Fighting Talk - 13

8/3/2019 Fighting Talk - 13

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Fighting Talk Issue 13 Maroh '9S

3 In theArea...AFA news from around the country.6 Germany Calling...500 kilometres from Goltlngen.

6 Levelling the Score...Tackling fascism at football.

8 The NewFrontier ...An in-depth look at Resistance Records.

10A View from Valhalla...Scooters, Rockers and Bombers.12The Emperor's NewClothes..

Sid Martell investigates the nation myth.

16Where are they now...ANL, YRE, ARA - Goodbye, or just Au Revoir?

16Behind EnemyLines...FTparachutes into enemy territory.

17'Fighting Talkback...Leiters from our readers.

18Reviews...Records, gigs and books.

20Anti-fascist History...Anti-fascism in thirties Liverpool.

22TheOppressed...FT interviews Oppressed front-man Roddy Moreno.

A R J : : f E J f I . . I # Q RI NFOR IV IAT IONWE URGE ALL OUR READERSTOSEND ANY INFORMATiON 'ONFASCISTSINTHEIRAREADIRECTTOAFA.THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TOGUARANTEE THE MILITANT ANTI-.FASCIST MOVEMENT HAS THENECESSARY INFORMATION TOSUCCESSFULLY . B EAT . THEFASCISTS.

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JOIN AFAInthe fight against fascism In Britain, Anti-Fascist Action has a record thatis second to none. Our unique combination of physical confrontation andideological struggle has produced results time and again.We say no platform for fascists - no meetings, no marches, no paper salesno leafleting - and we mean it, as the fascists know only too well. Our ai~is to cause the maxirnurn disruption to fascist activit ies.But that doesn't mean that AFA only needs street-fighters. Far from it.Everyone has a roleto play inAFA. whether they feel conf ident in physicalconfrontations or not.None of our successes in physical ly confronting the fascists would havebeen possible without the contribution of non-combatants. From legalobservers to scouts, from leafleters to people who can write articles orspeak at meetings, AFA needs people with a whole range of skills if it is tocontinue to succeed.

There's a lot to do, so don't wait around. Join today.Contact your local group for affiliation rates and activities.

AFA CONTACTSCardin AFA ~ Edinburgh AFA C fJc/o Wolverhampton AFA a PO Box 421 o!; Edinburgh EH11 1QD 0-{BirmIngham AFA :z ~O 80)( 3311 C Fire AFA :z25 Howard Road East C fJ c/o Edinburgh AFA CBirmingham B13 ORZ l: o2: GlasgowAFALeicester AFA C PO Box 797, Glasgow G1 5JFPO 80x320, .. ~eicester LEi 5WS -tBrighton AFAm :J:Nottingham AFA C fJ cIa London AFA mPO Box 192, C fJNottingham NG1 1FJ BrIstol AFA 0Wolverhampton AFA 80)( 44, c/o Greenleaf Bnokshop, ~ci a PO 80)( 3311 82 Colston st, Bristol, aS1 :J:25 Howard Road East Colchester AFABirmingham B13 ORZ PO Bo)(2457

Colchester C04 4NQExeter AFABolton AFA Z cia The Flying Post. PO Box 185clo Manchester AFA 0 Exeter EX4 4EW;: u

Huddersf ield AFA -{ Gloucester AFA:J:Po Box 310 m clo Bristo l AFAHuddersfield HOi 3YL ;;0:z Herts AFALancaster AFA z PO Box 245, St. Albans, HertsPO 80)( 63, Lancaster LA1 3GP m~ KentAFALeedsAFA 0 c/o London AFAPO 80)( 127, Leeds LS3 rrs ;: u' " London AFALiverpool AFA BMi734PO Box 110, Liverpool L698DP London WC1 N 3XXManchester AFA NorwichAFAPO Box 83, South West POD, POBo)( 73Manchester Mi5 5NJ Norwich NR3 1QDPreston AFA Oxford AFAPO Box 172, Preston PR1 7BE BCM Box 1715,London WC1 N 3XXTeesldeAFAPO Box ITA, southampton AFANewcastle NE99nA c/o London AFASheff ield AFA Surrey AFAc/o Black Star, c/o London AFAPO Box 446 SheffieldTyne &Wear AFA AFA (Ireland) Z4, The Cloth Market, PO Bo)(3355 -{mNewcast le upon Tyne, NE11 EA Dublin 7, Ireland ;;0

ZWlganAFA Autonome Anura (M) l:o-IC/o Manchester AFA Buchladen Rate Straf!.e isRate straBe 1York AFA 37073 Gottlngen Zl:oPO Bo)(306, York Y03 7GH Germany r


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Welcome to Issue 13of Fighting Talk,and as usual we start with around upof news and views from the front lineof the fight against fascism.On Saturday 27th January the annualBloody Sunday march was held inLeicester. The march is held each year tocommemorate the murder of 14unarmedcivilians by British troops in Derry 24years ago. Each year the march acts asa rallying point for fascists and Loyal istsand each year they try to attack or disruptthe march. In the days leading up to themarch John Peacock of the BNP hadapplied to the council for permission tohold a counter-demo which was denied;it was expected that the fash would turnup anyway.The weather conditions on the day werecomical, the previous night 10 inches ofsnow had fallen, making the roads andpavements treacherous. it seemed anyconfrontation would end in snowballs at20 paces! The weather made it difficultfor some people to get to Leicester butwe still turned out 100 stewards. As themarch moved off there were still noreports of fascists in town but the AFAcontingent were well placed to deal withany fascist threat When the marchersdispersed the AFA group retired to alocal pub for a drink. This was disruptedwhen a group of local fascists and footballsupporters marched into the pub spoutingracist abuse and offered AFA outside.The AFA members present had a brief'discussion' with the fascists and theirmates and pointed out emphatically thatracism is racism, whoever it is directedat, and will not be tolerated. All in all itwas a good day and just goes to showhow the fascists are having real troublein organising a credible street presencethese days.The trial took place in December of fourof the 10 anti-fascists arrested duringdisturbances around last year's JamesConnolly Commemoration in Edinburgh.Three of the original ten fai led to appearin court. The cases against another threedefendants, two from Fife AFA andanother from Newcastle, who werecharg edwith the Iesser offence of 'breachof the peace', were dropped. The statedecided to proceed with the chargesagainst the other four defendants who

It is important to note that amember of the James ,...--------------------..,Connolly Society (JCS)has, for reasons knownonly to himself, beenspreading maliciousrumours about "AFAdoing deals with the state"and has quoted instanceswhere the JCS hasrefused such "deals". Itsinteresting that in theinstances which hequotes, none of the JCSsupporters were convictedof any offence and othershave had the casesagainst them dropped. It

had defended themselves against anattack from what they believed to be agroup of fascists and Loyalists. Theattackers later turned out to be a unit ofplain clothes police operating in the'flash point' area.It was clear from the evidence given Incourt by the two police witnesses whowere called (another 14 police witnesseswere cited) that the coppers were stillsmarting from the thrashing they got.The reactions of the police officers whotook the brunt of the punishment afterleading the ambush on theAFA stewardssuggests that they expected a far easiertime of It The prosecution, fearing thatthey might not be able to sustain thecase against the remaining fourdefendants once the police witnesseswere put under pressure, offered a dealwhereby the four would be allowed toplead guilty to one charge of policeassault or resisting arrest in exchangefor the other three charges against thembeing dropped. This was acceptable tothe, four defendants and, considering atleast one of them was Jooking seriouslyat a custodial sentence, it seemed thewisest course of action. Their pleas ofguilty to one charge each were acceptedalthough the police looked none toopleased wnen, in her summing up, thesherrif accepted that there had been agreat deal of confusion and that it hadbeen difficultto distinguish between thosefor and against the march and the police.All four received community serviceorders ranging between 120 and 240hours.

leading

would seem that not only do the state notthink its worth offering "deals" to theJCS, they don't even consider themdangerous enough to convict in mostcases.As far as AFA is concerned, we got agood result in Edinburgh, both on theday and in court. The object of militantanti-fascism is not to col lect imprisonedmartyrs but to keep people out of jailwhere possible, and for them to continueoperating successfully against thefascists. One of those arrested describedan exchange with one of the arrestingofficers on the day: "I had just beencharged with police assault, resistingarrest, and breach of the peace, whenthis copper comes in limping, holdinghis side and with bruising to his eye,looks at me and says, ''You lot gave us aterrible hiding today. I can't understand itbecause usually 99% of lefties are noprobleml" I thought of the 1% that he hadjust met that day."In Wigan local AFA activists were havinga quiet drink. in town when they spottedmembers of the local 'C18 unit' in a pub.Despite being outnumbered our heroeschallenged the fascists to step outside todiscuss matters further. The brave Aryanwarriors declined this generous offer andpleaded with the pub bouncers tointervene on their behalf. The bouncersrefused, and only stated thatthere shouldbe no trouble inside the pub itself. Afterhiding inside the pub for ages, the fasciststried to make a break for it but werecaptured by AFA outside. Several weregiven a lecture in the finer points of streetbrawling, while others made good their

Wigan C1 B Suicide Squad ...3


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AFA ROUND-UPescape and returned with reinforcements.These reinforcements were also dealtwith in no uncertain terms, and severalfled from the scene, but returned laterbolstered by members of the local footballfirm. Deciding that odds of nearly 7 -1were a little onthe heavy side, and contentwith the nights work, a strategicwithdrawal was made at this point. It hassince been learnt that the cowardlybehaviour on the night of C18's local'hardman' David Sudworth has led to hisreputation being shattered locally. Youlive by the sword, you die by the sword.In Manchester over the past 18 monthsthere has been a small number ofincidents where fascists and loyalistshave managed to seriously disrupt Irishsolidarity events. This has only occurredwhen the help and advice of ManchesterAFA has been deliberately shunned by

