Stop Islamisation of Denmark

Last updated
Stop Islamisation of Denmark
Formation2005
Type Anti-Islam
Location
  • Denmark
Leader Anders Gravers Pedersen
Affiliations Stop Islamisation of Europe

Stop Islamisation of Denmark (Danish : Stop Islamiseringen af Danmark, SIAD) is a Danish anti-Islam organisation founded in 2005. [1] The group was founded by Anders Gravers Pedersen who began the development of the activist part of the counter-jihad movement. [2]

Contents

The organisation considers its work to be comparable to the resistance movement during the Second World War, and a report by the Danish Center for Social Science Research on extremist movements in 2014 designated the group as "radical right". [3]

History and activities

The group has been active in campaigning against the building of mosques in Denmark and has staged free speech demonstrations in relation to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. In 2007 the group protested outside of the European Union headquarters in Brussels, [4] and launched the Europe-wide Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) following the international counter-jihad conference in Copenhagen. [1]

In 2013 a few dozen SIAD-demonstrators protested against discrimination against Jews. Counter-demonstrators fired off maroons and roman candles, and 32 counter-demonstrators were arrested. [5]

The group announced several demonstrations in a "Denmark tour" in 2015, at the same time that a new anti-Islam group, Pegida Denmark also began its demonstrations. [6] [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Jyllands-Posten</i> Danish newspaper

Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten, commonly shortened to Jyllands-Posten or JP, is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper. It is based in Aarhus C, Jutland, and with a weekday circulation of approximately 120,000 copies.

The following lists events hat happened during 2006 in Denmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ungdomshuset</span> Former music venue in Copenhagen, Denmark

Ungdomshuset was the popular name of the building formally named Folkets Hus located on Jagtvej 69 in Nørrebro, Copenhagen, which functioned as an underground scene venue for music and rendezvous point for varying autonomist and leftist groups from 1982 until 2007 when—after prolonged conflict—it was torn down, and later also for its successor, located on Dortheavej 61 in the adjacent Bispebjerg neighbourhood. Due to the ongoing conflict between the Copenhagen Municipality and the activists occupying the premises, the building on Jagtvej was the subject of intense media attention and public debate from the mid-1990s till 2008.

The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons were first published by Jyllands-Posten in late September 2005; approximately two weeks later, nearly 3,500 people demonstrated peacefully in Copenhagen. In November, several European newspapers re-published the images, triggering more protests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Denmark</span> Overview of the role of the Islam in Denmark

Islam in Denmark, being the country's largest minority religion, plays a role in shaping its social and religious landscape. According to a 2020 analysis by Danish researcher Brian Arly Jacobsen, an estimated 256,000 people in Denmark — 4.4% of the population — were Muslim in January, 2020. The figure has been increasing for the last several decades due to multiple immigration waves involving economic migrants and asylum seekers. In 1980, an estimated 30,000 Muslims lived in Denmark, amounting to 0.6% of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International reactions to the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy</span> Reactions to the publication of satirical cartoons

Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten's publication of satirical cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad on September 30, 2005, led to violence, arrests, inter-governmental tension, and debate about the scope of free speech and the place of Muslims in the West. Many Muslims stressed that the image of Muhammad is blasphemous, while many Westerners defended the right of free speech. A number of governments, organizations, and individuals have issued statements defining their stance on the protests or cartoons.

The 2006 Islamist demonstration outside the Embassy of Denmark in London took place on 3 February 2006, in response to controversy surrounding the publication of editorial cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005. The extremist UK-based Islamist groups al Ghurabaa and The Saviour Sect staged a controversial protest march from London Central Mosque near Marylebone Station to the Danish Embassy near Knightsbridge Underground station.

<i>Jyllands-Posten</i> Muhammad cartoons controversy 2005 controversy surrounding the depiction of Muhammad

The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published 12 editorial cartoons on 30 September 2005, most of which depicted Muhammad, a principal figure of the religion of Islam. The newspaper announced that this was an attempt to contribute to the debate about criticism of Islam and self-censorship. Muslim groups in Denmark complained, and the issue eventually led to protests around the world, including violence and riots in some Muslim countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy</span> Controversy relating to the publication of depictions of Muhammad

The Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy began in July 2007 with a series of drawings by Swedish artist Lars Vilks that depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog. Several art galleries in Sweden declined to show the drawings, citing security concerns and fear of violence. The controversy gained international attention after the Örebro-based regional newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published one of the drawings on 18 August as part of an editorial on self-censorship and freedom of religion.

