Austria's first anti-Islam protest small, draws extremists
Protesters, including a few extremists flashing Hitler salutes, have gathered to demonstrate against what they call "Islamization" in Austria in the first rally of its kind in the country. Police say the gathering in Vienna Monday drew only about 300 people, far short of the 25,000 who have attended similar demonstrations in Germany.
Both German and Austrian organizers call their movement PEGIDA, or Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West, but insist the demonstrations are not anti-Muslim. At least two demonstrators in Vienna were seen raising their hand in the Hitler salute. There have been no reports of Nazi symbols or gestures at German PEGIDA protests. The demonstrators were blocked from marching by about 200 protesters, while an anti-PEGIDA march attracted about 5,000 people.