Stickers1 for 50AvailablefromBristol AFA

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the likes of the Manchester MartyrsCommittee and Bolton Saoirse. Itshouldbe noted that when we secure the co-operation of groups organising eventslike these, then it not only ensures thesafety of those attending, but can resultin significant victories for AFA, as wasthe case with the 1995 Bloody Sundaymarch.We have therefore been forced to issuean open letter to all groups involved inIrish sol idarity work which states that wewill no longer consider stewarding anyIrish events unless we have been invitedat the earliest possible stage to discusssecurity. Furthermore, our members willnot risk injury or imprisonment if theorganisation or individuals within thoseorganisations have, like the ManchesterMartyrs, consistently ignored securityadvice over the years. The fascists havebeen given too many easy victories by

these idiots and sectarians recently. Ifwe cannot stop them organising defeats,then we can at least make it clear toeverybody who it is that is actually beingdefeated and why.In Bristol, fascist activity has beencontinuing but sporadic; it seems to goinfits and starts. There have been stickersand graffi ti originating from both the BNPand NF; predominantly it has been BNP.There has also been a series of racistincidents including assault, vandalism,intimidation and an attack on a pub whichhas left it 'closed until further notice'. Theattack on the pub followed a change oflandlord, the new licensee took an openlyanti-racist stand. If all this sounds a bitbleak then it should be noted that all ofthis activity is taking place in a verysmall area, in one part of the Fishpondsdistrict of the city. At the moment therecently reformed AFA branch hasconcentrated on collecting information,both on the nature and location of fascistand racist incidents, and where possiblethe identity of the perpetrators. Thisactivity is beginning to bear fruit. Wealso produced a leaflet and stickers.Down in Devon things are qUiet; a onceflourishing NF branch has virtuallycollapsed. Infact what's leftofthis branchhas gone over to the National Democratsand has made such an impact on. thelocal population that at the end of iastyear the NO candidate at a councilelection in Exeter polled an exciting 12votes I It is also interesting that MarkCotterill - formerly local NF supremo,founder of the Patriotic Forum, activeloyalist, and Tory Party member - didn'treturn from America last year for a courtcase when he was allegedly assaultedby anti-fascists. We wonder why?In Nottingham the local AFA group aremonitoring a shop called 'VOID' inHockley which is owned by a longstanding nazi. While there is ongoinglocal fascist activity, including Blood andHonour stuff, because it no longer hasthe high media profile of a few years agoother anti-fascist groups are windingdown. We hear the Notts. Anti-Fascist

..)~~~~AtitudeC:;OTCHA!1"..,,,11 . {u , . ..I b ~lh , ,~ ,. ,"",tilll ,m",10.11 lr, 1 " 1 oIIlI,j,hlji.,.

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Alliance has almost completely folded.Notts Anti-Fascist Action are still goingstrong and have produced a localnewsletter which is available from theiraddress if you send a S.A.E.Talking of publications, Leeds AFA arestill producing their bull etin 'Attitude'(S.A.E. from Leeds AFA, see above) andthe latest issue includes a piece on PaulCox - another so-called 'independant'researcher who occassionally writes toAFA groups asking for information. Inthis case there is no doubt about hismotives, having previously been involvedwith the BNP and Harrington'sThird Way- and Mr. Cox should be avoided like theplague (unless of course you have aparticularly infectious varietyl)In south London the fascists have runinto some legal problems. Whilethe BNPhave been busy making changes to theirHQ to convert it into a 'books hop' (somecampaign that, to close it down,eh?), inCroydon local fasci st activists spend theirevenings cutting the address off thebottom of their stickers to avoid furtherprosecutions.And finally, the Birmingham andWolverhampton branches of AFA havea new address which is: BirminghamlWolves AFA, PO Box 3311, 25. HowardRd. East, Birmingham, B13.

AFA STATEMENTTowards the end of 1995 allegations were made by Larry O'Hara that Leeds AFAwas being 'run' byMIS.AFA has conducted a thorough inquiry and found there is NO EVIDENCE to support this allegationagainst either Leeds AFA or any individuals in it.On the other hand AFA has no intention of getting involved in the ongoing dispute between Searchlightand O'Hara and will forcefully reject any moves to drag us in.If people think they have information relevant to AFA they should approach us first rather than startshouting the odds to people who are not part of the militant anti-fascist movement. It is behaviour likethis that raises questions about people's motives. >

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the wind. Originallythe police talkedabout 52 attacksover a period of 10years, th en th eirreasons werepotential contact tothe " .. terroristorganisation RedArmy Fraction .. ".Each of theseaccusations turned

out to be unfounded, and a newjustification needed to be found. In themeantime the talk is of demonstrationsthat were "r.a threat to public safety .. "-primarily because some of thedemonstrators wore masks.

GERMANYCALLING

The trial of 17 alleged members ofAutonome Antifa (M) was originallyplanned to start on May 8th 1996. It hasnow been pushed back to August 14th1996, because the Justice Departmentcan't find a suitable venue for the trial!Applications to have the trial moved toGott ingen, where most of the defendantslive, were refused. The courts reasonswere that the defendants are young, ". .tobe able to expect a little mobility .. ", theappropriate mood for the trial would notbe reached in Gottingen, and that". .uprisings .." could be expected.Other recent events in Gottingen showthat the real reason for the trial is to finishoff the group polit ically. The just if icationfor the investigation has changed with

The investigations against the AutonomeAntifa (M) are still ongoing. The14,OOOrecordings of bugged telephone callsobtained within the last year and bookshelves full of files, are apparently notenoughl The current situation is that 17defendants will have to appear in courtthree days a week on charges of s129,building a criminal organisation. 131 trialdates have already been set for the firstyear of the trial. The defendants havealso been informed that they have totake a second lawyer, and that they and

their lawyers must appear at all courtdates in Luneburg, over 500km fromGottingen. The lawyers costs for the first131 court days alone are estimated at3.5 million OM, so the anti-fascistactivists are also being ruined financially.It is impossible for the defendants tolive a normal life, and this can be seenas a sentence before the trial has evenbegun!This trial does not just mean severeconsequences for the 17 individuals, andis not just an attack on the AutonomeAntifa (M), it is also a test case, anattempt to make militant anti-fascistpolitics impossible. If the state issuccessful in criminalising the AutonomeAntifa (M), then every other legallyorganised anti-fascist group could befaced with similar repression.Our comrades in Germany have our fullsupport. AFA is calling on groups andorganisations to send legal observers tothe trial, as experience has shown thatan international presence can make avery real difference to the outcome ofsuch trials. Please contact Landon AFAif yau would like to receive more detailsof this. We will also publicise the trial aswidely as possible.

I ' ' S U ' B S e . R I : E 3 E ~ " - T O : ' 'F I 'G F lm . I ' N 'C ; '~ : .W A t l 'K ~ ' .~ :: " . " The quart ~ rlY n iagazi n~ fo~m ili tan t . ari t i -fas~ ists~ . . :

~ " ~ f t , > "~ ? _ '" :" _ ~ ~ , ': ' ~

Every issue carries articles with AFA's in-depth analysis of the fight against fascism and a list ofregular features including:-

ANTI-FASCIST HISTORY - rediscovering the militant tradition. A VIEW FROM VALHALLA.- an inside view of the nazi music scene .e BEHIND ENEMY LINES - a look at recent fascist propaganda. IN THE AREA - AFA news and views from around the country. LEVELLING THE SCORE - building Anti-Fascist opposition at football.

PLUS readers letters, reviews, merchandise, and much, much morelSubscription rates (for 4 issues) :England, Scotland & Wales: Individuals- 8.00 : Institutions/Organisations - 14.00Overseas : Individuals- 10.00 : Institutions/Organisations - 17.00

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FOOTBALL

L E V E L L I N GT H E S C O R EWith the European Championships only a few months away the fascistsappear to be trying to recruit football firms around the country. Theirmagazines are full ofreferences to racism at football. including afew ratherfanciful claims. The National Socialist Alliance (Ci8 to you) reckon theystewarded aBNP paper sale at Maine Rd. at the end of last year. and up theroad at Old Trafford the efforts of Red Attitude and Man Utd. Antl-Faselstscontinue to concern the fascists. A 'Man Utd. CiS' sticker has appeared ~inat least ~ places - and when Man Utd. played Chelsea in October '95. CiSclaim" two neighbouring public houses were packed to the roof with neo-nazi Chelsea supporters ..... in view afthe promise of Man Utd's lefty rabbleshowing up.Who true to form didn't." (Putsch). Inview of what promise? Itsall well and good sitting in apub and then claiming avictory when no oneattacks you, but this sounds abit desperate to us.CiS have issued awarning to their supporters to expect internment duringthe European Championships because" ...the Zionists and lefties who nowcontrol football in Britain have ordered that any threat of trouble.or aNationalist showing at this tournament must be thwarted." (Putsch). Morerealistically, Manchester AFA areconsidering plans for the arrival of Germansupporters who will be based in Manchester for at least a fortnight in thesummer, and they traditionally come with a large fascist camp following.

\.More details areemerging aboutthe failed fascist attack onCeltic supportersinBirmingham at the pre-season friendly last summer. We now know that agroup of Notts Forest supporters travelled to Birmingham to join the C18contingent. We would appreciate if readers would continue to send in an~information about fascist activity at football grounds around the country.

