Quadriga - Hooligans vs Salafists: Battlefield Germany
According to Germany's security services, over 6,000 people belong to the radical Salafist scene in Germany - and that number is growing. New groupings and alliances have formed to counter this growing presence, like the unholy alliance of football hooligans and right-wing extremists that hit the streets of Cologne last weekend.
Officials noted that it was the first time that large numbers of hooligans from rival soccer fan clubs have banded together. According to Germany's union of police, even members of outlaw biker gangs were involved in the violence. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia now wants to outlaw similar protests in the future, arguing that Germany's freedom to protest was abused by the protestors in Cologne.
As if that wasn't enough, German cities have also seen violent clashes between Kurds and radical Islamists in recent weeks.
What is the significant of this latest spike in violence? Is it the start of a proxy war on the streets of Germany? Or was the violent protest just a one-off?
Tell us what you think – write to us: quadriga(at)dw.de
Our guests:
Ines Pohl – is the Editor in Chief of the Berliner daily Tageszeitung (taz). After graduating from Göttingen University having majored in German and Scandinavian Studies, she took a job there as officer for women’s issues at the university’s Philosophy department. During her time there, she started working as a freelance broadcast and print journalist. She then moved on to the Hessichen/Niedersächsischen Allgemeinen newspapers were she headed the politics desk. She interrupted her term there to go to Harvard on a fellowship from the Nieman Foundation for Journalism. In 2009 she was named „Newcomer of the year“ by Medium-Magazine. Since 2010 Ines Pohl has also served on the board of trustees of „Reporters without Boarders“.
Alan Posener – was born in London and grew up in Kuala Lumpur and West - Berlin. A teacher by training, he quit school to become a freelance author and journalist. He worked as an editor and author for the German newspaper “Die Welt” and was chief of commentary for "Welt am Sonntag". At the present, he contributes to a variety of media, among them the debate magazine The European. Posener is the author of several critically acclaimed books, among them biographies of the American idols John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Elvis Presley.
Yasmina Al-Gannabi – is a Freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker who works primarily on topics involving the Arab world. She studied Media Sciences at the University of Tübingen and has recently finished working on a documentary about war-wounded Libyans in Germany. Currently, she is participating in Deutsche Welle’s international journalistic trainee programme.