The Far Right threat brings pain and chaos to Birmingham without anyone setting foot in city
Spectre of race riots is causing real fear
“This brings it all back. The fear, it’s incredibly traumatising.”
Charity worker Meena (not her real name) has just had an online support call with Muslim and migrant women across Birmingham. Designed to offer guidance and advice on keeping safe amid talk of far right riots on the doorstep, it turned into a heart breaking outpouring of fear.
“We all remember how our parents tried to shield us from the P*** bashing that was commonplace in the 1970s and into the 80s, the terrible things that were said and done to us. Seeing streets in Middlesbrough with windows and cars smashed up, in predominantly Muslim areas, with rioters blocking traffic and only letting through white drivers - and fearing the same is about to happen here…” Her voice tails off.
“We naively thought we were past that. The racism, the Islamophobia, we see it but not like this. People have been emboldened and encouraged in their views and it is very scary. All across the city Asian, especially Muslim, families are having these conversations. Even if we aren’t seeing it outside our windows so far, just knowing it could happen is very distressing.”
For a second day this week, fear of a Far Right rally in Birmingham has caused anxiety. Across the Jewellery Quarter, businesses shut early today, some of them boarded up, as rumours spread of possible attacks this evening on refugee-linked organisations in the vicinity.
Elsewhere, fears are mounting of a weekend onslaught in places as far afield as Worcester and Telford, West Bromwich and Redditch. A Far Right ‘hit list’ is circulating and deemed ‘credible’; online chatter and local intel is also causing more upset.
Without even setting a foot in the city, the Far Right are causing fear and havoc. That’s the subject of tonight’s newsletter. Thanks for joining me.
Rewind to Monday night, when police and community leaders in East Birmingham reacted to the threat of a ‘far right’ march through Bordesley Green and Alum Rock. Emergency meetings took place, police were mobilised, and warnings were issued. Hotels, refugee centres and mosques in the area were all in ‘lockdown’ mode, with extra security officers and gates bolted shut.
I stopped by one hotel that evening that houses asylum seekers to find the double gates were barred, undercover police were working with private security staff on a reaction plan in case of trouble, and residents inside had been told to stay in their rooms; the weekend’s scenes from Tamworth, where rioters attacked a hotel, were fresh in their minds.
As it turned out, the threatened action never materialised. In truth it had always seemed unlikely. Tonight it was the Jewellery Quarter’s turn to be on the hit list. On Saturday it’s Birmingham city centre that is meant to be the target. And each time, the fear ramps up again.
Somewhere in a sunny haven, provocateur in chief Tommy Robinson will no doubt be rubbing his hands in glee, geed up by the likes of Elon Musk, owner of X, formerly Twitter. The mission of those seeking to cause harm and distress is straight out of the rioters’ playbook:
Cause havoc and garner support through misinformation, and by playing on concerns about poverty, poor housing, the cost of living and delayed healthcare
Ramp up anti-Muslim sentiment by sharing and re-sharing footage of isolated incidents of violence and examples of extremist views and claim they represent a faith or community
Tell people how their jobs, homes, children and futures are under threat from these ‘others’, ensuring those with little turn on those with even less
Magnify the idea that British police aren’t on the side of white people by repeating rhetoric about there being ‘two-tiers’ of protection and enforcement, with ‘Brits’ said to be getting the sharp end of the stick
Throw out a list of target names and threats, with vague times and dates, to keep everyone on their toes
The result - fear magnified, division exacerbated, communities in lockdown and police stretched.
Without even setting a foot in the city, the Far Right are causing fear and havoc.
Meena is telling how her now elderly father, currently very ill in hospital, can see from his ward window the site of the steel factory he used to work in.
“He lost two fingers in a work accident, and lost his hearing due to the constant crashing of heavy hammers on metal. As I stroked his hand I was thinking of the stories I heard then of the hostility he and his generation faced because of his brown skin. He gave so much of himself to that factory and this country as a migrant. Dad is now in his last days and believed all of that was gone now. We haven’t told him the extent of what is happening but it seems we have come full circle.
