No Racists on Our Streets! Sweden's Anti-Fascism & Racism Activists.

The rally held here in Stockholm on August 4th 2012 by The English Defense League (EDL) and its host and sister group calling themselves the Swedish Defense League (SDL), was outnumbered by hundreds of local Anti-racist & Anti-Fascist activists/protesters. Less than hundred EDL members, the far-right anti Muslim & Immigration, along with its sisters groups from Denmark, Germany, Finland and the US Tea Party movement were participated at this rally in connection with the annual Stockholm Gay Parade claiming to defend local LGBT groups as well as natives from the threats of Islam/Jihad.

However, more than 200 local Anti-racism & Fascism activists categorically rejected the alleged threat of Islam and said it has been used as a pretext to promote racist agenda in Europe, Austraila and Americas against against refugees/immigrant. Local activists were chanting slogans like EDL go to Hell, No Racists on Our Streets during the whole time. To avoid confrontation between the two opposing groups police cordoned off for more than 2hrs the Norra Stora Bantorget square where EDL and its supporters held the rally and the counter demonstration by local activists on the other side of the streets. There was heavy local Police (Civil & Uniformed) presence and security was tight. The Police blocked all the roads leading to Norra Bantorget so I had to walk more than 20 minutes to get a closer look at the EDL's rally which otherwise would have taken me less than a minute. Even though the rally was finished without much violence as feared; one particualr guy (the one with blue shirt on picture 5) from EDL has been pushing, provoking and smacking trumpets of the anti-racism activists several times while I was there. “English Defence League” was launched in Luton, England in an attempt to mobilize an anti-muslim sentiment as a movement on the streets. The Local, an on-line magazine, quoted a statement by a group associated to the meeting “Stockholm was chosen for the Global Counter Jihad rally because of the actions of an Iraqi-born Swedish citizen, Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, who travelled to central Stockholm on December 11, 2010 in order to commit mass murder”.