An Egyptian Muslim woman was killed in a German courtroom by a man convicted of insulting her religion.

The brutal killing of the pregnant Marwa al-Sherbini, 32, has raised a lot of questions about the rise of right wing fanaticism in Europe.

Al-Sherbini was stabbed 18 times by a German man of Russian descent, formally identified only as Axel W, last week as she was about to give evidence against him as he appealed against his conviction for calling her a "terrorist" for her wearing a headscarf.

While the German authorities focus on court security, we ask, what about the underlying problem - the motivation behind the attack?

Inside Story discusses with guests: Maleiha Malik, a professor of law at King's College, London and author of Anti-Muslim Prejudice: Past and Present; Sulaiman Wilms, a media spokesperson for the European Muslim council and editor of a German newspaper, and Douglas Murray, the director of the Centre for Social Cohesion and author of Neoconservatism: Why We Need It.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Thursday, July 9, 2009.