While British "fascism," both in theory and electoral support, struggles to exist, "anti-fascism" is a booming industry.
In terms of a defined political creed, there are no "fascist" academics in British universities, no "fascist" politicians in the British parliament and no "fascist" newspapers. In short, British fascism means little. Yet, to listen to the alarm sounded by campaign groups, media, politicians, and interfaith and minority organizations over the "fascist threat", it would appear that fascism is swallowing Britain.
When using the label "fascist," British commentators seem to be referring to anti-Muslim, anti-Jewish or nationalist political groups such as the British National Party and the English Defence League. These movements regularly promote a "white-only Britain" and encourage violent hostility towards Jews, Muslims and other minorities.
In practical terms, then, "anti-fascism" means opposing the work of thuggish, disorganized street groups. Many of the "anti-fascists", however, are just as unappealing as the groups they claim to oppose. Unite Against Fascism (UAF), for example, is a project of the Socialist Workers' Party, a Marxist group that supports the violent overthrow of liberal democracy in favor of a totalitarian Marxist regime.
Most recently, the Socialist Workers' Party has voiced support for Hefezat-e-Islam, an extreme Islamist group in Bangladesh, which advocates the death penalty for "atheists" and others whom they claim "defame Islam."
As with its parent organization, the UAF's record on Islamist extremism is one of complicity. The UAF's vice-chairman, for instance, is Azad Ali, an Islamist activist, who works for the Islamic Forum of Europe -- a fundamentalist group which constitutes the British branch of Jamaat-e-Islami, the violent Islamist party responsible for war crimes in 1970s Bangladesh.
Azad Ali opposes democracy, "if it means at the expense of not implementing the sharia [Islamic religious law]." He admits to attending talks by Abu Qatada, the spiritual leader of Al Qaeda in Europe, and he has stated that the leader of a prospective Islamist caliphate should be Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Palestinian terror group Hamas. Ali is also apparently an ardent fan of the late Al Qaeda terrorist, Anwar Al-Awlaki, who was killed by a US Drone.
The UAF's Assistant Secretary, Martin Smith, also a leading member of the Socialist Workers' Party, is a vocal supporter of Gilad Atzmon, a Holocaust denier who has argued that burning down synagogues is a "rational act."
Peter Tatchell, a prominent gay rights campaigner, has noted: "UAF commendably opposes the British National Party and English Defence League but it is silent about Islamist fascists who promote anti-Semitism, homophobia, sexism and sectarian attacks on non-extremist Muslims."
The UAF is not, however, just silent; it is actively complicit. It has, on a number of occasions, joined in with the Al Quds Day March -- an annual Iranian-organized parade in Tehran, London and a number of other European cities - in which crowds chant and march in support of the Iranian regime, the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, and the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
Following the murder of a British soldier by Islamists in Woolwich, the UAF recently held a demonstration called "Don't Let the Racists Divide Us." One of the speakers was Shakeel Begg, an imam at the Lewisham Mosque, where the Woolwich terrorists worshipped.
Begg is a well-known hate preacher who describes jihad as the "greatest of deeds." He was previously the Muslim chaplain at Kingston University in London, where, during one address to students, he advised, "You want to make jihad? Very good... Take some money and go to Palestine and fight, fight the terrorists, fight the Zionists." He is also an outspoken supporter of Al Qaeda terrorists imprisoned in Guantanamo, whom he describes as "inspiring."
