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Robert Spencer in PJ Media: 5 Reasons Why Angela Merkel Is Wrong to Oppose Germany’s Anti-Islamization Rallies

Jan 5, 2015 4:25 pm By Robert Spencer

pegidalargeIn PJ Media I discuss yet another potentially disastrous misstep by another Western leader:

After tens of thousands of Germans participated in rallies organized by Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA), German Chancellor Angela Merkel denounced them, claiming that when they chanted “We are the people,” they really meant, “You don’t belong — because of your religion or your skin color.” With one-third of Germans supporting the rallies, that’s either an awful lot of racists or Merkel is making a disastrous mistake in demonizing this movement. And she is, of course: Islamization is not a race, and it is not racist or xenophobic to oppose it.

Merkel herself should know better, for these reasons:

5. The German government has already shown its understanding of this problem to be faulty.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble also denounced PEGIDA, saying last Saturday: “People are right to fear Islamist terrorism. But not Islam.”

But “Islamist terrorism” arises from Islam. Or does Schaeuble think it is just as likely to emerge from the Lutheran churches as from the mosques? How does Schaeuble propose to separate the Islam that he considers benign from the Islamist terrorism he regards as malignant? He doesn’t say, and probably doesn’t have any idea how to do so — if he has ever seriously considered the question at all.

Schaeuble’s distinction is obviously based more on wishful thinking than reality. Merkel is foolish to perpetuate this willful ignorance – particularly since she has shown more sense in the past:

4. Merkel herself acknowledged that multiculturalism was a failure.

Back in October 2010, Merkel declared: “This multicultural approach, saying that we simply live side by side and live happily with each other has failed. Utterly failed.”

She was right, of course: multiculturalism has indeed failed, as it was always destined to do, for from the start it was based on false assumptions: the idea that all cultures are equivalent and teach essentially the same values; that words such as “freedom” and “justice” mean the same things to all people worldwide; and above all, that the Qur’an and Sunnah contain nothing that isn’t fully compatible with Western constitutional freedoms and principles of human rights.

No amount of money that Western leaders commit to this idea will change the fact that these assumptions are not true, and that a society built upon them is bound to falter in one way or another.

3. PEGIDA is not a neo-Nazi movement.

As PEGIDA demonstrators marched in Dresden and sang Christmas carols on the day before Christmas Eve, counter-demonstrators marched under the slogan “Dresden Nazi-free,” and some German lawmakers derided PEGIDA members as “pin-striped Nazis.”

Yet “PEGIDA organizers,” according to the Associated Press, “insist they are protesting only against extremism and not against immigrants or Islam itself,” and maintain that they are not Nazis. However, adds AP, “the demonstrations have received support from far-right groups, prompting concerns that anti-foreigner sentiment might be rising.”

The Left’s search for crypto-Nazis has been relentless since even before William F. Buckley threatened to sock Gore Vidal for calling him one on national television. Most of those they have accused, with zeal far surpassing any Joe McCarthy ever mustered for ferreting out Communists, have been entirely innocent of the charge, as is PEGIDA: in standing against Islamization, PEGIDA is standing for the equality of rights of women with men, and of non-Muslims with Muslims, and for the freedom of speech and the freedom of conscience. Those opposing their defense of these basic Western principles are far closer to the Nazis than they are….

Read the rest here.

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Filed Under: Featured, free speech, Germany, Useful idiots Tagged With: Angela Merkel, PEGIDA


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Comments

  1. particolor says

    Jan 5, 2015 at 4:36 pm

    There hasn’t been anything like Democracy out of these Governments for Years now !!
    What happened to Government “BY THE PEOPLE”..”FOR THE PEOPLE” ?????????

  2. nationalist says

    Jan 5, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    Quien es mas nazi?

  3. Januk36 says

    Jan 5, 2015 at 4:58 pm

    There is a recent video on Youtube titled “A message to the LEFT MEDIA in Germany” posted by “clinical psychologist”, a jew of german ancestry and presenting his view on PEGIDA.

    I hope posting the link doesn’t violate the policies of JW.

    • cs says

      Jan 6, 2015 at 5:28 am

      Thanks for the link, I liked that.

    • Kepha says

      Jan 6, 2015 at 11:18 am

      I sympathize with the guy in the film. A good chunk of my family was made up of Jews from “Mitteleuropa”, too.

    • Bezelel says

      Jan 6, 2015 at 5:26 pm

      I’m glad he’s speaking up. As a Jew he can say things that others can’t effectively express without being called “racist” He makes some excellent points. Horowitz has spoken about “white guilt” as the cause of poor judgement. Intellect is supposed to trump emotion and their is no rational excuse for flooding civilization with government subsidized psychopaths.

