Two trials having to do with the murder of Muslims began this week in Europe. One is the international prosecution in The Hague of Radovan Karadzic, the political leader whose forces were responsible for countless Muslim deaths during the war in Bosnia. He is on trial for crimes against humanity which center around the massacre of Muslim men and boys in Srebenica. Meanwhile, in Dresden, Germany, a German man has gone on trial for the murder of Marwa Al-Sherbini, popularly known as the hijab martyr. Al-Sherbini originally sued the man for his abusive taunts aimed at her for wearing the hijab. She won but during an appeal, the man pulled out a knife and stabbed her multiple times. Her husband, who jumped in to try to save her, was severely injured when the security guards shot bullets at him. It is outrageous to know that the guards didn't stop the man from stabbing the woman to death but shot her husband when he tried to save her. This is all delicate territory when it comes to sorting out the motivations for those who committed these atrocities. Clearly, Karadzic's crime against Muslims is, indeed, a crime against humanity. His actions were genocidal and although concentrated on Bosnian Muslim population, were an affront to all human beings. They were born out of deep-seated resentment that stretches back to pre-Ottoman Empire days, resentment that Communist domination of that region oppressed but did nothing to resolve. Which, perhaps, makes his crimes even worse. They stem from frictions in a world that no longer exists. The German case also spotlights the genuine resentment of Muslims. The attacker is clearly a racist hatemonger who most likely would have picked out another Muslim to attack if Al-Sherbini had not presented herself as a potential victim. The murderer deserves to have the full weight of the law come down on him and he should be locked away for the rest of his life if not worse. It is impossible to maintain that this case represents merely the murder of an innocent woman by a deranged human being. __
