EXCLUSIVE: Messages seen by the Express show that organisers of a march in London told attendees to avoid police and wear masks as they waved jihadist-style flags.
Jihadist-style flags had been flown at the march. (Image: Daily Express)
Organisers of a Muslim protest told followers to “wear masks” and “avoid police” ahead of a march in east London that saw jihadist-style flags waved outside a town hall, the Daily Express can reveal.
The orders were issued before three separate rallies in Tower Hamlets over the weekend, only one of which was banned by police.
A march planned by the hard-Right party UKIP was blocked after the Met said it formed part of a wider campaign to “reclaim Whitechapel from the Islamists.”
UKIP accused officers of having “caved in to the Islamists and violated our democratic right to peaceful assembly.”
A second event, a “family friendly” rally organised by the United East End Coalition, went ahead with the backing of Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman.
But a third, unendorsed march led by local Islamic groups, issued what appeared to be militant-style instructions to attendees.
Messages seen by the Express show organisers telling followers to expect “around 1,000 local brothers” to attend to “protect our community.”
The WhatsApp note ordered attendees to “follow instructions and abide by all decisions made,” to “be prepared to defend ourselves,” and to “be wary of professional agitators,” which it claimed was “a common tactic by Zionists in Pro-Palestine marches.”
Participants were urged to wear “dark, inconspicuous clothing,” avoid journalists, and “not engage” with police, warning they were “not friends.”
Two lawyers’ mobile numbers were also circulated, with instructions to call them if arrested.
Photographs seen by the Express show masked men holding a jihadist-style flag on the steps of Tower Hamlets Town Hall. The Mayor did not attend the fringe march where the flag appeared.
Footage separately showed Mr Rahman speaking to one of the alleged organisers, a man who sells facemasks using the slogan “No Face. No Case.”
The Express understands the slogan was used after the Mayor’s meeting.
Critics said the messages and imagery raised serious questions about extremism and public order in one of Britain’s most diverse boroughs.
Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, said:
“The call to action note screams intimidation as opposed to community protection given the operations being outlined.
“After the police banned the UKIP protest, it is extraordinary that they would be labelled as ‘not friends’.
“The use of violence was clearly a possibility through the mention of clandestine tactics, incriminating ‘yourself or others’, and the instructions provided ‘in the event you are arrested’. We cannot allow the legitimate right of communities to gather to be abused by aggressive elements who seek to exploit situations for their own purposes.”
Reform MP Richard Tice said:
“It’s mostly cowards behind face masks who engage in the violence we’ve seen at protests.
“The scenes in Tower Hamlets were deliberately designed to intimidate and frighten people by wearing masks, hoods and dark uniforms.”
Alp Mehmet, chair of Migration Watch UK and a long-time Tower Hamlets resident, said:
“As a Tower Hamlets resident who grew up in the East End, I’m baffled as to why this march is taking place.
“I’m not aware of any threats to the majority ethnic minority population (70%), or to the 40% who are of Bangladeshi heritage.
“If anything, such marches – with Muslim participants who are nearly all men, many with their faces covered – intimidate the non-ethnic-minority members of the community, particularly the Jewish residents, whose numbers have dwindled since the 1950s and 1960s when I first lived here.”
Luftur Rahman (Image: Getty)
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said:
“We welcomed the Metropolitan Police’s decision to move the proposed march from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It would have caused significant disruption to our local community.
“We also thank the police for the management of the counter protest in Whitechapel.
“Tower Hamlets is a leading example of a world city where people from all backgrounds live in harmony.
“Tower Hamlets is both the most densely populated and fastest growing place in the UK, and we have some of the highest rates of community cohesion. This year an independent residents survey found that 91% of people say they get on well with one another.
“We will continue to champion community cohesion and diversity in a borough that is proud of both its history and heritage.”
Cllr Abu Talha Chowdhury, Cabinet Lead for Community Safety, said:
“The far right are using a much smaller gathering in a different location to the unity rally, to try to distract from thousands of people coming together at an entirely peaceful demonstration, with speakers from across our diverse community, to stand together against all forms of racism, oppression and violence, and the Mayor posted on social media encouraging people joining the unity rally not to wear masks.
“The far right are embarrassed that we stopped them marching through the East End once again, continuing our proud history which dates back to stopping the Blackshirts marching through Cable Street, so they’re trying to misrepresent the community’s unity rally on Saturday and using appalling Islamophobic rhetoric, including calling people born and bred in the UK a ‘foreign army invading the streets’. It was the far right who were trying to bring people into Tower Hamlets who have no connection with our community to intimidate local people. The police stopped UKIP’s overtly Islamophobic demonstration because of the serious risk of violent disorder posed by their threatened “mass deportations tour” and “crusade” to “reclaim Whitechapel from the Islamists”, deliberately targeting the borough with the largest Muslim population in the country.”
