There have been more==PEGIDA== inspired marches in Germany – around 15,000 people took part in a rally in Dresden against immigration and Islam. The
There have been more==PEGIDA== inspired marches in Germany – around 15,000 people took part in a rally in Dresden against immigration and Islam.
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The east Germany city is the birthplace of the movement called “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West”.
One protester explained his grievances:
“They (Muslims) don’t want to leave their ideas about morals and ethics behind, they bring them here, and they demand that we adopt to them. It should be the other way around.”
Past rallies have ended in violence. Although Monday’s was peaceful, Chancellor Angela Merkel speaking in Berlin warned against racism:
“There’s freedom of assembly in Germany, but there’s no place for incitement and lies about people who come to us from other countries.”
Many of the protesters have distanced themselves from the far-right and any so-called hooligan element and see themselves as ordinary people, suspicious of the media and disillusioned with government.
Later a counter-demonstration of around 5,000 people was staged in the same city.