Neo-Nazis vandalize Birmingham Jewish monument, hang swastika flag
Police are investigating a far-right group that allegedly vandalized a Jewish menorah monument in a Birmingham park and draped it with a Nazi flag, prior to posting a video of the act.
The group sprayed a Star of David on the gates of the park alongside the words “1%” and “Bankers,” before hanging a Nazi Swastika flag from a large Jewish menorah – a ritual candelabra – which is situated in Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham.
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The neo-Nazis, who are thought to belong to the pro-Hitler group National Action, wore masks to hide their identities and gloves to conceal their fingerprints.
Inspector Rachel Crump urged anyone with information to come forward, telling the Jewish Chronicle: “We are aware of a video on YouTube which appears to show religiously aggravated vandalism in Cannon Hill Park.”
National Action, believed to be already under investigation by police, style themselves as a youth organization. On their website, they say they want to recreate a version of Greece’s Golden Dawn in the UK.
They seek to engage “clean, intelligent, and ambitious people typically in their late teens or twenties.”
“Our ultimate aim of a white Britain can only ever be achieved through state power and the complicity of state institutions, such as Police, Army, Intelligence Services, etc,” the group’s website says.
The group says its views are “widely held but not consistently applied.” They also disapprove of people who “express their racism by voting for UKIP which we think is unhealthy.”
The attack comes as anti-fascist activists rally opposition to a neo-Nazi rally, planned for July 4 in Golders Green, London. The area has a 40-percent Jewish population.
‘Golders Green Together’ is composed of the London Jewish Forum and the anti-racist group Hope Not Hate. On Monday, it announced its intention to rally opposition in the area.
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Local Conservative MP Mike Freer appeared to take a lukewarm stance toward the anti-fascist protest. He told the Jewish Chronicle on Monday: “We have to be careful we don’t feed the egos of a relatively small group of people.
“We need to make sure we remain calm and don’t let this far-right group get under our skin.”
Asked about the threat posed by National Action, one anti-fascist activist, who wished to remain anonymous, told RT: “They’re a very small group of oddball Nazi enthusiasts. A lot of them are students or graduates.”
The group has so far limited itself to small actions, he said.
“We haven’t encountered them on the pavement as yet, mainly because they only do unannounced flash demos and vandalism [and graffiti] stuff to avoid any opposition.
“I’d say they are not a significant threat as a group, at least not at present. The danger they present comes from radicalization of lone nutters who might then go out and act individually.
“If you examine their propaganda you’ll see they are basically out to attract sociopaths and damage cases. It’s not like the EDL [English Defence League] for example, which is designed to appeal to alienated working class men by playing down the political angle.
“They’re out-and-out Nazis and they get off on the shock value of promoting themselves as such.”
