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Pegida

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Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes (PEGIDA, in English: "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident" i.e., the West[note 1]) is a German political movement based in Dresden. It has been organizing public demonstrations since October 2014 against what it considers to be the Islamization of Europe, aimed at the German government.

Origin and development

Triggering events were the October 2014 street battles in Hamburg[1] and Celle[2] between Kurds and Salafists, as well as demonstrations of Kurds together with the Antifa to arm the PKK.[citation needed] On October 26 at least 400 right-wing extremists went on a rampage in downtown Cologne during a demonstration by "Hooligans Against Salafists".[3][4]

According to Der Spiegel, Lutz Bachmann has said that the impetus for his movement was a walk through Dresden's post-Socialist Prager Strasse shopping district, witnessing a rally by supporters of the Kurdish Workers' Party, or PKK, which opposes the ISIS militants in Syria and Iraq. His reaction was to start a Facebook group, primarily to oppose arms shipments to the PKK.[3] PEGIDA was founded in Dresden by a twelve-member group and demonstrates against a policy that aligns mainly in recent years to minorities and thereby ignores the common people.[5][failed verification] The first demonstration in October drew a handful of people".[3] The movement began drawing public attention when its weekly Monday demonsrations started to attract larger numbers of people. Among 7,500 participants on December 1, the police counted 80 to 120 people from the hooligan scene and 25 from the right-wing environment. The demonstrations grew to 10,000 people on December 8.[6][4] During weekly demonstrations, PEGIDA carries banners with slogans including "For the preservation of our culture", "Against religious fanaticism" and "Against religious wars on German soil".[7]

Commentators have attributed the success of PEGIDA to widespread dissatisfaction with European immigration policies amidst an increasing alienation toward the political elites and the mainstream media.[8] A poll of 1,006 people by Forsa Institute for the German magazine Stern found 13 percent would attend an anti-Muslim march nearby and that 29 percent believed that the marches were justified because Islam was having such an influence on life in Germany.[9] A poll by the Spiegel found a similar result, 34 percent of Germans agreeing with PEGIDA protestors in that Germany is becoming increasingly Islamicized.[3]

Political positions

Beginning of December 2014, PEGIDA published an undated and anonymous one-page manifesto of 19 bulleted position statements.[10] The first point affirms the right of asylum for war refugees and politically persecuted people. The second point advocates to include a duty to integrate into the German Basic Law. Point 3 advocates for decentralized housing of refugees, point 4 suggests creation of a central refugee agency for a fair allocation of immigrants among countries of the European Union. Point 5 demands a decrease in ratio of social worker to asylum seeker from currently 200:1. Point 6 suggests to model German immigration policies after those of the Netherlands and Switzerland and demands an increased budget for the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees to speed up processing of applications. Point 7 demands an increase in funding for the police, point 8 for implementation of all asylum laws including expulsion. Point 9 mentions zero tolerance towards criminal refugees and immigrants. Point 10 states that PEGIDA opposes a misogynic and violent political ideology, but does not oppose assimilated and politically moderate Muslims.[11]. Point 11 supports immigration as in Switzerland, Canada, Australia and South Africa. Point 12 states that PEGIDA supports sexual self-determination (opposing "early sexualization of children")[12]. Point 13 argues for the protection of Germany's Judeo-Christian culture. Point 14 supports the introduction of referendum as in Switzerland. Point 15 opposes weapon export to radical and non permitted groups, such as the PKK. Point 16 opposes parallel societies/parallel jurisdictions, as for example Sharia-courts, Sharia-Police, peace judges. In point 17 PEGIDA opposes gender mainstreaming, and political correctness. In 18 PEGIDA opposes any radicalism whether religious or politically motivated. In point 19 PEGIDA opposes hate speech, no matter which religion.[13]

Deutsche Welle writes that PEGIDA calls Islamism a misogynist and violent ideology.[14][12]

Symbols

Mostly used symbol is the Saxony flag, German flag and the Kingdom of Saxony flag or symbols of the Holy Roman Empire.[15]

  • Modern Saxony flag
    Modern Saxony flag
  • Proposed new Germany flag
    Proposed new Germany flag
  • HRE
    HRE
  • Kingdom of Saxony
    Kingdom of Saxony
  • Germany flag
    Germany flag

Organization

Lutz Bachmann, a 41-year-old from Dresden is the leader of the movement, per the Sydney Morning Herald. He is a butcher’s son who runs a PR agency.[16] Pegida has spawned clones across Germany. Legida is the name of the Leipzig branch, Bogida the Bonn branch, and in Darmstadt it is known as Dagida.[6]

According to Frank Richter, director of Saxony’s state office for political education "we are dealing with a mixed group — known figures from the National Democratic Party of Germany, soccer hooligans, but also a sizable number of ordinary burghers."[4]

Reactions

Demonstration against PEGIDA in Munich, December 22, 2014.

