AAI affiliate members “Secular Refugee Aid” and “Central Council of Ex-Muslims” issued the following statements on the appalling attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market:
Secular Refugee Aid (full statement in the link):
(Excerpt auto translated from German)
The Secular Refugee Aid is deeply dismayed by the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market, which took one yesterday. We wish to express our deepest condolences to the victims and relatives of this terrible crime.A person identified as the alleged assassin has in the past made numerous accusations and claims about our association and former board members that in no way correspond to reality. Now that we have been drawn into this terrible situation, we would like to take a position.
This person was at no time a member of our association and we distance ourselves from him in the strongest possible way.
Central Council of Ex-Muslims (full statement in the link):
(Excerpt auto translated from German)
The news of the attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market has very dismayed us!” Mina Ahadi, the chairwoman of the Central Council of the ex-Muslims, explained on Saturday morning. “The assassin Taleb A. is no stranger to us, because he has terrorized us for years. At first we suspected he might be a mole of the Islamist movement. Meanwhile, however, I think he is a psychopath who is in all-right conspiracy ideologies. After many years of experience, I can say: The assassin of Magdeburg hates not only Muslims, but everyone who does not share his hatred!
Additionally, Michael Schmidt-Salomon, the board spokesman for the Giordano Bruno Foundation, accompanied the founding of the Central Council of Ex-Muslims and Secular Refugee Aid:
(Excerpt auto translated from German)
“For many years we have been pointing out how much Islamic fundamentalism and right-wing Muslim hostility rock each other. This has created a climate of hatred that mainly secular and liberal Muslims have to suffer from, as they are threatened not only by Islamists, but also by right-wing critics of Islam. I think it is high time to overcome the false identity patterns of perception that underlie this hatred: There are no “the Muslims”, “the refugees” or the critics of Islam”! At least this is what we should learn from the Magdeburg attack: Who would have expected in political Berlin that a doctor and AfD sympathizer from Saudi Arabia could carry out an attack on a German Christmas market to counteract Islamism? The world is much more complex and crazier than is commonly perceived.”
