Black Thistle Collective

Via @antifadundee on Instagram

This is a selection of the racist bile quoted from the St Andrews University Reform Society president, Preston McSherry, in student newspaper "The Saint" yesterday. We note that he chose to make such remarks anonymously, likely because Preston knows his nazi views on "DNA" won't be accepted in Scotland. It is abhorrent that such overtly fascist rhetoric has been allowed by St Andrew's University Student Association, who are granting the Reform Society official affiliation on the 15th of this month rather than expelling them. Preston McSherry's continued enrolment in the University, nevermind the granting to him of a platform to spread far-right extremism, is an obvious danger to other students. So long as St Andrews University continues to grant the Reform Society such a platform, it cannot reasonably claim to provide a safe environment for students of diverse backgrounds. We encourage all students to put pressure on the student association's affiliation officer to reverse this horrendous decision. Their email can be found here: [email protected]

Edinburgh Reportback!

Yesterday we were proud to stand alongside other autonomous antifascist groups from across Scotland in opposition to the "Unite the Clans" rally at Holyrood. This far-right gathering had been in the planning for nearly 6 months, with their lineup of speakers including self-identifying Nazi Richard McFarlane, alongside other members of white nationalist parties Homeland and Patriotic Alternative. Their declared purpose for the day was to platform voices from the "right wing to extreme right wing". Our bloc arrived early to the bemusement of some confused tourists, taking and holding the main thoroughfare by the Scottish Parliament and the Royal Mile. When the first handful of fascists began to trickle in a while later, the only space available to them was a distant patch of grass. By 11am, a black bloc of around 50 antifascists had built up in front of Holyrood, with an anti-racist march organised by SUTR preparing to march from St Giles' Cathedral to join us. The numbers on the far-right at this point were around equal with that of the bloc. As the anti-racist marchers rounded the corner of the Royal Mile there was an exchange of cheers between the blocs to greet each other, and they swelled our numbers to well over 400. For several hours we drowned out the racist whinging with music and chanting, our line holding against the few pathetic attempts made to attack our comrades. Despite nearly half a year of planning, and promotional material which claimed that "hundreds are expected", Unite The Clans achieved a turn out of dozens at best, peaking at just over 100 bigoted scumbags, fewer even than they could manage at the very start of their demos in Dundee in September last year. Seemingly ignorant to their disparate beliefs around many issues, including British loyalism and whether to talk to the cops, these dregs of the Scottish far-right obliviously united for the day. The barrel must have been scraped dry for them to welcome back people who have publicly disavowed their cause and tactics, and even those who have previously leaked intel to us "lefties"! It was a beautiful day for antifascism in Scotland, proving yet again that racists and bigots have no place on our streets, and refugees will always be welcome in our cities. Nae pasaran!

NATIONAL MOBILISATION AGAINST FASCISM!

On Saturday the 21st of March, far-right hate groups from across Scotland are planning to descend on Holyrood to hold an anti-migrant rally outside the Scottish Parliament. Their list of speakers includes Elaine Fegan, a fascist and transphobe who masquerades as a feminist standing alongside three known members of neo-nazi political parties - Josh Fernie from Homeland Party, Richard Mcfarlane and Paul Connor from Patriotic Alternative. These men are violent white supremacists whose official party policy amounts to genocide under the name of "remigration." We will not grant the snake-oil sellers of fascism space to give racist speeches outside our seat of devolved power.

We therefore call again on antifascists across the country, as well as on the independence movement, to mobilise in response and help defend Scottish democracy. As always, masking at protests is important to protect each other's safety, but also to avoid doxxing by far-right groups. If possible, we recommend arriving and leaving in a group.

March 21st, 11am, Scottish Parliament

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!!! Eleven years ago this month, some anti-fascists on Tumblr wrote to each other to put together a collective account dedicated to reporting on anti-fascist activities around the world, supporting anti-fascists, and promoting the tenets of anti-fascism however they could. Since June 2014, Antifa International has expanded to reach over 142,000 people every month, across nine different social media platforms. In that time, we've also raised tens of thousands of dollars to help anti-fascist crews around the world to fund their work fighting hate.