Thousands of people have been taking part in a national demonstration against rising racism, Islamophobia and fascism across Europe.
The protests in London and Glasgow were organized by over a dozen anti-racism groups, including Stand Up To Racism, Unite Against Fascism, the Muslim Council of Britain, and Stop the War, and are aimed at commemorating the UN’s anti-racism day.
In London, protesters assembled in front of the BBC to march to Trafalgar Square. They held banners reading “No to Islamophobia”, Muslim Lives Matter”, “From Ferguson to London Black Lives Matter”, and “Immigrants Are Welcome Here”
Many organizations have warned of a recent escalation of hatred, racism and Islamophobia in the UK. They say people are fed up and outraged over racist slogans and mass media silence over recent killings of Muslims and Blacks.
Stand Up To Racism (SUR), the main UK organiser, said: “From Germany to Greece to Ferguson, people who want a society free from racism are saying no more. People are taking to the streets in large numbers to oppose the racist Pegida movement in Germany and the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn in Greece, and to protest institutional racism and police violence against Black communities.
“People are outraged at the Islamophobic and anti-Semitic backlash after the Copenhagen and Paris attacks, and the mass media silence on the Chapel Hill shootings where three Muslim students were brutally shot dead, so many have mobilised under the slogan ‘Muslim Lives Matter’. Immigrant communities are fed up with being wrongly blamed for an economic crisis they did not create. On UN Anti-racism Day people across the world will be taking a stand.
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