Anti-racism demonstration held in London

Anti-racist demonstrators have come out in numbers again to face off with those they call far right fascists within meters of this East London hotel housing asylum seekers. It's one of several demonstrations across the UK with a similar mission.

We've got fascists leading people in the local community to demonstrate against refugees, and we're here to stand up to that and say that we defend refugee and asylum rights, and we say No to racism and fascism.

Saddy Dahlii, Stand up to Racism

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  Anti-racism protesters gather outside a hotel in London in response to a gathering of anti-immigrant far-right supporters there.

We are here in London, in Islington, outside the Thistle Hotel. to make people in there who are feeling scared and unwelcome, to say actually, as the UK, as Londoners,  we stand with you. You're welcome, and we're not believing the nasty racist narrative being pushed by the right-wing media. In this country,

Demonstrator 01

There is a heavy police presence. A police cordon separates the anti-racist demonstrators from the far-right members.

Arrests are made for no apparent reason in a city that prides itself on diversity, it's confrontation, not celebration that fills the streets. With the anti-racist demonstrators standing their ground.

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As their numbers continue to swell the protesters here say they have gathered here to respond not only to a far right gathering, but also to respond to a wider political climate than Britain that gives the oxygen that racism, they say thrives on.

Critics say the government's rhetoric has drifted dangerously close to legitimizing fringe views, all of it, they argue, sets the stage for today.

This government is doing two things that are emboldening the far right.

One, they're promoting a racist narrative that blames all of society's problems on migrants and refugees, instead of where it actually belongs, which is on economic policy and neoliberal austerity-focused policy.

Secondly, this government is supporting a genocide in Gaza and Israel's war against Iran, both of which serve to dehumanize people from West Asia, Muslim people, and that feeds into and foments racism and fascist ideas.

Carlos Martinez, Activist

• Thousands rally in London against far-right racism
  

  Thousands rally in London against far-right racism

  Thousands of anti-racism protesters held a rally in the city of London, slamming a rise in Islamophobia in the UK, while, concurrently, supporters of far-right activist Tommy Robinson were holding a separate rally.

The location is symbolic, and so is the timing, just over a year since race-related unrest rattled towns across England.

Many here fear those tensions are once again being stoked.

We've been divided by the by the oligarchy and the billionaires. We're fighting each other instead of the system that's suppressing us. The refugees aren't here because they want to. It's because we have governments across the world bombing each other, and they have to move so if we want to stop this, then we need to get our government to stop bombing other countries.

Demonstrator 01

For many here, the danger lies not just in the presence of far-right figures, but in their increasing normalization, which is what brought them to Central Street, not to fight, but to be seen.

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  Far-right riots raise specter of civil war in UK

  Britain is facing a national crisis in the face of the worst rioting in 13 years. The violence was sparked by the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport last week and stoked by misinformation on social media.

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