Counter-Demonstrations at Islamophobic Rallies
2015 was a particularly active year for Islamophobic street protests around the world. While Islamophobia is pervasive in the West, these protests signify an overt, aggressive appeal to Islamophobia embedded in nationalist/patriotic rhetoric. The similarities of each of the protests in Australia, Germany, and Denmark (among other places) indicate that Islamophobia is a transnational discourse that seeks to separate the Western subject from the Islamic "Other." Gottschalk and Greenberg write, "Islamophobia––enacted by Westerners and perceived by Muslims––plays a critical role in convincing many that a civilizational clash will be inevitable and all-consuming by establishing the 'fact' of an essential and irreconcilable difference between 'them' and 'us'" (Gottschalk and Greenberg 3). The early 2015 anti-Islam protests did just that, portraying Islam as a threat to national cultures. Edward Said argues, "… much of what one reads and sees in the media about Islam represents the aggression as coming from Islam because that is what ‘Islam’ is. Local and concrete circumstances are thus obliterated. In other words, covering Islam is a one-sided activity that obscures what ‘we’ do, and highlights instead what Muslims and Arabs by their very flawed nature are" (Said xxii). This essentialization of the "Otherized" Muslim subject occurred at demonstrations around the world. Protestors defined Muslims as a homogenous group, responsible for the actions and behaviors of a select few, and Islam was represented as an inherently violent and dangerous religion. However, at each of these rallies, counter-demonstrators repudiated the Islamophobic views of the protestors. In some cases, these counter-demonstrators even outnumbered the original protestors. These are decisive moments for people to challenge Islamophobia and precipitate a discussion on its roots as well as the everyday "Otherization" of Muslims in the West.
Australia, April 2015
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Reclaim Australia organised a number of protests in cities across the country opposing “sharia law, halal tax and Islamisation”. – Herald Sun |
The protests in Australia were lead by a group named Reclaim Australia. The official website for Reclaim Australia says, "we have had enough of minorities not fitting in and trying to change our Australian cultural identity" ("Reclaim Australia - Home"). In other words, they view Muslim as "Others" who must be assimilated into the dominant Australian culture or otherwise not allowed into the country. "The group claims to oppose Islamic extremism, the 'Islamisation' of Australian society, Sharia law and the Halal-certification of most meats sold in Australia" (Leonard). Reclaim Australia organized protests in 16 major cities on April 4, 2015. In response, several anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations, including the hacker group Anonymous and "No Room For Racism, a coalition of trade union, community and left-wing groups, including the Socialist Alliance" staged counter-demonstrations (Elder). These groups pointed out the racism, xenophobia, and intolerance of Reclaim Australia protestors, and held their own signs denouncing Islamophobia.
Anti-Islam Protests and Counter-Demonstrations in Australia, Germany, and Denmark
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"Several thousand anti-PEGIDA protestors turned out in Cologne, some carrying placards stating 'foreigner hatred is inhuman' or 'shame for our country' while one held by supporters of the group read 'think of your children'." – Al Jazeera |
Germany, January 2015
Like Reclaim Australia, the Germany-based group PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, held protests against the "Islamisation of the Occident" in January 2015 (Febvre). These protestors, however, were far outnumbered by counter-demonstrators in the January 12th march in Dresden. While there were an estimated 25,000 anti-Islam protestors, another estimated 100,000 people arrived to counter-demonstrate, sparked by their "revulsion with PEGIDA's xenophobic message," "calling for tolerance" in Germany (Febvre). Similar anti-PEGIDA rallies took place all over Germany in the month of January.
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"the Revolutionary Anti-Fascists group encouraged its supporters to "show their resistance" to Pegida demonstrators." – International Business Times |
Denmark, January 2015
Another PEGIDA organized march occurred on January 19th in Copenhagen. A Danish PEGIDA organizer, Nicolai Sennels, said "The problem with Islam and Muslim culture is that there are so many psychological factors pushing its followers towards a violent attitude against non-Muslims that a general violent clash is — at least from a psychological perspective — inevitable" (Khan). Again, this is a typical Islamophobic perception of Muslims as being inherently violent, and equally responsible for the actions of a few.
Counter-demonstrators once again recognized this fallacy, "There are not so many extremists, you know, but every time there is something all Muslims are blamed. All Muslims have to explain themselves -- and that's not fair," said one counter-demonstrator (Cantilero). Gathering in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood, these counter-demonstrators held up signs that said "Refugees and Muslims are welcome," offering a message of tolerance, in contrast to the intolerant, Islamophobic PEGIDA protestors (Cantilero).
Counter-demonstrators once again recognized this fallacy, "There are not so many extremists, you know, but every time there is something all Muslims are blamed. All Muslims have to explain themselves -- and that's not fair," said one counter-demonstrator (Cantilero). Gathering in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood, these counter-demonstrators held up signs that said "Refugees and Muslims are welcome," offering a message of tolerance, in contrast to the intolerant, Islamophobic PEGIDA protestors (Cantilero).