A series of Islamophobic protests occurred over the weekend of 9-11 October as part of a “global day against Islam”.

Each racist demonstration – in Sydney, Hobart, Perth and Bendigo – was met with an important anti-racist mobilisation.

In Sydney, anti-Islam groups declared their intent to “bulldoze” the Parramatta mosque on Friday night. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, about 15 such fanatics and one dog attended. They were confronted by 150 anti-racist and Muslim activists.

In Hobart, the United Patriots Front (UPF), one of the more active of the Islamophobic fascist grouplets, called a demonstration in Franklin Square. It attracted only 10 people. An opposing group, Tasmania Welcomes Diversity, outnumbered the racists five to one.

In Perth the anti-racists had a similar victory. Reclaim Australia and the UPF letterboxed for a demonstration in the city centre, but managed to attract only 40 or so people.

But it was in Bendigo, the Victorian goldfields town, where the most significant showdown occurred. A campaign against the planned building of a mosque has become the lightning rod for Islamophobes and fascists across the country.

They claim that the mosque will bring with it sharia law, the banning of Christmas and an enforced wearing of the burqa in the town. Local councillors have grouped around them a Victoria-wide grassroots racist campaign: a motley crew consisting of the UPF, the Q society, Reclaim Australia and the Catch the Fire ministry. Their campaign has involved demonstrations, the storming of a local council meeting and the bullying and harassment of anti-racist councillors and activists.

In response, there has been a campaign to defend the mosque. “Believe in Bendigo” has held picnics for diversity and has put yellow balloons up around the town to demonstrate support for Muslims. A more radical group, the Bendigo Action Coalition (BAC), has also formed. It insists that the fascists need to be confronted on the streets when they mobilise.

This group of dedicated locals worked tirelessly for weeks to organise a counter-protest to the racists. They were supported by Melbourne activists from the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism.

In the end, the racist and anti-racist mobilisations were relatively evenly sized, each attracting hundreds.

It hasn’t been easy sailing for the activists arguing for counter-rallies. BAC activists have not only had to deal with intimidation from the fascists, but also with a campaign of, as one local put it, “aggressive passivity”. The argument has come up, time and again, that the best way of dealing with the UPF and the Islamophobes is just to ignore them and they will go away.

This kind of talk is foolish. Islamophobia exists because the Western states require some justification for their wars in the Middle East and increasingly draconian surveillance laws. Islamophobia is propagated in the media, in academia and through polite society.

Thug shock troops like those in the UPF are one of the logical outcomes. If this fascist movement is given space, it will grow. We need a movement that is prepared to confront it. To abandon the streets for an education campaign, or for peaceful picnics in parks, will give the fascists greater confidence to rally in public spaces.

For example, in Melbourne the fascists were significantly outnumbered on three occasions. They were sent packing and demoralised. That is the reason they call protests in Bendigo.

As Bendigo activist Tash Joyce told Red Flag: “At school I was always told to just ignore the bullies. And I did. And it worked. They stopped picking on me because they weren’t getting attention any more. And you know what? They just found some other poor bastard to beat up. Ignoring it won’t make it stop – it’ll just shift the shit onto someone else, solving nothing. Someone is still going to get bullied”.

The hard core fascists try to attract more respectable, softer racists around them. Protests on the street that call out the UPF for what they are – fascists – helps to break away these softer ranks. Such a dynamic has historical and international precedent.

As Jess Cola from the Bendigo Action Coalition said, “The situation in Europe reveals that unless we confront these racists while they dwell on the fringes, they will grow”.