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Welcome campaign at Frankfurt am Main train station in 2015
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imago stock & people / imago / epd
Sometimes, when I try to explain the state of the world to myself, I come back to thoughts that I had before but discarded. For example, the thesis that from a certain level of sensitivity and empathy the likelihood that someone will successfully pursue a certain profession becomes very small, whereby "success" is measured here according to the usual and not necessarily good criteria, such as: top positions in certain Systems. So top politicians, for example. Or a prosecutor. I do not particularly like this thesis, because it brings with it a despair that is difficult to resolve and seems to be refuted again and again by counterexamples. In the last few days, however, given the situation in Afghanistan and the reactions to it, I had the feeling that the idea may not be entirely wrong.
The phrase “2015 must not repeat itself” was the reason for this. It's not the first time politicians have said this sentence, but right now they are doing it like an apocalyptic chorus. When it became known that the Taliban had taken Kabul, that panic was breaking out in Afghanistan, that a lot of people were trying to leave the country, Armin Laschet (CDU) tweeted that Germany should concentrate on providing aid in the neighboring countries of Afghanistan » Priority has «, and:» 2015 should not repeat itself. «In the Tagesthemen he said:» 2015 must not repeat itself. «Alice Weidel (AfD) also wrote on Twitter:» 2015 should not be repeated. «So you would have to Suspend the right of asylum. Paul Ziemiak (CDU) stated: "For us it is also clear that 2015 must not be repeated." Extremely clear, it seemsbecause the same sentence - »2015 must not be repeated« - also came from Thomas Strobl (CDU) and Julia Klöckner (CDU). And Markus Söder (CSU) said in an interview with »Bild«: »It is only clear that we cannot experience a second situation like in 2015.« Because there was »no control and no guidance« back then.
The phrase that "2015" should "not be repeated" sounds simple at first.
Such a sentence only makes sense if there is a shared understanding of what “2015” should be and that what happened there was something so bad that you don't want to experience it again - and that it was in principle it would be possible for it to repeat itself.
Now we know: a year cannot repeat itself.
However, the racism, the contempt for human beings and arrogance, the coldness and harshness towards people who fear for their lives can be repeated.
The story that migration is a threatening calamity can be repeated.
2015 was the year Germany took in many refugees, which is probably the only thing that can be agreed on. Many of those who came here at the time now speak German pretty well. What should they think when they hear this sentence now? »2015 mustn't be repeated«, you understand that, even if you only speak German moderately well. It just means: We wish you had never come.
2015 was also the year in which civil society achieved a lot of what politics could not or would not. Providing accommodation, giving German lessons, collecting donations - that was what people did back then who had never done anything like this before. But 2015 was also the year in which racists were insulted en masse: because they saw that their worldview was not working out. That not everyone is impressed by their agitation. That the world doesn't end here when people come from other countries. Of course, they tried their best to create this impression by highlighting the crimes committed by refugees and at the same time ignoring attacks on refugees by talking about "population change" and "foreign infiltration", in short: by demonizing and dehumanizing people.
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Afghanistan Debacle: Biden's Bitter Inheritance By Marc Pitzke, New York
And they succeeded with that all too often.
At some point we got to the discussion about whether to let people drown.
Whether they should be allowed to die or given their basic right to asylum.
That is what cannot be repeated.
What must not be repeated is the idea that basic rights are only granted when it is right. What must not be repeated is that conservative, bourgeois, liberal politicians and journalists adopt radical right-wing narratives, fantasies and terms and then wonder when people vote for fascists.
But of course it happened a long time ago. In the “Welt am Sonntag” it is stated with foresight that the people who will now come to Europe would “suffer from the reputation that precedes them - whether fair or unjust - because of migrant perpetrators who commit sexual crimes in this country "Afghans are regular". Apart from the fact that this prejudice is obviously directed against men and the editor has either forgotten that there are also women and children, or deliberately omitted them, this is of course quite simply racist agitation, here in its bourgeois variant, which is perfidious disguised as almost caring (the question of the reputation, and: "whether just or unjust", as if this were up for debate) and deliberately vaguely formulated ("regularly", what does that mean?),in fact, it is the most disgusting prejudice and consciously stirs up fears. Of course, Afghans will suffer from this reputation if the Springer press willingly helps to build it.
Of course, »2015 mustn't be repeated« actually simply means »please not that many foreigners again«. It is wrong in three ways at the same time: in relation to the past, future and present. It is not only a populist twisting of the events of that time in the direction of a "great misfortune", but also a misjudgment of the near future: far too many escape routes are closed. Even if all refugee Afghans wanted to go to Germany, they would not be able to follow the paths of 2015. The isolation of Europe from asylum seekers, which has been pushed forward since then, will not simply go away now. And for the present, "2015 must not repeat itself" is a statement that you are currently not ready againto have a minimum of empathy and rather remind you of an alleged trauma of your own.
more on the subject
Bundeswehr rescue mission: first evacuation flight leaves Kabul - with only seven people on board
This is already happening again through the constant repetition that "we" cannot take in "all". "Nor can we take up the concerns of all of Afghanistan in Germany or in Europe," said Markus Söder. As if someone had asked for it. And Armin Laschet explained: "I believe that we shouldn't send out the signal now that Germany can basically take in everyone who is now in need." Of course, this also distracts from the fact that many who are now in need , could have long been safe if the German government had made it possible for the local staff to leave the country earlier. »Local staff« is the correct term, but you could also say: our former employees, whom we wanted to force to organize their departure from Afghanistan, but which was not possible for many of them,Which is why they might die now.
Two more things that should not be repeated: that the rather banal fact that Germany cannot accept all people in need - which is logical, but was never up for debate - is used as an argument from the outset, the good from the bad migrants to separate. And: that "the German bureaucracy" is used as an excuse why everything is supposedly so complicated. Yes, the rules for the local staff were bad from a bureaucratic point of view, but bureaucracy is always just the administration of a certain ideology and does not fall from the sky. Germany tries often enough to hide its racism behind self-made bureaucracy, but the "we don't want you here" still resonates.
What must not be repeated is that politicians * treat refugees like nuclear waste, with which they do not know where to go. It has long been clear that Afghanistan is not a safe country of origin. After the withdrawal of German soldiers, some of the local staff were able to come to Germany with their relatives, but very many were not. According to various media reports, what Germany also flew in was a memorial stone weighing over 20 tons and over 20,000 liters of beer, wine and sparkling wine. German priorities. At the time, there was no way of knowing how quickly the situation would escalate. But it is bitter how quickly the shock turns into the defense against possible asylum applications. The most accurate observation that I have read about this was a sentence by the author Asal Dardan: "Feelings of guilt are a very strong blocker of empathy."