Numerous protests against PEGIDA and affiliated movements in cities across Germany drew up to 12,000 demonstrators in December 2014.[17][8]

Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized PEGIDA, saying that while everyone had the right to voice their opinion freely, there was no place in Germany for agitation against immigrants.[6] Later adding that the leaders of PEGIDA "have prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts.”[18] The Federal Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière said that among the participants of the mass rallies were many ordinary people who expressed their concerns about the challenges of today's society.[19] Bernd Lucke, the leader of the political party Alternative for Germany, considered most of the positions of PEGIDA to be legitimate.[20] According to Lucke, the people taking part in these demonstrations did not feel that their concerns were being understood by politicians.[21] Similarly, the Dresdxen city council fraction of the Alternative to Germany welcomed PEGIDA's weekly "walks".[22]

Josef Schuster, chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, voiced his opposition to the group, saying that the possibility of an Islamic conquest of Germany would be as "absurd" as a resurrection of the Nazi regime.[23] PEGIDA has also been criticized by Lutheran clergy, including Bishop of Hamburg Kirsten Fehrs.[24]

In protest to a PEGIDA march, Catholic Cologne Cathedral wants to switch off the floodlights on the evening of January 5.[25]

Footnotes

  1. ^ The majority of reliable English language sources use the term "West"

References

  1. ^ "Kurds and Islamists brawl in Hamburg". TheLocal.de. The Local Europe GmbH. DPA. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Kurds, ISIS Supporters Clash in Streets of Germany". Breitbart. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d SPIEGEL Staff (December 21, 2014). "The End of Tolerance? Anti-Muslim Movement Rattles Germany". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  4. ^ a b c Smale, Alison (7 December 2014). "In German City Rich With History and Tragedy, Tide Rises Against Immigration". New York Times. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  5. ^ a first statement http://www.webcitation.org/6VEcnZUfR
  6. ^ a b c Kirschbaum, Erik (16 December 2014). "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West quickly gathering support in Germany". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  7. ^ Stute, Dennis (7 December 2014). "Anti-Islamist protests with right-wing ties expand in Germany". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
  8. ^ a b von Altenbockum, Jasper (19 December 2014). "Politisch heimatlos". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 18 December 2014. Cite error: The named reference "FAZ" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ "One in 8 Germans would join anti-Muslim marches: poll". Der Spiegel. 1 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  10. ^ Anonymous (10 December 2014). "Pegida Positionspapier" (PDF) (in German). www.menschen-in-dresden.de.
  11. ^ N., N. (12 December 2014). "Pegidisch für Anfänger" (in German). taz. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  12. ^ a b Knight, Ben (15 December 2014). "PEGIDA determining political debate in Germany". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  13. ^ Gedziorowski, Lukas (15 December 2014). "Pegida wird Fragida" (in German). Journal Frankfurt. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  14. ^ Honnigfort, Bernhard (15 December 2014). "Pegida veröffentlicht Positionspapier" (in German). Frankfurter Rundschau. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  15. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI3P1HUB9UY
  16. ^ Kate Connolly (15 December 2014). "Estimated 15,000 people join 'pinstriped Nazis' on march in Dresden". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  17. ^ Björn Hengst und Christoph Sydow (23 December 2014). "Anti-Pegida-Demos: Der Widerstand wächst". Der Spiegel (in German).
  18. ^ "Angela Merkel issues New Year's warning over rightwing Pegida group". The Guardian. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
  19. ^ vek, dpa (12 December 2014). "Protest-Märsche: De Maizière zeigt Verständnis für Pegida-Demonstranten". SPIEGEL Online. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  20. ^ Hill, Jenny (16 December 2014). "Anti-Islam 'Pegida' march in German city of Dresden". BBC. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  21. ^ Hugglet, Justin (10 December 2014). "German Eurosceptics embrace anti-Islam protests". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  22. ^ AfD-Fraktion, Dresden (20. November 2014). "Erklärung der AfD-Fraktion im Stadtrat der Landeshauptstadt Dresden zu den Demonstrationen von PEGIDA" (in German). AfD. Retrieved 5 January 2015. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ "German Council of Jews chairman condemns "immensely dangerous" PEGIDA movement". Deutsche Welle. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  24. ^ "Bischof will ehrlichen Dialog mit Muslimen über IS". Die Welt (in German). 24 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "Cologne Cathedral to turn out the lights in protest at anti-Muslim march". Reuters. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
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