Academics & Education

Frankfurt teachers impose Ramadan rules on 5th graders Students were forbidden from drinking water in class because three of the 27 children were fasting.

(European Conservative) In the name of tolerance, diversity, and inclusion, some public school teachers in the Frankfurt metropolitan area in Germany are unilaterally imposing Islam — arguably the world’s most intolerant religion — on their pre-teen students. For the Islamic holy month […]

Clerics & Preachers

German MP: Taxpayers should fund German mosques to prevent radicalisation Critics agree that foreign funding should be banned, but say German Muslims should fund their own mosques.

(European Conservative) A top Christian Democrat politician wants to amend the constitution if necessary, so that German taxes can be used to pay for mosques.  Jens Spahn — a former minister and deputy leader of the opposition center-right CDU/CSU’s parliamentary group — […]

Government & Politics

Germany’s CDU redefines stance on Islam in new manifesto Under Friedrich Merz, Germany's Christian Democratic Union is revising its manifesto, sparking controversy with its new stance on Islam and migration. The party's new direction marks a departure from the Merkel era.

(Deutsche Welle) The new color scheme a few months back was only a cosmetic step. Now, Germany’s center-right Christian Democrats are going under the hood. For the first time since 2007, the party that ruled Germany for most of the republic’s young […]

Citizenship

Germany: CDU fears Islamist bloc as millions of Turkish migrants to be granted voting rights Progressive plans to naturalise millions of migrants, many of them Turkish, [are] unsettling German conservatives as Turkey continues its collision course with the West.

(European Conservative) New German citizenship laws that expand voting rights to up to 2.5 million recent migrants are unnerving even the usually complacent CDU, with one conservative lawmaker airing fears that the new arrangement could enable a potential Islamist bloc to attain […]

Demonstrations

‘Clash of civilizations’ looms over EU elections Far-right parties are cashing in on decades of campaigning against Islam and migration, as they move to the center ground.

(Politico) Geert Wilders may be just the tip of the iceberg. Following the anti-Islam politician’s shock election win in the Netherlands, European elites are nervously scanning the political landscape for signs of what’s to come — including further surprise wins from far-right […]

Crime

AfD Bavaria chief beaten up in organised migrant attack While the Bavarian candidate is under medical observation, the German establishment ponders a ban on the rapidly growing populist party.

(European Conservative) The chairman of the AfD in the Bavarian district of Augsburg and candidate for state legislature is nursing severe wounds after being set upon in what he describes as a politically motivated attack by migrants. Andreas Jurca was returning home […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Germany: Hostility toward Muslims is widespread How great is the resentment, racism and discrimination against Germany's 5.5 million Muslims? The Federal Interior Ministry's findings paint a bleak picture.

(Deutsche Welle) A hostile attitude toward Muslims is widespread in large sections of German society. Its manifestations are an everyday reality. One in two people in Germany agrees with anti-Muslim statements. These are the findings published this Thursday (June 29) by the Independent […]

Interfaith

Antisemitism ‘deeply rooted’ in German society A new study has bad news on antisemitism in Germany. Far-right sympathizers and observant Muslims bear the brunt of the blame, but all corners of society have their blindspots.

(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s security services registered 3,028 antisemitic crimes in 2021. That is the highest official count since police statistics started tracking the figures. Now, the American Jewish Committee contracted the Allensbach Institute to conduct a representative survey on societal attitudes toward […]

Government & Politics

German police: 91 Islamist returnees from Mid East ‘threats to society’ Germany's security services refer to people who they consider capable of serious acts of violence — including terrorist attacks — as 'threats.'

(Deutsche Welle) Police in Germany labeled 91 Islamist returnees from Syria and Iraq as threats to society, according to information supplied to the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, news agency DPA reported on Saturday. The list, supplied by Germany’s interior ministry, […]

Children & Teens

Moria migrants: Germany, France will take in 400 children from Greece’s refugee camp Berlin and Paris said they plan to move 400 minors from the Greek migrant camp destroyed in a blaze. Angela Merkel said she hoped other EU nations would assume a 'shared responsibility' and accept some of the minors.

