A group of Islamist agitators clashed on Saturday with members of a British National Party (BNP) splinter group ‘Britain First’ in East London, with police intervening to calm the tensions.
Following investigations by the Metropolitan Police over the activism of the ‘Need4Khilafah’ group – which boasts convicted terrorists and known hate preachers within its ranks – the group, which is associated with radical Islamist preacher Anjem Choudary announced it was to host “an Islamic rally” at “an undisclosed location in East London”.
That location was on Green Street in the Forest Gate area, near to where the anti-Western ‘Muslim Patrols’ were operating last year. Royal Barnes, who was affiliated with the Muslims Patrols, was jailed this week for five years for glorifying the murder of British soldier Drummer Lee Rigby in a series of YouTube videos.
The groups clashed as a small contingent of Britain First members descended on London, shouting “Terrorist scum off our streets!” repeatedly into a megaphone, while Islamist protestors replied with “Allah hu Akbar” (God is greatest).
Metropolitan Police intervened to separate the two groups, as can be seen from a video posted to the Britain First website (below). The former BNP activists wrote on their website: “On the Muslim side was infamous hate preachers Abu Izzadeen and Anjem Choudary, flanked by dozens of hostile Muslim activists and young kids holding Al Qaeda flags”.
Choudary and his followers argue that the flags and seals used are those of the Prophet Muhammed, and don’t represent affiliations with Al Qaeda or other terrorist outfits. The Need4Khilafah website claims, “In light of a recent Islamic event which was co-organised by various Islamic groups in North London, and the subsequent controversy associated with it, specifically, the use of the world famous seal of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) an Islamic rally has been organised today to challenge the misconceptions that were brought against it.”
Britain First has been described as a ‘far right’ organisation by the Independent newspaper, as well as the Hope Not Hate organisation, which has links to ‘Unite Against Fascism’. The murderer of Drummer Lee Rigby, Michael Adebolajo, was filmed with activists from Anjem Choudary’s previous organisations at a Unite Against Fascism rally in London in 2009.
It was reported by Breitbart London yesterday that the Need4Khilafah group has also been targeting London universities in their latest attempt to propagandise for an Islamic state in Britain. Videos on the Need4Khilafah.com website show the former Al-Muhajiroun member and convicted terrorist Abdul Muhid outside the London School of Economics. Many of the group’s films promote Anjem Choudary, who was a leading figure in Al-Muhajiroun and Islam4UK before they were banned by the British government.
The Need4Khilafah group is thought to be the latest in a long line of front organisations for the same members. The ‘Islamic Emergency Defence’ group is also believed to serve the same purpose.
Student Rights, a UK-based counter-extremism pressure group told Breitbart London, “That this organisation is targeting students in this way is deeply concerning given that nearly one in five individuals convicted of terrorism offences in the last decade have had links to Al-Muhajiroun and its successor organisations.”
A video from the Britain First website shows yesterday’s altercations, but it should be noted that the video has been edited by the BNP splinter group.
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