Traveling along Sword’s Edge: Germany’s Ambivalence between Protecting Civil Rights of Muslim Communities and Fighting Terror

Abstract

This chapter begins with an overview of contemporary counterterrorism (CT) policies in Germany. The general focus in CT has been on domestic elements up to 2001; but Germany has shifted its attention from domestic level to global terrorism since the September 11, 2001 (the infamous 9/11 attacks). The primary reason for Germany’s eagerness to wage a war against Islamist fundamentalism is the belief that there were many Islamist extremists in situation in and across Germany and they were believed to be enjoying the liberal environment and extensive rights and freedoms, which facilitated al-Qaeda’s attacks on 9/11. A discussion is made of the change in the direction of CT policies in Germany and the current outlook in the field of CT more generally. The chapter moves forward by presenting an analysis of Germany’s activism in its fight against global terrorism. Unlike the country’s Cold War and post–Cold War period stance, Germany adopted an ambitious position to address growing threats posed by terrorism beyond the domestic and regional levels. In the period since the 2000s, Germany has demonstrated unprecedented activism in the domain of CT. This activism involves at least five main strategies: (1) identifying and prosecuting terrorists; (2) dealing with social, economic, and cultural causes of terrorism; (3) assisting other countries facing a danger of collapse and failure; (4) reliance on the EU for multilateral legitimization; and (5) addressing radicalization and extremism processes in fight of terrorism. Addressing these strategies also requires taking into consideration the way Muslim communities in Germany are affected by growing CT measures. Germany is known for broad constitutional and legal rights recognized for both citizens and foreigners, and for its subscription to human rights mechanisms. However, unlike the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), Muslims in Germany have expressed feelings of alienation despite having been able to exercise their rights. Muslim communities who failed to integrate within German society and feel part of the German social and political life, despite recognition of their rights and freedoms, were further alienated by the shifted attention to Islamist extremism and concrete measures to deal with so-called Islamist terrorism. Germany’s response to global terrorism and to the root causes of terrorism in domestic level includes some cliché and predictable strategies that suggest a flawed CT strategy. It is observed that this strategy failed to consider the sensitivities of Muslim peoples in Germany. The situation has become quite delicate with a growing number of German people expressing the view that tolerance towards Muslims, via recognition of their rights under German laws, contributed to the increased activities of Muslim radicals; on the other hand, reliance on CT measures that could offend Muslims would not properly address the problem.