Angela Merkel to Join Muslim Community Rally in Berlin

An image of Angela Merkel manipulated to make it look like
she's wearing a hijab, at a Pegida rally in Dresden

THE GUARDIAN: German chancellor is attending vigil for tolerance, in response to marches by far-right group Pegida in parts of country

Angela Merkel is joining a Muslim community rally in Berlin to promote tolerance, condemn the attacks in Paris and send a rebuke to Germany’s growing anti-Islamic movement.

“Hatred, racism and extremism have no place in this country,” she said in a speech earlier in the day. “We are a country based on democracy, tolerance and openness to the world.”

The vigil at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on Tuesday evening is organised by the Central Council of Muslims in Germany under the banner “Let’s be there for each other. Terror: not in our name!”

The ceremony is starting with a wreath laying outside the French embassy, where the ground is covered with flowers, candles and condolence cards.

The wreath is made of coloured pens, a symbol of freedom of expression in honour of the 17 victims of the attack on satirical paper Charlie Hebdo and subsequent bloodshed that shook France last week. » | Agence France-Presse | Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Germany Protests: Dresden Marches Against Anti-Islamists Pegida

BBC AMERICA: About 35,000 people have marched through the German city of Dresden in protest against recent so-called anti-Islamisation rallies, organisers say.

The turnout is nearly double that of the largest demonstration by anti-Islamists Pegida, held last Monday.

Saturday's counter-demonstration observed a minute's silence for the 17 victims of this week's terrorist attacks in France.

The next Pegida protest in Dresden will be held on Monday.

Some analysts say that numbers may grow as a result of the violence in France. » | Saturday, January 10, 2015