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Dresden police brace for march of the ‘pinstriped Nazis’ Estimated 15,000 people join ‘pinstriped nazis’ on march in Dresden
(about 7 hours later)
Its members have been dubbed the “pinstriped Nazis” and they take pride in the law-abiding nature of their demonstrations, referring to them as “evening strolls” though German cities. But the Pegida, or “Patriotic Europeans Against Islamisation of the West”, a nascent anti-foreigner campaign group, is growing in stature week by week and sparking concern among German officials. Its members have been dubbed the “pinstriped nazis” and they refer to their demonstrations as “evening strolls” through German cities. But on Monday night, an estimated 15,000 people joined Pegida, or Patriotic Europeans Against Islamisation of the West, in a march through Dresden carrying banners bearing slogans such as “Zero tolerance towards criminal asylum seekers”, “Protect our homeland” and “Stop the Islamisation”.
Thousands of police will be out in force in Dresden in the eastern German state of Saxony on Monday evening, when the Pegida takes its protest on to the streets for the ninth week in a row. Its first march, advertised on Facebook and other social media, attracted just 200 supporters. By last week the figure had risen to 10,000 and by Monday night it is estimated the group will have grown by at least another 2,000. Lutz Bachmann, the head of Pegida, a nascent anti-foreigner campaign group, led the crowds, either waving or draped in German flags, in barking chants of “Wir sind das Volk”, or “We are the people”, the slogan adopted by protesters in the historic “Monday demonstrations” against the East German government in the runup to the fall of the Berlin Wall.
“They have a very subtle and opprobrious strategy for fomenting xenophobia,” Ralf Jäger, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, told Welt am Sontag. “We have to unmask these rabble-rousers.” Associating themselves with the freedom demonstrations has given Pegida protests an air of moral respectability even though there are hundreds of rightwing extremists in their midst, as well as established groups of hooligans who are known to the police, according to Germany’s federal office for the protection of the constitution.
The chancellor, Angela Merkel, has condemned the group, saying: “There is no place in Germany for Islamophobia or antisemitism, hatred of foreigners or racism.” “The instigators are unmistakably rightwing extremists,” a federal spokesman said.
But the group’s growing presence has presented politicians with a dilemma over how to uncouple the strong neo-Nazi element believed to form the core of the protests from ordinary Germans with grievances against the government, who make up the bulk of the protesters. It was the ninth week in a row that Pegida had taken its protest on to the city’s streets in the eastern German state of Saxony.
Almost two-thirds of Germans, according to a poll for news magazine Spiegel by the TNS institute, believe Merkel’s government is not doing enough to address concerns about immigration and asylum seekers, and 34% think Germany is enduring a process of “Islamisation”. Its first march, advertised on Facebook and other social media, attracted just 200 supporters. By last week the figure had risen to 10,000. By Monday night it had grown to an estimated 15,000.
The protesters themselves have been advised not to speak to the media. “Muslims are plotting to infect our food chain with their excrement,” said a man in his 60s, who refused to give his name.
Instead, they walk through German cities, most prominently Dresden, chanting “Wir sind das Volk,” or “We are the people,” the phrase used by the demonstrators whose peaceful protests over several months in 1989 culminated in the fall of the Berlin wall. The Pegida protesters have also chosen to call their after-work rallies Montagsdemos or Monday demonstrations, just like those who gathered 25 years ago. Another, a middle-aged woman in a red leather jacket, said she was shocked that “asylum seekers in Germany have expensive mobile phones, while I cannot afford such luxury and others still cannot afford to eat properly”.
Associating themselves with the freedom demonstrations has given the Pegida protests a huge moral boost even though there are hundreds of rightwing extremists in their midst, as well as established groups of hooligans who are known to the police, according to Germany’s federal office for the protection of the constitution. While avoiding blatantly racist slogans, some told the Guardian of their angst over the “demise of the West” due to the rise of Islam or voiced their distaste of salafists and homosexuals in the same breath, or decried the recent decision by local politicians to increase the number of homes for asylum seekers. One group, knocking back bottles of the local beer, talked openly of their fears of what they call ‘fecal Jihad’.
“The instigators are unmistakably rightwing extremists,” a spokesman said. Mario Lupo, a 40-year-old tourist from Milan, was among the onlookers sipping glühwein at Germany’s oldest Christmas market, the Striezelmarkt.
Led by Lutz Bachmann, a 41-year-old butcher’s son who runs a PR agency, the Pegida has spawned clones across Germany. Legida is the name of the Leipzig branch, Bogida the Bonn branch, while in Darmstadt it is known as Dagida. “We came here for the romance and joviality of the Christmas markets,” he said. “We expected some light-hearted carousing appropriate to this time of year, but didn’t expect to stumble upon these rabble-rousers and police in riot gear.”
Among the groups taking part, according to the police, were two soccer hooligan organisations already known to the police called ‘Faust des Ostens’ (Fist of the East) and Hooligans Elbflorenz (Florence of the Elbe Hooligans), as well as members of the National Democratic Party (NPD). Alongside them were old and young men and women, including families with children in pushchairs, many of whom said they had no political affiliation.
