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

Origin and organization

According to Der Spiegel, PEGIDA's founder 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 Kurdistan Workers' Party (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. PEGIDA was founded in Dresden by a twelve-member group.

Lutz Bachmann, the son of a butcher, runs a PR agency in Dresden. He is the leader of the movement, 41 years old and has a "criminal record for, among other things, burglary, drunk driving and possession of cocaine", according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

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 citizens."

Political positions

Beginning on December 2014, PEGIDA published an undated and anonymous one-page manifesto of 19 bulleted position statements. 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. 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"). Point 13 argues for the protection of Germany's Judeo-Christian culture. Point 14 supports the introduction of referenda 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, for example Sharia courts, Sharia police and peace judges. In point 17 PEGIDA opposes gender mainstreaming, and political correctness. In point 18 PEGIDA opposes any radicalism whether religious or politically motivated. In point 19 PEGIDA opposes hate speech, regardless of religion.

Deutsche Welle writes that PEGIDA calls Islamism a misogynist and violent ideology.

Development

The first demonstration in October 2014 drew a handful of people". The movement began drawing public attention when its weekly Monday demonstrations 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. The demonstrations grew to 10,000 people on December 8 2014.

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. 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".

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. 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. A poll by the Spiegel found a similar result, 34 percent of Germans agreeing with PEGIDA protestors in that the influence of Islam in Germany is growing.

Contemporary context

In October 2014, violent clashes occurred between Kurdish and Salafist demonstrators, as well as demonstrations of Kurds together with the Antifa to arm the Kurdistan Workers' Party in Hamburg and Celle On October 26 at least 400 protesters went on a march in downtown Cologne during a demonstration by "Hooligans Against Salafists".

Reactions

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

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, later adding that the leaders of PEGIDA "have prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts.” 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. Bernd Lucke, the leader of the political party Alternative for Germany, considered most of the positions of PEGIDA to be legitimate. According to Lucke, the people taking part in these demonstrations did not feel that their concerns were being understood by politicians. Similarly, the Dresden city council fraction of the Alternative to Germany welcomed PEGIDA's weekly "walks".

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. PEGIDA has also been criticized by Lutheran clergy, including Bishop of Hamburg Kirsten Fehrs.

In protest against a PEGIDA march, Catholic Cologne Cathedral switched off the floodlights on the evening of January 5. Dresden's Volkswagen plant used the same method of protest.

German tabloid newspaper Bild launched a petition against PEGIDA, including former Chancellors Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schröder, as well as actress Karoline Herfurth and former footballer Oliver Bierhoff.

Results

Minister of Interior of Saxony Markus Ulbig (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) decided to create a police task force for criminal immigrants in Saxony which works faster together with the law of the state. Included is a section of the Spezialeinsatzkommando trained for storming buildings with armed persons. He meant especially that criminal foreigners would stay longer here or got even the nationality after criminal acts as inmates.His reason is that the police worked with the law too slowly in cases of criminal emigrants. Peoples lost the trust for the Saxon police. Emigrants protecting criminal emigrants in groups within asylums against a few policemen/policewomen on patrol, in the near of tourist attractions and families in flats in cultural heritage sites.

Symbols

Symbols that have been used at PEGIDA demonstrations are the German flag as well as the flag of Saxony, the flag of the Kingdom of Saxony and symbols of the Holy Roman Empire.

• Modern flag of the state of Saxony
• Flag proposed for Germany at the end of World War II
• Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor
• Coat of Arms of the Kings of Saxony
• German flag
• Flag of the Deutsche Burschenschaft

Footnotes

1. While the majority of English language sources use the term "West", a more precise translation of "Abendland" is the historic term "Occident".

