PEGIDA

Pissed Evil Germans Initiating the Deportation of Arabs Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident (German: Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes), best known simply as Pegida or PEGIDA, is a German extreme far-right xenophobic mob, largely consisting of middle-class and middle-aged, but non-confessional white guys,Vorländer, Hans (2015) "Wer geht warum zu PEGIDA-Demonstrationen?" ("Who goes to Pegida protests and why?") (January 15th presentation) at Jibran Khan, "PEGIDA anti-Muslim riots: Is Germany flirting with its dark past?", The Express Tribune, January 12, 2015 who participate in a "stroll" every Monday since 20 October 2014 and whine about a perceived threat of an impending Islamisation of German society — even though the city where Pegida is mostly active and successful (Dresden) has a rather low Islamic population consisting of around 2000 MuslimsMosques in Dresden (in German) out of a total population of 536,308,Population statistics in Germany (in German) so basically a population density of 0.37 percent.
The movement/organization was founded in 2014 by Lutz "Lutzifer" Bachmann , who is an Adolf Hitler cosplayer as a pastime (more on that later). In real life, he has dabbled in "theft, physical assault, drug dealing and burglary".The leader of Germany’s anti-immigrant movement has become a migrant himself by Rick Noack (September 23, 2016) The Washington Post. Though he has a criminal record, he has taken advantage of the EU's free-movement "Schengen" policies to work as an overseas migrant on one of Spain's Atlantic islands, the exact thing he has railed against for his native Germany. Despite insisting that Pegida is a mobocracy, Bachmann is generally seen as the movement's de facto Führer leader.
Bachmann claims repeatedly that the movement's means to its patriotic evil ends are peaceful, but Pegida continuously gets indirect blame for the increasing attacks on refugee homes and for assaults on migrants and foreignersSimon Schuster, "Meet the German Activist Leading the Movement Against ‘Islamization’", Time, Jan 15, 2015Daniel Tost, "German government blames Pegida for rise in crimes against refugees", EurActiv.com, Apr 09, 2015"Violence against refugees rising in Germany", Deutsche Welle, Nov 05, 2015Jacob Siegel, "In Germany, the Rise of Anti-Islam Terrorism", The Daily Beast, May 08, 2015 as xenophobic and racist crimes have increased during Pegida's rise"Number of racist attacks increases" (in German), Zeit Online, Jan 27, 2015 and its supporters keep attacking reporters,Matthias Meisner, "Violence at Pegida" (in German), Der Tagesspiegel, Jan 12, 2016Nora Burgard-Arp, "The radicalisation of Pegida: From "lying press"-chants to candid hatred and violence against journalists" (in German), Meedia, Oct 20, 2015 non-Whites,"Once again violence emanates from Pegida (in German), Neues Deutschland, Jan 12, 2016 and police-officers.Hans-Uli Thierer, "Commentary - Pegida and violence: New level of escalation" (in German), Südwest Presse, Jan 11, 2016.
==Background==
In the 50's, the US and NATO was courting Turkey as an ally, due to its control of the Bosphorus, control of the Black Sea and pretty much the bulk of European trade, and of course the proximity to Russia and all. Heck, Turkey even hosted a few nuclear weapons, which was the half of the Cuban Missile Crisis you probably didn't learn about. Turkey wanted to get rid of some poor people allow some of its workers go to Europe to, umm, work, and send money home. However, the general German population didn't want the immigrants, believing that the Turks would Turk are jerbs be too culturally different. The Social Democrats in particular complained that no foreign workers should be let into the country so long as some German workers were still unemployed. However, American pressure and a bit of guilt from recent events won the day, and the German Christian Democrat led government relented.
The Turkish workers would become known as "Gastarbeiter" (guest workers). The plan was to let them work for a couple of years, making the factory owners Germany rich, then boot them out rotate them for a new set of workers to repeat the process. However, many Turks didn't want to return to Turkey, seeing as they had left Turkey due to the lack of good jobs back home. Even with the offer of bribes repatriation grants, about half stayed in Germany. Many of those who stayed managed to bring wives and family over, but seeing how there never was any intention of permanent integration into German society, the Turks became a de facto underclass in German society, continuing to do the menial jobs for lower pay than other Germans would accept.Germany's Guestworkers, Jstor
The original Turkish immigrants were happy enough to improve their lot in life to be second-class German citizens, but their children… less so. There's now entire generations of Turkish-Germans who look around at their situation and are understandably a bit upset, have fewer opportunities for decent careers and turn to petty crime, or sometimes worse. This obviously breeds resentment from the rest of the German population, and, well, PEGIDA is just one giant cancerous polyp from this cancer. PEGIDA is thus a problem of Germany's (and US/NATO's) own creation.
