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Created: Tuesday, 20 October 2015 17:07
Big Success and Big Disaster
+++ up to 20000 people join „Heart not Hatred“ marches + major clashes due to Pegida participants + Police tactics end in horrendous disaster +++
On the day after the marches and demonstrations around the first anniversary of the racist Pegida marches in Dresden, the organisers of the counter-campaign “Heart not Hatred” draw mixed conclusions from October, 19th. Tens of thousands of people claimed the streets in the name of humanity and sent a strong signal against the hatred that was once again spread from the Pegida stage. This notwithstanding, violent participants of the Pegida marches caused heavy clashes, and riot-like scenes occurred between Nazis, Hooligans and riot police.
Josef Sternfeld, spokesperson of the „Heart not Hatred“ campaign said: “We are happy that such a large number of Dresdeners, together with people from all over Germany, joined our demonstrations and raised their voices. Overall, an estimated 20000 people followed our call and joined our various events. That it took an entire year of hate-speech, combined with an increasing number of violent attacks originating from the Pegida-movement especially in recent weeks, to reach this number, is giving us pause, however. Yesterday saw demagogic hate-speech being delivered from the Pegida stage yet again and various red lines have once again been crossed by a wide margin. With this in mind, we hope that Dresdeners will continue to deliver a clear message over the following weeks and will continue to decisively oppose Pegida.”
All organisers agreed in their evaluation of yesterdays' police operations, which could only be described as a combination of being overwhelmed with the situation while employing wrong tactics to cope with it. The extreme hate-speech from Akif Pirinçci alone should have been more than enough to cancel the Pegida rally on the spot. That this didn’t happen raises the question whether the authorities have already surrendered to the hatred being disseminated by such a large group of people.
Silvio Lang, spokesperson of the alliance “Dresden Nazifrei” said: “It is once again the home secretary of Saxony, Markus Ulbig, who is politically responsible for the catastrophic police work last night. His officers were too few in numbers, badly prepared and followed the wrong tactics. According to multiple accounts, they repeatedly created dangerous situations instead of defusing them. The Postplatz-Concert, for example, an officially declared and approved event that was frequented by families with small children and elderly people, had to be abandoned altogether, as participants were forced to run from attacking Hooligans and Nazis. No police whatsoever was present to safeguard the concert and many Pegida-participants left their rally in a rather uncontrolled manner. Multiple sources suggest that police forces deliberately opened up previously secured areas around the “Zwingerteich” and thus enabled violent Pegida participants to reach counter demonstrants.
The organisers expect a thorough investigation by the saxon government into the reasons last nights' events and a clear statement regarding the violence that originated from right-wing Hooligans and other Pegida participants. All organisers of “Heart not Hatred” will discuss possible future events in due course. “In light of last nights’ events and the development of the Pegida movement, we deem it necessary to continue to stand up for humanity and protest the racist propaganda occurring in Dresden every Monday,” both Sternfeld and Lang concluded.
Created: Monday, 19 October 2015 09:15
+++ Info on todays demonstrations +++
Below all relevant information in bullet points:
- Form groups; stay together!
- Joint arrivals are planned from Freiberg, Leipzig, Chemnitz und Berlin. Further info on facebook.
- Starting points of todays demonstrations: There are four demonstrations and one rally scheduled. In ascending starting times those are as follows:
- 4:20pm Demonstration from the University (Bergstraße) to Altmarkt
- 5pm Demonstration from Bahnhof Neustadt to Schlossplatz
- 5:30pm Demonstration from Bahnhof Mitte to Postplatz
- 6:00pm Demonstration from Strassburger Platz to Frauenkirche
- starting around 5:30pm there is a Rally at Taschenbergpalais
A fifth Demonstration (Ostra-Gehege, Devrientstraße, Terassenufer) was not allowed by the city as this is the path for PEGIDA to reach their rally point at Theaterplatz.
For those who are unsure of the lay of the land in Dresden, can't decide which demonstration to join or who have a keen eye for tactical opportunities - the Demonstration starting from Bahnhof Mitte ist likely a good starting point.
- Vuvuzelas, whistles, pan lids and other means of generating noise are likely useful accesories (don't forget ear plugs!).
- Same goes for signs, banner etc. A small step-by-step guide can be found here.
- Maps with all demonstration routes will be distributed from our speaker cars. You can download and print your own copy here. IT IS HIGHLY ADVISED TO BRING YOUR OWN COPY OF THIS MAP.
- We will inform you about the going-ons via info-ticker (http://ticker.dresden-nazifrei.com/), twitter (https://twitter.com/dd_nazifrei) and facebook (https://www.facebook.com/dresden.stellt.sich.quer). Hashtags are: #partycrashen and #DD1910. Please stay informed! The quadrants used will refer to those of the above mentioned maps (yet another reason to bring your own copy). Other actors will inform via twitter as well (e.g. @antifa_dresden and @publikativeorg).
- The EA-number is (0351) 899 60 456. PLEASE USE ONLY IN CASE OF ARREST
- Paramedics can be reached under 0159/03544134 (check Sanizentrale.de)
We wish us all a sucessful day, #crashing PEGIDAS party!
