Germans rally against rising tide of xenophobia and racism (LIVE BLOG)

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GLOBALPOST LIVE BLOG: IMMIGRATION RALLIES IN GERMANY

UPDATE: 01/06/15 4:00 PM ET

Signing off

This live blog is now closed.

UPDATE: 01/06/15 3:49 PM ET

The role of the Christian clergy 

The Washington Post's Ishaan Tharoor describes how the Christian clergy showed support for the counter-protests:

In his New Year's Eve sermon, Cologne's Roman Catholic archbishop used the occasion to call for solidarity with refugees. ... "It is not us in wealthy Europe who have a refugee problem, but the poor neighboring countries of the crisis regions," said Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki.

UPDATE: 01/06/15 2:45 PM ET

An anti-PEGIDA protester's perspective

Anna Fleischer, a project officer at the political consultancy firm elbarlament in Berlin, participated in an anti-PEGIDA rally in the German capital. PEGIDA, which stands for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West in English, is the group organizing anti-Islam protests across Germany. GlobalPost talked to Fleischer about why she joined the counter demonstration, and what the dual protests signify for Germany.

What inspired you to join the movement?

I joined the anti "Bärgida" (the local wing of the PEGIDA protest) in Berlin. I wanted to take a stand for a multicultural, tolerant Germany.

It has been troubling watching the PEGIDA protests grow in numbers in Dresden, so when I heard that there was going to be a similar protest in Berlin, I had to be there to show my opposition to it. I think it's crucial that the majority of Germans, who usually do not protest, speak up publicly against this movement.

What are some of the key issues that led to the anti-Islam protests, and how are they shaping the immigration debate in Germany?

In my opinion, the anti-Islam protests are an expression of the latent, daily racism we see in Germany. Fear of the other and ignorance shaped this image of Islam. In Dresden, where the PEGIDA protests are the largest, there are less than one percent of Muslims in the city's population.

So it is clear that this fear and opposition to Islam is not shaped by a confrontation with it, but rather by a racist and nationalist sentiment. The immigration debate in Germany has been revolving heavily around immigrants from the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe.

Generally, immigration is not treated with the necessary urgency in the media and by politicians. Germans largely still believe that immigration hurts our country rather than helping it, so this sentiment is also being expressed in these protests.

In terms of demographics, how similar or different are the two protest groups?

To this I can't really speak, because no real research has been done, but it appears that both groups are very mixed in terms of age and demographics. I can only speak about the protest I joined yesterday and there the majority of people were young (on average 35 I would say) and peaceful. I felt that many were not activists or people who usually join protests.

What is next for the counter-protest movement? Are there other rallies planned in the coming days?

Yes, more protests are planned. I hope that not only activists will participate but also everyone from the midst of society who supports tolerance and freedom. It is crucial that we take a stand and show the world that this is not the majority of Germans.

UPDATE: 01/06/15 1:34 PM ET

The current status of immigration in Germany

This Christian Science Monitor piece on the protests in Germany has some important details on Germany's immigration situation:

Germany has seen a surge in asylum applications, including from war-torn Syria. And Germany has let the refugees – and many other foreigners – in. Germany is one of the most tolerant nations in Europe, according to this year’s Transatlantic Trends survey at the German Marshall Fund of the US. It had the highest percentage of respondents, for example, willing to have less restrictive refugee policies, at 31 percent.

UPDATE: 01/06/15 12:38 PM ET

Snapshots of the demonstrations

via Al Jazeera:

UPDATE: 01/06/15 11:49 AM ET

Merkel's response to the protests

This piece by CNBC's Holly Ellyatt sheds light on what the demonstrations could mean for German Chancellor Angela Merkel:

The Pegida phenomenon will be concerning Merkel, according to Open Europe's Swilicki, who said it was interesting to note that she had adopted a confrontational stance with the movement rather than trying to reach out to the protesters.