==Sein Kampf==
Lutz Bachmann is a fine gentleman who committed multiple crimes prior to the creation of Pegida, for example drug dealing, burglary, battery, etc.,Erik Kirschbaum, "Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West quickly gathering support in Germany", The Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 16, 2014 essentially everything he accuses his fellow human beings of doing (when they have the misfortune of being migrants from the Middle East).
Being sentenced to a few years behind bars for some of the aformentioned charges, Mr. Lutz saw the necessity to flee the Abendland and chose South AfricaYannick Pasquet, "The man behind Germany's anti-Islam street protests", Yahoo News, Jan 12, 2015 as his new home, a country inhabited mostly by Black people, but, well, if you're on the run, you could possibly let that slide for the time being; additionally, South Africa's time zone is only one hour later than Germany's, which makes it most likely easier to keep in contact with family & friends whom he had to leave behind.
Two years later, Bachmann was deported back to Germany due to an invalid visa. Back at home, he served fourteen months of his three and a half year prison sentence before he was set free on bail.
In 2009, he was caught carrying forty grams of cocaine, and on another occasion 54 grams were found in his possession. In 2010, he was convicted of unlawful sale of narcotics and sentenced to a two-year prison term on bail.Jan Bielicki, "Spokesman and irate citizen" (in German), Süddeutsche Zeitung, Dec 10, 2014 In 2014, he was again convicted, this time for failing to pay the child support for his son for nearly a year."Pegida boss Bachmann in court, again" (in German), Sächsische Zeitung, Jan 15, 2015
==Birth of a nation==
On 11 October 2014, Lutz — being disgruntled when he witnessed a rally of (better known by its handle PKK) supporters just the day before in Dresden (presumably because he saw too many non-German people on Germany's prestigious pure streets, which overloaded his xenophobia-infested synapses) — created a private Facebook group called "Friedliche Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes" (Peaceful Europeans against the Islamization of the occident).Maximilian Popp and Andreas Wassermann, "Prying into Pegida: Where Did Germany's Islamophobes Come From?", Spiegel, Jan 12, 2015
The group protested against "the gradual Islamization" of German society and "religious wars" being fought on Germany's streets by "terrorist, Islamic forces" like ISIS, Al Qaida, and the PKK, despite the fact that the last one is a secular organization that's somewhat friendly to the West… sort of. Another initial aim of the group was to draw the incumbent government's attention to its displeasure towards political correctness and its annoyance that everyone who is politically left to them constantly labels far-right activists like them as Nazis or Neo-Nazis. It was proposed to use the slogan "We are the people", reminiscent of the Monday demonstrations in East Germany in 1989/90.
Further, Bachmann insisted early on that the movement shouldn't become a cesspool of "right-wing loons, neo-nazis, etc.". However, right-wing loons were immediately attracted to Pegida before he even made that statement: Siegfried Däbritz (from the Free Democratic Party (FDP), basically Germany's closest analogue to the US Libertarian Party) and Thomas Tallacker (from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Germany's ruling party), both of them being notorious since the summer of 2013 for posting vile & racist statements about Muslims in general, Kurds, Turks, and refugees.
The CDU quickly saw the writing on the wall and forced Tallacker to resign from his incumbent city council post and initiated the process to have him expelled from the party. On 26 October 2014, Däbritz attended a "Hooligans Against Salafists" (HoGeSa) rally, where violent riots took place. Afterwards, he tried to court "HoGeSa des Ostens" (HoGeSa of the East) into joining Pegida on one of its Facebook pages by making insulting statements about Muslims ("bearded goat fuckers"). On the same page, hooligans demanded to incinerate Muslims and the public burning of Qurans.Alexander Ihme, Jana Merkel, Sebastian Pittelkow, "Dubious demonstrations — Who is behind these protests?" (in German)
But no, Pegida are absolutely not Nazis and Bachmann preferred the euphemistic term "patriot" to defend the members and their protests from the correct allegations by the media of them being Neo-Nazis.
Another reason for founding Pegida were "terrible events in Hamburg and Celle" on 8 October and 7 October respectively, when violent riots between Kurds and various Islamists took place."Pro-ISIS radicals with machetes, knives attack Kurds in Germany", RT, Oct 08, 2014Soeren Kern, "Germany: Holy War Erupts in Hamburg", Gatestone Institute, Oct 15, 2015 The inspiration for the movement's name were CDU election posters from the 1960s which carried the slogan "Save the occidental culture. Vote the Christian Democratic Union".Kristian Frigelj & Vanessa Schlesier, "Islamophobes protest as Dügida in Düsseldorf" (in German), Die Welt, Dec 08, 2014 Starting in 20 October 2014, Pegida called for their supporters attending weekly "strolls" in Dresden's inner-city. The first one managed a meager 350 "strollers." However, the more the "strolls" gathered steam and the more the "lying press" was reporting on Pegida (even though its supporters keep on insisting that they're being ignored), the incipient movement managed to amass 25,000 peopleThomas Geithner & Marko Laske, Report by Saxony's police, Jan 12, 2015 who came along "strolling" on 12 January 2015, making it possibly the hugest collective "stroll" in the history of mankind. This huge eruption was mostly triggered by the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks just a few days prior.
