Blog Archives
Antifascist Kurdish Solidarity
On Tuesday evening we hosted an excellent meeting with members of the local Sussex Kurdish Community (kurdishcom.com) and others who have recently traveled to Rojava.
Fascists: Should We Just Ignore Them?
Short answer: no.
A few days ago, Brighton and Hove News published this article. It’s an interview with Matthew Cook, one of the organisers of this year’s Kemp Town Carnival. In it, Mr Cook argues we should ignore the planned fascist march in Brighton, and leave it to the Police to deal with, whilst we all party it up at the carnival.
Since “just ignore them” is a fairly common message we get sent, we thought we’d look in a little bit of depth at why this is such a bad idea.
Far-Right Symbols II – Electric Boogaloo
Considering how wildly popular our “Guide to Far Right Symbols” has proved, we decided the only proper thing to do is write another one, looking at some less common symbols, or ones used in other countries.
Many of these symbols relate specifically to fascist groups in other countries, so you’re unlikely to run into them in a Brighton back alley, but as many activists regularly travel abroad (and our last article got hits from all over the world), we thought it’d be good to broaden our scope a bit.
Migrant Solidarity Night and Other Updates
There’s a lot of stuff coming up for antifascists in the South East in the next month or so. Here’s a round-up of stuff you should be aware of.
International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners
Today is the International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners, called for by New York City Antifa. Their callout states:
Antifascists fight against those who—in the government or in the streets—dream of imposing their fascist and other Far Right nationalist nightmares on the rest of us. Throughout the world, Islamophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, and racist bigotries are on the rise. Antifas are on the frontline in confronting these reactionary politics, and we will not forget our comrades imprisoned in the course of this struggle.
The AFN is one of the groups supporting this callout, alongside antifascists from as far afield as Finland, Sweden, Australia and the US (full list of supporting groups below).
As part of the Antifascist Network, Brighton Antifascists have enhusiastically taken up the call for solidarity actions.
Oxford vs The EDL! 1-0 to the Locals
Yesterday was the EDL’s national demonstration in Oxford. After bottling it in Brighton, they were relying on having a good day to retain some credibility. Unfortunately for them, that’s not exactly what happened.
The pitiful EDL turnout, around 150
Roundup of a Crazy Weekend
This weekend has been very busy for antifascists around the country, with many demonstrations and some interesting (and worrying!) developments.
First off, SS wannabes National Action staged a “White Man March” in Newcastle. North East Antifascists, alongside London Antifascists and many other autonomous groups, confronted them and made sure they had a real shit time. Chants such as “Hitler was right!”, plus burning an LGBT and Israeli flag, got 9 of them (ie half of their demo) nicked for racial hatred. It ended with around 20 idiots standing protected by dozens of police, sieg heiling to an empty street. Well done guys, that was a major victory for the white race /sarcasm.
Successful Gig
Phew, what a night!
Last night, Brighton Antifascists had a very successful benefit gig in the Cowley Club, Brighton’s premier radical social center. Negative Measures and Teef from Brighton and Damaged Head and Harda Tider all the way from Sweden played for an audience of easily 100 enthusiastic punks.
The Brighton Antifascists info stall.
Pegida UK: Nazis, Islamophobes and Anti-Semites.
Anyone who’s been keeping an eye on the growth of the far-right in Europe over the last year can’t help but have noticed “Pegida” (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamification of Europe), a German group who have been marching every week for several months, drawing many thousand supporters in their home city of Dresden.
“Pegida” marching in Dresden last month.
Attempts to take the Pegida format beyond Dresden have been somewhat underwhelming. Low numbers and large antifascist counter-protests have dogged their demonstrations in cities like Cologne, Hannover and Berlin. With the creation of Pegida groups outside of Germany, this pattern of failure has only continued, with their attempt at marching in Malmö, Sweden, hilariously outnumbered.
30 Pigeda clowns outnumbered by around 3000 antifascists in Malmö, Sweden.
Guide to Far-Right Symbols
Displaying openly Nazi symbols is illegal in many countries, so European fascists have taken to using a plethora of symbols, logos and codes to hide their real views. This fashion has spread to British Fascists as well, so we’ve written a short guide to help people understand the confusing world of far-right iconography. Know your enemy!
Brighton Anti-fascists 