German Carnival Parades Go Ahead Despite Terror Threat

In the run-up to the parades, there were concerns that satirical
floats that poked fun at Islamist terror could provoke attacks

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Annual carnival parades mocking everyone and everything go ahead in Cologne and Düsseldorf despite a terror threat that saw a similar parade cancelled in Brunswick

Annual carnival parades that are among Europe’s biggest street parties went ahead in the German cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf on Monday, despite an Islamist terror threat that saw a similar parade in the city of Brunswick cancelled at the last minute.

Tight security was expected at the annual Rose Monday parades in Cologne and Düsseldorf, which each draw crowds of around a million people, and in nearby Mainz, which attracts around half a million.

A parade in the northern city of Brunswick on Sunday was cancelled just over an hour before it was due to start, after police said they received information about a “concrete threat of an Islamist attack”.

It emerged there was also a previously unreported high terror alert at Frankfurt airport on Sunday after police received a tip-off from an unnamed source who learned of an alleged planned attack in an internet chat, according to a report in Bild.

“Such a serious alert situation has only happened very, very rarely before,” Christian Altenhofen, a police spokesman, told the newspaper. » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Monday, February 16, 2015

Germany’s Pegida Anti-Islam Movement Vows to Continue Protests in Berlin and Munich

Lutz Bachmann, leader of the anti-Islamic Pegida movement
and Pegida spokewoman Kathrin Oertel give a press
conference in Dresden, eastern Germany

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A planned march in Dresden on Monday night was cancelled but Pegida's leaders say rallies in other German cities will go ahead

The leaders of Germany’s Pegida anti-Islam movement have vowed to continue their protests after they were forced to cancel a march in Dresden planned for Monday night because of an Islamist terror threat.

Pegida rallies are to go ahead as planned on Monday night in other cities across Germany, including Berlin, Munich and Düsseldorf.

Police are prepared for large crowds after the Dresden march was called off, and possible clashes between Pegida supporters and opponents at counter-rallies.

In Dresden, police took the unusual step of banning all public gatherings for 24 hours, after what they said was a “concrete threat” against the planned march.

German intelligence reportedly intercepted messages from jihadists about a plan for assassins to mingle with protesters. According to Pegida leaders, the target was the movement’s founder, Lutz Bachmann. » | Justin Huggler, Berlin | Monday, January 19, 2015

Aufmarsch in Dresden: 10.000 Islamfeinde bei Pegida-Demo

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Das rechte Bündnis "Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes" zieht immer mehr Anhänger an. An einer Kundgebung in Dresden nahmen 10.000 Personen teil, offenbar kam es zu Zusammenstößen mit Gegendemonstranten.

Dresden - Anhänger wie Gegner des rechtspopulistischen Bündnisses "Pegida" haben am Montagabend in Dresden Tausende Menschen mobilisiert: 10.000 Demonstranten nahmen nach Polizeiangaben auf der Seite der "Patriotischen Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes" (Pegida) teil - so viele wie noch nie. An den Gegenprotesten, zu denen unter anderem Kirchen und das Islamische Zentrum aufgerufen hatten, beteiligten sich 9000 Menschen.

Wie der MDR berichtet, kam es im Verlauf des Abends zu kleineren Auseinandersetzungen, bei denen von beiden Seiten Feuerwerkskörper flogen. Ein Pegida-Unterstützer sei festgenommen worden. Weitere Zwischenfälle wurden zunächst nicht bekannt. Die Polizei war mit 1200 Beamten aus mehreren Bundesländern im Einsatz. » | eth/dpa/AP | Montag, 08. Dezember 2014

PEGIDA »

Wahlkampf in Düsseldorf: Erdogan auf Schmeicheltour
ZEIT ONLINE: Wohlklingende Versprechungen für die Landsleute, klare Worte zur Integration für die Deutschen: Der türkische Premier ist auf Stimmenfang. Von Lars Geiges, Düsseldorf

Recep Tayyip Erdogan kommt zu spät. Gut anderthalb Stunden sind es. Das Flugzeug des türkischen Ministerpräsidenten hat einfach etwas länger für die Reise aus Ankara gebraucht. Und dann war da noch der dichte Verkehr auf den Straßen von Düsseldorf: 10.000 Türken hatten sich aufgemacht, um Erdogan zu sehen. Doch die Hauptperson steckte im Stau. Zum großen Auftritt gehört die kleine Verspätung.

