Over 30,000 Germans Demonstrate Against ExtremismMore than 30,000 people Saturday attended demonstrations in two German states to protest against right extremism and racism.About 25,000 people showed up in the demonstration in Duesseldorf, the state capital of Nordrhein-Westfalen, while some 6,000 rallied in Kassel of Hessen state. Nordrhein-Westfalen Prime Minister Wolfgang Clement told the rally in Duesseldorf that "there is no tolerance for violence nor for hate against foreigners." He urged the ban on extreme rightist National-Democratic Party (NPD). Paul Spiegel, chairman of the German Jewish Central Council, said at the same event that people should not allow their freedom be taken away of standing up against mobs. "If the skinheads feel themselves as executors of the will of silent majority, then the silent majority are not without guilt," he added. The cause for both demonstrations was the right extremist-organized activities in the same cities, which gathered a few hundred right-wing followers. Clashes between some extreme rightists and anti-extremists occurred and police arrested 230 people, German press reports said. |
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