A demonstration against the right-wing and the AfD in Hamburg was canceled due to the large number of people. “We have to end the rally early,” said Kazim Abaci from the Entrepreneurs Without Borders association, which co-organized the demonstration under the motto “Hamburg stands up – together against right-wing extremism and neo-Nazi networks.” He raised safety concerns on Friday. People in the crowd have already collapsed and the fire department can no longer get through.
Hamburg’s mayor sends a message to the AfD
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.
Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) said on Friday evening: “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 after 1945 not to be destroyed a second time.” In the past few days, tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets against the right in several cities.
Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Haldenwang welcomes demonstrations against the right
The President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution welcomed the numerous demonstrations. “It would be desirable if the silent majority of our population took a clear position against extremism and anti-Semitism,” said Thomas Haldenwang of the “Westdeutsche Zeitung” (Saturday). “And fortunately, many people are currently demonstrating against it.” Democracy in Germany is in danger due to various developments.
President of the Central Council: Pleased that “the middle of society is standing up”
The President of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, also praised the demonstrations as an important signal. “I’m really pleased that the middle of society is standing up,” Schuster told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Saturday). “I’ve always had the feeling that you see the AfD’s forecasts and election results, but that doesn’t lure anyone out from behind the stove,” said Schuster. That worried him. “That’s why I’m pleased when people take to the streets now and express their dissatisfaction.”
He hopes that people also show moral courage in everyday life. Schuster demanded: “If someone stands up in a personal conversation, at work, in the family, among acquaintances, in a sports club or in a youth group and expresses ideologies that are racist, inhumane or anti-Semitic, stand up and say: ‘Do you know what you are doing? you just said?'”
Demos also planned in Bavaria
This weekend, thousands of people in Munich and other regions of Bavaria are planning anti-right demonstrations to send a strong message together. Further protest actions are also planned across Germany.
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.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz stood behind the demonstrators. 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”.
The demos were triggered by a meeting of right-wing radicals in Potsdam
The Germany-wide demonstrations are taking 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.
With information from dpa.