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Bayern, Berlin, Dresden Bombing, East Germany Unemployment, German protests Dresden, Germany, Germany Turks, Islamisation, Marches, Munchen, PEGIDO, Pinstripe Nazis, Police, Turkmany, Turmany
Last month (December, 2014), more than 15,000 people amassed in the German city of Dresden to sing Christmas carols. While that description makes it seem rather pedestrian, the event was in fact organised and intended as a cultural protest. The group behind it is called Pegida (Patriotische Europäer Gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes – or in English, ‘Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West’.)
Given the high turn out and evident success of the demonstration, the German press was dutifully quick to label the protestors as little better than … go on, see if you can guess …. Nazis.
Actually the specific phrase they coined was ‘Pinstripe Nazis’, a reference to the allegedly paradoxical gentility and ordinariness of those gathered. You see, these were not the skinheads or ruffians of the English style. They were typically older, more orderly and uniformly sober. If you look up photographs of the event on google, you might think many of them were off-duty bank managers, soldiers, polizei and civil servants.
You might well be right.
That is what is truly new about Dresden. It has demonstrated that a sentiment previously regarded as belonging exclusively to the ‘Lower Classes’, seems to have found agreement in the Middle Class.
The importance of this development really cannot be overstated. Whether we like it or not, class divisions do exist and can greatly retard the construction of a national consensus. To allow Islamophobia to dwell amongst the stupid bigotries of racism and anti-Semitism has rendered it unnecessarily toxic. Though I appreciate (and have often supported) the activities of the EDL, I am keenly aware that the manner of its demonstrations plays into an ingrained snobbery in the public at large. The conduct of the gathering in Dresden, and the wonderful decision to sing Christmas carols, shows us a new and better way forward.
Of course, I must admit it seems regrettable that Dresden was chosen as a venue. As is well known internationally, the city occupies a hallowed place in the imagination of Neo-Nazis. Choosing the site of a (so-called) Anglo-American war-crime made the hatchet jobs of the mainstream media pathetically easy. Let’s hope the next event won’t be held in Wannsee or Nuremburg…
On the whole though, we should take immense encouragement from Pegida. Opposition to Islam is a duty so serious that it must transcend any consideration of category or class. If these demonstrations remind us only of this, they will have been worthwhile.
D, LDN.
1 in 8 Germans would go on a march with Pegida if it came to their town according to a poll, so I suspect it will soon be in other places as well:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/01/us-germany-immigration-idUSKBN0KA1KZ20150101
Asylum has long been out of bounds for debate, but I think that’s got to change. When we had a wave of immigration from Jewish people and Poles etc. escaping Nazi persecution, a lot of those people went on to fight the Nazis with us, e.g. the Poles in the RAF being a great example. Nowadays asylum just seems to mean we take people from other countries because they have the right to come here, but no responsibility for the problems in the countries they are running away from. Some years ago I saw an article about an Iraqi refugee who refused to let his 18 year old daughter travel back to Iraq because he said it was too dangerous. I didn’t hear anybody daring to point out that many of our own service people risking their lives in these parts of the world are of similar age. Not only is it putting European culture at risk, its likely that some of the regions in question will continue to be black holes of endless conflict, unless people are forced to stand and fight for a better society.
Very true. We often let in ‘refugees’ from Islam-made problems, who then try to bring those problems into the safe haven we have supplied for them.
Our asylum policy should be open only to Jewish, Christian and secular refugees.
Why doesn’t Saudi Arabia or some of the other filthy-rich Gulf states take in refugees?The current war in Syria & Iraq, and the vicious violence taking place there, is in part due to the sectarian hatred fanned by an extremist ideology funded both by Wahabbi Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran. In such case, Saudi Arabia should accept the Sunni refugees, Iran the Shia refugees and the other non-Muslim minorities and atheists could very well be accepted into the rest of the non-Muslim world.
Why no one in the U.N or other international forums even raises this issue?
Turkey is taking the bulk of them, which I suppose we should thankful for.
Events seem to have rather overtaken this post.
My Facebook feed is full of people re-posting this story about the black Muslim in the supermarket helping the other hostages to freedom. As if to say ‘Look! They kill Muslims too!’. As you can imagine, the Graun is literally w@nking themselves stupid over this story.
Nobody even questioning – would a black Muslim *ever* happen to be shopping in a Jewish supermarket?
This story is being promoted so heavily, I can’t help feeling it’s damage limitation to cauterize inevitable Muslim backlash.
And even if it were true…which I doubt…it doesn’t exactly change my opinions on Islam.
Yes, I’ve been very disappointed with the right-wing media’s reaction to Paris. They have emphasised distracting elements (such as the one you raise) to contain the fallout.