==Pegida dictionary==
Pegida uses terminology unknown to many, even to (other) native German speakers, reuses many of the linguistic conventions of their Third Reich idols, and keeps up the extreme-right's tradition of using nursery rhymes to "awaken" the German masses, for example "Lügenpresse / halt die Fresse!" (translation: "lying press, shut the fuck up!").
Pegida-speak 	literal English translation 	Actual meaning in German	Actual meaning in English
Patriot 	patriot 	Neo-Nazi 	Neo-NaziOliver Hoch,"Patriots against religious wars: Clash of Cultures" (in German), Freie Presse, Nov 18, 2014
Spaziergang 	stroll 	Demonstration 	protest"Pegida cancels "stroll" planned for Monday" (in German), Sächsische Zeitung, Dec 05, 2014
Abendland 	occident 	Europa 	Europe"'Traitor against the people' and 'lying press': Pegida and its words" (in German), Gesellschaft für deutsche Sprache e.V., Jan 07, 2015
Lügenpresse 	lying press 	Mainstreammedien 	mainstream media
Volksverräter 	traitor[s] against the people 	Politiker 	politician"Bachmann slams 'traitors against the people'" (in German), Sächsische Zeitung, Oct 12, 2015
Judenschwein 	Jewish swine 	Journalist 	journalistOlaf Sundermeyer, "We'll end you!" (in German), FAZ, Dec 30, 2014
Dreckspack 	scumbags 	Ausländer 	foreigner"Great schism in Pegida" (in German), Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, Feb 10, 2015
Viehzeug 	[mindless] cattle 	Ausländer 	foreigner
Islamifizierung 	Islamisation 	Zuwanderung 	immigration"Germany Pegida protests: Rallies over 'Islamisation'", BBC, Jan 06, 2015
Überfremdung 	excessive influence or presence of foreigners	Zuwanderung 	immigration
Zecke 	tick (the spider) 	Gegendemonstrant 	opposing protesterSven Eichstädt, "The Nazi-vocabulary of Pegida-irate-citizens" (note: video autoplay) (in German), Die Welt, Jan 05, 2015
Scheißstaat 	shit state 	Deutschland 	Germany
Kinderfickerpartei 	child fucker party 	Die Grünen 	German Green Party
bärtige Ziegenwämser	bearded goat fuckers 	Muslim 	MuslimIssio Ehrich"Who is Lutz Bachmann anyway? The sinister figures of the Gida-protests" (in German), N-TV, Jan 23, 2015
Schluchtenscheißer 	canyon shitter 	Muslim 	Muslim
== OH MY GOD!!11! Did he really pose as Hitler or not? ==
The "lying press" dug up some more dirty secrets from Mr. Bachmann's past. On 21 January 2015, multiple media outlets published previous xenophobic statements by Bachmann, which surprised nobody, because most sane people in Germany already regarded him as a straight-up racist. But accompanying the disgusting statements about migrants and foreigners, the media published a selfie of Bachmann posing as Hitler."PEGIDA founder Bachmann quits after Hitler mustache photo", Deutsche Welle, Jan 21, 2015
Bachmann's personal account at the time was the following: He himself acknowledges the authenticity of the photo and says that it was merely a "joke"?"Pegida founder Bachmann defends Hitler photo on Facebook as a joke" (in German), Focus, Jan 21, 2015
He also claimed that the picture was made for the audio book release of Look Who's Back (a German comedic novel about Hitler's resurrection in 2012 — yes, German humor is weird!). He supposedly posted the picture onto the Facebook page of German comedic actor Christoph Maria Herbst (who is the audio book's voice actor) and that Herbst consequently "liked" the photo on Facebook. When the latter became aware of these allegations, he said that he didn't even have a Facebook profile, and made it clear through his lawyer that Bachmann's account was total bullshit."Distance, Dialogue, Demonstration &nmdash; and a selfie (in German), tagesschau, Jan 21, 2015 Herbst's acting agency confirmed, however, that there was a Facebook fan profile for Herbst which was maintained by a person unknown to them.
Following the controversy, Bachmann stepped down as Pegida's Führer leader, which resulted in a massive dip in "strollers" from 25,000 to a pathetic 2,000 on 9 February 2015.Thomas Geithner, Police report by Saxony's police (in German), Feb 09, 2015 So much for it being a mobocracy, as it was severely weakened when its head was lopped off.
Bachmann was relatively soon reinstated as the Führer leader to save the ailing movement, but except for a few Monday "strolls" with high turn-outs, the "strollers" stayed at home during the summer and Pegida has since then basically become a fringe movement.
