Shocking New Years Eve attack on women in Cologne, Germany. AFP.

A fireworks display in Cologne, where the attacks occurred. AFP.

Germany is reeling after a mass sexual attack targeting women during a New Years Eve celebration in Cologne. AFP. The German government is condemning the dozens of sexual attacks, allegedly committed by Arab and North African men. Germany's Justice Minster claimed that the attack seemed "coordinated". It is unclear if the Arab and North African men are part of the massive wave of immigrants that have come to Germany in the past year, or if they are older arrivals or even 2nd generation German citizens. Reports say that groups of 20 to 30 men surrounded women and stole from them as well as groping them.

Witnesses and victims describe the violence in this NBC News report. One victim claimed to have been groped at least 100 times while walking 600 feet. Another said that men had circled her and her friend and groped them as well. Overall, at least 90 complaints have been filed for theft and groping. At least one rape was reported as well, with more expected to be reported. 

My Comment:

I am surprised that this story is getting as much coverage as it is. After all, the media does not like to show the dark underside to immigration and the migrant crisis in Europe. Some websites are censoring it though. I have read that Reddit, that supposed bastion of free speech, is banning posts about the attack in their main news subreddits. Still, the mainstream media is at least covering it. That's an improvement I guess, but I am thinking it has more to do with how bad this attack was rather then anything else. Much like the case in Rotherham in the UK, the situation became so bad that it could no longer be ignored. 

I do have to say that the AFP report went out of their way to make it seem like that this has nothing to do with immigration. While it is unclear if the men that carried out these attacks are recent immigrants from the massive wave last year, it is clear that they are Arabs or North Africans. What wave they came from of what generation they are seems irrelevant to me. They are people that weren't from Germany originally and are now acting, quite frankly, monstrous. Though you will never get the German government or the mainstream media to admit it, this attack would almost certainly never happened if Europe hadn't liberalized their immigration policy to the point of irrelevancy. 

Much like the Rotherham case, I think political correctness is a factor here. People are afraid to say that there are regions of the world where sexual assault is not treated the same as it is in America and Europe. Though it is obviously unfair to tar all Muslims as sexual predators, it is true that many of the countries with Muslim majorities have issues with the way they treat women. Women are second class citizens in many Muslim countries, especially the ones that are more devout in their beliefs about Islam. Sexual assault is common in many of these Muslim countries, and the general treatment of women is horrible. It is extremely likely that the perpetrators of this attack were Muslims.

That isn't to say that only Muslim majority countries have a problem with sexual assault compared to Europe and the United States. That's obviously not true. Off the top of my head, India, South Africa and Japan all have their issues as well. But for whatever reason, I think the expatriates from those countries seem to not cause a rise in sexual assaults after they immigrate compared to Muslims. My guess is that they integrate much better then the Muslims do in the European Union. I'm not sure why that is. Some would say it is because of bigotry or racism on the parts of Europeans, some would say it's the fault of Islam, others would say that it is because of poverty. I think the lack of effort by European government for integrating Muslims culturally could be part of it as well. The political left has always been uncomfortable with imposing cultural standards on people from other countries. Perhaps if they showed a little more backbone, this wouldn't have happened? 

I don't know for sure myself, but I do think that the threat of these kinds of attacks is a strong argument against bringing in more refugees to the European Union, separate from the concerns about Islamic terrorism. If the reports are right and these are German citizens that have been in the country for a long time and had a chance to adjust to their new culture, then how are the new arrivals going to act? Sure, not all Muslims are like this but enough of them are that they are causing some very real problems in Europe. And if integration isn't a possibility, and as of right now, it seems like it isn't, why should we let more of them in?

As for the implications of this attack, I think that it is going to make many in Europe angry. Very angry. Terrorism is one thing but I think people tend to have a visceral disgust with sexual assault and rape. As much as feminists like to deny it, most people, men included, are horrified at rape, and the importation of an actual rape culture is going to piss everyone off. People will tolerate a lot of things but they won't tolerate seeing their wives, girlfriends, mothers, sisters and daughters being attacked sexually. I know if someone I knew had been a victim of this attack I would be beside myself with anger. If these kinds of attacks become common, and I have a strong suspicion that they are already more common then what is currently reported in the media, then there will be a backlash, against Muslims and against immigrants. Even the majority who are actually innocent of any wrong doing. And this incident is getting way more coverage then previous incidents involving sexual violence. Only the Rotherham case really compares. People will talk about this case and what they have to say may not bode well for the future of Muslims in Europe. 

There will also be a backlash against the liberal governments that allowed this situation to happen in the first place. Right now people in Europe seem to be afraid of voicing their opinions about the migrant crisis, so it has been largely impossible for right wing parties to gain much ground. If these kinds of sexual attacks continue, or terrorism becomes more common, expect the Overton Window to shift. Given the existence of PEGIDA and the recent success of far right parties in Europe, I think the change is already happening...

I consider the backlash inevitable. What I don't know is how bad it will be and what the implications could be. The worst case scenario is open warfare between Muslims and EU natives, with many on the political left taking the side of the Muslims. That's almost unthinkable, but I also think it is unlikely. But I also think that the status quo can't continue either. I think some kind conflict is brewing. It's possible that the political right in Europe could become more radicalized and more attacks like the one that Anders Breivik carried out in Norway. Once that happens the entire continent becomes locked into a cycle of revenge... And I don't see that ending ever, unless one side or another gets strong enough to wipe everyone else out. That's obviously a grim prediction, but at this point I really don't see how this situation gets better before it gets worse. Way worse...