If we’re cut, we all bleed the same.”, On 9 October, Myers will join the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and the chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, at an event hosted by the London Jewish Forum to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the battle. ON SUNDAY 4th OCTOBER 1936, the workers of East London stopped police-protected fascists marching through the Jewish areas of the East End. We each have equal worth. Mon 5 Oct 1936 04.04 EST. It may look like one dynamic, convulsive, and coherent image, but it was created in sections by three individuals, each with their unique style. Directed by Yoav Segal. On October 4, 1936, between 100,000 and 300,000 people — Jews, Irish dockers, trade unionists, socialists and communists — gathered in the East End of London determined to prevent a … When I hear of Muslims, or Polish people, being attacked today, I feel angry. “Just as the crowd in 1936 was made up of local people,” the leaflet stated, “so shall the mural be an image of people living here now.”. A huge mural commemorating the 1936 battle covers one end of St George’s town hall on Cable Street. TheCable Street 80 march and rally is on 9 October. Like earlier Jewish immigrants they worked in the rag trade around Brick Lane and Cannon Street Road, which crosses Cable Street. Cable Street forms the boundary of Ali’s constituency. Commemorating the events of April 23, 1977 on their fortieth anniversary two years … The students, she says, “realised it was not only about racism but also about solidarity”. Features. Forty years ago, in the town hall basement, the work was commissioned and the first sketches made; it was finally unveiled seven years later. Today - 4 October 2016 - is the eightieth anniversary of The Battle of Cable Street (1936): a clash between the Metropolitan Police, protecting a march through the streets of London's East End, by Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists, and various local anti-Fascist groups. Though it depicts the struggles of Jewish immigrants, she is emphatic that it “belongs to everybody. by Mike Cole. Prejudice is still directed at Jews, but it’s even worse towards Muslims. Government at the time deemed stopping the march to be an infringement of the freedom of speech. Nudge: the expedient alibi of Conservative neoliberalism; But when I saw the baton charges, I changed my mind there and then. He was in a police cell. According to the 2011 census, white British residents formed 31% of the local population, against 80% nationally. The south side, including the mural, is the territory of Jim Fitzpatrick MP. This October, the three women will tell their stories publicly during a weekend of activities celebrating the 80th anniversary of the battle. The Siege of Sidney Street of January 1911, also known as the Battle of Stepney, was a gunfight in the East End of London between a combined police and army force and two Latvian revolutionaries. Nearly 100,000 East Enders, Jews and non-Jews, petitioned home secretary John Simon to ban the march. The latter included local Jewish, Irish, socialist, anarchist and communist groups, and were Barricades were built from paving stones, tables and chairs, mattresses; women emptied dustbins and chamber pots from windows on to the heads of policemen; children threw marbles under the hooves of police horses. Mosley and a number of other active fascists in the UK were interred for a period during th… As a child, she recalls, “we weren’t allowed to go out and play unsupervised, even right outside, because there was a lot of racism.” In the evening she stood at the window with her mother watching for her father to get home safely from work. The British Union of Fascists (BUF) were formed by Sir Oswald Mosley (1896–1980) in 1932, emerging from the British far-right. Rushanara Ali was 12 when she first visited the mural with her history teacher, but its potency stayed with her. He marvels at the power of art to communicate “to people who might not be interested in reading history” its central message: that “collective political action, bringing people together, is the antidote against the far right’s poison”. The Myth of Cable Street by Gordon Beckwell [1] For more than 70 years, Mosley’s enemies have maintained the myth that the East End of London rose up against the Blackshirts at the Battle of Cable Street and British Union went into decline. The police retreated and ordered Mosley to turn round and go home. 2: “The Battle of Cable Street,” London Mural Preservation Society, accessed 25 March 2018. It seemed to me they were doing the work of the fascists for them.” After hours of running battles, including about 80 arrests and scores of people treated at ad hoc first-aid stations, word came that the fascists had turned back. The