The Villa Fans Against Loyalism andFascism sticker was produced inconjunction with AFA and Villa fans whoapproached us because ofthe heightenedLoyalist and fascist presence in andaround Villa Park. As mentioned in aprevious issue of Fighting Talk manypeople whowere arrested in Dublinat theIreland match were known to us as Villafascists.Tony Burke, of West Midlandsregional NF organiser infamy, seems tobe putting himself up as one of Villa'smain men! (Laugh, we nearly criedl l).

been distributed. AFA and the Villa fanshave had several informal meetings anda lot of positive information has beencollated. These supporters aredetermined to drive these scum out ofVilla Park and the pubs in and around

BLUES FANS ~& ;~~iI~ ~A g a in s t L o y a l i s m a n d F as c i s m ~

Aston. They also realise, like us, that thiscan't be done OVernight, and unlike theANL, It has to be done by Villa fans. Onthis basis AFA are proud to work withthem on various projects we have up oursleeves for the near future.

r - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ NVILLA FANS ~~~ I'f;i ~E ~.p~ ~" .~. ~Against loyalism and Fascism ,\!L_ ~~The stickers have been very popular withVilla fans and nearly one thousand have

The Blues stickers were initiated by AFAsupporters who also follow the Blues in

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TAKINGISSUE

Red Attitude, the fanzine that supportsmilitant anti-fascism, has been sellingconsistently well at Manchester United.Unfortunately, when it comes to racismand fascism, some of the other fanzineshaven't got a clue. The January edition ofRed Issue carries an unbelievably badarticle on 'Racism in Football' - whichwas ironically prompted by a racist articlein yet another United fanzine 'United WeStand'."Since the beginning Df man. this fearwe cal racism has lain dormant and offenmalignant in the hearts of men andwomen throughout the war/d ..... 1 t is thepublic, you and me, who are the trueculprits for wnnging our hands every timewe hear the words 'nigger' andyicf.. . . . Now, I may be whistling with amouth full ot sherbert, but if someonecalls me 'White' then I assume itsbecause that is exactly what I am . I donttake offence at the word. Simi/ari/y, if aNegro is described as 'Bleck' ..... But whyworry? It is all part of the ongoingevolution of our species. In a thousandyears time, it will be as derisory andimplausible as was burning witches inSa/em, Massachusetts. So while theseterrace dummies shout and genera/Iypetfarm like circus seals, then, simplypity them. For God's sake, donY whingeand wring hands, and tell them they area 'big prob/em' .. they will think they areimportant. And they are not ...... "The above quotes from the article arenot only stupid but also racist - and thiswas meant to be an anti-racist article?As we know only too well, the 'ignorethem and they'l l go away' argument onlyserves to help the fascists because itleaves them unopposed. Red Attitudeand Man Utd. Anti-Fascists don't believein "wringing hands", but if you suggestedwringing necks, well.maybe .

direct response to what happened beforeand during the visit of Celtic. (see FTNo.12). They were well pissed off withthe action of people purporting to beBlues fans. The stickers have been goingdown well and its good to see themspringing up around Digbeth, which isthe 'Irish Quarter' in Brum, which havebeen putup by Blues fans on their way togames. Wolves fans have also teamedup with AFA to produce anti-fasciststickers which have appeared all aroundthe ground and in the city centre.


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Celtic recently set up the campaign"Bhoys Against Bigotry" with a fanfare ofpublicity and the launch of a chartercalled 'The Social Mission Statement"which is a pretty unsubtle mixofliberalismand downright patronising bullshit. Evencalling it a "Social Mission Statement"sounds like something the Jesuits wouldcome up with for the Third World, ratherthan a footbal l team based in Glasgow'Spoverty-stricken inner city. On the faceof it the "Bhoys Against Bigotry"campaign is lip-service to everything fromanti-racism and religious tolerance to aquasi-religious brow beating about theclubs 'traditions'.The campaign is nothing more than acover for attacks upon the sizeableminority of supporters at Celtic Park whosupport Irish Republicanism and whohave been at the forefront of thecampaigns against racism and fascism.Only last week some fans were ejectedfrom the ground for singing an IrishRepublican ballad. The club have nowstopped playing 'The Fields of Athenry"before matches - this is an Irish balladabout starvation during the Great Famineof the last century - and has nothing to dowith the present struggle in Ireland.Security chief George Douglas, Rangersfan and ex-senior policeman, held ameeting with steward supervisors at theground and instructed them to 'warn'fans who carried Irish tricolours at gamesthat they should put them away or have

CELTIC

A N T I - F A S C I S T S

them removed forcefully, ejected fromthe ground and risk having their seasontickets removed. So while the clubcontinues to pay lip-service to our'traditions' and even though FergusMcCann (Celtic's managing director) hasstated that the Irish tricolour will continueto fly above the stand at Parkhead as asymbol of'the club's origins - he hassecretly sanctioned the campaign toremove all traces of Irishness from theterraces.At a recent meeting of the supportersassociation, fans voiced theirdisagreements about the areas ofemphasis that the campaign "BhoysAgainst Bigotry" has taken. They werejoined in their criticisms at this meetingby the Celtic manager, Tommy Burns,who, it seems, wanted nothing to do withit and who advised Fergus McCann thatthe whole campaign could be counter-productive if it was simply a reaction tothose at the club who are most attached, to their Irish roots. Anyone can say theyate against "bigotry, sectarianism andracism" but it takes more than words toactually make a difference to theproblem.Celtic Anti-Fascists opposed the film crewwho made the "Football ,Faith and Flutes"programme screened by Channel 4 atthe 6[1d of last year. They took theiropposition to the supporters, putting outthousands of leaflets which exposed thatthe film team were out to exploit bothCeltic and Rangers fans by portrayingthe usual stereotypical image of them asmindless bigots. No Celtic SupportersClub participated as a result of ourcampaign and the producers, Wark,Clements, and Co., had to drag out someyoung guy (who we understand was paidfor his services) to make sure that theygotthe right'balance' to their, eventually,shitty broadcast Just as one person's'terrorisf is another's 'freedom fighter',the definit ion of bigotry appears to chang eaccordingly.Fergus McCann may be party tooutlawing lrishness at Celtic Park, andhe may say he is against all forms ofreligious intolerance - but he fails thelitmus test himselfl McCann has beenone of the foremost promoters - inAmerica and Canada - of the anti-abortionmovement; a movement which has hadthe support of the Church, the far-rightand business men like McCann. A caseof do as I say but not as I do, Fergus?l?

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TheNew Frontier- - -The growth of White Rower Rock in the USAand,Canada. . .

With the proliferation of cross-border co-ordination between fascists in Canadaand the United States, combined W i t .l l :.the growth of extreme-right influence .amongst the youth, Resistance Recordshas attempted to forge itself as a leadingedge within the international neo-Nazimusic scene. For some time now, theirleadership and organisers have beenlooking increasingly to European fascistmovements as the model around whichto base themselves. Britain, being themain English-speaking country has longserved as a major influence, particularlyin the area of cultivating youth activismwithin the ranks. The influential successin North America of Bri tish fascist bandslike Skrewdriver and No Remorse hasnow been mirrored and capitalised uponin the form of Resistance Records; aproducer and distributor of fascistpropaganda grounded firmly in thebroader fascist networks, similar to thatof Britain's own Blood & Honour.Resistance Records organisers havesuccess fully tapped into the hearts, mind sand. bank accounts of th eir targetaudience within a short span of time,exploiting the overall condition of a whitebacklash currently surging in NorthAmerica.In 1992 the Heritage Front, a Toronto-based umbrella group of far-rightists,reached the peak at a massive recruitingdrive within the highschools and workingclass communities of cities concentratedin the area of Southern Ontario. Part ofthis campaign Included the usualpropagandising and leafleting, but thebulk of it was orch estrated with tt l e launchof the fascist music scene. Although itwas played out relatively low-key at first,its effects were loud and clear. Against abackground of racist and fascist attackstaking place across Canada, the seedsof fascist growth were sown.On August 28, 1992 Toronto's RAHOWA(RAcial HOly WAr), a white-power bandfronted by one-time Church of the Creator(COTC) organiser and bonehead GeorgeBurdi (aka George Eric Hawthorne),played their first underground gig in thecity. RAHOWA played again onNovember 13 at the Roma Restaurantcomplete with a COTC Security Legjo~of White Berets' performing the evening'ssecurity. The event was scheduled tofeature British holocaust-revisionist David

Irving as a speaker. Irving was deportedearlier that day, but the event went on tocommemorate former Western GuardParty members John Ross Taylor andJacob Prins for years of 'white racialservice'.The evening was cut short by the effortsof an ARA (Anti-Racist Action)demonstration which stormed the venue.On May29, 1993, RAHOWAwas playingout again, this time in Ottawa atthe Boysand Girls Club, where running battlesbetween boneheads and anti-fasciststook place after the event was shut down.George Burdi himself ended up bustedfor assault. As a result, Burdi's bailconditions limit his movements In theUnited States, but actually do .little toimpede cross-border activity main.,tainedby strong links that have been built upbetween Detroit and Toronto. On thenight of June 6, 1993 RAHOWA played

Life Rune RecordsPresents

ANew Year'sJ iJo~fJf ionFeaturing

SQUADRONFrom England

BOUND FOR GLORYAGGRAVATED ~ MAX RESIST

ASSAULT ~u)SUNDAY DECEMDER 31,1995 - 8;00 PM

CLEVELAND, OHIOFor t icket information and concert locat ion,

please cull2lu- 663-2375 or write Lift RuneR.cDflls, r .o , B~. 34035Parmu, Ohio 44J34

in Downsview, Toronto to a pumped-upaudience of nee-Nazi boneheads, threeof whIch went on a rampa'ge followingthe event One, Jason Robert Hoolans,attacked and beat a Tamil dishwasherinto a coma that night, leaving the manparalysed for life.Burdi's long-term plan was to set up arecord label to legitimise 'white power'music in order to lure a wider audience ofwhite youth towards buying into themovement. Based in Detroit, Michigan,Resistance Records was co-foundedofficia1Jy in 1994 with Mark Wilson ofSterling Heights, Detroit; one-time SHAM

