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Marwa was stabbed to death on the 1st of July, by an anti muslim racist in Dresden Germany.
Ali Al-Sherbini moved his family, Marwa and their son Mustafa to Dresden in 2005 as a research fellow. The family’s stay would have been over in August of 2009 when they would move back to Egypt. Ali and his son will now be moving back alone.
Marwa was in court that day attending a hearing in which Axel W. was appealing the conclusion of a case in which he was ordered to pay $750 Euros for harassing Marwa at a play ground in 2008. She asked Axel to reach a toy for her so her son could play with it and he said “Muslim, terrorist, you have no right to live here!” He proceeded to attempt to forcibly de-veil her. She decided pressed charges.
In the court house, Axel, a 28 year old Russian immigrant, pulled out a knife and stabbed Marwa, who was three months pregnant, 18 times. In an attempt to save her life her, husband rushed in and was also stabbed 3 times, and shot by police in the leg who “mistook him for her attacker.” Her four year old son bore witness to the attack.
Her husband was taken to hospital and has been in critical condition since the incident. At the time of this writing he still does not know his wife is dead.
This tragic story comes at a time when the right is on the rise in Europe and anti hijab laws are commonly debated. The German government did not even issue a statement of condolences, much less condemn the attack until the 8th July. With their silence it appears to the Arab and muslim communities that the state actually condones the behaviour of these xenophobes.
The attack sparked protests around the Muslim world. In Tehran about 150 students threw eggs at the German embassy. The public memorial in Dresden, organized by local civil rights groups, attracted some 800 people, including the Egyptian ambassador and officials from the state of Saxony, where Dresden is located. Protests have also taken place in Cairo and within the German domestic population. Further demonstrations are planned for Sunday.
Marwa’s funeral services were in Berlin on Thursday July 9th and Marwa will be laid to rest in her hometown of Alexandria on the 14th July, Monday.
While in a café in Alexandria, we were looking for news on the Viva Palestina convoy and came across this information. Mohammed Awawdeh, who is on the convoy with us used to live in Germany. He lived there while working for the Jordanian embassy. He quit his job after only 6 months because of the racism. He told me that Nazis would storm into the cafés and attack any “foreigners” and then leave. He would ask for directions in the street and be given incorrect ones, and other people would not even look at him. Talking about Mustafa, Marwa’s young son, he said “ and they’ll have the audacity to ask him why he hates us [the German people] when he grows up.”
Tags: Karen Burke, Marwa Al Sherbini, Viva Palestina
3:44 pm. Viva Palestina.
