 | |
| Founded | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Focus | Anti-Islam campaigning |
| Location | |
Key people | René Stadtkewitz Michael Stürzenberger Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff Susanne Hirzel Irfan Peci |
| Website | paxeuropa-bpe |
TheCitizens' Movement Pax Europa (German:Bürgerbewegung Pax Europa, BPE) is a Germananti-Islam,counter-jihad organisation.[1][2][3] It was formed in 2008 from the merger of two previous groups, theFederal Association of Citizens' Movements (German:Bundesverband der Bürgerbewegungen, BDB) formed in 2003, andPax Europa formed in 2006.[1]
The group describes itself as a "human rights organisation" that stands for "freedom and democracy" against "Islamisation".[2] It has lobbied at theOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), often represented byElisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, and has cooperated with theInternational Civil Liberties Alliance and theCenter for Security Policy ofFrank Gaffney.[2]René Stadtkewitz has been deputy chairman of the organisation, and its national secretary is Conny Axel Meier.[2]
In 2011, Meier held a speech at a conference inStrasbourg, France arranged byStop Islamization of America andStop Islamisation of Europe that also includedRobert Spencer and Roberta Moore of the Jewish Division of theEnglish Defence League.[4]
The BPE has attempted to claim to have revived the anti-NaziWhite Rose resistance movement, and when Meier spoke at the 2012 international counter-jihad conference in Brussels, he compared German Muslims to members of the Nazi Party.[2] His statement referred to a study which revealed that half a million German Muslims openly supportedSharia over German law, which he translated to five times more than the number of Nazi Party members in 1928.[5] One former member of the White Rose,Susanne Hirzel, was actively involved in the BPE.[6][7]
On 31 May 2024, the BPE held an information stand in theMannheim market square featuring one of its most prominent activists,Michael Stürzenberger. At the event, several people were stabbed by an Afghan refugee wielding a knife. Police on the scene shot the attacker. One police officer was critically injured and died two days later after being held in an induced coma.[8]
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