--- description: A petition backed by 80 public figures in Germany slammed the "hollow prejudices" of Pegida, a protest movement that has organized a series of demonstrations against the "Islamization of the West." title: German Politicians, Celebrities Denounce 'Islamization' Protests image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # German Politicians, Celebrities Denounce 'Islamization' Protests  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 6, 2015 3:13 PM CUT  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 6, 2015 3:13 PM CUT A petition backed by 80 public figures in Germany slammed the “hollow prejudices” of Pegida, a protest movement that has organized a series of demonstrations against the “Islamization of the West.” The petition was published in the Tuesday edition of the [_Bild_](http://www.bild.de/politik/inland/pegida/promis-sagen-nein-zu-pegida-39208948.bild.html "undefined"), a German Daily. Its authors slammed Pegida, saying the movement “appeals to hollow prejudices, xenophobia and intolerance,” the BBC [reports](http://time.com/3655168/germany-islam-islamization-pegida/ "undefined"). “A look at our past and economic sense tells us Germany should not spurn refugees and asylum-seekers,” said the petition, which was organized by former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and signed by prominent actors, politicians and athletes. The statement comes after rival rallies [broke out](http://time.com/3655168/germany-islam-islamization-pegida/ "undefined") across Germany on Monday evening, with an estimated 18,000 Pegida supporters gathering in Dresden and thousands of counter protesters rallying in Berlin. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3655560/german-politicians-celebrities-islamization-protests/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3655560/german-politicians-celebrities-islamization-protests/"},"headline":"German Politicians, Celebrities Denounce 'Islamization' Protests","datePublished":"2015-01-06T15:13:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:19:06.416Z","description":"80 public figures say \"Nein\" to nationalist protests","url":"https://time.com/3655560/german-politicians-celebrities-islamization-protests/","keywords":["Germany","protests"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3655560/german-politicians-celebrities-islamization-protests/","name":"German Politicians, Celebrities Denounce 'Islamization' Protests"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Cologne Cathedral Goes Dark to Counter Anti-Immigration Protesters","description":"Cologne Cathedral turns off its lights in solidarity with counter-protesters against an anti-Mulsim group called Pegida.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/VDNHHm8o/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-06T03:18:12.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/VDNHHm8o.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3655560/german-politicians-celebrities-islamization-protests/","duration":"PT28S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3655560/german-politicians-celebrities-islamization-protests/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```