“We only take to the streets in a physical manner because they’re there.
… No fascists on the streets, by definition, no Anti-Fascist Action.”
The above clip is taken from a TV documentary (approx date 1993) about the various methods of anti-racism and anti-fascism. In this clip the role of AFA in the fight against fascism is explained.
“Anti-Fascist Action is fundamentally a reactive organisation to fight fascism, both physically and ideologically… And that involves fundamentally working inside working class communities, taking on the fascists’ ideas within the working class community, as well as physically taking on the fascist streetfighters. We only take to the streets in a physical manner because they’re there. No fascists on the streets, by definition, no Anti-Fascist Action.”
At the time, some on the anti-fascist left were obsessed with closing down the BNP’s Headquarters in Welling, but as the AFA spokesperson points out, ‘If the bunker wasn’t in Welling, it would be somewhere else. To campaign to get it removed from Welling is, in a sense, just moving the problem from one locality to another. What we have to do is combat fascism in the estates where the fascists are active and that’s not always in the locality where their HQ is.’
The clip also includes footage of a violent AFA confrontation with fascists on the streets of London.