Canada’s special representative on combatting Islamophobia is blaming a terror attack on a Christmas market in Germany that killed five, including a nine-year-old boy, on “Islamophobia” and “anti-Muslim rhetoric.”
The attack perpetrated by a Saudi Arabian refugee who drove a vehicle at full speed into a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, left 200 injured; 41 of those are in “serious condition” with lives endangered, according to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Amira Elghawaby, a Trudeau appointee tasked with taking on Islamophobia in Canada, said anti-Muslim bigotry is the culprit.
“Our thoughts are with those who have lost loved ones and those who have been injured in a senseless attack on a Christmas market that demonstrates the devastating impact anti-Muslim rhetoric, hatred, and Islamophobia can have on our societies,” Elghawaby said in a social media post.
Local media have identified the alleged terrorist as Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen, a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian refugee who has been living in Germany since 2006. Abdulmohsen has been arrested and charged with several counts of murder, among other charges.
A scan through the alleged terrorist’s social media shows that he’s criticized Islam since applying for asylum in Germany.
A video circulating online of Abdulmohsen’s arrest shows a man yelling “Allahu Akbar,” a term used frequently by Muslims which means “God is the greatest.” It’s unclear if the man being arrested in the video is the one who yells the Islamic refrain, however.
According to one Saudi Arabian political commentator, Abdulmohsen had fled Saudi Arabia in 2006 after being accused of rape and implicated in “serious crimes.” Saudi Arabia had requested his extradition, but Germany rejected the request, citing human rights concerns.
Abdulmohsen publicly declared himself as an ex-Muslim fleeing Islam and the Saudi regime, criticizing Germany for rejecting Saudi Arabian refugee claims while also accusing Germany of importing Islam into the country.
According to reports, Abdulmohsen had repeatedly made explicit threats against Germany, accusing it of conspiring against Saudi refugees, though he was determined not to be a risk. He claimed German police had failed him and other refugees as a justification for the threats.
“I will make the German nation pay the price of the crimes committed by its government against Saudi refugees,” one threat said.
Abdulmohsen is a self-proclaimed Saudi activist who purported to help asylum seekers, primarily from Saudi Arabia, seek asylum. According to Saudi sources, Germany was repeatedly warned about the man and potential attacks.
The attack comes eight years after an Islamic terror attack, perpetrated by a Pakistani asylum seeker who had his asylum claim rejected, rammed a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13.
German authorities have said the date wasn’t a coincidence but fell short of calling the incident “an Islamist” attack.