UPDATE: 01/06/15 11:05 AM ET

Time to crack down on 'Islamophobia,' Erdogan tells EU

Agence France-Presse — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned the European Union it should crack down on Islamophobia amid rising anti-Muslim protests rather than "trying to teach a lesson" to Turkey.

Erdogan told Turkey's ambassadors posted abroad in a speech in Ankara that they should pursue an assertive foreign policy to represent strong and self-confident "new Turkey" under his rule.

In a new attack on the EU, Erdogan called on the 28-member bloc to "revisit its Turkey policy," accusing Europe of dragging its feet on Ankara's decade-old membership bid.

UPDATE: 01/06/15 10:16 AM ET

Germany’s battle against far-right extremism goes mobile

GlobalPost contributor Angela Waters reported from Berlin on the Gegen Nazis app that "uses digital mapping to publicize information about right-wing extremist demonstrations and counter-protests."

Activists here have worked hard for years to mobilize against neo-Nazi groups, sometimes by literally drowning them out at demonstrations in honor of Rudolf Hess and other long-dead Nazi figures or against refugee centers housing unprecedented numbers of migrants this year.

But they operated in analog. Now, with demonstrations against asylum-seekers and Islam gaining mainstream traction across Germany, a new Android app is making the fight against right-wing extremism easier.

UPDATE: 01/06/15 10:05 AM ET

On Germany's labor market reform movement and the PEGIDA

This article in Deutsche Welle points out the historical undercurrents of the PEGIDA movement. From the piece:

Schröder's "Agenda 2010" program, with its labor-market reforms and the Hartz regulations, is recognized internationally as a key reason for the "German job miracle." But within Germany, anger at the reforms led at times to street protests. An army of lawyers challenged them. And this anger continues to be articulated by demonstrators such as those in the PEGIDA movement in Dresden.

GlobalPost's Jason Overdorf summarizes:

Basically, due to reunification, Germany was forced to dramatically curtail welfare benefits, since it was absorbing a country full of soon-to-be unemployed people. While that created some leftist nostalgia, it generated more right-wing populism.

UPDATE: 01/06/15 9:37 AM ET

Cologne church and other landmarks turn off their lights

Mashable has curated social media posts that show landmarks going dark to protest the anti-Islam demonstrations raging in Germany.

UPDATE: 01/06/15 9:30 AM ET

Immigration protests spread in Germany

Reuters — Top-selling German tabloid Bild and 50 prominent Germans called on Tuesday for an end to what they see as rising xenophobia, a day after thousands of protesters in several German cities rallied against Muslim immigration.

Monday's rallies, organized by a new grassroots movement called PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, have become a weekly event in the eastern city of Dresden.

Some 18,000 people, the biggest number so far, turned out in Dresden but similar rallies in Berlin and the western city of Cologne were heavily outnumbered by counter-protesters who accuse PEGIDA of fanning racism and intolerance.

Bild published a 'No to PEGIDA' appeal on Tuesday, covering the front page and a double page spread on page 2 and 3 with quotes from the 50 politicians and celebrities.

"(They) are saying 'no' to xenophobia and 'yes' to diversity and tolerance," Bild's deputy editor, Bela Anda, wrote in a commentary. "We should not hand over our streets to hollow rallying cries."

In Dresden, the PEGIDA protesters waved Germany's black, red and gold flag and brandished posters bearing slogans such as "Against religious fanaticism and every kind of radicalism."

Germany has some of the world's most liberal asylum rules, partly due to its Nazi past. The number of asylum seekers arriving in Germany, many from the Middle East, jumped to around 200,000 last year — four times as many as in 2012.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Germans to shun the anti-Muslim protesters, saying their hearts are full of hatred and argued that hostility towards foreigners has no place in Germany.

In Cologne, home to a large Muslim population, there were 10 times as many counter-demonstrators as PEGIDA protesters. In similarly multi-ethnic Berlin, some 5,000 counter-demonstrators swamped around 400 anti-Muslim protesters, local police said.


This article in the BBC includes a brief explainer on the origins and mission of PEGIDA.

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