Thursday, June 30, 2011

Atlas Shrugs:

Tommy Robinson, EDL Chief: "Any Rogue Elements Within the EDL That Go Against Our Mission Statement will be Removed from the Organization"

Tommy Robinson, leader of the EDL, just issued this statement to SIOA moments ago. I am relieved that they recognize they have a problem and intend to address it. I will carefully watch how events unfold.

Here is Robinson's statement on the conflict within the EDL:

The English Defence League was formed two years ago. One of the fundamental beliefs that this movement was built on was its support for Israel’s right to defend itself. In our first demonstrations, we went to Birmingham, and we flew the flag of Israel, the Star of David. In the first public speech I ever gave, I wore the Star of David in Leeds. The reason for this is because Israel is a shining star of democracy. If Israel falls, we all fall. This is what our movement has been built on for two years.

The English Defence League will not be deterred from its support for Israel and the Jewish people. Recently, in the EDL there have been internal arguments, which are nothing more than that. Every large family has its disagreements, but when push comes to shove, we all stand on the same side.

Meanwhile, some people on the fringes of this movement wish to direct it toward their own agenda. This will never happen. Israel is a beacon of democracy amid repressive Arab states. Recently some people have jumped on the EDL bandwagon and tried to use our platform to express anti-Semitic views. These statements are not in accord with the fundamental beliefs of the English Defence League. These people are not welcome, never have been welcome, and never will be welcome within the EDL. We reject all anti-Semitism. The EDL stands where it always has stood, which is side-by-side with Israel.
We repudiate any individual, group or writing that favors anti-Semitism, neofascism, and any race-based ideology. Any rogue elements within the EDL who go against our mission statement and our beliefs will be removed from the organization; we are determined to remain true to our mission. Anti-Semitism will not ever be tolerated within the EDL.

The EDL stands for freedom. It always has, it always will. We want the Jewish people and all free people to remain free forever, and we all stand together in this fight against Islamic jihad.


EDL Shake-up

I was an early supporter of the EDL. I liked who they were and what they were doing. When the EDL first came on the scene, I noted their strong support of Israel: Israeli flags at their rallies, and forthright expressions of solidarity with the Jewish State in its resistance to the same relentless jihad that is advancing in Britain. Almost immediately there came the inevitable charge from the jihad-loving Left that the group was "neo-Nazi," "neofascist," "white supremacist," and more. So I started investigating. I found that they rejected the British National Party's racial orientation, and that they had members who were Sikhs, Pakistanis, gays and other minorities, and even, eventually, a Jewish division. The idea of pro-Israel neo-Nazis is a myth of the Left, and so the presence of the Jewish division was decisive. I was troubled by the photos of EDL members giving the Nazi salute, but discovered that the EDL was aware of neo-Nazi attempts at infiltration, and had a policy of expelling anyone who expressed any kind of antisemitic or neofascist sentiments. They even refused to allow people to be members of both the EDL and the BNP. So it seemed to me at the time that the EDL was a genuine anti-jihad group, strongly pro-Israel as every legitimate anti-jihad group must be, since Israel is at the front lines of the global jihad, and resolutely rejecting racism and any form of actual neofascism.

However, it has become increasingly clear that the EDL has morphed and diverged from its original course. They now have clearly been infiltrated by the worst kind of influences, something that had successfully staved off for years, and they're no longer staving it off. Roberta Moore, the leader of the Jewish Division, has broken with the EDL. Perhaps the decentralization of the group or the loose grip Tommy Robinson held on its tether is responsible for this terrible shift in the EDL's direction -- I don't know. But whatever the case may be, the EDL has done a Charles Johnson. And they are now unrecognizable to me. I am sure regular Atlas readers have noticed that some time ago I stopped covering their events -- I was waiting to see how things would shake out. I was waiting to see if the forces of good would recapture the heart and soul of the group. Alas, it was not to be.

Now that the person whom I most trusted in the EDL, Roberta Moore, has resigned, as she was increasingly uncomfortable with the neo-fascists that had infiltrated the administration of the group, I too am withdrawing my support from the EDL. I hope that genuine anti-jihadists in Britain will also leave the EDL and work with Roberta on starting a new group that will resist definitively and firmly all attempts to divert it from its mission of fighting against jihad and for human rights.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Europe,

I do not wish to wade into the "who said what" or "who believes what" aspects of this unfortunate story. I really don't know if the EDL, which I have looked to as a beacon of hope in an apparent wasteland of apathy and civilizational decay, is really moving TOWARD or AWAY from race/nationalist based tendencies.

I will say this, however. The opposite of Islamofascism isn't racism or nationalism, it's simply HUMAN FREEDOM. The sooner you realize that, as a majority viewpoint, the better it will be for all free people everywhere.

