PEGIDA

(PEGIDA, in English: "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West") is a controversial German political movement based in Dresden. It was started in October 2014 by Lutz Bachmann. Thousands of people have joined public demonstrations against the "Islamization of Europe". German leaders have termed it xenophobia. Larger German counter-demonstrations against Pegida, estimated at about 30,000 people, have taken place in Stuttgart, Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin. Joining those speaking out against Pegida are the Roman Catholic, Protestant churches and several social groups. Tommy Robinson founded a Pegida offshoot group.