Secure country?
Dear Audience, you may or may not have noticed the link in my blogroll to a German Omar who - surprise - mainly blogs in German.
He now posted that he recently married a Muslim woman - Kathrin - whom I remember seeing commenting on his blog.
What does one do after a marriage? Right. Go on a honeymoon.
So they rented a house for a week in a small village in the Lüneburger Heide, which is supposed to be a very nice region in Germany. (I wouldn’t know; I have never been there.)
On the evening of day 5 someone was suddenly hammering on their door. The wife had been lying on the sofa (probably dozing off; she didn’t elaborate) and was too stunned (her heart was beating wildly, she wrote) to move and open the door.
Omar came hastening from the bathroom and after a shout of “Police! Open the door!” opened said door just in time, or else it would have been kicked in.
Several police officers pushed past him, without a warrant, the second one vaguely waving a badge in his face, pushing his arm and his plea to wait while his wife finishes dressing aside.
In spite of this Kathrin had succeeded in covering her hair in time and approached the leading officer who was entering the living-room with Omar and offered him her hand in greeting, which he pointedly ignored.
All in all there were four officers searching the house, while a further four had the house surrounded. All of them in bulletproof vests.
After they were done searching the house they told the couple that they had received the information that an Oriental looking couple had arrived on Saturday night without a car and in the dark.
Yes.
So??? 
Apparently that combination already makes you look like terrorists.
The police officers themselves had been dragged from bed to perform this anti-terrorist measure.
Omar and Kathrin had to explain why they had arrived at that late time and without a car, and the officers called in to have their passport numbers checked for any convictions against the two.
The wife demanded to know what this whole affair was supposed to mean and was told that this was a routine check, comparable to checking for drunk drivers….
Finally the phone rang with the info that the two had a clean record. The officers made ready to leave, now being able to shake their hands.
Kathrin asked the final question “What kind of country are we living in?”, to which she got the reply “A safe/secure one”.
.
If you understand German, you can read a short summary on Omar’s blog and a longer version on Kathrin’s.
Newer post by Omar here.
October 28th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
*shakes head*
October 28th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
I guess the happy couple’s mistake was honeymooning in a small village. If they had chosen a more cosmopolitan local, no one would have thought twice about seeing a Muslim woman. They probably got reported by some delusional old woman. Still, it seems like the police response was a profound over reaction! Also, why did it take the police five days to drop by?
This reminds me of one of my oldest friends. Some years ago, he was walking in a very nice neighborhood enjoying looking at exteriors of the beautiful homes of the wealthy residents. He was just walking along the side of the street. Suddenly a police car pulled up. The cop jumped out and demanded to know what he was doing there. My friend said he was just out walking and asked the cop what the problem was. The cop said someone had called and reported a prowler in the neighborhood. He suggested that it would be best if my friend left. Well, my friend happens to be black and he was walking in a neighborhood of all white rich people. So, of course, some old biddy became terrified and called the police!
October 28th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
@ Mafdet: Indeed…
@ David: Hm, I live in a small village, and although you are aware of my complaints on the basic background stereotyping that’s part of “our” life, women with headscarf are a common enough sight here. As are men with black hair (and probably Arabic facial features; I didn’t have the honour of seeing a picture of Omar yet
- the black hair is what the police mentioned as part of that Oriental look…).
What I’m saying is, even in small remote places “Oriental” looking people shouldn’t be such an alien sight, and if you’re living in a village that must to some extent be living off the tourists staying there to enjoy the scenery it might be a good idea to be a bit more hospitable towards your (paying) guests, no matter what they look like and at which time of day they arrive…
Well, if movies and tv series are anything to go by, then jumping to that conclusion seems to be a favourite pastime of people and police in wealthy American neighbourhoods anyway….
*whispers* I think you already told me that story once, but that might have been in a chat; I don’t recall…
October 29th, 2007 at 7:33 am
It might be fun to get about 20 “oriental” looking men and women together for an excursion to the Lüneburger Heide. Make sure the men have beards and the women are wearing full chador. Have them rent a bus and stop at every tourist destination in the region. It could be an experiment like the “freedom rides” of the 1960’s in which black people rode busses through the segregated southern U.S. and deliberately drank from white’s only water fountains and sat at white’s only lunch counters. Be sure a film crew is on hand to document the journey.
*whispers back* You are probably right.
October 30th, 2007 at 10:52 am
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October 30th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Hey, police! Reminds me of Einstürzende Neubauten’s track “Ich bins”; the title (”It’s me”) refers to what the German special police force says when asked “Who are you?” by people whose door they knock on. Apparently, “it’s me” makes people more prone to open doors than “it’s the police”.
Watching this video doesn’t exactly make me think more of the German police…it’s from the 1st May-riot in Berlin, 1999. See ATR get arrested and innocent bystanders get beaten up.
October 31st, 2007 at 2:59 am
@ David: Hhhhhm, if they accidentally drove into my county and stopped at the store to buy refreshments, the boss’d fear a mass shoplifting attack and not know whom to follow around in order to prevent it.
But at least he wouldn’t call in and report a terrorist threat.
@ Omar: Bitte, bitte, you’re welcome, what’s-it-in-Arabic?
Anytime.
@ Niklas: Woah, looks like someone studied German police misconduct in-depth and through the ages. (Don’t tell me you also secretly understand German like the Great Zakman does…?
)
Still, I gotta say, I preferred your email comment…
October 31st, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Happy Samhain Mel!
November 1st, 2007 at 8:56 am
Hmmm, my comment wishing you a Happy Samhain yesterday was eaten by gremlins (or was it boogie men?)!
November 1st, 2007 at 12:05 pm
Thank you David, and the same (belatedly) to you.
Yeah, it was eaten by that oftentimes confused gremlin called Akismet. I choked it till it coughed your comment up again.
My apologies. I’ll send it over to that Will dude to get spanked; maybe it will behave afterwards.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:06 pm
No, I sadly understand quite little of German, even though some words have morphed with my mother tongue, Swedish, that lets me understand a little. Still, I know enough German to know I shan’t be fighting German police in the streets anytime soon…
November 1st, 2007 at 3:11 pm
November 14th, 2007 at 3:47 am
I’d kick up such a huge shit on those assholes!
and hey melly!
November 14th, 2007 at 9:10 am
I think that’s what they’re about to do…
Hey, where have you been?!
November 15th, 2007 at 2:06 am
busy i guess!
i don’t use yahoo anymore and i don’t look at the clawforum much either.
November 15th, 2007 at 2:38 am
whew.. well, to tell the truth: the po-lice had the right to react the way they did, busting in all of a sudden and all that,
but they should have looked into it a bit more, a bit much more.. i mean, oriental? sheesh! we are NOT chinese! also, haven’t anyone heard of surveillance? tracking? come on!