On Sunday, December 8th, 11,000 Syrian migrants entered the Christmas market in Essen, Germany, chanting “Allahu Akbar” and firing shots.
Since the beginning of the week, smartphone videos of the scene have proliferated on social media, sparking a number of angry and worried reactions to the scale of the demonstration, the behaviour of the participants, and the poor police response.
This latest gathering of Syrian migrants was known to and prepared for by the police. But the planned demonstration grew in size as the fall of Bashar al-Assad was confirmed, followed by his flight from Damascus, the Syrian capital. The numbers far exceeded advance estimates: with only 300 participants expected, ultimately, thousands of Syrians lined the streets of the city carrying flags.
In the videos circulating on social media, the contrast between the aggressiveness of the demonstrators and the festive, family atmosphere of the Christmas market is striking. Online, some have asked if the choice of location was random or deliberate. They see the targeting of the Christmas market as an offensive by the demonstrators against a symbol of Christian civilisation.
The Essen police have defended themselves by claiming to have deployed appropriate security for the gathering, including a helicopter. The concern of the local population is explained by the demonstrators’ gunfire and use of smoke grenades.
The people of Essen are all the more sensitive to the possibility of violence since, at the end of September, the town was the scene of a violent knife and machete attack followed by arson, in which 31 people were injured, including children. The perpetrator was a Syrian migrant.
Similar scenes were reported in Stuttgart, Dresden and Leipzig.
