The past two months have seen the meteoric rise of PEGIDA and related anti-Islamization groups in Germany. The largest marches have occurred in Dresden, where tens of thousands of participants take to the street every Monday night in an orderly protest against mass immigration.

Rembrandt Clancy has translated an article by Michael Stürzenberger from Politically Incorrect. He has also translated and subtitled two videos about PEGIDA, BOGIDA, DÜGIDA, and other groups marching under the same anti-Islamization umbrella. He includes an extensive introduction and other explanatory material

Die Zeit Opinion Poll: Half of Germans in Favour of PEGIDA

by Rembrandt Clancy

Introduction

Notwithstanding the focus on an opinion poll in the title, Michael Stürzenberger embeds a video which shows how Germany’s The Second public broadcaster, the ZDF, treats an interview with him at the Dresden PEGIDA [Patriotische Europäer Gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West] demonstration on15 December 2014.

In the ZDF Mediathek report at 21:45 hours on Monday 15 December (27 seconds), the editors freeze the video immediately after their interview with Michael Stürzenberger and flash a political warning on the screen which reads as follows:

“Editor’s note, heute-journal:

After the broadcast, it became known that Michael Stürzenberger participated in “PEGIDA” as the representative of a right-wing populist party.

Stürzenberger is state chairman of the party “die Freiheit” in Bavaria.

This state association has been monitored by the Bavarian Intelligence Service [Verfassungschutz] since March of 2013.

The reason: Hostility to Islam“

The exposé is repeated by the anchor in the news segment included with Mr. Stürzenberger essay below. The editors for Politically Incorrect, however, make the following observation about the circumstances of the interview in their report of 18 December:

“Recordings from Dresden show that Stürzenberger spoke immediately prior to the ZDF interview with another television broadcaster and indicated that he is a Journalist and Federal chairman of the FREIHEIT party, but that he came to Dresden only as a citizen of Munich, who together with thousands of others would like to set an example within the framework of the PEGIDA demonstration. The ZDF editor must have witnessed all this for he was standing directly next to them.”

We have added an additional 29 seconds to the start of the news video segment which Michael Stürzenberger includes in his presentation. It shows how the reporters frame the demonstration as a whole. Prior to the added segment, the ZDF reporter, Cornelia Schiemenz, had just concluded a long report on the first year of Angela Merkel’s new “Grand Coalition” wherein she mentions a number of deficiencies, including the ongoing child pornography scandal plaguing the socialist SPD (Sebastian Edathy). The coalition has accomplished relatively little, according to reporter Schiemenz, including the failure to integrate immigrants. And that is what has caused the PEGIDA phenomenon, to which she does not attribute the capability of generating an idea, but psychologises it as an expression of “diffuse anxieties”, and immigrants are the “scapegoats”.

Is it possible that reporter Schiemenz could have taken the term “diffuse anxiety” from the politicians who used it the day before? On 14 December 2014 at 19:10 hours, on the ZDF’s Berlin Direkt newscast, Federal Justice Minister, Heiko Maas, makes a reference to PEGIDA demonstrators having “anxiety” (1:50); and then the Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ralf Jäger (SPD), uses exactly the same language in the context of his well-known comment about PEGIDA organisers being Nazis in pin-striped suits:

“In the background there are organisers at work, well-known right-wing extremists, Nazis in pin-striped suits, which must be distinguished from many participants who take part in such gatherings out of diffuse insecurity and diffuse anxiety“ [2:56 min., emphasis added].

In a similar vein, the website of the Archbishopric of Bamberg in Bavaria (18 December) quotes Archbishop Ludwig Schick’s offering the same level of psychiatric insight. In full expression of the new religion of Ecumenism (multiculturalism sanctified), and in the dialogue mode of the neo-Catholic Church founded during Vatican II in the 1960s, he says:

“Pegida activists spread racial hatred and stir up irrational anxieties amongst the people; they are a reservoir of diffuse aggression against people of other cultures and religions. … For that reason we must uphold the values of Christianity, which preaches humanism, equality in dignity and rights, justice and peace.” [emphasis added]

Enlightened “humanism” now in the Catholic Church? That happens,

“…not with demonstrations, but through engaged and credible Christians, who open themselves to dialogue, in truth and love, with those who think differently.”

