By Michael Sercan Daventry
LONDON (AA) – The year 1936 had already demonstrated political extremism’s grip on Europe when a community in London’s East End decided to take a stand against fascism.
Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin had begun his Great Purge, a campaign of imprisoning and executing his political rivals, while in Germany the Nazi leadership had attempted to use the Olympic Games in Berlin to promote its laws on racial supremacy.
In London, it was the year of a street battle that signaled Britain susceptibility and resistance to the extremist attitudes sweeping the continent.
As demonstrators held a rally to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street, it was difficult for many not to draw parallels between the extremism of 1936 and what is happening in Britain and across Europe today.
The “battle” took place on Oct. 4, 1936, when Oswald Moseley’s far-right, anti-Semitic British Union of Fascists (BUF) tried to parade through a mostly Jewish neighborhood in east London.
They were met by opponents from anti-fascist groups including communists, socialists and migrants who erected roadblocks and clashed with police in their bid to prevent the march, which was eventually abandoned as BUF members were vastly outnumbered.
This year has also seen a surge in racist and xenophobic abuse in Britain, particularly after a referendum vote to leave the EU that was widely perceived as a vote against immigration.
Last Sunday, several hundred demonstrators from mostly left-wing groups gathered in a park next to Cable Street to commemorate the anniversary of the confrontation and reinforce messages of unity.
Among the speakers was Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party. “Our rally today is about a celebration of a multicultural, multi-faith society,” he told the crowd.
“So today, as we do every year, we take head-on, absolutely head-on, those that fan the flames of racism and xenophobia and try to divide us by hate, by prejudice and racism.
“Those who daub a synagogue with anti-Semitic graffiti, defile a mosque with Islamophobic hate, or any other community that suffers that abuse of racism — we are on their side to defend all those communities and the kind of multicultural society we want to live in.”
Also on the stage was Max Levitas, who was 21 at the time of the battle and witnessed the clashes.
-Specter of division
“Fascism and racism are still present today and like we did back then, we must play our part to stand up to them,” Levitas, now aged 101, later told the International Business Times UK’s website.
“We must take on those groups who encourage racism, whatever form it’s in. Whether it’s the [governing Conservative Party], the far right or anyone, we must not let them divide us and we must take them on head-on.”
Despite Levitas’s message of unity, the Battle of Cable Street commemorations were divided.
While the Cable Street rally mostly attended by communists, socialists and trade unionists, the Jewish community chose to hold its own event at Shoreditch Town Hall, 3 kilometers (2 miles) to the east, which was attended by Britain’s chief rabbi and centrist politicians including London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
The mayor was among those to draw a parallel with the 1930s, when totalitarianism swept Europe and the Battle of Cable Street reminded Britain that although it may have regarded itself as geographically and culturally distinct from the continent, it was still prone to developments across the English Channel.
Europe in 2016 is again being swept by the rise of far-right parties, from the Front National in France to Greece’s Golden Dawn. These parties have been strengthened by voters’ anti-migrant sentiments in the wake of Europe’s refugee crisis.
Just as in 1936, today’s Britain has found it is separate but not immune to developments on the European mainland.
Police across the U.K. recorded a 58 percent increase in hate crime reports in the weeks following the June 23 decision to leave the EU by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin.
Reported incidents over the summer were at least 14 percent higher than during the same period in 2015, according to figures released by the National Police Chiefs’ Council last month.
Two months after the vote, Polish national Arkadiusz Jozwik died from head injuries after being assaulted in Harlow, southeast England, by a gang who had reportedly heard him speaking his native language.
Speaking at Sunday’s event, Khan said the comparison over 80 years was clear. “The history is this; there were Londoners who were being blamed for the misfortune of others, who felt simply being who they were was a crime and was wrong,” he said, according to the Jewish Chronicle newspaper.
“It was possible on that day for that minority to be left on their own. What happened instead; their neighbors, their friends, others came together to show to the fascists that ‘You’re not going to divide us’.
“And I think that lesson is so powerful, not only in 1936, but in 2016 as well.”