  4. Mary-G says

    Jan 5, 2015 at 5:42 pm

    The question is why all the aliens pretended as an asylum seeker to go forward on their destiny to Europe and US, even to Australia. Are they stupid? Why they passed away the closer richer same religion country such Arab Emirate or Qatar, Iran, or maybe Iraq or Syria (before war). These countries are very rich, but they passed it to west.

    (The leftist never ask them self about this).

    • particolor says

      Jan 5, 2015 at 10:32 pm

      YES !! Wouldn’t You think it would Raise Suspicions with our Dhimmi Politicians ??

  5. joeb says

    Jan 5, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    Robert, you’re misunderstanding Merkel (and Cameron) when both said “multiculturalism isn’t working”.

    What they meant was “multiculturalism’s not working, because it’s clearly not going far enough. We need more. We need to double-down”.

    And that is indeed what’s happened…

    • particolor says

      Jan 5, 2015 at 10:34 pm

      One can Never have enough Arabs !!..

  6. Michael Copeland says

    Jan 5, 2015 at 6:23 pm

    Merkel is like Gordon Brown who, after being asked about immigration by a concerned voter-in-the-street, muttered “bigoted woman” afterwards, caught by the still live microphone. The alarming aspect is that both politicians actually BELIEVE this.

    • particolor says

      Jan 6, 2015 at 1:23 am

      I wonder if the Woman Mumbled “Arrogant Pig” as She walked away ??

  7. RonaldB says

    Jan 5, 2015 at 6:25 pm

    Robert is entirely correct in his exposition of the dangers of Islam and Islamic revival to a free society. However, it must be borne in mind that logical arguments and facts do not drive politicians or bureaucrats.

    The dynamics of government actions can be described by the theories of Peter Bauer, who studied the economics and bureaucracies of underdeveloped nations, and Jame Buchanan, who developed the theory of Public Choice. Bauer showed that underdeveloped countries have loads of laws mandating safety and security measures. However, the police and bureaucracy never enforced those laws against real criminals, who were actually extremely dangerous. They enforced the laws on honest citizens and businessmen, like the visitor in Jamaica who had not noticed a single bullet stuck in his luggage. This visitor faced a sentence of many years for violating the ammunition laws, while violent street gangs ruled their turfs just blocks away, undisturbed by the police.

    Similarly, the Theory of Public Choice described how bureaucrats acted exactly like entrepreneurs, in that they constantly sought to extend their authority and their status. They never do anything to threaten their position.

    Merkel and her political allies know that if any criticism of Islam is associated with the government, there will be violence and riots in the street. PEGIDA is relatively safe to criticize, or even persecute. Chances are, a serious riot will threaten Merkel and her government, so naturally, she criticizes anti-Islamic demonstrations. What she actually thinks, if anything, is totally irrelevant. She is as responsive to rational arguments as a duck would be, because her political and personal rewards are totally determined by the dynamics of the political system she leads.

    One of the disadvantages of a representative government is that representatives cannot be too independent, and small but persistent special-interest groups can have inordinate influence and veto powers. It is a serious mistake to believe that some political leader will eventually be swayed by reality, and will act reasonably on his own to defend Western societies against Islam. It won’t happen. Any political leader willing to think and act independently will not last as an elected official.

    It is vital that groups like PEGIDA continue to organize, demonstrate, and take over the political process. Representative government is led by the people; not the elected officials. It’s alright to make officials like Merkel look as stupid as they are, but winning the rational argument will not affect the course of government. Only winning the political process will.

    • toni clark says

      Jan 6, 2015 at 3:11 am

      Hi Ron your reply I find in style and content superb, write more please.

    • Myxlplik says

      Jan 6, 2015 at 10:48 am

      I too have been looking into behavioral sciences to help explain the willful and cognitive dissonance happening in our society in regard to Islam and multiculturalism.

      Check out “Method of Tenacity vs Method of Science”

      http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/4856/1/Peircef%5B1%5D.pdf

      • Myxlplik says

        Jan 6, 2015 at 10:54 am

        The link doesn’t work, you can google “Method of Tenacity vs Method of Science” plenty of interesting stuff :).

    • TH says

      Jan 7, 2015 at 8:19 am

      Very good analysis. Bureaucrats and polliticians don’t want trouble. If trouble comes form Islam they will try to sweep it under the carpet and appease the jihadis. If it comes from ordinary decent citizens then they will call them Nazsi.

