Deutschland (Germany)

[robert99]

Skepticism arises over statements by Albakr's brother | Germany | DW.COM | 17.10.2016
According to Alaa, Jaber stole about 5 million Syrian pounds from his father shortly before fleeing the country in November 2014. He made it to the Bavarian border in February 2015, where he was registered as a refugee and sent to live in Chemnitz, eastern Germany.

Jaber appears to have moved around much in the first 18 months of his three-year residency permit in Germany. According to Alaa, sometime in 2015 an imam in Berlin persuaded Jaber to travel to al-Raqqa, northern Syria, to fight for IS. Jaber then returned to Germany in December.

The detail about the imams was apparently new to Germany's security forces, and a spokesperson for the Berlin branch of the BfV domestic intelligence agency told DW that it is being taken seriously. The BfV confirmed that Albakr had visited the capital at least once at the end of September this year (possibly to stake out an airport for a potential bombing attack), but underlined that up until now, Alaa Albakr is the only person to have mentioned the imams.

 

[robert99]

German authorities struggle with radical Salafist preachers - France 24
The French say that Germans have more radicals ...

 

[robert99]

"Citizens of the Reich" - The Reichsbürger movement - which translates as "Citizens of the Reich" - is a far-right movement that refuses to recognize the existence of the current Federal Republic of Germany, maintaining that the German empire continues to exist as it stood before World War II.
Four German policemen suspected of 'Reichsbürger' ties | News | DW.COM | 20.10.2016
Bavaria's interior minister Joachim Herrmann confirmed that one police commissioner had been suspended earlier this year, while investigations into the other three officer's are ongoing.

Herrmann said that the suspended officer had "clearly exposed himself as a Reichsbürger" and had taken part in group meetings.

All four risk being expelled from the police force.

Herrmann said that "if there was any doubt regarding the officer's adherence to the constitution of Bavaria and the German Federal Republic, they should be immediately dismissed."

On Wednesday, a 32-year-old police officer was killed and three others were injured during a shootout with a member of the far-right group in the Bavarian town of Georgensgmünd.
(Bavarian policeman dies after battle with far-right gunman | News | DW.COM | 20.10.2016 A German policeman has succumbed to injuries sustained in a gun battle on Wednesday with an alleged far-right extremist. The shooting happened when officers attempted to confiscate firearms from a local man.
The officer's suspected murderer, a member of the far-right "Reichsbürger" movement, was due to appear in court later on Thursday.

Wednesday's gun battle happened when police raided the residence of the 49-year-old man to retrieve licensed weapons he had been deemed unfit to handle.

The suspect opened fire on the officers and three other officers were also wounded in the incident.

One of them remains in severe condition, the other two sustained minor injuries.

The gun owner, who is a hunting enthusiast and had legally purchased his firearms, was apprehended shortly afterwards.)
More on the Reichsbürger Movement at What is behind the right-wing 'Reichsbürger' movement? | Germany | DW.COM | 19.10.2016
"State Offices for the Protection of the Constitution estimate that there are only a few hundred Reichsbürger in Germany. It is thought that some 150 to 200 are in Brandenburg. Most are male, on average they are over 50 years old and they tend to come from socially disadvantaged segments of society. Many members ascribe to right-wing populist, anti-Semitic and Nazi ideologies. A district court judge in Saxony-Anhalt has described them as "conspiracy theorists" and "malcontents."" But with weapons ... )

 

[robert99]

PressTV-Italy closes mosques; Germany mulls veil ban
Germany proposed a draft bill to prohibit state officials from wearing face veils, citing what it describes as “communication” problems caused by such a covering.
The bill presented by the German Interior Ministry on Friday claims that concealing the face restricts “the possibility to get to know and evaluate someone’s personality.”

It also compels women, who are employed by the state, to “wear no clothing that makes open communication impossible or more difficult.”

The draft bill further stipulates that all women, who wear face veils, should show remove the cover during passport controls, court rulings and at polling stations.

 

[MadamSarcastra]

At Least 3 Dead After Car Drives Into Crowd In Germany

 

[Andy_T]

The 3 people killed were two innocents and the perpetrator, a German small-scale criminal who likely had mental issues, who shot himself. Police have not identified a motive as yet, but do not suspect a terrorist background by now.

 

[Andy_T]

You might have heard that elsewhere, but the Eastern German (this distinction is IMO important) town of Chemnitz saw horrible far-right protests on the weekend:

The Chemnitz Riots: Right-Wing Mob Wreaks Havoc on German City - SPIEGEL ONLINE - International
Several injured as far right activists take to streets in Germany
Far-right, anti-fascists clash in east German town of Chemnitz

A 35-year-old German man was stabbed after a verbal altercation by two people from Syria and Iraqu and later died from the wounds early Sunday (The two assailants were arrested).

The far-right political party "AFD" staged protests against "Foreign criminality", together with other aggressive right-wing groups. In the evening (after the far-right politicians supposedly had left, as per their own accounts), a mob of about 800 people, among them 50 violent hard-core right-wing extremists, marauded through the streets, attacked policemen, and tried to attack and beat up any foreigners they could identify. Truly horrible scenes.

The right-wingers begin moving, marching through the city chanting: "Germany for the Germans! Foreigners Get Out!" Some stretch out their right arms in the Hitler greeting, which is illegal in Germany. They are flanked only by small groups of police.

It needs to be pointed out that Eastern Germany (the former German Democratic Republic) has the lowest percentages of foreign people living among the population, but by far the worst problem with violent right-wing attacks, combined with the far-right "AFD" ("Alternative for Germany") party gaining up to 30 % of the votes there, as opposed to 17% over the whole of Germany.

This is horrible and reminiscent of the riots that took place in 1992 in Rostock, also in the Eastern part of Germany, when several hundred right-wing extremists tried to attack people of Vietnamese origin with stones and petrol bombs, and 3,000 onlookers cheered them on and tried to prevent the firemen and policemen from protecting and rescuing them ... Rostock-Lichtenhagen riots - Wikipedia

Small item of interest - after following the German radio news coverage of the incident for 2 days now, I finally learn now from reading the AlJazeera article, that the victim, who was only referred to as "a 35-year-old German" was himself the biracial child of a Cuban immigrant to the former German Democratic Republic, certainly not somebody who would be happy that xenophobe racists now terrorize foreigners to "get revenge for him" ...

 

[Mufflon]

You might have heard that elsewhere, but the Eastern German (this distinction is IMO important)

I think it's quite odd that there is still the distinction made between "East" and "West", considering the "Mauerfall" was in 1989.

 

[Second Summer]

I randomly just watched a YT video in German, and I was able to follow a good bit of it. Nudelsalat!

The accompanying animations helped!

 

[Val]

I randomly just watched a YT video in German, and I was able to follow a good bit of it. Nudelsalat!

The accompanying animations helped!

Blin! It's unavailable, lol. It's written just "null" in there. Is it supposed to mean something? What was in the video, anyway?

 

[Second Summer]

Blin! It's unavailable, lol. It's written just "null" in there. Is it supposed to mean something? What was in the video, anyway?

How strange! I watched it just the other day, but now it says it's been made private. It was some lady who I think said she was French, but had ended up in Germany as a student back in the 70s. And then she had had this traumatic experience with a "nudelsalat" at a student party - at first she had noticed a dirty-looking bowl sitting on a table, so she decided to get rid of it, but then she saw it was full of disgusting "nudelsalat" made with (I think) mayo and other things she didn't like. And that experience had haunted her. But then recently, she had come across some more appetising "nudelsalat". Something like that! A bit random.