'Faggot', 'chav', 'retard' and calls to violence all acceptable to HnH - just make sure the EDL are the target.

One again, Hope not Hate was setting new standards of hypocrisy over the EDL demo in Bradford yesterday.

Perhaps the most remarkable event after HnH attacked UKIP member Andy Lovie for daring to talk with a former BNP activist on Facebook was HnH Campaign Director and owner Nick Lowles re-tweeting former EDL deputy leader Kevin Carroll's tweet despite publicly questioning the sincerity of his resignation just the previous day:

 

Still, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? No need to get hung up by the same standards he applies to everybody else, where a similar re-tweet would see them marked as violent fascists. Can we look forward to an expose of Nick Lowles contacts with fascists by Carl Morphett? Let's not forget that HnH attacked this blog and our Facebook page for having people associated with the far-right as 'likers'!

 

Still, it would be a shame to leave the double standards there. After the HnH 'campaign' - a single letter - to prevent the 'Beloved of Allah' conference at the Edmonton Islamic Centre in London last week because of its open homophobia, Hope not Hate were still more than happy to allow homophobic comments on their Facebook page so long as the EDL were the target:

 

 

Tahair's comment is still there now almost 24 hours later, although several messages by EDL supporters have been removed, so we can only assume that homophobia is OK by HnH so long as the EDL are the target. If only the 'Beloved of Allah' organisers had known, they could still have had their conference just so long as they made clear it was only the EDL they were bashing because of their sexuality!

 

And bashing it would have been. While Hope not Hate regularly uses posts on other's Facebook walls as 'proof' that they are violent, far-right thugs, they are not so keen to police their own Facebook, where the EDL were the subject of several threats of violence. Not a surprise really, given the closeness of HnH and their UAF boot boy allies, but it rather puts their sanctimonious hectoring of others into perspective:

 

But that is not the end of it, because several HnH supporters were advocating that people should piss on the EDL:

 

 

There were some decent people around, but sadly they were in the minority by a considerable distance. And their calls for the HnH admin to delete comments which amounted to incitement to violence were simply ignored:

 

 

For the only messages which were removed were those from EDL supporters. You can't beat a good bit of censorship, can you? But then with Hope not Hate being run - and supported by - largely nice, middle class students, it is fair enough that they show their appreciation for and understanding of the working class: HnH is just a Labour front organisation nowadays, and Labour has nothing but contempt for the working man:

 

 

There were people who thought this show of class solidarity were wrong, but they were clearly in the minority, if you look at the number of 'likes' their comments garnered:

 

 

But of course poor old Angus misses the point - HnH is 'elitist' and comfortably middle class in a 'New Labour' and 'Progress' sort of way, and will only get more so now that Lord Ashcroft shares common cause with them. Still, such hypocrisy should not stand in the way of the work which pays best, ie attacking UKIP. After having a go at UKIP press officer Alexandra Phillips a couple of weeks ago for daring to mention the word 'spaz', even if it was in jest, the use of insults directed towards the mentally handicapped is just fine so long as the EDL are the target -

 

 

So as we can see, calling people 'retards' is officially approved by Hope not Hate on their Facebook pages just so long as the EDL or anybody else deemed far-right is the target, and on the condition that it is accompanied by some acceptably trendy, right-on left wing student politics sound bites. A few simplistic phrases of Labour ideology makes any taunt acceptable and certainly won't upset the 'tards, as Nick, Ruth and Carl like to call 'em!

 

Still, as the Hope not Hate team try and make their efforts appear a success, their own posting from the IBT - written by Mark Piggot, as Timor Moon is presumably still in prison for his assault on UKIP activists in London - states

 

"However, there seemed little danger from today's soggy turn-out, which was estimated at just 200.A rival anti-fascist counter-demo by "We are Bradford" attracted even fewer people."

 



Hardly the 'resounding success' claimed by Hope not Hate, who themselves conceded that there were between 350 and 750 EDL marchers present. #We Are The Many seems like just a distant joke now. #We Are The Not So Many seems more appropriate.

All in all, what a strange day. We have Nick Lowles and Hope not Hate retweeting messages from Kevin Carroll with approval, deleting messages from EDL supporters and yet approving of calls for violence against the EDL - not to mention pissing on them. We have the working class described as 'brain dead chavs', while the EDL are called 'faggots' and 'retards' with the tacit approval of the HnH admin team.

Once again - because HnH may not grasp such a simple point - we at this blog do not support the EDL. Our mission is to expose Hope not Hate's hypocrisy - something which should have been done years ago. So here you have it - it's official - Hope not Hate support misogyny, homophobia, violence and the use of the word 'retard' while retweeting messages from the far-right, and that's ok. God help anyone else who does it though, for their finger is ever ready to point and hurl the usual insults.