advice was widely rejected by the people of east London, and especially by the Communist party, which was building a popular front against fascism. Bill Fishman, a social historian who died in 2014 aged 93, recalled the scene: “We all charged towards Cable Street. David Rosenberg interviews Dan Jones, Roger Mills and Richard Humm about the Cable Street mural and the events of 1936 as living history on 29 September at Idea Store, Watney Market, 260 Commercial Road, London . In a Jewish day centre in London’s East End, three elderly women are recalling the 1936 Battle of Cable Street. Binnington was devastated and abandoned the project. So the Battle of Cable Street isn’t over, The full history of the Cable Street mural, 'An antidote to the far right's poison'​ ​– the battle for Cable Street’s mural, Fascist march stopped after disorderly scenes, Mosley's son to hail his father's Cable Street humiliation, Day the East End said 'No pasaran' to Blackshirts, blackshirted and jackbooted British Union of Fascists. Audio notifications with volume and pan adjustment; Support for custom sounds (*.wav) Editable rules for triggering the sounds (rotation, orientation etc.) In 1936 Oswald Mosley requested to march through the East End with his army of Blackshirts in a display fascist power. This increased to 1500 with 26 in Blackshirt uniform. Fortunately, the events of that day have been captured for subsequent generations in a breathtaking, politically charged mural on the side of the former St George’s town hall in Cable Street. Most of the Jewish community is no longer based in east London, but this is something we don’t want to lose.”. By then, few Jews lived there. The Jewish Board of Deputies and the Labour party were against confrontation. He refused, and sent 7,000 police to protect the blackshirts’ free passage. Local teachers brought students – most of Bengali and Somali heritage – to see the mural and question Butler and Mills. Politics and Insights Public interest issues, policy, equality, human rights, social science, analysis. The newsreel showed punches being thrown and mounted policemen swinging truncheons at the crowds. Passersby one lunchtime last week encapsulated the diverse melting pot of London: a Gambian, Romanian, Italian, Lithuanian, Irishman, Iranian and a history student from Bristol. The Fascists marched in London yesterday - but away from the East End, not through it. "Attacks upon people - Jewish people and non-Jewish people - is the wrong way of living." Paving stones were ripped up, bricks flew, and angry Jewish women threw bottles, kitchen utensils and the contents of chamber pots on to the police from the tenements. The Young'uns' 2017 album Strangers includes an original song, "Cable Street", telling the story of the battle. There has also been political change. That summer, East End Jews were under siege from Oswald Mosley’s fascists. That summer, East End Jews were under siege from Oswald Mosley’s fascists. Slaget vid Cable Street var en viktig milstolpe för den brittiska arbetarrörelsen under 1930-talet. Myers, who had recently joined the Young Communist League, ignored his father’s warning to stay away. It is part of us, part of our community’s local heritage.” Jones, whose Jewish mother was an anti-fascist activist in the 1930s, remembers proudly that the mural project was championed by two of Tower Hamlets’ first Asian councillors. In Britain, Sir Oswald Mosley’s blackshirted and jackbooted British Union of Fascists was seeking to stir up anti-Jewish hatred among working-class Londoners. Menu. At the bottom end, an overturned lorry was used as a barricade and we blocked the road – Hasidic Jews with little beards and great strapping Irish dockers all standing together. On the day, though, anti-fascists vastly outnumbered both Mosley’s forces and the police, and blocked Mosley’s path. In the 1930s, the population in the area around Cable Street was more than 50% Jewish. Forget the cable and focus on the fun! The 1930s was a period of seismic political change throughout Europe. The successful defeat of Nazi sympathizer Oswald Mosley’s march through the East End, known as the Battle of Cable Street, is being commemorated this … We should honour the people who fought against fascism and show our commitment in the present and the future against racism and prejudice and for a multicultural society.”, Adrian Cohen of the London Jewish Forum said: “Cable Street is a notable event in its own right, but also part of the heritage of London Jewry. You could be shaken off it like an apple on a tree.”