Do Neo-Nazis endanger World Cup? Preparations for touranment marred by racial violence
By Alexander Krabbe
May 26, 2006
Demonstrators protest against a recent attack on an Ethiopian-born German in Potsdam, eastern Germany. Banner reads "Every Victim is One Victim Too Many. United Against Nazis." (Photo: ADP)
Over six months ago public discussion of the World Cup tournament became dominated by speculation about terror attacks and how to prevent them. Some far-fetched apprehensions about potential dangers from a faction of religious extremists may be explained by the collective trauma of the 1972 German Olympic Games in Munich, when Palestinian terrorists killed 11 Israeli athletes, taking advantage of the liberal approach to security.
It's obviously easy for Schäuble publicly to fight a faceless enemy, even more so if this threat to internal security comes from abroad or from unwanted foreigners or immigrants living in Germany. If, however, the threat stems from Germans with known names and addresses, then Schäuble mutates into a lame duck.
During the Easter holidays, German engineer Ermyas M. fell victim to a xenophobic attack on a bus station in the east German city of Potsdam. Schäuble lost the trust of those who thought him a guarantor of safety for German citizens without regard to the color of their skin.
Ermyas M. was gravely injured and fell into a deep coma for more than three weeks. He still can't remember the attack, which makes the investigation of suspects from Potsdam's neo-Nazi scene more difficult.
Schäuble, commenting on German public radio about the victim of the attack, a 37-year-old father of two who was born in Ethiopia, said that "blond and blue-eyed Germans can also become the victims of violence, sometimes attacked by those who don't have a German (family) background." The minister's words could be interpreted as a signal of support for the radical political right, since he made this statement on April 20, Adolf Hitler's birthday.
Bearing Schäuble's statement in mind, a cynic might argue that the next time Nazis would be able to use the argument of putative self-defense when beating up a person with brown skin and dark hair. For the current CDU/SPD government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), it must be regarded as evidence of incompetence that Schäuble wasn't forced from office.
This week he presented the latest report by the office for the protection of the constitution (Verfassungsschutz). Ironically, it is he who has been forced to admit a significant increase in racially motivated violence in 2005 over 2004.
Only ten days after the attack on Ermyas M., two more African-looking citizens were attacked in the Bavarian metropolis of Munich and in the city of Wismar, in Mecklenburg.
In Pömmelte (Sachsen-Anhalt), Kevin, aged 12, was brutally beaten by five older youths who had denounced the boy aboard a bus, owing to his ethnic appearance as the son of an Ethiopian immigrant and a German mother. Allegedly, not a single passenger on the bus had realized that racial insults were being heaped on Kevin. The boy was given no support when the five offenders hunted him down after he left the bus for home. The five were punished this week with long juvenile prison sentences.
This Tuesday, a Korean student became the victim of an apparently xenophobic attack in the eastern city of Magdeburg.
But in the teeth of this resurgence of racial violence in Germany, there are also those who break the code of silence.
"It is the task of society to ensure an open attitude (towards everybody) in every city and every country district. This doesn't only target 'the policy,' but each and every citizen," said Uwe-Karsten Heye (SDP), former spokesman for the SPD/Green government under Gerhard Schröder. Heye now heads the anti-racist organization "Show Your Color," which, by his critical statements, has succeeded in initiating a full-scale public discussion on racism in Germany.
Some reactionary voices complain about the alleged one-sided reporting of racially motivated violence in Germany. They argue that Caucasian victims of violence aren't paid attention to by the media. In an embarrassing sense, since their intention is to play down the threat from the neo-Nazi side, these people are right.
This author's cousin last week was near becoming a victim of the unlimited thirst for violence by the neo-Nazi element in the Mecklenburg city of Rostock. Together with three of his friends, he wanted to take a timeout from his studies and celebrate a relaxing evening with a barbecue on the edge of the city. Intending to make the arrangements, two of them were on their way to the barbecue site ahead of time. My cousin and another friend were to have joined them later.
The two who were to organize the evening had the bad luck not to be warned that skinheads might come out of the woodwork. When they were setting up the grill, four neo-Nazis with apparent experience in close-combat street fighting attacked the two friends without rhyme or reason. Both are now being treated in a Rostock hospital for serious injuries.
The German media paid no attention to the incident.
Everyone who does not belong to a neo-Nazi circle can become a victim. The historical proof is to be found in what happened in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. Naturally, people of color are in greater danger of becoming victimized by racially motivated violence.
Advice for Guests of Germany 2006
By keeping the conspiracy of silence, the minister-president of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck (SPD) and his minister for internal security, Jörg Schönbohm (CDU), will only endanger the lives of those who visit Germany for the 2006 tournament. Needless to say, such an attitude won't make a single place in Germany safer for people of color.
Basically no place in Germany, even in east Germany, is really dangerous if one considers the following basic directives for World Cup visitors:
First: Always stay with larger groups of visitors. The best thing would be to travel to Germany together with other soccer fans from your own country and to stay together for the time of your visit.
Second: Not every bald person is a Nazi. Try, however, to avoid any exchange with persons who have closely cropped their hair. Don't be misled if someone does not speak German, since among Polish fans there are also a significant number of neo-Nazis.
Third: Always carry a mobile with you to call for help if needed. The German emergency number is 110. Be aware of the street intersection you are actually passing. If you are attacked, call the police, demand help and give them the street name. This way you might discourage potential offenders.
