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A supporter of the German far-right National Democratic Party at a rally in Berlin in May. (Reuters) del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 10:12 03/10/2007 17 years after German reunification, xenophobia renews East-West divide By Assaf Uni, Haaretz Correspondent BERLIN - Without knowing it, the three Greek citizens who stopped for gas last week in the east Berlin borough of Pankow crossed a virtual line separating the city's safe areas for foreigners and the dangerous ones. The three - two men and a woman - were attacked in the gas station by a group of skinheads who beat and kicked them, shouting abuses. The men had to be hospitalized. A Advertisement week earlier an African youngster was beaten up in Berlin, and a week before that four Czech and Hungarian youngsters were attacked by a neo-Nazi gang in Wismar, a port town in the northeast. There has been a spate of racist attacks in the former East Germany since the fall of Communism. Wednesday is the 17th anniversary of German reunification, and experts are warning that racism and xenophobia could redraw the old division between east and west. Some 500 racist attacks were registered in Germany over the past year, a 33 percent increase from the previous year. Most of the incidents took place in former East Germany. Since the reunification, 130 racist murders have been registered, more than a fifth of them in Berlin and the state of Brandenburg. At the same time, radical right-wing and neo-Nazi parties in east Germany have increased their power and entered local parliaments, while opinion polls are reflecting growing xenophobia. "If you're dark-skinned, you simply can't go into certain areas in east Berlin on weekend nights," says Anetta Kahane, head of the Amadeu-Antonio Foundation, which aims to rein in extreme right-wing violence in Germany. "In the Pankow and Lichtenberg districts in east Berlin, for example, foreigners have a 25-times greater chance of being attacked than in the western part of the city," she says. The foundation she heads was founded in the late 1990s and named after an immigrant from Angola who was beaten to death by skinheads in Brandenburg in 1990. A series of murders of foreigners in the years after the unification shook Germany, and the problem still exists today. "We must face facts: Every day there is an attack against foreigners, and most of them occur in the former East," says Kahane. "It's not easy to explain why east Germany is a hub of xenophobia and violence," says Dr. Gideon Botsch, a political science expert from the Moses Mendelssohn Center for European Jewish Studies in Potsdam. "Apart from the classic explanations of high unemployment, a bad economic situation, faulty education and high crime rates, it's important to look at the way in which democracy has been introduced in those areas," he says. "In the first, formative years of the unification, the government's presence was hardly felt, the police did not exist and there were hardly any public services. This period led to the wave of attacks on foreigners. The people in the east felt immune to the implications of these attacks. We believe that people who were born between 1971 and 1979, who were youths in the 1990s, are involved to this day in attacks and neo-Nazi activity." The reduced government presence in several villages and small towns in the east has allowed this trend to continue and to increase the younger generation's joining in. When the government is weak, the radical right thrives," says Botsch. Kahane believes that one of the main reasons for this is the way East Germany refused to deal with the German people's responsibility for the Holocaust and World War II. "The starting point of the German Democratic Republic was that everyone is forgiven for what happened in the Third Reich," she says. "As far as the government is concerned, all East German citizens were victims, a working class abducted by a fascist leadership. Overnight they all became anti-fascist, anti-racist and filled with fraternal comradeship. The whole debate about guilt in the West didn't take place in the East. We see the results today in the rise of the radical right wing there." "In Brandenburg, for example, there are radical right-wing activists who are 'ticking bombs,'" warns Botsch. "They are dedicated to the neo-Nazi ideology and attracted to violence. It's only a matter of time until they kill someone." "We're in a race against time," says Kahane. "The question is who will win - the radical right, which is cleverly recruiting more and more youngsters and establishing political support, or the government and civic organizations trying to stop them." Bookmark to del.icio.us Group goals Hapoel T.A. could be given either death or a dream in the UEFA Cup group stage draw. Bandits on wheels The new vehicles most often stolen in September were Sanyung motorbikes.   1.   