Anti-racism demonstrations took to the streets in several UK cities on Wednesday night (7) in response to violent far-right protests against Muslim immigrants.
Anti-apartheid demonstrators guarded foreign aid centers to avoid possible clashes. “I live in the neighborhood and we don't like these people [de extrema-direita] In our streets… they don't represent us,” Sarah Tresilian, 58, who took part in the march in the London suburb of Walthamstow, told Agence France-Presse.
Thousands of people, many of them carrying Palestinian flags, gathered in Walthamstow, northeast of the British capital, where the far-right march was expected. Led by activists from the Stand Up To Racism Association, demonstrators chanted “Whose Streets Are They? Wow!” and displayed posters with slogans such as “Keep to the right” and “Refugees welcome”.
Violent far-right demonstrations were called in response to the deadly knife attack, according to officials Against three girls Six to nine-year-olds at a party in Southport, northwest England. The riots were sparked by internet rumors falsely identifying the suspect as a Muslim asylum seeker. British newspapers have reported that the suspect is a 17-year-old boy born in Wales and his parents are Rwandan.
Anti-racist demonstrations were repeated in other British cities, such as Birmingham, where hundreds of people gathered in front of a migrant aid centre. Similar demonstrations were organized in Bristol, Liverpool, Brighton, Sheffield, Newcastle and Oxford, emphasizing opposition to fascism and support for refugees.
The crisis shook public opinion in the United Kingdom. According to a survey published this Wednesday by the Savanta Institute, 67% of Britons are concerned about the growth of the far right in the country.
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