HnH 'Infographic' worst example of deliberately misleading propaganda

Hope not Hate continue to cash in on the death
of Lee Rigby with dishonest infographic

Hope not Hate continue to attempt to cash in on the death of soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich with the
launch of their new 'infographic' and its claim that it is a representation of anti-Muslim violence across the UK since May's events.

For some reason, HnH have also seen fit to include on their graphic not just marches by those it classes as 'far-right', but also wreath-laying ceremonies in memory of Rigby accompanied by what it claims are the number of those attending such ceremonies.

We can not see what the supposed link between the two is supposed to be. A quick glance at the map shows that there is no obvious link, with many areas which held wreath laying ceremonies experiencing no anti-Muslim events, and such events happening in areas where there was no wreath laying.

Hope not Hate also appear to have left off inconvenient wreath-laying events, such as the one in Woolwich attended by Labour MPs Stephen Timms, Saddiq Khan and Nick Raynsford. We assume that only events which cash in on Rigby's death in the correct fashion are approved by HnH: that is has ignored Labour organised events is understandable, as it will itself hope to share in the proceeds.

Then there are the 'anti-Muslim' incidents. Of the 31 they list, 13 related to either spray painting of graffiti or the leaving of bacon and pork at mosques. Included among the list is the vandalism at the Newport cemetery, where those who painted 'BNP', 'NF' & 'UKIP' on graves carefully avoided doing any other damage, and thoughtfully used a water soluble paint: we have discussed previously whether these were the actions of a far-right thug or a UAF/HnH supporter, and the same applies to these other incidents - it is in UAF and HnH's best interests to stir up religious strife.

Also featured are the arrests of Kevin Carroll and Tommy Robinson/Stephen Yaxley-Lennon in East London - nowhere near a mosque - and the threats sent to BBC political presenter Andrew Neill following his interview of Robinson/Yaxley-Lennon. The latter are more 'anti-Neill' than 'anti-Muslim'.

There are some outbreaks of honesty in their infographic, although perhaps unintentional. The supposed 'suspect device' left at a Liverpool mosque - which subsequently turned out to be a worshippers laundry - does not feature on the list.

HnH's Nick Lowles uses the opportunity in a blog posting to sell copies of his latest magazine, and he quotes liberally from his own editorial, saying:

"More importantly, ordinary people refused to let the extremists win. Most people understood that the actions of two people do not reflect the views of the British Muslim communities. "

Sadly, he seems to forget that while the actions of the two individuals in Woolwich may not be representative of their community, the actions of those who commit anti-Muslim vandalism or violence are not representative of theirs either. He then goes on to defend the 'Tell MAMA' organisation, despite the withdrawal of its government grant for massaging its own figures:

"It is disappointing then, amidst this hatred, that some journalists have attacked Tell MAMA, an organisation established last year to monitor and encourage reporting anti-Muslim hate crime, and even the very concept of Islamophobia. It is easy, sitting in their comfortable offices, to pick faults with Tell MAMA (an organisation HOPE not hate is proud to support) and downplay the level of violence. It is not they who are greeted by a nail bomb going off as they go to their place of worship or have to be woken from their beds in the middle of the night because someone has maliciously started a fire.
None of the journalists who attacked Tell MAMA and the concept of Islamophobia, have made a comment about Tipton."

Still no mention of
Karmani's positive
initiative

In the absence of any arrests or public comment on who the perpetrators of the Tipton event may be, it is difficult to make any informed comment beyond deploring all such violence. That Tipton
occurred does not however make 'Tell MAMA' right, and Lowles and Hope not Hate have consistently failed to deal with accusations that 'Tell MAMA' has deliberately lied over many months, in the process stirring up rather than damping down community divisions. To attempt to tie the two together from his 'comfortable office' is just more hypocrisy from HnH's head.

The article finishes with the usual publicity for groups and initiatives linked to Hope not Hate. Readers will be unsurprised to discover that there is still no mention of Imam Alyas Karmani's anti-grooming campaign nor any other event or initiative which is designed to improve community relations unless it is organised by an associate of Hope not Hate. Remember, only Hope not Hate are allowed to cash in on a soldier's death.

EDL arrests, Purcell/Purssell and the Palestinian bulldozer death of Rachel Corrie in 2003

Richard Purssell - from the 2009
Guardian article

After the fairly pointless assault on Tommy Robinson/Stephen Yaxley-Lennon and Kevin Carroll during the pair's tawdry publicity stunt yesterday, there is speculation across many blogs and on several far right website as to the identity of the assailants.  Several websites name one of the assailants as Richard Purcell (sic), who runs a left wing collective social club - the Cowley Club - in Brighton.

