Blog Archives
La FN en Brighton? Mais Non!
When we heard a few days ago that Tony Thommes, the Front National candidate for French Expats in Northern Europe, was planning a meeting at the King and Queen pub in Brighton today, we knew he’d regret it.
It’s The End Of The World As We Know It
The last few days have sometimes felt a bit like the end of the world, or at the very least, the beginning of a new era. Trump’s ascendancy seems to have sparked a new wave of repression and resistance, and the far-right across both the US and Europe is on the march.
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.
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.
March to Nowhere?
It’s been a busy weekend for Brighton Antifascists, despite the March for England not even trying to hold their annual crap-fest of a march this year.
The weekend began early with “Pompey” Dave Smeetyon (leader of March for England) and about 10 of his sad looking mates turning up in town on Thursday to celebrate St Georges day by doing a quick photoshoot on the pier then spending the rest of the evening hiding in the beer garden of the King & Queen, checking nervously over their shoulder in case antifascists turned up. Despite various threats they didn’t try going within 100m of the Cowley.
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.
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!
Remember history, fight fascism!
Brighton Antifascists have been busy recently flyposting important message on the streets of Brighton. Here are some examples of posters that appeared recently in our communities:
Brighton Anti-fascists 