Pegida Nederland tries to present itself as being moderate and nothing to do with right-wing extremists. But all four speakers at the Pegida march have explicit connections with extreme right-wing groups.
The Pegida March is the initiative of Raffie Chohan and Edwin Wagensveld (weapons trader) who have leading roles in the Dutch Defence League and HoGeSa (Hooligans tegen Salafisten).
Wagensveld, member and forum admin at Hooligans Gegen Salafisten
Wagenveld maintains ties with Melanie Dittmer and Lars Kretzschmar (of the fascist groups AfD and Dügida in Germany) and also notorious extreme right individuals here in the Netherlands such as Ben van der Kooi, Owen Koenekoop, and Constant Kusters (NVU). Wagenveld also maintained contact with the extreme right splinter groups Identitair Verzet and the (now defunct) Pro Patria.
Chohan: “There are a lot of Islamic handicapped children because of massive inbreed.”
Chohan, too, together with her partner the driving force behind the Dutch Defence League, maintains contact with the above extreme right-wing organisations in addition to the extreme right-wing blogger, Joost Niemöller.
Speaker Tommy Robinson (pseudonym for Stephen Lennon) had a key position in the English Defence League, and has a string of convictions for violence and fraud.
Tommy Robinson maintains ties with Pamela Geller, an American blogger who was banned from entering the UK owing to her controversial xenophobic ideas.
‘Robinson’: “Three K’s a day keeps minorities away”, referring explicitly to the murderous organisation Ku Klux Klan
Speaker Lutz Bachmann too has a string of convictions for violence. Bachmann is the founder of Pegida, and is being prosecuted at this moment in Germany for hate speeches that he has made during Pegida demonstrations. Bachmann posed as Hitler for his facebook page, and later tried to downplay the incident as being a “joke.”
Bachmann, posing as Hitler on his Facebookpage, with the comment ‘Er ist wieder da.’
More information about the Pegida speakers can be found on the Kafka website. Additionally, Lasse van den Dikkenberg has written a well supported article about the Pegida speakers.
Pegida supporters: ‘concerned citizens’?
Pegida’s facebook page is testimony to the fact that Pegida supporters are not, by any standards, merely “concerned citizens”
Known members of the extreme right-wing organisations Identitair Verzet, Pro Patria and the NVU regularly post messages on the Pegida facebook page.
Muslims and asylum seekers are referred to as “stink-foreigners”, “vermin”, “tumors” and a “plague.”
Screenshots of posts of Pegida supporters on the facebook page
A number of Pegida fans call for violence with remarks such as : ” with sharp-shooting”, “time for a civil war,” and “into the gas chamber!”
Explicit calls for violence from Pegida supporters
The above mentioned remarks remain on the Pegida facebook page, whilst remarks critical of the Pegida demonstration are promptly removed.
Pegida’s facebook page contains “officially” moderately expressed stand points; however the Pegida administration simultaneously publish articles with titles such as “Muslims don’t belong in Europe.”