At one of two counter-demonstrations taking place elsewhere in the city centre, participants were keen to counteract the negative publicity the city of Dresden – usually better known for its splendid baroque architecture than its politics – has been receiving of late.
Its participants held banners reading ‘Act against the Right’ and ‘Nazis, no thanks’. The leader of the Green party, Cem Özdemir, who took part in the counter-protest, told the Guardian: “Being in a party whose members took part in the 1989 Monday demos, I take great umbrage at the abuse of the slogan used back then, ‘Wir sind das Volk’.
“We need to be permanently vigilant to ensure that Germany stays as open-minded as it had become in recent years and the government needs to ensure that it doesn’t take for granted that the far right will not make ground.”
Pegida’s growing presence has presented politicians with a dilemma over how to uncouple the strong neo-nazi element believed to form the core of the protests from ordinary Germans with grievances against the government, who make up the bulk of the protesters.
Almost two-thirds of Germans, according to a poll for news magazine Spiegel by the TNS institute, believe that Angela Merkel’s government is not doing enough to address concerns about immigration and asylum seekers, and 34% think Germany is enduring a process of “Islamisation”.
The chancellor had earlier warned that a right to demonstrate did not extend to “rabble-rousing and defamation” against foreigners.
Merkel said that those participating in the protests should “take care not to be exploited” by radical elements trying to tap into fears of a foreigner takeover in Germany.
Led by Bachmann, a 41-year-old butcher’s son who runs a PR agency, Pegida has spawned clones across Germany. Legida is the name of the Leipzig branch, Bogida the Bonn branch, while in Darmstadt it is known as Dagida.
At a recent rally in Dresden, Bachmann’s hometown, he told his followers that while asylum seekers enjoyed luxury accommodation, many impoverished German pensioners were “unable to even afford a single slice of Stollen” (German Christmas cake).At a recent rally in Dresden, Bachmann’s hometown, he told his followers that while asylum seekers enjoyed luxury accommodation, many impoverished German pensioners were “unable to even afford a single slice of Stollen” (German Christmas cake).
Bachmann, who has a criminal record for burglary, for which he was sentenced to over three years in prison, and a conviction for drug possession, has claimed he is an insignificant part of the Pegida. “I’m just a small cog in a much bigger wheel,” he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung in a rare interview. Bachmann, who has a criminal record for burglary, for which he was sentenced to over three years in prison, and a conviction for drug possession, has claimed he is an insignificant part of Pegida.
But political scientists have said the group’s presentation of itself as a harmless protest movement is what makes it so insidious. “Something quite new is brewing here,” said Hajo Funke, a researcher into rightwing extremism at the Free University in Berlin. “We haven’t seen rudiments like these of an extreme rightwing inspired mass movement for years”. He said even the group’s name was incendiary. “It’s nothing short of a veritable call to arms by far-right populists,” which, he said, triggered comparisons to Third Reich propaganda. “I’m just a small cog in a much bigger wheel,” he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung in a rare interview.
Marchers, many waving the German flag and holding banners condemning “criminal asylum seekers”, typically include hardcore neo-Nazis, as well as supporters of a small but growing anti-euro party, the Alternative for Germany. Participants are young and old, male and female, and often families with young children. If they speak to journalists, they voice their discontent at the high cost of living and lack of employment opportunities or low wages and shrinking pensions and cite the burden on Germany of foreigners as the reason, even though foreign-born residents make up just 2.2% of the population of Saxony, and Muslim citizens just 0.4%. But political scientists have said the group’s presentation of itself as a harmless protest movement is what makes it so insidious.
But across Germany resentment over a sharp rise in the number of refugees seeking political asylum in Germany, many from war-torn countries including Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq, has grown in recent months. Last Friday, a newly refurbished home for asylum seekers in Nuremberg in southern Germany was badly damaged in an suspected xenophobic arson attack. Anti-foreigner slogans and swastikas were found daubed on the walls. “Something quite new is brewing here,” said Hajo Funke, a researcher into rightwing extremism at the Free University in Berlin. “We haven’t seen rudiments like these of an extreme rightwing inspired mass movement for years”.
Organisers of a counter-demonstration in Dresden, which attracted as many supporters as Pegida’s protest last week and presented the police with the challenge of how to keep the two angry sides apart, said it planned to come out in force on Monday evening. Funke said that even the group’s name was incendiary. “It’s nothing short of a veritable call to arms by far-right populists,” he said, suggesting that the message triggered comparisons to Third Reich propaganda.
“We will show once again this Monday that despite the shadows, this city also has a very bright side. We want to send a strong signal that we’re a society that is open-minded towards the whole world,” the organisation, Dresden Stellt Sich Quer (Dresden Defends Itself), said. But across Germany resentment over a sharp rise in the number of refugees seeking political asylum in Germany, many from war-torn countries including Syria, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq, has grown in recent months.
Last Friday, a newly refurbished home for asylum seekers in Nuremberg in southern Germany was badly damaged in an suspected xenophobic arson attack. Anti-foreigner slogans and swastikas were found daubed on the walls.