Friedrich’s crusade
Minister of the Interior Friedrich seems to have a mission for his tenure: the crusade against Muslim none-integrable citizens of Germany. Already upon his taking over of the ministery almost exactly one year ago he chanted that “Islam does not belong to Germany – historically seen”. At that time he replied to a comment by former Federal President Christian Wulff. He comment was aired on the anniversary of the German unity in 2010, when Wulff asserted that “Islam belongs to Germany meanwhile”.
Friedrich previously astonished people with commts such as the Internet should not remain lawless” and recently with his recommendation for Greece to leave the Euro-Zone.
No doubt: Interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich is a ‘particular case’. That he is supposingly at war with Islam already became obvious at last year’s Islam Conference. According to an article published by Spiegel Online on March, 5th, 2011 Friedrich is quoted that two things are a prerequisite to a successful integration: “Successfull integration calls for two things: Knowledge of the societal reality in Germany – to which about four million Muslims are part of – and an explicit awareness of the christian-occidental heritage of our culture.” How deeply rooted this christian-occidental cultural heritage really is within the German population and to what extent people are aware of it must be a very interesting empirical undertaking.
Kürzlich hat Friedrich ein neues Kapitel seiner Islamophobie aufgeschlagen. In einer von seinem Ministerium in Auftrag gegebenen Studie, will er eine verstärkte Radikalisierung unter jungen Muslimen festgestellt haben. “Stunde der Angstmacher” titelte Spiegel Online folgerichtig nach Erscheinen des Papiers. Seit Donnerstag ist die Studie auf den Seiten des Bundesministerium des Inneren online verfügbar.
Glücklicherweise gibt es gleich zahlreiche kritische Stimmen, auch aus politischen Kreisen. Differenzierung ist also möglich. Bleibt die Frage, was mit einer solchen Studie bzw. mit der Art, wie sie verkauft wird, gewonnen ist? “Den Islam zeitgemäß interpretieren“, wie das Goethe-Institut titelte, mag eine Möglichkeit zur Annährung sein. Eine andere vielleicht, Mensch und Religion zu trennen: Egal ob Christ, Jude, Muslim oder Hindu. Zunächst ist ein Mensch ein Mensch. Ein Mensch, dessen Würde bekanntlich in unserem Land unantastbar ist.
Just recently, i.e. last week, Friedrich added another chapter to this Islamophobia. In a study on the authority of his ministry, he claims to have found hints on the increased radicalization among young Muslims. “moment of the scare mongers” Spiegel Online titled consequently after publication of the study. Since last thursday the study can be downloaded on the pages of the Federal Minstry of the Interior.
Fortunately there are several critical voices also from the political camp . Differentiation seems to be possible. The question remains as to whether what is the benefit of such a paper? “To interpret Islam contemporarely“, as the Goethe-Institut indexed by title may be a possibility towards rapprochement. Another one maybe to distinguish between person and religion: no matter whether Christian, Jew, Muslim or Hindu. In the first instance a person is a person. A person whose dignity is generally known as untouchable in our country.
