Determined: Festerling poses in front of a statue of Martin Luther in Dresden. She cited his 1521 statement, 'here I stand. God help me. I can do no other.'
[From article]
The most powerful woman in far-Right Germany has made an extraordinary call for the public to ‘forget about decency’ and fight the ‘sex-jihad’ she claims is being waged against Western women.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Tatjana Festerling, 51, the second-in-command of the anti-Islam group Pegida, said ‘political correctness’ was putting women and gay men at risk of assault.
In a vicious attack on Muslim migrants and the political elite, she said: ‘Germany is like an open-air psychiatric ward with the mental illness of political correctness.
'We don’t have time for decency any more. If we don’t grab our pitchforks and fight the Islamisation of Europe, we are lost.'
Her comments, in a video for MailOnline, will cause concern that a resurgent far-Right is exploiting migration to whip up racist hatred.
[. . .]
Accompanied by a bodyguard at a cafe in central Dresden, Festerling told MailOnline:
’Pegida are the only ones who don’t care about being politically correct. We just don’t care. We have no scruples and no fear.
‘We are on the rise all over the world, regaining territory that was lost to political correctness.
‘The Muslim headscarf should be banned, and radical mosques should be closed. We need to make life uncomfortable for them.
'Migrants should be forced to register at police stations, and ultimately we need to look at deportation. If they keep crossing the border and you can't arrest them, shoot them.'
Germany’s ‘refugees welcome culture’ is like a cult, she said, with anti-migrant voices being suppressed by an out-of-touch political elite. She continued:
In peaceful times, we Germans like to be decent and behave nicely to foreigners. But in times like these, we need to forget about decency.
'F*** decency. This fight against Islamisation is the last battle.’
Her inflammatory remarks followed a week in which Pegida – a German acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West – led demonstrations across the globe, a number of which turned violent.
Experts fear that the escalation in rhetoric marks a 'gear-shift' on the far-Right, raising fears of further unrest around the continent.
‘People are on the verge of panic about mass immigration, and Pegida is trying to capitalise on that,’ said Vidhya Ramalingam, a Fellow at the German Institute on Radicalisation and De-Radicalisation Studies (GIRDS).
‘It’s a very dangerous moment, because when people feel out of control they resort to violence.’
Festerling went on to compare the Left’s supportive attitude towards migrants to ‘Stockholm Syndrome’.
‘Even as the migrants are committing sex-jihad against women and homosexual men, the Leftists are offering them roses,’ she said.
‘They care more about young Muslim men than they do about their own women. They are infatuated with their own abusers.’
[. . .]
The Islamisation of Europe was ‘already underway’, she added, with churches being forced to remove crucifixes, pork being banned in kindergartens, Sharia police roaming the streets, and the whole of western Germany run as a ‘caliphate’.
'Islam is a twisted ideology,' she claimed.
As fears about immigrants have become more mainstream, there has been a noticeable escalation in Pegida’s belligerence.
[. . .]
Experts fear that this represents 'a new sense of self-confidence' on the far-Right in the wake of the immigrant sex attacks.
Like many far-Right movements, Pegida has been beset by infighting. Last year, a number of senior members lost their nerve and left the group, with one apologising to Muslims in a video message.
Yet its aggressive stance towards the government and migrants strikes a chord with an increasing number of disenfranchised Germans, particularly white men, who are driving the resurgence of the far-Right across the continent.
Launched in October 2014 to oppose ‘the Islamisation of Europe’, Pegida has expanded into other countries, including Austria, Belgium, Holland and Britain, though some of the numbers may be small.
In Dresden, where the group was founded, it regularly attracts up to 5,000 supporters to its Monday night rallies.
Rally: A Pegida demonstration in Dresden, where up to 5,000 people gather every week on Mondays.
Last week, the group staged demonstrations around the world under the monicker ‘Fortress Europe’.
Demonstrations took place as far afield as Australia, and 200 Pegida supporters led by Tommy Robinson, the former leader of the English Defence League (EDL), marched silently in Birmingham.
Festerling herself took part in a rally in Warsaw, where she launched the Polish branch of Pegida in front of a 2,000-strong crowd,
[. . .]
There are many patriotic people in Poland.’
Her latest comments will infuriate people who refuse to buy in to fears about mass migration - and those who fear the far-Right is exploiting migration to whip up hatred.
At the same time, however, they are designed to appeal to a growing unease among mainstream voters who are not connected to the far-Right.
According to Germany’s Federal Office of Migration and Refugees, 476,649 people sought asylum in 2015. And the numbers appear to be rising: in January alone, there were more than 50,000.
Political conditions in Germany mean that those with concerns about mass migration have little representation in parliament.
The pro-migrant Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is governing over a coalition that includes the Social Democrats, Germany’s second-largest party. Other parties, such as the Greens, share her ‘open door’ stance.
Merkel is widely blamed for the current crisis. At Pegida rallies in Germany, placards depicting her in a hijab, with the caption ‘take your Muslims and get lost’, are commonplace.
[. . .]
In recent months, Pegida has pledged to form a legitimate political party; put a stop to a tax that funds German state media; launch legal action against the federal government; publish weekly ‘Pegidaleaks’ online to uncover corruption in State institutions; and lead a boycott of the economy every Wednesday.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3443786/Forget-decency-fight-sex-jihad-Femme-fatale-extremist-Pegida-group-accuses-Muslims-targeting-Western-women-gay-men-calls-public-grab-pitchforks.html
EXCLUSIVE: 'Forget decency, fight the sex jihad!' The moment the most powerful woman in far-Right Pegida launches vicious attack on Muslim migrants, telling the public to 'grab your pitchforks and protect Europe'
Tatjana Festerling, Pegida's deputy, claims western Germany is 'caliphate'
Far-right activist rants that Muslims are 'twisted' in hate-filled interview
MailOnline video of the 51-year-old shows extent of her extremist views
Festerling calls on ordinary people to fight the 'Islamisation' of Europe
Says migrants should be forced to register at police stations on arrival
Those crossing the border illegally should be arrested or shot, she said
Comes after Pegida led demos around world, some of which turned violent
Video rant exposes far-Right views that are gaining currency in Germany
For more on Germany's migrant crisis visit www.dailymail.co.uk/germany
By Jake Wallis Simons In Dresden, Germany
Published: 03:43 EST, 15 February 2016 | Updated: 05:30 EST, 15 February 2016
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