It is an error to call every rasist group neo-Nazis 06:19  |  Natallie Durson 03/10/07   2.   #1 Ms. Durson. Bigoted Antisemitism 08:47  |  Toba 03/10/07   3.   #1 09:14  |  Sebastian 03/10/07   4.   Civilized Germany? 09:25  |  Disgusted 03/10/07   5.   #1, Natalie Durson 09:35  |  Anton 03/10/07   6.   Normal rejection 09:46  |  Anil 03/10/07   7.   toba 2 10:52  |  realism 03/10/07   8.   Anti-Semitism unites Germany 10:54  |  Jonathan S 03/10/07   9.   Neo Nazi`s and Islamists 11:48  |  Rabbi Izzy Lahm 03/10/07   10.   This article was predictable 12:08  |  Axel 03/10/07   11.   German right-wing parties 12:18  |  Axel 03/10/07   12.   Axel 12:40  |  Ehud 03/10/07   13.   I lived 10 years in Germany. Ancient Romans knew it: Barbarians 12:45  |  Barbarians 03/10/07   14.   Anton 12:48  |  Nati 03/10/07   15.   @ Anton: arme kleine deutsche 12:53  |  ariane 03/10/07   16.   Natallie Dursons` ultimate racism 13:35  |  Ehud 03/10/07   17.   #Natali Durson 13:44  |  Anna 03/10/07   18.   Neonazi again German have his responsability 14:04  |  Daniel 03/10/07   19.   #15 Ariane 14:09  |  Yitzhak 03/10/07   20.   history repeats itself 14:09  |  Nicole 03/10/07   21.   #12 ehud 14:11  |  Axel 03/10/07   22.   #10 Axel - you too are shocked 14:22  |  * BEN JABO 03/10/07   23.   #11 Axel - I could name one country 14:25  |  * BEN JABO 03/10/07   24.   Natallie 14:32  |  truthful 03/10/07   25.   Natallie adds to her misperceptions 14:50  |  Jasmine Murphy 03/10/07   26.   #4 15:01  |  Shana 03/10/07   27.   # 23 ben jibberish 15:13  |  Axel 03/10/07   28.   #27 Axel - nobody can equal Germany 16:03  |  * BEN JABO 03/10/07   29.   At least in Germany racism is not official policy, unlike Israel 16:15  |  anti-racist 03/10/07   30.   #5 Anton 16:19  |  Jak Black 03/10/07   31.   For Disgusted to be disgusted 16:22  |  Jonathan S 03/10/07   32.   anton in Bonn 16:25  |  TAZ 03/10/07   33.   german racism 16:29  |  TAZ 03/10/07   34.   Dr. Gideon Botsch, Phd from university of Chelm 16:37  |  Jon 03/10/07   35.   Hey, herr axel. Is that you inthe above photo. Ya oder nein? 16:51  |  bat yam 03/10/07   36.   TO NATALIE DURSON 17:22  |  Nicole 03/10/07   37.   TO ANTON 17:30  |  Nicole 03/10/07   38.   re taz 17:40  |  Axel 03/10/07   39.   #31 17:49  |  kraut 03/10/07   40.   # 37 nicole 18:01  |  Axel 03/10/07   41.   TO SHANA 18:04  |  Nicole 03/10/07   42.   Congratulations, Ariane #15 18:20  |  Jonathan S 03/10/07   43.   38axel needs some grease 18:28  |  Pssd off American 03/10/07   44.   Well said Kraut! 18:36  |  Jonathan S 03/10/07   45.   oh, Jonathan # 8 19:28  |  Axel 03/10/07   46.   The tail who wags the dog.... 20:34  |  B Stern 03/10/07   47.   # 43 # pssd american 20:43  |  Axel 03/10/07   48.   So much for a "united Europe" 20:46  |  Jake 03/10/07   49.   # 48 jake 21:42  |  Axel 03/10/07   50.   46. The tail who wags the dog.... 12:13  |  Jonathan 04/10/07   51.   racism in Germany 13:39  |  SP 04/10/07   52.   Axel 00:28  |  Gray 06/10/07   53.   Moderated comments? What moderation? 00:47  |  Gray 06/10/07   54.   Racist attacks in Germany vs. Israel 01:49  |  Steve 06/10/07   55.   #54 Steve Interesting statistics 05:36  |  * BEN JABO 06/10/07   56.   Double Dangerous 23:13  |  martin 06/10/07   57.   @ Ben Jabo #55 05:34  |  Steve 07/10/07   58.   #57 Steve - re: WHO 01:18  |  * BEN JABO 09/10/07   59.   #57-2 Steve - USA 16:32  |  * BEN JABO 09/10/07   60.   #57-3 FRIENDLY REMINDER 18:34  |  * BEN JABO 10/10/07

Today Online Amir Oren: Extremist Islam is the enemy, not the Palestinians Responses: 135 Ephraim Sneh: When it comes to Iran, Israel must expect the worst Responses: 60 Abbas lays out first precise demands for Palestinian borders Responses: 146 German historian publishes chilling read: Hitler's fan mail Responses: 52 U.S. gov't said split over Israeli intel on N. Korea- Syria ties Responses: 53 Haaretz TV: Many Arab J'lem residents are on 'wrong' side of fence Responses: 2 Rosner's Domain * Romney's position on attacking Iran? better ask his lawyers * WTR: The debate over Tutu * Understanding the Israeli Attack on Syria * Poll: A divided Jerusalem? More Headlines 13:50 Abbas lays out first precise demands for Palestinian borders 17:37 High Court: Labor laws to apply to Palestinians in settlements 13:10 New York Times: U.S. gov't split over Israeli data on Syria-N. Korea ties 16:50 Palestinian-born Jewish convert convicted of aiding Islamic Jihad 18:00 Poland honors 53 who risked lives to save Jews in WWII 15:02 PA sources: IDF kills Fatah militant, wounds another in Nablus raid 17:32 PA: Israel grants permanent residency to 3,500 West Bank Palestinians 17:31 Despite strike, classes to resume in Gaza envelope schools Thurs. 14:02 German historian publishes chilling read: Hitler's fan mail 13:53 Russian President says Iran is not building a nuclear weapon Previous Editions Select Day 09 oct 08 oct 07 oct 05 oct 04 oct 03 oct 02 oct 01 oct 30 sep 28 sep 27 sep 26 sep

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