The year 1997 was marked by a relatively low level of far right activity in the UK. This was partly due to a series of trials against leading extremists, including a number of Combat 18 activists for anti-Semitic and Holocaust denial offenses. A slight decrease of 5 percent was noted in overall anti-Semitic acts, although there was a rise in violent assaults. The Crime and Disorder Bill, due to become law in 1998, is aimed at addressing gaps in existing legislation by creating new offenses of racial violence and harassment.

THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

The central organization of British Jewry is the Board of Deputies of British Jews. Security and defense activity is organized through the Community Security Trust. The main community paper is the 140-year-old Jewish Chronicle, which is read by an estimated 75 percent of the community, and also enjoys a worldwide readership. British Jewry participates fully in public life, including the highest offices of state.

EXTREMIST ORGANIZATIONS AND HATE GROUPS

Britain's ultra-right-wing political parties, the British National Party (BNP), the National Democratic Party (NDP) and the National Front (NF), maintained a low level of activity during most of 1997. The media attention devoted to all three parties is disproportionate to their real political power, which remains marginal.

All three fielded candidates in the May general election. The BNP received an average of 1.35 percent of the vote, doing well in traditional areas of support, such as the East End of London and the West Midlands. The NDP obtained an average of 1.12 percent, with one candidate gaining as much as 11.39 percent. The NF was the least successful, with only 0.98 percent of the vote. All three also contested seats in by-elections, in most cases winning no more than 2 percent of the vote.

The BNP's foreign connections were further strengthened during 1997 when in June it hosted the Ring-UK Summer Camp in Derbyshire, attended by members of other European neo-Nazi groups, and by sending a small delegation in September to attend the trial in France of Robert Faurisson and thereafter a meeting of the FN (see France). In addition, a TV documentary revealed efforts by a prominent BNP activist, Nick Griffen, to obtain funding from the French FN.

The BNP remains committed to anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi ideology, although its public stand is to promote opposition to the "global economy" and European economic and political integration. It has been increasingly appealing to middle-Britain, the so-called white vote, which it believes to be intimidated by Britain's ethnic and religious minorities.

The various extra-parliamentary right-wing groups connected to the violent Combat 18 (C18) and its political umbrella group, the National Socialist Alliance, were troubled by feuding during 1997, following the trial and imprisonment of two leaders, Charlie Sargent and Will Browning, in February for publishing grossly anti-Semitic literature (see below). Sargent, together with Martin Cross, another C18 leader, was subsequently convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in January 1998 for the murder of a junior C18 member. Between them Sargent and Browning had controlled Blood & Honour, the neo-Nazi skinhead music movement, and it was over the management of the merchandising revenues from this organization that the feud began.

The loosening of control over the movement led to the establishment of a number of new groups, the most notable of which was the National Socialist Movement (NSM), led by Sargent's brother Steve, and Dave Myatt. The Ku Klux Klan moved its area of activity from the provinces to London and began a recruitment campaign under its new leader Alan Winder. These groups, however, have only loosely defined identities of their own, and membership frequently overlaps.

Other marginal right-wing groups include the International Third Position, which is increasingly influenced by Lefebrist Catholic ideology and is strongly anti-Zionist, and the Third Way, which now tends to concentrate on local political issues.

Extremist Islamic and Other Groups

In recent years Britain has become a center for militant Islamist activists, either fleeing persecution in their countries of origin, or who chose Britain as a safe haven from which to operate, in some cases, against their homeland. During 1997, Britain encountered criticism from several Arab and Muslim countries for giving asylum to Islamist militants whose countries of origin sought their extradition.

Among those groups seeking to influence Britain's indigenous Muslim community are Hizb ut-Tahrir (Islamic Liberation Party -- HUT) and al-Muhajiroun (The Emigrants - AM). Both groups reverted to their former mode of recruitment and activity within the Muslim community, via mosques and "study circles," following the 1995 ban by the National Union of Students, but since the start of the 1997 academic term they have returned to campus activity, albeit under disguised names.

