German Muslims Deny Inaction over Anti-Semitism
The head of an umbrella organization for Muslims in Germany on Monday rebuffed a call by a Jewish leader to do more to combat anti-Semitism after a rabbi was brutally attacked in Berlin.
"Muslims do not need lessons on that. Anti-Semitism is not compatible with Islam," Ali Kizilkaya, chairman of the Coordination Committee of Muslims, told the Berliner Zeitung.
The beating last Tuesday of 53-year-old rabbi Daniel Alter in front of his young daughter, allegedly by a group of Arab youths, has been roundly condemned.
The president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, urged Muslim groups to "finally deal decisively with anti-Semitism in their own ranks".
He said in Friday's edition of the Berliner Zeitung that words and sympathy were nice and honestly meant, but actions counted.
Kizilkaya said hostility to Islam also needed to be talked about when discussing anti-Semitism and added that his organization, which represents four German-based Muslim groups, was ready to talk to the Jewish community.
About 1,500 people rallied in Berlin on Sunday in support of Alter, who thanked the crowd for its support and said: "My cheekbone was broken but these guys did not break my will to stand up for dialogue between religions."
About four million Muslims live in Germany and more than 200,000 Jews.
03 September 2012, 16:09
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Arabs do not need lessons in anti semitism. Arabs embraced jews for centuries. Jewish culture flourished among muslims and christians in the middle east and north africa. It was only in Europe(eastern and western) that they were harassed. The Germans even gassed millions of them, and burnt a few million more!! Having said that, I think that muslim communities in europe (along with the jews) must try to separate the mid. east conflicts from their daily lives in Europe.
04 September 2012, 16:21
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not at all, Adolf Hitler did not press a button, and six million Jews perished as a result!! He gave orders that thousands of people executed. Hundreds of thousands of civilians throughout Europe told on their Jewish neighbors to the local Nazi authorities..resulting in the massacre of most of Europe's Jews.. and prior to that, millions of Europeans discriminated against Jews for centuries, long before the arrival of the Nazis. These are historical facts, painful, but unfortunately true. as true as the Holocaust itself. The Europeans (western) have learned from the past, and now they think that they can buy absolution and penance by their blind support for Israel. The very sad truth today is that historic hatred and discrimination of all those different has not been uprooted as a result of the holocaust, it has simply shifted to other minorities, namely Muslims, Africans, and all other 'new' immigrants.
