Refugees Welcome! Racists Out! Counter protest in Belfast

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The Protestant Coalition has called for a "Protest against refugees/terrorists heading to the U.K" to be held in Belfast City centre on the 27th of September.

The Protestant Coalition is a far-right, loyalist and British nationalist party that was founded in 2013 as an angry reaction to Belfast City Council's decision to only fly the Union Jack on designated days of the year as opposed to everyday of the year. Among those who founded the party is the ludicrous Willie Frazer, a man known for his one-man protests outside of children's parks as well as accusing a school of being "the junior headquarters of SF/IRA youth" for flying the Italian flag.

It is clear that this protest has been organised as a crass and racist response to the massive outpouring of solidarity that has been seen across Europe with those seeking refuge from their war-torn native countries.

Belfast itself has seen a torrent of solidarity with the refugees, with drop-in centres having had to ask for no more donations within days of their openings.

The Protestant Coalition, UKIP and the BNP are kissing cousins, with their far-right, racist views being just one of their many misguided and incorrect political views that they share.

In response, an Anti-Fascist counter protest (link to the event is in the comments) has been organised to show the racists of the Protestant Coalition and their supporters that their views are not welcome here.

It wasn't too long ago that some of us on this island were forced to flee as a result of British imperial economic policies that meant that food was shipped out of Ireland while the peasantry starved during the Great Hunger of 1845-48. In the North we are no strangers to having to seek refuge as a result of pogroms or religious persecution, even if it was only a matter of moving a couple of miles down the road across to the other side of the border.

Fascists and racists are not welcome here; refugees are.