A man’s knife attack in Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, last Friday claimed three lives. Eight other people were injured, some seriously. The attack also caused consternation among Jewish communities and organizations in Germany and internationally. And it has once again brought Germany into a heated debate about immigration, especially from Muslim countries.
The suspected perpetrator who turned himself in to the police is a 26-year-old Syrian who was required to leave the country and should no longer have been in Germany. However, the German security authorities did not have him on their radar.
In a message published on Saturday, the terrorist organization “Islamic State” (IS) claimed responsibility for the Solingen attack. It was “revenge for Muslims in Palestine and everywhere.” However, investigators are not yet sure that the knife attacker was actually on IS’s orders. The Federal Prosecutor General has taken over the investigation.
Increased danger from Islamists
Terrorism expert Peter Neumann sees a significantly increased danger from jihadists. In the past eleven months, seven jihadist terrorist attacks have been counted and almost two dozen more have been foiled, the researcher at King’s College London told the German Press Agency. The issue must now be prioritized again and more attention must be paid to processes of radicalization, especially among young men.
“Islamist ideology wants to destroy our way of life.”
Central Council President Josef Schuster
Josef Schuster, President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said the attack in Solingen was directed “against the core of our society.” The developments of the past few months were alarming. “The Islamist ideology wants to destroy our way of life. Islamism is a real threat to our open societies. We must take this danger seriously,” said Schuster.
Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, President of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER), said that “radical Islam, supported and practiced by Iran, ISIS, Hamas and others, is no less threatening to the future of Europe than Russian aggression against Ukraine.”
Chancellor wants to increase deportations
Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the attack as “terrorism against all of us, which threatens our lives and our coexistence,” and promised increased deportations and tighter gun laws. Nevertheless, the opposition has increased pressure on the federal government to further restrict irregular immigration in particular.
CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz called for changes to the residency law and the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act. Merz is even considering declaring a “national emergency” in order to limit immigration. He also wants to expand the powers of the police.
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert rejected the Union leader’s proposal. The answer to the massacre in Solingen “cannot be that we slam the door in the faces of people who are themselves fleeing from Islamists,” said Kühnert. Instead, we must combat radicalization and hate on the internet.
