Pegida UK is using Facebook to announce news of their first rally: “Pegida UK is holding its first rally in Newcastle. All are welcome to attend. Let’s show the Islamists we show no fear”.
In an interview, their spokesman said: “We are against radical Islam, hate preachers and believe Muslims need to adapt to our way of life in the West”.
#Pegida anti-#Islamists in UK: media hype, same old suspects says @MattHopeNotHate http://t.co/ffH7S1xBBy #c4news pic.twitter.com/OwT13YB02A
— HOPE not hate (@hopenothate) February 5, 2015
Pegida, which stands for Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West, has already caused controversy in Germany where recent demonstrations were met with swathes of anti-fascist protestors.
Destination: Newcastle
Following the terror attack in Paris, dozens of Pegida splinter groups have emerged online. Local Facebook pages have appeared across Europe, in France, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Spain and the UK.
An estimated 500 to 3,000 protesters are expected to attend a protest in Newcastle at the end of February. Community and political leaders are strongly condemning the move and say the group would not be welcome in the city.
#UK Pegida: Anti-Islam group told it is ''not welcome'' ahead of first UK march: The controversial German grou… http://t.co/HCtZCkZSkR
— Woody (@Harley_Woody) February 6, 2015
Meanwhile Northumbria Police said the organisers have not contacted them. “At the moment we have not received formal notification from this group about a proposed march", said a Northumbria Police spokeswoman.
Far Right Group Makes its Move Using British Media
Recently, 25,000 demonstrators attended a rally in Dresden, East Germany. According to Nick Ryan from Hope Not Hate, the planned Pegida protests in the UK are being over-hyped.
"There is no mass anti-Islamist street movement — and when there was (the EDL), it was crudely racist, obviously 'anti-Muslim', and prone to drunkenness, disorder and violence. Some of the selfsame ex-EDL types will be the sorts of people wishing for Pegida to appear here."
"The media need to be careful not to do their job for them, and appear to 'create' a movement that doesn't really exist."
Graeme Atkinson, Hope Not Hate's European editor adds, "it's 'losers chasing failures'. Pegida has imploded in Germany. In all but a tiny handful of cares, Pegida was outmatched on the streets many times-to-one in Germany. Its leaders have left in shame. There is no 'Pegida' here".
Demonstrations are also planned for London and Birmingham in the next few months.
