Neo-Nazis plan anti-Semitic rally in heart of London's Jewish community
In the Stamford Hill neighborhood, neo-Nazis plan to hold a rally on March 22.
By JPOST.COM STAFFLiberate Stamford Hill demonstration(photo credit: LIBERATE STAMFORD HILL FACEBOOK)
A British neo-Nazi group is planning a rally against the “Jewification of Great Britain” in one of London’s largest Jewish communities.The group, Liberate Stamford Hill, veiled its planned March 22 protest as merely a protest against the Shomrim, a voluntary neighborhood watch program in the Stamford Hill neighborhood, which protects the community’s high concentration of Jews.Though posts at the top of the group’s Facebook page removed outwardly anti-Semitic comments, most likely for the sake of evading the site’s censor controls, a look further down has posts that clearly state their anti-Semitic intent.One post on Twitter shows a cartoon man with a big nose and yarmulke. The text reads “Jewification: Where Jewish culture occupies White countries, rendering them unrecognizable. #LiberateStamfordHill.”Another picture shows a re-rendering of the poster from the movie Jaws, with an evil-looking religious Jewish man replacing the shark.The group’s head, Joshua Bonehill, is described on his own personal website as a “nationalist” who is “working to expose the vast cultural Marxist Judeo conspiracy at the heart of our government.”Attempts have been made to remove the group’s page or its posts, though Facebook responded back in most cases that the content did not violate their standards.Off the web, efforts are already being made to either stop or counter the anti-Semitic rally.“This demonstration will not only be opposed, it will be stopped,” said the North London Anti-Fascists in a statement published in The Jewish Chronicle.Mark Gardner, a representative of the Community Security Trust, a UK body that ensures the safety of the Jewish community, said: “We will do everything we possibly can to refuse National Action, or any other antisemitic, White Pride, nationalist, or neo-Nazi groups who join this protest, even an inch of our streets.”
Gardner said the group “is in close contact with police, the local Jewish community, and social media providers over this matter.” He added that “this is essentially the work of a neo-Nazi Twitter troll who is trying to wind people up, rather than a far-right organization that can mobilize large numbers of people. He already has legal charges outstanding against him, so there should be no panic.”Jerry Lewis in London contributed to this report.