(Skinhead Army of Milwaukee) memberand failed COTC Reverend. Thisarrangement allowed them to avoidCanada's stricter hate laws and take fulladvantage ofAmerican liberal free speechrights. The label produced cassette andCD releases of RAHOWA along with agrowing line-up of North American fascistbands. A glossy magazine, 'Resistance'is also produced which containsinterviews with the bands, news articles,and contacts accessing the broaderfascist music and political scenes in NorthAmerica and Europe. This project wasbased on the Blood & Honour movementin Britain, founded by the late Ian StuartDonaldson (of whom a tribute isdedicated in the first issue of Resistancemagazine). Blood & Honour wasresponsible for putting on fascist musicconcerts across Britain, and evensponsored several gigs in the UnitedStates. This concept allows for the spreadof propaganda, cultivates the recruitmentof white youth to the ideas and conceptsof fascism, and funnels extremely largeamounts of money directly into the fascistcoffers.In the best interests of the fascists inCanada, 'racial rock' was becoming ofinterest to the media, creating bigheadlines. When RAHOWA played asecret Toronto location with the London,Ontario-based Aryan, they gainedthemselves some airt ime on Much Music.Anti-fascists interrupted and shut downa 'panel discussion' with these boneheadsat the Much Music building. A 'RacialistRockline' was set up, advertising theirfirst 'Rock Against Communism' concert,which took place in Toronto's East End.The bill consisted ofWhite Riot, ExcessiveForce, Aryan, and Max Resist and theHooligans from the United States.Operated by George Harbottle, theRacialist RockJine was based in Torontoand held together a loose network ofboneheads and fash-bands acrossSouthern Ontario and America.In keeping with the aim of "forging a newdestiny for white power music",Resistance Records held a tribute to IanStuart; a memorial gig held on September30, 1994 commemorating the secondanniversary of Ian Stuart's honourabledeath in a car accident. "The Flame ThatNever Dies" concert was organisedprofessionally ata large venue In Racine,


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Milwaukee featuring No Remorse fromBritain, Bound For Glory, RAHOWA,Centurion, Berserkr and Das Reich. Lessthan 300 showed up to this event, billedconvincingly enough as "The concertEvent Of The Decade". Immediately afterthe concert, Joe Rowan, the vocalist forNordic Thun der decidedto commemoratelim Stuart's passing in his own specialway. Following an altercation in aconvenience store, a black mandispatched Rowan to Valhalla with ahandgun blast to the head. A videorelease of the concert is set for releasesometime this year, so hopefully it willinclude some stunning post-concertfootage!A CD release from No Remorse entitledFarewell Ian Stuart has been released byResistance Records which has causedconsiderable tensions between NorthAmerican and British fascists. It was nosecret that Paul Burnley, the one-timetrontrnan of No Remorse, had skimmedfunds from the profi ts of Blood & Honour.No Remorse had long been popular inCanada and were flown over to featureat a number of events. Tensions betweenBlood & Honour, who are now firmlyunder the control ofC18, and ResistanceRecords have boiled to the surface. Thelatest No Remorse release, Under TheGods on Nordland Records, has alsobeen released by Resistance Recordsthis year along with a No Remorse 'BestOf compilation. No Remorse have sincereformed under a new line-up withoutBurnley as a Blood & Honour band, muchto spite Resistance Records and widelyseen as an attack on their potentialdomination.In a bid to reach out to a broader 'white'market in North America, ResistanceRecords have made it a priority toorganise and appeal to the metal scene.At the tail end of 1994, ResistanceRecords had signed four 'White Powermetal' bands, Centurion (Milwaukee),New Minority (formerly Ritual, NewJersey). Berserkr (Oklahoma), andBound For Glory (Minneapolis). BoundFor Glory, a Northern Hammerskin bandwho formed in 1989, are quite popularon the world-wide scene and evenfeatured in the American Pit Magazine,which caters to the metal audience. BFG'soriginal singer, Eric Banks, was put downfor a dirtnap via shotgun blast by aSHARP skin in Oregon early on in 1994.Other acts signed to the ResistanceRecords label, many of which werepreviously signed to Rock-O-Rama,include Th e Voice (Pennsylvania),Aggravated Assault (Atlantic City), MaxResist andthe Hooligans (Detroit), Aryan(London, Ontario) and Nordic Thunder(Delaware). Other titles carried by

Resistance Records but 1------------__:_-77~~c-="",_,__.signed to other labelsinclude Extreme Hatredand Eric Owens {both onPhoenix Records}, andCeltic Warrior (Di-AIRecords) Two alignedAmerican outfits includeDas Reich onWhite TerrorRecords and LightningRod on the MSR label(California). Aside fromits numerous dealers Inthe US, its distributorsabroad include TuonoRecords (\(icenza, Italy),S.P.E. Records (Gentilly,France), One Voice(Segre, France), FD(Marseill e, France),Viking Sounds (Ar Goes,The Netherlands) andNordland (Stockholm,Sweden).The main organisationbehind ResistanceRecords in its initial stageswas the Church Of TheCreator, of which George Burdi was aprominent, second-i -commandorganiser. Due to a split 1 the COTCinvolving differences of opir onswith'Dr.'Rick McCarty, who took the reins ofleadership following f under BenKlassen's suicide, BUI di left theorganisation with what Is said to be ahealthy share of its finances. The word isthat these funds went into the initialfoundation of the Resistance RecordsprojectSince that initial jump-start, profits fromthe sale.of music CDs have paid for theResistance magazine, a propagandaorgan which boasts a circulation of13,000. Featuring glossy, full-colour adsfor the likes of the Nationalist Allianceand the COTC, while being gearedincreasingly towards the metalheadaudience, Resistance magazine shinesbrighter than its longer-standingcounterparts like the Blood & Honourskinzine from Long Beach, Californiaand the Blood & Honour publicationsfrom Britain. Its contents make no boneswhatsoever with regard to their fascistbeliefs, motives and methods. The veneerof 'equal rights for whites' so espousedby the extreme right in the past to makeheadway for their organising has beenreplaced by a more true-to-form fascistface. Burdi's attempts to fire up andagitate his targeted youth-based audienceare laid bare throughout the magazine inthe form of his pompous writings andreactionary news round-Ups.In most recent developments, London,England's Ol-eum-metal outfit Squadron

were flown overseas to play two gigspromoted by Life Rune Records in theUS, albeit to relatively small audiences.On December 30, 1995 they played inDallas, Texas by themselves when themuch-hyped Berserkr backed out whilethe opening act, Bul ly Boys, also baggedit. A 'New Year's Revolution' concert onthe 31st, held in Cleveland, Ohio, featuredSquadron supported by Max Resist andthe Hooligans, Aggravated Assault andBound For Glory. This gig ended off in apunch-Up among st show-goers. Inaddition to these shows, Burdi hadSquadron slipped across the border foran unannounced show in London, OntarioOust outside Toronto) on January6, 1996which featured RAHOWA along withAryan and Excessive Force. A ProjectTribute CD, is a compilation is now beingput together by Resistance Records andPhoenix Records featuring Squadron.At this stage of the game, Burdi is quitecertain that he and his cohorts have'cornered the market' in rallying what hebelieves to be an lnexhaustable wealthof support to the cause.AFA is in contact with anumber ofactive anti-fascist groups inthe USAand Canada. FT will keep readersinformed of developments in futureissues. We would like to thankAntifa Forum for sending us thisarticle. They can be contacted at:

PO Box 6326, Station ATorontoOntario

MSW 1P7, CANADA

9


10/24

A VIEW FROMVALHALLAOur very own Viking Voyager, Mr.Dan Woinsaiker, continues hisamazing adventure into the land ofthe three-headed dung-beetle (CiSIB&H/NSA), coing up against long-haired bikers, short-h airedscooterists, and mad bombers whogot off very lightly, thank you verymuch officer.Blood & Honour are now an almostentirely 'underground' movement andclaim they turned down an invitation toappear on the recent 'World of Skinhead'TV programme because " ...we have ourown media in B&H and the NSA (NationalSocialist All iance) network, we don't needsome media prick asking us questions."(B&H magazine). As well as aninternational B&H network, there is afairly regular supply of videos, CDs,merchandise and magazines to cater forthe needs of your regular skinheadstormtrooper.Since the Battle of Waterloo B&HfC18haven't been able to openly advertise agig, much to their annoyance, and thesecurity precautions they have to takefor their gigs and socials are extensive.The recent gig in the Essex Skipper pubin Harlow being no exception, B&Hactivists being told only of local re-direction points around the country, andthen taken to the main re-direction point,in this case Harlow station. While thisobviously requires a deal of organisation,once the drinking begins it all starts tofall to pieces, with an Indian restaurantnear the pub getting attacked after thegig.

