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JOBS & HOMES FOR ALL, NOT RACISM

Gary Mulcahy, 23 June 2009

THE RACIST attacks against Romanian families carried out by a tiny minority of thugs in the Lisburn Road area of Belfast show the real face of the far-right and fascists.
These attacks could have led to the death of children in these homes were it not for the action taken by local residents who organised defence and solidarity.

Socialist Party members living on the Lisburn Rd. played an excellent role in organising residents and rallying support for the families. If it were not for the stand taken by local residents, the issue would have been consigned to a few lines in the side columns deep inside newspapers and gone largely unnoticed. Instead, as a result of the protest action and organised defence, the issue has been propelled to the top of the agenda in the press and hit the headlines across the world. It has also seriously exposed the inaction of the PSNI and the local authorities. Socialist Party members publicised how the police failed to respond quickly enough to catch those carrying out the attacks and failed to properly investigate the attacks. The police had no interest in taking any statements from witnesses and did not even bother to get interpreters. Socialist Party members had to fight for local services such as interpreters, battling against pointless bureaucracy from “official” groups in the process.

After a rota of local residents was organised to defend the families’ homes, it was decided to call a protest on the morning of Monday 15 June. That evening 200 local residents came out to publicly show their disgust at the attacks and give support to the Romanian families. A small group of fascist youths approached the protest shouting “Pakis Out” and were drowned out by the protest with chants of “Nazi scum off our streets” and “Nazis Out!” They then turned up a side street, but returned ten minutes later hurling glass bottles and bricks at the protest but missed their target. They were quickly chased back by protestors, which included the Romanian residents, and dispersed out of the area. Two PSNI officers arrived at the protest and were instructed by protestors to take the necks of the broken bottles for fingerprints. The protest lasted another 40 minutes and grew in numbers after the attempted attack by fascists. Squads of residents then took turns to guard the homes of the families. Socialist Party member and leading organiser of the residents, Paddy Meehan has now become a target for the fascists who have threatened to firebomb his home. The trade union leaders have a responsibility to organise their members to link up with local residents in protests and defence of people in areas where racist attacks occur.

Some politicians have opportunistically tried to manipulate the situation by trying to inject a sectarian element into the debate. But residents have shown that those responsible for carrying out the attacks are a tiny minority who do not represent the views of people in the Lisburn Rd. area. The Lisburn Rd. is an area of huge inequality. Areas of affluence are divided by the Lisburn Rd. from large areas of deprivation. Working class estates along the Donegall Rd., Tates Avenue and the Village have been neglected for decades. Housing conditions are some of the worst in the UK. Landlordism has also led to social disintegration with transient populations and a breakdown in community cohesion. It is the failure of the capitalist political establishment which is to blame for these conditions, not immigrant workers. Fascist groups are scapegoating immigrant workers in order to develop a base for their wider agenda of removing all democratic rights.

It is a damning indictment of the authorities, the police and the parties in power in the Assembly that the Romanian families felt they had no choice but to flee the country. That is why working class people, including immigrant workers, need a new mass party which can fight against the scandalous social conditions which breed racism, and unite working class people to fight against racism and the capitalist system, which has failed working class people of all countries.

Socialist Party, 13 Lombard St, Belfast BT1 1RB Tel: 02890232962 e-mail: socialistpartyni@btconnect.com