Today, I
would like to share my experiences during the attack on Olympia Einkaufszentrum
in Munich, which happened last year, and its general appearance on the media.
Shortly
before the attack happened, I was at Tollwood festival, not too far from the
actual shooting. I was on my way back home, on the subway, when the first incidences
occurred. Finally, our train stopped at Odeonsplatz and we were forced to leave
the subway calmly but fast. On the upper floor, there was a policeman screaming
“RUN, RUN, RUN”. This didn’t seem to be much of a calm situation. I reached the
surface and saw thousands of people celebrating. It was the 500 years reinheitsgebot
festival. I still had the Paris attacks in mind and assumed that there had been
a bomb warning. I felt sick as I felt that if that would hold true, no one could
evacuate all these people in time.
I left the
scene as quick as possible and when crossing the next street there were about a
dozen police cars coming towards me, alongside the fire department and helicopters
above my head.
I still had
no idea what was actually going on and texted a friend of mine that I just got evacuated
out of the subway. He instantly texted me the news, which said that there was a
series of shootings going on in Munich, at Olympia Einkaufszentrum, Stachus,
Isartor, and Odeonsplatz. It was weird as I felt like I would have heard the
shooting as I was still so close.
Overall,
there was no public transport running anymore, no taxis, the telephone services
were broken down, and due to the news, I had the feeling that danger was awaiting
me around every corner. After half an hour, I reached my home and sat in front
of the TV for the next few hours. The media coverage was insane. Every 5
minutes, there were new rumors and stories and no one knew what actually
happened. At least, overall there was the consensus that this was a terror
attack. The hatred against refugees became insane within these hours without
any actual reasoning.
The next
day, the guy was found dead and his motives were analyzed. It had nothing to do
with Islamic Extremism. In contrary, his action is supposed to be politically
motivated, right-wing terrorism.[1]
Officially, the Oxford Dictionary defines terrorism as: “The unlawful use of violence
and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political
aims.”[2]
Therefore,
his action fits the definition perfectly. Still, suddenly it was not called a
terrorist attack anymore by the media. Now, it was the rampage of a confused, young
individual who had psychological problems. He had killed 13 people and
committed suicide. So why is this not a terrorist attack? For me it is. And I
am ashamed that right-wing terrorism is obviously not regarded as terrorism in
this country. So, what do we base terrorism on? And why do we show
understanding for a right-wing, confused teenager, but not a refugee fleeing
war?
No comments:
Post a Comment