On August 31, 2015, Angela Merkel uttered a phrase that many1 have come to see as defining her 15-year tenure in power: in response to growing numbers of refugees arriving primarily from war-torn Syria and Iraq, the German Chancellor stated that “Germany is a strong country. The motive we’re approaching these things with has to…
On June 17, 2020, human rights advocates filed a potentially path-breaking complaint with the German federal public prosecutor: brought by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) on behalf of seven Syrians, the complaint demands that Germany prosecute nine high-ranking Syrian government officials for sexual and gender-based violence committed during Syria’s 9-year-long war….
The slogan “We are the people!” (Wir sind das Volk!) was one of the iconic protest chants of the 1989 ‘peaceful revolution’. It helped seal the fate of the crumbling regime of East Germany’s Socialist Unity Party (SED), ultimately paving the way for German reunification. Since 2015, the chant has been heard again; and again…
In an article appearing on Qantara, Deutsche Welle‘s online platform seeking to foster cross-cultural dialogue with, broadly speaking, the Islamic world, journalist Tonio Postel takes stock of Muslim life in Germany between participation and exclusion, integration and Islamophobia. Growing participation of Muslim migrants in society The exercise is a welcome one. Given the plethora of more…
Guardian journalist, Paul Chadwick, responds to concerns about what should be considered terrorism. He said he started calling the incident a terrorist attack early but it was not premature. He says events can be called terrorist attacks if they involve “serious harm to random innocents, a location and/or victims with symbolic resonance, apparent intent to…
