Polish co-founder of anti-racism watchdog ‘Never Again’, has warned that the UK, and particularly London, is being targeted by Polish far-right groups and their leaders, potentially fueling “acts of violence”.
In an interview for the BBC, Rafal Pankowski, who has reportedly been accused by the Polish PM of attacking his own country [Poland], with a speech against anti-Semitism, says there is now a concerted effort by Polish far-right groups to infiltrate UK society in actions that could foment violence.
Pankowski says: "Definitely there is a kind of conscious effort on the part of various Polish far-right groups, sending their people, sending their leaders to the UK, to London. If it continues unchecked it could definitely get worse and well I think there is a potential for acts of violence.”
It comes after resident campaigners in Dollis Hill, north London removed anti-Semitic messaging such as Nazi SS and Swastika symbols sprayed on pavements, telephone boxes and street signs around their neighborhood.
Earlier this year, the Guardian reported that Polish journalist and author, Rafał Ziemkiewicz, who has been accused of likening Muslims to “invaders” and conveying homophobic and anti-Semitic views, cancelled his trip to the UK where he had planned to speak at events in Bristol, Cambridge and London, following opposition from anti-hate speech activists.
In June 2014 a man was stabbed in a park in Tottenham, north London, as dozens of 'Polish neo-Nazis' descended on a free music event that sparked violent clashes, the Evening Standard reported.
Journalist Oz Katerji witnessed the attack by the Polish far right, tweeting "Unprovoked assault at a licensed event, children present, maybe about 10-20 skins turned up and started a riot."
It was claimed by Haringey Green Party that the attack was undertaken by members of the fascist group Zjednoczeni Emigranci (ZE), which is alleged to have links to football hooliganism and neo-Nazism in Poland.
A music concert, scheduled for March 2018 in Hackney Wick, London, was cancelled after pressure from anti-racist organization ‘Hope not Hate’ on the venue, that would have seen controversial Islamophobic and homophobic rappers, lined up by Polish far-right activists, take to the stage.
Two of the proposed performers, Evtis and Bzyk, have previously recorded a song called ‘Stop Islamization of Poland’. In it they refer to Muslims and refugees as “Goat f*****s” as well as violently homophobic messaging, according to Hope not Hate.
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