{"id":133,"date":"2015-03-27T19:40:11","date_gmt":"2015-03-27T19:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/?p=133"},"modified":"2015-03-27T19:48:02","modified_gmt":"2015-03-27T19:48:02","slug":"welcome-pegida-to-canada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/?p=133","title":{"rendered":"Welcome PEGIDA to Canada"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-headline\">\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Islam needs to reform or leave, says Canadian leader of PEGIDA movement<\/span><\/h1>\n<h2 class=\"subheadline\">PEGIDA, a controversial European movement, plans to \u2018send a message\u2019 in a rally that has been denounced in the House of Commons and the Quebec legislature.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-this-story\">\n<div class=\"explore-this-story-bar\">\n<div class=\"heading\">\n<div class=\"social divider\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"facebook-share-button\">\n<div class=\"facebook-share\" data-href=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/canada\/2015\/03\/24\/islam-needs-to-reform-or-leave-says-canadian-leader-of-pegida-movement.html\">Share on Facebook<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"twitter\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"twitter-share-button twitter-tweet-button twitter-share-button twitter-count-horizontal\" title=\"Twitter Tweet Button\" src=\"http:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets\/tweet_button.7d9dd43d4f18b1bb51cc9d8f0997995e.en.html#_=1427484847932&amp;count=horizontal&amp;counturl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestar.com%2Fnews%2Fcanada%2F2015%2F03%2F24%2Fislam-needs-to-reform-or-leave-says-canadian-leader-of-pegida-movement.html&amp;dnt=false&amp;id=twitter-widget-0&amp;lang=en&amp;original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestar.com%2Fnews%2Fcanada%2F2015%2F03%2F24%2Fislam-needs-to-reform-or-leave-says-canadian-leader-of-pegida-movement.html&amp;size=m&amp;text=Islam%20needs%20to%20reform%20or%20leave%2C%20says%20Canadian%20leader%20of%20PEGIDA%20movement&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fon.thestar.com%2F1Com5MQ&amp;via=torontostar\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-twttr-rendered=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/li>\n<li class=\"google\">\n<div id=\"___plusone_0\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"I0_1427484847755\" tabindex=\"0\" title=\"+1\" src=\"https:\/\/apis.google.com\/u\/0\/se\/0\/_\/+1\/fastbutton?usegapi=1&amp;size=medium&amp;annotation=bubble&amp;origin=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestar.com&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestar.com%2Fnews%2Fcanada%2F2015%2F03%2F24%2Fislam-needs-to-reform-or-leave-says-canadian-leader-of-pegida-movement.html&amp;gsrc=3p&amp;ic=1&amp;jsh=m%3B%2F_%2Fscs%2Fapps-static%2F_%2Fjs%2Fk%3Doz.gapi.en.OVXYAbA9i9E.O%2Fm%3D__features__%2Fam%3DIQ%2Frt%3Dj%2Fd%3D1%2Ft%3Dzcms%2Frs%3DAGLTcCNiWUCT0ZltjOuMh_seDpb34-_8OA#_methods=onPlusOne%2C_ready%2C_close%2C_open%2C_resizeMe%2C_renderstart%2Concircled%2Cdrefresh%2Cerefresh%2Conload&amp;id=I0_1427484847755&amp;parent=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thestar.com&amp;pfname=&amp;rpctoken=25988117\" name=\"I0_1427484847755\" width=\"100%\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" data-gapiattached=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"reddit-button\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit\" target=\"_blank\" data-url=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/canada\/2015\/03\/24\/islam-needs-to-reform-or-leave-says-canadian-leader-of-pegida-movement.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.redditstatic.com\/spreddit7.gif\" alt=\"Reddit this!\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-menu\" title=\"More options\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-artwork\">\n<div class=\"parsys mainart\">\n<div class=\"parbase thestarimage section\">\n<div id=\"cq-image-jsp-\/content\/thestar\/news\/canada\/2015\/03\/24\/islam-needs-to-reform-or-leave-says-canadian-leader-of-pegida-movement\/jcr:content\/mainart\/image\" class=\"thestar-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/content\/dam\/thestar\/news\/canada\/2015\/03\/24\/islam-needs-to-reform-or-leave-says-canadian-leader-of-pegida-movement\/germany.jpg.size.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg\" alt=\"Supporters of the PEGIDA movement demonstrate in Dresden, Germany in January.  The group has quickly gained mass appeal by demanding a more restrictive policy on Germany's acceptance of foreign refugees and asylum seekers.