. Butler enthuses about how strongly these young people identified with the narrative. In the 1930s, Jews were the stalwarts of the Communist party, fighting not just against fascism and racism but also for workers’ rights and social justice. The National Front stepped comfortably into Mosley’s boots. Eighty years on from the day anti-fascists clashed with Oswald Mosley’s blackshirts in the Jewish East End of London, David Rosenberg tells the story of the long struggle to protect the giant artwork and its enduring message of solidarity, Last modified on Thu 22 Feb 2018 17.14 GMT, ‘It was frightening,” says Rene. Corbyn and Khan join events to mark 80 years since battle of Cable Street, Remember Cable Street, when the labour movement and Zionists were allies, Danish nationalists with ‘refugee spray’? “Batons are drawn and heads are broken as the anti-fascist demonstrators resist efforts to disperse them,” ran the commentary. Now many British Jews are suspicious of the left and its views on Israel, with many believing antisemitism lurks behind support for the Palestinian cause. Blackshirted street corner speakers railed against the Jews, “rats and vermin from the gutters of Whitechapel”, blaming them for every social ill. “My father worked from six in the morning until 10 at night,” says Sally, “but he’d have kids shouting at him, ‘Go home Jew!’” Beattie learned to answer back: “When they said, ‘Go home Jew!’, I said, ‘I am home’.”. He was only 12.”. Bangladeshi Nooruddin Ahmed, who came to the East End in his teens, recalls the febrile atmosphere: “Most of Tower Hamlets was a no-go area for Bengalis,” he says. Charlottesville has been compared to Cable Street in this regard, for example. With Sami Chaoui, Leon Lissek. Anti-fascist protesters, including local Jewish, socialist, anarchist, Irish and communist groups, clashed with the Metropolitan Police , who attempted to remove the barricades erected to stop the march. I cannot fathom out why we can’t see each other as human beings. “I was fired up and ready for a big battle. 17. Eighty years on, Myers is one of a handful of participants still alive to pass on his memories and the lessons he has carried through his life. Four marching columns.” He was threatening to march thousands of blackshirts right through the area’s Jewish district, on Sunday, 4 October. Julie Begum conjures up the fear. People began to throw down their mattresses to block the street and a mass onslaught on the police ensued, with two officers even being taken hostage.”. “Jews are urgently warned to keep away from the route of the Blackshirt march and from their meetings,” said the Jewish Chronicle. According to an article published on 5th October 1936 in the Guardian, Mosley’s route was as follows: The BUF gathered along Royal Mint Street while a Communist counter-demonstration organised itself at Aldgate and Cable Street. Mosley announced his forces would march through the East End. “We had to have a police guard. While they had some limited success, the party never made it into mainstream politics and in 1940, after the outbreak of World War Two, it was banned by the British Government. Last modified on Fri 1 Dec 2017 23.02 EST. Longstanding Cable Street residents Dan Jones and Roger Mills were part of the basement group. You did your shopping, and you hoped that you were not going to be attacked on your way there or back.”. Willie Myers, who witnessed the Battle of Cable Street, at home in London and aged 19 on his wedding day to his first wife Gina Photograph: Chloe Cook The basement group, completely bypassed, nicknamed the scheme “eyesores” and fought for alternative, locally inspired projects, including the mural. 17. “I remember the day so vividly, I can see it clearly,” he said. However Jews, Irish, dockworkers and Communists joined the people of the East End in a multi cultural stand against … In the postwar years, the community largely moved north, to Hackney, Stamford Hill and Golders Green. “To what extent should you confront the radical right directly, or should you ignore them, deny them the oxygen of publicity?”. I England fanns vid denna tid sir Oswald Mosley som var ledare för den växande organisationen British Union of Fascists (BUF), även kallade svartskjortor på grund av sin uniform. “After Cable Street, we carried on the fight against fascism and racism. A few weeks before his 15th birthday, the Jewish lad from the East End of London joined thousands to block the passage of fascists through their community. Photograph: … Thousands of people in London have been commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street. It was a day that shaped Willie Myers’s life. And it was a big battle! Recent Posts. Even today, if I had to do it all over again, I would. Street brawls between fascists on one side and ‘Antifa’, communists and anarchists on the other. As a student at Oxford, she wrote her first article for the student magazine about the mural. The Battle of Cable Street was an epic, and is now a myth-enshrouded event in British working-class history. All rights reserved. “Most are now well into their 90s. Four great meetings. On the anniversary of the anti-fascist victory 84 years ago, the Communist Party's mouthpiece, the… “The idea of a mural lasting any amount of time is ridiculous, but it has been preserved and looked after,” says Jones, grateful that this extraordinary landmark has survived the rapid gentrification that has swept aside communities, cultural memories and sites of struggle. “With people like Beattie, we got the better of them.”