Hoping that someone who understands that statement reads this blog!
Here's the story
I write as someone who has spent a good chunk of my years, and still am, working to promote cultural understanding and awareness. Through all those years one of the countries that has always lead the way in this work is Germany. Is that all a delusion?
I know that one bad example doesn't mean that the entire population is like that, and I know better than to generalize, so I'm not going to. I have a lot of German friends who are not racist nor are they intolerant in any way shape or form. They are probably as upset about this as I am, if not more because it mars their images!
Instead I'm going to talk about the fact that this did not happen on the streets of Leipzig or in an alley somewhere in Berlin. This happened INSIDE A COURTROOM. And when the well trained police officer fired his bullet, he hit the woman's husband instead of the murderer!
Having been chased by skin heads in Leipzig myself before I know the fear. But I survived. She did not. She is gone and through no fault of her own. Racism and Extremism are self destructive. It's a vicious cycle. This man would have had no reason to be this angry at her just because she's veiled if he did not see this extremism as a destructive force.
1) Blame the Extremists for the reputation they have given anyone with an Arab or Muslim tag
2) Blame the media for their poor treatment of these issues, helping build this hatred. This man may have never interacted with any Arabs before. All he knows is September 11 and other such examples.
What next? What's gonna happen in Germany? How will the global community react?
Here's the story
I write as someone who has spent a good chunk of my years, and still am, working to promote cultural understanding and awareness. Through all those years one of the countries that has always lead the way in this work is Germany. Is that all a delusion?
I know that one bad example doesn't mean that the entire population is like that, and I know better than to generalize, so I'm not going to. I have a lot of German friends who are not racist nor are they intolerant in any way shape or form. They are probably as upset about this as I am, if not more because it mars their images!
Instead I'm going to talk about the fact that this did not happen on the streets of Leipzig or in an alley somewhere in Berlin. This happened INSIDE A COURTROOM. And when the well trained police officer fired his bullet, he hit the woman's husband instead of the murderer!
I am angry. I am frustrated. Her 3 Year old son was watching. What will become of him? If he's not very well taken care of he has one of two ways to go. Either the vengeful extremist or the veil hating rebel.
Having been chased by skin heads in Leipzig myself before I know the fear. But I survived. She did not. She is gone and through no fault of her own. Racism and Extremism are self destructive. It's a vicious cycle. This man would have had no reason to be this angry at her just because she's veiled if he did not see this extremism as a destructive force.
1) Blame the Extremists for the reputation they have given anyone with an Arab or Muslim tag
2) Blame the media for their poor treatment of these issues, helping build this hatred. This man may have never interacted with any Arabs before. All he knows is September 11 and other such examples.
What next? What's gonna happen in Germany? How will the global community react?
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