In August AM organized an "International March Against Oppression" for which publicity was circulated worldwide via posters and the Internet. The march was planned as a series of simultaneous events in America, France, Pakistan, Turkey and Britain, but only the London rally took place, in Trafalgar Square, attracting only seven hundred participants and reflecting AM's marginal position within the Muslim community. During interviews to the media on several occasions in 1997, AM leader Omar Bakri Mohammed justified Islamist terrorism and attacked moderate Muslim statements.

Due both to financial and political considerations, the Muslim Parliament (MP) met infrequently during the course of 1997, and suffered a setback when it was forced to dismiss the chairman of its Human Rights Committee for negligence and mismanagement. However, during the summer the MP announced plans to reform itself, among other steps, giving seats to representatives of other radical Islamist groups, including the Campaign for the Defense of Legitimate Rights and the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front (FIS).

In October the MP convened an international conference entitled "Islamophobia: the oldest hatred," which, as with previous conferences, provided a venue for Islamists from around the world to meet. Attending the conference were the Swiss convert and Holocaust denier Ahmed Huber, and the anti-Semitic deputy director of the Muslim Institute, Dr. Yaqub Zaki, both of whom made anti-Jewish speeches.

The Nation of Islam (NOI), headed by the American Louis Farrakhan, continued to grow in Britain, albeit slowly and without much success; however, members attended meetings of expatriate Islamist groups which had previously shunned them. In autumn, a campaign was initiated to have the 1986 exclusion order lifted on Farrakhan. As a consequence, and despite the fact that the order was reviewed and extended in 1996, the home secretary has undertaken to re-examine the evidence in order to establish whether Farrakhan's entry into Britain would be "conducive to the public good."

Whilst the secular, left-wing anti-Zionist groups in Britain were weakened by the peace process in the aftermath of the Madrid Conference, they were invigorated in 1997, and both the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Friends of Samar Alami, formed to secure the release of the Palestinian bombers of the Israel Embassy and Joint Israel Appeal headquarters in 1994, held meetings and demonstrations.

ANTI-SEMITIC ACTIVITIES

Violence, Vandalism, Threats and Insults

Despite the overall decrease, violent assaults and acts of life-threatening violence both increased (18 violent assaults versus 13 in 1996 and 4 life-threatening acts versus 1 in 1996). Worthy of note were several hit-and-run attempts around the High Holy Days in Manchester and Borehamwood, when car drivers deliberately attempted to hit worshippers on their way to or from synagogues, assaults against Orthodox Jews in Golders Green, Stamford Hill and Manchester, and the air rifle shootings at a rabbi and congregants in Muswell Hill.

Damage and desecration of communal property constituted the second largest number of incidents, after abusive behavior, rising to 57 (31 in 1996). However, there were no instances of the large-scale desecrations of cemeteries or synagogues seen in previous years. A series of arson attacks was carried out on Ruislip Synagogue in April, May and August, a Jewish-owned estate agency's windows opposite the Central London Mosque were smashed by a convert to Islam, in September (see below), and there was a continuing series of incidents against communal institutions in Manchester.

Anti-Semitic threats fell to 19 reported incidents (42 in 1996), almost equally divided between non-repeated threats to individuals and nuisance bomb hoaxes. Abusive behavior fell to 86 incidents from 115 incidents in 1996. Notable in this category was the attack on a performance of a play about Anne Frank, by a non-Jewish theater company at the Warehouse Theatre in South East London in October. As with several other similar incidents, it marked a new trend in which members of far right groups have begun to attend public events associated with the Holocaust or with Anne Frank.

Propaganda

Although the large-scale distribution of literature rose to 33 reported incidents (26 in 1996), this category has seen consecutive reductions in recent years as police action against the perpetrators has become more effective (see below).

