Germany and the Far Right Threat

Thousands of people gathered in several German cities to honor the victims of the two attacks, which took place several days ago in Hanau, killing nine people.

The people gathered in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, as well as fifty other cities, to express their rejection of hatred, racism and terrorist acts. Germany faces an escalating terrorist threat posed by the extreme right that is unparalleled in Germany or in any other European country ...

The Minister of  Interior Horst Seehofer announced that the police presence will be strengthened all over Germany; and emphasized that this process will cover mosques, train stations, airports and border areas to counter the "high" threat posed by the extreme right ...

 On her part, Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht stated that the government" will study carefully how extremists "can legally acquire weapons as was the case in the Hanau attack. She added that far-right violence currently poses a "major threat" to German democracy not only because of the "number" of suspects, but also their apparent insistence.

She considered those as "inpidual wolves" which are absorbing fanatic thought through the Internet, and they represent "imminent bombs that we must confront with all the capabilities afforded to us by the Constitution."

Unfortunately, those are free to obtain weapons in a country where there are about 5.4 million pieces of weapons; the police have previously seized 1091 peces in 2018, compared to 676 the previous year, as part of investigations into violations and crimes attributed to the extreme right. 

Members of the conservative Christian Democratic Party called for strengthening the laws on weapons, which is a challenge in a country fond of the sport of shooting that the latest supposed killer was practicing. 

Immediately after the terrorist attacks, Germany tightened its monitoring of the possession of firearms, and during a cabinet session last Wednesday it adopted new measures to expose the threats of the far-right on the Internet and impose tougher sanctions. Still, however, we should not forget that the political speeches of the German parties against immigrants in general and Muslims in particular are still the main focus for those “inpidual wolves” ...

In an article by the great philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who represents the European intelligentsia which is still criticizing evil and misery, published in an American newspaper, he tried to give a convincing answer, away from the superficial and prejudicial readings that are sometimes issued by European thinkers with partisan and political convictions that affect the other in understanding matters and even the course of events, because politicians often rely on their own analysis and studies to explain their policies on foreigners.

The German philosopher indicated that elections is a big reason, as well as the need to mobilize a greater number of voters, that made the German societal body fond of stereotypes about Islam and Muslims, and this is what support in minds the idea that the German  identity is in danger, or what is referred to as a reference identity.

This idea is often suggested by party politicians and this almost happened in the 1990s when thousands of immigrants from the former Yugoslavia sought political asylum in the country. The developments sparked a political protests; but unlike what happened in that period, the politicians added a new cause in the defense of national identity and reference, which is that the culture of German society is "Jewish - Christian", and the the German philosopher wonder how those new politicians forget what happened to the Jews in Germany!

It is not possible to ignore the historical accumulations that nurture national sentiments that extend beyond the borders of Germany to include most of the European countries, but what started in Germany is the arrival of a group of rulers without political experience that makes them differentiate between political party propaganda and the decisions that should be taken to preserve the balance of society within the state ....

The today anti-Islam sentiments in Germany and in most European countries is due to the current political speeches and to some parties that rely on intellectual references which are also political, and worse than that, are the new rulers who lack political experience and need popular support, and found anti-Islam and Muslims a profitable business and an inexhaustible electoral reserve.