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yesterday
On a Friday morning, nothing about the subway platform suggested danger. People were late. A train was approaching. The familiar choreography of a European city moved forward without pause, footsteps, screens, the quiet impatience of commuters waiting for metal doors to open. Hudhaifa Al-Mashhadani was standing on the platform at the Rathaus Neukölln subway station in Berlin, waiting for the train. According to his account, the attack came without warning. He never saw the man. The shove came from behind, sudden and violent, timed, he says, to the moment the train entered the station. It was not chaotic. It was directed. As the train arrived, the air shifted. The edge of the platform was suddenly too close. Al-Mashhadani reacted instinctively. He did not fall onto the tracks. He twisted forward, stumbled, and managed to keep his balance. As the doors opened, he rushed into a carriage. The attacker followed him inside. Al-Mashhadani says the man struck him on the head and shoulder and grabbed at his jacket. He says the train doors closed quickly. Al-Mashhadani believes that the decision likely saved his life. As the train began to move, he looked through the window. The man left behind on the platform made two gestures: first, drawing two fingers across his throat; then pointing to his eyes and back at Al-Mashhadani. Al-Mashhadani says the attacker did not speak. In his assessment, that silence was deliberate. In his experience, he says, those who intend serious harm often avoid speech. Words create identification. Silence leaves only fear.

Why Hudhaifa Al-Mashhadani

Hudhaifa Al-Mashhadani is an Iraqi-born Arab educator living in Germany. That description should........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)