BERLIN: Germany was reeling on Tuesday as xenophobia reared its head with far-right protests degenerating into attacks against foreign-looking people, adding fuel to an already explosive debate over migrants.

After Sunday’s fatal stabbing of a German man, 35, allegedly by a Syrian and an Iraqi, thousands of protesters descended on the streets of Chemnitz for two straight days, some bearing insignia of the far-right AfD and neo-Nazi NPD parties.

Six people were injured on Monday as pyrotechnics and other objects were hurled by the far-right camp as well as anti-fascist counter-protesters in the east German city.

Police also reported assaults by extremists against at least three foreigners on Sunday, while investigations were opened in 10 cases of the protesters performing the Hitler salute.

“Of course history is not repeating itself, but that a far-right mob is on a rampage in the middle of Germany and the authorities are overwhelmed, is reminiscent of the situation during the Weimar Republic,” noted Spiegel Online.

The Weimar years were marked by the formation of paramilitary groups, such as the Sturmabteilung or SA, which eventually helped the Nazis to power.

Josef Schuster, who chairs the Central Council of Jews in Germany, also voiced his alarm, saying it is “now the responsibility of citizens to counter the far-right mob”.

“It must never be accepted in Germany again for people to be attacked because of their appearances or their backgrounds.” Anetta Kahane of the anti-racism Amadeu Antonio Foundation told rolling news channel NTV that people have the right to demonstrate.

But he added: “What happened in Chemnitz went beyond that — it was incitement to hatred and the propagation of pogrom sentiment.” Noting that chatter among far-right sympathisers online is “extremely brutal, as calls are made blatantly for murder and killings”, Kahane said authorities need to crack down.

’Hate in the streets’ has no place in Germany: Merkel

Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned violent far-right protests that degenerated into attacks against foreign-looking people, saying “hate in the streets” has no place in Germany.“What we have seen is something which has no place in a constitutional democracy,” Merkel told journalists.

“We have video recordings of (people) hunting down others, of unruly assemblies, and hate in the streets, and that has nothing to do with our constitutional state.” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said federal police were ready to provide back-up for overwhelmed officers in Saxony state, where Chemnitz is located.

But there was little sign of the marches spreading further, with a right-wing demonstration in the state capital Dresden attracting just 50 people, according to regional newspaper Saechsische Zeitung.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2018