[Marxism] Germany: Anti-Islam Racists Meet Defeat in Cologne

[Joonas Laine]

Germany: Anti-Islam Racists Meet Defeat in Cologne
Wednesday, September 24 2008 @ 06:14 PM CDT
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=20080924181428530

ANTI-ISLAM RACISTS MEET DEFEAT IN COLOGNE

That big racist "Anti- Islam Congress" which was supposed to happen last 
weekend for Cologne, Germany flopped. When tens of thousands of 
protesters and the people of Cologne, made it clear they weren't 
interested in the fascists meeting in the city, the cops finally agreed 
and said the "Congress" ain't gonna happen.

Police chief Klaus Steffenhagen said, "It would have been excessive to 
deploy water cannon and special units to fight a way into the square for 
300 (right wing) participants."

Some 3,000 police had been brought in and part of the old city sealed 
off as authorities appealed for peaceful protests against a weekend 
congress called by the far-right group Pro-Köln (For Cologne).

Der Spiegel reports when radical-right activists from around Europe 
arrived in Cologne on Saturday for a rally, the city was ready. 
Thousands of anti-racist protesters flooded the rally site. Protesters 
of all stripes and all levels of militancy included some who blocked 
urban trains to keep delegates away and raided a tourist boat shaped 
like a whale -- called the "Moby Dick" -- where the far-right gathering 
had been hoping to hold a press conference. A Pro Cologne spokesman 
said, "Stones, bricks and paint bombs were thrown and the panoramic 
windows of the Moby Dick were shattered."

After less then an hour the police called the "rightists"press 
conference off while the more militant members of the crowd flung paint 
bombs at the racist organizers of the fascist fest and lit fires near 
barricades in the streets.

Less militant protesters did their job as well. "Conservative Christian 
Democrats stood with trade unionists, Left-Party members and students; 
Christian churches stood with Islamic groups; critics of Islam stood 
with mosque supporters; Carnival clowns stood with hooded anarchists. 
Taxi drivers refused to help the far-right delegates, hotel owners 
cancelled their rooms, and bar owners backed up their promise of 'No 
Kölsch for Nazis'" wrote Der Speigel.

The demonstrators, including thousands more regular citizens let out a 
jubilant cheer when the mayor of Cologne, Fritz Schramma, told them the 
right was beaten.

Schramma slammed Pro-Köln as "arsonists and racists" hiding under the 
cloak of a "citizens' movement.".

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