Press Release
Pegida Demonstrations; Yet Another Instrument Used for Normalizing Hatred Against Islam

Pegida was supposed to demonstrate on Saturday, the 22nd of October 2022, at the Stationsplein near Rotterdam Central station in which they planned to burn a Quran. On Sunday, the 23rd of October, they also organized a Quran burning. The municipality of Rotterdam, as well as The Hague, gave Pegida permission to organize their demonstration. A large majority of the parties in the city councils already anticipated not ban the gathering because, in their eyes, the right to protest is “holy”.

On Saturday as well as Sunday Pegida front man, Edwin Wagensveld, was arrested by police. Saturday, Pegida was present with a handful “brave” Pegida-supporters. Some 150 people came to the counter-protest. On both days the police eventually confiscated all Qurans present to prevent them from being burnt, the reason being that public arson is not allowed. Despite Wagensveld’s clear intention to burn Qurans, the demonstrations were allowed to continue.

Theses hate campaigns of Pegida, with the goal to break the love for Quran and normalize hate towards Islam did not arise in a vacuum. The anti-Islam policy of political parties has become clearer the last decades and this policy has given rise and has fed the extreme-right monster. Today, the instrument of the West under the guise of freedom of speech and demonstration, is to display open hostility towards Islam and the Muslim with the goal of forcing the Muslim to integrate and to destroy the loyalty towards Islam and its symbols.

The moment we normalize such campaigns because we accept the right to demonstrate, the West would have won. It is completely unacceptable to normalize such things on the false premise that they are not able to affect the status of the Quran and other Islamic symbols. The question at hand here, is our duty to stand up for Islam and to send a clear message to society. The implication of the acceptance of such insulting acts is that it becomes easier to express even more harsher forms of insult. They demand the Muslims in The Netherlands to accept the insults just like they try to make Muslims accept LHBTI+ propaganda.

O Muslims do not tolerate insults towards Allah (swt), His Prophet (saw), the Quran or any other symbols of Islam. They are dearer to us than ourselves, we shall never accept that the Divine Message is ridiculed of becomes the center of ridicule. How does this contribute to a society consisting of different communities? Let us therefore, as Muslims, convey and protect our Islam proudly so that Allah will give us honor and status in the world and the hereafter.

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in The Netherlands