Yes you do have a fundamental human right to not raise your asses five times a day in celebration of an evil, dead pedophile who advocated world conquest. No, YOU DO NOT have a fundamental right to dismiss, castigate, or despise other people on the basis of their physical complexion or their genetic heritage. Is that really so hard to understand?

So can we just get over this stupid little hurdle and get on with the important business of defending and expanding human freedom? Pretty please?

Anonymous said...

Hey MR, I suggest you post an update. The EDL has responded to the Pam's public denunciation and it's quit a good read. (At GoV if you are interested.

On a personal note: I don't quite understand your need to get all narky at the people on our side. I don't agree with everything you and Pasto say, in fact I think Pasto is 100% wrong on a few things. But you fight the good fight and I learn so much from you that IBA is on my list of blogs to visit daily.

Each blog is different but united we stand, divided we fall. Right?

Shaun

Pastorius said...

Shaun,
This post is from Pamela at Atlas Shrugs.

Midnight Rider did not write it.

Therefore, the snark is all Pamela.

We're pretty much all snarked out on this subject.

midnight rider said...

Shaun -- what Pasto said.

But thank you for weighing in, the kind words and please do so more often.

And Pasto may be 100% wrong from time to time but he's akways right where it counts

Whiskey and wild wimmin

Pastorius said...

What? Me 100% wrong?

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.profoundt.com/storage/idiot__oPt.jpg%3F__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION%3D1299076788275&imgrefurl=http://www.profoundt.com/pts-fables/2011/3/2/the-idiot-in-my-mind.html&usg=__599aiubw3rsJ5JxgWENsL-daVQA=&h=307&w=410&sz=17&hl=en&start=0&sig2=ittuEeIrV9QvUA6Adjg7kg&zoom=1&tbnid=DHd_gkG0e0tICM:&tbnh=162&tbnw=204&ei=s-MNTo_gAYrjiAK49KHgDQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Didiot%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1147%26bih%3D695%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=527&vpy=308&dur=1354&hovh=194&hovw=260&tx=155&ty=90&page=1&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0

cjk said...

Definitely a concern which needs to be addressed, but I am not giving up on the EDL as of now. Absolutely not, their leadership is on call over this. EVERYTHING considered they deserve more time to clean this up.

Anonymous said...

I am a proud member of the EDL and i support Israel.Roberta Moore was a liability and i am pleased she has gone.She was using the EDL's name to push her own agenda(the JTF for example)and many many members wanted her gone.Some members of the EDL could not care less about Israel,that does not make them anti Semitic and only a child would make that assumption,you come to one of our demo's and come out with any Nazi crap,you would get your head kicked in and handed over to the police.For the record,the only person ever convicted of giving a Nazi salute at one of our marches turned put to be a member of the UAF!!

Epaminondas said...

Anon if what you say were correct, the righteous indignation of the EDL at merely HAVING SUCH IDIOTS contaminate their actions and pollute their motives the result would have to be rigorous self policing.

But, as you so plainly evidence, excuse and apologia rule.

The EDL is an embarrassment, for better or worse.

BNP lite.

At best

Pastorius said...

Epa, to be fair to Anonymous, he said that if a person comes to their demos and displays Nazi-like behavior, he will have his ass kicked.

Is that not a form of self-policing?

On the other hand, it is alleged that there are a lot of supremacists in the EDL forums at Facebook, etc., and that when these supremacists show up, they take their discussions into chat rooms, in order to evade detection.

This has been acknowledged to be the case by EDL members themselves, in the threads at Atlas Shrugs.

The EDL does have a real problem with this kind of "infiltration".

The question is, is it infiltration, or is it endemic?

Anonymous said...

Epa,what you know about the EDL could be written on the back of a postage stamp.
The reason we get racist Nazi's trying to join our group is because of idiotic comments and articles calling us "right wing".

Most members of the EDL don't give a toss about the global jihad,they are concerned with what is happening in the UK.not Israel,not Syria and not Libiya!!

Muslims in the UK are already corrupting our voting system,raping our children,blowing us up,creating no go areas and trying to enforce Sharia law,so do you really think the the average person here should be more concerned about what is happening in another country?

If Islam comes to dominate the UK government(and that is a very real threat),how well do you think Israel will fair in regard to support from the UK?

Although i support Israel i joined the EDL to fight Islam in the UK,i will always argue in support of Israel but that to me is separate from the goals of the EDL.

The EDL mission statement was written after the birth of the EDL and the rank and file members had no say in it's content and none of us have signed up saying that we agree with it,so we can't be accused of breaching it.

As i have said,some people don't support Israel but they are not against it either,they just don't care,they are concerned about the UK first and last,as am i.
That does not make us anti Semitic,it makes us patriots.

If you had any idea how us members of the EDL are treated by the police,media,government and even employers you may see why we are worried about our lives and country first.