They Did Not Pass! 80th Anniversary Of The Battle Of Cable Street!

Today there will be a march and rally to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cable Street in London’s East End when the working class rose up to stop Oswald Mosley’s 3,000 fascist Blackshirts marching through Whitechapel.

The commemorative march will begin at 12 noon from Whitechapel’s Altab Ali Park to the rally in Cable Street itself, at the green next to the old St George’s Town Hall. Cable Street turned the tide of pre-war public opinion when support for fascism in Britain began to decline. Mosley’s planned march from Tower Hill through Whitechapel was seen as provocation against the East End’s largely Jewish community.

The government of the day refused to ban it—so over 200,000 protesters packed Gardiner’s Corner junction in Whitechapel High Street. A tram driver even abandoned his double-decker in the middle of the street to block the march. Max Levitas, who is now 101 years young and a veteran of the battle will speak at the rally; throughout his life Max has fought for social justice and peace. The recent xenophobic and repellent Tory Party conference reminded me of the Tory Party of the 1930s so I look forward to listening to the wise words of Max today!

Here are some photographs of Max (it’s been an honour to know him), together with photographs I took on the 50th anniversary march and celebration in Stepney Green 30 years ago. The march went from Brick lane, down Bethnal Green Road, Cambridge Heath Road, Mile End Road and into Stepney Green. If you are in any of these photographs I would be interested if you have any memories of the day.

I would be very grateful if anyone could let me know who the speaker is (above) in this photograph.

You can watch a film I made with Hazuan Hashim about the Battle Of Cable Street here:

From Cable Street To Brick Lane