B&HfC1B are still trying to establishthemselves in the north of Ireland, andas the photos below show they're notjust putting on gigs.While B&H/C 18 continue to promote thenew No Remorse line up (without PaulBurnley) It seems not everyone is soenthusiastic. I hear that ResistanceRecords (the main North American nazimusic organisation) - despite agreeIng tobe interviewed in a recent issue of B&H-still support Paul Burnley and reckon thenew band is shitl Talking of Paul Burnley,I was vaguely surprised to spot himdrinking in a pub just off Carnaby St. afew weeks ago. This particular pub wasone of the ones Ian Stuart used to holdcourt in when B&H tried to establ ish itselfin London's West End in the late SOs, somaybe hethinks if he fol lows inthe 'greatman's' footsteps he might be ableto stophis continuing slide into obscurity.PersonaJJy, I hope he follows Stuatrsfootsteps all the way up the A381Despite AFA stopping the sale of S&Hmerchandise in Carnaby St. all thoseyears ago, you still get quite a lot of.foreign skinheads wandering about tryingto buy Skrewdriver records. Presumablythis includes Swedish nazis fromStockholm who can't get their fascistfaves from their local shop 'Last Resorfafter it was forced to close down after amiJitant anti-fascist campaign. Nice one.There are now a few bikers gettinginvolved on the B&H scene. This doesn'tcome as a great surprise as many of theB&H bands are more rock than Oi

nowadays, and before Igot involved withAFA I remember drinking with Bear andother members of the SkrewdriverSecurity team at a Motorhead gig at theHammersmith Odeon. Towards the endof last year The Outcasts motorcycleclub got a mention in C18's Putschmagazine for attending a previous B&Hgig in Harlow (Sept.95). Since thenthey've been heard talking about theirInvolvement in B&H at several Londonwatering holes. In fact,if my memoryserves me well, it was members of TheOutcasts who were trying to knock outswastika badges in Norwich a whi le ago.On the subject of bikes, I'd like to thankthe people who wrote in about fascistactivity on the scooter scene. I certainlyagree that the Viking Scooter Club fromLondon is worth watching - very dodgyby the sounds of it J Unfortunately itseems the fascist element at scooterrallies goes largely unchallenged" and Iwould be pleased if someone could letme know if I'm wrong on th i s poi nt. lti s afact that where there are fascists thereare also anti-fascists - so let's hear fromal l you anti-fascist scooterists out there.The Bridlington scooter rally is an exampleof the sort of problems you get. Twoyears ago about 30 fascists causedproblems ata 'do' inthe evening,hangingup a Celtic Cross banner,sieg-heil ing,and threatening the OJ If he didn't playB&H records. Although a lot of peoplewere pissed off by the fascists, becausenothing happened, last year saw a muchbigger turn outoffascists.ltcan't be rightthat large numbers of fasci sts are allowedto go unchallenged at these rallies.

left: This pIcture from the Belfast paper 'AndersonstoV>fl News' shows C1Sgraffitti on the Protestant Suffolk Rd. estate, and says"...loyalists, using the fascist Combal1S cover name favoured by the UDA, painted up a large slogan near the home of the embattled(CatholiC) family." JRight: Celtic Warrior playing a Blood & Honour/CIS gig in the north of Ireland.

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As I mentioned In my last column therehave been some serious ructionsbetween C18 and the BNP leadership,andthese continue to rumble on. The BNPleadership have said they will expelanyone who has dealings with C18 orthe NSA, and continue to suggest Stateinvolvement in the setting up of theseorganisations. C18 have countered witha bitof finger pointing of their own,saying;"I doubt that this wi" be the end of thisaffair with Tyndall , the man's head wil l befilled with poison by the likes ofLecomberand he will go on to make an ass ofhimse/fagain I am sure. Perhaps readersshould ask themselves the motives ofLecomber. Perhaps the question shouldbe reeised as to why someone equippedwith a bomb, on route, by his ownadmission to detonate the bomb at acommunist adtiress received only a paltrycouple of years jail. Isn1 it odd thatUlster's prisons have people serving fifesentences for the same act, yet good oletony escapes with a virtual slap on thewrist. If tyndall really wishes to uncoverpeople amongst the racialist movement'doing the enemies work' might I suggesthe look in his own camp!"(Putsch).

All good stuff, but given that Sargentand Tyndall appear to be such deadlypolitical rivals what will they make ofboth being sub-poenaed to give evidencein the trial of limo thy McVeigh - accusedof the Oklahoma City bombing. DavidIrving has also been contacted. Whileon the SUbject of court cases, Sargentand Browning's case at the Old Baileyhas now, been put back to July. Giventhe level of racism, especially anti-semitism, in some of the C1 Bpublicafions it is hardly surprising theygot ntcked.and seeing that ifs being heldin the Old Bafley means the State wantsit to be high profile. Should beinteresting.C18 declared that they are the true faceof British national socialism,emphasising their commitment tophysical force and anti-semitism asevidence, and despite the fact thatthey've done fuck all (except bask inthe notoriety heaped on them byjournalists) they are confident of aglorious future. They boast ofinternational meetings, founding anAryan homeland, launching a radio

Recently AFA has made contact with agroup of French anti-fascist skinheadswho have pointed out that despite thegrowth of the French National Front (FN)and Le Pen there are still groups ofmilitant anti-fascl sts dotted aroundFrance. One of the problems seems tobe a lack of co-ordination (and perhaps apolitical strategy), but they are takingsteps to improve this. They produce amagazine Sang-Mele ( 'Mixed Blood' )which isa mixtureofworking class polit icsand music and culture, and in thesummer there will be a national meetingcalled by R.A.S.H. (Red and AnarchistSkinheads) to tr y and increase the levelof co-ordination.In the 1980s militant anti-fascistopposition was mainly based around theSCALP groups (Anti-Le Pen Sections),and although a few groups still exist byand large SCALP had col lapsed by 1990.It would appear this was largely due to itbeing based around the 'underground'punk scene and in particular certainbands, and when this 'scene' endedSCALP went with it.There are a few SHARP groups in France,but like here and in America, some ofthese groups are 'anti-politics' and don't

do much. A few SHARP groups areactively involved in anti-fascism, but theRASH movement and Redskins showmuch more promise. As they explain intheir magazine," In France in 1985, (nazi)boneheads are everywhere. At this timea punk and alternative movement startedto develop and got involved in the fightagainst Le Pen and his 'Vichyisf' team.The fight was symbolised by the SCALPgroups. A part of this movement thenbecame redsklns, to show theirdetermination and their discipline, andinvolved people from varying left-wingbackgrounds. That was when ourredskinidentlywas bom, a fusion between Britishskinhead culture and our punk andalternative scene. This new blood givento the skinhead movement wil l bring newmusic and culture - such as hip-hop,rap,ragga - bringing back themovement to its multi-racial and multi-cultural roots,like the British working classskins meeting with Jamaican rude boysin the late sixties. The redskins identity isopen-minded musicafly and culturally ."While the British media show how theFN has made inroads into the Frenchworking class, what they don't show isthat the fight is not over. For example,atfootball, the fascist element at Paris st.

station - all very grand - but will it everhappen? C18/B&H/NSA reckon nothingcan stop them,including our goodselves. They reckon" AFA are no longerthe strong mob of 10 years ago" (TheOrder magazine) but when you look atwhat they said about us then - exactlythe same as what they say nowadays!- then you know they fully understandthe threat that AFA is to them,but fortactical reasons they dare not admit it.Ifs a bit like the 30 year rule withsensitive government papers.While The Oppressed have sent out allthe right signals by supporting AFA,Sham 69, who never managed toresolve the problem of having a largenazi following in the early days, are stillplagued by the Forces of Darkness.Before and after their recent gig inBirmingham fascist skins took theopportunity to carry out a number ofracist attacks - particularly on Irishtargets. Although I hear the governor ofone Irish pub who had his windows putin was keen to pursue the matter on amore personal basis but the fascistswouldn't play.

Germain is fairly well known, but who'sheard of the anti-fascist outfit at RedStar (another Paris team)? Or,indeed,the Marseille Red Army? Themainstream left-wing parties as 'usualhave failed to build an effective anti-fascist opposition, either backing theineffective liberal SOS Racisme, orsimply ignoring the problem - discussingrevolutionary theory in meetings whilethe fascists attack people outside. It willbe difficult for militant anti-fascists tostop the move to the Right in France- butwe should give our support to thoseprepared to tr y and build the resistance.

S a n g ~ m e l e. . ~ .,.

, D I 1

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11


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The Emperor's New ClothesInthis issue of FT. SidMartell opens aseries of articles into the nature offascism, how we can define it, andwhen and where we fight it.This firstoffering deals with the fundamentalsbehind fascist thought. and the ideasof Nation and Race."They say that there are persons amonguswho are striving to dismember France.Let us eliminate these inharmonious ideasby proclaiming the death penalty for theiroriginators. France must be an indivisiblewhole. "The words of Danton, one of the leadersof the French Revolution, and not a verynice man, you might think. The FrenchRevolution is central to the conception ofwhat is now termed the 'nation'; "Francemust be an indivisible whole". Anyonewho says it isn't will find their head in abasket. Not so different from what hadgone before in many ways, except forone vital difference, the concept of nation,of France, now included everybody thatlived there, not just the rulin g aristocracy.Any investigation into fascist ideas, must

first deal with the question of ' the nation',as it is the central axis around whichfascism revolves.Before the French Revolution the ideaof nation had been an ambiguous one,largely applied to the aristocracy andmost especially the ruling monarch.These were the people who wereidentified as making up the nation, andwe can see why: national states hadbeen formed around the need to stopbaronial feuding, the monarch being thenew figurehead around which the'national' pact could be formed. It alsomeant that by ganging up they couldthen go and beat the shit out of someoneelse, which they of course invariably did.The warring also had another effectthough, on a bigger scale. The unity thatwas required and called upon duringperiods of conflict, became theabstracted 'national unity' 'whlchcontinues right up to today. At this timethough it really was god, king andcountry, that is; the monarch wasappointed by god, and owns the country,you therefore have a debt of loyalty to

him, as he embodies thenation state.

