The excellent Vice UK broadcast this short film in 2015 in which they interact with demonstrators in Newcastle on a march supporting the far-right, anti-Islamic movement Pegida which stands for “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West”. Founded in Germany in 2014 it has since spread throughout western Europe.
Speaking to people on the demo and those opposing it we get a sense of their anger and concerns. However, the march takes a bad turn when ‘nazi skinheads’ hijack it and cause a clash with the police. It then becomes apparent that many of the Pegida demonstrators themselves were happy to be wearing swastikas or to be associated with those that are.
It is easy to blame far right extremists who clash with police. What we have to do is accept that the extremists and others with similar views are on almost every street. They keep their heads down until the time is right but they fester until the lid is flicked off. Depriving them of a voice is one way but probably not the most effective. They are being let down not by Muslims or any other belief system but by those who wield power.
The concerns which highlighted the Islamification of British culture and the belief that all women would have their faces covered and that mosques were being built whilst libraries and other community services were being shut down on the face of it seems to be a concern in which we should debate. We can then discuss how in a supposed Christian country women are sexualised and beaten daily. We can discuss how #METOO is shouted down by many of the same people who complain about Islam. We can discuss why the libraries and community services are being starved of funding by a government that promised to pay off the debt not double it. We can ask how the wealthiest have accumulated a lot more wealth since 2008 whilst many others have had to borrow more and choke on austerity. We can talk about a lot of things.
The debate though must be open. It must be dialectic. We must all strive to find the answers to the questions without prejudice. Let’s do it.
Douglas James
