Church leaders gather in Birmingham Central Mosque to oppose Pegida march

Church leaders have gathered in Birmingham Central Mosque this afternoon to oppose a planned march by the anti-Islamist group, Pegida.
Representatives from the Church of England are meeting alongside Muslim leaders and politicians as part of the "HOPE not hate" campaign which is seeking to counter a mile-long "silent march" organised by Pegida UK tomorrow (Saturday).
The gathering comes after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joined the opposition to the march which is co-ordinated by former English Defence League (EDL) leader Tommy Robinson.
The faith leaders want "to show unity and solidarity with each other and with the city of Birmingham", a spokesman from Birmingham Central Mosque stated in a media report.
It is part of a promise signed by the Bishop of Birmingham David Urquhart
to "sit down and drink a cup of tea with someone from another community that we do not know well and explore what we have in common".
However Urquhart declined an offer for a cup of tea with a Pegida member.
"Rather than spending time with you at this stage I will continue to listen to as many people as possible who live and work in this city and are committed to its long-term welfare and flourishing," he wrote to Mr Weston from Pegida.
"From them I will seek to learn and understand how I can play my part in ensuring Birmingham remains a place where all people feel welcome and are able to participate creatively as this city continues to explore and model how to thrive as a global community."
Urquhart has joined all nine of Birmingham MPs in signing the "we choose hope" pledge opposing Pegida.
He labelled anti-Islamist campaigning as "narrow and targeted", expressing "negative attitudes and actions towards fellow members of the human race in and beyond our nation."
"Fuelling fear and unjust prejudice, these are unacceptable and cannot be called Christian," he said in a statement.
However, Robinson accused the "Hope" campaign of stifling free speech and denied Pegida was racist. Instead those backing it were "cowards", he told the IBTimesUK.
"What have they ever done to stop the hate being preached in our universities?" he said. "What have they ever done to stop the sexual exploitation of young girls in Birmingham?
"I invite them to sit down with me and have an adult conversation about the problems we face. It's easy to just condemn. What's not easy is to do what we do every day, receiving death threats and being attacked. These MPs just take the easy way out, they're cowards."
Saturday's march will begin in Birmingham International railway station and walk towards a nearby car park where a number of speeches will be made. It will be part of a Europe-wide "day of action" from Pegida in an attempt to spread the movement across the continent.
Although the group insisted they are only opposed to extremism, critics have said the group targets Islam as a whole.
A Church of England spokesman said that representatives would not be attending the march.
"To do so would be to provoke," he said.
Pegida UK is a British branch of a a German group called Patriotische Europäer gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West) or Pegida for short.