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Sheema Khan writes that the recent murder of a Muslim woman in a German courtroom and the public's reaction shines a light on pervasive Islamophobia in European and North American society.
The stabbing death of Marwa al-Sherbini in a German courtroom will have ramifications in the months to come. Already, there is palpable anger in Egypt, where she was buried this week. That anger will most likely spread to other parts of the Middle East and South Asia and amongst Europe's Muslim minorities.
The Egyptian blogosphere is filled with outrage - outrage at the vicious murder of a pregnant woman in a court of law and, most notably, at the lack of attention given to this hate crime by political institutions and European media. Many note the double standard: The ghastly murder of Theo van Gogh in Amsterdam in 2004 was used as a pretext to cast suspicion on Dutch Muslims, whereas Marwa's murder in Dresden last week is the work of a "lone wolf," an immigrant from Russia (and thus not "really" German).
