PHOTO GALLERY: German anti-Muslim protesters spark fierce debate over immigration
Some 18,000 people, the biggest number so far, turned out in Dresden on Monday but similar rallies in Berlin and the western city of Cologne were heavily outnumbered by counter-protesters.
By REUTERSParticipants of a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement hold German flags during a demonstration in Berlin(photo credit: REUTERS)
DRESDEN - Protesters marched in several German cities on Monday against higher levels of immigration and what they see as the growing influence of Islam, in defiance of an appeal from Chancellor Angela Merkel to spurn rallies she views as racist.
Picture shows the famous Cologne Cathedral as its illumination is switched off in a protest against a march by the growing grass-roots anti-Muslim movement (photo credit: REUTERS)Picture shows the famous Cologne Cathedral before its illumination is switched off in a protest against a march by the growing grass-roots anti-Muslim movement through the western German city of Cologne (photo credit: REUTERS)Participants take part in a demonstration called by anti-immigration group PEGIDA, a German abbreviation for "Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West", in Dresden (photo credit: REUTERS)A man in a military uniform takes part in a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement demonstration in Berlin (photo credit: REUTERS)Participants of an alternative rally carry brooms as they protest against a demonstration called by anti-immigration group PEGIDA in Dresden (photo credit: REUTERS)Participants of an alternative rally carry brooms as they protest against a demonstration called by anti-immigration group PEGIDA in Dresden (photo credit: REUTERS)Participants of a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement hold German flags during a demonstration in Berlin (photo credit: REUTERS)German Justice Minister Heiko Maas takes part in a protest against the march of a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement in Berlin (photo credit: REUTERS)People gather to take part in a protest against the march of a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement in Berlin (photo credit: REUTERS)Members of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) take part in a protest against the march of a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement in Berlin (photo credit: REUTERS)Members of the Left party (Die Linke) take part in a protest against the march of a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement in Berlin (photo credit: REUTERS)German riot police officers detain a demonstrator protesting against the march of a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement in Berlin (photo credit: REUTERS)Riot police officers watch as demonstrators hold umbrellas in a protest against the march of a grass-roots anti-Muslim movement in Berlin (photo credit: REUTERS)
The rallies, organized by a new grassroots movement known as PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, have become an almost weekly event in the east German city of Dresden in recent months.Some 18,000 people, the biggest number so far, turned out in Dresden on Monday 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.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".One poster in Cologne called for "potatoes rather than doner kebabs", a swipe at ethnic Turks who at around three million represent Germany's largest immigrant community.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.In her New Year address last week, Merkel urged Germans to shun the anti-Muslim protesters, saying their hearts were full of hatred."We need to ... say that right-wing extremism, hostility towards foreigners and anti-Semitism should not be allowed any place in our society," Merkel said on Monday in the eastern town of Neustrelitz.
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