In an interview with Mehr News Agency, German-Iranian MP Omid Nouripour has shared his views with the news agency on Friday shooting spree in Munich which claimed 9 lives before the attacker killed himself.
Here is his answers:
There has been no evidence so far that the attacker was a lone wolf; can you comment on possible reasons behind the attack?
I wouldn’t rule out any possible background for the moment. Jihadi-terrorism, right-winged-terrorism, mental illness: everything is imaginable. But there are some facts indicating he wasn’t an ISIL (DAESH) member.
That is he shot himself at the end without taking innocents with him. This is not DAESH-style. Other example: on a video you can hear him talking about his “treatment” and being bullied now for seven years. This is not the DAESH-narrative of heroism.
With this incident and train attack - for which ISIL claimed responsibility - what consequences are imaginable for German society? Are we going to see a police state? Emergency situation? Or anything else?
ISIL wants us to overreact. They want us to shut our open societies and to shrink our civil rights. Then it’s easier for them to argue that western societies in general are opposing Islam. This is why our reaction is so decisive. 9/11 was not such a success for Al-Qaida than the Bush’s wrong reactions were. So we have to react smartly, carefully and thoughtfully.
Germany was a pioneer in addressing migrant crisis. It might be too early to judge, but does the public opinion still support this humanitarian view?
There are more than 8 million people in this country being engaged in charity-work for refugees. Frequently and volunteering. They are not shouting at social media all the time. We shouldn’t think the loud haters on Twitter are the majority in Germany.
What measures can or should be taken by govt. and security bodies to prevent further incidents and improve situation?
The way the Munich police handled the situation yesterday, far from spreading fear, is the right thing to do. Also our government should take every measure necessary to protect the people without creating the illusion that there’s 100% safety possible. Open societies are vulnerable.
Considering good points you mentioned about necessity of smart reaction and hospitality toward refugees, (and some rare misbehavior in social networks), what German people can do?
It’s not a fight against Islam, it’s a fight of democratic citizens of any faith against extremism. We need the solidarity of democrats.
Omid Nouripour is an Iranian-German politician, a member of Alliance '90/The Greens and a member of the German parliament.
Interview by Hamid Reza Gholamzadeh