Pegida

Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West

Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes
Logo of Pegida
Abbreviation	Pegida
Formation	11 October 2014
Legal status	Eingetragener Verein(registered voluntary association)
Location	Dresden, Germany
Official language	German
Chair	Lutz Bachmann
Website	pegida.de

Eingetragener Verein(registered voluntary association)

Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (Occident) (German: Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes), abbreviated PEGIDA or Pegida, is a German nationalist, anti-Islam, far-right political movement founded in Dresden in October 2014 that aims to resist what it sees as a threat posed by Islamic extremism, Islamisation and calling for the enforcement of existing laws to curb immigration, particularly for those Muslims who don't want to integrate. Offshoots of Pegida have been formed in various countries.

Pegida was founded in October 2014 by Lutz Bachmann, who runs a public relations agency in Dresden. Bachmann's impetus for starting Pegida was witnessing a rally by supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on 10 October 2014 in Dresden, which he posted on YouTube on the same day. The next day he founded a Facebook group called Patriotische Europäer Gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes ("Patriotic Europeans against Islamisation of the Occident").

A few days earlier, on 7 October a group of Muslims, assumed to be Salafists, had violently attacked PKK supporters who were gathering after a demonstration against ISIL. The same day Yazidis and Muslim Chechens had violently clashed in Celle. On 26 October, out of 5,000 protesters, "at least 400 right-wing extremists went on a rampage in downtown Cologne during a demonstration" by "Hooligans Against Salafists". Bachmann mentioned these events in a release for his first demonstration.