Rudi Dierick

on: Integration in Germany: Time for Majority Society to Change Its Attitude, by Melahat Kişi

This opinion is blatantly incompatible with scientific ethics and the professional standards of a scientist as it squarely denies the findings of recent scientific research.

Just one example: the author pretends "that a headscarf really is nothing more than a piece of cloth". The report 'Muslim Life in Germany' describes clearly, based upon opinions from 3000 interviewed female Muslims that the headscarf is a religious practice, a cultural habit, and also a political symbol and an issue of public order! The headscarf is indeed directly related to certain Muslims exerting social pressure and violence on Muslim women in order to force them to wear the headscarf.

In this context, if someone pretends that "a headscarf really is nothing more than a piece of cloth", that is indeed perfectly acceptable as a personal opinion, but at the same time, it is totally inacceptable for a scientist.

Qantara would better avoid mixing up those qualifications.