Ex-Pegida leader:

Islam not the root cause of our struggle

Rasa - Former leader of Germany’s anti-immigrant Patriotic Europeans against the Islamisation of the West apologized to Muslims in a Facebook message saying Islam is “not the root cause of our struggle.”

News ID: 2440

Date: 03 May 2015 - 15:44

RNA - After months of leading anti-Muslim protests in Germany, the former leader of anti-Islam Pegida movement, Kathrin Oertel, has apologized to Muslims in a video published on Thursday from spreading a campaign of hatred across Europe.

“Those still belonging to the Pegida movement need to understand that they are advocating for the wrong cause,” she was quoted by The Washington Post.

“Asylum seekers are blamed for our problems in Europe and Germany. However, they’re not the root cause of our struggle,” she continued.

Oertel was initially the spokesperson and later the head of the popular movement which openly condemned immigrants.

Last November, right-wing extremists and citizens had marched in joint weekly rallies in opposition to Muslim immigration to Germany.

Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned of the damage that Pegida's "xenophobic and racist slogans and placards" were having on Germany's image abroad.

"I want to apologize to all migrants and to all Muslims among them who live peacefully and are assimilated with German society, who respect our culture and laws. They are in the vast majority and most Germans overlook this fact," Oertel said.

The anti-Islam movement looked in disarray last January after the losing its second leader in a week when Kathrin Oertel who resigned suddenly.

The anti-Islam protests have been condemned by Ulrich Grillo, the president of the German Federation of Industry, for undermining the country’s interests and values.

Offering support for the Muslim community, German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended a vigil for tolerance in Berlin two weeks ago, in a clear message against rising anti-Islam, far-right group Pegida.

Late in December,2014, Merkel urged people in her New Year's speech to help refugees fleeing conflicts, telling them to turn their backs to the “racist”, “full of hatred” anti-Muslim movement.

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