The far-right riots that took place in Belfast and the paltry response of the police to them, have made it abundantly clear – workers and youth must look to themselves in mass militant organised action to eradicate this scourge once and for all.
Hundreds of fascist thugs marauded through Belfast City Centre on August 5th, targeting migrants, Muslims, and other minorities in their wake. Throughout this savagery, small shops operated by migrants were smashed and set ablaze, mosques came under siege, asylum seeker accommodation hotels were smashed and people were subjected to vicious racist attacks. A man in his 50s was brutally beaten and left in a serious condition in hospital by the gang.
Far-right thugs hailing from the ‘Coolock Says No’ ilk, made the journey from Dublin to participate and help lead the racist pogroms. These ‘Irish patriots’ stood side by side with loyalist paramilitaries flying Irish tricolours alongside the Union Jack. They like presenting themselves as being defenders of the Irish working class – and then they go and rub shoulders with the same loyalist paramilitaries which have terrorised Catholic communities for generations!
The PSNI, revealing their true colours, let these gangs run rampant. It was only the huge counter-demos of workers and youth that stopped the organised violence in its tracks.
Establishment to blame
Though the Unionist establishment in the DUP bemoaned the riots, it is precisely their system which has fostered this situation! The DUP for decades have poured the most vicious sectarian bile into the ears of Protestants to pit them against Catholics in order to maintain their grip on power. A recent LucidTalk poll revealed that only 13% of nationalists believe too many migrants are coming here. This is in stark contrast to 82% of Unionists.This difference is down to the pernicious role played by the Unionist establishment, who, for generations, have sowed division between Protestants and all other workers. Even now, the DUP speak from both sides of their mouth: condemning the riots while describing the rioters in Belfast as “hundreds of people [who] gathered peacefully.”
This is of course not to mention the deep connections they maintain with the same loyalist paramilitaries that orchestrated the riots, relying on them to foster chaos, to disrupt the organised working class from coming together to challenge their rule. Now, with the race to the bottom in the deep crisis of capitalism, this same bigotry is being diverted towards migrant workers to sow division.
The Tories as well as Starmer’s Labour have joined the chorus with disgusting promises to ‘stopping the boats’. The whole lot of them are to blame for this potential inferno. The fact is that racist poison is fed into society by the ruling class at the top. As long as capitalism remains and plunges further into crises, the far-right will continue to grow and gain confidence.
No reliance on the police
The riots rampaged unabated for the whole day with very little interference from the PSNI, who essentially allowed the riots to continue. The hypocrisy of the police was on full display for the whole society to see.
They treated the far-right thugs with kid gloves while left-wing and Republican protests are harshly clamped down upon and dealt with through the baton! Displaying their true allegiance, some of the PSNI cops wore far-right emblems on their uniforms! Many of the uniformed thugs of the Tactical Support Group of the PSNI were photographed sporting a Spartan Helmet patch – the symbol of the US based far-right militia – The Three Percenters.
The police – capitalism’s ‘armed bodies of men’ – exist to protect the ruling class’ property and privileges, not working-class communities. Their job is to uphold the broken status quo that has given rise to this far-right scourge. Neither the government nor the police can be relied upon to defend us against the far right. In fact, any beefing up of the state’s powers today will be used against the working class and left-wing activists tomorrow.
Workers & youth: organise!
Just like the far-rights did in Dublin months ago, these rampages are causing alarm and fear for Muslims, migrants and people of colour who have come under are being increasingly under threat of attack in the streets and within their homes. On August 19th, a house in South Belfast was the target of a racist arson attack. Luckily, none were injured but the attacks are escalating. In response, ordinary workers and youth are seeking to know how to fight back, in order to eradicate this menace that is running amok in our neighbourhoods.
Workers and youth must look to themselves. Already, in Belfast, far-fight gatherings have been met with formidable counter protests from ordinary workers and young people fighting to reclaim our streets from this rabble. August 10th witnessed a powerful 15,000 marching in the City Centre against the far right and in support of Palestine.
The labour and trade union movement should be offering their full support to this fightback: calling on activists to join these grassroots initiatives; providing material and financial resources; and helping to establish defence committees that can protect anti-racist protests and targeted buildings. This should be linked to the organisation of proper anti-fascist campaigns across the whole of Ireland.
The RCI in Belfast has been actively intervening into these protests explaining the need to fight for a revolutionary programme – for the overthrow of capitalism through socialist revolution, combined with militant, class-struggle methods to fundamentally defeat the far-right.