Created: Thursday, 08 October 2015 07:04
Enough! October 19th -- Heart, not Hatred!
For one year now hate speech, racism and violence have found its “occidental” home in Dresden. From here, group-based enmity radiates throughout Germany. The very foundation our society is built on is being threatened.
PEGIDA is effect-ive: Saxony is witnessing a wave of attacks on humans who do not fit the racial world view of PEGIDA. Violent excesses such as in Dresden-Prohlis, Heidenau and Freital are the consequence of the incendiary rhetoric of the Monday PEGIDA-marches. The people bringing violence to the streets are nurturing their hate at these weekly PEGIDA-“strolls”. The fear-mongers and demagogues around Lutz Bachmann and Tatjana Festerling are inciting their followers in an utterly disgusting manner against fellow humans who are on the run, who are now just viewed as “muslim” or simply as “not-German”.
On the other hand, thousands are contributing towards a culture of humanity. They have become the heart of our society. They stand for lived solidarity, they represent the often-evoked culture of welcome. Now they are as well becoming a target of slander, hate and violence. They are being threatened and bullied because they are getting involved in helping and oppose the hate-mongers.
We say: Enough!
It is our imperative that we demonstrate on the streets of Dresden for the kind of society we stand for: A society in which the dignity of man is the foremost priority. A society that views empathy as a valuable and worthwhile endeavor. And a society that consistently opposes hate-mongering and violence without hesitation and second thoughts.
Racism must not become the new standard. When politicians are stirring up resentments on the back of refugees, when they start to divide them into good and evil asylum seekers and are beginning to demand servile gratitude for a bed in an overcrowded mass shelter, constitutional human rights have become all but empty phrases.
Against this we need to raise our voices! But we need to speak up just as vigorously against a further weakening of German asylum law that continues to emphasise on deterrence and isolation and is partially responsible for the death-toll on Europe’s external borders.
In the end, we are also responsible if we don’t act against it.
Because of this we claim the streets in Dresden on October 19th.
Created: Thursday, 15 October 2015 05:01
+++ Map of Demonstrations – Heart, not hatred! +++
Here is the map for all of the demonstrations for Oct. 19th! A print version can be fond here (15,6 MB).
Created: Thursday, 02 April 2015 10:42
#NOPEGIDA – Stand against Europe's far-right
Since November 2014, PEGIDA has been dominating the media discourse in and about Dresden. A crude assemblage of Neo-Nazis, hooligans, enraged conservatives and the self-appointed “mainstream of society” have discovered Dresden as their new marching ground. As we pointed out back then, what unites organizers, participants and sympathizers is a frightening mix of ideologies: behind the alleged peacefulness and the phony indignation about a supposed culture of excessive political correctness, racism, nationalism, chauvinism, islamophobia and at times openly neo-nazistic ideas rear their head. All of this is accompanied by regular eruptions of violence during demonstrations, death- and other violent threats, and hateful rants in the comment sections of online and social media.
Yet despite the dangers PEGIDA is posing, the movement's failure to gain momentum outside of Dresden shows that those who are shouting “We are the people!” are primarily a problem of Saxony, if not specifically of Dresden – a problem which can only be solved by a determined and concerted effort of all local anti-racist factions.
Apparently PEGIDA is concerned about its continued decline in relevance. In an attempt to foster more (inter-)national attention, the movement has invited Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch PVV, to speak at their rally on April 13th. An established “hater of Islam”, Wilders has gained notoriety far beyond the Netherlands for considering Islam to be a “fascist” and “sick” ideology. If it were up to him, the Quran would be banned altogether. It is not surprising that the islamo-racist Wilders and the islamo-racist followers of PEGIDA seem to get along quite well.
This, however, affords PEGIDA a significance that far exceeds Dresden and Saxony. Wilders is just the beginning. If his visit were to become an unopposed success, PEGIDA’s Lutz Bachmann would soon welcome other representatives of the European shift towards the far-right: be it Heinz-Christian Strache from Austria, Nigel Farage from the UK or France’s Marine LePen – the coordination of the growing right-wing forces in Europe is well under way. New about this is not the ideological mix of racism, chauvinism, homophobia and assorted bits of conservative and nationalistic folklore, but its success and the level of acceptance it has gained under the guise of Euroscepticism and the alleged defense of democracy and European values.
Hence, April 13th is not just about Dresden and the protest against PEGIDA! Rather, we are facing a scenario that we and many alongside us have successfully combated for years: Dresden as the location of a European right-wing mass rally, as the focal point of a movement that far exceeds the impact and danger of the thuggish Nazis of the commemoration marches.
That is why we call on everyone in Dresden, Saxony, Germany and Europe, to come to Dresden on April 13th. Let us foil the plan of the Bachmanns, Wilders' and company. Together we will confront racism and stand against the growing strength of the European New Right. We call on all activists of the anti-racist spectrum to contribute, either with activities of their own or by supporting our efforts.
Together we have denied Dresden to the Nazis – with your help we’ll stop PEGIDA as well!
We are Dresden Nazifrei!
No pasaran! #NoPegida!
