Dealing with PEGIDA, part 2. Next Monday, lets go and talk to them! We are the largest international group in town, a bunch of lovable fun people - who if not us should show them the awesome side of having foreigners in Dresden and the damage they are doing to the city. Heres the plan: we meet up 15 minutes before their rallye/demonstration. Then we go there as a group, and talk to as many people as possible. Ask them why they are there, what they actually personally want, discuss with them if they are smart enough and want to. Bring your country flags if you have some so we can be distinguished and dont look like we are actually supporting them ;-) Security: I dont think we need to be worried. They pride themselves in being non-violent, and there will be a ton of police should something actually happen. Yes, there will be some nazis and hooligans there, but they will be a minority, and police and others there will make sure nothing will happen to us. I am also thinking of contacting a few journalists to see if they wanna come along (its a GREAT story!). Motivation: first of all, I want to get a personal impression of these people (so I will even go alone if nobody joins). I still believe that most of them are idiots, that it is terrible to follow a criminal like Lutz Bachmann, that the entire idea is stupid and spreading hatred and racism. But also, I have at least 2 people among my FB friends that I know are good people on the surface, that like PEGIDA and might even have marched with them - Ill contact them and see if they wanna meet up with us. And I think it might actually be way more productive to talk to a few not-so-stupid people that dont have any foreign friends than shouting at all of them from a counter-demonstration across the street. One thing is sure - it will be a very, very interesting experience - especially if you havent seen a ton of racist people in one place. So far, its basically an us against them mentality in Dresden, on both sides (and understandably so I think from the counter-PEGIDA side, refer to my post from a few days ago, Ill link it in the first comment). But well, they claim to not be against foreigners at all, a bunch of peace-loving, normal people, so lets test and see for ourselves if its true. If it doesnt work out we can still leave there as a group anytime and join the counter-protests ;-) Pls share your opinion below - will you join me?
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 08:53:53 +0000