As the storm died down about Bachmann's Hitler photo-shoot, he considerably changed his story of how the picture came to be. Apparently the Hitler mustache was photoshopped onto the photo, and he didn't mention it during the controversy because "nobody would have believed [him]" at that time. However, to this day, Bachmann has failed to show us the original photo so that everyone could judge for themselves, or at least, you know, release a photoshopped picture with the mustache removed (which PI news, arguably one of Germany's most notorious right-wing websites, actually did.Image: Bachmann posing as his idol in all of its glory. The photoshopped image even includes a side by side view. PI saw it as necessary to outright mention on the picture that they forged it "back" to its original state.)
Some right-wing blogsMichael Mannheimer, "Bachmann didn't pose as Hitler. The Truth" (in German), Michael Mannheimer Blog, Mar 09, 2015Andreas Kolbe, "The Truth! — Bachmann didn't pose as Hitler👍" (in German), Das Schwarze Brett, Mar 09, 2015 spread a story from the Sächsische Zeitung, which allegedly confirms that Bachmann did not have a "Hitler mustache" in the original picture.Ulrich Wolf, "Washing, Cutting, Clowning around" (German, note: behind pay-wall), Sächsische Zeitung The picture was taken by a local barber who claims that she still has the particular picture on her mobile phone. The picture was made when both of them, in a cordial conversation when his hair was cut by her, mentioned that they each were listening to Look Who's Back and both of them started joking about it, resulting in the sexy (now world famous) picture of Bachmann. The article posted three picturesImage: Bachmann posing with barber friend which were made when his "shoulder-long" hair was cut, one of them featuring both of them smiling into the camera (which could have been shot on a totally different day), and the other two showing his cut hair on the floor (which basically could be anybody's hair). Did you notice which picture is missing? Exactly the original photo without the mustache, a totally wasted opportunity to shut the "lying press" up! But it really doesn't matter, because with or without the mustache, Bachmann has a stereotypical stern Hitler expression on his face, and his two different stories about the photograph are enough proof that he meant the pictures to be interpreted as such (and it surely doesn't help that he has a history of spouting countless racist and xenophobic comments). However, extreme-right websites claim the other non-Hitler pictures and the barber's memory, which is nothing more than anecdotal evidence, as irrefutable proof that Bachmann didn't pose as Hitler, even though we now have three different stories in which he tells that he did pose as Hitler.
==Strange bed fellows==
Akif Pirinçci, a German author of Turkish descent, most famous for a world famous novel about cats and also a homophobic right-wing activist, was invited as a speaker on Pegida's 19 October 2015 stroll, which was the group's first anniversary. His speech was an incoherent mess of right-wing populism, which included calling Germany a "Scheißstaat" ("shit state"), the German Green Party "Kinderfickerpartei" ("child fucker party"), the spokesperson for the mosque in Erfurt "Moslemfritzen mit Talibanbart" (Muslim freak with a Taliban beard). Further intellectual diarrhea included that Muslims want to "pump infidels full of their Muslim juice", that Germany awaits a "Muslim garbage dump" and that Islam has as much to do with German culture as "my asshole with the production of perfume."AFP, "Germany’s PEGIDA condemned over ‘concentration camp’ speech", The Times of Israel, Oct 20, 2015 His most controversial statement, however, was "Unfortunately, the concentration camps are out of order at the moment!", for which he received applause from the other "strollers". But he didn't mean that Pegida's undesirables should be sent to said camps, no, he meant that Pegida critics would send the "strollers" to concentration camps if they were still active. Then why did he start the phrase with the word 'unfortunately' when he didn't mean it that way?
Afterwards, all his publishers quit their contracts with him and virtually all book stores delisted his books. In a perfect case of irony, the seemingly misunderstood author said that he seriously considers emigrating from Germany. You have to wonder what right-wing loon clubs in other nations might think if someone like him, a person of Turkish-Muslim descent, would set foot onto their holy pure country which needs defending from "Islamisation."
== A match made in heaven? ==
The far-right sections of the far-right Euroskeptic Alternative für Deutschland, tried to capitalize on Pegida's notoriety and were immediately open for negotiations.Derek Scally, "Germany’s AfD party opens door to co-operation with Islam-critical Pegida", The Irish Times, Jan 09, 2015. Other members from the party left to the party's far-right wing (which means still pretty far-right), including then-party head Bernd Lucke, were more ambivalent. While he endorsed the "peaceful" strolls and described Pegida's concerns as "legitimate,""Anti-Islam 'Pegida' march in German city of Dresden", BBC, Dec 16, 2014. he made it clear that the people strolling should do so in defense of "occidental values", which include the guarantee of religious freedom, and the strollers should not demonize Islam as a whole."Anti-Islam movement: AfD-leader thinks Pegida is 'good and appropriate'" (in German), Der Spiegel, Dec 09, 2014. The ever opportunistic Frauke Petry, long before she ousted Lucke as party head, was quick to recommend Bachmann's resignation after his Hitler selfies were leaked."AfD advised Pegida in the Hitler affair of Lutz Bachmann", Panteres, Jan 23, 2015.
