A Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West) march in Dresden, Germany, drew only 8,000 on Saturday, as well as 2,000 pro-tolerance demonstrators—who began their march in a Protestant service at the Dresden Synagogue. Similar anti-Muslim rallies in several other European cities also did not manage to turn into the massive events organizers had hoped for, several media outlets reported.
In Prague, around 5,000 people turned out for a march organized by two far-right groups. In Birmingham fewer than 150 supporters and 60 counter-demonstrators turned up. In Warsaw about 1,000 anti-Muslim protestors marched. In Dublin several hundred anti-Pegida demonstrators occupied their meeting and beat up Pegida supporters. In Calais about 150 demonstrators clashed with police when they protested outside the local migrant camp.
“Europe is now invaded by organized groups of people who want to dominate our continent,” said the leader of the Polish National Movement Robert Winnicki. “Central Europe is still in rather good situation, because there are not millions of Muslims here, as it is for example in Germany.”
In Amsterdam on Saturday night, riot police clashed with about 200 Pegida protesters, who were outnumbered by the cops and left-wing demonstrators. Several people were arrested.
Considering the fact that more than 1 million refugees came to the European Union countries in 2015, half of them Syrians, many of whom have gained a reputation for violence and sexual molestation of local women—Europe appears unperturbed so far.