“He used to implore us to keep a connection to our homeland, because he was convinced some day we would be kicked out. We used to say to him ‘of course not, we were born here, this is our country’ and now, honestly, I am reflecting on that, and it’s so scary.”
She added: “I recently visited Bosnia and met women who had been the targets of the ethnic cleansing that happened there, and the terrifying killings and rapes of Muslims that occurred. I know people might think this is overdramatic, but the hatred towards Muslims and migrants that is being expressed here is how it started in Bosnia.
“Many of those protesting, who are joining in these far right protests and speaking online, have been taught to fear Muslims. They believe Muslims are somehow evil and other, and have this different world view, to the point where ordinary, pleasant neighbours start to believe we are a threat. It’s a really dangerous narrative and it’s exactly how things started in Bosnia.”
Meena is not alone in her fears, nor in her reflections on the history of the Bosnia conflict. Richard Burden, former MP for Birmingham Northfield, has written a powerful blog on a similar theme.
In it he writes: “The appalling violence seen in several British towns and cities over the past week has taken my thoughts back to an event attended by hundreds of people in Birmingham last month. We were all there to both remember the past and to make a commitment for the future.
“We were remembering the systematic murder of 8,373 men and boys in Srebrenica, Bosnia in July 1995. They were killed simply because they were Muslims. It was genocide and it has been described as the worst atrocity on European soil since World War Two. It was born out hate.
“The commitment we all made at the event in Birmingham on the 29th anniversary of the genocide was to combat hate – both in our own communities and abroad; both now and in the future….I am not trying to claim that Britain today is the same as Bosnia in the 1990s. It is not. But just this week Elon Musk used his privileged position as a social media “influencer” to claim that the UK is heading for civil war. Such inflammatory words are irresponsible and they are likely to incite yet more violence on our streets.
“What happened in Srebrenica should still serve as a warning to us today.”
He flags how divisions among Bosnia’s different communities were sown in the early 1990s. “People were categorized and dehumanized, not because of something they had done, but rather because of who they were. If you were the wrong religion or you came from the wrong ethnic background, your presence in large parts of the country was no longer welcome.
“The hate that ultimately led to genocide in Bosnia was not an event that took place overnight. It was a process in which people were encouraged over time to blame the genuine uncertainties they felt about the future…on the presence of “others” who were not like them. It was fed by lies and distortions which were convenient to promote ethnic supremacist political agendas. Down the line, otherwise rational people came to believe the lies to be facts…denying others even the right to be treated as human beings at all.”
He goes on: “There is no doubt that the deprivation faced by ethnic minority communities in Britain is particularly acute and particularly extensive. But having represented a predominantly white part of Birmingham in Parliament for 27 years, I also know the reality of poverty and deprivation in white working class areas. In 21st century England, educational under-achievement is numerically worst amongst white working class boys. In areas like the one I represented, “opportunity” can too often feel like a word for other people, not one for young people growing up there.
“It is long overdue for government to address these challenges. I sincerely hope that the new Labour Government will show both the vision and determination to do so. Over the past decade or more, though, inequality has got worse, not better. And it has been too easy for politicians to sidestep the real issues while encouraging an atmosphere in which those who have little look to those who have less as the cause of the problems they face. Put them into categories – “Muslims”, “asylum seekers”, “refugees”, “ethnics” etc. and you get the picture. If people speak out against the scapegoating, label them “woke” and out of touch for good measure.
“It is an atmosphere that was shamefully encouraged by Ministers in the last government…Today, the theme is being taken up even more blatantly by the likes of the Reform Party. Nigel Farage himself has openly blamed “legal and illegal immigration” for fracturing communities as he ominously warns that what has happened in recent days is “nothing compared with what could happen over the course of the next few weeks”.
