Berliners march against racism

PROTEST: THOUSANDS AGAINST FAR-RIGHT PARTY RALLY

Police deploy 2 000 officers, drafted in from across Germany, to prevent clashes.

Berlin

Thousands of antiracism campaigners, left-wingers and techno lovers packed the streets of Berlin yesterday to protest a rally called by the far-right AfD party, with police deploying in force to keep the peace.

Uniting under the banner “Stop the hatred”, counterdemonstrators said they wanted to drown out the march by the anti-immigration, anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD).

But AfD members have accused some opponents of threatening to use violence.

The party’s “Future of Germany” march, scheduled to start outside Berlin’s main train station and end at the iconic Brandenburg Gate, marked the first public show of strength by the nationalist outfit since it became the largest opposition party.

Scheduled to address the crowd were top AfD officials Joerg Meuthen and Alexander Gauland, who regularly rail against Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow in large numbers of mostly Muslim refugees at the height of Europe’s migrant crisis.

“We want to show everyone that along with millions of Germans across the country, we are worried about Germany’s future,” Berlin AfD chief Georg Pazderski said.

Pazderski said many still feared being “stigmatised” for showing their AfD colours, even after the party took nearly 13% of the vote and won its first seats in the national parliament in last year’s elections.

But the AfD turnout was likely to be dwarfed by a slate of counterdemonstrators.

The most eye-catching was a huge dance party by over 100 clubs from Berlin’s legendary techno scene, who planned to use boats on the river Spree and a convoy of trucks to “bass away” the AfD.

“The Berlin club culture is everything that Nazis are not,” they said in a statement.

“We are progressive, queer, feminist, antiracist, inclusive, colourful and we have unicorns.”

Thousands of others joined a mass anti-AfD protest organised by a collection of groups including political parties, unions, student bodies, migrant advocates and civil society organisations.

“We won’t leave the streets to the AfD,” said Nora Berneis of the “Stop the hatred, stop the AfD” alliance.

Berlin police deployed 2 000 officers, drafted in from across Germany, to prevent clashes and any attempts “to block the right to free speech”. –