Welcome to the home of the English Defence LeagueThe New Fascism: EDL Website Attacked
Category: EDL News Published on Monday, 12 November 2012 13:18 Written by Pyrus Hits: 6827
The EDL website – www.englishdefenceleague.org is currently in the hands of a group of Islamist hackers that call themselves ZHC.
The group managed to take over our web domain (the www.englishdefenceleague.org address) but have not managed to breach our server – meaning that users’ information has not been compromised and we have been able to quickly move all of our content to the new www.englishdefenceleague.net domain.
We are hoping to regain control of the original domain soon.
Unfortunately we have grown used to regular attempts to either hack or disable our website. These attacks are not just incredibly irritating, but also reveal something important about the various threats to freedom of speech which exist today.
There is, quite simply, a new form of fascism. And much of the time it’s hiding in plain sight, cheered on by people who, at the same time, boast of their anti-fascist credentials.
The main guarantor of our freedoms – and the antithesis of fascist ideology – is the liberal democratic state that we inhabit. Liberal democracy has, since its birth, been under attack, and the threats have always come from multiple directions, be it from the far-Right, the far-Left, or from outside of the political spectrum all together.
But there was a time when everyone knew that a fascist thug was a jack-boot wearing skinhead with a strange fondness for the third Reich. These sorry characters do still exist, but thankfully they have neither the numbers nor the political influence to pose much of a threat to our rights or freedoms.
Today, the fascist thug is a more complex individual. And much harder to spot.
Today’s threat cannot be effectively summed up in the image of any one person or ideology – it has numerous identities. While Islam certainly has within it a great deal that threatens our freedoms, it is only the most publicised act. The desire to silence or suppress opposition, to challenge freedom of speech and to deny equality under the law has wormed its way into mainstream political parties, the police, the civil service and other influential parts of the establishment.
This has always been the case, to an extent. Freedom isn’t free, and the battle against tyranny – much of it well-intentioned – is the stuff politics is made of. But, increasingly, we’ve seen the press, the media, the government appear to give up on the battle, or even embrace draconian restrictions on our rights and freedoms when they judge it to be in their short terms interests.
The threats have evolved, but the old stereotype of the fascist thug has managed to persist. Driven to oppose this ‘phony fascism’ (which no longer exists as any meaningful political force), we’re encouraged to ignore both the advancing wave of authoritarian restrictions on free speech and the threat posed by Islamofascism.
Some of the most adept enemies of freedom have even used the cover of anti-fascism to advance their own extremism!
Fascism isn’t an image, it’s an ideology: an ideology of enslavement, of no individual rights or freedoms. It is the opposite of what this country has long fought for and it is the opposite of what the English Defence League has always stood for.
Today’s fascists continue to attack vulnerable minorities and continue to pose a threat to the rights and freedoms of all.
Today’s fascists are the people who push for marches and demonstrations to be banned, who demonise people and portray dissenting opinions as ‘hate speech’, or who attempt to hack websites that they disagree with rather than joining the debate.
In the spirit of freedom, we think it’s about time we showcased the opinions of a man who is regularly demonised in the press and called a fascist or ‘Islamophobe’.
Geert Wilders would no doubt claim that he is neither. Should his opponents’ claims to the contrary mean that he is silenced? And if it were up to you, would you first listen to what he has to say before condemning him?
Well here’s your chance. Geert Wilders gave the following speech in Malmo, Sweden, on 27th October 2012. In it he says that “Instead of forcibly speaking out in favour of freedom of speech, instead of standing firm for our liberties, instead of following Churchill’s example by never giving in, in nothing, great or small, large or petty, Western politicians cower to Islamic sensitivities…”
His is a voice in support of freedom of speech. And so are ours.