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Germany Tag

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 27, 2016 11 Comments
U.S. President Barack Obama has been lavishing praise on German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of his visit to Germany next month. The visit, announced earlier this week, comes as a surprise in Berlin. Obama was quoted by German media saying, “[Working with Merkel] was the most important relationship, the most important friendship I had during my tenure.” These are no empty phases but heartfelt words of a true admirer. Earlier this year, President Obama declared Germany’s Chancellor to be on the “right side of the history” for opening up Europe to millions of migrants from Arab and Muslim countries -- an honour he generally reserves only for himself.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 25, 2016 7 Comments
Earlier this month, Syrian 'refugee' Jaber Albakr committed suicide after being arrested over a plot to bomb a Berlin airport. Now the family of the ISIS bomb plotter is suing the German government. Alaa Albakr, the brother of the terrorist, who is seeking compensation from Germany, doesn't believe his brother took his own life. He is basing his legal defense on Islamic teaching, as his 'pious' refugee-turned-terrorist brother couldn't have killed himself because "suicide is forbidden in Islam". Unless you plan to blow up some infidel Kuffars in the process, to be more precise.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 13, 2016 6 Comments
A Syrian migrant arrested two days ago on charges of plotting a bomb attack in Germany's capital Berlin has hanged himself in a prison cell in an apparent suicide, according to a German police report. German investigators believe that 22 year-old ISIS terrorist Jaber Albakr was in the final stages of carrying out a major terrorist attack like the ones in Paris and Brussels previously. On Sunday, German police raided a flat belonging to Albakr in the city of Chemnitz where they found 1.5 kilograms of TATP explosives -- the same type of explosive that was used by Islamic State terrorists in the Paris (November 2015) and Brussels (March 2016). Albakr managed to escape the scene and a nationwide manhunt was launched catch the suspect. On Monday, the police arrested him in eastern German city of Leipzig.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 10, 2016 3 Comments
German authorities have captured the Jaber Albakr, a Syrian refugee, after police raided his apartment on Saturday and discovered a huge bomb making factory. Officials said Albakr planned attacks similar to those in Paris and Brussels and that the Islamic State (ISIS) inspired him:
"According to what we know, the preparations in Chemnitz are similar to the preparations for the attacks in Paris and Brussels," Thomas de Maiziere said in a statement.

Posted by Mary Chastain on October 09, 2016 2 Comments
The police in east Germany have begun searching for 22-year-old Syrian man Jaber Albakr after they discovered explosives in his apartment in Chemnitz, located near the Czech border. They believe he has planned a large terror attack:
"The search for the suspect is ongoing," Saxony state police tweeted. "At the moment, however, we do not know where he is and what he is carrying with him. Be careful." Police detained three people in Chemnitz who they said were known to Albakr, but he remained at large. "Questioning (of the detainees) is continuing. The results are still to come," said Tom Bernhardt, spokesman for the Saxony state criminal investigation office.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on October 06, 2016 13 Comments
With German Chancellor Angela Merkel doubling down yet again on her Open Borders Policy and lashing out at European countries like Hungary for blocking the steady flow of migrants into European heartland, a new wave of mass migration is hitting the continent. On Tuesday, Italy rescued nearly 5,000 migrants from the Mediterranean Sea, taking the number of rescued migrants at the high seas by Italian coastguard to over 10,000 within the span of just two days. Chancellor Merkel’s open offer of a better life for anyone who can cross over by any means into Europe has created a stampede of continental proportions as every week tens of thousands from North Africa and Middle East set off to Europe taking the land route or the high seas. Since the beginning of this year more than 3,000 people have died while attempting to cross the Mediterranean.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 28, 2016 11 Comments
The migrant crisis that began almost a year ago is threatening to take a violent turn after this week’s bombings in the eastern German city on Dresden. On Monday evening, two bombs exploded near a mosque and city's main convention centre. Early next week, the convention centre would be hosting an event expected to be attended by high-profile guests including Germany's President Joachim Gauck. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also going to visit the former East German city of Dresden on the same day to mark the German Unification Day. According to German media, no one was injured in the explosions. Local police suspects a Far-Right group to be behind the incident. "[Dresden Police] have reason to suspect a xenophobic motive," City's police chief Horst Kretzschmar told the press.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 20, 2016 17 Comments
Just days after Chancellor Angela Merkel's party suffered a humiliating defeat in the Berlin state election, violent clashes between migrants and locals erupted in several German cities. On Sunday, Chancellor Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) got a drubbing in Germany's capital, with CDU's historic poor showing at the state elections. Right-wing party opposed to Mass-Migration, Alternative for Germany (AfD) outperformed the election forecasts securing 14 percent. AfD, only founded in 2013, is now in 10 state parliaments thanks to Chancellor Merkel's disastrous handling of migrant crisis. The first clashes erupted in the eastern German city of Bautzen, where apparently drunk migrants threw bottles at police and other locals. Authorities were forced to restrict the movement of the refugees and impose a ban on alcohol. The restriction aimed at young migrants caused an uproar among liberal politicians and media commentators who accused the local police and the mayor -- a leftist himself -- of 'acting in a racist way' against 'traumatised young migrants.' Leading German weekly Der Spiegel reported the temporary imposition of restriction on refugees in the city with the headline titled "Victory for the racists."

