Hamburg
Demo against the right canceled due to crowds
Thousands of demonstrators are gathering around the Jungfernstieg – many more than expected. The protest march was stopped due to overcrowding. photo
© Jonas Walzberg/dpa
More people came together in the Hanseatic city than expected. But for the safety of the participants, the organizers ended the rally earlier than planned.
Because of the large number of people, we had to… Hamburg a demonstration against the right and the AfD is canceled. “We have to end the rally early,” said Kazim Abaci from the Entrepreneurs Without Borders association, which helped organize the rally. He cited safety concerns.
People in the crowd collapsed and the fire department could no longer get through. After Abaci initially spoke of 130,000 participants in the Jungfernstieg, the organizers later corrected the number to 80,000. Police said there were 50,000 demonstrators.
Thousands also demonstrated in other cities
The motto of the demonstration was “Hamburg stands up – together against right-wing extremism and neo-Nazi networks”. Thousands also demonstrated in Jena, Kiel and other German cities. Chancellor Olaf Scholz supported the demonstrators who wanted to take to the streets across Germany in their tens of thousands this weekend. He compared the “remigration” plans of right-wing extremists in Germany with the racial ideology of the National Socialists.
“If there is something that can never have a place in Germany again, then it is the ethnic racial ideology of the National Socialists. Nothing else is expressed in the extremists’ repulsive resettlement plans,” said the SPD politician in the new edition of his video series “Kanzler Kompakt”. All people in Germany are called upon to take a clear stand: “For cohesion, for tolerance, for our democratic Germany.”
At the rally in Hamburg, Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) said: “The message to the AfD and its right-wing networks is: We are the majority, and we are strong because we are united and because we are determined to protect our country and our democracy not to allow it to be destroyed a second time after 1945.”
Demonstrations after a report about a meeting of right-wing radicals
The demonstrations took place after a report by the media company Correctiv about a meeting of right-wing radicals on November 25th in Potsdam. Several AfD politicians took part, as did individual members of the CDU and the very conservative Union of Values. The former head of the right-wing extremist Identitarian movement in Austria, Martin Sellner, said he spoke about “remigration” there. When right-wing extremists use this term, they usually mean that large numbers of people of foreign origin should leave the country – even under duress.
Scholz said in his video that the right-wing extremists discussed in Potsdam how they could drive millions of people out of Germany. “That thought sends shivers down your spine.” He spoke of a “diabolical plan.” It is “terrible” that some migrants are now even wondering whether they still have a future in Germany. Scholz assured all people in Germany with a migrant background: “You belong to us! Our country needs you!” That is also the message of the new nationality law, which was passed in the Bundestag on Friday.
Migration and naturalization
“I think this feeling of being German and Italian or German and Turkish – that corresponds to the reality of life for many citizens in our country. Recognizing that is a question of respect,” emphasized Scholz. “You helped build Germany’s prosperity. Our country owes you so much! That’s why we will also recognize your life’s achievements in the context of naturalization.” However, Scholz also emphasized that irregular immigration to Germany must be curbed at the same time. “We have to organize migration better than before – very pragmatically and, above all, without hatred and without prejudice.”
The chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Aiman Mazyek, called on Muslims in Germany to take part in the rallies against the right. Muslims are exposed to hatred and hostility in everyday life. This is unacceptable and requires a “determined and united response from everyone who values the values of democracy and coexistence in Germany.”