Erdogans Fans nahmen das klaglos hin. Die letzte Rede Erdogans in Deutschland liegt drei Jahre zurück, da kam es auf einige Minuten nicht an. Sein Auftritt in Köln damals war politischer Zündstoff. Seine Anklage, Assimilation sei ein "Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit", zog eine heftige Integrationsdebatte nach sich. Und heute? Würde Erdogan nachlegen? >>> Von Lars Geiges | Montag, 28. Februar 2011

Zeit Online Video hier abspielen (Erdogan fordert Integration und lehnt Assimilation ab)
FAZ: Westerwelle und CSU kritisieren Erdogan: Als Reaktion auf die Rede des türkischen Ministerpräsidenten in Düsseldorf hat Außenminister Westerwelle das Erlernen der deutschen Sprache als „Schlüssel zur Integration“ bezeichnet. Die CSU kritisiert, Erdogan habe den Besuch genutzt, seine hier lebenden Landsleute „aufzuwiegeln“. >>> | Montag, 28. Februar 2011

Ed West: Muslim Honour Killing Book Cancelled over Safety Fears
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: Another European publisher has fallen victim to the continent’s blasphemy laws – blasphemy against Islam, that is. As the German press is reporting:

Dusseldorf – A German publisher has cancelled plans to publish a mass-market novel out of fears that it might face violent protests due to a rude reference to the Koran, Der Spiegel magazine reported Saturday. The crime novel – about the “honour killing” of a Muslim woman – had been scheduled for September publication, but the Droste publishing company of Dusseldorf decided not to print it after all, the magazine said in a story to appear in its Monday issue.

It said the publisher had first asked the author, Gabriele Brinkmann, writing under the pen name WW Domsky, to tone down dialogue in “To Those Worthy of Honour” which might be construed as offensive, but she had refused.

Spiegel reported that the offensive phrase in question was a character saying: “You can shove your Koran up …”

Publisher Felix Droste had asked an expert on Islamic society to study whether the crime story’s text could compromise the safety of his firm or his family, and the expert suggested the phrase be modified.

But the author refused to alter it to “You can shove your honour up …”

Droste wrote back that riots over Danish cartoons that poked fun at the Prophet Mohammed in 2005 showed that anyone publishing insults to Islam was putting their safety at risk, Spiegel said.

Over the weekend… >>> Ed West | Monday, October 05, 2009

New Dark Age Alert! Muslim Converts Accused of Holy War Bomb Plots
TIMESONLINE: Two Muslim converts and two Turks go on trial in a bomb-proof courtroom in Düsseldorf today accused of plotting to blow up German civilians and US soldiers.

“The world will burn!” boasted an intercepted e-mail sent between the accused, who are alleged to have wanted to wage an Islamic holy war in the heart of Europe.

Three of the men — Fritz Gelowicz, 29, Daniel Schneider, 23 and the Turkish national Adem Yilmaz, 30 — are accused of attending a training camp on the Afghan-Pakistani frontier run by an Uzbek-based terror organisation known as the Islamic Jihad Union.

Intelligence services say that it has links with al-Qaeda. Using detonators — supplied, the state prosecutor claims, by Attila Selek, 24, a German citizen of Turkish origin — the gang prepared bombs with the explosive force of 410kg (904lb) of TNT, to be set off in and around the US Ramstein air base and other targets. The bombers in London on July 7, 2005, had 4kg of explosive.

It is alleged that the gang wanted the attacks to influence a parliamentary debate extending the mandate of the German Army in Afghanistan in the autumn of 2007. >>> Roger Boyes in Berlin | Wednesday, April 22, 2009