The anti-Islamic Pegida movement is making progress outside of its German heartlands

The ‘Pegida’ movement attracted significant attention earlier this year with its anti-Islamic demonstrations attracting thousands of participants in Dresden and other German cities. Lars Erik Berntzen and Manès Weisskircher write on the potential for the movement to spread into other western European countries. They note that while Pegida groups in other countries have so far drawn fewer participants than their German equivalent, commentators should be careful not to write off the movement. They argue that Pegida exists alongside a broader mobilisation of far-right groups in western Europe and that the demonstrations of recent months are indicative of one of the largest anti-Islamic protest waves in contemporary history.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Wilders woos Pegida followers in Germany http://www.europeansources.info/record/wilders-woos-pegida-followers-in-germany/

ESO: Background information: Pegida is only the latest in a long line of German far-right movements to mobilise against Islam http://www.europeansources.info/record/pegida-is-only-the-latest-in-a-long-line-of-german-far-right-movements-to-mobilise-against-islam/

Wikipedia: Stop Islamisation of Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Islamisation_of_Europe

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