Pegida Denmark
Pegida Denmark, also known as Pegidadk is the Danish incarnation of the German PEGIDA movement, reportedly led by Nicolai Sennels.[1]
Contents
Activities
A protest was held in Copenhagen on 19 January 2015, attended by approximately 150 people. An estimated four times that many held a counter-demonstration. Researcher Linda Pershing, who attended the protest and counter-protest, stated that there was 'censorship' of signs and banners, that 'none were handwritten or individualized' because 'they had to be approved beforehand'. She also notes that the event took on a 'more menacing tone' when 100 burning torches were carried down the street, which she claimed conjured the aura of an 'unruly and self-appointed throng from an earlier era, going after a beast or a monster'.[1]
Pegidadk leader, Nicolai Sennels reported prior to the demonstration that he and one other person, an unnamed 'ex-Muslim', would give speeches on the night.[2] Another source stated that Jomana Jojo Joy a 'self-described "Christian Arab" who says that fundamentalist Muslims forced her out of Copenhagen’s Nørrebro district' was scheduled to speak.[3]
After the event, Pershing noted the irony of the Pegidadk protesters singing a song entitled 'Til ungdommen' ('For the Youth'), by Norwegian poet and writer Nordahl Grieg, which has often been performed at memorial ceremonies for the 77 people killed by Islamophobic mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik.
She also reports that Pegidadk planned to repeat the protest indefinietly on Mondays, following the PEGIDA movement in Germany.[1]
Ideology
According to Pershing:
- While public pronouncements (including websites and posters at rallies) by Pegidadk members emphasize 'no to violence and racism' and opposition to 'fundamentalist Islam', [Pegida Denmark leader, Nicolai] Sennels' profound xenophobia regarding Muslims, as well as Denmark's long (but not widely recognized) history of anti-immigrant traditions, betray disturbing connections to a history of racism and xenophobia in Danish cultural life'.[1]
She continues:
- At the root, the new Pegidadk movement is another development in a long history of nativist groups in Denmark, led by people who assert their dominance and sense of cultural superiority by way of nationalism and claims that foreign 'others' pose a threat to the future and well-being of 'real' Danes.[1]
People
Contact
At least three associated social media accounts:
- a Pegida Danmark facebook page
- a PegidaDK facebook page
- a PegidaDK twitter account
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Linda Pershing, First Anti-Islam March by Pegida Movement Fizzles in Denmark, TruthOut, 29 January 2015
- ↑ Interview with Nicolai Sennels, starter of Danish Pegida, Pegidadk: “No racists allowed”, 10news.dk, 14 January 2015
- ↑ Justin Cremer, Danish Pegida organizer: No racists allowed, The Local, 14 January 2015, accessed 6 February 2015
