I mean, how could these people be so ungrateful over all the politicians’ efforts at destroying their own culture?
A woman who travelled 80km (50 miles) for the demonstration told the BBC: “I am not right wing, I’m not a Nazi. I am just worried for my country, for my granddaughter.”
Anti-Islam ‘Pegida’ march in German city of Dresden
Jenny Hill reports from Dresden where marchers chanted “We are the people”
About 10,000 people have taken part in a march against “Islamisation of the West” in the east German city of Dresden.
A large counter-demonstration of more than 5,000 people was also held. No major incidents were reported.
Dresden is the birthplace of a movement called “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West” (Pegida), which staged a big rally a week ago.
Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Germans not to be exploited by extremists.
“There’s freedom of assembly in Germany, but there’s no place for incitement and lies about people who come to us from other countries,” Mrs Merkel said in Berlin.
“Everyone [who attends] needs to be careful that they are not taken advantage of by the people who organise such events.”
In Monday’s march, protesters chanted Wir sind das volk (we are the people) – a rallying cry used in the city in the weeks before the fall of the Berlin Wall 25 years ago.
One elderly man shouted: “I’m a pensioner. I only get a small pension but I have to pay for all these people (asylum seekers). No-one asked me!”
