Pegida

Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes (PEGIDA, in English: "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident") is a German anti-immigration movement based in Dresden, known since October 2014 for organizing public demonstrations against what it considers the Islamization of Europe.

The group is headed by Lutz Bachmann, PEGIDA drew public attention when its demonstrations drew increasing numbers of participants, up to a record 7,500 people on 7 December 2014 in Dresden, where several hundred counter-demonstrators were also present.

At its weekly demonstrations, patterned on the Monday demonstrations that helped bring down the East German regime, PEGIDA carries banners with slogans including "For the preservation of our culture", "Against religious fanaticism" and "Against religious wars on German soil." Commentators have attributed the success of PEGIDA to a widespread dissatisfaction with immigration to Europe, which has aided the ascent of right-wing and far-right movements such as the Front National in other European countries.

PEGIDA broke records again on 15th December after more than 15,000 gathered in support of the organization in the city of Dresden. They had however faced a counter-demonstration from an unorganized group of people numbering some 3,000, which had to be separated by almost 1,000 Bundespolizei officers. German Chancellor, Angela Merkel supported Maas' claim further nothing ""Of course there's freedom to demonstrate in Germany, but it's not place for agitation and defamation against people who come to us from other countries." while speaking in a press conference in Berlin. Negativity towards the party has also been expressed from some members of the Social Democratic Party.

This is in contrast to Bernd Lucke of Alternative for Germany, who went in support of PEGIDA demonstrations saying "Most of their demands are legitimate."

External links

• Official website