\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p class=\"credit buyphoto\">THOMAS LOHNES \/ GETTY IMAGES FILE PHOTO<\/p>\n<p class=\"description\">Supporters of the PEGIDA movement demonstrate in Dresden, Germany in January. The group has quickly gained mass appeal by demanding a more restrictive policy on Germany&#8217;s acceptance of foreign refugees and asylum seekers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-authors\"><strong>By:<\/strong> <span class=\"credit\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/authors.woods_allan.html\" rel=\"author\">Allan Woods<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"staff\">Quebec Bureau,<\/span> <span class=\"published-date\">Published on Tue Mar 24 2015<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-story float-clear\">\n<div class=\"article-story-body\">\n<div class=\"body parsys\">\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>MONTREAL\u2014Islam needs to change or it needs to leave.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>That\u2019s the message from one of the leaders who has brought to Canada a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/news\/world\/2015\/01\/12\/two_reasons_antiislam_protests_are_growing_in_germany.html\">controversial European movement<\/a> that unites political conservatives, anti-immigration activists and neo-Nazis with the goal of beating back a perceived rising tide of Islamic fundamentalism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Asgard is one of five people to have launched PEGIDA Qu\u00e9bec earlier this year, the latest branch of a global anti-Islam movement that was created last fall in the German town of Dresden.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>PEGIDA (the name is a German acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West) was founded by a convicted burglar-turned-graphic designer who planned a protest against the opening of 14 refugee centres in his city. It has risen rapidly, gathering more than 20,000 people at its peak and provoking warnings and denunciations from German Chancellor Angela Merkel.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>That has done little to stop its global growth and there are now branches across Europe, in Australia, Britain and the United States. There is also a national PEGIDA Canada group as well as a branch in British Columbia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>\u201cThe incompatibility of Islam with the west is flagrant and that\u2019s the reason that PEGIDA and the Western patriots are rising up. It\u2019s not just to counter Islam but to say that if Islam doesn\u2019t reform itself, Islam needs to get out of the west,\u201d Asgard, 33, told the Star in the group\u2019s first interview ahead of a controversial march planned for this weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>Though the group is still in its infancy it has already been denounced on the floor of the House of Commons in Ottawa and condemned by members of Quebec\u2019s national assembly for promoting hatred and fear at an already sensitive time for Quebec\u2019s Muslims.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>\u201cIts actions are directly targeting the Muslim community. Among its supporters, we find Christian fundamentalists and adherents of the (National Front of Canada), a movement that is clearly against immigration and ferociously anti-Islam,\u201d wrote Qu\u00e9bec Solidaire co-leader Fran\u00e7oise David in an letter published in Montreal\u2019s Le Devoir.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fsk_splitbox\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"fsk_frame_splitbox\" src=\"http:\/\/sb.freeskreen.com\/splitbox\/client?pid=52&amp;sid=&amp;confId=27&amp;a=&amp;trackerId=bUyT2IMmMEXMlgfxOFLtrpopB84xcy&amp;uts=9be2c3dc-5654-4ea7-9b47-5f5ee1584f47&amp;flc=news&amp;slc=canada&amp;maxWidth=542&amp;pos=1559%3B3997#fsk_splitbox\" name=\"fsk_frame_splitbox\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div class=\"parbase section genericimage\">\n<div id=\"cq-image-jsp-\/content\/thestar\/news\/canada\/2015\/03\/24\/islam-needs-to-reform-or-leave-says-canadian-leader-of-pegida-movement\/jcr:content\/body\/genericimage\" class=\"generic-image force-original\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thestar.com\/content\/dam\/thestar\/uploads\/2015\/3\/24\/1000-belgium001.jpg\" alt=\"A protester holds a sign at the Hendrik Conscienceplein during a protest by the Belgian branch of the German group PEGIDA earlier this month.