12

In th is country thingsworked a tittle differently,as the "English Revolution"of the mid-seventeenthcentury had seen the infant'middling class' led byOliver Cromwell, later to betermed the bourgeoisie,have a pop at thearistocracy and" themonarchy, which the lattertwo groups never reallyrecovered from. With theonsetofthe Enlightenmentand the IndustrialRevolution the slippery holdon power of the old orderfaded as quk:kly as theireconomic viability andreason for being did. Butthis left a new problem; asthe gulf between rich andpoor widened, and the poorwere literally driven fromthe land towork inthe newlybuilt 'dark satanic mills',class conflict as we nowknow Itwas finally shaped.Benjamin Dlsraeli, that wellknown 'Man of the People'wrote a novel, with the

catchy tit le of Cybil, inthe 1840s, lnwhlchthis very question is addressed in thefollowing passage:".. Two nations; between whom there isno intercourse, and no sympathy; Whoare as Ignorant of each other's habits,thoughts, and feelings, as if they weredwellers in different zones, orinhabitantsof different planets; who are formed by adifferent breeding, are fed by a differentfood, are ordered by different manners,and are governed by the same laws.You speak of?. ..The rich and the poor."When you hear the current arguments,over the idea of 'One-Nation', and 'One-Nation Toryism', remember they're allreferring to a passage from a nineteenthcentury novel. There is obviously, a farmore serious side to this. Another stockmyth of bourgeois ideology is the'classless society', and this is bound upwith the 'One Nation' idea. The centraltenet is that to have no division betweenrich and poor you basically don't talkabout one. That's not quite true, youhave council housing and welfare, "Rightto buy" schemes, the idea of ameritocracy, and cheap bus tickets forthe elderly.But far more important was the extensionof the 'democratic franchise', when weall gotthevote, we all became part of thenation. The nation became all the peoplethat lived inside given boundaries. Totake us back to the French Revolution,the aristocracy was beaten largelybecause it had no regard for anyoneelse's partin the nation, jjwas the nation.When the French bourgeoisie talked ofeverybody having a part in, and a say in,the functioning of the nation, al l they hadto do was don funny hats, give it a bit of"France for the French", and get theguillotines out.To a large extent the nation concept hasdone its job well, and even if the ToryParty don't currently talk about 'OneNation', leaving itforTony Blair to claimthat glorious mantle, they still talk aboutnation. Its intrinsic to the way this societyis run, precisely because it glosses overthe glaring class distinctions which stillexist. But its actually an abstract,quantified only by borders. And Its notwithout Its failings, so it needs somehelp now and again, from its two bestmates, imperialism and war.


13/24

socialism? Can we talk about a fascistideology? Are we not really tal king abouta tuned up version of what is alreadyoffered in the form of conservatism?

Punch's view of Western acUon againstthe Boxer rebellion in China, 1900.

Imperialism helped to foster the idea ofnation in a number of specific ways.The most important was it gave a feelingof national superiority to those in theempire building nation; you had alreadymoved up the social scale if you lookedat it in world terms. Being 'British' meantbeing better than being 'Indian'. Theobvious racial connotations of this wecan get on to when we deal with howthis affects fascism. The paternalisticconnotations are far more important interms of nation. One of the biggestmyths of the Imperialist Project was thatwe were teaching the 'savages' how tobe like 'us'. This obviously meant thatwe were somehow better; the fact thatwe had cannons and rifles againstspears and blow-darts not withstanding.Rather than worry about the divisionswithin our own society, We could look athow much better ours was than anybodyelse's, and be at peace.As has been argued, war wasfundamental to the concept of nations,as it was largely what formed them inthe first place. This was the prime moverin the formation of a spirit of 'nationalunity'. But there's also another aspectto this, the threat of invasion. Let's getthis right, no-one, except a fifthcolumnist, wants to be invaded. Beinginvaded by someone else's army is notsomething to be looked forward to. Ifthings are bad now, they' ll only be worseif another outfit comes a-raping and a-pillaging through your mist. We canargue the historical merits of thisstatement, but in most cases can seethat an invasion is not normally aprogressive act, and tends to be deemedby the mass of the population as notbeing one.

No-one wants somebody entering theirhouse and taking the bread from theirtable, while holding a gun to their head.This is why movements of 'National Self-Determination' are a distinct ion, in a way,from the concept of nation. On the onehand of course, the word nation is inthere, but you're normally being told toaccept someone else's idea of nation,and your even more subordinate role init It becomes not the fight for the nation,but the fight against the imperialism ofanother nation. This is why a nationalindependence movement will take on alargely progressive Ideology, or at leasta wing of it will. You can't talk of thenationalism of the British Government,alongside the nationalism of the IrishRepublican Movement, without it beingthe verbal output of the backside.The breakdown of imperialism will helplead to the breakdown of the idea ofnation, and whilst a country is underimperialist domination, people willnaturally want first to rid themselves ofthe oppressor. That's notto say you can'targue that this is not enough, and thatthere must be a working class andprogressive angle. What should berealised is the mass of the people will bemobllised behind the idea of self-determination, against the threat orimposition of external aggression, andthat this, in a basic sense, is entirelyValid. The fact that its twisted and usurpedby reactionary forces is something wecarl also recognise,which brings us tothe fascists.What has happenedthen, slnce the riseof the bourgeoisie tofull prominence, isthe investment inthiswhole mythology ofnation. What we canimmediatelyrecognise aboutfascism, is that it isnot just invested inthe idea of nation,but is so to a virulentand extreme extentBut 'nat ion' aswe cansee isnota new idea,its a production of thestate, a gloss overthe classcontradictions withwhlcn its confronted.So what does'that tellus about fascism?Fascism is atwenti eth centuryphenomena, but is ita political Ideology inthe same sense as

Compare the sentiments of "One NationToryism" with those of a certain Mr. A.Hitler:

"Of late years the State and nation hashad to face the same question on a farlarger scale. Fresh masses of people,amounting to ml7fions,Were constantlyremoving from the villages to the largetowns to earn a living as factory workersin the new industries.""Thus a new class has come into being,to whichbut Iltle attentionhas been paid,and a day wi/{come when it will have tobe asked whether the nation will havethe strength by is OWn efforts oncemoreto incorporate the new class into thegeneral community, or whether thedistinction of class and class is tobroaden into a riff."The only difference between Disraeli andHitler on this question, is that whereone offered the option of buying into thenation, the other was more disposed tothe 'indivisible whole or you're getting it'methods of Danton, but applied to theworking class rather than the aristocracy.Fascists argue that the 'nation' Is indecay, that the establishment' is corrupt,and that the 'nation' will only be saved

Paratroopers attack/ng clVilfans during an anti-Internmentmarch at strand, 1972

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by 'the people' rising to take back itsnational birthright, and 'work together'to make the nation great again. This iswhat 'National Socialism' meant. Ratherthan socialism being applicable to theworking class, Hitler used the word asappl icable to the nation. What he arguedwas the individual needed to makesacrifices for the nation, le: put the nation

BNP leader , John Tyndallfirst. Its nothing neW. Working togetherto build the nation, as we've seen, is thesame old turd from the same old muckspreader.Fascism doesn't even get the old dogdoing new tricks. To foster feelings of'national unity', the good old .'threat ofinvasion' theory is employed. But lackinga definite external enemy, the internalenemy must be looked for - we havealready been invaded. The invader forMus s cllnl was communism. Thecorrupters of the nation were the 'reds'the 5th columnists out to destroy Italy:For Hit ler itwas the Jews, although seeinghe asserted that they inventedcommunism anyway, Its all a bit much

14

of a muchness.Therefore national 'warfervour' could be induced, and aseverybody has an investment in thenation, so everybody was threatened bythis new and frightening enemy. 'i h bothcircumstances the nation is the primarymover, the fundamental. Hitler's anti-semitism was based primarily on thethreat he argued the Jews posed to the'nation', not on racial hatred pure andsimple.The seventies National Front used\asticker, which had a picture of three.Asian men wearing turbans, with thewords "We want your homes, we wantyour jobs, we want your country". In theNineties, the BNP leader John Tyndallreflects on 'One-Nation' in the December'95 issue of their magazine Spearhead:"Futthermore, its {One Nation Toryism's]concept of what is meant by the 'nation'isfatally f lawed. Any post-war immigrant oroffspring ther.eof, ff he resides within ourborders, pays our taxes and is subject toour laws, is considered a member of thismythical 'nation', which has no identi ty inethnic or cultural terms but is merely anaggregate of humans occupying thesame IMng space ... We nationalists, bycontrast, say. One Nation, yes -the BritishNation as constituting members of theBritish Race! Let that be our communityand our family, and let our obligations beto all within it and to none outside it. ~British Race? Now there's an ethnic,cultural and historical load of barracks ofthe first order. But there's the simpledistinction, the nation is a "myth" whenwe talk about "any post-war immigrantor offspring thereof" being a part of It, butsuddenly becomes a "family" and a

"community" as soon as the "aggregateof humans occupying the same livingspace" are all the same colour. Get rid ofthe invader in our midst, and we can be anation again. The fact that the 'invader'was invited in to this country as cheaplabour after we had ransacked their land,not being an issue.Its important to make this distinction,because race isn't used blindly, andwithout the perception of a threat, couldnot besaid to bea tact ic worth employing.If we look at Italy, or at the morecomplicated events in Spain, and thevictory of Franco, we can see that aracial angle was not necessary. The onlydriving factor in Spain, was the threat to'National Stability' posed by therevolutionary organisations of theworkingclass. The qualffying factor in Germany,Italy and Spain was nation versus class.These events will be gone into in moredepth in the next issue, for now what isimportant is that to recognise fascism,we must first recognise the importanceof the concept of nation to it. When werealise that this is an invention of thestate anyway, fascism itself can be saidto be not a great deal more.AFA argues that the BNP are just ultra-conservative, not because we'd like themto be, but because that's what they are.Far from providing an alternative to theold order, they are a manifestation of theold order in a more brutalised form. Allthe old notions of 'National Superiori ty',the 'National Interesf etc. are the onlythings their ideas are based on, andseeing these ideas are already in place,fascism is little more than a utilisation ofexisting ideologies by middle classfanatics, who feel, and indeed would be,under threat from an organised workingclass. Its important that we recognisethem as such. While the ideology ofnation exists within the working class, sowill i ts fascist spin-off .