Anti-Semitic propaganda is generally published only by the fringe organizations mentioned above. Prosecutions during the course of the year halted the publication of obscene and violent material but not the overall quantity, and indeed, the loosening of control within the BNP and C18 prompted several emerging factions to start their own publications. Among the most noteworthy anti-Semitic publications were Who Are the Mind-Benders, written by Nick Griffin and Mark Deavin, for the BNP, and a four-page pamphlet entitled "Zionist-Jewry's 'Security' Outfit Is OUT OF CONTROL." The former, a magazine modeled on an American original, asserts that Jews seek to control the thought processes of the British, and is illustrated with the names and photographs of several hundred Jews prominent in the media and advertising. The latter, published by Inner Circle Researchers, a front for former NF leader Martin Webster, accuses the Community Security Organisation of being a paramilitary body working for the Mossad.

Among the more extreme publications is Strikeforce, published by C18 leader Will Browning, following his early release from prison (see below), in which he makes clear C18's involvement in the Danish letter bomb plot of January 1997 (see Denmark) and his intention to continue terrorism.

The posting of anti-Semitic material on the Internet continued, but most anti-Semitic material originated in the US. British postings of note, however, included that of NSM leader Dave Myatt, whose violent neo-Nazi creed is posted from Canada. Most far right parties and extra-parliamentary groups now have their own sites, as do the Islamists.

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE HOLOCAUST AND THE NAZI ERA

Most far right groups promote Holocaust denial through their associated book clubs and recommended reading lists; the main pseudo-scientific and pseudo-historical publications may be purchased only from them and are not available in mainstream bookshops. The same applies to David Irving's works, few of which are retailed by bookstores.

As in recent years, Irving was mostly active in America rather than Britain during 1997. His attempts to give evidence on behalf of Frederick Toben, director of Australia's Adelaide Institute, which promotes Holocaust denial, came to naught when in November he was refused a visa to visit Australia for the fifth time in four years (see Australia). Irving continued to harass his detractors through the English courts, and in late 1998, or early 1999, the courts will hear his actions for alleged defamation against Professor Deborah Lipstadt and her publishers, Penguin Books, and against Gitta Sereny and Observer Newspapers (see ASW 1996/7).

Cromwell Press and the Centre for Historical Review, both owned by Anthony Hancock, continued to publish Holocaust denial, as well as far right and neo-Nazi publications for the international market.

Szymon Serafinowicz, who would have been the defendant at Britain's first war crimes trial, died in January at the age of eighty-six. A second war crimes trial was due early in 1998, when Andrzej Sawoniuk was to be charged with killing Jews in Belarus.

Some Islamists also promote Holocaust denial, most notably AM, but the overwhelming influence of teaching the Holocaust within the national history curriculum coverage of the Second World War, has ensured that deniers remain confined to the anti-Semitic political fringe.

RESPONSES TO RACISM AND ANTI-SEMITISM

The Crime and Disorder Bill, which will become law in 1998, aims at addressing gaps in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994 by creating new offenses of racial violence and harassment. It will provide for the immediate arrest, without warrant, of anyone suspected of committing a racially aggravated public order offense and stipulate stronger penalties where racial aggression is proven.

Guidelines drawn up by a working party of magistrates and justice clerks, and approved by the lord chancellor and lord chief justice (the head of the criminal justice system), were sent to all magistrates in April. The guidelines urge that racial motivation be taken into account when sentencing in all offenses of violence, burglary and criminal damage.

Legal Activity

The establishment of a team of detectives within the Metropolitan Police dedicated to investigating violent neo-Nazi and other subversive and terrorist groups, has begun to disrupt the activities of some of the most violent neo-Nazis, and has led to the arrest and imprisonment of some of them. The team's main focus is within Britain but inquiries, and assistance to other police forces, has extended to the US, Canada, Australia, France, Germany and Scandinavia.

