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Cologne Mayor Honored with Marwa El Sherbini Award in Düsseldorf
The Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, snatched the Marwa El-Sherbini Award at the NRW. This prize was bestowed upon her for her exceptional efforts in promoting understanding and combatting anti-Muslim bigotry. The award was handed out for the second time at a bash in Düsseldorf-Bilk's Bach Hall on July 1st.
The Tragic Incident that Sparked a Legacy
Marwa El-Sherbini, the award's namesake, was a pregnant Egyptian-German woman, brutally murdered in a courtroom of the Dresden Regional Court back in 2009. The murderer was a defendant accused of hurling racist slurs, against whom she had previously bared witness. In a twisted act, he whipped out a knife and stabbed Marwa 18 times. Her husband attempted to save her, but he, too, suffered severe knife wounds. Their three-year-old kid witnesses his mother's lifeless body in the courtroom.
A Heartrending Tribute
At the Düsseldorf event, Etris Hashemi, a Hanau survivor of a right-wing extremist attack, delivered a touching tribute to Henriette Reker. In that tragic incident, nine people with migrant backgrounds were killed, and six were injured. Hashemi's younger brother was one of the fatalities. He recounted the daily hardships experienced by Muslim faithful in Germany, such as being subjected to degrading insults from passing cars, getting spat upon, and facing restricted access to professions, institutions, and facilities.
Etris Hashemi: "This is my very first laudation."
Henriette Reker – A Stand-Up Gal
Henriette Reker has been an advocate for peaceful coexistence among various religions even before her tenure as Cologne's mayor. Consequently, she became a target of a right-wing attack in Cologne in 2015. Regardless, she stayed the course, campaigning for the muezzin call to be audible before the Friday prayer in Cologne.
I Feel Ya, But I Ain't The Victim Here
In her acceptance speech, Henriette Reker expressed both gratitude and sadness. She intended to speak with the General Federal Prosecutor regarding courtroom safety in light of Marwa El-Sherbini's tragic demise. "Sure, I was victimized by a right-wing extremist, just like Marwa," Reker shared."But I'm a privileged victim. I can use this."
Cologne's Double Standards
Reker also voiced her disappointment with the seemingly liberal Cologne during the debate regarding the muezzin call. As she put it, she didn't expect such backlash from the city. Today, the mosque in Cologne-Ehrenfeld allows the muezzin call to be heard for merely five minutes between 12 and 3 p.m., and only within the mosque's immediate vicinity. Reker remarked, "There are about 15% of Cologne's population that are Muslim and should truly feel at home in the city."
Snapshots after the award ceremony at Düsseldorf-Bilk's Bach Hall.
Düsseldorf's Multilingual Streets
Councilor Samy Charchira (Alliance 90/The Greens) from Düsseldorf reported the defacement of an Arabic street sign at Eller Street in Oberbilk. A band of masked right-wingers covered the sign. Charchira explained, "They achieved the opposite of what they intended." The Düsseldorf admin promptly removed the phony signs, and the incident sparked a wave of solidarity for people of Arabic origin in the city.
Throughout the more than two-hour ceremony, there were heartfelt greetings and a poem addressing everyday racism against Muslims.
- The Marwa El-Sherbini Award ceremony in Düsseldorf, which honors individuals combatting anti-Muslim bigotry, wasn't only about politics and general news, but also touched upon war-and-conflicts, as the award was named after a pregnant Egyptian-German woman who was murdered due to racist motives in 2009.
- In her acceptance speech, the Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker, who received the Marwa El-Sherbini Award, shared a heartrending similarity with the award's namesake – both were victims of hate crimes, yet Henriette acknowledged she was a "privileged victim" in the broader context of crime-and-justice issues in Germany.
