US citizens should be aware of the increased threat level of PEGIDA demonstrations. PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the Occident) is a extreme rightwing organization starting up from Dresden and protesting against refugees especially from Middle East and Africa.



https://www.osac.gov/Pages/ContentRe...aspx?cid=16965

Given that conter-demonstrators have outnumbered the PEGIDA demonstrators in every city those demonstrations were held, except Dresden, the main risk appears to be for those who look like right-wing nutters. So if you happen to be shaven-headed, caucasian, wearing a black flight jacket, combat trousers and jump boots, and carrying a sign with anti-foreigner slogans, it's best to stay indoors.

The counter-PEGIDA demonstrators have not in each city each time outnumbered the PEGIDA demonstrators, but the trend is mostly in that direction.

That�s right! One slogan: "Kartoffeln statt D�ner!" (Potatoes instead of doner) Our brain-deads are so creative.....

That is hilarious. The potato came to Europe via the peoples of the Americas/"New World", while doner kebab (of which I'm no fan) is a Eurasian "Old World" item.

Surely, a far more relevant threat to U.S. citizens comes from the radical Islamic extremists that those guys are protesting against...

To US citizens visiting Germany? Not in my experience. I've known more Americans' blood to get spilled in Germany by attacks from right-wing neo-Nazi types in the past twenty years than in attacks by political extremists allegedly affiliated with and motivated by any major Abrahamic religion.

But this State Department advisory is specifically about avoiding demonstrations that may get out of control rather than a more general adivsory about avoiding overall terrorist threat risk possibilities.

I'm only aware of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Fr...rport_shooting as far as Americans being killed in Germany for political reasons in the recent past. I vaguely remember a story about an American getting assaulted for potentially racist reasons much longer ago but I couldn't find the story now.

But then if you go back into the 80s, La Belle discotheque comes to mind, which would be hard to top in terms of death toll.

Blood spilled covers more than just assaults that led to death. I'm talking about the most recent twenty year period.

The nightlife bombing in Germany that you mentioned was done on the orders of an enemy of religious extremists and that enemy of religious extremists wanted to aim at US military forces with European command in Germany. And it was done more than 20 years ago.

The 2011 FRA incident isn't news to me either.

Wouldn't that be called common sense?

Governments are often in the business of engaging in a governmental version of CYA -- even if that means repeating so-called conventional wisdom to assist the masses. That's what this US advisory is.

Can you give examples? I've been in Germany many times each year during that same time period. And most of my time has been in the former East Germany than West Germany. I'm not aware of such targeted attacks against Americans (for the reason they are Americans and not because they are acting like arseholes and provocating a situation). In fact, the last time I recall an attack on Americans was a few years ago when a muslim boarded a bus at FRA transporting American soldiers to their base, and started shooting up the place.

That was an incident targeting military personnel based on the delusional notion that a video showing US soldiers raping Iraqi women in Iraq was real (even as the attacker later admitted he was misled by the YouTube video clip from an American movie). That European killed two American military personnel and injured two additional American military personnel.

It is in part why the State Department has the continuing warning it does for Germany. Incidents of right wing -- often Islamophobic -- thugs assaulting Amercians in Germany also is in part why the following is also provided by State:

There are more assaults than murders in Germany. And given the US government's words above, it ought to be a clear indication that the incidents of assaults on Americans are reported and take place far more frequently than murder of Americans by the "other" -- whether or not PEGIDA fans like it or not.

Having just spent a few days in Dresden (and elsewhere in eastern Germany) the sober advice is that you don't need to worry about anything unless you want to get involved. Pretty much like demonstrations anywhere else.

Yes, but PEGIDA (which is destroying itself at the moment) is not against forgain people (at least they claim). They have even black people as members and on their stages. They are against "the fact" that Germany is getting more and more an islamic country in their eyes. In Sachsen, the center of Pegida, Islam is so important in daily life, you can`t imagain. In 2010 4000 people in Sachsen were moslems. That are 0,1%. Wow, that�s what I call an islamic county!

@ advice: When I first came to the US I read a lot about "no go areas" in LA, high crime etc. I was really a little bit afraid. Now I think different.... So yes, if you are unlucky in Germany you can get problems as an American. But it`s unlikely. It�s more likely you get involved in a car-accident or simple crime.

Of course. We had 282 murders in whole Germany in 2013. We had 2013 473 registred assaults with a racistic motivation in Germany. So 282 too many murders and 473 too many assaults, but it�s unlikely a visitor will have contact with such things.