Old and new forms of racism in Germany: Ethnic hatred and Islamophobia revisited

Are the rising levels of Islamophobic hate crimes in Germany indicative of a new form of racism? Yes, says Yasemin Shooman, researcher at the Technical University of Berlin and director of the Jewish-Islamic Forum at Berlin’s renowned Jewish Museum. ‘Immigrant’ = ‘Muslim’ The backdrop to Shooman’s argument is the de facto Islamisation of immigration debates. While…

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Federal president Joachim Gauck refuses to meet bereaved family members

November 26   Federal President Joachim Gauck has refused to meet bereaved family members of the victims murdered by the right-wing terrorist group NSU (National Socialist Underground). The Turkish community had welcomed a meeting but the Office of the Federal President refused it.   Kenan Kolat, representative of the Turkish community criticized the reaction of…

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“Multikulti” or Assimilation? The Question of European Identity

7 February 2011 In this opinion piece, Paul Schulmeister argues that despite the doubts raised by debates concerning the integration of foreigners in Europe, the notion of European identity does exist, and must be promoted. While on the one hand, we should not exaggerate concerning the difficulties that foreigners have had in integrating, on the…

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Minaret ban reflects Europeans’ confusion about their secular identity

In this article, the author argues that Europe was not sure about its religious or secular identity and was therefore unable to deal with the challenges of the new Islamic presence. Referring to Christopher Caldwell’s recent study “Islam in Europe: Reflections on the Revolution in Europe”, the author claims that a minority with strong cultural…

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Time to Deradicalise?

The interest in resolving the social conflicts in which European Muslims are involved stretches back over the last 30 years. Muslims of Europe are more affected by unemployment and social exclusion than the rest of the population. Yet, it is not their social exclusion that raises the interest of European institutions and policymakers. Rather, the…

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