Thousands have marched in cities across Germany throughout December and again on Monday to counter the rise of new anti-Muslim street movement Pegida.
The movement was launched in October last year and has grown rapidly through a series of mass demonstrations.
The neo-Nazi National Democratic Party joins its marches, as does the “respectable” right wing party AFD.
Alexander Gauland, AFD leader in the Brandenburg state parliament, attended Pegida’s biggest protest in Dresden.
He described its demands as “things that one could sign up to.”
Pegida blames migrants and particularly Muslims for the lack of jobs for established workers. Yet Saxony, where it is strongest, is less than 3 percent migrant.
The rise of a mass Islamophobic organisation is a real threat, but the counter-protests give reason for hope.
In several cities anti-racist counter-protests stopped the racists from marching.
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