are meaningless to outsiders who see Muslims as one. An Orthodox, principled Islam, practiced with humility and coexistence, offers both spiritual strength and societal contribution.
And perspective matters. Islam is not foreign to Britain. It has been part of the nation’s story for centuries. Muslims are not outsiders; they are English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh—born and raised in the land of their ancestors.
