The English Defence League (EDL) is the British equivalent of Geert Wilders’ Party For Freedom. This is in addition to the presence of in England of the BNP. (We are still awaiting a U.S. version of this political parties. It will arrive in time.)
Despite the rhetorical flourishes in this Telegraph piece, note which party mentioned is the anticipated instigator of the race war:
Violent extremists may focus atrocities on anti-Islamic groups to not only cause death and carnage but fuel religious hatred, experts said.
The warning came as six al-Qaeda inspired terrorists admitted plotting to attack an English Defence League rally with homemade bombs, guns and knives.
The outrage was only narrowly averted by sheer luck and the Birmingham gang’s own incompetence, even though one of the men was under watch by MI5 and the police.
The planned attack was also timed last year to wreck the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations.
It was the first time Islamic terrorists have targeted a specific group in the UK and experts fear it is the start of a new threat for community cohesion.
The Government is concerned over growing tensions between Muslim and far right extremists while MI5 accept the EDL could become a target for jihadists.
Tommy Robinson, the EDL leader, last night warned should there be another 7/7 outrage “this whole country is going to go up.”
Raffaello Pantucci, a senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said: “It is a real and live concern and one I know the Government has been worrying about, particularly in light of this case.
“You are talking about a spectrum here. At one end you have inflammatory events like we have seen (at protests) and at the other you have groups like this who are actually planning to carry out an atrocity.
“You are going to get more of this.”
Dr Matthew Feldman, an expert in extremism from Teesside University, warned of “tit for tat extremism” that could make non-violent members of society “be made to feel that have to choose sides”.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “I am appalled by this new development, with a terrorist group targeting a specific group for their views.
“Such activities could lead to reprisals, and disorder between different groups.”
MI5 fear the EDL could now become a target for Islamic extremists especially as they grow in profile, the Daily Telegraph understands.
They were concerned by the fact a specific group had been targeted rather than the public in general and accept there is tension in some towns.
However, there is no evidence of a coordinated plan to target them.
Mr Robinson warned a successful UK terror attack would result in “a defining moment” and produce a reaction.
“God forbid it happening,” he said.
“But I think we have our fingers on the pulse and if something like 7/7 happens this whole country is going to go up.”
At Woolwich Crown Court yesterday, Jewel Uddin, 27, Omar Mohammed Khan, 31, Mohammed Hasseen, 24, Anzal Hussain, 24, Mohammed Saud, 22, and Zohaib Ahmed, 22, all from Birmingham, all admitted plotting to attack the EDL.
They hoped to target a rally of up to 750 EDL supporters in Dewsbury in June last year and possibly assassinate Mr Robinson, who was due to speak there.
The gang, with the exception of Hasseen, travelled on the day armed with homemade bombs, two shotguns, machetes and knives.
But in a stroke of luck for the police and MI5, the demonstration finished earlier than planned and the men turned up too late.
And they were only caught by another blunder because an error by one of the terrorists when taking out car insurance led to one of their vehicles being stopped by a traffic officer as they returned home.
Even then, the car sat in pound for two days before the terrorist cache and a letter attacking the Queen and detailing the plot was discovered.
He attacked the Queen as the “kuffir female devil” and her “accursed Jubilee” and said the EDL or “English Drunkards League” was being attacked in retaliation for blasphemy of Allah and the prophet Muhammed.
Although it remains unclear whether the terrorists planned to martyr themselves, the letter, which was addressed to the Queen and David Cameron, added that they “love death more than you love life.”
The atrocity almost came off even though Uddin was under surveillance by MI5 and police after being investigated during another Birmingham terror plot the year before.
Just days before he was monitored going in to a shop with Khan where, it later emerged, they bought kitchen knives which were to be used in the attack.
I know what would cure this: More muslim immigration into the U.K.!