Wolfgang Kubicki, the chairman of the centre-right Free Democratic Party (FDP), warned of the threats posed by hostile Islamism to his country’s freedom — calling in a Sunday opinion piece for the matter to be confronted head on.
Germany was the target of another Islamic terrorist attack on Saturday after a man drove a van into a crowd of pedestrians at a Pride Parade in Berlin, killing one and leaving 29 injured — some in critical condition.
Hours later, German authorities identified the alleged suspect as 21 year-old Abdul Ballut, who was shot and killed during a SWAT team operation on Sunday.
According to the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office, Abdul made several attempts to join ISIS while overseas, including in Lebanon, where he was sentenced for three months on “inciting religious and sectarian conflicts” charges. Abdul, whose family is from Lebanon, returned to Germany and remained in juvenile detention for nearly two years before being released in May to undergo “de-radicalization counseling.”
Kubicki, who condemned the German government’s failure to address the issue of Islamic terrorism in his county, wrote an opinion piece published by Euronews on Sunday night emphatically denouncing Islamism as the “biggest threat to a liberal, open society,” and argued for further action to confront what he described as “the enemy” and its growing issue in Germany.
The FDP chairman and former Vice President of the German Bundestag parliament expressed to be deeply affected by the attack and lamented the continued erosion of freedom in his country — not just for the LGBTQ+ group targeted by Saturday’s car attack, but for other groups such as the Jewish community, who have become increasingly targeted in violent attacks as well as those who now second-guess engaging with traditional Christmas markets, another growing target of Islamic terror plots.
“It is true for women, too, many of whom feel less safe traveling home alone at night. And it is true for anyone who has paused before visiting a Christmas market, festival or other public event and wondered whether it is really safe to go,” Kubicki said.
The politician further lamented that sections of the German left-wing deny the causes of growing Islamic terrorism in the country, but “resist acknowledging them altogether.” Kubicki argued that such situation stems from a “misguided understanding of tolerance” among said groups.
“Yet there is nothing tolerant about making common cause with those who fundamentally reject and seek to destroy every form of openness,” Kubicki wrote.
“Culturally, Islamists would have far more in common with the darkest chapters of German history,” he continued.
A forensic investigator carries the body of the suspected Islamic perpetrator who died after being shot by police. Following the Berlin terrorist attack on the outskirts of Christopher Street Day (CSD), one person was killed during a police operation in Spandau, according to information from security sources. (Michael Kappeler/picture alliance via Getty Images)
The politician expressed that he hopes that Saturday’s tragedy and its aftermath will see people “find the courage to confront some uncomfortable truths” and recognize Islamism “for the danger that it is,” making calls for stricter immigration controls as one of the truths to address.
“It also means accepting that it is essential to control and decide who is allowed to migrate to this country and who is not,” Kubicki stressed.
“And it involves the bitter truth that Islamism is no longer simply a threat from abroad but, as Berlin has shown, is also taking root here, in our own neighborhoods,” he added, and argued, “That is partly because we have turned a blind eye to integration policy and tolerated the emergence of parallel societies, rather than using the legal tools at our disposal to confront them decisively.”
Kubicki further expressed that Germany, for too long, has allowed enablers of Islamist terror and its supporting organizations to “operate unchecked,” pointing out that anyone who dares raise the issue faces accusations of “doing the far-right’s bidding.” The FDP Chairman pointed out to Denmark as an example — a country where its government has recently announced plans to curb the “Islamization” of its country.
“The future of our country will not be decided by how shaken we are after each attack, but by whether we have the courage to name problems honestly and tackle them resolutely,” Kubicki concluded.