Daily Inspiration Quote by Otto Schily

Schily’s move here is blunt on purpose: he collapses the comforting geography of “terrorism” as something imported into Europe and replaces it with an unnerving proximity. “Locals, that is, Turks” isn’t just clarification; it’s a rhetorical snap of the fingers, designed to jolt an audience that would rather treat violence as a foreign contagion. The Theo van Gogh reference does similar work. By stressing that the murderer and his supporters came from “the Muslim community,” he yanks the discussion away from border control and toward questions of integration, allegiance, and internal security.

The context matters. In the early 2000s, European politics was recalibrating after 9/11, Madrid, Istanbul, and the Van Gogh assassination. Schily, speaking as a German interior minister-era public servant, is arguing for a policy lens that treats radicalization as homegrown infrastructure rather than an external invasion. The intent is less about forensic accuracy than about permission: permission for the state to expand surveillance, tighten policing, and demand assimilationist “values” tests while claiming realism rather than prejudice.

The subtext is where the line turns volatile. “Part of the Muslim community” quietly shifts from describing specific networks to implying a broader milieu of complicity. It frames Muslim identity as the relevant organizing fact, not political ideology, social exclusion, or specific extremist recruitment pathways. That framing can be politically effective - it produces urgency and clarity - but it also risks laundering a collective suspicion into the language of public safety.