“Little surprise then, that the scapegoating of “others” and inflammatory statements from politicians and influencers find all too ready amplification in the shadowy world of Far Right online networks where direct lies about the brutal murder of children in Southport are used to incite the kind of violence we are now seeing.”
At the Srebrenica Memorial Day in Birmingham last month, representatives of eight different faiths in the city signed a statement of commitment which has also been endorsed by the leaders of all four political parties on Birmingham City Council. It ends with the words: “I am because you are.” Words to think on.
Zubeda Limbada, director of Connect Futures, a Brummie-based organisation that works with young people, said it was time for people to stand united, of all faiths and none, of all backgrounds and heritage. “We stand with the victims of violence fuelled by extremism, racism and Islamophobia. Witnessing these events has been painful. We are hurt, angry and frustrated.
“We know the violence on our streets and in our communities has a history; it is not occurring in a vacuum. We are not surprised. Over the last few weeks we have seen the offline results of online irresponsibility, hate and lies. People are scared. This will leave scars – physical, emotional and social – deepening divides and hate.
These are acutely difficult topics and we will not find neat solutions by hiding away.”
There is hope. I’m due to attend a discussion event on Friday to consider the bigger questions and context of the current riotous actions, including the challenging topic of how best to control immigration. That gathering will include people from all sides of the political and social spectrum. Also this week, the newspaper I work for will be sharing a message of unity from across the city, highlighting a desire to stand together against hate and racism.
Ending the current threat is vital. But when the panic subsides, we must keep talking.
Reflecting on Monday night in Bordesley Green
I’ve not had so many DMs in my X/Twitter feed for a long time. In they flew, from multiple bots and anonymous accounts, plus a few identifiable ones, mostly insulting my face, my journalism, damning my family and describing me as a ‘traitor’ and ‘a Muslim lover’.
I’d dared to honestly describe as ‘good natured’ the majority of those I met attending a 1,000-strong gathering of mostly young, brown skinned men outside a McDonald’s in Bordesley Green on Monday night, who had come out to send a message of defiance to the Far Right. My take upset lots of people who were looking for wholesale condemnation and amplification of a negative message.
Some said I was dismissing the pockets of idiocy and violence that occurred later - I certainly wasn’t, as my commentary went on to say. I abhor violence, those who encourage and incite it, and those who carry it out. Anyone involved in criminal acts that night, or any time, needs to pay a harsh price. Those who antagonised and threatened journalists, were abusive or harassing, and in three incidents used violence against others, deserve everything coming their way.
But it is possible to both understand that the gathered crowd that night looked intimidatory and hostile in their black garb and face coverings - that was their aim after all - while also not jumping to negative conclusions about the individuals behind the masks and hoodies.
I chatted to groups of lads who were waiting to get their A level results next week, to a trio pooling their cash to get some chips, to a middle aged councillor and his friends, to local imams, to men with arms crossed who argued some of the media were conduits for racism and were ‘to blame for all of this’ - all rubbing shoulders with each other. They wanted to send out a collective message to any Far Right supporters: ‘You are not welcome. This is our home.’
As time ticked on into a second hour, and it was clear the threatened far right insurgency was never coming, some of those still hanging around became restless. A gaggle of men headed over to the middle of the road island, some carrying Palestine flags.
Among them were idiots full of adrenaline and testosterone, keen to show off. Lads on motorbikes tore up the turf, childish and dangerous motorists in souped up cars skidded around the island, not caring if they put lives at risk. Firecrackers were let off.
Later that night a fracas took place at the Clumsy Swan in Stoney Lane. An assault and criminal damage ensued - but in a heart warming response soon after, pub goers and Muslim activists hugged and shook hands, reminding each other that the antics of a few individuals do not represent an entire ethnicity, faith or community. Amen to that.
Update: A recent yougov poll reveals 85% of people oppose the actions of rioters. Seven in 100 supported ‘violence’.
If you’ve been affected by recent events, and need to reach out for support, there are lots of organisations out there you can speak to. A helpful list is located by clicking here to the Birmingham Voluntary Services Council website help hub
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