ATTENTION:

 ALL MUSLIMS (ESP. STUDENTS & YOUNG PEOPLE): TIME TO VOTE!

THIS THURSDAY - 4TH OF JUNE 2009

-

FIGHT THE FASCIST, RACIST, ISLAMOPHOBIC

BRITISH NATIONAL PARTY (BNP)

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ELECTIONS 2009

Vote on Thursday, June 4th

Mobilize your community and campaign to fight the BNP

What’s happening?

On the 4th of June the local and European parliamentary elections are taking place. The British National Party stand a strong chance to get candidates elected on to the European Parliament.

What is the European Parliament?

·         The European Parliament represents the people of the EU. It is the only European Union body which directly elects its members.

·         Those elected onto the European Parliament (MEPs) shape the future of Europe for the coming five years and will end up representing over 500 million Europeans.

·         It is considered one of the most powerful law-making bodies in the world, and 6 out of 10 laws enacted in the UK come from the Europe

·         Each Member of European Parliament is entitled to £250,000 a year for staff and office support. Don’t give the BNP this entitlement.

Who are the BNP?

The BNP are a known racist and fascist party who seek to divide our diverse communities with their politics of hatred and fear. The BNP have made Muslims and Asians their main target and we should be seriously concerned.

BNP leader Nick Griffin claims that Britain is being “colonised by Islam” and calls Islam a “vicious, wicked faith”. He falsely accuses Muslims of promoting child abuse, drug addiction and terrorism. BNP councillors try to incite hatred against Muslims wherever they are elected. They campaign against mosques being built and halal meat being served. They accuse all ethnic minorities of being “racial foreigners” who are “taking over” the country. Their declared aim is to build an “all white Britain”.
 
These slanders and lies inevitably incite the worst kind of racist violence. An Islamic centre in Luton was firebombed on 5 May this year, just weeks after the BNP joined other gangs of Nazi thugs in parading through the town. Former BNP candidate Robert Cottage was jailed in 2007 for hoarding a stockpile of explosives at his home in preparation for a “civil war” against Asians. Griffin himself has a criminal conviction for incitement to racial hatred for publishing a Nazi magazine that claimed Hitler’s Holocaust did not take place.

One member of the BNP, David Copeland, carried out the London nail bombings in Brixton, Brick Lane and Soho, and said: “My aim was political. It was to cause a racial war… then all the white people would go and vote BNP.”

Historically, the BNP have been overtly anti-Semitic; however, under the current leadership of Nick Griffin, the BNP has focused on hate of Islam. The party has said that it does not consider the Jewish, Hindu or Sikh religions to have a significantly detrimental or threatening effect, although it does not accept practising Sikhs or Hindus as culturally or ethnically British.

How big a threat are they?

• Big. Very big. In April, Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of Labour said: “The BNP are a bigger threat than they have been before.”
• In 2008, it was estimated the BNP had about 56 councillors. The party also holds a London-wide seat on the London Assembly.
• This year, the BNP will pose a significant threat in the European elections. In the North West, the BNP only need a 2-3 per cent swing to their 2004 vote to win a European parliamentary seat. In Yorkshire and Humber, the BNP only need an increase of 3 to 4 points. But these are not the only places that the BNP are campaigning.
• Interest in the party is heightened now because the BNP could win a seat in the European Parliament with around 8% of the vote in some parts of the country.

What can you do?

1. Muslims often say that they feel that they are discriminated against but they feel that there is nothing they can do. Well, now is the time to vote, this is your democratic voice.  You will need to have registered already i.e. you should have received your "official polling cards" through the post - if you have not received it yet you may not be able to vote!!

YOU are all encouraged to VOTE! 

Vote for any party other than the (Nazi) BNP!  Vote to ensure that the fascists do NOT get their racist voice in, and money from, local councils and the European parliament.

2. Mobilize the Muslim vote!  Make sure you get all your friends, family and the wider community (in Scotland) to vote!  Thursday is election day so there is no time to waste now - many of YOU will now be registered by now - after various notices and reminders in recent weeks - it is crucial that all this materialises into a vote on Thursday.

How do I vote?

This is very simple. You just need to take out a few minutes of your day  (no more than 30minutes max. during busy times) to stop racism and fascism in YOUR community, the UK and Europe!! 

There are many ways to vote – by postal vote ahead of June 4th, by polling station on June 4th, or even by proxy. 

Find out more here http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/how_do_i_vote.aspx

If you are 'voting in person' having received a polling card please visit: http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/how_do_i_vote/voting_in_person.aspx 

Please use your vote:

THIS THURSDAY - 4TH OF JUNE 2009

Some additional information:

Unite Against Fascism - http://www.uaf.org.uk/
Searchlight - Hope Not Hate - http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/
The BNP Threat to Muslims - http://www.uaf.org.uk/resources/0905UAF_leaflet_for_Muslims_A4.pdf
The BNP Threat particularly in the North-West, England - http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/northwest/NW-BNP-threat-european-elections.php