ANTI-ISLAM campaigners have been locked in a bitter row with Muslims and anti-fascists ahead of a planned 9/11 protest.

Stop the Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), which has a number of branches on the continent, is organising the demonstration outside Harrow Central Mosque but has been accused of racism over its beliefs.

A Facebook event hosted by the English Defence League (EDL) and Casuals United, who are also attending the rally, has been peppered with criticism and there have also been threats of violence against them on the day.

SIOE's moto is: “Racism is the lowest form of stupidity. Islamophobia is the height of common sense,” and members say they do not believe in moderate Muslims.

Stephen Gash, of SIOE, says Islamaphobia is not racist and accuses the western media of being biased, selectively failing to report immoral acts he claims have been committed by Muslims around the world.

He claims to have rejected openly racist groups like Combat 18.

Sarah Cox, 72, of Unite Against Fascism (UAF), said: “They claim they are not racist in that they are not against people because of the colour of their skin but because of their religion.

“But given that a lot of people who come from Islamic backgrounds may not be particularly religious but identify themselves as Muslim for cultural reasons it's as racist as the antisemitism of the Nazis.

“It's a form of irrational discrimination.”

UAF and the EDF clashed in Birmingham on August 10 and there are fears there could be violence in Harrow on September 11, when both groups plan to protest.

EDF and Casuals United are made up of football supporters and some say many are football hooligans.

Bill Baker organised a protest outside the mosque on August 29 which was cancelled after the religious institution categorically denied allegations members planned to hold Sharia Court meetings.

He said: “The protesters are looking for a reaction. There's no political points that they can score from it.

“All they are going to do is turn people who are against Sharia Law against them, and it will show them to be the thugs that they are. That's football hooligans for you I'm afraid.”

He added: “A lot of these people are aged between 18 and 21. They've got the brains of rocking horses some of them.”

The police say the groups will only get 15 to 20 people to turn up but around 165 have said they will definitely attend on social networking website Facebook.

Someone with the name Nick Griffin, who is displaying a British National Party (BNP) logo as their profile picture, has been sent a Facebook invitation and says they might be attending.

Mr Gash, who said he expected turn out to be around 60 people, told the Harrow Times the BNP were not welcome at the rally and would be told to leave if they arrived.

He said the EDF and Casuals United were for more “boisterous” people and said as long as they did not behave like football hooligans he was happy for them to attend.

He said: “I didn't see any violence at the protest in Birmingham. If they do the same things as in that demonstration I will not have a problem with them.”

He is encouraging them to turn up with anti-BNP flags.

SIOE claims to have the backing of an array of non-white groups around the world, including people Mr Gash says are victims at the hands of Muslims.

For a Democratic, Secular Iran is also said to be attending.

Local branches of the UAF, from Brent and Harrow, are newly formed specifically to tackle this issue and include members of traditional left wing groups including trade unions.

Both sides say they intend to protest peacefully and UAF say they do not believe the anti-Islam protest will go ahead.

But if both events do take place the police will be there.

Chief Superintendent Dal Babu, borough commander for Harrow, said: “We are confident that we are able to deal with any issues that come to our attention and we ask that you remain calm and confident in our ability to deal with them.”