Nevertheless, know that the vast majority of Germans are far from being neo-Nazis or violent offenders. But it won't hurt to keep your eyes open.
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May 26, 2006
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| Demonstrators protest against a recent attack on an Ethiopian-born German in Potsdam, eastern Germany. Banner reads "Every Victim is One Victim Too Many. United Against Nazis." (Photo: ADP) |
During the Easter holidays, German engineer Ermyas M. fell victim to a xenophobic attack on a bus station in the east German city of Potsdam. Schäuble lost the trust of those who thought him a guarantor of safety for German citizens without regard to the color of their skin.
Ermyas M. was gravely injured and fell into a deep coma for more than three weeks. He still can't remember the attack, which makes the investigation of suspects from Potsdam's neo-Nazi scene more difficult.
Schäuble, commenting on German public radio about the victim of the attack, a 37-year-old father of two who was born in Ethiopia, said that "blond and blue-eyed Germans can also become the victims of violence, sometimes attacked by those who don't have a German (family) background." The minister's words could be interpreted as a signal of support for the radical political right, since he made this statement on April 20, Adolf Hitler's birthday.
Bearing Schäuble's statement in mind, a cynic might argue that the next time Nazis would be able to use the argument of putative self-defense when beating up a person with brown skin and dark hair. For the current CDU/SPD government of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), it must be regarded as evidence of incompetence that Schäuble wasn't forced from office.
This week he presented the latest report by the office for the protection of the constitution (Verfassungsschutz). Ironically, it is he who has been forced to admit a significant increase in racially motivated violence in 2005 over 2004.
Only ten days after the attack on Ermyas M., two more African-looking citizens were attacked in the Bavarian metropolis of Munich and in the city of Wismar, in Mecklenburg.
In Pömmelte (Sachsen-Anhalt), Kevin, aged 12, was brutally beaten by five older youths who had denounced the boy aboard a bus, owing to his ethnic appearance as the son of an Ethiopian immigrant and a German mother. Allegedly, not a single passenger on the bus had realized that racial insults were being heaped on Kevin. The boy was given no support when the five offenders hunted him down after he left the bus for home. The five were punished this week with long juvenile prison sentences.
This Tuesday, a Korean student became the victim of an apparently xenophobic attack in the eastern city of Magdeburg.
But in the teeth of this resurgence of racial violence in Germany, there are also those who break the code of silence.
"It is the task of society to ensure an open attitude (towards everybody) in every city and every country district. This doesn't only target 'the policy,' but each and every citizen," said Uwe-Karsten Heye (SDP), former spokesman for the SPD/Green government under Gerhard Schröder. Heye now heads the anti-racist organization "Show Your Color," which, by his critical statements, has succeeded in initiating a full-scale public discussion on racism in Germany.
Some reactionary voices complain about the alleged one-sided reporting of racially motivated violence in Germany. They argue that Caucasian victims of violence aren't paid attention to by the media. In an embarrassing sense, since their intention is to play down the threat from the neo-Nazi side, these people are right.
This author's cousin last week was near becoming a victim of the unlimited thirst for violence by the neo-Nazi element in the Mecklenburg city of Rostock. Together with three of his friends, he wanted to take a timeout from his studies and celebrate a relaxing evening with a barbecue on the edge of the city. Intending to make the arrangements, two of them were on their way to the barbecue site ahead of time. My cousin and another friend were to have joined them later.
The two who were to organize the evening had the bad luck not to be warned that skinheads might come out of the woodwork. When they were setting up the grill, four neo-Nazis with apparent experience in close-combat street fighting attacked the two friends without rhyme or reason. Both are now being treated in a Rostock hospital for serious injuries.
The German media paid no attention to the incident.
Everyone who does not belong to a neo-Nazi circle can become a victim. The historical proof is to be found in what happened in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. Naturally, people of color are in greater danger of becoming victimized by racially motivated violence.
Advice for Guests of Germany 2006
By keeping the conspiracy of silence, the minister-president of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck (SPD) and his minister for internal security, Jörg Schönbohm (CDU), will only endanger the lives of those who visit Germany for the 2006 tournament. Needless to say, such an attitude won't make a single place in Germany safer for people of color.
Basically no place in Germany, even in east Germany, is really dangerous if one considers the following basic directives for World Cup visitors:
First: Always stay with larger groups of visitors. The best thing would be to travel to Germany together with other soccer fans from your own country and to stay together for the time of your visit.
Second: Not every bald person is a Nazi. Try, however, to avoid any exchange with persons who have closely cropped their hair. Don't be misled if someone does not speak German, since among Polish fans there are also a significant number of neo-Nazis.
Third: Always carry a mobile with you to call for help if needed. The German emergency number is 110. Be aware of the street intersection you are actually passing. If you are attacked, call the police, demand help and give them the street name. This way you might discourage potential offenders.
Nevertheless, know that the vast majority of Germans are far from being neo-Nazis or violent offenders. But it won't hurt to keep your eyes open.
ETHIOMEDIA.COM - ETHIOPIA'S PREMIER NEWS AND VIEWS WEBSITE
© COPYRIGHT 20001-2006ETHIOMEDIA.COM. EMAIL: webmaster@ethiomedia.com
