The tiny, handwritten sign on a pot of primulas left on Cologne cathedral’s steps after the first protest of the weekend summed up perhaps the only sentiment everyone in the city could agree with on Saturday: “You shouldn’t hit a woman, even with a flower.”
Germany is struggling to respond to a mass assault of women on New Year’s Eve, and news that people suspected of a role in the violence included asylum seekers. Thousands of people took to the streets this weekend for three different protests to call authorities to account.
The first was a “flashmob” gathering of women with tambourines and banners with slogans ranging from the flat-out furious to angry black humour. “All the pepper spray in Cologne has sold out, so how can we feel safe?” asked one. They wanted more respect for women across German society, not just punishment for the perpetrators of the New Year’s Eve attacks. They are furious with police who did little to stop the attacks and then apparently covered up the scale of the problem, and officials whose initial response was to warn women to stay “an arm’s length” away from men.
“It makes me so angry, they have enough police to protect banks and politicians, but simple women in the street? Not enough,” said Cornelia Quarta, a housewife who started off with the women’s demonstration and, like many there, went on to join a growing anti-fascist demonstration on the other side of the station, where banners carried messages such as “refugees welcome”.
For some of the hundreds who began gathering around midday to confront supporters of anti-immigration group Pegida at a rival rally, the enthusiasm of some parts of German society to heap blame on outsiders brought up unpleasant memories of second world war atrocities.
“Look what happened 70 years ago, people haven’t learned,” said supermarket clerk Sebastian Budnik at the anti-fascist rally. “A mass of people, doing stupid things, but believing they are right.”
A statement issued by Cologne police on Saturday night said the number of reported cases of violence had risen substantially to 379 – 40% of them involving sexual assault. Police earlier said 31 people had been identified as being involved in the violence, of whom 18 were asylum seekers suspected of crimes ranging from theft to assault. None of the asylum seekers was suspected of committing sexual assaults.
Pegida was quick to capitalise on news that there were asylum seekers involved in some attacks and called a demonstration for midday on Saturday. Former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson flew in to tell the crowd “Islam is a cancer, and Pegida is a cure”, earning shouts of approval when he urged his listeners “it is our God-given right and duty to protect our women. It’s what men do.”
For all the talk of women’s rights in speeches, and banners calling all refugees rapists, there were far more actual women at the rival protest, behind barriers heavily guarded by riot police.
“I am upset when I see there are areas in the city you can’t go to as a woman,” said Bettina Sattler, a violinist carrying a banner reading: “Any pack of drunks is unbearable.” She joined the women’s demo, thinking of her daughters, and was at the second rally to protest against rightwing groups hijacking women’s rights to push an anti-immigration agenda. “Of course, it’s simpler to say ‘they must go’ than to think about a solution,” she said. “God [gave] them brains – [but] you can’t force people to think if they don’t want to.”
Germany was lauded for its generosity to refugees fleeing from Syria, Iraq and other countries last year, but now seems to be drawing back from that welcome.
Franca Santoro, a social worker whose parents were themselves immigrants to Germany, said: “It’s better to be open about the challenges. It’s not good to ‘protect’ us, it just makes the racism worse. I thought there would be a lot of racists on the other side, so I came.”
Others called for better German lessons, more outreach and a franker discussion of the cultural differences between societies that refugees had left behind and their new home.
Anti-immigration groups have been fast to seize on news about the background of the crisis, and Pegida drummed up over 1,000 supporters who travelled from around the region to hear speakers slam chancellor Angela Merkel’s welcome to refugees.
“History will not forgive Mrs Merkel,” said Robinson, speaking through a translator to a crowd that roared its approval. “How dare the media imply you are wrong for being here?”
Police who were criticised for incompetence in failing to protect women on New Year’s Eve were taking no chances. Helicopters buzzed overhead, water cannon and dozens of riot police were deployed around the streets, separating the protests, channelling demonstrators away from each other and, at one point, using the cannon on Pegida protesters.
The Guardian