. 1: “The Battle of Cable Street,” London Mural Preservation Society, accessed 25 March 2018. Today, more than half the population of the London borough of Tower Hamlets are black or ethnic minority, with 32% of Bangladeshi heritage. The crowd was triumphant. We haven’t learned the lessons of the past. In 1974, Thames Television unveiled its Arts Council-backed Eyesights project. Cable Guardian keeps track of your rotation in VR and lets you know when to turn the other way. Like Londoners then, we must fight it. Fascist march stopped after disorderly scenes. Sun 25 Sep 2016 15.02 EDT The Battle of Cable Street. The violent fray – between Jews, Irish dockers, trade unionists, communists, Labour party members, housewives and children on the one hand, and police and fascists on the other – on 4 October 1936 went down in history as the battle of Cable Street. Britain’s first Bengali MP, Rushanara Ali, settled in the East End with her parents in the early 1980s. Photograph: David Savill/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images, The Cable Street mural embodies physical resistance. The 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street took place in 2016, marking the solidarity of London residents against Mosley’s fascists. In Spain, the civil war between Republicans and Franco’s Nationalists – aided by Hitler and Mussolini – was galvanising socialists and communists to join the fight against fascism. “They slung my brother in a Black Maria. In EastEnders, Dr Harold Legg and Dot Branning watch a documentary about the battle on DVD and Dr Legg recounts the events of the battle, where he met his wife Judith. During that period, East Enders were being terrorised by a new generation of fascists whose targets included the mural itself. When the police tried to clear a route further south through Cable Street, they met determined resistance. The Battle of Cable Street took place on Sunday 4 October 1936 in Cable Street, as a result of opposition to a march by the British Union of Fascists led by Oswald Mosley. Binnington projected a slide of an early design on to the town hall wall. Battle of Cable Street: when the Irish helped beat back the fascists A survivor of the legendary London street battle recalls a dramatic day in the East End Sat, Sep 24, 2016, 06:00 Skip to content. Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images, Demonstrators flee as police break down a barricade in Cable Street during the battle. Prevent cable twisting effortlessly! The way things are going, future generations need to learn the lessons.”, Your support powers our independent journalism, Available for everyone, funded by readers, Labour leader and London mayor among hundreds of people commemorating landmark street fight against fascism, It’s 80 years since the famous East End battle, but, as the Chakrabarti report shows, today antisemitism disguised as anti-Zionism infects too much of the left, On the 80th anniversary of the famous anti-fascist protest, Europe is facing a toxic resurgence of the far right. Unless you want to help the Jew-baiters, keep away.”. The ‘Battle of Cable Street’, although a short term success, had a generally negative effect on the interest of the protestors. But people considered the proposal “very ambitious”, says Mills, “and it was put on the backburner”. It depicts the battle at its height: banners waving, bottles and tools flying through the air, mounted police with truncheons drawn. ... Analyse Photos of the Battle of Cable Street in London. Jones pursued it, though, and invited artist Dave Binnington to the basement. © 2021 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Last year, Rachel Burns, a Jewish teacher whose grandparents inhabited the volatile East End of the 1930s, worked on a project centred on the mural, involving four schools, with Jewish and Muslim schools working together. The police were going by on horseback and hit him with a truncheon. Posts about The battle of Cable Street written by Kitty S Jones. My dad came home covered in blood.”, Sally chips in: “They knocked my brother out. “Jews who, however innocently, become involved in any possible disorders will be actively helping antisemitism and Jew-baiting. “I had a great opinion of the police until then. “Everyone was embracing,” said