Thousands rally against racism after Belfast unrest

Thousands of people rallied outside Belfast City Hall on Saturday in a show of opposition to racism after several days of disorder in which homes, businesses and vehicles were targeted across parts of Northern Ireland.

The “Together Against Hate” rally began at about 13:00 and drew political parties, trade unions and community groups. Police closed a number of roads to manage the crowd. Demonstrators carried placards reading “Strike back against racism,” “Refugees welcome,” “Riots don’t speak for Belfast,” “Hate is the only threat to our streets” and “Belfast stands against racism.” A separate anti-racism rally was also held in Londonderry, also widely known as Derry.

The Belfast protest was organised by United Against Racism, also referred to by Al Jazeera as Unite Against Racism. The crowd opened with chants of: “Say it loud, say it clear, refugees are welcome here. Who is Belfast? We are Belfast.”

The rallies followed unrest sparked by the spread on social media of footage from a knife attack in north Belfast on Monday night. The attack left Stephen Ogilvie with serious injuries. Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old Sudanese national, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with attempted murder. Al Jazeera reported that Ogilvie remains in hospital.

Many protests after the attack passed peacefully, but elsewhere hundreds of masked people took to the streets and violence followed. The disorder was concentrated in pockets of Belfast and other towns, but schools and shops across Northern Ireland closed early and public transport was shut down. Police have made 23 arrests; 17 people have been charged to court, five have been bailed, and one person was reported to the Public Prosecution Service, the BBC reported.

Speaking at the Belfast rally, Ivanka Antova said the city had witnessed scenes it would not forget. “The whole world watched Belfast in horror,” she said. “There is nothing legitimate about racist pogroms, and racism has no place in our city.” She also expressed sympathy for the victim of the knife attack and praised volunteers who evacuated people, provided meals and reassured frightened communities.

Carmel Gates of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions praised healthcare workers, firefighters, bus drivers and teachers who “picked up the pieces” after the violence. “The only practical thing that Westminster can do is provide money to tackle the poverty that fuels racism,” she said. Her message to the far right was to “get out of our communities.”

“We have had enough division in this community, we have had enough sectarianism and we will not tolerate racism,” Gates said, before leading a chant: “Worker’s rights are migrant’s rights, same struggle, same fight.”

Elaine Crory, a lobbyist at the Women’s Resource and Development Agency, told the crowd that “nothing about this violence supports the safety of women and girls in our community,” saying people had attended out of “disgust and rage.”

Several attendees described the rally as reassuring. Mohamed Eltayeb, who has lived in Belfast for almost 20 years, said the “correct way” to respond to anger was through “civilised protest” without violence. Manal Mahdi, originally from Sudan and living in Northern Ireland for 10 years, said she had been scared to attend but felt “safe in an immense crowd who appreciate us.”

Raied Al-Wazzan said he came to “tell all ethnic minorities that they are welcome in Belfast.” He said he had seen “a lot of hatred in the streets recently,” but on Saturday saw “a lot of love.”

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland director of Amnesty International UK, told Al Jazeera that protesters held the “biggest” anti-racism rally ever seen in Belfast to show that most people in the city are anti-racist and welcoming to migrants and minorities. He said authorities had not been sufficiently prepared for the violence.

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said Thursday that the rioting had created fear, with some people “intimidated” and “burned out of their houses by masked thugs on the basis of the colour of their skin.” He also said there were reports of people being stopped in cars and asked their nationality on the way to work, calling it “completely unacceptable.”