      The UE and European governments are accepting supposed refugees from Islamic countries. A huge nunber of “boat people” are arriving in Italy and also Spain, mostly muslims. How much do they have to pay the mafias to get them to the Italian or Spanish coast? $6500. Poor miserable people who can pay $6500 to escape from their Islamic hellhole in Africa or somewhere else. Then the Europeans will give them free housing, healthcare etc. while they sponge and loaf them and live the rest of their lives on public assistance. Then they bring in their four wives and put them on welfare. Its high time that the ordinary European taxpayer rises up against this blatant scam.

  8. Zoltar says

    Jan 5, 2015 at 7:03 pm

    Funny how Adolf Hitler was pro-Islam thought it a warriors religion and was best mates with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem.

  9. mortimer says

    Jan 5, 2015 at 7:52 pm

    These disturbing DENIALS of the danger of jihad by Merkel was made JUST AFTER President Sisi of Egypt lectured Al Azhar University about the fact that Muslim leaders and jihadists are ‘antagonizing the entire world.’

    He asked them, ‘Do we really want to kill 7 billion people so we may live (as supreme)?’

    Merkel didn’t hear a word of that disturbing speech!

    Who understands Islam better? Sisi? Or Merkel?

    • Salah says

      Jan 6, 2015 at 2:37 am

      “Merkel didn’t hear a word of that disturbing speech!”

      Merkel, Obama, Cameron and many other western leaders HATE al-Sisi.
      They hate him and they hate the Egyptian people because they have defeated the most powerful islamic terrorist organisation: the Muslim Brotherhood.
      In other words, al-Sisi, with the full backing of the Egyptians, has defeated Merkel’s, Obama’s and Cameron’s MASTERS.

      • Barry K says

        Jan 6, 2015 at 9:56 pm

        Salah
        But you still forget that Sisi and ‘other Egytians’ you talk about are still Muslims and comments on this blog have clearly declared that there is no such thing as a moderate muslim and that the Koran allows for only one interpretation. Therefore all muslims are militants as they hold the same theological beliefs and therefore it is impossible for Obama or Merkel to love one and hate the other, since muslims are all the ‘same’. That is what I gather from reading this blog and the comments.

        • Salah says

          Jan 6, 2015 at 11:54 pm

          ” since muslims are all the ‘same’. That is what I gather from reading this blog and the comments.”

          Muslims are not all the same. Many of them are decent persons who reject violence.
          This blog has never ever tried to depict all Muslims as terrorists. They are not. Islam is, Muhammad was, ISIL is, the Muslim Brotherhood and their offshoots are.
          The only criticism we have against the vast majority of peaceful, law abiding Muslims, is that they are not loud enough when they condemn their violent co-religionists.
          This has always been the policy of this blog and of his director Robert Spencer.
          Of course, some commentors prefer the easy way: to put all Muslim in the same basket. This is WRONG, to say the least.

        • Barry K says

          Jan 7, 2015 at 3:13 am

          Sabah,
          I agree with you that there are rational moderate muslim as in Malaysia standing up to the Islamofacists type. But you misunderstand this blog if you miss their persistent stand that there is no such thing as a moderate or reformed muslim. Islam, to commentators on this blog, has only one interpretation and that is ‘ submission or die’ and this view here is not of a small minority as you think. I have been slammed countless times for trying to put a fair view for these ‘moderate’ Muslims. You are an odd one here. Check and see how many more will agree with you about moderate Muslims. For start, ask Jay Boo or Angemon.

        • Angemon says

          Jan 7, 2015 at 7:29 am

          Barry K posted:

          “But you misunderstand this blog if you miss their persistent stand that there is no such thing as a moderate or reformed muslim. Islam, to commentators”

          So Salah is “misunderstanding” this blog not based on what contributers say but based on what you claim some commentators say. Nice.

          “has only one interpretation and that is ‘ submission or die’ and this view here is not of a small minority as you think.”

          That’s not what the commentators say, that’s what the commentators say that muslim scholars say.

          “ I have been slammed countless times for trying to put a fair view for these ‘moderate’ Muslims.”

          Could you provide some examples of how you were “slammed” for “put a fair view” of “moderate” muslims?

          “You are an odd one here. Check and see how many more will agree with you about moderate Muslims. For start, ask Jay Boo or Angemon.”

          Go to bed voeg. Salah is a commentator with an outstanding rap sheet. And don’t try to act like you know what I or Jay Boo think or what our stances are on any given subject.

        • Angemon says

          Jan 7, 2015 at 7:22 am

          Barry K posted:

          “comments on this blog have clearly declared that there is no such thing as a moderate muslim and that the Koran allows for only one interpretation.”

          Barry:

          Could you back your claim with evidence?

    • Custos Custodum says

      Jan 7, 2015 at 12:14 pm

      Sadly, AL-SISI WILL LIKELY BE ASSASSINATED THIS YEAR, quite possibly with a big assist from the Georgetown girls (and boys) who have for years infested the higher reaches of the U.S. military and intelligence services.

