The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) condemns the knife attack in Mannheim in the strongest possible terms. However, these and other heinous acts by radical Islamists must not be used to place all Muslims under general suspicion. “In Islamic countries, Muslims and people of other faith – such as Christians, Yazidis, Bahá’i, Jews, and other religious minority groups – are the first victims of radical Sunni or Shiite Islamism,” explained Dr. Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East Correspondent, in Göttingen today.

“The German Chancellor and the German Federal Government must accept the criticism that it is primarily their foreign policy partners in Turkey or in Qatar who not only glorify Islamist terror and its atrocities, but also support radical Islamism by providing money and weapons,” Sido criticized. 

“The misguided policy of the German government and other NATO governments is one reason for the destabilization of Afghanistan and Syria and the rise of radical Islamist groups and militias,” the Middle East expert stated. “It is high time for the German Federal Government to review its entire approach to Islamist partners such as Erdoğan, the Emir of Qatar, or the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood. It is not them who are our allies – but the democratic forces in predominantly Islamic countries that take a stand for women’s rights, democratic values, and religious freedom,” Sido added. “It would be a step in the wrong direction to cooperate with the Taliban in order to facilitate deportations. This would legitimize the brutal regime of the Taliban, who are massively persecuting and oppressing women and minorities such as the Shiite Hazara.”