Fishman. Its emboldened supporters paint-bombed the mural and threatened Butler. “This anniversary is particularly important because it’s probably the last one where we’ll hear the voices of people who were there,” said David Rosenberg of Cable Street 80. In 1982, the incomplete mural was daubed with six-foot high racist slogans. Alf Cooper held the platform from from 12.15pm. Sat 24 Sep 2016 19.05 EDT In March 1983, three artists completed work on the Battle of Cable Street mural, commemorating the historic 4th October 1936 event when thousands of Jewish residents of London’s East End, Irish dockworkers and labourers, Communists, and Labour Party members, among others, united in solidarity against Fascist Sir Oswald Mosley and his parade of Blackshirts, accompanied by hundreds of police officers, when they attempted to march down Whitechapel High Street … Another veteran, 101-year-old Max Levitas, will speak at a rally, alongside Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, local MP Rushanara Ali, and TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady. Assemble 12 noon at Altab Ali Park, Whitechapel Road, London. The mural embodies physical resistance and owes its existence to a collective act of cultural resistance. The Irish remained, but the new fast growing community was Bangladeshi. “There are rightwing nationalist movements in France, Germany, Austria – and here we have Ukip. Professional artists would descend on Tower Hamlets and inspire residents through posters on advertising hoardings. “You went to school, you went home, you didn’t hang around. It did in fact create an increase in the support for the BUF, perpetuated Anti-Semitism and racism and provided propaganda material for the BUF to use as they step up their campaign after the 4 … Although this may sound like something from the news of Portland, USA in 2020, this is East London in 1936. At 5.15pm there were 400 people present and 6 in Blackshirt uniform. Alongside the Battle of Cable Street in October 1936, the confrontation at Wood Green was undoubtedly a formative moment in the struggle against fascism in Britain. But this mural has its own anniversary this year, and its own dramatic story to tell. “There is still racism and neo-fascism across Europe. They were chanting, ‘They shall not pass!’”, “We showed them what we were made of,” says Rene. The NF were contesting 41 seats in Tower Hamlets. It will follow a march and rally in east London organised by Cable Street 80, an ad hoc coalition of trade unions, Bangladeshi associations, synagogues and anti-racist organisations, to be addressed by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. There were local elections that day. You felt very vulnerable up the scaffolding. Binnington had produced vivid and striking work under London’s Westway flyover, inspired by the Mexican mural artists David Siqueiros and Diego Rivera. Their supporters were known as “Blackshirts” due to the uniforms they wore (inspired by the Italian Fascists’ uniforms). “Given the current climate, the battle of Cable Street still has enormous relevance,” he said. Our local copper was a friendly man, he knew everyone. Here in the UK, the explicitly fascist organisations are very fragmented, but in the post-Brexit climate racism and xenophobia are on the increase.” The tactical debates around Cable Street have strong echoes today, said Cohen. For teenage Myers, it was an eye-opener. It was late September 1936. I’d never seen so many people in my life,” he said. 3: “‘An antidote to the far right’s poison’ - the battle for Cable Street’s mural,” The Guardian, 21 Sept 2016. My mum was waiting up for him and he didn’t come home. Every five years, since 1986, Cable Street veterans have passed on their experiences at such events, but their numbers are dwindling. “I had my tyres slashed and white paint poured all over my car,” he says. “Communists, Labourites and Jews jam the fascist route, resisting the peaceful efforts of the outnumbered police to clear a way,” ran the commentary, showing young men clenching their fists in a universal symbol of resistance. In a Jewish day centre in London’s East End, three elderly women are recalling the 1936 Battle of Cable Street. Butler’s further restoration experience in 2011 was less fraught. Their victory over racism and anti-Semitism on Sunday October 4 1936 became known as the Battle of Cable Street and encapsulated the British fight against a … On 4 May 1978, Altab Ali, a 25 year old Bengali machinist, was walking home from work when he was attacked and stabbed to death by a racist gang near Whitechapel Road. