They Shall Not Pass!

north america / mexico | anti-fascism | news report

Thursday October 25, 2007 08:48

by rnf - Solidarity & Defense

sd at riseup dot net

Shut Down BNP's Nick Griffin in Michigan

They Shall Not Pass!
Join others to Shut Down British Far-Right Politician’s Michigan Lecture

Nick Griffin, chairman of the fascist British National Party (BNP), will be speaking at Michigan State University Friday Oct. 26th at 7pm.

They Shall Not Pass!
Join others to Shut Down British Far-Right Politician’s Michigan Lecture

Nick Griffin, chairman of the fascist British National Party (BNP), will be speaking at Michigan State University Friday Oct. 26th at 7pm. The MSU event is part of Griffin’s U.S. university tour. Griffin is being brought to the campus by the MSU branch of the Young Americans for Freedom. Griffin is a high profile fascist organizer. Neo-nazis from around the country have stated their intention to attend the event. A challenge must be made! We issue this call in solidarity with the organizers of this event.

Friday, October 26th
6pm, at the Rock (Michigan State University Campus on Farm Lane across from Bessey Hall), with a March to Veterinary Medical Center (Griffin will speak in E100 Vet Med Center).
For more information see: http://maws.wordpress.com/
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Griffin is a long time British fascist, cutting his teeth in the 70’s and 80’s with the publishing of various journals for the neo-Nazi National Front. Griffin has worked to mobilize fascists both in the streets and into political campaigns. With the smashing of the National Front at the street level by groups like Anti-Fascist Action, Griffin has concentrated on transforming the BNP into a political party with its sights on Parliament.

Griffin has taken the BNP from booted neo-nazi fringe group to a slick suit-and-tie outfit that champions “Rights for Whites” and the “voluntary” repatriation of citizens not born on British soil. The BNP offer a popular program appealing to notions of law and order, jobs for “indigenous” Britons, national isolationism, and a restructuring of the economy and social aid programs to benefit a limited section of the populace: White Europeans.

The BNP, still small nationally in Britain, is nonetheless making gains in local districts. Many regions once prosperous with heavy manufacturing or ship building now see unemployment and an increase in anti-social crime. The BNP lays much blame on people of color and has organized a large percentage of the White vote on the promise of change. In a period of global war, increasing uncertainty, looming recession, cuts in social aid, and government failure, the BNP offer a reactionary vision. Scratch below the surface and we see the true character of the BNP. The BNP is part of an international tendency, linked to the U.S. based National Alliance, former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the KKK David Duke, the French far-right National Front, and the German electoral fascist NPD. The BNP, like these other movements, represent more than racism and anti-immigration politics, they represent a broader attack on the working classes. These groups would eliminate independent unions and workers defense organizations. They would use force to separate communities and families of mixed cultural backgrounds, they aim to mandate how people live and love, and would outlaw opposition groups.

The focus of Griffin’s lecture at MSU is on halting immigration into Europe and specifically that of Arab and Muslim peoples. Griffin’s approach is first through parliamentary law where possible, and inciting street pogroms when “legal” measures fail. This has its parallels here in the U.S. with the far-Right and fascist movements waging war against working peoples and their communities: raids on immigrants, deportations, vigilante border patrols, and a rhetoric that is thoroughly racist and anti-worker.

The far-right and fascist movements are remaking themselves and contesting for power in the streets and ballot box. We must resist them through mass, multi-racial, and popular direct action. This direct action is based on our own initiatives and is outside and against the rule of the State. Workers, students, communities, and the people in the streets must build fronts for class combat. We must resist intra-class competition and instead develop programs aiming for solidarity and renewal of community.

-issued by Solidarity & Defense, Motor City, MI sd@riseup.net