news
2nd December 2006
YHUAF conference report
2nd December 2006
On 2nd December over 80 anti fascists from trade unions and local communities across Yorkshire & the Humber gathered at the Unite Against Fascism regional conference in Leeds.
The plenaries & workshops provided the opportunity for people to share experiences and plan the next steps in the campaign to roll back the BNP in our region.
Chair, John Campbell welcomed people to the conference and reminded people that much work needed to be done if we were to isolate and defeat the BNP in our region. He urged people to spread the word about the work of the UAF and to encourage trade unions and local community groups to support our campaigning activities.
The opening platform represented the alliances we need to build an effective anti fascist movement. CWU General Secretary, Billy Hayes highlighted the way forward
“Now for trade unions, UAF represents the ideal type of campaign. It allows us to be directly involved in making the decisions about the campaign’s activity. But it also places the unions alongside the allies that compose a real united front against the fascists.”
The vital role of the trade union movement in the campaign to stop the BNP was also emphasised from the opening platform by TUC Regional Secretary, Bill Adams and Lorna Campbell, national Equalities Officer PCS.
Jon Trickett MP also emphasised the need to take the BNP threat seriously and challenge those who are complacent. Both Kaushar Tai from the Kirklees Interfaith Forum and Henry Guterman underlined the importance of continuing to expose the violence and racism which is at the root of the BNP.
Weyman Bennett on behalf of UAF underlined the importance of a united movement which exposed the racist myths that the BNP attempts to feed on.
Feedback from the workshops
Workshop 1 - Isolating and defeating the BNP — building unity in the face of prejudice
The workshop focused on challenging homophobia and Islamophobia in our campaigning. People discussed how the BNP tries to exploit prejudice and the necessity for the anti-fascist movement to challenge such views.
The key points made were –
The need to emphasise the benefits of multiculturalism and expose racist myths
To work in alliance with Muslims, lesbians and gay men to defeat homophobia and Islamophobia
To be positive – and remind ourselves that anti-fascists are the majority
To be vigilant about BNP attempts to divide communities
Make sure that good quality resources are easily available to local groups
To recognise that unity in the face of the BNP is important but also to develop positive ways of discussing areas of disagreement or weakness
Workshop 2 - Love Music Hate Racism — music to defeat the Nazis
The session saw an update from the Wakefield group and their successful experiences organising events which attracted hundreds of people. Sheffield LMHR highlighted their high profile with an LMHR album and a showing of the documentary ‘Who Shot the Sheriff?’ followed by a lively Q&A session.
The key points from the discussion were –
Plans to set up a LMHR network in the region
Ideas for organising a LMHR event in a students' union
An emphasis on making sure LMHR events had a strong political message
A recognition that LMHR events by their nature send positive multicultural and anti-racist messages
To organise showings of the ‘Who Shot the Sheriff ?’ film in the Muslim communities in the region
Workshop 3 - Segregation and integration — challenging the myths that feed the BNP
This workshop considered in detail at the myths that dominate much of this discussion. It also looked at the consequences of such myths – in particular that Muslims are self segregating and are largely to blame for the rise of the Far Right.
Key points from the discussion included –
The way the term segregation is applied exclusively to people from ethnic minorities is damaging
The self-segregation myth ignores the fact that the main barriers to people moving are poverty and racism
There are no segregated communities which are ‘hot beds’ of terrorism. Arrests are not made on the basis of post code.
So called segregated communities don’t lead to inequality. Inequality results form disadvantage and discrimination
There has been a major increase in the racialised discourse of social issues eg Muslim women are oppressed and white boys are underachieving.
Multiculturalism versus integration is a false debate with inevitable negative outcomes.
The TUC’s response to 7/7 was a good example of how to respond eg Brendan Barber’s visit to Leeds and its expose of the depth of poverty and discrimination faced by Muslim communities
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