Advances in Eurabianism
While in the United States merely hinting that a presidential candidate might have once worn a turban is enough to mount a smear campaign, Germany is labouring mightily on the ground for real progress in Euro-Muslim relations—liberal Europe's battle for hearts and minds, if you will. Surely, having a proportionately higher population of devout Muslims in the EU adds necessity to improved integration, but looking at the evidence, the US has plenty to learn.
The rage of Muslim offense at the sacreligious West reared its head last week in Germany in two high profile cases: (1) Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble drew Islam ire when he told the German weekly Die Zeit, referring to Danish papers' republishing of Mohammed "All European newspapers should print the [Mohammed] caricatures. We also think they're pathetic, but the use of press freedom is no reason to resort to violence."—a quote he later revised, affirming the importance of religion to all people in the 21st century. (2) A Berlin art exhibition temporarily closed after receiving threats of violence from Islamist groups for displaying a poster, one of 22 other religion-critical works, with the words "stupid stone" written above the sacred mosque in Mecca. It is unclear if or when the exhibit will be re-opened.
Alexa Dvorson with the BBC reports on the Berlin-based rescue organisation, Hatun Surucu, named after a Kurdish woman shot to death three years ago in an honour killing organized by her three brothers. She has a chilling conversation with three youths on the streets of Berlin—Turkish, Kurdish and Palestinian—who tell Dvorson they wouldn't hesitate to kill their sister either should she have premarital relations and bring shame to her family. The podcast of Dvorson's story, featured on Radio 4's weekly From Our Own Correspondent, can be heard here; it starts at 6:30.
One clear way to foster inter-cultural understanding is through dialog. The Germany-based site Qantara ('bridge' in Arabic)—a joint effort of Germany's Federal Center for Political Education, Deutsche Welle, the Goethe Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations and the German Foreign Office—has been conceived for just that purpose. With a broad offering of multi-media, including thought-provoking essays, forums and slide shows, the site is at the forefront of steps toward a moderate Islam, such as that developing in Turkey, and seeking common ground between sacred and secular.
Finally, Berlin-based conceptual designer, Markus Kison, has devised a gadget he calls the CharmingBurka (pictured). The burka-imbedded chip allows a veiled Muslim woman to voluntarily transmit a photo of herself via Bluetooth without breaking the Sharia law of the Koran. No one seems to know exactly what to make of it (is he serious? would a Muslim woman ever use it? it's a joke, right?) but one thing is certain: it's inspiring all kinds of dialog. Could an artist ask for anything more?
