Anti-Islamic group Pegida not welcome in Newcastle, say campaigners

Pegida, seen here protesting in Germany, are set to be confronted by up to 1,000 people to counter the march in the north east city

Anti-Islamic group Pegida protests in Germany (Getty)

The anti-Islamic group Pegida has been warned it is “not welcome” in Newcastle ahead of its inaugural UK protest this weekend.

Nadia Iftkhar, a 32-year-old choreographer, described the action by the new populist anti-immigration group as “a vehicle for hate and racism”. She said the people who live in Newcastle, find their ideology “poisonous and hateful” and they were neither “wanted nor welcome”.

Anti-racism campaigners hope up to 1,000 people will turn out on Saturday morning for a counter-demonstration in the north east city, which has a history of tolerance and understanding.

Pegida’s static demonstration is at Bigg Market, a place usually associated with the city’s night-time economy. A nearby shop owner said it was “going to ruin the day’s business for us.”

Dipu Ahad, a Newcastle councillor, organised the Newcastle Unites counter demonstration and said people are travelling from as far south as Devon and as north as Inverness to attend. The Pegida rally was “badly timed” on a match day and “poorly organised” and he said the group’s “message of hate” demonised an entire community.

In the Rose and Crown pub, Andrew Summers said it was “a small minority of idiots” who’d organised the protest. Newcastle MP Chi Onwurah was quoted in the Newcastle Chronicle saying the idea that children in Newcastle might feel unwelcome or unappreciated because of the religion they practice is “absolutely obscene.”

Pegida UK seems to have been in disarray this week. They emailed to say their spokesman Matt Pope had suddenly departed. Pope, a 28-year-old social worker from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, later said he hadn’t left. The protest clashes with Newcastle United’s home match against Aston Villa, which will see 50,000 fans heading into the city. Fans issued a strongly worded statement urging the organisation to stay away.

It is an offshoot of the group which began in Dresden, Germany, last October. The name translates as Patriots of Europe Against the Islamisation of the West. Following a rally attended by 25,000 people, Chancellor Angela Merkel criticised it for being xenophobic and said the organisation’s leaders have “prejudice, coldness, even hatred in their hearts.”

It says it merely opposes radical Islam and hate preachers and believes Muslims need to adapt to our way of life in the west, instead of us adapting to them.

Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC and her German counterpart, Reiner Hoffman, president of the DGB, issued a joint statement condemning the event. They said “on behalf of working people and their communities in Britain and Germany, we believe that no good will come of attacks on communities because of their race religion or nationality.”

Northumbria Police said extra officers would be on duty in the city centre today, but it would be business as usual. Chief Superintendent Laura Young said they have been assured by both organisations that it will be a peaceful demonstration and people “should not be put off coming into the city centre.”