Then the archbishop, addressing all Christians, and putting dialogue into practice, demonstrates his engagement with the thought content of “those who think differently”:

“Christians must not take part in PEGIDA.”

But where are the Archbishop’s divisions? It is well known that, although the tax supported, entrepreneurial neo-Catholic Church in Germany is extremely wealthy, the churches themselves are mostly empty except for a dwindling number of older people.

Zeit Opinion Poll: Half of Germans in Favour of PEGIDA

Source: Politically Incorrect
Translation: Rembrandt Clancy

16 December 2014

Yesterday die Zeit published an opinion poll, which shows that every second German is sympathetic to PEGIDA. Of the 1,107 persons questioned, only 13% answered with “no, not at all”. This is evidence of how much the people’s opinion differs from the published opinion of the system-media. The fact-free and slanderous statements of established politicians about PEGIDA prove the extent to which demonstrations of concerned citizens every Monday have stirred up the wasp’s nest. Now journalists and politicians swarm around like agitated wasps and show themselves to be completely helpless in dealing with the more than legitimate protest.

by Michael Stürzenberger

To the question of whether it is of concern to citizens that radical Islam in Germany could increase in importance, 73% answered with “yes”. Die Zeit reports:

The fear of radical Islamists is on the minds of a great number of people in Germany according to the survey. 73 percent of German citizens indicated they are worried that radical Islam is gaining in importance. This view is quite prevalent among people over 55 years of age (78 percent). But also 66 percent of the 18 to 24 year age group answered “Yes, I am worried”.

Well over half the total number of respondents polled from 12 to 15 December also believed that Germany accepts too many refugees. Here is the complete article at Zeit Online [in German].

While the majority of citizens have recognised the danger of Islamisation and the threat caused by the unrestricted influx of asylum seekers, the media continue to broadcast while ignoring reality. The ZDF, [Germany’s second public broadcaster], reported yesterday evening, negatively as usual, in “The Journal Today” [Heute Journal] on PEGIDA (to be seen at ZDF Mediathek from 17:50 [in German]). In that broadcast, they attempted to deny by all means possible an Islamisation of Germany. In today’s news broadcast [16 December 2014] Marietta Slomka, showing herself to be very much affected, announced the following at around 22 hours:

It is to be noted that on Monday, around 18 hours, the ZDF recorded interviews on location. Each person was asked for his name, but not for his profession or his political activities. Afterwards, the ZDF broadcast my statement at 19 hours and again at 21:45 hours. One day later [16 December] the editors evidently noticed that I too do political work.

Slomka & gang need not be surprised about it, for an important reason why I changed from journalism to politics three years ago was the complete failure of the media and the established parties, above all with respect to the issues of Islam, asylum and immigration. In Dresden, I was one of 15,000 concerned citizens who took notice of this failure. And this can be expected to increase week after week until something changes very drastically in our country.

The Demonstration in Bonn (BOGIDA)

15 December 2014

It may be interesting to watch what happens in Germany’s former capital on the Rhine, for it is a Salafist stronghold, and its City Hall is reputed to be essentially Communist. Some readers may recall the Salafist riot on 5 May 2012 when police were injured in a knife attack.

On the same day as the Dresden demonstration, 15 December 2014, the first ever PEGIDA demonstration took place in Bonn, under the name of BOGIDA. The person responsible for registering what was originally scheduled to be a march around the inner city was Melanie Dittmer. She is a journalist who was “rausgekicked” by her former employer, the ZDF, because she failed to report “from their perspective”. She is on the board of the Pro NRW (Pro North Rhine-Westphalia), a patriotic, classical liberal party which is normally described as “far right”. Germany’s “First” public broadcaster, ARD, filmed the results of a paint bomb attack on Melanie Dittmer’s house in Bonn which also showed spray painted graffiti on the brick facade saying: “Melanie Dittmer, Nazi sow”. Accompanied by her guard dog, Anthony, Dittmer told the ARD interviewer that the political vandals were probably Antifa from Bonn.

