They call themselves Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West or Pegida. They feel threatened by what they call Muslim attacks on the Christian culture of Germany. They believe that immigrants, and particularly Muslim immigrants, are a menace to German culture and national identity. Many Muslim leaders say that since the anti-Islam Pegida movement appeared their communities are facing new problems just because they are Muslims. In Dresden, where Pegida started, demonstrations have been growing from Monday to Monday.
Press TV’s investigative documentary “Islamophobia in Germany,” approaches the locus of this group, i.e. Dresden. Pegida’s leaders reject press inquiries and refuse to give interviews alleging that the press misrepresents Pegida as a rightwing extremist movement. When our film team covered a Pegida rally, some protesters went way beyond shouting ‘lying press’; they identified us as foreigners and began yelling hateful racist insults. The interesting point is that ever since they began, the Pegida protesters have upset Germany’s political scene, provoking condemnation by national political leaders, and in her New Year address Angela Merkel urged citizens to reject Pegida.
