Pegida, a group that stands for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West^, is a German right-wing anti-Islam political organisation, founded in Dresden last October.
In Germany, it has had a fair amount of success with up to 25,000 people participating in an event held over there in January.
However, the group's attempts to spread internationally have not been as successful with little more than a smattering of protesters heading to rallies in Norway and Denmark.
The event in Newcastle was meant to be different, reinvigorating the Pegida cause by making a strong first impression in this country.
Heavily trailed on social media sites, organisers claimed the Tyneside city had been selected as there was apparently already a groundswell of support for the group.
But, ultimately, the reality was rather different. Yes, on the day itself, the Pegida supporters were outnumbered five-to-one by a counter-demonstration organised by Newcastle Unites.
For, while there were officially only 375 Pegida attendees, approximately 2,000 people marched from Gallowgate to Newgate Street against them at about the same time.
The disparity left the Pegida organisers blaming transport problems for their own paltry turnout. It was, in the end, all a rather pathetic damp squib.
Of course, Newcastle has been here before - even quite recently. In 2010, the English Defence League occupied the same spot as Pegida in a similarly unconvincing display of alleged strength.
And perhaps the reason why Newcastle was targeted again comes down to the fact that the north east region of England has fewer ethnic minorities living in it than any other part of the country.
Presumably the line of thinking goes that a lack of exposure to a multiracial society allows ignorance and fear to fester - and that this makes the area attractive to the likes of Pegida.
But, while that is evidently true in a minority of cases, it seems the far-right regularly misjudge the overall mood of the city of Newcastle itself.
After all, the de facto regional capital is not typical of the area as a whole - with a far lower proportion of those identifying as white British (83.61%) than the overall north east figure of 92.43%.
Even just a five-minute walk out to the west end of the town would confirm Newcastle is a far more diverse place to live than it is often given credit for.
Additionally, Newcastle United Football Club - based at the heart of the city - currently has one of the most ethnically diverse squads in the Premier League.
The Magpies regularly field Muslims in their starting line-up with Papiss Cisse wearing the iconic number nine shirt, and Moussa Sissoko, Cheik Tiote and Mehdi Abeid all featuring in midfield.
For their part, Pegida supporters deny it is racist or fascist but instead is concerned with the supposed "Islamification" of Britain.
But that claim was rather undermined by the fact that EDL and National Front banners could be seen in the Bigg Market.
Of course, recent events - such as the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris and the rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria - have made the religion of Islam a hot topic of debate once again in Britain.
There are no doubt legitimate concerns about "ordinary Muslims" being radicalised and about organisations like Cage acting as unashamed apologists for the masked lunatic Mohammed Emwazi, better known as "Jihadi John".
But, although those concerns exist quite legitimately, turning to extremists to fight extremism is simply never the answer.
Thankfully, at the weekend, the people of Newcastle agreed with that and so left the Pegida lot looking rather daft.
^ Pegida in German = Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes
No comments:
Post a Comment