International
Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters
A rally against racism on Saturday drew tens of thousands of people in the eastern German city of Dresden, which has become the center of anti-immigration protests.
"We won't permit that hate will divide us", Dresden's mayor Helma Orosz said in front of the 18th-century Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady).
People at the rally held signs with messages supportive of newcomers to Europe, including "Help refugees," "We all laugh in the same language" and "Germany is for everyone," according to the English language German news site The Local.
Around 35,000 people attended the rally that was jointly organized by the state government of Saxony and the city of Dresden, officials said.
The anti-immigration Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA) is holding weekly rallies in Dresden, with a record number of 18,000 people attending last Monday.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has condemned the anti-Muslim demonstrations, urging Germans to turn their backs on the movement and calling their organizers racists full of hatred.
A recent survey, conducted before Wednesday's deadly attack on a French satirical magazine, showed that an increasing majority of non-Muslim Germans feel threatened by Islam.
The Paris attack has fueled fears that it could boost anti-immigration movements around Europe and inflame a culture war about the place of religion and ethnic identity in society.
Speaking after a party meeting of her Christian Democrats (CDU) in Hamburg earlier on Saturday, Merkel stressed the need for intercultural dialogue and warned against prejudice.
"We have made clear that the events in France, this barbaric terrorist act, are a challenge for all of us, for the values that we advocate, to fight for them," she said, adding that people must differentiate between Islam and religious fanatics.
Merkel who will take part in a silent march in Paris on Sunday also welcomed a decision by leading Muslim groups in Germany to organize a vigil in Berlin next week.
Al Jazeera and Reuters
Despite condemnation by officials, weekly demonstrations catalyzed by far-right rhetoric reflect tensions over asylees
Authorities worry that rising ethnic tensions could pose a threat to public order
Survey also finds two-thirds of those polled believe that the Islamization of Germany is being exaggerated
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