The International Free Press Society (IFPS), founded on 1 January 2009, is a creation of the Danish Free Press Society. The stated purpose of IFPS "is to defend freedom of expression wherever and by whomever it is threatened".

Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE) is a pan-European counter-jihad organisation with the stated goal of "preventing Islam from becoming a dominant political force in Europe". It is a political interest group which has been active in Denmark and has conducted anti-Islamic protests in the United Kingdom. The group originated out of the joining of the Danish group Stop Islamisation of Denmark with English anti-Islam activists.

Stop Islamisation of Norway is a Norwegian anti-Muslim group that was originally established in 2000. Its stated aim is to work against Islam, which it defines as a totalitarian political ideology that violates the Norwegian Constitution as well as democratic and human values. The organisation was formerly led by Arne Tumyr, and is now led by Lars Thorsen.

Counter-jihad, also known as the counter-jihad movement, is a self-titled political current loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, street movements and campaign organisations all linked by beliefs that view Islam not as a religion but as an ideology that constitutes an existential threat to Western civilization. Consequently, counter-jihadists consider all Muslims as a potential threat, especially when they are already living within Western boundaries. Western Muslims accordingly are portrayed as a "fifth column", collectively seeking to destabilize Western nations' identity and values for the benefit of an international Islamic movement intent on the establishment of a caliphate in Western countries. The counter-jihad movement has been variously described as anti-Islamic, Islamophobic, inciting hatred against Muslims, and far-right. Influential figures in the movement include the bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer in the US, and Geert Wilders and Tommy Robinson in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anders Gravers Pedersen</span> Danish anti-Islam activist

Anders Gravers Pedersen is a Danish anti-Islam activist. He is the chairman and founder of Stop the Islamisation of Denmark (SIAD) and leader of Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE). He has also been part of the transatlantic connections between SIOE and Stop Islamization of America (SIOA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libertære Socialister</span> Political party in Denmark

Libertære Socialister was a Danish political left-wing organization which was founded on November 8, 2009, at its third initial meeting in Horsens. The organisation was working on the political ground of an anti-capitalist, revolutionary and libertarian socialist platform. LS had local groups in Copenhagen, Aalborg and Odense and these groups were linked together in a federation, which was described in details the organization's rules.

Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West, abbreviated Pegida, is a pan-European, anti-Islam, far-right extremist political movement. German Pegida believes that Germany is being increasingly Islamicised and defines itself in opposition to Islamic extremism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rasmus Paludan</span> Danish-Swedish political activist (born 1982)

Rasmus Paludan is a Danish-Swedish politician, lawyer and anti-Islam activist.

The Citizens' Movement Pax Europa is a German counter-jihad group that was formed in 2008 from the merger of two previous groups, the Federal Association of Citizens' Movements formed in 2003, and Pax Europa formed in 2006.

The International Civil Liberties Alliance (ICLA) is an international counter-jihad organization that was originally founded in 2006, and which has spanned over twenty countries. Central to the organization has been Edward S. May of the Gates of Vienna blog, Alain Wagner and Christine Brim.

For Frihed is a Danish organisation that supports free speech, and opposes what it sees as Islamisation and fundamentalist Islam in Denmark. The organisation was originally part of the Pegida movement, and is part of the broader counter-jihad movement.

References

  1. 1 2 Othen, Christopher (2018). Soldiers of a Different God: How the Counter-Jihad Movement Created Mayhem, Murder and the Trump Presidency. Amberley. pp. 98–99. ISBN   9781445678009.
  2. "Daniel Poohl: Koranbrännarna bryr sig inte om yttrandefriheten". Expo (in Swedish). 6 September 2020.
  3. "Støjberg-kandidat trækker sig - har fortid blandt højrenationale". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). 11 October 2022.
  4. "Dozens arrested at anti-Islamist rally near EU HQ". Euronews. 11 September 2017. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013.
  5. "Duelling demonstrations lead to arrests". The Copenhagen Post. 24 February 2013. Archived from the original on 24 February 2013.
  6. "Demonstrationer mod islamisering breder sig". Berlingske (in Danish). 7 January 2015. Archived from the original on 14 December 2016.
  7. "SIAD-demonstration - og moddemonstration - forløb uden dramatik". TV2 Nord (in Danish). 25 May 2015.