Islamophobia
All topics-
Interview with British Pakistani novelist Tariq Mehmood
Fighting warplanes with words
Tariq Mehmood′s latest novel ″Song of Gulzarina″ is an arresting tale of love, loss and longing set against the backdrop of a never-ending war. In interview with Changiz M. Varzi, the award-winning author addresses issues of identity and how racism and Islamophobia can leave an indelible mark
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The nature of Islam
Neither violence nor peace
The holy scriptures contain passages that can be used to justify both violence and peace. It depends entirely on us religious people what we do with this heritage, writes Armin Langer
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Theresa May, UK Muslims and the fight against terrorism
Hoist with her own petard
A few days before the UK general election, Prime Minister Theresa May announced a plan to curtail human rights in an attempt to catch Islamist terrorists. It was all too clear that she was targeting the Muslim minority per se as a tactic to win. She failed. Yet her outrageous claims are not likely to go away soon. Commentary by Alexander Goerlach
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Politics of remembrance
Cracks in the edifice?
Are those who remember past atrocities protected from committing the same mistakes? Germany has spent over 40 years addressing its past, yet even there recent events on the global stage have seen populist prejudices enter mainstream debate. By Sonja Hegasy
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Austria′s president and the Islamophobia debate
The courage of one man
By criticising the fear of Islam that is rife in Austria, the country's new president, Alexander Van der Bellen, is sending out an important signal of opposition to both the racism that has become socially acceptable once again in Europe and the stigmatisation of Muslims. By Farid Hafez
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Interview with the French-Turkish sociologist Nilufer Gole
"Islam is taking root in Europe"
Sociologist Nilufer Gole talked to Muslims throughout Europe who would otherwise never get to have their say. The results of her remarkable study have now been published in German translation. Interview by Karen Kruger
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Germany′s integration debate revisited
Piling on the pressure
What exactly does integration mean? And just how much allegiance may a society demand of its migrants? Such questions are currently the topic of vigorous debate – especially following the recent referendum result in Turkey. Expecting that migrants should do all the adapting in order to conform to the majority society will, however, only stir up conflict, warns Claudia Mende
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Geert Wilders and the right-wing populists
Heads they win, tails they win
Geert Wilders' far-right populist party is neck-to-neck in the polls with the governing VVD in the run-up to elections in the Netherlands next week. While it′s unlikely to be part of the next government, many people fear its ideas will be implemented. Thessa Lageman reports from The Hague
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An Iraqi artist on Nauru
″My art is my saviour″
Currently housing 380 asylum seekers, Australia′s notorious Nauru detention facility bears witness to a brutal immigration policy. Conditions there remain the focus of international criticism. One Iraqi detainee, Abbas Al Aboudi, has turned to art in a bid to preserve his sanity. By Farid Farid
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Muslim theologian Farid Esack
More than just an "Israel critic"
Some German commentators have labelled the South African theologian Farid Esack an "anti-Semite". But this over-simplification of his views on Israel does little justice to the intellectual and activist, who champions human rights and a liberal reading of Islam, says Daniel Bax
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Islam the bogeyman
Tarred with the same brush
The fear of Islam is socially construed and tied to societally entrenched anti-Muslim racism that fails to distinguish between Islam and Islamism. Essay by Andreas Bock
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Non-fiction: Mohamed Amjahid′s "Unter Weißen"
"Racism, like a plastic bottle in the sea…"
In his book, "Unter Weißen" (Among Whites) just published in Germany, journalist Mohamed Amjahid examines the stereotype of the "lust-driven, primitive and dangerous 'Oriental'". He holds up a mirror to the white majority in society, exposing the racist nature of myths of "otherness" and showing what it means to live among whites as a non-white person. By Ozan Keskinkilic