{"id":1054595,"date":"2026-06-28T01:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T01:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1054595\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T01:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T01:38:12","slug":"five-thousand-march-in-edinburgh-after-racist-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1054595\/","title":{"rendered":"Five thousand march in Edinburgh after racist attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tAnti-racism<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018We need to mobilise the anti-racist majority and continue to get them out on to the streets,\u2019 said Felix.<\/p>\n

By Jude Mckechnie<\/b><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tDownloading PDF. Please wait…<\/p>\n

Saturday 27 June 2026<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tIssue 3012<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\"Front<\/p>\n

Thousands marched in Edinburgh against Islamophobia and racism (Pic: SUTRScotland on X)<\/p>\n

Edinburgh sent a clear message on Saturday\u2014our streets belong to us, not the racists.<\/p>\n

Some 5,000 people marched in Leith for the Reclaim Our Streets demonstration, determined to show that the hatred and violence seen in recent weeks will be met with solidarity and resistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The protest came after a shocking Islamophobic attack<\/a> that has left many people fearful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week, a man attacked five men leaving a mosque with a large weapon. The man shouted Islamophobic abuse as he was arrested and claimed he was \u201cdoing this for his country\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Following the attack, trade unionists, anti-racists, students, community campaigners and local residents stood shoulder to shoulder, united behind a simple message\u2014we will stand together against those who seek to spread fear and hatred.<\/p>\n

Felix, an activist with Stand Up to Racism (SUTR) in Edinburgh told Socialist Worker, \u201cWhat is driving this he violence is real despair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had years of austerity and neoliberalism. And sadly this is being diverted by right wing demagogs to attack migrants and to deflect from the real causes of problems,\u201d said Felix.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cReform UK\u2019s Nigel Farage is happy to keep us fighting among ourselves while he and his mates continue to profit.<\/p>\n

\u201cFarage called for \u2018pure cold rage\u2019, after the murder of Henry Nowak<\/a> and today\u2019s march in Edinburgh was a response to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday shows that the majority of people in Edinburgh and Leith are anti-racist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the job of anti-racists to mobilise them and continue to get them out on to the streets,\u201d said Felix.<\/p>\n

Many black people, Muslims, migrants and refugees are scared, angry and understandably concerned about what comes next. Some are questioning whether it is safe to walk their own streets, travel home at night, or go about their daily lives without fear of abuse or attack.<\/p>\n

That is exactly what the far right wants.<\/p>\n

They want people to feel isolated and alone and to retreat into silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sophie, a student in Edinburgh who attended the protest, told Socialist Worker that there was a minute\u2019s silence on the march for all victims of racist attacks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were out to say that immigrants in our community are loved, wanted and respected. We are all willing to come out and fight for their safety\u201d.<\/p>\n

Racism is encouraged by politicians who scapegoat migrants while failing to tackle low pay, crumbling public services and the cost of living crisis.<\/p>\n

The far right feeds on that division. But it can be stopped when working class people organise together.<\/p>\n

History shows that racism and fascism can only be beaten when mass movements deny them the confidence to organise and when workers refuse<\/a> to be divided.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s mobilisation is an important step, but it must not be the last. Every workplace, college and community should build the anti-racist movement.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anti-racism \u2018We need to mobilise the anti-racist majority and continue to get them out on to the streets,\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1054596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8816],"tags":[51158,748,1102,4884,26389,712,16,15],"class_list":["post-1054595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edinburgh","tag-anti-racism","tag-britain","tag-edinburgh","tag-great-britain","tag-islamophobia","tag-scotland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116825183132301987","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1054595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1054595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1054595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1054596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1054595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1054595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1054595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}