Unmasked, VERY middle class mob that stormed Churchill cafe
WHAT THE STUDENTS’ UNION SAID... ‘The
cafe exercises a concerted historical amnesia of British colonialism, which is offensive to those who continue to experience institutional racism
... AND THE CAFE OWNER’S RESPONSE...
Behind the counter we have Jewish girls, a Muslim Turk and an Australian ... when they walk in and scare them, it’s real people they’re scaring
‘Students should be able to debate’
THE middle class backgrounds of the hard-Left student mob who stormed a Churchill-themed café can be revealed today.
A junior doctor, the son of a headmistress with an OBE and the daughter of an academic were among the 14 activists who protested on Saturday.
Staff – who include Jewish and Muslim workers – say they were terrified when the demonstrators burst in to the Blighty UK café shouting Marxist slogans and denouncing Britain’s wartime leader as a ‘racist’.
The students, who were led by members of London’s School of African Studies (SOAS), were later accused of behaving like ‘fascist thugs’ themselves for their heavy-handed behaviour.
They were branded ‘puerile and ignorant’ for denouncing the man who saved Britain from fascism. But their students’ union simply issued a statement of ‘solidarity’ with Halimo Hussein, who led the protest in Finsbury, North London.
The widely-mocked statement posted on the union’s Facebook page even branded Churchill a ‘war criminal’. It said: ‘The protest involved reading out sections of Heathcote William’s poem Great Britain’s Greatest Beast followed by chanting “Churchill was a racist”. The cafe exercises a concerted historical amnesia of British colonialism, which is offensive to those who continue to experience institutional racism.
‘The protest was targeted at the owner, calling for them to change the decorations and imagery of the cafes – and to the customer to boycott until the owner takes these actions.’
The statement also denounced reports in the Press – including the Daily Mail – about the demonstration.
It added: ‘The SOAS students’ union continues to fight against colonialism and all manifestations of it. We echo the protesters in their statement on Saturday, “You will never make colonialism palatable”.’
The union also said one of its ‘educational priorities’ this year was to ‘decolonise the education and the institution’.
Protester Nisha Phillips, who shared the statement on Facebook, is an officer in the student union. Her mother Sango Mahanty is listed as an associate professor of the Australian National University in Canberra.
Earlier this month, the academic praised her daughter’s ‘passion for justice’ on Facebook. Also taking part were Hamish Anderson, who grew up in a £700,000 home in Northumbria. His mother, a headmistress, was awarded the OBE. Activist Timesh Pillay, 28, is a junior doctor who works at a hospital in West London.
After the protest, police attended the café, which boasts a life-size Churchill figure, Union Flags, model Spitfires and a World War II air raid shelter, and viewed a video of the demonstration. Café owner Chris Evans yesterday: ‘Behind the counter we have Jewish English girls, a Muslim Turk and an Australian... When they walk in and scare them, it’s real people they are scaring.
‘They should email with their concerns, not jump on the bandwagon. The strange thing about the ringleader is she used to be a customer.’ Mr Evans said he was trying to contact the people leading the protests, adding: ‘I want to talk to them about what it means to live in modern day Blighty and how can we celebrate our history and be respect- ful to the multicultural society. They’re students, they should be able to debate.’
He has already scrapped a giant mural of Churchill after it was repeatedly daubed with graffiti branding the wartime prime minister ‘scum’, a ‘warmonger’ and ‘imperialist’ in apparently unrelated protests.
Café manager Kamuran Tekin, 36, who is from Turkey, added: ‘No one has complained before. I knew [Churchill] was a war hero. We celebrate the Commonwealth.’
The student union statement was ridiculed online. Tim Rigby said: ‘Do you morons realise you’d have no right to protest without Churchill?’ Joseph Rutter accused the protesters of behaving like ‘fascist thugs’ themselves. Ironically Jeremy Corbyn has himself been a customer at the café, and even been pictured beside its owner.
Yesterday Tory MP Jack Lopresti treated two of his assistants to the cafe’s ‘Winston full English breakfast’ in a show of solidarity with staff.
He told MailOnline: ‘I wanted to support [the cafe] and sample what they have. I think the place is great. Sir Winston Churchill is a hero of mine – he deserves our respect and gratitude.’