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 15, 2016 4 Comments
Ahead of this week’s EU summit in Slovenia, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, already suffering from low popularity at home, looks more isolated then ever at the European stage. Having backed Chancellor Merkel at the beginning of the Migrant Crisis last year, Government of Austria has long distanced itself from Berlin’s liberal stance on migrant influx into Europe. However, what worries Berlin today is the emerging alliance between Austria and the Central European countries of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Czech Republic -- also referred to as the Visegrad group. Prominent German newspaper Die Welt viewed the new development with concern. “Should the five [countries] were to act in concert, this would create a new political power centre in Europe,” Die Welt noted. This new rival block could pose a serious challenge to German-French dominated “European Project”. Most Visegrad member states have been against Merkel’s liberal Migrant Policy right from its onset. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban remains the most vocal opponent of Merkel’s Brussels-backed pro-migrant stance. “Europe's biggest problem at the moment is naivety.” Prime Minster Orban said while talking to reporters earlier this week. “[EU’s] migration policy is based on naivety and that's why we are in huge trouble today.”

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 13, 2016 3 Comments
France, home to one of the Europe’s largest Muslim population, is facing an uphill battle against Islamic terrorism. According to France's Prime Minister Manuel Valls, security forces have been foiling terror plots “every day” and warned of more terrorist attacks in the near future. French officials estimates that around 15,000 radical Islamists reside in the country -- and going by the current EU-wide trends -- these numbers were only expected to go up. “We have nearly 700 French jihadists and residents, who are currently fighting in Iraq and Syria,” Valls told French media, adding that this number included “275 women and dozens of children.”

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 06, 2016 11 Comments
German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a devastating defeat in her own home turf as voters in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern rejected her open-door immigration policy. The otherwise tame German press was scrambling to find the right words to describe Merkel’s latest defeat, with the leading German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung calling it to the “chainsaw massacre." Anti-immigration party Alternative for Germany  (AfD) finished in second place with 21 percent votes in the state assembly, ahead of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU). The leader of AfD, Frauke Petry, declared her party’s latest election victory as the “beginning of the end of Merkel’s era."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 03, 2016 15 Comments
In July, Germany passed a new law that "requires" the integration of the over one million refugees who've flooded into Germany in recent years.  The plan includes subsidized classes in how to act like a civilized human being, a requirement to learn German, and temporary lifting of the requirement that immigrants can only be offered jobs if there is no German or EU worker for the position. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Angela Merkel is still clinging to her integration pipe dream.  In an interview with Germany's BILD newspaper, Merkel explains that integration can include things like providing a simple explanation of how things are done in Germany. Business Insider reports:
BILD: What we did indeed manage is primary help for over one million people. The bigger challenge is yet to come: how do we integrate that many people from an entirely different culture, after having failed, to a large degree, in many aspects of this task over the past decades? Merkel: Fortunately, we have learned a lot from the past, primarily that language is the key to successful integration. The younger people are, the easier it is for integration to succeed. It is worth facing this effort. I would like to use the opportunity to thank everybody who is working towards the success of this integration. This is not only the state authorities, but primarily the countless associations, initiatives, and voluntary helpers.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on September 01, 2016 12 Comments
If opinion polls are any indication, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is heading for a humiliating electoral defeat in own home state. On Sunday, the voters in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, which includes Chancellor Merkel’s home constituency of Rügen, will be electing a new state assembly. The result of the state election could seal the political fate of Chancellor Merkel who has not given up her hopes of running for a 4th term. Having been at the helm of affairs in Germany for over 12 years, Merkel has not ruled out running for yet another term, but has been ducking questions about her political future in recent weeks. A devastating defeat, like the one being predicted by the pollsters, could finally put an end to her ambitions.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on August 26, 2016 1 Comment
A few days ago, we covered how in early August 2016 the Student Council at Leipzig University in Germany passed a resolution taking a strong stand against calls to boycott Israel, declaring them to be anti-Semitic, READ: German university student council resolution declaring BDS anti-Semitic:
The Student Council condemns anti-Semitic boycott campaigns such as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] and stands against the execution, participation in, and promotion of such campaigns and events at the University of Leipzig. Therefore, the Student Council will not support BDS Campaign or settings (events, exhibitions, demonstrations etc.) in which BDS Movement is involved. We consider international cooperation vital for the Academics. As a Student Council we stand against anti-Semitic measures such as disinviting of Israeli academicians from conferences in the context of the boycott campaign, and [council will] publicise whenever it happens — thereby contributing to the clarification of the matter and preventing such an occurrence.
The student council has produced a chronicle of its rejection of BDS (pdf.) which includes a citation to my translation of the resolution:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on August 21, 2016 19 Comments
As Germany's Angela Merkel faces increasing pressure regarding her nation's security, the German government has issued a civil defense report addressing the role the German people are to play. Reuters reports:
For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the German government plans to tell citizens to stockpile food and water in case of an attack or catastrophe, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper reported on Sunday. Germany is currently on high alert after two Islamist attacks and a shooting rampage by a mentally unstable teenager last month. Berlin announced measures earlier this month to spend considerably more on its police and security forces and to create a special unit to counter cyber crime and terrorism.
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