Bitter record for Germany
Every second person supports anti-Muslim statements
06/29/2023, 3:01 p.m
A first comprehensive report on Muslim hostility attests Germany a bitter testimony. Many Muslims have to endure exclusion and discrimination, including violence, on an almost daily basis. To prevent prejudice, experts are urging the federal government to act.
Independent experts recommend that the federal government appoint a federal commissioner to combat anti-Muslim hostility. He or she should be assisted by a council of experts. This is one of the suggestions made in its final report by the twelve-strong Independent Expert Group on Muslim Hostility (UEM), convened in September 2020 by the then Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. The paper entitled “Muslimphobia – A German Balance Sheet” was presented in Berlin. The report is aimed at all people and organizations in the country, the authors assume – because it is crucial that those who are not directly discriminated against act in solidarity.
The expert group defines Muslim hostility as “the attribution of general, largely unchangeable, backward and threatening characteristics towards Muslims and people perceived as Muslim. This consciously or unconsciously creates a ‘foreignness’ or even hostility”. For those affected, these are not isolated events, but recurring and sometimes very stressful experiences. They experience exclusion and discrimination up to and including violence.
The phenomenon is widespread, write the experts from science and associations. According to the studies, about every second person agrees with anti-Muslim statements. Prejudices against immigrants and Muslims as followers of an allegedly particularly “backward” religion overlap, and those affected are stigmatized twice over. Muslim women reported that they were not perceived as self-determined, while Muslim men reported that they were perceived as aggressive and violent.
Binding targets for state institutions
The experts recommend the Federal Government a strategy to promote the participation of people “with Muslim identity references” in all state institutions – with binding targets, public relations and targeted campaigns. There should be further training for employees of state institutions such as teachers, educators or police officers. Dealing with Islamophobia must be made compulsory in schools. Studies critical of racism should be initiated and promoted.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser, who, according to her house, did not receive the report herself because of another important appointment, promised to deal with it intensively. Muslim life is a matter of course in Germany, everyone should have the same opportunities and rights. “The findings of this first comprehensive report on Muslim hostility in Germany are all the more bitter: Many of the 5.5 million Muslims in Germany experience exclusion and discrimination in everyday life – up to and including hatred and violence.” It is very important to make this visible and to create awareness of the resentments that are still widespread.