Government & Politics

German interior minister presents his migration master plan German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has presented his long-awaited asylum 'master plan.' But he did not include the last-minute compromises made with coalition partners last week, which averted a government crisis.

(Deutsche Welle) Interior Minister Horst Seehofer finally got to present his migration “master plan” to the press on Tuesday, a month after it was blocked at the last minute by Chancellor Angela Merkel, precipitating a crisis in the German government that almost […]

Crime

German Jewish groups: German NGOs must fight anti-Semitism if they want public funds After several high-profile incidents of anti-Semitic violence, Germany's Jewish community has had enough. They have appealed to the government to institute a kind of anti-Semitism oath for groups seeking public funding.

(Deutsche Welle) Just last week, a man wearing the Star of David was beaten down and kicked right in the center of Berlin. Some weeks earlier, a similar incident in Germany’s capital caused public outrage and sparked a nationwide debate on anti-Semitism […]

Books

Germany’s Thilo Sarrazin in court over controversial book on Islam His controversial views have stirred much debate in Germany. Now Thilo Sarrazin has written a new book about Islam — and is battling his erstwhile publisher in court over it.

(Deutsche Welle) His highly controversial books sell in the millions. It all began with “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (“Germany is doing away with itself”). Thilo Sarrazin’s 2010 book stimulated a fiery debate over German immigration policy and migrants from Islamic countries. While […]

Academics & Education

Anti-Semitism in German schools to be tackled with anti-bullying commissioners German Family Minister Franziska Giffey wants to send bullying prevention experts to schools to curb a rise in anti-Jewish attacks. Berlin schools, in particular, have seen anti-Semitic bullying in recent months.

(Deutsche Welle) Family Minister Franziska Giffey plans to fund 170 bullying prevention experts, who are to be sent to selected German schools, she told Thursday’s edition of German daily Rheinische Post. Asked if anti-Semitism is a growing problem in schools now that Germany […]