Germany’s new Interior Minister has entered his office with a bang. Speaking to Germany’s leading tabloid, Bild, Horst Seehofer from the Christian Social Union (CSU) party triumphantly announced that Islam was “not part of Germany” or “did not belong to Germany” (Der Islam gehört nicht zu Deutschland), depending on the translation chosen.1 This quote made…
After months of arduous negotiations following September 2017’s federal elections, the new German government was sworn in on March 14. Complex personnel choices After the cornerstones of the coalition deal had been agreed upon in early February, the three participating parties – Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its conservative Bavarian sister party CSU, and…
The French are more tolerant of Muslims than before, indicates a recent report by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH). Muslims “remain, however, one of the least accepted minorities,” the Commission found. Admittedly, 81% of respondents believed that “French Muslims are French like anyone else,” and 82% said “it is necessary to allow…
The ‘Integrated Communities Strategy’ green paper sets out “an ambitious long-term plan of action to tackle the root causes of poor integration and create a stronger, more united Britain”. It has invited submissions on this subject to its official consultation, which is running over the next twelve weeks. The paper has drawn criticism for its emphasis on minority communities, and ignorance of how spending cuts have hampered strategies already in place to achieve the paper’s proposed aims.
In an article appearing on Qantara, Deutsche Welle‘s online platform seeking to foster cross-cultural dialogue with, broadly speaking, the Islamic world, journalist Tonio Postel takes stock of Muslim life in Germany between participation and exclusion, integration and Islamophobia. Growing participation of Muslim migrants in society The exercise is a welcome one. Given the plethora of more…
