By right wing, I mean extreme right wing.
I am ‘right wing’ myself: conservative, leaning towards UKIP. Eurosceptic, anti-immigration etc.
I am sucked into nothing. I am actually British, I have seen the EDL in action, I know their background. Unlike you, who sits 3000 miles away. And its no coincidence that the other British Freepers all oppose the EDL (also no coincidence that the EDL-lovers on FR are all Americans): winniesboy, Vanders etc.
We Limey freepers are all conservative, anti-immigration (or at least anti unrestricted immigration) and in some cases ex-military. Yet we all dislike the EDL. That might tell you something. So, you can try and call us liberals or whatever. Dhimmis or whatever phrase you like. BUT this is a group in OUR country, not yours. How arrogant to tell us we are wrong about a group in our own country.
Do you want to know WHY we dont like them?. Simple. They are a group at the borderline, if not over the borderline. They have links to both organised football hooligan groups, and extreme British white power/neo-nazi groups like Combat 18. Their hierarchy and many of their followers have convictions for violence. Their leader, Steven Lennon, who is a hero to some here on FR, is a convicted thug with at least one conviction for assaulting a police officer.
And given the above, the EDL has questionable attitudes to blacks, asians and Jews. Blacks are not welcome in the EDL, they have one Asian member of note, and I am not aware of any jewish, gay, sikh, hindu members. So this is not a true UK group of patriots. Frankly, its the National Front and BNP with some smooth edges.
The EDL is not, not even remotely close, to being a British tea party group, as some deluded Freepers think. There seems to be this frankly ludicrous idea that Steven Lennon and the EDL are heroes ‘cos they is standin’ up to the muzzies. That they is the real British patriots, and anyone who dislikes them is just a wimp or a liberal and aint no real Brit.
Horse*hit.
(btw, I am sure the KKK hates Muslims. Does that make them patriotic heroes to most Americans here?.)
We who are actually British (freepers)KNOW the EDL. We know it better than people here. We know its background and its links. If it was a genuinely good group, we’d support it. But the EDL are not heroes, they are a group that in fact will HARM the very real and very necessary problems that Britain has with extreme Islam and with immigration, multiculturalism etc.
You want to support the UK, support a real conservative group that will try to right the wrongs of multiculturalism and social engineering?. Support UKIP.
Again, you provide zero evidence as to why the EDL are an ‘extreme right wing’ group. An extreme right wing group would be similar to Tim McVeigh, hardcore libertarian or anarchist. The EDL are a one-issue protest movement, seeking to protest against Islamic occupation. Are they violent? Yes. So what? I don’t recall any stories about them killing anybody, and its not as if the people they face off against (UAF thugs and communist agitators) are exactly ‘peaceful’. They’ve assaulted police. This is the same police that cover up Muslim pedophile gangs? Yeah, I’d probably want to assault them too.
If you don’t like what the EDL do, fine, but don’t pretend that UKIP or any other mainstream political group is committed to tackling the Islamic problem, because UKIP pussy out whenever the issue is raised, a shame, because there was a time when they did talk about it. I’ll acknowledge however, that many of their members do still see it as a top priority, but the leadership is too cowardly to face the issue head on, because they know the media will come after them.
I can see where you’re coming from. 7/7 doesn’t seem to have had a lasting impact on Britain or people’s attitude towards the cult of death that is Islam, but Americans remember 9/11 as if it was yesterday, so yes, for us no group could be worse than Abu Qatada’s congregation and his supporters in your government. And just remember, Muslims bred and raised in YOUR country, have then gone to Afghanistan and fought with the enemy to kill our soldiers. So perhaps the other posters you mention just want Europe to be rid of Islam, and they don’t care if its done through violence or through other methods. Something to consider.