PEGIDA Québec organized a debut protest for March 27 against the “Islamization” of the province in Montreal’s Little Maghreb neighbourhood, home to many immigrants, Muslims and visible minorities.
A German export that preaches extreme right-wing, anti-immigrant and Islamophobic ideology, PEGIDA has attracted counter-protests against its hate speech of up to 100,000 in its home country.
Montrealers organized such a counter-protest to denounce what they described as the arrival of a fascist organization. Despite the last minute cancellation of the protest, a few PEGIDA members were met by hundreds of activists. Montreal filmmakers Jérémie Battaglia and Pablo Matos were there to interview the PEGIDA members and try to understand the allure of their extreme ideology.
Although they declined to provide their names, several PEGIDA protesters agreed to explain themselves to the camera, and their answers are startling. The video is in French and includes English subtitles, courtesy of Alex Wilson.
CONTENT WARNING: Racist, sexist and xenophobic content throughout.
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