The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.61/No.6           February 10, 1997 
 
 
Activists Condemn Rightist Attack On London Bookshop  

BY MARTIN HILL
LONDON - The Pathfinder bookshop here was the object of an attack by rightist thugs on January 25. A plate glass window, valued at around 1,000 ($1,600), was damaged. The attack took place about 5 p.m., immediately following a march to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

"I heard three voices outside," said Darryl Hillgrove, who was staffing the shop at the time. "One of them said 'There's Gerry Adams,' " referring to the Sinn Fein leader, whose recently published autobiography, Before the Dawn, was one of the books displayed in the window. "Immediately after," said Hillgrove, "there was a bang on the window, which shattered." A large, empty paint can had been hurled at the window. The thugs ran off immediately.

The Pathfinder bookshop carries a range of books about the struggle for Irish freedom, including several by Gerry Adams, as well as other books by working-class and revolutionary leaders from around the world.

The bookshop makes its building available for meetings of the Militant Labor Forum. The building also houses the offices of Pathfinder Distribution and the Communist League. The Communist League was one of the groups that organized the London Bloody Sunday demonstration.

"This was an assault on the right of all working people to read what they want," said Celia Pugh, an engineering worker who is manager of the bookshop. "If these thugs think they will stop us selling books that tell the truth about Ireland, they are mistaken.

The same evening Paul Davies, a leader of the Communist League, was invited to explain the attack to several hundred people at a social held following the Bloody Sunday demonstration. He was applauded when he promised "This attack won't stop us selling Gerry Adams's book."

Following the attack, volunteers who staff the shop decided to organize to keep it open extra hours over the next two weeks, as well as stepping up campaigning in the area around the bookshop. The Pathfinder bookshop now plans to host a public meeting in defense of freedom of speech on February 7. Volunteers who kept the shop open the following Monday reported a good response from those they told about the rightist attack. A man who stopped by to buy a copy of Blacks in America's Wars promised to watch the shop whenever he drives past. "If me and my friends spot anyone causing damage, we'll be out of the car in seconds," he promised.

Donations to help replace the window can be sent to Pathfinder Bookshop, 47 The Cut, London SE1 8LL  
 
 
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