CAIRO: Thousands of outraged Egyptians demonstrated after the funeral prayers in Alexandria of 32-year-old Marwa Al-Sherbini, whose remains arrived at Cairo International Airport from Germany Sunday night.
Al-Sherbini was the victim of an Islamophobic crime in a Dresden courtroom, where her attacker stabbed her 18 times after she gave evidence against him in a slander case.
Ali Al-Sherbini, Marwa’s father, confirmed that his daughter’s body arrived in Cairo on June 5 at 8 pm. An ambulance then transported the coffin to Alexandria, the victim’s hometown.
The funeral was held on Monday after noon prayers at Al-Qaed Ibrahim Mosque after which she was laid to rest at the Borg Al Arab burial site.
In Germany, 2,000 people attended Al-Sherbini’s funeral prayer, which was held at noon on Sunday in Berlin’s Al Salam Mosque.
The mosque’s Imam advised Muslims to be rational in their reaction to the shocking murder and to remember that Islam is a religion of peace and does not condone violence.
German Ambassador Bernd Erbel went to the airport to offer his condolences to Al-Sherbini’s distraught relatives. He said in a statement that, “The incident is not reflective of general German sentiment towards Egyptians; Muslims in Germany are very much respected.
According to Mahmoud Abdel Maqsoud, secretary general of the Pharmacists’ Syndicate, there are efforts by the Pharmacists’ Syndicate in Europe, especially in Germany, to pursue the legal case against Al-Sherbini’s murderer.
Her father told Al-Shorouk newspaper that the victim’s brother, Tarek Al-Sherbini, will take all the legal measures against everyone who played a part in the unfortunate incident which led to the death of his sister.
The local council of Alexandria announced its intention to name a street in Alexandria after Al-Sherbini, to honor her memory.
According to Al-Akhbar newspaper, the streets of Germany witnessed demonstrations of hundreds of outraged Arabs and Muslims.
Feelings ran high online as people reacted to the shocking crime.
“Heinous is an understatement, posted ‘SuppressedNews’ on a You Tube video titled
“Marwa Al-Sherbini Muslim woman stabbed to death 18 times in a German court because of hijab.
A Facebook group called “Marwa Al-Sherbini, we will always remember you created by Egyptian Jasmine Sharnouby was able to draw an astonishing 1,403 members within hours.
However, the death of Al-Sherbini has not received significant attention in foreign press. News of her murder was available via the Associated Press and Agence France Presse. But very few media outlets outside of Germany and Egypt have picked up the story.
Die Welt, Dresdener Neueste Nachrichten and Frankfurter Rundschau all reported the story, with varying degrees of comprehensiveness and alacrity.
Two referred to the event as a “bloodbath. The Local, an English-language online paper, carried the AFP piece as well. Al-Jazeera covered the story with some delay.
Tarek Al-Sherbini, told Amr Adib, host of the popular talk show Al-Qahira Al-Youm, “Germany is cold but “Arabs in Germany are acting as if Marwa was their own sister.
He attributed the crime to xenophobia but also blames the German government. “I hold the German government wholly responsible for the death of my sister, he said on the show.
Egypt’s Ambassador to Germany, Ramzi Ezz Eddine told the independent Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper on Saturday that the embassy has dedicated a team to follow up on the incident and its aftermath. Ezz Eddine added that the embassy will sue the German man for murder.
Al-Sherbini was at a children’s playground in Dreseden last August when she asked her would-be murderer, Alex W., to allow her son to use the swing. Alex W. swung back with “You’re a terrorist because she wore a hijab.
Angered by his comment, Al-Sherbini filed a slander suit, which she won. He was fined ?780, which he appealed.
At the courtroom during the appeal hearing on Wednesday, the German man of Russian descent stabbed Al-Sherbini to death in front of her three-year-old son, as well as assaulted her husband Elwi Ali Okaz, who is still in a coma.
Okaz was also accidentally shot in the foot by courtroom security. Before slipping back into a coma, he reportedly asked his sister Abeer to take care of their son Moustafa. -Additional reporting by Sasha Williams and Noah Rayman