(Deutsche Welle) German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to a deal that would allow 400 unaccompanied minors from the Greek migrant camp to move to other parts of the European Union, Merkel confirmed on Thursday. Merkel, whose country […]

Books

Germany: SPD formally expels former Berlin senator Thilo Sarrazin An arbitration committee upheld the Social Democrats' decision to expel Sarrazin over Islamophobic rhetoric. The ruling marked the party's third attempt to oust him after almost a decade fighting in court.

(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) have finally managed to expel controversial politician turned author Thilo Sarrazin, who has published a series of books over the last decade bearing little resemblance to the party’s stated positions. Sarrazin’s books criticizing the lack of […]

Government & Politics

Berlin police officer accused of leaking information to AfD after Christmas market attack A police officer allegedly leaked information about the Berlin Christmas market attack to friends in the far-right AfD. One of the recipients is a suspect in right-wing attacks in the German capital.

(Deutsche Welle) German prosecutors are investigating a police officer for allegedly distributing internal police information on the 2016 Berlin terror attack to friends in the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, public broadcasters reported Friday. The officer, himself a member of the […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Germany’s Seehofer touts expert panel on Islamophobia after Hanau killings An expert group to tackle Islamophobia in Germany has been floated by Chancellor Angela Merkel's interior minister. The move follows a racist multiple shooting last week and precedes an integration summit in Berlin.

(Deutsche Welle) Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced on Saturday the creation of an “independent expert group on Islamophobia” (Muslimfeindlichkeit), saying it would emulate current ministerial panels on anti-Semitism and antiziganism, meaning hostility toward Jewish and Roma communities respectively. His call follows a charge […]

Academics & Education

German authorities, politicians divided on niqab, burqa ban Politicians across party lines agree that the niqab and the burqa are out of place at schools and universities. Some, however, fear that a ban could hamper integration into German society.

(Deutsche Welle) There are very few women and girls in Germany wearing a full-face veil such as the niqab or the burqa — most likely a mere two-digit number. A recent verdict handed down by a Hamburg court, however, has sparked a […]

Academics & Education

Would Turkish schools in Germany increase Erdogan’s influence abroad? The German government is working out a possible framework for opening Turkish schools in three German cities. DW dives into what that would look like in practice.

(Deutsche Welle) The German government announced on Friday negotiations with Ankara to create a framework for Turkish schools to be opened in Berlin, Cologne and Frankfurt, sparking debate over the schools’ role in increasing Turkish President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s political influence abroad. […]

Government & Politics

Germany deported more than 90 ‘potential terrorists’ Since 2016, Germany has deported a number of people suspected of being willing or capable of carrying out terrorist attacks. The government figures were released in response to a parliamentary inquiry.

(Deutsche Welle) Germany has deported 90 “Gefährder” and other “relevant persons” since the 2016 attack on a Berlin Christmas market, according to German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, which cited a government response to a parliamentary inquiry on Friday. In Germany a “Gefährder” (lit. “endangerer”) […]

Books

Controversial German ex-politician’s speech canceled after threats Social Democrat politician Thilo Sarrazin, who has written several books criticizing Islam, was due to appear in Bremen. Local media said staff were put under pressure to drop the event amid planned left-wing protests.

(Deutsche Welle) Thilo Sarrazin, who has been accused by Islamic organizations of racism and damaging Germany’s reputation, will no longer appear at a private business club in the northwestern city of Bremen next month. The Weser-Kurier newspaper cited organizers as saying the […]

Government & Politics

Germany: Terror victims to receive better compensation After criticism that the victims of the 2016 Berlin terrorist attack were left behind, Germany has passed new laws on damages. Victims will be more speedily and more generously compensated.

(Deutsche Welle) Future victims of terrorist attacks in Germany will get better and speedier [compensation] after a new law was passed in the Bundestag on Thursday evening. The modernizing move came after criticism of the treatment received by the victims of the […]

Clerics & Preachers

Muslim, Jewish leaders team up in ‘exemplary’ European initiative Imams and rabbis from across Europe are attending a summit in Italy organized by the Muslim Jewish Leadership Council. Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and right-wing populism are all topics they'd like to address better.

(Deutsche Welle) Although the site is remote, it has plenty of symbolism: Beginning this Sunday, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders from some 15 countries will meet in the southern Italian city of Matera, one of Europe’s 2019 cultural capitals, to take part […]