The Board of Deputies of British Jews has urged Home Secretary Roy Jenkins to ban a march by the neo-Nazi National Front through the heavily Jewish populated borough of Hackney this Saturday, the first day of Rosh Hashanah, A similar demand was made by Arthur Super, the Jewish Mayor of the East London borough.
Martin Savitt, chairman of the Board of Deputies’ defense committee, said in a letter to Jenkins that the National Front march was “designed to incite racial prejudice and lead to violence by provocative actions.” He noted that the Hackney Trades Council was organizing a protest counter-demonstration which could lead to violent confrontations in the streets of Hackney during the Jewish High Holy Days when Jews congregate in synagogues.
Hackney includes within its boundaries one of the largest Jewish communities in Britain. Stamford Hill. within the borough. was the scene of anti-Jewish demonstrations by followers of the pro-Nazi British Fascist Oswald Mosley in the 1930s.
A spokesman for the National Front denied that Saturday was chosen for their march because it was the Jewish New Year. He said the march was not against Jews but against the increase of “muggings” committed in the borough, mainly by West Indian Black residents.
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