Anti-Islam protest in Netherlands, Here's how Muslims responded

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Anti-Islam protest in Netherlands, Here's how Muslims responded

Jamal Houri, press secretary for the mosque, told Anadolu Agency that PEGIDA tried to be deliberately provocative

Thursday January 17, 2019 5:36 PM, Agencies

[Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident (PEGIDA) is an anti-Islam, far-right political movement founded in Dresden, Germany, in October 2014. (Photo: Anadolu Agency)]

Utrecht (The Netherlands): Far-right Islamophobic group PEGIDA staged an anti-Islam demonstration in front of a mosque in the Netherlands late Wednesday. But, to their shock and dismay, they failed to provoke local Muslims who chose to ignore their rants.

The demonstration was held outside the Abi Bakr Issidik Mosque, frequented by members of the Moroccan community in Utrecht, the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands.

During the demonstration, members of PEGIDA made speeches and showed a movie insulting Islam. Tight security measures were taken around the mosque, including the installation of high barricades, and extra police were dispatched to the area.

After the PEGIDA demonstration, some local residents behind the barricades clashed for a short time with security forces. Two people were detained.

Jamal Houri, press secretary for the mosque, told Anadolu Agency that PEGIDA tried to be deliberately provocative.

"Even though the area they chose for the demonstration was provocative, the mosque administration and community decided not to follow their provocation and ignored them completely," he said, adding that "this is the best response we can give them because paying attention to them works in their favor."

Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident (PEGIDA) is an anti-Islam, far-right political movement founded in Dresden, Germany, in October 2014. The group believes that Europe is being increasingly Islamicized and defines itself in opposition to Islamic extremism.

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