It is extremely foolish and short-sighted of Angela Merkel to dismiss this movement as “racist” and “xenophobic.” The refusal to acknowledge legitimate concerns cannot end well. At very least, it should lead to the end of Merkel’s political career, and her retirement to private life.
“Survey finds one in three Germans supports ‘anti-Islamization’ PEGIDA marches,” DW, January 1, 2015:
An opinion poll has found that one in eight Germans would join a march against ‘Islamization’ if one were held in their home town. A series of rallies in the city of Dresden have drawn growing numbers, with more planned.
The poll of 1,006 people by German news magazine Stern found that 13 percent would attend an “anti-Islamization” march if it were held near to their home.
The survey, while small, does show a residual level of support for the weekly rallies being held in the eastern city of Dresden, one of which attracted more than 17,000 people in the days before Christmas.
It also found that 29 percent of people thought the marches by the group Pegida, or Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, were justified because of the degree of influence that Islam was having on life in Germany.
Support for the marchers was particularly strong among supporters of the euroskeptic party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which recently has increasingly campaigned on an anti-immigration platform. The poll found that 71 percent of AfD supporters felt the rallies were justified.
About two thirds of Germans asked by the polling group Forsa felt that the threat that “Islamization” posed within Germany was being exaggerated by PEGIDA….