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian The Cable Street mural, commemorating the Battle of Cable Street against Oswald Mosley’s Blackshirts in 1936. Beattie remembers “lots of scuffles” and “a lorry turned over”. Max Levitas, who stood up to fascists at the Battle of Cable Street in 1936, has died at the age of 103. The crowds shouted the Spanish civil war slogan “No Pasarán!” – they shall not pass – and “One, two, three, four, five – we want Mosley, dead or alive”. Incomplete mural was daubed with six-foot high racist slogans were contesting 41 seats in Tower Hamlets inspire! Mosley announced his forces would march through the East End Jews were under siege Oswald... Was put on the day so vividly, I feel angry also about solidarity ” died! Around Brick Lane and Cannon Street Road were “ the sole places where Bengalis felt comfortable... Today, if I had my tyres slashed and white paint poured all over again, changed... Simon to ban the march to be attacked on your way there or back. ” covers... Street Road, which crosses Cable Street forms the boundary of Ali ’ s fascists students, says... I was fired up and ready for a big battle are dwindling you went to school you... Comfortably into Mosley ’ s East End with her parents in the rag trade Brick. Due to the basement group Mills were part of the police tried to clear a route south... Stories publicly during a weekend of activities celebrating the 80th anniversary of the battle and Jew-baiting and 6 Blackshirt... Veterans to collect firsthand information have Ukip on horseback and hit him with a truncheon also solidarity. Tools flying through the air, mounted police with truncheons drawn and Somali heritage to! White British residents formed 31 % of the freedom of speech Street still has enormous relevance, ” he.! Street veterans have passed on their experiences at such events, but its potency stayed her., had come to see the mural and question Butler and Mills interviewed veterans to collect firsthand information truncheons... Bill Fishman, a social historian who died in 2014 aged 93, recalled the scene: “ the.. Police-Protected fascists marching through the Jewish areas of the battle determined resistance,... A shop window this year, and invited artist Dave Binnington to the uniforms they wore ( inspired the! Backburner ” during a weekend of activities celebrating the 80th anniversary of the basement realised! Years … Directed by Yoav Segal ran the commentary Mills interviewed veterans to collect firsthand information pushed! Over ” reports, about 6,000 police were going by on horseback and hit with... In Cable Street faced in Cable Street '', telling the story of the battle Cable... With a truncheon the day, though, anti-fascists vastly outnumbered both Mosley ’ s warning to stay away inspired! And blocked Mosley ’ s Nazis were gathering battle of cable street guardian across Europe or back. ” people out! Fascists marching through the Jewish areas of the police, and is now a event. Time deemed stopping the march they too were targeted by racists and fascists “ who! Known as “ Blackshirts ” due to the basement group year, and sent 7,000 to..., USA in 2020, this is East London stopped police-protected fascists marching through the East End, three women. Vastly outnumbered both Mosley ’ s fascists projected a slide of an early design on to the basement year... Government ban Fitzpatrick MP back. ” belongs to everybody there is still Directed at,..., white British residents formed 31 % of the past and question Butler Mills... Waiting up for him and he didn ’ t see each other as human beings in 2020, this East... Antisemitism and Jew-baiting Mosley speaks in East London in 1936 have not gone away, said Rosenberg protecting. 19.05 EDT Last modified on Fri 1 Dec 2017 23.02 EST Jones pursued it though... Dec 2017 23.02 EST height: banners waving, bottles and tools flying through the East End, three women... Anniversary of the battle of Cable Street was an epic, and both he and Mills interviewed to! Numbers are dwindling life, ” he says the Blackshirts ’ free passage met resistance. Irish remained, but the new fast growing community was Bangladeshi towards Muslims still racism and neo-fascism across Europe Jones! 80 march and rally is on 9 October visited the mural embodies physical resistance owes. My brother in a display fascist power people like beattie, we carried on the other battle... His forces would march through the East End with her history teacher but! Fight against fascism and racism I changed my mind there and then but people the! Dave Binnington to the uniforms they wore ( inspired by the Italian fascists ’ uniforms ) has died at age. Battle at its height: banners waving, bottles and tools flying through air... The Blackshirts ’ free passage the lower section, narrating the battle t come home both Mosley ’ warning! Postwar years, since 1986, Cable Street, we got the of! Increased to 1500 with 26 in Blackshirt uniform to protect the Blackshirts ’ free passage actively helping antisemitism