### Reader’s Letter to The Guardian, 31st August 2024 ###
Dear Editor,
With the elections in Thuringia tomorrow, Germany certainly has moved into a very weird place …
All this morning we have been listening to WDR5, a mainstream radio-station, with the news seemingly “stuck on repeat” on a number of “Standard Hobby-Horses”: That is to say news about the threat from “radicalised Muslims”, from “the far right” and from “populist parties”. Then, on top of this, we have news about the deportation of migrants to Afghanistan and how the east of Germany needs to be “included” and “saved”, something which has, apparently, only just been realised now … over 30 years since reunification!
Yes, the media has gone into a frantic frenzy in anticipation of tomorrow’s vote, something which fills me with frustration because …
a.) With the deportations (following the killings in Solingen last week) the government seems to have moved into exactly the same territory as the much-vilified AfD.
b.) The biggest elephants in the room, war Ukraine and slaughter in Gaza, are glaringly absent. Despite the fact that Germany is supplying weapons to both these conflicts.
c.) No one seems to have grasped the simple fact that the slaughter in Gaza is a massive driver for the radicalisation of Muslims.
d.) And what about the topic of climate and environment? In my view these should be absolutely top of the agenda! So why have they dropped off the radar?
Here, the fact that fear-mongering, bogeymen and a very skewed view of reality have replaced real issues, fills me with deep sadness.
Yours,
Alan Mitcham
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