The Office for the Protection of the Constitution warns of attacks due to the Middle East conflict

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution warns of attacks due to the Middle East conflict

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution sees an increased risk of attacks in Germany as a result of the Middle East conflict. Social media and emotionalization can also lead to the radicalization of individual perpetrators.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution sees an increased risk of attacks in Germany due to the Middle East conflict. “We have been observing the declared desire of Islamists to carry out attacks in the West for some time, and I have repeatedly emphasized that an Islamist attack can be carried out in Germany any day,” says the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution Thomas Haldenwang, according to a press release from his authority.

Now a new quality is emerging: “We see calls for assassinations in the jihadist spectrum and a ‘docking’ of ‘Al-Qaeda’ and IS into the Middle East conflict,” said Haldenwang. A problem from the point of view of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution: social media. “The flood of digital images on social media, often paired with fake news, contributes to emotionalization and can act as a radicalization factor,” says the press release star is present.

Protection of the Constitution: Radicalization through the Middle East conflict

According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, emotionalization and radicalization can lead to perpetrators acting alone who attack “soft targets” with simple means. “The danger is real and higher than it has been for a long time,” said Haldenwang, according to the statement.

At the same time, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution also reassures: “We are working hard to thwart potential plans against the security of Jews, Israeli institutions, but also major events.”

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) had also warned the day before of increasing polarization in society. It is true that, especially in democracies, everyone has the right to express their opinion Baerbock at the foreign policy forum in Berlin on Tuesday.

“But anti-Semitic hatred and anti-Israel incitement are not opinions.” Anyone who lives in Germany and questions Israel’s right to exist or puts the Holocaust into perspective “will encounter our bitter resistance with all its consequences. Because at this point there is no yes-but, only a never-again.” She warns just as clearly not to place Muslims under general suspicion or to incite hatred against them.

Source: Stern

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