- On 25th October, UKIP’s Nick Tenconi and his far-right group are planning a hate march through Whitechapel targeting Muslims, under the guise of a “crusade.”
- The Met Police are considering routes through sensitive areas like the East London Mosque, highlighting inconsistent policing.
On Saturday 25 October, fascists plan to gather in Whitechapel and conduct a march of hate through Tower Hamlets. The demonstration has been organised by UKIP, led by Nick Tenconi. Tenconi also heads the far-right group Turning Point UK and was recently filmed performing a Nazi salute.
Tenconi and his followers are open about their purpose. The march is designed to attack Muslims in the heart of East London. It is promoted as a “crusade” to “reclaim Whitechapel from the Islamists” and as part of a “mass deportations tour.” It is important to note that 43% of Whitechapel’s residents are Muslim.
Tenconi has called on every so-called ‘big name patriot’ to join a ‘holy war’ against ‘Islamist occupation.’ He claims that any Muslim who refuses to support him is siding with extremism and betraying the British people. His talk of ‘self-defence’ and ‘all’s fair in love and war’ is a thinly disguised threat of violence against Muslims in Whitechapel.
It is astonishing that the Met Police have remained silent. They are reportedly considering route options that would allow UKIP to march through Tower Hamlets, including a path that passes the East London Mosque. This is the same police force that prohibited a Palestine march from nearing a synagogue, even in the absence of any evidence of threat to Jewish people.
When far-right demonstrations have led to rape, stabbings, shootings, and arson attacks on mosques and restaurants, a march openly calling for violence against Muslims is still defended as free speech. Protesting against genocide is called “un-British,” while violence against Muslims is ignored. This is what two-tier policing looks like.
The fascists are growing bolder. All summer, protests outside the Britannia Hotel on the Isle of Dogs have attracted agitators from across the country. When a fire alarm went off there, they chanted ‘you’re burnt to toast’ at the asylum seekers inside. They have often outnumbered anti-racist counter-protesters. On 14 October they disrupted an anti-racist meeting in the area.
St George’s Crosses appearing across the borough have signalled growing support. Most significantly, Tommy Robinson’s 200,000-strong demonstration last month has supercharged far-right organising.
UKIP knows exactly what it is doing. Tenconi’s goal is to spread fear among Muslims and to erase the borough’s history of resistance to fascism. Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts were stopped at Cable Street in 1936. The National Front and the EDL were later driven out of Tower Hamlets by united anti-fascist movements.
Muslim organisations have taken the lead in calling for a unity demonstration, joined by faith groups, anti-racist organisations, and trade unions to counter the hate march; a march which aims to erode communal harmony and sow discord within society.