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In 1992, motivated by (they say) the risein political fortunes of the BNP or (wesuggest) the number of demonstratorson AFA's march against racist attacks inBethnal Green, new players temporarilyentered the anti-fascist arena. The Anti-Racist Alliance (ARA) used MarcWadsworth's media connections topresent itself as a viable anti-racistorganisation. Militant launched its own'safe' version of AFA - Youth AgainstRacism in Europe. Eleven years afterdeciding it was a political liability, theAnti Nazi League (ANL) was relaunchedby the SWP.Four years later ARA has col lapsed aftertearing itself apart over money -specifically the amount of money beingsucked out of the organisation for salariesand 'expenses'. Its f inal death throes tookplace at an industrial tribunal in January1996 where one of its ex-workers took acase against Wadsworth & co. for unfairdismissal, which was 'settled' discreetlyout of court before being heard in full.The settlement was for an 'undisclosedsum'. ARA's one 'success' was inconvincing large numbers of tradeunionists not to involve themselves everagain in anti-racisUanti-fascst activities.The TUC backed ARA with big money. Itpus hed trade union branch es into backingARA with more money. The money gotspent,no worthwhile activi ty took place.Thousands of pounds were provided toproduce an anti-racist exhibition to tie inwith the TUC march against racism in1993 - where is it? The trouble is that itsnot just the ARA that got discredited,butthe whole notion of anti-racism/anti-fascism, to the extent that pro-AFA tradeunionists are now finding it exremelydifficultto get any kind of serious hearingon the question of anti-fascism.On paper the ANL and YRE stilleXist,waiting in the wings supposedlyfor the next fascist upsurge when they'llride in like the cavalry again. There's nomention of either organisation in thepress of the SWP and Militant now, savefor nostalgic references to the'successes' of their respective outfits. In1994 it was reported that 60,000 peoplehad joined the ANL (this was before theANL Carnival), each of them paid toJoin. This, plus the income from

organisations that affiliated, equals atremendous sum of money. It is almostbeyond belief that the ANL could achieveso little with access to hundreds ofthousands of pounds. Even now whentheir membership has dropped to 10,000,this sti ll makes the ANL a moneyspinnerfor the SWP.In a recent pamphlet the SWP gavesome clues as to why the ANL had beenshelved. "The BNP has been beaten backby mass support for anti-nazi intit iativesand organisation" ( 'Where is Labourgoing' - Duncan Blackie), and inan articlein Socialist Review (Feb.96) they talkabout " .. .the marginalisation of thenazis ..."The reality of the "marginalisation of thenazis" was an electoral defeat for theBNP on the Isle of Dogs on the back of amass 'campaign by the ANL, YRE, andthe rest of the Left, to rebuild the Labourvote - when it was white working classanger. and disgust at Labour which gavethe BNP a base to start with. Havingcompounded the problem the ANL andYRE popped open the champagne andretired from the game.When the ANL was relaunched the SWPwas heavily criticised for abandoning theanti-fascist movement for 11 years andthen coming back in and expecting tolead it. This time they are keeping thename afloat (and raising money on theback of it) but winding down 'operations'.

So it is ironic that the 1996ANL affiliat ionform should carry a large headline "NoRoom For Complacency" whenthey arestill unable to prevent their activists frombeing attacked by fascists. At Morden, insouth London, an ANL leafletting teamof only 5 had to run to the police forprotection when some fascists turnedup, While in Birmingham a pub full ofSWP got turned over by a handful offascists after an anti-Asylum Bil l rally.The YRE is also keeping its name going,but like the ANL has seriously wounddown its activities. In effect the YRE isthe youth wing of Militant, which hasgone under various names since theLabour Party shut down the Militant-dominated Young Socialists in the1980s. Although in some areas the YREshowed a will ingness to work alongsidemilitant anti-fascists, their activists werealways kept strictly under control by theirpolit ical 'masters/mistresses' in Militant.Like the ANL, the YRE has failed to takeanti-fascism seriously, and so has onlyever been able to respond to fascistactivities rather than being part of ananti-fascist movement that can set itsown agenda.Once the BNP were no longer makingheadlines, groups like the YRE and theANL have deserted the anti-fascistmovement again. The fascists haven'tgone away, they have their own agenda,and ltls the duty of anti-fascists to developa strategy to prevent them gainingsupport. This has to be done now, notwait until the fascists are confidentenough to make a public move again.The disappearance of the ANUYRE fromthe anti-fascist movement only serves tounderline the complete opportunism ofthe SWP and Militant who used anti-fascism to raise money for themselvesand try and recruit people to theirorganisations. Once again they havebetrayed the working class constituencythey forever take for granted.

Wilds anfmals Dr Pa r Tigers?15


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BEHINDENEM Y L INES.,FT's Bill Gothrocks takes his regularlook into the 'theoretical' propaganda

of the Far Right. In this issue, whileBeowulf takes a rest, we find thathorses, elves, dwarves and evenGriffins arecoming to the fore...While reading through the latest crop ofSpearhead magazines (the BNP leader,John Tyndall's theoretical journal), Icouldn't help but noticing a ratherequestrian bent on th e part of hiscontributors, But a bent that manifestsitself in such strange ways that we mightwonder whether this is some repressedelement of the fascist psyche. In theDecember issue, inthe midstofan articleon 'racial hatred' a woman called LyndaMiller asks us at one point to considerhorse breeding and extols the virtues ofthe 'tolting horse':"Alexander the Great's horse was atolting horse. These horses wererenowned for theirracial purity, staminaand resistance to disease, which wastwice that of present day horses. Theyeven had extra hard hooves, whichdidn't split or wear down. Where is thishorse today?"Iceland apparently. Probably all shot offth ere to avoid another 'the Great',Katherine the Empress of Russia, whowas rather over-fond of a good toltingstallion. Which makes me wonderwhether there's any of the 'blood of theCzars' in Ms. Miller's gene pool.Taking this as a sign I referred back to aprevious issue of Spearhead, to findsomeone else slipping into horses instrange surroundings. In this piece, aMr. R. Walker is arguing that we need a"'this far and no further" attitude towardsthe Engl ish Dictionary, as our languageis being corrupted by swear-words andthe Americans. We ought to go back tothe 1950's version and stop there, and todo this we need to edit out al l the 'foreign'additions; but we must be careful]:" ...imagine leafing through a dictionaryandthinking 'Ah, Gymkhana, an Indianword: that must come out for a start'while the word is dear to many Englishgirls who ride ponies. "

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A strange example isn't it? An evenstranger one caught my eye in theJanuary '96 issue of Spearhead. Dr.Donald Stevens, in an article addressing''what is wrong with modern teachingmethods" brings in the following quotefrom Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings toillustrate his point"How shall a man judge what to do insuch times?"'}!Is he has ever judged" said Aragorn"Good and ill have not changed sinceyesteryear; nor are they one thingamong Elves and Dwarves and anotheramong men. It is a man's pento discernthem ... nSo essentially: what iswrong with modernteaching methods iswe don't pay enoughattention to the similarities betweenHumans, Elves and Dwarves. But. whatabout the Hobbits, and the Ents? ReckonI've found a hole in your argument thereMr. Walker.It seems Nick Griffin, the old politicalsoldier himself, who was last seenheading across fields in Bury st.Edmonds after his bodyguard walk.edinto an iron bar, has re-surfaced in theBNP. Various people from Searchlightto Putsch, are alleging that he wants tooust Tyndall and take over the BNPIeadershlp. This all seems to bespeculation, and Tyndall at least seemsto feel comfortable enough to haveincluded contributions r. ;; ; : ; : : : : :=======;;=======::: ; : ; : ; ;r.~:r,;; :mi:;,]from Griffin in someof the recent editionsof Spearhead. Whatis clear, from Griffin'sown writing, is that hewants to see the "over-moderation" of theBNP halted, and the"lads in boots"brought back into thefol d. With referenceto the building of theNational OrganisationWe can see a fewthings of interest withregard to hisintentions in thefollowing quote fromJanuary's Spearhead.

"I t will only be slowed by looking forshort-cuts, by seeking instant popularly-by trimming policies or .curbing:'provocative' street activities, by trying'to pretend that the Ho/ohoax is nothingto do wit: us, by denying our ideologicaldebt to the anti-egalitarian pro-whitethinkers and heroes of our past, bycutting ourselves off from our roots,and from the lads in boots. We mustnever forget that, at the moment, it ismore important to control the streetsof a city than its council chamber. Ifthat isthe sort of'unreasonable' attiudethat journalists and opponents try touse against us at election times, itshouldn1 botherus. Forhistoryis madeby unreasonable people. rtIt looks like Griffin is trying to win friendson both sides of the BNP/C18 coin byadopting a' 'back to basics' approach.But what with all the MI5 allegationsflying about amongst the fascists at themoment, and he himself gettingihe pointyfinger, Griffin might be taking a moredirect route by applying for StellaRimmington's job instead.In my column in the last issue of FT Imentioned that the NF had changed theirname to the National Democrats. But Idid notice a letter in Spearhead from aJ.McAulay who says he's chairman ofthe NF Steering Committee, so it seemscertain elements are still hanging on,and are still threatening to standcandidates. Although they do inviteTyndall to "contact us regarding electionseats so as not to clash and split thevote", so they at least want to be a bitmore matey with the BNP than the othermob. Either way, for the time-beingthey're not worth more than a mention.And neither was Anderson's (N O leader)theorectical journal Vangaurd which wasnot only boring, but didn't have anymythical beings or horses in it at all,bloody disgrace!

TImSTREETACTMSTS , .,Woe betide Lli. rialliJiWbl monmonl that lmnglnts It ran tlo wllhliullhl!fJ\.Picture from the January '96 Spearhead. The "lads In boots";

the streets or for a time?