  10. Angemon says

    Jan 5, 2015 at 9:30 pm

    Back in October 2010, Merkel declared: “This multicultural approach, saying that we simply live side by side and live happily with each other has failed. Utterly failed.”

    (…)

    Yet “PEGIDA organizers,” according to the Associated Press, “insist they are protesting only against extremism and not against immigrants or Islam itself,” and maintain that they are not Nazis.

    Yes, but die fuhrerin can’t have a grassroots movement who actually understands the threat and wants to act on it. If the people realize that they, who have first-hand experience with the subjects of “multiculturalism” and islamization, don’t need politicians to come up with a solution she and her ilk are out of a job. They’d have to *work* in the private sector, and the private sector demands results! Even worse, they’d have to live as commoners and risk experiencing multiculturalism first-hand!

    • Bezelel says

      Jan 6, 2015 at 5:37 pm

      That’s why I refer to them as elitists.Because they can afford to insulate themselves from the consequences of their irresponsible actions even with bodyguards no less. While the taxpaying peons/peasants can fend for themselves, preferably, disarmed. I don’t recall signing up for that sh!t.

  11. toni clark says

    Jan 6, 2015 at 3:01 am

    As alawys, Roberts summary of the Pegida people is a breath of fresh air in the humid suffocating world of power mad politicians. These Pegida people are utterly decent people, as most Germans are. The truth is, it is not imigration that is the problem, it is ISLAM they are so rightly concerned about.
    Not all English politicians have been so wilfuly stupid about Islam. Mr Ewart Gladstone a Liberal primeminster in the 18 hundreds after losing General Gordon in Khartoum to the ragheads, held up the Koran in the Houses of parliment and said, so long this accursed book exist there will never be piece on this earth.
    I worry that the Pegida movement will lose momentum. Merkels people are financing the Link extremists and the loony left green party to form opposition marches. In Germany, we are lucky, we have Michael Sturzenberga and that really tough and marvelous German woman Heidi. So maybe I should be optimistic.

  12. VictorMc says

    Jan 6, 2015 at 4:10 am

    Merkel is an old fashion Commie out of Eastern Germany and it shows more every day. Ghastly worthless woman.

  13. The irony is delicious says

    Jan 6, 2015 at 6:33 am

    The irony is delicious. The Cologne Cathedral and various companies turned off their lights as they want to support “an open, free and democratic society.” THE IRONY…don’t they realise what they are importing en masse do not believe in freedom or democracy. They only believe in Islam which is a totalitarian belief system that hates liberal democracies. The irony of them attacking people defending their societies as being “the hateful” ones. In fact, they love their culture and want to keep it that way.

    I guess we will all just have to accept Winston Churchill was also hateful and a “racist” for saying Islam is as dangerous as rabies for a dog. Let’s turn out our lights on Winston Churchill’s birthday as a form of worth protest. The irony is just amazing.

  14. Matthieu Baudin says

    Jan 6, 2015 at 7:51 am

    If Frau Merkel is concerned about prejudice arising within the ranks of Pegida then she needs to show leadership by reexamining Germanys immigration policy with a view to being more discriminating in favor of potential immigrants who welcome assimilation. Immigration policies already discriminate in a myriad of ways, choosing between different would-be immigrants. Few countries in the world today have citizens as tolerant and accommodating as modern day Germany and it has both a sovereign and moral right to carefully adjust its selection criteria for potential immigrants. An ‘anything goes’ approach to religious identification is a failed relic alongside the vague and all embracing notion of ‘multiculturalism’ which Angela had the courage and commonsense to abandon. Far too many Muslim immigrants have carried with them very heavy cultural baggage from the ‘old world’ into the ‘new’ and this chapter needs to close if Germany is to remain a good neighbor and a nation of hope and stability in post war Europe.

  15. Eddie De la Houssaye says

    Jan 6, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    When there is an election don’t vote for the people who support Islam period, get Merkel out of there.

  16. Rob says

    Jan 6, 2015 at 9:13 pm

    Sure Merkel concluded that multi kulti wasn’t working, but then did NOTHING to propose an alternative.
    Good that finally people are starting to rally and the only odd thing that it is the oh-so-careful Germans to lead the way.
    UKIP and Liberty GB in Britain are tackling the problem at party political level.
    The real hoot though is the BBC.
    When the anti-Islam marches started, the BBC had no option but to report it straight.
    But when Markel spoke up and there were counter marches, the BBC coverage changed and they started to lead and finish their bulletin segments with bold statements about decent German antagonism to neo Nazism.

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