German anti-Islam rally Monday to raise new tensions

Angela Waters | Special for USA TODAY

BERLIN — A massive march by anti-Islam nationalists planned for Monday threatens to raise new religious tensions — and potential violence — in Europe in the wake of last week's terrorist attacks in Paris by radical Muslims.

Germany's justice minister on Sunday urged the group called Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) to cancel its demonstration, but the group vowed to go ahead with a rally that will commemorate the 17 people killed in the Paris attacks.

The group has held weekly rallies to protest Germany's growing immigrant population, mainly Muslims fleeing the war in Syria in recent years.

"It's outrageous they want to commemorate victims that until last week they insulted as liars," Justice Minister Heiko Maas told the popular tabloid Bild, calling for the group to cancel Monday's rally.

Many fear another march by the group could stoke violence and anti-immigration sentiment after Wednesday's attack at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris.

"The people at the heart of PEGIDA must be delighted," said Mohammed Majoka, a spokesman for the Muslim group Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat Germany. "This is what they have been trying to show people all along, that Islam is dangerous and Muslims should be kicked out."

Shortly after news broke of the deadly shootings in Paris, PEGIDA jumped on social media.

"Today the Islamists that PEGIDA has been warning you about for 12 weeks have showed you in France that they are not capable of democracy and that they see death and violence as the answer," PEGIDA posted on Facebook. "Will there have to be a tragedy in Germany?"

Now PEGIDA has dialed back that rhetoric, saying it doesn't take satisfaction in the attacks but instead wants to mourn the deaths of the editors, cartoonists, writers and two policemen, one of whom was Muslim.

"The brutal attacks in Paris show that we are in urgent need of a fresh and free European-wide general debate about freedom of speech and Islamism," said Hans-Thomas Tillschneider, a professor of Islamic studies at Bayreuth University who has marched in several PEGIDA demonstrations.

PEGIDA is not alone in rallying people against Islam after the terrorist attack.

Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far right National Front party, said, "This attack must continue to prompt free speech in the face of Islamic fundamentalism. We must not stay silent. And we must say what happened. This is a terrorist act committed in the name of radical Islamism."

Le Pen was not part of Sunday's massive rally in Paris, instead joining a separate march in Beaucaire in southern France, where her party holds the mayor's post.

Majoka feared that Le Pen's perspective was becoming increasingly accepted across Europe. That could drive more Islamic extremists to feel isolated and under siege, causing hate and misunderstanding to spread on both sides, he said.

"On one hand, you have the PEGIDA who propagates extremism, and on the other hand, you have Muslim extremists who say that they are doing these things in the name of Islam," Majoka said. "They are as representative of the Muslims, as the PEGIDA people are of the German nation."

Founded late last year in Dresden, PEGIDA has been staging demonstrations on Mondays against immigration from Islamic countries, though it claims support for Muslims integrating into German society.

The Jan. 5 march in Dresden drew 18,000 people, but around 30,000 staged counter-protests in Dresden, Berlin and elsewhere in Germany to show disapproval of the movement. On Saturday, 35,000 people held another demonstration against PEGIDA in Dresden.

Early Sunday, the German newspaper Hamburger Morgenpost, which reprinted Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the prophet Mohammed after Wednesday's massacre, said it endured an arson attack at about 2 a.m. local time. No one was in the building, the newspaper said, adding that two people were arrested. It was not immediately known if the attack was connected to the cartoons.

"With the exception of Dresden, the counter-movement has been stronger than the movement," said Tahir Della, a German Muslim born and raised in Munich who took part in the counter-demonstrations.

"That shows that at least among Germany's population itself there is a high number of people who value diversity in the society and do not want regression, but progression," said Della, who is a board member of the Initiative of Black People in Germany.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, other politicians, church leaders and the business community have spoken out against PEGIDA. Even Bild, which was slammed last summer for printing what many called an Islamophobic editorial, has taken a stand against PEGIDA. On Jan. 6, the newspaper ran comments condemning PEGIDA from politicians, celebrities and sports stars.

Germany has recently seen an influx of 200,000 refugees from the Syrian civil war, and about 550 Germans are reported to have traveled to the Middle East to fight alongside Islamic State militants.

"Germany has no real immigration policy like you find in the U.S.," Tillschneider said. "This situation is unsatisfactory for asylum-seekers, economic migrants and German citizens alike."

The non-profit Bertelsmann Foundation recently published a survey that found more than half of the German public believes Islam does not fit into the Western world, and 57% consider it a threat to Germany. Around 90% of the more than 4 million Muslims in Germany, meanwhile, identify with the country and spend time with people of different faiths, according to the survey conducted in November.

Another survey by Forsa published last week found that one in eight Germans would participate in an anti-Islam march if one were held near them.

Contributing: Nele Obermueller