Germany Worries Attack On Muslims After Magdeburg Christmas Market Attack

JAKARTA - German Anti-Rasism Commissioner Reem Alabali-Radovan on Monday said he was worried about the increasing attacks on Muslims following an incident in Magdeburg, in which five people were killed and 200 others injured by a car at a Christmas market.

"Since the weekend, our anti-racism counseling centers in Magdeburg and its surroundings have received reports of growing hostilities and violent attacks on migrants of citizens and Muslims," Alabali-Radovan was quoted as saying by local media as saying by ANTARA, Tuesday, December 24.

He regretted the people who took the act to spread racism.

"We must fight all efforts that take advantage of this action for the sake of politics," he said.

Alabali-Radovan stressed that terrorism has always aimed at "destroying social resilience, dividing unity, and spreading fear."

Earlier on the same day, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck warned the public not to spark hatred against Muslims and foreigners following an incident in Magdeburg.

"Don't believe the spreaders of propaganda on the internet. Lies are faster than the truth," he said in a video message on social media.

"Take time to find the truth. Take time for skepticism, for doubt, for questions. Don't let hatred take control of you," said Habeck, a candidate for chancellor from the Greens in the preliminary elections in February.

His remarks came after a far-right party protested at the scene in Magdeburg on Saturday.

Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, the suspected perpetrator of the car crash, is known to be a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian psychiatrist who has settled in Germany since 2006. He has been a supporter of Germany's far-right party and anti-Islamic Zionism.

Abdulmohsen had shared uploads supporting Alternatives to Germany (AfD), right-wing parties opposing Muslim migration, and other anti-Islamic groups in Europe.

He is also rumored to have distributed maps of "Israel Raya" covering parts of Turkey.