Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

‘Insane’ Magdeburg Christmas market attack turns up heat on Germany’s politicians Reports that suspect was a refugee from Saudi Arabia who hated Muslims raise complicated questions during German election campaign.

(Politico) The German government is reeling from an attack on a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg that saw at least five people killed when a car apparently driven by an “Islamophobic” Saudi Arabian refugee plowed into Friday evening crowds. With […]

Government & Politics

Deadly Magdeburg Christmas market attack shakes Germany as election looms With voters going to the polls in February, the tragedy ramps up concerns about security.

(Politico) A driver plowed a car at high speed into crowds of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, adding further tension to an election campaign already riven by a bitter debate over migration. Right-wing parties seized […]

Demonstrations

Mannheim knife attack: Authorities suspect Islamist motive German federal prosecutors have begun investigating a knife attack which left a police officer dead in Mannheim. On Monday, thousands of people gathered in the southwestern German city to pay their respects.

(Deutsche Welle) German authorities say they believe there was an Islamist motive behind a knife attack at an anti-Islam rally in the southwestern German city of Mannheim on Friday during which a police officer was killed. The federal prosecutor, Germany’s highest prosecuting authority […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

In Britain, shockwaves from Israel-Hamas war are jolting domestic politics The United States and several European nations have been caught up in toxic debates that have altered election campaigns and led to eruptions of inflammatory language over the conflict.

(NY Times) Inside Britain’s Parliament, lawmakers jeered, booed, and stormed out of the House of Commons to protest the speaker’s handling of a vote calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. Outside, a crowd of pro-Palestinian demonstrators projected the slogan, “From the river […]

Legal

German court opens trial of suspected ‘Islamic State’ member A 37-year-old German woman is accused of crimes against humanity for her time with the so-called 'Islamic State.' Nadine K. is accused of 'enslaving' a Yazidi woman in Syria and Iraq.

(Deutsche Welle) A court in the western German city of Koblenz on Wednesday began the proceedings against a German national accused of assisting the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) terrorist group in Syria and Iraq. What do we know so far about the […]

Crime

German minister wants ‘criminals’ expelled to Syria, despite asylum safeguards Interior Minister Horst Seehofer wants Germany's general ban on deportations to war-torn Syria weakened to return persons deemed criminal or dangerous. Rights groups accuse him of pandering to the far right.

(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s current general deportation stop to Syria should not be extended, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Friday, urging that individual case-by-case decisions be made “at least for criminals and those considered a threat.” In 2012, Germany passed a ban on […]