EDL protest attracts European far-right activists

English Defence League protests are attracting an increasing number of young people.
Photograph: KeystoneUSA-Zuma/Rex Features

Extreme-right activists from across Europe will join thousands of English supporters Defense League tomorrow for the biggest rally in 20 months history of the group. Police expect about 7,000 protesters will be at Luton, Bedfordshire the city where the EDL began in spring 2009, fall amid evidence of the growing influence of the youth group.
The organization has staged more than 30 protests since it was formed, many of which were marred by Islamophobia, racism and violence.
This rally will see more than more than 25 buses to transport members to Luton from across the UK, with thousands more activists due to their way to by car or train. One activist said EDL 800 far-right supporters was meeting at Kings Cross station in north London before departure.
UK-based members will be joined by activists from recently formed copycat "defense leagues" in Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands - and the more established fans of extreme-right groups from France, Germany and Denmark. 

Nick Lowles, the anti-racist campaign group Hope not Hate, said the presence of these groups underscored growing international commitments of the left EDL.
"The meaning of the EDL march in Luton goes far beyond our shores," said Lowles. "Across Europe and North America, anti-Islamic groups watching the EDL with interest, increasingly copying their tactics, even replicating their name. The presence of so many international supporters is evidence of the role of EDL in the international anti-Islam movement. "
There is widespread fear of disorder during the rally and the Bedfordshire Police is planning its biggest operation, with 2,000 civil servants and hundreds more on standby. It is expected to cost more than € 800,000.
The demonstration comes amid concerns that the EDL is young people in extreme racist, nationalistic and Islamophobic political attraction. The group now has 70,000 supporters on his Facebook site.
Luton youth Mohsin Malik, who works with youth until the age of 18, said he would trace the influence of the group in the city.
"No one comes and says:" I am a member EDL, but the signs are there, "he said. "It comes out in the arguments they make - the idea that minorities are given priority in social housing, that the police are afraid to stop and look for Asians."
Malik said the group is especially teenagers and young people.
"Some of the young people I work with the EDL are very attractive - people like street cred if you're young you want people to respect you and this is one way of getting respect, there are a number of children being manipulated. . - they think they are the big guns. "
Adofo sam, director of the Salmon Youth Centre in Southwark, south London, echoed this view.
"People who say that the EDL are stupid naive ... The way they are targeted to youth today is very strategic and it is working for them. They have tried to inclusive youth and add to the whole idea of what it is ... The techniques they use are the basics - interaction with the working class, meeting in the pub, watching the games it gives young people a sense of connectedness that key "..
Keith Vaz, chairman of the home affairs select committee, called on politicians to EDL the threat seriously.
"The government really needs to find out why young people in particular are turning to the right for answers," he said. "Whether it is because of the recession and unemployment, social problems within their community or a general disillusionment with politics, we can not afford for people to lose to a group that is so prejudiced against the idea of a multicultural Britain .
Anti-racism campaigners hold a counter-demonstration in a separate part of Luton. Unite Against Fascism, organizer of the event, says it expects thousands of supporters to travel across the country. A separate event is organized by departments of Luton's Muslim community.
The city has links to Islamic extremism in the past. In December it appeared that Taimour Abdul Wahab al-Abdaly, an Iraqi-born Swede who set off a car bomb in Stockholm before killing himself with a second unit, had spent time in the city.
But community leaders say it wrongly stigmatized and warn that the EDL has increased tensions in the city.
"This group has a serious impact on the population of Luton," said Fiyaz Mughal, Director of Faith Matters, who co-authored a report last year on the EDL. "Tensions have risen between the communities and fractures begin to appear. The Islamic community is under real pressure and feels he is persecuted and the main objective for the EDL."
The far-right group was formed after a small number of protesters from a radical Islamist group held placards on the homecoming of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment in Luton, reading "Butcher of Basra" and "Anglian soldiers go to hell ". At a subsequent protest EDL scores of supporters attacked Asian businesses, destroyed cars and threatening passers-by.
The group has the "sections" across the country and its leadership insists it is not violent or racially, only against what it describes radical or militant Islam. However, many demonstrations have descended into violence and racist singing. Some of his supporters are extremely far-right activists and football hooligans.