\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p class=\"credit\">KRISTOF VAN ACCOM\/AFP\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n<p class=\"description\">A protester holds a sign at the Hendrik Conscienceplein during a protest by the Belgian branch of the German group PEGIDA earlier this month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>The rally, which PEGIDA is already touting as its North American grand opening, will start on the outer edge of Montreal\u2019s \u201cPetit Maghreb,\u201d home to a number of the city\u2019s North African \u2014 largely Muslim \u2014 businesses and residents. From there, Asgard said, it will head south with a planned stop outside the Islamic centre run by Adil Charkaoui, a man formerly accused of being an Al Qaeda sleeper agent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>Charkaoui has come under scrutiny after it was revealed that a number of the seven young Quebecers who recently fled the country to join the ranks of the Islamic State had attended his Islamic dogma and Arabic-language courses.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>\u201cWe intend to make a stop there (at Charkaoui\u2019s mosque) and, with the loudspeaker, it will send a message,\u201d Asgard said, adding that the police have already given the group a permit for the march.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>A number of other groups, including one describing itself as anti-fascists, are planning a counter demonstration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>Earlier this week, former Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois MP Maria Mourani, now an Independent who intends to represent the NDP in the next federal election, asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper to send a message that would \u201cunequivocally urge the people of Quebec not to take part in this.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>\u201cAlthough people are free to take part in demonstrations, we encourage them to abide by the rules of democracy,\u201d replied Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>In a Facebook exchange with the Star another of PEGIDA Quebec\u2019s administrators explained that the group is a reaction to last October\u2019s back-to-back terror attacks in Ottawa and in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., as well as a perceived failure of the provincial government\u2019s failure to crack down on Muslim fundamentalists in Quebec.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>\u201cIt is all of those events as well as (Premier Philippe) Couillard protecting and consulting the fundamentalists instead of protecting us, so we must now do his job,\u201d said the administrator of the Facebook page, who refused to provide his or her identity. None of the other organizers could be reached for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>Asgard said that a group of five people came together in January to start PEGIDA Quebec. For the most part, the leaders of the group were previously administrators of other Facebook pages that are critical of the Islamic faith.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>Plans for Saturday\u2019s rally began taking shape only in the last few weeks with a March 14 dinner meeting, where great attention was paid to security and secrecy. Attendees were required to provide a telephone number and personal photograph before they would be provided with details on the meeting spot.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>Asgard said there have been more than 100,000 visits to the group\u2019s Facebook page and between 300 and 400 people have shown an interest in attending the Saturday rally. He said he would be happy if even 100 showed up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text combinedtext parbase section\">\n<p>So far, the group appears to have gathered several dozen individuals ranging from sovereigntist supporters who have displayed their loyalty to the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois, to fans of skinhead punk bands, to others whose social media profiles make reference to the Roman Catholic Crusaders of the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>FACEBOOK:\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/P%C3%A9gida-Qu%C3%A9bec\/919586301398634?fref=ts<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Islam needs to reform or leave, says Canadian leader of PEGIDA movement PEGIDA, a controversial European movement, plans to \u2018send a message\u2019 in a rally that has been denounced in the House of Commons and the Quebec legislature. Share on Facebook THOMAS LOHNES \/ GETTY IMAGES FILE PHOTO Supporters of the PEGIDA movement demonstrate in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[64,65],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions\/136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadafirst.nfshost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}