THE RIOTOUS BROTHERS

08-09-2009

Anyone who witnessed Saturday’s disturbances in Birmingham City Centre might be wondering at the neat division established in the mainstream media between English Defence League “protestors” and anti fascist “counter protestors”. Real life, as so often, is just a tad more complicated than that.

The EDL, in fact, provoked two quite distinct counter demonstrations – one by a Socialist group, the other involving around 60-70 young Birmingham Muslims, mostly of Pakistani heritage.

(Unite Against Fascism, on the other hand, were nowhere to be seen, having pledged to stay away for the good of the city. Despite this, journalists still claimed, somewhat bizarrely, that the UAF were there).

Far from uniting with the Socialists the Muslim youths seemed to regard their would be allies with deep suspicion – even antagonism.

One reliable witness (we’ll call him Eddie) even said he saw an attempted Muslim charge on the left-wingers in New Street, and in the middle of the afternoon, the groups were trading bizarre warlike whoops with each other.

It’s possible that amid the confusion, and separated by police lines, the respective mobs were unable to make out who the other was; or that they were using the noises to show solidarity – but to most onlookers it certainly didn’t feel like that.

That the Muslim youth were left unchaperoned also appears to have been a bizarre policing oversight.

Having talked themselves into an EDL versus UAF scenario before the event, they seemed unable to adapt to the notion that three quite separate factions were at large in the city.

Thus while the Socialists were “kettled” at the top of New Street, and the EDL were penned into Bennett’s pub, the Muslim kids were left free to roam.

They took full advantage, too. Having been repelled in their efforts to approach the boozer, they nipped up towards the Cathedral and attacked from Pigeon Park, armed with bricks from a handily placed builder’s skip.

Eyewitness Eddie, who was caught up in the melee, confirmed that they were none too discriminate in where these weapons were directed.

They also behaved aggressively towards photographers, with a couple of snappers being chased away without any police interference.

There will be those who have sympathy with the youth, who were defending their religion, and what they regard as their turf; and there’s no doubt that the EDL’s behaviour was provocative.

But let’s at least get the story right. The Muslim youngsters whose numbers swelled later in the day to possibly around 200, were no angels – and they certainly weren’t “anti fascist” protestors in the sense that phrase is normally used.

They were angry lads up for a ruck, and while they EDL were their principal target, they didn’t mind who got in their way.

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