Tommy Robinson, Hitler and wooden crosses

[noblegiraffe]

Tommy Robinson is having his 'Festival of Free Speech' in London tomorrow.

I'm also seeing attempts on social media to rehabilitate his image as a 'concerned citizen' and pleas from him to keep things civil, not wear masks and not drink alcohol. Jolly good.

So let's be clear that he has also posted an image promoting his 'free speech festival' standing with Ant Middleton next to a bus, number 88. The far right will be well aware of the use of the number 88 to denote 'Heil Hitler' where H is the 8th letter of the alphabet. This is not an accident.

He has also posted on social media that he is planning to bring a large number of wooden crosses to his 'free speech festival'. This would appear to be an odd choice for a free speech festival but makes more sense if you want to bang on about how England is a Christian Country and Muslims are Not Welcome.

Either way, he is trying to appeal to a wider crowd while at the same time signalling to his racist contingent that it's business as usual.

@Gladysknightjustwalkinmyshoes Yes lets😂

I couldn't resist..I maybe went a bit too far with that one.

I'm going back to church tonight
Just like back when I was eight
But I don't mean to pray
I'm going to nick a collection plate

Black British Christians are a significant part of the church. Are they Nazis too?

This is a Tweet from Tommy Robinson from one year ago: We are at speakers corner today because last week a black Christian man was attacked by violent Muslims who tore up his bible and attempted to set him on fire. Today we are covering the Christian response to that attack at speakers corner which is becoming more and more hostile because of Islamist threats and intimidation.

Here is another from him: We will never allow Sikh or Hindu communities to be demonised in the uk They contribute & integrate , do not allow your frustrations with our open borders to end up in hostility to those who have embraced our nation. Close the border & stop Islam

And another: You are welcome here my brother (tweet to British Indian Aman Bhogal saying he's proud to call Britain home)

Does that sound like a scary racist Nazi on a KKK trip?

I will admit I find it a bit odd that figures like Russell Brand and Tommy Robinson have suddenly converted to Christianity, but a man defending his black brother in Christ isn't someone wading in Nazi territory

@comebetheoneineed Firstly I never said he was a Nazi or a Klan member, nor did I suggest others from different ethnic and religious groups who aligned with him his anti Islamic stance were Nazi's. I wouldn't think they would so but they could be opposed to immigration from Muslin countries and hold what could be considered Islamophobic views. This is exactly the question people are asking of Robinson, is he forming links with black people, Sikh and Hindu groups and communities as a fig leaf for his racism and ethno-nationalism? I really don't know.

He did post the video of a black grandfather with white grandchildren with the caption 'wtf is going on here, where are the parents'

With any luck it’ll absolutely piss it down tmro. I’m just outside London and the last few days have been harsh with the rain.

"Does that sound like a scary racist Nazi on a KKK trip?"

Tommy Robinson was a member of the British National Party - a far right, fascist political party with a whites only policy. He then set up the English Defence League - A far right, Islamaphobic group which developed from football hooligan firm backgrounds.

The signs are there that he might be on the scary racist fascist side.

Can you clarify what you mean by that, please? I'm all for free speech so I'm not going to have a go at you. Just like to know where I stand. People seem to have vastly different interpretations of this word.

50/50 at the moment...we can but hope.

This is a Tweet from Tommy Robinson from one year ago: We are at speakers corner today because last week a black Christian man was attacked by violent Muslims who tore up his bible and attempted to set him on fire. Today we are covering the Christian response to that attack at speakers corner which is becoming more and more hostile because of Islamist threats and intimidation

a man defending his black brother in Christ isn't someone wading in Nazi territor

I can't help but feel Yaxley-Lennon cherry-picks the racist attacks he wishes to condemn.

He's not siding with whoever his unlikely allies are, he's siding against Muslims.

Might make setting light to the burning crosses harder.

It is not anything phobic to have concerns about how far Islam encroaches upon western civilisation

"Encroaches"

Yes.It is phobic.

I’m so angry with mainstream politicians for looking the other way whilst Yaxley, Farage and their ilk spread hatred. They’ve all been so busy navel-gazing over the mess in their own parties, no-one is addressing what’s happening in communities up and down the country. It really feels like there’s a power vacuum at the moment, and I’m very worried about the type of person that’s going to fill it.

He seems like an alright bloke

Are we talking about the same person....?😳

'He seems like an alright bloke'

Fucking hell.

I am British (Welsh to be exact) with ancestors going back in England and Wales for many generations. I disagree.

You may think that some people feel afraid. Of what? Losing their homeland to who/what? Please explain this big bogeyman fear to me because all I hear is bullshit, racist immigration bad rhetoric with no substance, just lies and misinformation behind it

What has Britain done to the English, Welsh and Scottish? Why are the Irish not included here? What is different there?

This is a bullshit, wide, empty statement that says nothing. Please elaborate.

Let's not forget that Tommy Robinson and his content is being heavily promoted by one of the richest men in the world. Call it foreign interference.

Don't forget "likeable".

Even in the quotes you select you are able to read the selective permissions he suggests for being a citizen. His phoney name doesn’t take away from his exploiting events in the quotes you’ve used to attack other groups..this is nazism. Lies are nazism we do not have “open borders”…exploiting division is exactly how nazism evolves

@Anyahyacinth " Lies are nazism"

are you being hyperbolic? I had a family friend, family AFAIC, who was smuggled out of Nazi Germany under a rug in a car when she was a child. I get really annoyed with people talking about Nazis when they don't mean anything like that. Can't you find a different word to use?

Does it only feel palatable as nazism if it primarily affects white people?

How is this not Lennon:

Nazism, or National Socialism, was the far-right, totalitarian ideology and system of practices of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Germany, which ruled from 1933 to 1945. Its core beliefs included extreme nationalism, racial supremacy (particularly of the "Aryan race"), and totalitarianism, leading to the persecution and murder