Excerpt:
About 20 supporters of anti-Islam movement Pegida decided at the last minute not to hold a demonstrative barbecue in front of the Laleli Mosque in Rotterdam on Thursday. According to Pegida, the police said that their safety couldn’t be guaranteed. According to the police, they said no such thing and the group decided on its own to leave, NU.nl reports.
A spokesperson for Rotterdam Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb told the newspaper that Pegida “made the decision not to let the demonstration go on itself, when they saw the crowd.”
A few hundred counter-demonstrators gathered at the mosque and formed a human chain. The atmosphere at the scene was quite tense, with some harsh comment shouted at the Rotterdam mayor. No arrests were made. Shortly after it was apparent that Pegida would not be roasting pigs at the mosque, the counter-demonstrators left and peace returned.