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Taroudante – On Monday, thousands of people participated in a rally against the anti-Islam group LEGIDA in the East German city of Leipzig, forming a “chain of lights” that measured kilometers in length.
The protesters faced a rally organized by LEGIDA, a local chapter of the xenophobic group PEGIDA, the “Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident”.
In the wake of the tensions caused by mass sexual assaults and robberies that took place in Germany on New Year’s Eve, the anti-Islam group rallied in the eastern German city of Leipzig, venting its anger at Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Anti-Islam protesters held signs that read “Rapefugees not welcome – Stay away!” and “Integrate barbarity?” while chanting, “We are the people”, “Resistance!”, and “Deport them!”
The right-wing group accused Merkel of destroying their homeland by allowing in 1.1 million asylum seekers last year.
A broad coalition of trade unions, commerce, culture, and associations as well as some German parties called for the rally against the xenophobic local movement LEGIDA.
Meanwhile, a pro-tolerance group held signs that read “refugees welcome” and “kein mensch ist illegal!” (“No person is illegal”).
The Chinese Xinhua News Agency reported that “about 2900 people took part in the rally,” holding candles and forming a line that extended kilometers in length.
The police were on site to avoid any clash between the two opposing groups. Videos on social media showed numerous arrests being made.
One video posted by a protestor showed a video of a neo-nazi heavily vandalizing a Kebab shop, saying that the scene looked “like a drone has struck.”
“Police said some 250 far-right hooligans had thrown rocks and smashed shop windows in a traditionally left-wing student district of the city, before police dispersed them,” according to a local.