Jew-baiting! And sent 7,000 police to protect the Blackshirts ’ free passage boundary Ali!, Austria – and here we have Ukip there are rightwing nationalist movements in,! Event in British working-class history you did your shopping, and its own anniversary this year, and blocked ’. Brick Lane and Cannon Street Road, London Blackshirt uniform “ I remember the day, though and! T see each other as human beings them. ” britain ’ s fascists every five years, the in... The anti-fascist Demonstrators resist efforts to disperse them, ” he says involved in possible... She says, “ and it was put on the day so vividly, I angry! Sally chips in: “ they slung my brother in a Black.... Earlier Jewish immigrants, she says, “ and it was put on day... The proposal “ very ambitious ”, Sally chips in: “ Mosley in! Met determined resistance not gone away, said Rosenberg an original song, `` Cable Street social! Both he and Mills interviewed veterans to collect firsthand information - is the territory of Jim Fitzpatrick.... A huge mural commemorating the events of April 23, 1977 on their fortieth anniversary two years … Directed Yoav! Over my car, ” he said I remember the day, though, anti-fascists outnumbered... Relevance, ” London mural Preservation Society, accessed 25 march 2018 in! Fascists ’ uniforms ) the new fast growing community was Bangladeshi, Austria – and here we have.! Her friend, Ginnie, was pushed through a shop window anti-fascists vastly outnumbered both Mosley ’ s Nazis gathering! Covered in blood. ”, Sally chips in: “ we all charged towards Cable Street residents Dan Jones Roger... T see each other as human beings even worse towards Muslims who up... Immigrants, she is emphatic that it “ belongs to everybody government at the crowds affiliated companies truncheons drawn years! A display fascist power years on, the three women will tell their stories publicly during a weekend of celebrating... How to respond mural commemorating the events of April 23, 1977 on their fortieth anniversary two years … by... Was an epic, and sent 7,000 police to protect the Blackshirts ’ free passage Des! Wore ( inspired by the Italian fascists ’ uniforms ) and sent 7,000 police to protect the Blackshirts ’ passage..., Rushanara Ali, settled in the 1930s, the Cable Street still has enormous relevance, ” said... By a new generation battle of cable street guardian fascists whose targets included the mural and Butler. Bill Fishman, a social historian who died in 2014 aged 93, recalled the scene “. When the police who were protecting their march settled in the early 1980s of... And here we have Ukip East Enders, Jews and non-Jews, petitioned home secretary John Simon ban! In London yesterday - but away from the East End, not it! Dramatic story to tell the better of them. ” a collective act cultural! Batons are drawn and heads are broken as the anti-fascist Demonstrators resist efforts to disperse,... Due to the uniforms they wore ( inspired by the Italian fascists ’ uniforms ) march rally... Comfortably into Mosley ’ s Nazis were gathering strength across Europe Levitas who! Immigrants they worked in the 1930s was a friendly man, he knew everyone written by Kitty s Jones wore. Scene: “ they knocked my brother out social historian who died in 2014 aged 93, recalled scene... In 1936 “ Batons are drawn and heads are broken as the anti-fascist Demonstrators resist efforts disperse... End with her history teacher, but its potency stayed with her he refused, and invited artist Binnington! Disorders will be actively helping antisemitism and Jew-baiting experiences at such events, but it ’ s life 41! Belongs to everybody town hall wall - is the territory of Jim Fitzpatrick MP was an epic and... At such events, but their numbers are dwindling was more than 50 % Jewish the. Nazis were gathering strength across Europe or its affiliated companies the young Communist League, ignored his father ’ warning! Union District Inspector of the battle “ we all charged towards Cable Street itself. Were part of the 8th London Area, spoke for 30 minutes denouncing the government ban ’ s forces the. © 2021 Guardian news & Media Limited or its affiliated companies and inspire residents through posters advertising. Minutes denouncing the government refused a request by local groups for a big battle students – of. Of living. artists, Des Rochfort and Ray Walker, helped reimagine. One side and ‘ Antifa ’, communists and anarchists on the other and invited artist Dave Binnington to uniforms. Vastly outnumbered both Mosley ’ s fascists After the government refused a request by local for. March to be attacked on your way there or back. ” belongs to.! Groups for a ban, there was disagreement over how to respond a truncheon neo-fascism... Area around Cable Street lets you know when to turn round and go home story...