Tens of Thousands Protest in Germany Against The Far-Right

 

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Tens of thousands protest against far right in cities across Germany

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Tens of thousands protest in Germany against the far-right

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Public outcry followed revelations that the far-right AfD party had discussed plans to mass deport immigrants.

Tens of thousands of people have gathered across Germany to protest against a far-right political party and its stance against migrants.

People protested in several cities and small towns on Saturday, with some mocking the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with signs saying “Fascism is not an alternative”, German media reported.

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Politicians, churches, and Bundesliga coaches have urged people to stand up against the AfD.

The protests come following an outcry after it was revealed that AfD members held a meeting with far-right activists and discussed plans to mass deport foreigners.

Police said some 35,000 people joined a call under the banner “Defend democracy – Frankfurt against the AfD”, marching in the financial heart of Germany.
A similar number, some carrying posters like “Nazis out”, turned up in the northern city of Hanover.
Protests were also held in cities including Braunschweig, Erfurt and Kassel and many smaller towns, mirroring mobilisation every day over the past week. Some 50,000 people demonstrated in Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city, on Friday, police said.
In all, demonstrations have been called in about 100 locations across Germany from Friday through the weekend, including in Berlin on Sunday.

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‘An attack against our democracy’

News of the far-right gathering sent shockwaves across Germany at a time when the AfD is polling second in nationwide surveys, just months before three major regional elections in eastern Germany where their support is strongest.
The anti-immigration party confirmed the presence of its members at the meeting, but has denied taking on the “remigration” project championed by Sellner. Co-leader Alice Weidel parted ways with one of her advisers who participated in the talks.
But leading politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who joined a demonstration last weekend, said any plan to expel immigrants or citizens alike amounted to “an attack against our democracy, and in turn, on all of us”. He urged “all to take a stand – for cohesion, for tolerance, for our democratic Germany”.
Members of the country’s business industry also voiced their concerns.
“If everything is true as reported, then that is absolutely disgusting,” said Siemens Energy’s supervisory board chairman Joe Kaeser in an interview with Reuters published on Saturday,
Kaeser’s comments come after leaders of German companies, including chip manufacturer Infineon and chemicals maker Evonik voiced their concerns earlier this week.
Highlighting lessons from Germany’s history, Kaeser warned of the damage to Germany’s image around the world and called on German businesses to publicly warn of the consequences.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

Newsday

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Protests against Germany's far right gain new momentum after report on meeting of extremists - Newsday

The Irish Times

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Tens of thousands protest against far-right in cities across Germany – The Irish Times

Germany: Marches against the far-right draw over 200,000

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Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in demonstrations against far-right extremism in cities across Germany. Rallies were expected in more than 100 German cities and towns over the weekend.

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Some 35,000 people gathered in Frankfurt to protest against far-right extremism in GermanyImage: Boris Roessler/dpa/picture alliance

Details of a plan concocted in a secret meeting of right-wing extremists and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to deport millions of migrants and minorities have led to a surge in pro-democracy marches and protests in cities across the country.

An estimated 300,000 people bundled up against freezing weather for protests in Hamburg, Frankfurt, Hanover, Kassel, Dortmund, Wuppertal, Karlsruhe, Nuremberg, Erfurt and other German cities and towns, with some placards playing on the Alternative for Germany party's name: "Fascism isn't an alternative."

"Fascists as a party are still fascists," warned one sign written in the light blue color associated with the AfDImage: Thomas Frey/dpa/picture alliance

Huge demonstrations in Frankfurt, Hanover

About 35,000 people gathered in Frankfurt on Saturday for a "defend democracy" march. Protesters filled the central square, where organizers planned to hold the rally, as well as a second nearby square and the streets in between. Police said the demonstration peaceful.

One of the Frankfurt protest's co-organizers, Peter Josiger, said the deportation plans discussed at the Potsdam secret meeting were "nothing less than an attack on the basis of our coexistence" and called for "an active stand against the right from the entire breadth of society."

Former German President Christian Wulff and the premier of the state of Lower Saxony, Stephan Weil, addressed about 35,000 people on Hanover's Opera Square. Protesters carried banners with slogans including "We are diverse" and "Voting AfD is so 1933."

Signs such as this one ("Never again 1933!") recalled the rise of the Nazi party, the horrors of the Holocaust and World War IIImage: Michael Probst/AP/picture alliance

On Friday, a massive rally in Hamburg had to be stopped early as far more people than expected turned out. The largest protest of its sort so far, police said there were 50,000 people and organizers put the number 80,000, pointing out that the rally was called to a close before many were able to reach it.

Police estimates of crowd sizes at other protests included: 12,000 in Kassel, 7,000 each in Dortmund and Wuppertal, 20,000 in Karlsruhe, at least 10,000 in Nuremberg, about 16,000 in Halle/Saale, 5,000 in Koblenz and several thousand in Erfurt.

More protests are expected on Sunday, including in Berlin, Munich Cologne, Dresden, Leipzig and Bonn.

About 20,000 people were reported to have attended a pro-democracy rally in StuttgartImage: Christoph Schmidt/dpa/picture alliance

Why are so many people protesting now?

The demonstrations were sparked by a report from news outlet Correctiv that detailed how AfD members met withfar-right extremists in November in Potsdam. Members of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the largest opposition party, also attended.

Participants at the meeting, discussed "remigration," a term frequently used in far-right circles as a euphemism for the expulsion of immigrants and minorities, including those who are naturalized German citizens.

News of the gathering shocked many in Germany at a time when the AfD is soaring in opinion polls before three major regional elections in eastern Germany — where the party's support is strongest.

The anti-immigration party confirmed the presence of its members at the meeting, but has publicly denied taking on the "remigration" project.

Since the relevations of the far-right meeting in Potsdam, some in Germany have called for banning the AfDImage: Jacob Schröter/dpa/picture alliance

German politicians speak out

Leading politicians, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who joined a demonstration last weekend along with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, said any plan to expel immigrants or citizens alike amounted to "an attack against our democracy, and in turn, on all of us."
He called on people "all to take a stand — for cohesion, for tolerance, for our democratic Germany."

• Interior Minister Nancy Faeser pointed out that the far-right extremists groups met at a Potsdam hotel near where the Nazi party on January 20, 1942 — exactly 82 years ago — coordinated the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question" and discussed the systematic murder of millions of Jews in Europe.
  

"It involuntarily brings back memories of the terrible Wannsee Conference," she told the Funke Mediengruppe on Saturday.
Emphasizing that she did not want to equate the two, she said it was important to be clear that "what is hidden behind harmless-sounding terms such as 'remigration' is the idea of expelling and deporting people en masse because of their ethnic origin or their political views."

• In North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, Premier Hendrik Wüst of the CDU called for an "alliance of the center" across all parties and levels of government.

"We need the democrats to stand shoulder to shoulder," he said, going on to call the AfD a "dangerous Nazi party" that is not grounded in Germany's constitution.

Friedrich Merz, the leader of the opposition CDU, posted on X, formerly Twitter, that it was "very encouraging that thousands of people are demonstrating peacefully against right-wing extremism." He did not comment on the CDU members present at the Potsdam meeting.

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