EDL....

[DandyFloss]

I am a regular who has name changed for this thread.

I would like to have a discussion about EDL. I want to know exactly why people find them so abhorrent and why it is such a taboo subject.

I dislike militant Islam, it is a dangerous movement and it really frightens me. A family friend was killed in 9/11 and it was a horrible horrible tragedy.

I have two mixed race children, my DH is mixed race, I would not say I'm racist or xenophobic.

As far as I can gather EDL oppose militant Islam, and this alone.

Why does this make them racist? Surely militant Islam, although a very small proportion of Islam, should be opposed?

EDL are facist and a bit thick tbh they pray on innocent people and think they represent the working man they do not, and I applaud help for heros who refuse to take funds from them and any support , if you look at EDL members you will see they are tattoed fuckwits who cant string a sentence together and are in fact very racist wrapping it up as patrotism , (sp)

Do people dislike them so much because of how their supporters look, i.e tattooed thugs?

What is facist about them? Does opposing militant Islam make someone facist?

I genuinely want to know, am I missing something?

Another question, do people think it's racist when The Tories or Labour oppose militant Islam?

they are anti Islam full stop - which is why they oppose the building of mosques etc - not just anti militancy - most Muslims are anti militant Islam - but the EDL are anti Muslim full stop

It's nothing to do with how they look and everything to do with their attitudes and how they try to get their views across.

Having mixed race children and DH doesn't prove you're not racist or xenophobic by the way. Bringing it up as if it somehow adds to your point makes me very suspicious of you.

what makes them fascist is that they want to stop a whole section of society having religious freedom

The edl don't just oppose 'militant Islam'. They hate Muslims full stop. Five minutes on any of their Facebook pages will tell you that and that they all have the literacy skills of a slug

they also have links with much more militant right wing groups such as C18

I only said about the tattoed fuckwittery because that is what they are like it doesn't matter what they look like their ideas are insane nick griffin wears a lovely suit doesn't make me want to support him either this is nothing to do with militant islam and everything to do with all of islamic culture

Well think about the name - English defense league- what is the suggestion here? English people (whites only) are being attacked by 'other' and need protecting.

Is this what you think?

What is c18?!

I live near the birthplace of the edl and my hometown has an ever increasing number of supporters for them.

My hometown was pretty much desimated by EU rulings, there's one of the highest youth unemployment rates, high rates of drug and alcohol dependency and high levels of mental illness. My dsb is doing an electrician course at college but there is one apprenticeship out of 175 students.

For alot of WWC males from my hometown the services is their best hope of employment so they felt Lee Rigby's death as personal.

I can to some extent understand their appeal but some kids on my estate racially abuse my Pakistani neighbours and use chanting edl as a form of intimidation which is disgusting.

I think their main appeal is no political party speaks to the genuine wc anymore so the edl speaks to people who feel forgotten and ignored

as an asid I just discovered there is a Scottish defence league they were on STV news the other week at some rally I was horrified it is spreading

I know plenty of 'Tattooed thugs' trust are neither Racist or Thugs .

As for the EDL oppose militant Islam, and this alone , Does that mean what Hitler did was ok then because it was only against 'The Jews'

Thisisaeuphemism - Well, I would say English people (not whites only) already have been attacked by 'other' (people opposing the UK) in the 7/7 tragedy.

We protecting to some extent, not sure how the EDL plan to do this though, hopefully our government have it under control.

headsspinningforachange - Do you think opposing militant Islam (not Islam in general) makes you akin to a nazi?

But dandy most of the people the EDL are trying to "protect" is from where as disgusted and appaulded by what happened at 7/11 as the rest of the population.

Would you support people who were anti Irish because of the damage done by the IRA?

Tbh I think it proved how out of touch politicians are when people like the edl are growing in support it would have been unthinkable 10 years ago

So from what I can gather, people despise the EDL because they feel they are anti-Islam in general, rather than anti-militant Islam?

trust That

Also I Dislike the Edl because they are racist morons to put it simply , I have been on plenty Anti Edl marches & have seen plenty of EDL members that look like ordinary buisness men so you definitely can't label everybody with Tattoos 'an edl thug'

headsspinningforachange - but what is it that makes you think they are racist morons? I have never been to a march so have no idea what happens. I did see a militant Islam march on a TV documentary and it was pretty shocking. They were shouting "UK go to hell", it was scary.

Dandy If the EDL could have their own version of Concentration Camps they would so yes they are not to dissimilar to the Nazi regime .
The EDL groups i have come across are against All Muslims not just Militant Islamists .

"Tbh I think it proved how out of touch politicians are when people like the edl are growing in support it would have been unthinkable 10 years ago"

Ten years ago the BNP were riding high. And before the BNP we had the National Front. There have always been far right groups on the fringes of UK politics. Fortunately they have always been (and hopefully always be) rejected by the vast majority of people in this country.

It's all of Islam they oppose. They also assume that all Muslims believe in radical versions of Islam.

They also attack mosques.

It's not just militant Islam they hate, it's all Muslims, that's what makes them fascist, and also seems to be what you are mistaken about.