The citizenship test that is being used in Baden-Wurttemberg to screen out undesirable Muslims caught the attention this week of Boston Globe columnist H.D.S Greenway:
The Baden-Wurttemberg questionnaire flap is emblematic of a European-wide, post-9/11 angst that Muslim fanatics live amongst them, and that the hate that spews from a handful of mosques is not only dangerous but also incompatible with European values. Europeans are shocked by such outrages as honor killings, which really have more to do with old-fashioned, rural attitudes that some immigrants bring with them than Islam. But it's Islam that gets blamed.
There is much to be done in Germany to integrate its Muslim minorities, most of whom abhor fanaticism, and progress is being made. But the primitive Baden-Wurttemberg questionnaire approach seems likely to do more harm than good.
TooMuchCookies reports on a new regulation at some elementary schools in Berlin that require the pupils to speak only German while on school property. The political commentator Jörg Lau, writing in Die Zeit and on Islam.de condemns these heavy-handed actions against Muslims in Germany, pointing out that they work against the desired policy of full integration of Muslims into German society:
Die Politik muss ihre abwartende und überängstliche Haltung aufgeben und zusammen mit den Organisationen dafür sorgen, dass die breite Mehrheit der gesetzestreuen deutschen Muslime stärker als bisher im öffentlichen Leben repräsentiert wird. Wolfgang Schäuble hat angekündigt, Integration zu einem »ganz großen Schwerpunkt« der Regierungsarbeit zu machen (ZEIT Nr. 46/05) und alle Anstrengungen darauf zu richten, »Separatgesellschaften« zu verhindern. Wer französische Verhältnisse verhindern will, braucht aber gut verankerte Partner in den Migranten-Communities. Die muslimischen Verbände bemühen sich, solche Partner zu werden. (…)
Raddatz-Watch: I knew it was only a matter of time before the "Islam-expert" Hans-Peter Raddatz would emerge from his protective cocoon and weigh in on the developments in Iran and the victory of Hamas in the Palastinian election. In the fall Raddatz had called for police protection after his continued hate tirades against Muslims finally goaded a Muslim Web site into issuing a (pretty mild) admonishment ("May God punish Herr Raddatz for his lies.") Now Raddatz appears on a panel of "experts" on Front Page - the Web magazine of the right-wing neo-Stalinist David Horowitz (sorry, I won't link to hate sites). Here Raddatz tells us that Iran is forming an army of 20 million Jihadists who are intent on wiping out Jews first, then Christians. Also, Iran is developing "atomic rockets" with an aim of targeting Southern Europe. Raddatz continues his ridicule of any "dialogue" with Islam. I can't wait till he resurfaces on political talk shows in Germany, urging war against Iran.
On a much more positive note, the essay by Professor Georg Meggle of the University of Leipzig on war with Iran, which I partially translated , is now available in English on Telepolis in its entirety.
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