No to agitation against Muslims - together and in solidarity we are strong!

DAY AGAINST ANTIMUSLIM RACISM

On July 01, 2009, Marwa El-Sherbini was murdered in the Dresden district court when she wanted to leave the building according to her testimony. The defendant (and murderer convicted afterwards) had insulted her as an “Islamist” and “terrorist” the previous year - because she wore a headscarf. The racist and sexist murder of Marwa El-Sherbini is commemorated on this day. Since then, July 01st has stood as a decisive symbol for a solidary, democratic, anti-racist and open society. From a DaMigra perspective, however, it is not enough to only look at individual forms of discrimination in this case.

Muslims and people who read Muslims have been the target of exclusion, hatred and attacks in Germany for years. Whether it is discrimination when looking for an apartment, hate speech on the Internet, an insulting look in the subway or open violence on the street - that is everyday life for many. Women who read Muslims in particular experience discriminatory agitation, attacks and open hostility. This is particularly evident in the case of Marwa El-Sherbini: she was killed because she is a Muslim. But she was also killed because she is a woman. So her fate is not simply murder - it is a femicide. Femicides are murders in which women are killed for being women.

Migrant women in particular, or those who are read as such, are exposed to multiple levels of discrimination. It would therefore be wrong to classify violence against them exclusively as racist violence, as sexist and misogyne prejudices reinforce it. This multiple discrimination against Muslim women is reflected in another debate: that of the headscarf. Regardless of whether women wear it out of tradition, habit or belief, this has been a symbolic projection surface for various political realities for years. For decades it has been seen and represented by the so-called West as a symbol of the oppression of women in Islam, as an “appendage of men”. On the other hand, it must be clear: there are countless societies and countries that dictate how women should dress, force women to wear a headscarf, and thus limit women’s right to self-determination.

This overlap in discrimination is also evident in the murder of Marwa El-Sherbini 12 years ago. To be a woman, to be a Muslim, to be a pharmacist, to live your elementary human right to self-determination uncompromisingly - this appeared to her murderer as too great a threat to the patriarchal, racist social order. Thus, the femicide of Marwa El-Sherbini must be seen as an act marked by both racism and misogyny.

“This shows the deceptive image of colonialism and racism that still dominates our society today - racisms are changeable. The day against anti-Muslim racism must also show how clearly racist and colonial stereotypes are interwoven with misogyny. Because racisms are adaptable and flexible, the subject of racial discrimination can be exchanged. Often it's all about who fits into the so-called enemy image - and mostly it's a woman. " Delal Atmaca, Managing Director of DaMigra.

All racisms, no matter who they are directed against, divide our society and poison our human coexistence. It is therefore crystal clear: anti-Muslim racism affects us all. But femicides also affect us all. DaMigra has been drawing attention to this for years - more about our work against violence against women here .

More on the topic of femicides: On September 28.09.2021th, XNUMX DaMigra will organize the international hybrid event in cooperation with djb and the representation of the EU Commission in Germany: Istanbul Convention in combatting Femicides: Symbolic policymaking or a protective shield?

More information will follow soon on our homepage.

Press Contact
Email: presse@damigra.de┃ Tel .: 030 285 013 36

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DaMigra eV represents the interests of migrant women * self-organizations and their concerns and advocates equal opportunities, equal participation and the equality of women * with a migration history and refugee experience in Germany. DaMigra follows the approach of anti-racist feminism.