Concurrently, Bachmann has also shown interest in cuddling with the seemingly natural allies and sought an alliance with the party, believing both groups have a large overlap in their proposed policies."Pegida leader seeks political alliance with Germany's AfD", DW, Mar 01, 2016. It has been noted that the AfD's bourgeois respectability and Pegida's populist grassroots nature could potentially change Germany's political landscape.Julian M Hoerner, "Closer cooperation between the AfD and the ‘Pegida’ movement could reshape the German right", The London School of Economics and Political Science, Jan 05, 2015
Yet the engagement between the two hasn't managed to result in a meaningful marriage. Despite Bachmann's outreaching efforts, he has been turned down by AfD party heads, the reasoning being that Pegida must lend itself a credence of respectability by turning the movement into a party before the AfD would take it seriously and that the party saw no need for unification,"Despite overlap in content - AfD turns down Pegida", N-TV, Mar 01, 2016 and why should they? The AfD is doing exceptionally great for a third party in state elections, while Pegida's numbers of strollers have been dwindling close to obscurity for some time now.
However, Führer Lutz hasn't abandoned his plans of working more closely with the far-right party. In an interview, he told that he believes the only obstacle to a merger is current party head Frauke Petry, whom he says is putting religious freedom above the self-determination of children by accusing her of being "scared of Germany's past with Jewish people" because apparently she doesn't want to anger the Jewish community by calling for a ban on the circumcision on minors. He seems quite confident of another coup in the AfD because according to him, AfD members with Pegida ties with which he keeps in contact allegedly constitute a large part of the party's membership and they want her gone as well.Raheem Kassam, "EXCLUSIVE—PEGIDA Founder Lutz Bachmann Gives Rare Interview To Breitbart London’s Raheem Kassam" (Link to archived page), Breitbart, Apr 05, 2016 His certainty may arise from a secret plan (spilled by former Pegida Führerin co-leader Tatjana Festerling) that these specific AfD members Lutz was talking about are conspiring with Pegida to get rid of Petry."Bachmann faces further difficulties" (in German), Sächsische Zeitung, Jun 17, 2016
== Fudge fumble ==
Hellbent on defending the Judeo-Christian culture not only from actual refugees and migrants, "Pegida BW - Bodensee", an offshoot from Lake Constance in Baden Würtemberg thought that the candy market was a logical frontier in waging war for the occident when they whined on May 19, 2016 about the packaging of Kinder Chocolate, a popular candy bar sold in Germany made by Italian company Ferrero. "They don't stop at anything. Can you really buy them like that? Or is that a joke?" was the group's comment to a picture they posted on their Facebook feed of two Kinderschokolade packs, one which featured a black boy and the other a Middle-Eastern boy instead of the white ItalianGiulia Bonardi, The Italian Matteo Farneti is the true child of Kinder Chocolate (Italian), Target Donna, Jan 09, 2016 boy who usually graces the box art. One response to the post said "They're trying to pass this shit as normal, poor Germany.😭"Image: Pegida BW - Bodensee Facebook post Some even went as far as boycotting the product from now on.Philip Oltermann, Pegida activists protest at images of non-white German footballers on Kinder bars, The Guardian, May 25, 2016
Pegida's cheerleaders were apparently unaware of the fact that Ferrero printed new special edition boxes for the impending which featured child pictures of players from Germany's national team, including of Jérôme Boateng (whose father is from Ghana and mother is actually GermanPhilip Oltermann, German rightwing party apologises for Jérôme Boateng comments, The Guardian, May 29, 2016) and İlkay Gündoğan (whose parents are from Turkey), the very images of which they had a childish fit about. So basically, they could've made their racism heard by "voting with their wallets" and only buying Kinder Chocolate with child pictures from the white players which were also available.Michael Nienaber, Chocolate bar wrappers ignite German row over racism, Reuters, May 25, 2016 The group was rightly and deservedly mocked for their ignorance on social mediaKate Brady, PEGIDA slammed for racist remarks over Kinderschokolade ad, ahead of Euro 2016 Deutsche Welle, May 25, 2016 and Ferrero and the German Soccer Association came out in denouncing discrimination.
The aftermath was that Ferrero enjoyed the free advertisement, Kinder Chocolate possibly selling even more than before the silly incident, once again everybody got a taste of what clowns Pegida is composed of, and lastly the group hoisted the white flag quickly and deleted their online presence. And all of it was set in motion just by chocolate.
