A fire in front of a restaurant in Hanover heats up. The Hanover police speak of an unknown cause, but the result of the investigation does not want to be waited for. In no time there is talk of an “arson attack on a mosque”.
Hanover police report
There was a fire in a snack bar in Hanover’s Nordstadt district during the night from Monday to Tuesday. This restaurant is located in the same building as the resident mosque. Regarding this incident, the press portal of the Hanover police states on May 30, 2023, as of 3:31 p.m.:
During the night from Monday to Tuesday, May 30th, 2023, the outside area of a restaurant in the Nordstadt district of Hanover caught fire. The cause of the fire is not yet clear. Nobody was injured by the fire. The police are looking for witnesses to the incident.
The press release also states that the fire was “reported at a location on ‘Weidendamm’ Street” at around 1:20 a.m. The flames had already been extinguished by “attentive passers-by” before the fire brigade arrived on site. Some chairs were damaged by the resulting heat and the facade and a window were also damaged. Since the restaurant was closed at the time, there were no injuries. Fire investigators went to work on Tuesday. It is being investigated in all directions and the police are now looking for witnesses, especially the unknown people who already put out the fire before the fire brigade arrived.
The investigation also includes determining the cause of the fire.
In summary: fire in front of a restaurant, cause of the fire unclear, investigations are ongoing.
The voices of the spiritual world
But the headlines of many a media as well as the statements of “clerics” suggested something completely different. It seems to be clear even before the investigation was completed that it was an arson attack. Even mentioned in detail, with the help of so-called Molotov cocktails. The title of this report: “Unknown persons carry out an arson attack on a mosque”.
The evangelical press service (epd) uncritically accepts the statements of so many supposed clairvoyants from their profession, although it is clear from their own article published on “evangelisch.de” that the cause of the fire is unclear. Title of this report: “Bishop Meister expresses dismay after possible attack on mosque”.
In this report, as a prelude to the comment by the Hanover State Bishop Ralf Meister, the statement by the police “outside of a restaurant” is reworded without further ado “in the building of a mosque”. The evangelical regional bishop commented on the incident in front of a restaurant as follows:
It is appalling and shameful that there have been repeated attacks on Muslim institutions and places of worship in Germany in recent times.
Meister also affirmed that the evangelical church is “doing its utmost” to ensure that fellow Muslims in Germany can feel safe practicing their faith at all times. This must not be endangered by “cowardly attacks” and therefore the church “stands in solidarity with the Muslim communities”. The regional bishop also declared that he wanted to pay a solidarity visit together with representatives of the Jewish community.
The chairman of the Muslim regional association “Schura”, Recep Bilgen, also seems to know more than the press report from the Hanover police reveals. He explained via Twitter:
30 years after the terrorist attack in Solingen, the largest mosque in Hanover was attacked last night. We demand complete clarification and the protection of our places of worship.
Hot tempers
Tempers seem to be running high. Another explanation for this “advance knowledge” about still completely open investigation results could be the aim of more and more such heated moods. It is astonishing that the results of the investigations carried out on site can apparently not be waited for. Instead, the picture, which is not yet fixed at all, is placed in a prefabricated frame and the truth , as so often, draws the short straw.
So. Await the results of the investigation. If it was actually an arson attack, the public can rest assured that they will hear about it many times. If there is no attack, then the interested party will probably have to obtain this information on their own initiative.
Update:
After initial investigations and media reports, there is increasing suspicion of arson
