(YouTube screenshot from Global News Canada)
Today, German authorities shot and killed man who responsible for the attack. He has been identified as Abdul Ballout. He was born and raised in Germany and is of Lebanese descent. Ballout has been on the radar of authorities for Islamic extremist activities.
I have several thoughts on the attack.
For starters, this is at the least the ninth ramming attack in Germany over the past decade. Not all of the occurrences in question were Islamist in nature. Whatever the motivations, these attacks keep happening and German authorities seem unable to find a way to stop them.
Second, I saw a New York Post video concerning the attack and the comments are distressing. Their audience doesn't care much for Muslims but likes LGBTQ people even less. One of the most grotesque comments I read stated, "Not all heroes wear a cape. Hope the car didn’t get AIDS." This is MAGA nihilism on full display.
Nevertheless, it is true there has been a surge in anti-Semitism in the German LGBTQ community since October 7th. In the days prior to the attack, the local government in Berlin issued a report indicating the Pride events were filled out with anti-Semitic rhetoric up to and including the justification of violence against Jews. In the hours before the attack, one of the Berlin Pride participants accuses Israel of being the aggressor in the Middle East.
It remains to be seen, however, if Germany's LGBTQ community will have been mugged by reality and realize Israel is not the enemy or if they will pretend this event didn't happen. To do the latter would dishonor those who were killed and injured in the name of Islamic extremism.
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