Anti-Islam demonstrations in Copenhagen

The demonstrations will go ahead even though a similar rally in the German city of Dresden, Sunday, was cancelled by police who said they had received information indicating a ‘concrete threat’ against the right-wing “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident”.

German police said there had been calls for would-be “assassins to mingle among the protesters … and to murder an individual member of the organising team of the Pegida demonstrations.”

The organiser of the Danish demonstrations in Copenhagen and Aarhus, Islam critic Nikola Sennels, said Danes ‘should be allowed to express their feelings about the events of recent weeks.’

Anger against Islam and ‘criminal asylum seekers’

“Those who want to try and do something about what’s happening in the world right now will have the opportunity to send a message to those who are trying to intimidate us and also to politicians that they have to help us,” he said. “We need to stand up against fundamentalist Islam that preaches violence and which needs to be resisted.”

At the same time he denied that PEGIDA is an ultra right-wing movement and said anybody who supports freedom of expression and Danish values is welcome, both men and women, ‘because we support peace and liberty.’

The Pegida marches – which have voiced anger against Islam and ‘criminal asylum seekers’ and vented a host of other grievances – began in Dresden in October with several hundred supporters and have since steadily grown.

In wake of attacks

They drew a record 25,000 people last Monday, in the wake of the attacks by radical Islamists in Paris.

At the same time, around 100,000 Germans marched against Pegida last Monday and similar counter demonstrations are expected today.

News story about Danish demonstration (in Danish) here, and about
the German demonstration here.

universitypost@adm.ku.dk

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