Jasper Thomas III

Com110b
Jan. 27, 2015

Fly out the Door Assignment

After the January attacks in Paris that left 17 people dead, a growing
anti-Islamisation group in Germany took to the streets for protests and
demonstrations.

The Paris attacks include an attack on the French satirical weekly

newspaper Charlie Hebdo where 12 people were killed and 11 people
were injured; the murder of a French policewoman, and an attack on a
Jewish deli, where four people were killed.

Since the shootings in Paris, groups like The Patriotic Europeans

Against the Islamisation of the West have held rallies to curb
immigration and defend Judeo-Christian values.

Many Germans say they feel alarmed about the group. Angelika
Thomas, a 49-year-old German expat living in the U.S., feels that
PEGIDA must not be taken lightly.

I think theyre going to stay around for a while, she said. Their
growth will depend on how things are handled in Europe with
immigration.

Jasper Thomas III

Com110b
Jan. 27, 2015
Thomas said she feels that Europe is open in terms of travel and
immigration, and this openness plus the extremist attacks are feeding
PEGIDAs growth.

Thomas said Germans see what is happening as a disruption to their

comfortable lives. Whenever there is fear for your life or your way of
living, there is a bigger chance of extremism within these groups, she
said.

As of yet, PEGIDA is not known for its violence, but many Germans say
that can quickly change. Just this week, a young Muslim man was
found stabbed to death the day after a PEGIDA demonstration in
Dresden, Germany.

Some Germans say they are hesitant towards the PEGIDA because of
Germanys past. Johannes Maier, a 21-year-old German university
student living in Munich, said he has seen multiple online comments
linking PEGIDA with Germanys Nazi past.

There are probably tons of groups like this in other countries, but if
Germany has them then everyone says that the Nazis are coming
back, he said.

Jasper Thomas III

Com110b
Jan. 27, 2015
Recent PEGIDA demonstrations have also brought on a number of
counterdemonstrations. Many individuals outside of Germany feel as if
this group is teetering on the edge of being racially and culturally
insensitive.

Shahd Haswa, a 21-year-old Jordanian, Muslim student studying at Elon

University, makes it a point to tell others that it was neither her fault
nor her religions fault for the Paris attacks and all other attacks by
Islamic extremists, and groups like PEGIDA were blaming a whole
religion for a small group within.

Innocent people losing their lives will always be the most tragic thing
and nothing compares to that, she said. But terrorism is not the
meaning of Islam. It is important to remind the world and every
community in Paris that these terrorists do not in any way represent
Islam, and if people [like PEGIDA] choose to discriminate against and
attack innocent Muslims then that will definitely sadden the Muslim
nation as a whole.

The PEGIDA movement is beginning to make reaches outside of

Germany. June Shuler, a 20-year-old Swiss-American student studying
at Elon University, is aware of similar groups in her country.

Jasper Thomas III

Com110b
Jan. 27, 2015
There are political groups against immigration in Switzerland, she
said. They dont represent what I think Switzerland is, and I would
hope something like that [PEGIDA] wouldnt happen in Switzerland.

She says that seeing and hearing about PEGIDA demonstrations is

scary, and if they are not taken seriously the situation could get out of
hand. Organized discrimination like PEGIDA promotes is destructive to
the unity of a nation, she said.