It should be noted, however, that Germans have strong feelings when it comes to what their Kinderschokolade boxes look like as back in late 2005, a decade before this incident, when the first German kid was changed to the newer one, some people were in an immature uproar over the image.Weg-mit-Kevin.de, an old website of internet activists fighting for the original box art (in German) The difference, though, was that there was no xenophobia that time. It makes you wonder why that kid was spared from those attacks...
== Downfall 2: Seven decades later and even more pathetic ==
Despite its quick rise to prominence and minor success in the beginning, Pegida has failed to live up to its incipient glory and finds itself increasingly incapable of profiting from radical Islamic terror attacks across the globe.
Not only is the movement lethargic in making a dent in politics where even the ideological brethren from AfD snub them, but Pegida's leadership has found itself in petty internal quarrels most of the time. Lutz Bachmann has come out on top in each of these because let's face it, he is Pegida. Former companions like the ones who founded the splinter group DDfE have long been forgotten and become so irrelevant that even their leaders don't know if their irrelevant group still exists. Others who have remained in the group have received gag orders from the man when they haven't been willing to let the Führer guy "proof-read" their speeches.Ulrich Wolf, "Civil War of the Patriots" (in German), Sächsische Zeitung, Jun 16, 2016Doreen Reinhard, "Severe family crisis at Pegida" (in German), Zeit Online, Jun 17, 2016
Bachmann has as of yet weathered the storm multiple times, but it remains to be seen for how long as his supporters start to get increasingly impatient as Lutz's plans to found a new party or initiating a boycott of the have failed to transpire.
The strollers' frustration is usually expressed by insulting their Führer leader on Facebook and entertaining a conspiracy theory that Bachmann was all along an informant from the (the German domestic security agency). They are now aware that Onkel Lutz maintains a totalitarian reign over the protest group and his lip service to direct democracy only ever applied to himself. The man himself is no stranger to insulting others, as his posts are littered with accusations of his critics being "rats" or "filthy traitor pigs"l and if childish name-calling becomes too time-consuming, critical sympathizers are simply blocked from Pegida's Facebook profile.
Anyway, Pegida's immediate future looks grim, as Bachmann has been convicted in May 2016 to paying 9600 Euro for incitement of hatred and Pegida's war chest only amounts to a low five-digit Euro sum.
===The corpse is still twitching===
It mostly flew under the radar as barely anyone gives a damn about the group nowadays, but Bachmann/Pegida have finally managed to found AfD Jr. AfD 2 Pegida-Partei a party called the FDDVDarko Janjevic, "German PEGIDA movement set to start political party", Deutsche Welle, Jul 19, 2016 (Freedomly Direct-Democratic People's Party, this needs to be this literal as otherwise the right-wing slant of the name would be lost in translation). Apparently Bachmann won't be the party will have no executive role in the party and promised to still be "Lutz from the streets."Matthias Meisner, "'Lutz from the streets' founds a party" (in German), Der Tagesspiegel, Jul 20, 2016 He merely founded the party to circumvent a possible ban of Pegida and a potential subsequent freeze of its bank account. Never mind the fact that parties can just as easily be banned by Germany law as any association. Bachmann expressed his intention to not compete but to cooperate with the AfD, which in turn has unsurprisingly turned down his proposal again.
===From online to offline===
While Pegida continues to fail in garnering any noteworthy turnouts to thwart its impending obscurity (for example, an insignificant pitiful rise of a few hundred strollers is considered newsworthy these days"A little more stampede at Pegida" (in German), Sächsische Zeitung, Apr 19, 2016.), Bachmann still uses social media to sermon his message to his roughly 10,000Tobias Wolf. "Facebook deletes Lutz Bachmann" (in German), Sächsische Zeitung, Aug 22, 2016. couch-dwelling supporters who got tired of strolling. These opinions range from his typical regurgitated statements about refugees to veiled threats of execution against certain people he deems unlikeable."New charges against Bachmann after allusions to lynching" (in German), Berliner Morgenpost, Feb 10, 2016.
But even Pegida's social media future looks less than rosy, as Facebook has been habitually removing a slew of accounts related to Pegida like Bachmann's personal profile, the official profile of Pegida"Bachmann loses Facebook page" (in German), Handelsblatt, Jul 23, 2016. and other accounts to where he could flee to with his drivel. Either that, or Lutz just goes through the hassle and recreates his old accounts. However, he once failed to do so quickly and the official Pegida profile got hijacked by someone who the profile's remaining subscribers deem as a "leftist troll." Their assessment would be correct if posting news about the Middle-East would be considered trolling.Facebook: The new and improved Pegida profile on Facebook (in German)
Bachmann blames the deletions on the "Stasi rope team" of Angela Merkel and Joachim Gauck, the two prominent East-Germans currently leading the country."Facebook removes Bachmann profile again" (in German), Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten, Aug 23, 2016.
