The Cologne assaults challenge the German sense of order – and many fear what comes next
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/11/the-cologne-assaults-challenge-the-german-sense-of-order-and-many-fear-what-comes-next
The Cologne assaults challenge the German sense of order – and many fear what comes next
Jabeen Bhatti
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With all that, it is no surprise that Germans are in shock over what happened New Year’s Eve, especially as women here – including myself – have long enjoyed a sense of safety on the street that I wish I felt at home in my native USA.
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Instead, there is now a growing feeling that the order of society, cities, neighbourhoods, even one’s life, is eroding, and what’s just around the corner is, well, very bad. Nowhere is safe any more, many Germans say. “You can be killed doing something completely normal and usual,” a Berliner told me in December. And that’s why my friend, Christel, described the assaults this way: “They were an attack on us, our way of life, our future,” she said.
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“Out of political correctness, we don’t want to openly talk about what having more Muslims in our country mean for our culture, our way of life,” she said. “We don’t want to lose our freedoms, our freedom of expression, or our freedom of movement – our freedom, especially hard won for women, to be equal, to feel safe. But at the same time, I don’t want to see the far right take hold of our country – I don’t think most people want that.”
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We will certainly see more security there. But will we see the million visitors arrive as usual? Will we see the same amount of floats and parades and parties? Will it all feel as fun and festive as usual? Or will the festivities be laced with fear, suspicion and a new sobriety?
Cologne has changed everything for Germany. No more silence.
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