Once the initial shock over the attack by a man from Saudi Arabia against the Magdeburg Christmas market, in which five people lost their lives and 200 were injured, comes the time for political debate and the predictable instrumentalization of extreme right of the tragedy to promote hatred against migrants two months before the general elections, ignoring that the perpetrator actually came from his circle of sympathizers.
Taleb al Abdulmohsen was not an Islamist, nor did he come to Germany with the so-called wave of refugees of 2015 and 2016. He frequently criticized Islam on his social networks and moved to the country in 2006 to work as a doctor. It was not until 2016 when the man, specialized in psychiatry and psychotherapy, requested to be recognized as a refugee. He alleged that his life was in danger if he returned to his country of origin due to fear of being deported.
In fact, his atypical profile baffled many experts when details about him began to leak after his rapid arrest. “After 25 years in this businessyou think that nothing can surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old former Saudi Muslim living in East Germany loves AfD [Alternativa para Alemania, partido de extrema derecha] and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance of Islamists… I really didn’t have this in mind,” renowned terrorism expert Peter Neumann wrote on the social network X.
However, on many platforms and Telegram channels where it is common for right-wing extremists to exchange information, it is already clear that this fact is simply ignored. The narrative in these groups is that this man should not have been in Germany and that if the so-called re-emigration that they defend was followed, this attack would not have happened. This term was popularized by some AfD politicians to outline a plan to deport millions of foreigners from the country, not only migrants and refugees, but also German citizens with a migration history.
The simplistic and distorted narrative of the AfD and its followers on the issue is catching on. For them the fundamental problem is migration. Political forces that want to polarize benefit from these types of events. Already on Saturday, hundreds of people gathered in Magdeburg called by neo-Nazis and ultra parties, in a meeting in which they called for the deportation of foreigners. This Monday, the AfD delegation from Saxony-Anhalt called another rally in the afternoon in the cathedral square, which was attended by around 3,000 people, according to the local police, and in which the party leader and candidate for the Chancellery, Alice Weidel.
“After mourning comes the time to ask questions and demand answers,” claimed the politician on stage, who described the aggressor as an “Islamist who hates Germans” and demanded “a real explanation” of what happened. During his speech before the march through the center of Magdeburg, Weidel called for the expulsion of all those who “take advantage of our hospitality and despise our values. Those who despise the citizens of the country kill them. These are not part of us,” he stated, unleashing cheers from those present and chants like “deportation.”
In parallel with the AfD event, an initiative under the title “Don’t give hate a chance” called for a human chain around the old market square where the attacker rammed his high-powered car into those who were enjoying the fun at the time. Christmas atmosphere. About 4,000 people attended the event, according to local authorities.
Migrant associations are worried. The Salam violence prevention center in Saxony-Anhalt and migrant organizations have observed a significant increase in attacks on foreign-looking people in the city of Magdeburg. “Those considered migrants are insulted in the street shouting about terrorists, criminals or mobs. Sometimes they push them and spit on them,” the organization detailed in a report.
The immigration debate in a country of 82 million people, where almost 14 million foreigners live – of which 9.5 million come from European Union countries – fuels political and security discussion. Who is responsible? Have the secret services made mistakes? Why were the notices that reached the security agencies not taken seriously? How was it possible that he used one of the emergency routes to get to the market?
Criticisms against the authorities continue these days. Little by little, data has been leaked such as that Saudi Arabia warned Germany of the danger posed by Taleb al Abdulmohsen or that he was already investigated after threatening to carry out an attack in 2013. For now, an extraordinary meeting of the Interior Committee of the German Parliament has been called for December 30.
“In the last three years, the government coalition [de socialdemócratas, liberales y verdes] “has unfortunately contributed to sowing distrust in our security forces instead of strengthening our agents,” Thorsten Frei, of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), told the newspaper. Rheinische Postthus breaking the unofficial truce established after the tragedy.Likewise, he once again demanded the return at the German borders, something that the party had already demanded in the debate after the Solingen knife attack in August of this year.
The attack also comes on the eve of an electoral campaign that is expected to be very tough. The worsening economic situation in Germany and the war in Ukraine are fueling great uncertainty among the electorate. Added to this is the distrust in politics after the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, decided to break up the Government due to insurmountable disagreements on economic matters with his liberal partner. This benefits parties like the AfD, which comes second in the polls with 19% of the votes if the elections were held this Sunday.
“It would be naive to believe that the terrible act in Magdeburg will not also change the electoral campaign. Issues of internal security and migration, which until now had not played a predominant role, are making their way onto the agenda,” wrote the German publication Der Spiegel.
Traditional parties wage a defensive battle against populism. Aware of what is to come, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the CDU, the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Greens, the Liberal Party (FDP) and the Left Party have signed an agreement stipulating that they should be avoided belittling or personal attacks on politicians and that debates must be respectful. They must also oppose extremist statements and refrain from disinformation and the use of fake accounts. “There will be no type of cooperation with the AfD or with parties that are not based on the free democratic basic order,” they wrote in the document released on Sunday.
