African-born German MP to step down over racial abuse, death threats
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Germany's Social Democrats' Senegal-born MP Karamba Diaby reveals he and his staff have experienced racial abuse including arson and gunfire at his constituency office.
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Social Democrats' Karamba Diaby, undated (AFP)
Germany’s first African-born MP Karamba Diaby announced on Tuesday that he will not be running in next year’s federal elections after he and his staff received hate mail containing racial slurs and death threats.
Diaby and his staff have endured significant racial abuse in his recent years in office, with his constituency office in Anhalt being a target for arson and gunfire. Some members of his parliamentary staff have also received blackmail and threats in an attempt to stop them from working for him, the MP said.
In interviews, Diaby has emphasized an increasingly hostile mood in parliament and society, blaming the 2017 entry of the far-right populist AfD to the Bundestag. He told Politico that the tone of parliament has been aggressive and harsher on behalf of the AfD.
“We hear derogatory and hurtful content in these contributions. That is truly a totally new situation compared to the period between 2013 and 2017," Diaby said, adding, "This aggressive style of talking is fertile breeding ground for the violence and aggression on the streets.”
“The hatred that the AfD sows every day with its misanthropic narratives is reflected in concrete psychological and physical violence. This endangers the cohesion of our society. We cannot simply accept this," he said, emphasizing that the racial abuse and threats he has endured have “now overstepped the mark.”
The Social Democrats politician promised his colleagues that he would continue to play an active role in the political party, especially with the upcoming federal elections next year.
Diaby claimed his resignation was not solely based on the racist slurs and death threats but rather, he attributed it to the need to spend more time with family and friends, while making room for younger politicians to enter parliament.
Hundreds of thousands in Germany protest against AfD
Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in German cities on January 27 to condemn the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Approximately 100,000 demonstrators gathered in Dusseldorf under the motto "We will not remain silent against AfD" to condemn what they described as "xenophobia, racial discrimination, and right-wing extremism in Germany."
Protesters carried flags decrying racism and yelled slogans against the AfD, and politicians from all parties joined and supported the march in Aachen, near the Dutch border.
In Kiel, police reported nearly 11,500 people attending a demonstration planned against the AfD.
While the AfD has seen growing support nationally, with recent opinion polls placing it at 22% in a July 2023 poll, making it the second-largest party behind the main opposition conservatives, its strength is particularly pronounced in former East Germany, where it polls at around 32%, according to a survey commissioned by Der Spiegel magazine.
The rise of AfD has triggered social democrats much to the point of Scholz calling them a "demolition commando" that is a threat to German democracy.
"Most citizens know that the self-called 'Alternative' is, in reality, a demolition commando -- a demolition squad for our country," Scholz told parliament at the start of budget debate week, while also expressing concern about the AfD's advocacy for a return to nationalism.
In August 2023, German sources told The Telegraph that the Bundestag is contemplating banning the AfD.