At a DÜGIDA march in Düsseldorf on 8 December, Melanie Dittmer had warned that Bonn was a more difficult location because it was a student city, but she expressed the hope that 800 people would attend. Melanie Dittmer is the person who registered the Bonn demonstration, and as such she appears to be equivalent to PEGIDA’s Lutz Bachmann of Dresden. Those who would become acquainted with her and introduce themselves to her style, may wish to view the following video (Warning: she uses some salty language here and there):

Melanie Dittmer’s warning about the difficult environment in Bonn turns out to have been well placed. According to the Pro NRW Internet portal, 200 to 300 people turned up, but due to a massive counterdemonstration of unions, mainstream media and church groups,

“…many participants were unable to get through to the demonstration venue at the Kaiserplatz. At times the Kaiserplatz was completely kettled by counter-demonstrators, who at times were allowed to come to arm’s length of the demonstration”.

An eyewitness to the demonstration who wrote a report for Politically Incorrect noted that it was apparent that the police had orders to keep the main access routes to the Kaiserplatz open for counter-demonstrators and hence cause hindrance to the BOGIDA demonstrators who had registered to access the Kaiserplatz for their demonstration. Hence the numbers of BOGIDA participants may be underestimated.

What are the Plans for the PEGIDA demonstration scheduled for 22 December in Bonn?

Bonn’s General-Anzeiger reports on 19 December that the city’s Mayor, Jürgen Nimptsch (SPD), has appealed to BOGIDA to call off their demonstration for Monday, 22 December. 500 BOGIDA demonstrators are expected and 3,000 counter-demonstrators.

A feature of the upcoming demonstration in Bonn will be the appearance of Dr. Udo Ulfkotte, a journalist who is a well-known author and Islam critic in Germany. His most recent book, Gekaufte Journalisten (“Bought Journalists”) is soon to be published in English by AgendaDaily). In Germany it has already achieved an unexpected level of popularity. It deals with top-level mainstream journalists who are paid by various means, including intelligence services, to distort news stories.

At Kopp Online Udo Ulfkotte calls upon Germans to join him at the march in Bonn on 22 December. Here is an excerpt from his appeal:

“In the past few days I have taken on more nicknames than ever before because I support peaceful demonstrators who are not politically correct and who make use of a basic right. Against this background, the Saxony Interior Minister, Markus Ulbig, calls me a ‘rat’; the federal Minister of Justice, Heiko Maas calls me a ‘disgrace to Germany’; and the Green Turk, Cem Özdemir, calls me an “evil Mischpoke” [Yiddish for “family”; but pejorative in German, here “one belonging to an evil clan”, cf. Duden]. And all that, only because I support completely normal citizens who express their increasing disquiet in the face of insensitive and corrupt politicians and media…

Hence there is a prodigious build-up of anger out there in the population, and not only with respect to Islamisation. Therefore I support PEGIDA in Dresden and all the other offshoots of a movement which has arisen from the middle of the society and is finally giving a face to those who have long believed themselves to be alone against the procured, mendacious press and the politicians who are divorced from reality…

They are the ones who, stone-cold, have taken the Deutschmark away from us, who slide the very tax money of our children, who have not yet even been conceived, onto the EU-roulette table in bankrupt EU states, who send our Bundeswehr to war, which we do not want, and who wish to house among us ever new problematical masses of people from distant countries — at our expense. And anyone who kicks up a fuss against it is characterised as a “rat”, … is that still going to go down? I look forward to your support — Monday 22 December….”

Video Transcript of ZDF Heute Journal

ZDF Reporter Cornelia Schiemenz: Where does this land stand after one year of GroKo [the Grand Coalition]? Germany is doing well economically, and yet the atmosphere is heating up. Diffuse anxieties are driving ever more people into the street to demonstrate with PEGIDA against the policies of the Union and the SPD.

