It is a murder that has had international repercussions for Germany but which went unreported in the US: a young, pregnant mother of a 3-year old was testifying in a Dresden courtroom against a Russian immigrant who had insulted her at a playground for wearing a hijab. In court, the Russian ran up to her and stabbed her 18 times. When the woman's husband tried to save her, he was shot by a security officer.
Omar has a detailed report on the murder in English.
A tragic act by a deranged individual? Or did this reflect some deep-seated anti-Muslim prejudice in Germany?
The debate rages in Germany and in the Middle East, where the incident is being used to whip up anti-European sentiments. At a memorial service and peace march last week in the Dresden, the majority of the mourners were non-Muslim Germans.
One aspect of the case points to a larger issue than than simply the crazed action of a lone perpetrator. Before the stabbing, the Russian defendant shouted at Marwa: "Do you have a right to be in Germany at all?" Then he threatened her:
"When the NPD comes to power, there'll be an end to that. I voted NPD." So, obviously, the political rhetoric of the neo-Nazis played a role in the murder. Politblogger has been collecting videos of right-wing extremist groups in Germany that demonize Muslims. Linkezeitung blamed the hate blog Politically Incorrect , although there is no evidence that the Russian had ever read the blog.
In the US, we are seeing an rise in hate crimes similar to what occured in Dresden. The blogger and journalist David Niewart has been investaging the root cause of these crimes and has put his findings into a new book: The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radlcalized the American Right. This is how Niewart defines Eliminationism:"a politics and a culture that shuns dialogue and the democratic
exchange of ideas in favor of the pursuit of outright elimination of
the opposing side, either through suppression, exile, and ejection, or
extermination." This the culture we see in the US on right-wing talk radio with respect to racial minorities, and we see the same phenomenon in Germany with the right-wing extremist parties. In the US, the danger is compounded with pervasive gun ownership.
This video addresses the problem that is growing in both the US and Germany.
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