==Regional and ideological offshoots==
Similar movements inspired by Pegida were created in other parts of Germany. Contrary to the original movement, most of these do not even try to hide their sympathies for neo-nazism and are often supported and sponsored by Germany's better known far-right parties. Nearly all names of the offshoots share a naming convention by substituting the "Pe" part of Pegida either by using the first two letters of the city's name where the offshoot was created (which is the most common case) or something different altogether.
What they also share is the fact that they are (fortunately) far less successful than the original.
;Legida: Inspired by Pegida supporters from LeipzigThousands of PEGIDA supporters march in Leipzig, RT, Jan 22, 2015 and is arguably the largest offshoot, even attracting one of Germany's most famous wingnuts, Jürgen Elsässer. Initially, both Pegida and Legida were supportive of each other, but later the relationship deteriorated, as the clone movement wants to stick to its more radical demands compared to Pegida's 'moderate' ones which were suggested to them by Bachmann. Christian Bangel, "15,000 irates, no leader" (in German), Zeit Online, Jan 22, 2015 The original movement even considered to sue its copy at one point."Pegida considers lawsuit against Legida" (in German), tagesschau, Jan 21, 2015 On top of Pegida's anti-immigration demands, Legida adds Anti-Americanism and other conspiracy theories.
;Bogida: Founded in Bonn, originally endorsed by Pegida, now disowned by itReiner Burger, "'Black pedagogy which we don't need'" (in German), FAZ, Jan 12, 2015 for being too far-right.
;Dügida: Founded in Düsseldorf, originally endorsed by Pegida, now disowned by it for being too far-right.
;Kögida: Founded in Köln (Cologne), originally endorsed by Pegida, now disowned by it for being too far-right.
;Bärgida: Founded in Berlin, (Bär, German for bear, most likely because of the )
;Jewgida: A smaller subsection of Bärgida, consisting of Jewish Pegida supporters, who actually believe Nazism isn't the main source of anti-Semitism, but Islamism.Polina Garaev, "Jewish group battles influence of Islam on Germany", i24 News, May 30, 2015 How someone could possibly guess, most within this far-right movement are conflicted to have Jewish brothers in arms — some believe that Jewish support of a Pegida movement makes sense, but many, obviously confused in their anti-semitic beliefs, go as far to claim that Bärgida has been subverted by Jewish people or even been controlled by them from the start. Many declared it the end of Pegida or that the movement has lost support from them by accepting Jewish sympathizers."Monitoring: What's up with Israeli flags here? Pegida-fans on Jewgida" (in German), Netz-Gegen-Nazis.de, Apr 30, 2015 So much for defending the Judeo-Christian culture from Islamisation.
;Hagida: Founded in Hannover, was started by a right-wing extremist."Hannover: Right-extremist behind Hagida" (in German), Neue Presse, Jan 14, 2015
;Bagida: Founded in Munich, Bayern (Bavaria), which changed its name to Pegida München,"BAGIDA 13 – Marching Under A Different Name", 24mm Journalism, May 05, 2015 is basically a cesspool of convicted Bavarian neo-nazis,"PEGIDA Munich marches -once again- together with convicted neonazi terrorists", 24mm Journalism, Sep 15, 2015 including André Eminger, who is one of the accused in the Jonas Miller, "NSU-accused marches with Bagida" (in German), Zeit Online, Jan 15, 2015
;Mügida: Founded in München (Munich), Bavaria, because apparently you simply can't have enough Pegida movements in one city.Johannes Welte, "Who is behind the alliance" (in German), tz, Jan 05, 2015 Supports Bagida and is not acknowledged by Pegida.
;Saargida: Founded in Saarland, many of its members are high-ranking members from the Saarland section of the extreme-right NPDUte Klockner, "Clear signal from the occident" (in German), Saarbrücker Zeitung, Jan 13, 2015
;MVgida: Founded in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, mostly controlled by the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern section of the NPD.Robert Kiesel, "Solidarity between Islam critics and the NPD" (in German), Nordkurier, Jan 20, 2015
;Sügida: Founded in Südthüringen (South Thuringia), initiated by the fringe extreme-right party Bündnis Zukunft Hildburghausen (Alliance Future Hildburghausen)"Sügida: Right-extremists want to seize the moment" (in German), MDR, Jan 12, 2015 which is close to the better known NPD.
;Thügida: Founded in Thüringen (Thuringia), a Thuringia-wide expansion of Sügida."After Sügida comes Thügida" (in German), AKE - Antifaschistische Koordination Erfurt, Mar 19, 2015 Who says Germans don't have a sense of humor?