Refugees have to be used as scapegoats, because the parties are lacking in political concepts for integration. That is Germany after one year of the Grand Coalition.

Anchor: Marietta Slomka: An item from yesterday. We have an editorial follow-up on the PEGIDA demonstration. In our report from Dresden yesterday, a demonstrator had his chance to speak; and apart from that, he might have left the impression that he was simply just one of the concerned citizens; and that apart from that, not specifically organised politically, nor an activist, and who now, inspired by PEGIDA, travels especially to Dresden in order to make known his civil concern.

Michael Stürzenberger: I come from Munich.

ZDF Reporter in Dresden: So then you travelled from Munich especially for the PEGIDA?

Michael Stürzenberger: Seven of us came here in a minibus, and we wanted to be present here at long last, because here courageous citizens are going onto the street and are daring to say something about what apparently here in Germany does NOT readily go down well.

Anchor: Marietta Slomka: It must be pointed out, that this is Michael Stürzenberger.

He is chairman of the Bavarian State Association of the right-wing populist party, die Freiheit. Its State Association, on account of their extreme hostility toward Islam, is being monitored by the Bavarian Intelligence Service.

Video Transcript Melanie Dittmer’s DÜGIDA Speech in Bonn

Demonstrators: Germany! / Love her or leave her!

Melanie Dittmer: You are so awesome! Germany! / Love her or leave her!

Great that you came! … Greetings from Bonn!

My name is Melanie Dittmer.

I registered BOGIDA because I find it important that homeland, freedom and tradition gain a foothold again in our country. We have our own identity and we must defend it. For that we need limits and rules.

Bonn and BOGIDA need you. I hope you can come next Monday to Bonn. We are relying on you. Bonn is a student city and somewhat more difficult than Düsseldorf. I hope we will also have 800 people.

I am happy to be shoulder to shoulder with the ordinary citizens, with sportive young people and all those who are there. I am particularly happy to see children here today with your families; that tells me we are on the right track. Things have usually been different over the past years. There were always fewer.

Who are we? I was a journalist with the ZDF. But they kicked me out because I did not report from their perspective. One learns that today. When one does not fit in today with the mainstream opinion, then one is removed very quickly.

I have written articles and photographed and told the truth. Then a journalist came to me by the name of Rainer Fromm, who works for the ZDF. We were good colleagues, I thought. He came to me and said: Melanie, if you do not want problems, then simply write that, at the demos, you saw right-wing radicals who have already committed a criminal offence.

I said, what kind of s*** is that? That is totally lost s***! I said, I will not be a party to that. So I said: if I go to an SPD demo, then I am not going to run around and see if I can find a Kinderficker there. That is sick s***.

Demonstrators:

German Press! / Shut your maw!

Deutsche Presse! / Hallt die Fresse!

Melanie Dittmer: I can only recommend to every ordinary citizen, who is afraid of us because he thinks we are thugs and malicious agitators, to inform yourselves about alternatives. There are enough possibilities. Look around on the Net. There is Compact Magazine. There is PI-News. There are plenty of forums where you can look. Don’t believe the s*** any more that they dish up to us.

I have being going to demonstrations for 20 years; I am 36, but the s*** keeps you young.

I can tell you: never in North Rhine-Westphalia have I seen 800 to 1000 people on the street who were so patriotic. Therefore I say to you, you are on the right path. Keep it up! Say what you think; don’t keep your mouth shut. Our time has come. Many thanks.

Next week we are in Bonn, Monday 18:30. I am counting on you.

One more thing!

Demonstrators: Yho, Yho….

Melanie Dittmer:

The ordinary citizen can also take that up.

In that way the Spartans [Spaniards] have already fought in Greece [Spain] in the Reconquista and they pushed Islam back!

Shout Yho! That is not only a Hooligan expression; the ordinary citizen can also take it up.

Let’s hear it, everybody! Yho!

You are so awesome! Be yourselves! And come to Bonn!