Rising Islamophobia goes unnoticed, uncondemned in Germany: Report

A new report has highlighted a rise in Islamophobic acts that had gone largely unnoticed in Germany, after last month’s vandalization of Muslim children’s graves in the country’s north.

On November 22, unknown assailants vandalized 25 Muslim children’s graves in Hanover, in a move that drew condemnation from the Chairman of the Muslim organization Lower Saxony Schura, Recep Bilgen, who had also called for a probe by the police. Back then, police said they would open an investigation, though they cited the likelihood of “animal or natural causes,” as well as “personal fault.”

According to Press TV, they claimed “Suspects are currently not listed in the process. Likewise, there is currently no concrete evidence of an Islamophobic connection.”

But the Middle East Eye said in a report on Sunday that the incident is seen as another form of bigotry against Muslims.

“We feel deeply sorry for the families of the victims... The violation of graves, whether of children or adults, is one of the many disgusting forms of hatred against Islam and Muslims in our country,” Khallad Swaid, President of the German Muslim organization Deutsche Muslimische Gemeinschaft, told the Middle East Eye.

Yet, Swaid attributed the rise in anti-Muslim bigotry to German figures’ hostile rhetoric.

“It is a result of a hostile language of, especially, [the] far-right movements that have made their way into the mainstream of our society and [are] given platforms in many of our media outlets to spread their hatred against Islam and Muslims,” he said.

Noting that the Hanover incident had not been recognized by politicians or civil society at large, Swaid said “That is another level of the problem.”

“As long as racism is not identified and condemned, and the perpetrators are neither convicted nor receive the full force of the law, we won’t be able to tackle hatred of Islam and Muslims,” he added.

The vandalization of Hanover graves was not the first time that Muslim graves in Germany are being targeted.

Earlier this year, unidentified attackers knocked over 30 Muslim gravestones in the city of Iserlohn.

Anna Esther-Younes, a scholar on anti-Muslim racism in Europe, noted that the phenomenon of targeted vandalism in Germany has historical roots.

ME