Tens of thousands rally in Dresden against racism, xenophobia

Around 35,000 people turned out to rally on Saturday in the eastern German city of Dresden against an anti-Islamic movement and in remembrance of the recent terrorist attacks in France.

Dresden has become the center of weekly anti-immigration protests organized by a grassroots movement called Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, which drew a record number of 18,000 people last Monday, Reuters reported.

Saturday’s rally was to promote tolerance against the movement’s xenophobic message.

“We won’t permit that hate will divide us,” Dresden Mayor Helma Orosz said at the rally, which was organized by the state government of Saxony and the city of Dresden, Reuters reported.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has condemned the anti-Muslim demonstrations, calling their organizers racist and full of hatred, Reuters reported. 

Participants of the rally held signs displaying messages of peace and acceptance. They also observed a minute of silence to remember the 12 people killed earlier this week in the assault on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris, France’s deadliest terror attack in decades. 

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