This international cooperation was manifested in the investigation and prevention of the C18-inspired bombing campaign which spanned Britain, Denmark, Austria and Sweden, and in the banning of the Rock against Communism Aryan Music Fest due to have taken place in South Wales in August, and to which one thousand neo-Nazis were expected. Following the ban, Billy Bartlett of Celtic Warrior, the organizer, and three American neo-Nazis, were arrested.

As a result of these measures, a series of trials against prominent anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers from the far right took place in 1997. In March, three leaders of C18, Charlie Sargent, Will Browning and Martin Cross, were given prison terms of 12 to 17 months for publishing and distributing issues nos. 1 and 3 of Combat 18, which contained crude anti-Semitic articles and drawings, advice on how to construct bombs and booby-traps and elements of Holocaust denial. In September, Mark Atkinson and Robin Grey were sentenced for publishing and distributing The Stormer, with hit lists of anti-fascists, Jews and Jewish communal institutions, and famous black sportsmen. Many people on the lists received hate mail and threatening phone calls and several synagogues were attacked. In addition, in July, four northern leaders of Combat 18 were imprisoned in Oldham, Lancashire, for distributing anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant material likely to incite racial hatred, and one of the C18 men involved in the international letter bomb campaign, Darren Wells, was subsequently imprisoned in Scotland for possession of an offensive weapon.

Alexander Baron, a so-called libertarian, and prolific writer of anti-Semitic and Holocaust denial publications, was found not guilty of intimidating a witness and making threats to kill, following an investigation of his financial affairs by the Department of Social Security. Baron conducted his own defense financed with support gained from adverts placed on the Internet site of the American neo-Nazi Harold Covington, alias Winston Smith. In September his civil case against Gerry Gable, editor of the anti-fascist magazine Searchlight, who had labeled him an anti-Semite, was settled out of court, but Gable was not forced to retract his statement. In December, however, Baron was charged with offenses under the Malicious Communications Act, and his case was due to be heard early in 1998.

Among other cases: In July, Gerald Rowe, a seventy-year-old former senior NF member, was found guilty on sixteen charges of possession of material likely to incite racial hatred, with a view to distribution. Rowe was known to the Jewish community as having been responsible, with others, for the production and distribution of large numbers of anti-Jewish hoax letters, during the early- and mid-1990s. In August, five drunken football fans traveling by train between Glasgow and Aberdeen were arrested and subsequently convicted for screaming '"We hate the Jews," "Kill the Bill" (police), and for giving Nazi salutes. Nick Griffin, a former NF leader and now a leader of the BNP, and Paul Ballard, a BNP activist, were charged in July with race hatred offenses in connection with their magazine The Rune, which contains both anti-Semitic libel and Holocaust denial material. Ballard has since pleaded guilty and the trial was due to take place inl April 1998. Griffin made clear his intention to challenge the facts of the Holocaust and to call as defense witnesses the French denier Robert Faurisson and the American Michael Hoffman II.

The first trial of an Islamist militant charged with inciting anti-Semitism was due to take place in February 1998, following the refusal of Amera Mirza of the AM to stop displaying anti-Semitic and Holocaust denying placards at a picket outside Ealing Town Hall in October. The case of Anthony Millington, a convert to Islam, who smashed the windows of a Jewish-owned estate agency opposite the Central London Mosque and then assaulted the police officers called to arrest him, was deferred to early 1998 to await psychiatric reports.

Public Activity

Britain's assumption of the presidency of the European Union (EU) in 1998, and its planned ratification of the European Convention on Civil Liberties and Human Rights, are expected to lead to other initiatives during the course of 1998. The 1997 EU Year Against Racism was not generally successful in Britain, and applications to fund Jewish community-led schemes to monitor racism and promote tolerance were not supported, although three small Jewish community initiatives did receive financing.

The Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals, the umbrella body for British universities, produced a draft report in June 1997 on extremism and intolerance on British campuses. It is expected that this will lead to new guidelines proscribing the activities of Islamist groups like AM and HUT within British universities.