The movement PEGIDA (‘Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the Occident’) is receiving a lot of international media coverage, raising concerns far beyond German borders. Naturefriends Munich published an official resolution, stating that showing solidarity with the weakest members of society is part of the Naturefriends’ self-conception. As such, the Naturefriends express their concerns about the massive xenophobe and racist tendencies covered by the term Islamization.
IYNF hereby joints this resolution. The latest news of the resignation of a large part of the organizational team of PEGIDA might dampen the movement, considering that the demonstration for Monday has been cancelled already. Yet, this does not mean that the concerns of the extremely heterogenic group of protesters should be neglected. Instead, PEGIDA should trigger a new way of discussing and dealing with the issue of (im)migration. A rational discourse about the organizational preconditions for a humane inclusion of refugees is needed: one that involves and prepares the (German) public, in order to address concerns, in order to make migration a more favorable endeavor for hosts as well as hosted, and in order to engage in an open and objective debate rather than using demagogic slogans under the banner of Islamization.