;Nügida: Founded in Nürnberg (Nuremberg), became infamous when neo-Nazis among its ranks planned to bomb a refugee center. However, their plan was foiled by the police.Justin Huggler, The Telegraph, "Police foil right-wing extremist plot to bomb German migrant shelters with ‘highly dangerous explosives’", National Post, Oct 23, 2015
;PegAda: Patriotic Europeans Against the Americanization of the Occident, swaps Islamophobia for Anti-Americanism with a healthy dose of Anti-Semitism. It's basically nearly the same movement except for the fact that its adherents regard US influence as a more iminent threat to the survival of the Occident than Islam."First Pegida, now PEGADA : Anti-American March in Erfurt", Dialog International, Jan 24, 2015
;DDfE: Direct Democracy for Europe, is a Pegida successor group splintered off the original organization and founded by six of Pegida's original founders. It aims to present itself as a more "moderate" version of Pegida, renouncing all of the crazy rhetoric, the more extreme demands, and even the silly repetitive naming scheme. Stripped off Pegida's lunatic language and its batshit-insane goals, the target audience is completely indifferent to the new group, turning DDfE's rented "strolling" routes into the streets of a ghost town.Sabine Devins, "Pegida offshoot fails to draw Dresden crowds", The Local, Feb 09, 2015
;Festung Europa
: (Fortress Europe) is the splinter group of Tatjana Festerling, long considered the number two of Pegida until Bachmann excommunicated her from future strolls.Stefan Locke, "Is Festerling too radical for Pegida?" (in German), FAZ, Jun 15, 2016 The term "Festung Europa" itself originates from national socialist times coined by a Nazi in 1943 which refers to the areas controlled by the Third Reich during World War II.Cord Pagenstecher, "A short story of the Fortress Europe" (in German), p.1 For people who adamently claim to be unaffected by Nazism, these coincidences do seem to creep up pretty often.
:This new movement aims to form an pan-European alliance between similar populist right-wing movements, but in Germany, Festerling hasn't come any further than waving self-drawn posters, with only four like-minded fools in front of the which took place in Dresden, something for which Bachmann mocked his old friends turned foes. But unlike Pegida, Festung Europa does more than simply strolling on safe German streets and fighting petty flame wars on social media, as Festerling has already gone all the way to Bulgaria meeting up with Bulgarian, pro-Russian, anti-Semitic, and anti-democratic nationalists where they all stroll along the Bulgarian-Turkish border while scouring for illegal immigrants, all in military uniforms and boasting about their experiences flavored with the ubiquitous Islamophobic tirades on Facebook.
==What do Germans think about Pegida?==
Someone not living in Germany might get the impression by reading this article that the country is a very scary place. However, on special dates (like Pegida's anniversary), anti-Pegida protests manage to outnumber Pegida's "strolls" with up to 100,000 protesters showing up in cities across Germany."German-wide protests against Islamophobes" (in German), FAZ, Jan 12, 2015"More Pegida enemies than at anniversary rally" (in German), MDR, Oct 26, 2015
In December 2014, opinion polling company TMS Emnid surveyed German people if they were sympathetic of Pegida's weekly "strolls"."Anti-Islam-movement Pegida - Majority of East Germans shows sympathy" (in German), N24, Dec 14, 2014 Results for region were:
Region 	Sympathetic
West Germany	48%
East Germany	53%
and according to party affiliation:
Party 	Sympathetic
AfD 	86%
CDU/CSU 	54%
SPD 	46%
The Greens	19%
The Left 	19%
FDP, who? 	n.a.
However, according to another poll done a few days later,"Protest against alleged Islamisation - This amount of Germans would march with Pegida" (in German), Focus, Dec 20, 2014 85% of Germans wouldn't attend any of Pegida's "strolls."
==See also==
*Alternative für Deutschland, basically the establishment version of Pegida, which is a far-right technocrat party consisting of lawyers, former CDU and FDP politicians, extreme laissez-faire economists, etc. instead of the uneducated lumpenproletariat mob led by a former miscreant.
*The Reichsbürgerbewegung has a lot of overlap in both membership and ideology with the various *GIDAs
*Chemtrails is a distressingly popular conspiracy theory among some segments of the *GIDA crowd
*Party for Freedom, its Dutch political counterpart
*Anders Behring Breivik
*Brexit
==External links==
*Opposing Islamization - The PEGIDA Movement in Germany, commentary by the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies
*Lutz Bachmann has the social media driver's license (in German), funny look at Bachmann's social media history, detailing his hypocrisy, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, far-right-conservatism, slut-shaming, fat-shaming and anti-environmentalism, basically the entire spectrum of conservative wingnuttery
*Bärgida: Behind enemy lines, interesting report of a Bärgida stroll written by a black undercover journalist
*Pediga Schweiz, Swiss Pegida parody
==Notes==
==References==
Category:Alt-right
Category:Far-right political parties
Category:Fascism
Category:Germany
Category:German politics
Category:Islamophobia
Category:Political movements
Category:Racism
Category:Right-wing activists