Thousands attend anti-racism rallies following unrest in Belfast

Thousands of people in Northern Ireland have rallied against anti-immigrant violence provoked by a stabbing in the capital Belfast.

Protesters on Saturday gathered outside Belfast City Hall with placards sporting slogans such as “Hate is the only threat to our streets” and “Belfast stands against racism”. An anti-racism rally was also held at Londonderry – widely known as Derry – city hall, reported the Belfast Telegraph.

Belfast saw two nights of public disorder and racist violence after video of Monday night’s knife attack – which showed a man straddling another lying in the street, slashing him with a knife – went viral across social media platforms.

Sudanese national Hadi Alodid appeared in court on Wednesday charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Ogilvie, who remains in hospital.

On Saturday, protester Hilary Hunter, 63, told the AFP news agency she was there because she was “just disgusted at what’s going on, our beautiful country”.

“Everybody’s here just to show that those people [anti-immigrant rioters] … causing all the problems aren’t speaking for us,” she said at the rally organised by the Unite Against Racism group.

Protesters held the “biggest” anti-racism rally ever seen in Belfast to impart a very simple and clear message, Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland director of Amnesty International UK, told Al Jazeera.

The message is that “despite the horrible scenes of racist violence we have seen in some parts of Belfast this week, the vast majority of people in Belfast are anti-racist, they are very welcoming to migrants and minorities who have come from other parts of the world [and] we want them to stay”, said Corrigan.