Attack on a Stranger at the Cost of a Familiar Life
A bloody attack by an assailant with a knife in the city of Solingen, Germany, has shaken the country. The grand Solingen festival, celebrating the 650th anniversary of its founding, was underway when the attacker cast a shadow over everything.
He attacked people’s necks, heads, and faces with a knife intending to kill, and the three victims who lost their lives were all elderly. This event has already had a significant impact on German politics and society, intensifying what should be frankly described as the distrust and hatred of specific segments of German society towards immigrants, especially Arabs and Muslims.
Previous incidents of crimes by immigrants and refugees gradually created this wave since 2014 and 2015, the peak years of Germany’s immigration intake, before a 26-year-old Syrian refugee finally surrendered to the German police. The announcement of the attack’s responsibility by ISIS had already heightened public sensitivity.
The rise of far-right forces and factions in Germany is nothing new and has been a major concern for German politicians and social activists in recent years. The extremist AFD party has consistently demonstrated its growing support among citizens in multiple elections.
A fundamental point that is beyond doubt is the declining population growth in long-standing European countries like Germany, and immigration has provided and will continue to provide a basis for a more dynamic society.
However, the current waves of refugees in Germany are difficult to control. Transforming new refugees and immigrants and meaningfully integrating them as a productive part of German society is time-consuming, and in this process, any negative and destructive event associated with them becomes a new advantage for Germany’s extreme racists.
In 2023, 300,000 refugees were registered in Germany, the highest number since 2015 when Merkel opened the doors to one million immigrants. For several months, stricter immigration laws have been implemented, and it’s unlikely that the tightening of the process for refugees in Germany will remain at the same level.
Deadly attacks and crimes by refugees essentially come at the cost of the lives of other immigrants.
A significant part of German society opposes the extremism and racism of specific parties and groups. When AFD’s secret plans to ally with German neo-Nazis to create grounds for expelling millions of undesirable and non-German citizens were exposed, aside from the condemnation of these groups by German politicians and Olaf Scholz’s harsh statements against them, a massive crowd took to the streets to protest in support of immigrants against the extremists.
Events like the attack in Solingen will reduce these supports. It is natural that the impact of what has happened in Germany will not be limited to this country’s politics. France has been tightening immigration laws for months, and Macron was forced to make this policy change under the country’s political and social conditions.
German extremists considered the new immigration laws in France, passed during the same period, a major achievement for their goals and celebrated it. This trend is also spreading in other countries.
The former Dutch prime minister’s efforts to tighten immigration laws led to the collapse of his coalition, and ironically, Dutch extremists gained more seats in the Dutch parliament in the subsequent elections than other parties. Events similar to Solingen’s, accompanied by anti-Semitic and even terrorist acts by extremist Muslim groups in Europe, have included an Algerian’s attack on a synagogue in France, which led to a confrontation with the police and created terrifying scenes that were a major gain for xenophobes and Islamophobes in France, Europe, and America. The issue of immigrants and refugees has significantly impacted European and American politics.
In Britain, if the issue of immigrants was an electoral topic, after the elections and with the uprising of British racists, it turned into a serious crisis at the community and city levels in the country.
Trump permanently linked the issue of immigrants to U.S. electoral politics since 2015 and his entry into the 2016 presidential election. Immigrants have come to stay in global politics.
