‘You’re not welcome here: get off our streets’ – Newcastle protestors’ message to anti-Islam marchers outnumbered by 3,000 to 400

A rally of thousands of anti-fascists, trade unionists and faith representatives dwarfed the first UK demonstration by a far-right group against the “Islamisation of Europe” on Saturday, forming a counter-protest at least four times as large.

Pegida UK held its first event in Newcastle, with some 375 supporters present in the city’s Bigg Market. The group, whose name translates as “Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West”, was formed in Dresden last year and has held regular marches there. A demonstration in the German city in January drew 25,000, but it is thought that recent marches have mustered as few as 2,000.

This was its first UK demonstration. Police say 2,000 people marched under the umbrella of Newcastle Unites to oppose the gathering, with organisers putting the figure at closer to 3,000.

The Newcastle Unites group marched from Gallowgate in the city centre to a rally on Newgate Street, about 100 metres from the Pegida protesters. The rallies were kept separate by a series of police cordons. Events were mostly peaceful, although a Pegida breakaway group tried to break through police cordons as the event closed, with protesters chanting the name of the English Defence League. Northumbria police, who maintained a heavy presence in the city all day, say five arrests were made.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An organiser for Britain’s first anti-Islam Pegida discusses why the group are marching in Newcastle on Saturday

Dipu Ahad, a local councillor and one of the organisers of the Newcastle Unites event, thanked Pegida for highlighting how united people in Newcastle are. “They’re a confused bunch of people. They think Newcastle is an easy target, but it’s not,” he said. “We’ve seen so many different communities want to get involved against this hate. You see people united shoulder to shoulder – LGBT groups, feminist groups, men, women, children, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs.”

Tony Dowling, another organiser, said to Pegida demonstrators: “It’s a simple message: you’re not welcome here. Get off our streets and go home.”

Drums, whistles and homemade placards accompanied the Newcastle Unites demonstration to its rally, where the crowd heard speeches from George Galloway, Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central, and other politicians and faith leaders.

Onwurah said: “If you come here with hatred in your hearts, if you come here to spread fear and division, if you come here to tell us that our Muslim brothers and sisters are not a great positive part of this city, then I have a message for you – and that is: get out of our city.”

Pegida’s turnout will be a disappointment for its organisers, with a spokesperson saying before the event that they hoped for in excess of 1,000 protesters. Matthew Pope, Pegida UK’s official spokesperson, said that Pegida was not racist or anti-immigration, and that the event was about the “integration” of people.

“We feel that the rise of sharia courts and Muslim schools in this country is separating the Muslim community from British society,” he said. “We’re feeling that the Muslim community, when extreme Islam is being mentioned, is just waving a victim card and it’s putting a block on us putting up the issues that need to be addressed.”

Pegida protester David Hetherington, 51, from South Shields, rejected the label of racism and said: “I’m not far-right; I’m a patriot.”

But Dowling rejected the group’s arguments. “They say they’re not far-right, but that they’re against the ‘Islamification of the west’, which is a bizarre thing to say. It’s weasel words. If you’re anti-Islam, you’re a racist. End of story.”

Members of the Muslim community marched, including Kezra Shakir, 31, who had made her own banner with “Peace” written in different languages. She said groups like Pegida made it more difficult to live as a Muslim in the UK. “I live with this fear every day. I have two young sons, two and four, and we gave them Arabic names.

“I worry for them. I worry for the way they may be treated.”