Racism is nothing new for SPD Bundestag member Rasha Nasr. But recently the hostility has reached a new quality – and does not remain in the virtual world.
Berlin – When Rasha Nasr talks about the AfD, she doesn't shy away from clear words. “For me, they are tough Nazis,” says the SPD member of the Bundestag in an interview IPPEN.MEDIA. She knows firsthand how great the danger could be for millions of people if radical right-wing ideologies gain influence in Germany. Born and raised in Dresden, the 31-year-old with Syrian roots has had to defend herself against racism her whole life. With regard to the AfD and right-wing networks, she says: “I get up every day to fight against these people.”
Nazis threaten SPD politician with gang rape
Racist hostility runs like a common thread through Rasha Nasr's life. Whether as a child, when for some she wasn't “white and blonde” enough to go to carnival as a princess, or as a young woman who was the only one who had to show her ID at a police check. “These are experiences that many millions of people have every day,” says the SPD politician. According to the “Racist Realities” study by the National Discrimination and Racism Monitor, 58 percent of those potentially affected in Germany have experienced racism at least once in their lives.
With her entry into the Bundestag in 2021 – as the first Saxon SPD politician with a migration background – the hostility did not subside. Quite the opposite: “They have taken on a new quality”. When strangers got hold of her private number in February 2023, threats were made against her life and limb: “Next time you’d better turn around when you’re on the street,” they said. A little later she received threats of gang rape from Nazis via text message. But the hostility didn't just remain in the virtual world.
After threats: Nasr and her team take a self-defense course
“It has already happened that I was 'greeted' on the street with 'Salam Aleikum SPD bitch'.” When a man recognized her on a Dresden tram last summer, the situation almost escalated. “He said that we are all criminals, that we should be hunted and that I will also get my punishment.” As he stood in front of her with his fists clenched, those present intervened. The hostility has reached such a level that Nasr and her team were forced to take a self-defense course.
Nasr has even faced hostility from members of parliament. The politician was particularly annoyed by a statement made by AfD MP Roger Beckamp: “I was asked whether I would say thank you to the country that welcomed me so nicely – in the plenary session in front of the cameras.” The politician didn't let that sit, she countered: “I don't get anything from you, who let the tax money of all these people here support you, except hate, agitation, lies and no constructiveness at all.”
Nasr warns about the AfD after a right-wing secret meeting – “very dangerous”
Also in conversation with IPPEN.MEDIA Nasr makes no secret of her antipathy towards right-wing populists – what's more: she considers the developments surrounding the AfD to be “very dangerous”. The research network recently had Corrective A secret meeting was made public at which right-wing extremists are said to have discussed, among other things, AfD officials about the “remigration” of people with a migration background. De facto it should be one Deportation of people based on racist criteria have gone. Germans, like Rasha Nasr, are also said to have been part of their fantasies.
Nasr: The fight against right-wing agitation is not lost
“We Ossis have had to deal with them for a long time. We have known for a long time that wherever AfD is written on it, there is right-wing extremism in it.” Nevertheless, the AfD currently stands at around 22 percent in the federal government on the Sunday question; in Nasr's home state of Saxony, the party would even be the strongest force with 34 percent. This is hard for the politician to understand: “I don’t know how many more examples it takes for people to understand whose spirit children these really are. What they want to do with this country is that they don’t love this country.”
The one currently being discussed Examination of an AfD ban would welcome Nasr, especially from the three state associations in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia that are classified as right-wing extremists. But that is not enough to counter racism in the country: “It takes all of us. The decent ones […] Everyone has to say together: 'A limit has been reached here'. These are our cashiers, these are the people who develop vaccines, who build our houses and solar systems on the roofs. This is us.” (mg)
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