References

1. "New demonstration stage in Europe". Youtube (in German). Ynterstella Creative Commons. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
2. "KURDEN DEMO DRESDEN". Youtube (in German). Lutz Bachmann. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
3. ^ SPIEGEL Staff (December 21, 2014). "The End of Tolerance? Anti-Muslim Movement Rattles Germany". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
4. a first statement http://www.webcitation.org/6VEcnZUfR
5. Kate Connolly (15 December 2014). "Estimated 15,000 people join 'pinstriped Nazis' on march in Dresden". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
6. ^ Smale, Alison (7 December 2014). "In German City Rich With History and Tragedy, Tide Rises Against Immigration". New York Times. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
7. Anonymous (10 December 2014). "Pegida Positionspapier" (PDF) (in German). www.menschen-in-dresden.de.
8. N., N. (12 December 2014). "Pegidisch für Anfänger" (in German). taz. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
9. ^ Knight, Ben (15 December 2014). "PEGIDA determining political debate in Germany". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
10. Gedziorowski, Lukas (15 December 2014). "Pegida wird Fragida" (in German). Journal Frankfurt. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
11. Honnigfort, Bernhard (15 December 2014). "Pegida veröffentlicht Positionspapier" (in German). Frankfurter Rundschau. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
12. ^ 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.
13. Stute, Dennis (7 December 2014). "Anti-Islamist protests with right-wing ties expand in Germany". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 9 December 2014.
14. ^ 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).
15. "One in 8 Germans would join anti-Muslim marches: poll". Der Spiegel. 1 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
16. "Demonstration in Dresden: Spezialeinheit Abendland". FAZ Net (in German). FAZ. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
17. Tiede, Peter (22 December 2014). "Evangelische Kirche Deutschlands Pegida ist unchristlich". http://www.webcitation.org/6V1UlCeJw (in German). Bild. Retrieved 23 December 2014. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
18. "Demo in Dresden bleibt friedlich – Teilnehmerzahl weit unter Erwartungen". DNN-Online (in German). DNN-Online. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
19. "Polizeieinsatz". http://www.polizei.sachsen.de/de/pdd.htm (in German). Polizei Sachsen. 23 December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
20. "Polizei Sachsen". http://www.polizei.sachsen.de/de/pdd.htm (in German). Polizei Sachsen. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
21. "Polizeieinsatz". http://www.polizei.sachsen.de/de/pdd.htm (in German). Polizei Sachsen. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
22. "Polizeieinsatz". http://www.polizei.sachsen.de/de/pdd.htm (in German). Polizei Sachsen. 1 December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
23. "Polizeieinsatz". http://www.polizei.sachsen.de/de/pdd.htm (in German). Polizei Sachsen. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
24. "Polizeieinsatz". http://www.polizei.sachsen.de/de/pdd.htm (in German). Polizei Sachsen. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
25. "Polizeieinsatz" (in German). Polizei Sachsen. 22 December 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
26. "Polizeieinsatz". http://www.polizei.sachsen.de/de/pdd.htm (in German). Polizei Sachsen. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015. {{cite web}}: External link in |website= (help)
27. "Kurds and Islamists brawl in Hamburg". TheLocal.de. The Local Europe GmbH. DPA. 8 October 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
28. "Kurds, ISIS Supporters Clash in Streets of Germany". Breitbart. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
29. Björn Hengst und Christoph Sydow (23 December 2014). "Anti-Pegida-Demos: Der Widerstand wächst". Der Spiegel (in German).
30. "Angela Merkel issues New Year's warning over rightwing Pegida group". The Guardian. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
31. vek, dpa (12 December 2014). "Protest-Märsche: De Maizière zeigt Verständnis für Pegida-Demonstranten". SPIEGEL Online. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
32. Hill, Jenny (16 December 2014). "Anti-Islam 'Pegida' march in German city of Dresden". BBC. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
33. Hugglet, Justin (10 December 2014). "German Eurosceptics embrace anti-Islam protests". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
34. 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.
35. "German Council of Jews chairman condemns "immensely dangerous" PEGIDA movement". Deutsche Welle. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
36. "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)
37. "Cologne Cathedral to turn out the lights in protest at anti-Muslim march". Reuters. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
38. ^ "Germany Pegida protests: 'Islamisation' rallies denounced". BBC News. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
39. Björn Hengst und Christoph Sydow (24 November 2014). "Pläne in Sachsen: Sondereinheit soll gegen straffällige Asylbewerber "durchgreifen"". Der Spiegel (in German).
40. Robert Kuhne (24 November 2014). "Innenminister Ulbig zur Asylpolitik". MOPO24 (in German).
41. "LIVE camera following PEGIDA's demo in Dresden". Youtube (in German). Ruply RT. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.

External links

• Official website

• Misplaced Pages articles needing copy edit from January 2015
• 2014 establishments in Germany
• Opposition to Islam in Germany
• Political organisations in Germany
• Dresden
• Acronyms