Before Wednesday, Arzu Merali felt slightly optimistic about events in Germany. The British blogger and human rights activist drew hope from the massive German opposition to the Pegida protests rather than being discouraged by the Islamophobic expressions themselves. The attack on Charlie Hebdo turns that optimism into firewood. A conversation about the predictable future, citizenship, exclusion and normalization of racism.
Arzu Merali in conversation with Tina Danckaers
What was the first thought that went through your mind when you heard the news of the attack on the Charlie Hebdo editorial office?
Arzu Merali: ‘I always feel panic when a similar attack by a Muslim extremist occurs. On the one hand, what happened really shocked me. At the same time, I immediately started anticipating. Because you know that a direct link will be made to the Muslim minorities in this society.
You know it will increase the already existing countercurrent. You are at an emotional point of panic, depression, confusion.”
Many people were already warning before the attack about a further polarization of the multicultural society. In Germany there was a strong response to the Islamophobic Pegida protests. Are you afraid that this countermovement will dwindle after the attacks in Paris?
Arzu Merali: ‘To be honest, until yesterday, I was in a strange position when I watched the Pegida protests in Germany. I am by nature quite a pessimistic person, but I was touched by the strong response to Pegida in Germany. That surpassed the existence of a movement like Pegida itself and its negative message.
Realizing that the response to Pegida was far from a sustainable turn toward equal citizenship, I was in a sense hopeful and optimistic. In recent years I had especially noticed a rising level of negativism in society.
But, in the aftermath of the attacks in Paris, I expect the discourse at political level to harden further. We need to look at that, rather than what is happening on the streets.
Because Pegida’s polarizing screams are of course very loud, obnoxious and disturbing, but I’m more concerned about another level. It is much more threatening to see how structural forces in society, political and media institutions, facilitate and encourage intolerance and racist ideas.’
What reaction do you expect from governments, institutions and media after the first emotions following the attacks in Paris?..
Continue reading this interview on the Mo.be website where it was first published.
Photo ‘Demo gegen Pegida & Bärgida in Berlin am 05.01.2015’ by Gilly, CC2.0 BY DEED
