Wen dem kill Muslim woman for Europe, e no dey too dey make headline news. For example, na through one social justice Instagram account I take hear say dem kill Rahma Ayad, one 26-year-old Algerian nurse wey dey live and work for Germany. Mainstream media no even carry di matter. Na for di morning of July 4 dem stab Ayad to death, and na one German man wey dey live for di same building do am.
Wen I try find more info, na only TRT World and some pan-Arab news outlets report di tori. Even though di crime bad well well, mainstream European media no gree talk about am. Many Arabs and Muslims wey dey Europe dey watch wetin German authorities go do next.
Dem go fit talk say di killing na racially and religiously motivated? Ayad family don talk say di 31-year-old suspect dey harass her before di murder. Di man dey abuse her verbally because of her hijab and Arab origin.
As e dey happen many times wen white men commit murder, di Western media fit talk say na mental illness cause di action. One 2018 US study show say 95 percent of white mass shooters dey more likely to dey described as mentally ill compared to Black shooters. One protester wey talk for rally near Ayad house tell Al Araby TV say, “If na Muslim kill German person, di tori go dey everywhere for headline news.”
Di truth be say Germany get serious Islamophobia problem, and e don dey cost visibly Muslim women like Rahma Ayad their life. CLAIM, one German alliance wey dey monitor anti-Muslim hate crimes, report say di incidents don increase by 60 percent, with average of eight incidents per day for 2024.
No be di first time wey dem go kill Muslim woman for Germany because she wear hijab. For 2009, dem stab Marwa El-Sherbini, one 31-year-old woman, to death inside German courtroom by di same man wey she dey testify against because di man insult her faith and hijab. For her country Egypt, dem call her di “hijab martyr.” Di case provoke many people for Arab world and Muslims globally because European media no talk about am.
Since di far-right shootings for two shisha bars for Hanau for 2020 wey kill nine Muslims, anti-Muslim hate crimes for Germany don dey rise. For 2022, CLAIM record 898 incidents, up from di 732 wey German Ministry of Interior report for 2021. Di number almost double to 1,926 for 2023 and jump reach 3,080 for 2024. Dem link di sharp increase to di events of October 7, 2023.
Di rise of far-right political parties like AfD, Germany second-largest party, dey follow di trend. Dem dey openly talk say Islam no belong to di country and say hijab and niqab no get place for Germany. By di end of 2023, former German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser admit say di country get Islamophobia problem and say half of di people for Germany dey agree with anti-Muslim statements.
German Muslims talk say Islamophobia na wetin dem dey face every day, and politicians dey openly express anti-Muslim views for state parliaments and Bundestag. Di worst culprits na di far-right MPs like AfD Deputy Leader Beatrix von Storch wey once call Muslim immigrants “barbaric, gang-raping hordes of Muslim men.”
Wen politicians dey spread Islamophobia, e no go shock anybody say German men go feel bold to kill Muslim women or say Ayad murder no get plenty sympathy outside Arab and Muslim communities.
Muslim women wey dey wear hijab dey suffer di most for anti-Muslim hate crimes for Germany. CLAIM report say 71 percent of di incidents for 2024 na against Muslim women, especially those wey dey wear hijab. Di crimes dey even turn more violent. Last year, dem record two murders, three attempted murders or serious injuries, and 198 cases of bodily harm. One Muslim woman for Berlin dey pushed onto train tracks after dem ask her if she belong to Hamas.
CLAIM talk say German authorities dey overlook anti-Muslim hate crimes. Wetin dey pain pass be say dem no dey see Muslim women as victims. Instead, dem dey frame dem as di problem, and e dey make di cycle of victim-blaming continue.
For society level, di hijab dey seen as threat to di country social order and culture. Germans dey see am as wetin no fit match their culture. For Ayad case, her hijab na di visible target wey make dem hate her.
For legal level, Germany position on hijab dey confusing. Di judicial system dey waka back and forth on hijab bans. Some employers fit ban Muslim workers from wearing hijab, while some professions like school teachers don lift di ban, but others like judges still dey under di ban.
As Germany na federal republic, di hijab bans dey different from state to state. But one thing clear – since di late ‘90s, dem don dey try ban hijab for both state and federal levels.
For country wey dey see Muslim women as di problem, e dey hard to know how di German government go see Ayad murder. Dem go see di killer as di problem or di hijab?
For years, EU countries like France, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Luxembourg, and Germany don dey find excuse to ban hijab nationwide. Dem dey talk say di ban go stop oppression against Muslim women or say e go protect di public. But e no go shock person if Germany talk say hijab ban go protect Muslim women from violence, even though na white German men dey cause di violence.
How di German courts go trial Ayad killer and how di media go report di case go show plenty things. Dem go recognise di murder as di highest level of anti-Muslim hate crime? Chancellor Friedrich Merz go talk about di country commitment to fight di rising anti-Muslim sentiments? Or dem go sweep Ayad death under carpet and forget am, while politicians continue to dey talk about di “Muslim threat?”
Na only time go tell if justice go dey served or if Ayad death go just turn another forgotten number for Germany Islamophobia crisis.