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LETTERS

Dear F T ,Having read the 'War Against Fascism 7',feature in F T No.11, I felt the GermanyCalling article implied there was noGerman resistance to the Nazi regime.Within Germany the members andsupporters of the KPD (GermanCommunist Party) were the mostconsistent and self-sacrificing of all ofthe opponents of the nazi regime.l t mustbe emphasised that the average KPDmember by 1925 was strongly opposedto the SPD and events such as the SocialDemocrats banning of the 1929 Berlinl\I1ayDay demonstrations leading to thedeaths of 30 communists onlyemphasised KPD opposition. Thepossibility of a united fronl between theSPD and KPD exists only in the fantasiesof British Trotskyite sects.Although the KPD was the smaller of thetwo workers parties, in the last three pre-nazi Reichstag elections the number ofKPD deputies increased - in contrast theSPD dropped. The problem for bothparties was that the 13 million odd votesthey received in all three elections as apercentag e of the ele ctorate wasdecl ining. Of more pressing importancewas the KPD's preparations forunderground life and anti-fascistactivities. The response of the state tothe kil lings of 2 pol ice captains in August1931 gave the KPD a taste of illegalityand it was revealed how ill-prepared itssections were to carry on the activitiesunder illegal conditions.No matter what losses they sufferedthose active communists notincarcerated or dead continued tostruggle. Many Reichsbanner and tradeunion mili tants awaited the call for activeresistance from the SPD leadership - itnever came. However the KPD decisionto attern pt to co ntinue as befo reproducing newspapers (2 million locaiand district papers in the first 5 months

of nazi rule), collecting dues and so forth,laid the remaining members open toarrest. The night following the Reichstagfire (27 Feb.1933) witnessed the arrestof 10,000 communists in Germany.Although we cannot be exact at least60,000 communists were engaged inanti-fascist activity from 1933 to the endof 1935; of whom 18,243 wereprosecuted,tens of thousands held inconcentration camps.Despite such losses and bearing in mIndthat the SPD membership was morethan, twice that of the KPD, Gestapoarrest figures for 1936 (KPD-11 ,67B/SPD-1,371) and 1937 (KPD-B,06B/SPD-733)show that the KPD was the cutting edgeof the resistance,and the nazis knew it.Throughout the war communistinstructors went into Germany fromSweden and the USSR, many beingcaught and executed.Within Germanyitself seperate communist groups werethe most active opponents of the thenimperialist war. For example, inSept.1939 a communist group distributedanti-war leaflets in Berl in. Communistssuch as Robert Ulrig, released from aconcentration camp in 1936, had by 1938built up an organisation of 200. By 1940he had contacted several other activegroups in Berlin. Such communistresistance activities were replicated inHamburg and in Mannheim. In centralGermany an anti-fascist group organisedin various factories and towns survivedthe war intact.KPD members in prisons andconcentration camps were acknowledgedto have an esprit de corps lack.ing inother prisoners. Their belief in the futureof socialism and their organisation whilstincarcerated kept them strong.Yours against fascism,T.B. (Germany)

Dear F T ,I am writing to comment on the article"War and Resistance" (FT Issue 10)written by an AFA member who went tothe UN 'safehaven' of Tuzia with theWorkers Aid for Bosnia group. Whileyour correspondenfs position is that anti-fascists should support "multi-ethnic"Bosnia against the "fascist" ChetnikSerbs; the more recent history of theconfl ict shows that the Serbs were strongaii ti~fascists during the (Second World)War, while the Bosnian Muslims andCroatians were pro-German. This mayexplain why, today, Muslimfundamentalists like Hezbollah and theCIA-trained Mojahedin veterans of thewar in Afghanistan are fighting for theBiH forces, while Western European neo-fascists support the Croatian HOS army,facts that your writer admits.

Support for the Bosnians basically meanssupport for the US State Department.Tuzla, the place visited by your writer, isnow th e base of Am erican tro0psstationed in Bosnia. I don't k.nowwhetheryour correspondent thinks the Americanarmy,'heroes' of Vietnam and the GulfWar, are anti-fascists, but that is who islined up against the Serbs today.In the Second World War the Serbsformed th e anti-fascist resistance inYugoslavia. Thousands of Serbianclvilians were forcibly converted toRoman Catholicism by Croatcollaborators. While ethnic-basedwarfare is to be condemned by anti-fascists, it should be condemnedconsistently. Therefore anti-fascists haveno business supporting any side in theYugoslav war, especially the fascist-supported Croats and the fundamentalist-sponsored Bosnian Muslims.Best Wishes,E.F. (Boston, USA)FT Reply: The article clearly arguedagainst ethnic cleansing from all sides,and the serbian 'Chetniks" aresupported by fascist groups like C18(see below, taken from C18's TheOrder Magazine).

. . . . _ _ . ; .~ _" . .. . I It . . , ._ c: : : : -~~~~: . : : . ~~~" ;o-.-::c ... ~_. . _ . . . .._ . . . . _ - - - . -. . . . . . . . . . . ~ . . . . ...,...--....._17


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'Beats PerMinute-B.P.M.'Album - double CD.Go Feet Records.

There's probably a few of you Ludditesout there who swore that you'd neversurrender to all this new technology stuffand acquire a CD player. I did. And t betlike me not only did you end up gettingone but you also set about shelling out asmall fortune to satisfy your nostalgia,buying brand new, crystal clear copies ofall those albums that after years ofdrunken abuse have been reduced to anoise resem bHng 'tibbles' being putthrough a blender.And so we arrive at my latest addition, acompilat ion ofthe best ofThe Beat, whichsoon had me strutting my funky stuffaround the living room accompanied bythe incredulous looks of my eight monthold daughter.The Beat, of course, werepart of the Midlands Two-Tone explosion,a collection of mult i-racial groups playinga fierce fusion of punk and ska thatbecame the theme tune to the lives ofthousands of working class kids growingup in the early years of the Thatcherregime. Quite simply the records, gigs,and public opinions of these bands didmore to promote racial harmony than athousand ARA intitiatives orANL lollipopsever will.

All the singles and more are includedhere, from their debut on Two-ToneRecords 'Tears of a Clown' through tosuch classics such as 'Stand DownMargaret', 'Mirror in the Bathroom', and'Hands Off She's Mine' which werereleased on their own Go Feet label.After their initial success, chart interestin the group began to wane, and exceptfor a one-off big hit with a cover of theold Andy Williams number 'I Can't GetUsed To Losing You' , The Beat slippedfrom public view, concentrating insteadon playing in the US where, curiouslyenough, they had become hugelypopular - fi lling large venues and sellfngheaps of records - where theheavyweights such as the Specials andMadness had failed.Their popularity in America continuedwith General Public, formed by DaveWakeling and Ranking Roger when thegroup split; while Andy Cox and DavidSteele were to hit the big time in Britainagain as members of the Fine YoungCannibals. This excellent compilation stillsounds fresh today, reminding you ofThe Beat's acute pop sensibility andmakes you wonder why they weren'teven more successful. There's also asecond CD containing a load of dubbedup versions. Good value, great music.And that leads us nicely onto .....

'Fuck Fascism3 track EP. 7" vinyl..SHARP/AFA production.The Oppressed, the Cardiff skinheadsfronted by SHARP 'godfather' RoddyMoreno, have released another blazingattack on the fascists, hot on the heels

of their 'Anti-Fascist Oil' EP.'Sleeping With TheEnemy', 'FuckFasci.sm', and areworking of theiroriginal plea forunity betweenblack and white,Work Together', is

another fine slice of buzz-saw guitarand 'oil oil' vocals that kicks all thatquasi-heavy metal Blood and Honourbollocks well into touch. The Oppressedrepresent the positive side of skinheadculture and the coming together withAFA to release this single was anexcellent idea, not before time. Buy it I

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THE SPECIALS - 'Hypocrite'Single - 7 track CD. Kuff Records.'Hypocrite' is the first offering from thereformed Specials. The Specials werethe originators of the whole TWO-Tonemovement, and while others were merelyhappy to jump aboard the ska revivalbandwagon, The Specials were alwaysatthe cutting edge, always the innovators.Though Jerry Dammers' drive to developtheir music and ensure that they neverstood still sometimes meant a dodgydiversion into what he described as'muzak', it also meant that they finishedtheir reign firmly at the top with theirsublime put down of Thatcher's Britain,'GhostTown',going to No.1 as they saidtheir goodbyes. And there's the rub .....This latest offering, a cover of an old BobMarley number, is quite a lame affair, apiece of pop-reggae that might just getyou swaying on a summer's night, with

enough of the amber nectar down thethroat, but hardly inspiring. OK, its got apicture of Johnny Major on the front(,hypocrite') and with 7 mixes Oungle,dubincluded) and at over half an hour long intotal its well intentioned and good valueat2. Buttheabsence of Jerry Dammersand Terry Hall speaks volumes, you justknow they WOUldn'teven have allowed itonto a B-slde.Although I have a lot of respect for thelads here, after all theywerea group withNo.1 records who would dive into thecrowd to deal with fascists, and LynvaJGolding nearly lost his lite when he hadhis throat slashed for taking a standagainst racists and fascists, it is alwaysa mistake to attempt to re-incarnate pastglories in this way. It conjures up visionsof the Bootleg Beatles, Status Quo, orsome old tucker warbling away at Butlin'srevivals.No, The Specials are a memory thatshould be treasured, to be laid to rest likea long deceased friend and be reminiscedover with a tear In the eye and a drink inthe hand. This feels like grave-robbing IWhat next, the Pistols, Jam, or Clash tore-form? Pleasenol Do yourselfa favour,get yourself the singles compilation.Specials '81 R.I.P.

ALL RECORD REVIEWSCOURTESY OF

THE CELTIC HAMMER


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SKA-BOOMLeicester,14th Feb.96What a jo y to see so many punters shunthe predictable Valentine's Day romanticnonsense for a stompin' ska spectacularcourtesy of local heroes SKA-BODM.The gig, widely advertised as an AFAbenefit, drew an enthusiastic, high-spirited crowd to the small but buzzingtown centre venue, The crowd made themost of the lack of a support band byknocking back the pints and enjoying thevintage tunes spun by AFA's own DJAgent 0 who ensured the crowd wasfully pumped when the band took thestage. The

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Fighting Talk - 13