By M.G. Oprea
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
In the last year and a half, Europe has been rocked by
several terrorist attacks organized or inspired by the Islamic State. The
attacks have focused on France and Belgium and left Germany untouched. Until
now.
Germany has seen four violent attacks in the past week,
three of which were perpetrated by refugees from the Middle East. This marks a
new chapter in the violence occurring across Europe, as Germany becomes the
latest target of the ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks plaguing the West.
It began last Monday when a 17-year-old refugee from
Afghanistan, Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, attacked passengers with an axe and a knife on
a train heading toward Würzburg. There were no casualties, other than the
attacker himself, whom police shot. Four people were critically injured. Police
found a hand-drawn Islamic State flag in the attacker’s room, and ISIS has
claimed responsibility for the incident. This attack has caused German
officials to assert that more attacks on trains may happen “at any time.”
On Friday, Ali David Sonboly killed nine people and
wounded dozens more when he opened fire at a McDonald’s in a mall in Munich
before taking his own life. Sonboly, a dual citizen of Germany and Iran, had
done extensive research on mass shootings. As of Monday, officials insist there
are no ties to Islamic terrorism or ISIS. This may prove true, but the German
police have lost some of their credibility after their attempts to cover up the
New Year’s Eve mass sexual assaults perpetrated by Middle Eastern and North
African men.
Notably, Sonboly’s Afghan friend seems to have known of
the attack in advance and failed to alert officials. He’s now being held as a
suspect in the case. Not all crimes Muslims commit are necessarily acts of
terrorism, but given the pattern of late in Europe and the United States, it
shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand, as media and police have been so anxious to
do.
Finally, on Sunday a Syrian refugee, Mohammed Daleel, set
off a suicide bomb outside of a concert venue in Ansbach after being denied
admission. He was the only person killed, but 15 others were injured. He left a
video pledging his allegiance to ISIS. Daleel had received asylum in Bulgaria
and came to Germany in 2015, but was denied asylum in 2015.
On the same day, another Syrian refugee attacked and
killed a pregnant woman with a machete and wounded several others. There are
currently no indications it was an act of terror, with police calling it a
“crime of passion,” but little else is known.
These attacks all differ in strategy and tactics. The
Ansbach bomber may have had some training or help, while the Würzburg train
attacker could’ve done what he did with no support. But they indicate Germany
is becoming the new focus of ISIS-inspired attacks, and that Germany’s refugee
policy is in part to blame.
When Nobody Wants
to Say ‘I Told You So’
Germany accepted more than 1 million refugees in 2015,
after German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave an open invitation to Syrians to
seek asylum there. Many were concerned at the time that this would seriously
threaten European security, and that hostile actors would come in with the
massive wave of migrants. Those who expressed these concerns were accused of
bigotry and racism. But now their reservations seem prescient and justified.
German officials claim they’ve thwarted many terrorist
plots in recent months, including a plot to attack a busy pedestrian area of
Düsseldorf in June. But will they be able to overcome the difficulties of
stopping attacks by individuals who are inspired by ISIS rather than directly
linked with them? With the sheer number of migrants from countries where
violent Islamic ideology is preached and practiced, it seems an impossible
task.
German officials’ reactions to crises like these also
raise concerns that the country may not be equipped to deal with the rising
threat. It took Merkel 24 hours to respond to the Munich shootings, causing many
to chastise her for avoiding responsibility for the attacks. People are using
the hashtag #Merkelsommer, or “Merkel summer,” indicating the extent to which
the public blames her.
Meanwhile, Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann
said violence “wasn’t typical for refugees in our country,” perhaps implying
the German government is in denial about the threats to its national security.
Take Citizens’
Concerns Seriously
Merkel was wrong to dismiss the concerns of her people
and of European Union member states. She didn’t take the public’s anxieties
seriously. Not only did this heighten security risks, but it erodes people’s
confidence in the German government and in the E.U., the latter of which
dictates immigration quotas for member states. This was part of the motivation
for last month’s vote among Britons to exit the E.U.
As this confidence wanes, far-right populist parties are
gaining traction. Earlier this year, Merkel’s ruling party lost badly in local
elections to the Alternative for Germany party, which takes a firm
anti-immigrant stance and has been very critical of Merkel. France’s far-right
National Front candidate, Marine Le Pen, has recently soared in polls, with
twice as many voters saying they’d vote for her as for sitting Socialist President
François Hollande.
Another worry is that far-right groups will begin
wreaking havoc themselves as a reaction to Islamic terrorism refugees have
committed. France’s chief of intelligence recently warned of this danger,
saying that a “civil war” could arise if the country continues to see terrorist
attacks, or if mass sexual assaults occur there.
So, what can Germany do? They already began tightening
their asylum policies earlier this year and its parliament passed a new law
stating that benefits and residency permits may be restricted for those who
refuse to take German language and integration classes. The number of refugees
has fallen this year, indicating this may be stemming the tide.
But what about the migrants who are already there, and
who mean to do harm? This is the question all of Europe faces in this new age
of global jihad. Germany’s interior minister Herrmann told the public to expect
more attacks, echoing the French prime minister, who said France must “learn to
live with the threat” of Islamic terrorism.
But it’s doubtful this will satisfy the people of Europe.
As tensions rise and the attacks continue, the road seems to lead inevitably
toward every country for itself, nationalism, and the breakdown of the European
Union.
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