Alwaght- German leaders joined the Muslim community for a rally in
Berlin to commemorate the victims of the Paris attacks
and to promote “religious tolerance” amid ongoing mass rallies against
immigration policies and the growing “Islamization” of the West, Russia Today
reports.
Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Joachim Gauck joined the
rally, which promoted tolerance and religious freedom. The event, which was organized
by the country's Muslim community and Turkish groups, took place near Berlin's
Brandenburg Gate on Tuesday evening.
The slogan of the vigil was “Let’s be there for each other. Terror:
not in our name!”
Imams recited Koranic verses, while Christian, Jewish, and Muslim
religious leaders read speeches commemorating the victims of the Paris terror
attacks. This was followed by a minute of silence.
The German president delivered a speech urging “to live life in
unity, justice and freedom.”
Merkel, who back in 2010 admitted that German multiculturalism in
its current form had “utterly failed,” did not speak during the Tuesday march.
However, earlier in the day, she criticized the anti-immigration movement and
stated that “hatred of foreigners, racism and extremism have no place in this
country.”
The ‘unity and tolerance’ rally came just one day after Patriotic
Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA) gathered 25,000
demonstrators during a rally in Dresden on Monday. The rally was the 12th in a
series of weekly protests that seek to “protect” European culture and Christian
values against growing Islamization. Members of the rally also commemorated the
victims of Paris attacks.
Following the PEGIDA protest in Dresden and other cities, Merkel
said on Monday that Islam "belongs to Germany,” echoing her New Year’s
criticism of the movement which she believes promotes hatred based on “religion
and skin color.”
The rallies come as tensions continue to mount over the role of
Islam in Germany. According to census data from previous years, Islam is the
second largest religion in Germany after Christianity.