If it was Mr Purcell - which is properly spelled  Purssell - then his history is interesting, although having seen the limited photographic evidence, we remain unconvinced that they are the same people, and the police do not appear to have released their names.



Allegedly Richard Purssell - from the
Brighton anti fascist march in April

Still, if it is him, he does have some previous. Speaking in a Guardian article in 2009 he complains of
police surveillance and speaks of his attendance at the DSEI arms fair in 2005 where he was allegedly followed and harassed by police. The article features a picture of Purssell which is reproduced here.

The Casuals United blog - something which should be read with gritted teeth and which makes you want to donate a spell check program - features a picture which matches the image in the Guardian article, but which they state was taken during an anti-fascist demo in Brighton in April. 

The assailant from yesterdays fiasco

Are these two pictures the same person as the one caught on video attacking Robinson/Yaxley-Lennon and Carroll yesterday? You decide. There is certainly a superficial resemblance.

If it is - and others will have to decide - then he has an interesting history. The Guardian article linked above lists his occupation as 'landscape gardener', while the spelling of his surname is unusual, and explains the mis-spellings on several far right websites.

The only other Richard Purssell who has appeared in the news in recent years was also a landscape gardener from Brighton. This Richard Purssell was in Gaza, Israel and was present at the death of British activist Rachel Corrie when she was run over by a bulldozer driven by an Israeli soldier. Both Corrie and Purssell were members of the International Solidarity Movement. The ISM has been accused of having close links with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and have been accused of deliberately sacrificing the lives of young western activists in order to gain press coverage for their cause. According to another Guardian article:

"Purssell, a Briton, now working as a landscape gardener, said he volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) to witness events in the occupied Palestinian territories for himself. In Rafah he had been hoping to prevent the Israeli military from demolishing Palestinian homes. The organisation was strictly non violent, he said. "Our role was to support Palestinian non-violent resistance.""



Is this the same man - this time at the
UKIP Hove meeting?

In the documentation surrounding several of the legal actions to which this incident gave rise, Purssell is described as being from Brighton. What is the significance of this? There isn't any really, other than a wider understanding of who the people involved in the UAF and their allies are. There is also the possibility that Purssell was present at the demonstration outside a recent UKIP meeting in Hove, where self-proclaimed anti-fascists heckled blood donors, mistaking them for attendees at the UKIP meeting. Once again, the available images are not clear, and you must decide for yourselves.

None of this indicates support for either side - the EDL, Robinson/Yaxley-Lennon, Carroll, UAF, the International Solidarity Movement or Purssell. Our view on yesterdays events have always been clear - the EDLs efforts were a tawdry attempt to hijack publicity on Armed Forces Day, while the anti-fascists opposing them were no better than the thugs they claimed to be protesting against and helped the EDL gain unwarranted publicity, particularly through the actions of Purssell and his as yet un-named colleague. 

Only one surprise in an entirely predictable day

There has been an air of predictability about today.

 

EDL leaders Kevin Carroll and Tommy Robinson/Stephen Yaxley-Lennon were arrested for attempting to deviate from the route set by the police for their 'charity walk'. This was after a pair of UAF activists assaulted Carroll - there is no indication as to whether the UAF pair were also arrested. Carroll and Robinson/Yaxley-Lennon both protested their innocence despite having set out to be arrested in the first place. They then bizarrely claimed that the police were enforcing 'Sharia law'.

Elsewhere, EDL activists laid a wreath at the place where Lee Rigby was murdered before predictably decamping to the local pub.

While all this was happening, Hope not Hate kept up a running commentary. Not just any old running commentary, but one designed to lead UAF activists directly to the EDL, as can be seen from the following messages from their Facebook feed.

Predictably, the whole thing has been a farce. The EDL's poorly organised attempt to hijack Armed Forces Day has distracted attention from what should be a day celebrating the military. The presence of UAF, and their assault on Carroll and Robinson/Yaxley-Lennon served to give their attempts publicity it didn't deserve. Between the two organisations, they managed to tie up a huge number of police resources to achieve precisely nothing.

Meanwhile, Hope not Hate were busy stirring the pot for all they were worth, with such detailed information - which added nothing to the news value of what they were supposed to be 'reporting' - clearly designed to lead to a violent confrontation.

The saddest thing about it all is that we are sure all three organisations are sat back feeling quite proud of what they have 'achieved' today.

Possibly the only unexpected thing to happen today came from a Hope not Hate posting in the
discussion following the last screen capture above. It would appear that Hope not Hate are just as much in favour of bombing Muslims in the Middle East as sections of the EDL are of beating them up in the UK. We are informed that Matthew Collins - the ex far right thug now employed by HnH - was in charge of their Facebook postings today. Perhaps old habits die hard?