A regional politician’s proposal that prayers in German mosques should be said in German was greeted with dismay yesterday amid fears that anti-Muslim attacks may spread over the border from the Netherlands.
The education minister of the region of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Annette Schavan, made her radical proposal at the weekend because, she said, “we can no longer accept that prayers in mosques should be said in languages that cannot be understood outside the Muslim community.”
Schavan’s proposal comes in the wake of the torching of mosques, schools and churches in the Netherlands following the killing of film director Theo van Gogh, whose work was strongly critical of Muslims.
Her suggestion drew a sharp reaction from the leaders of the more than two and a half million Turks who live in Germany. “This is nonsense — terror can be spread in any language,” said Kenan Kolat, the co-president of the Turkish Community in Germany.
Cornelie Sonntag-Wolgast, a representative of the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) on the national parliamentary committee for domestic affairs also criticized the proposal.
“We cannot suspect each and every person... of violence just because they say their prayers in Arabic,” said Sonntag-Wolgast.
Volker Beck, a spokesman for the Greens, said Schavan’s proposal was “completely exaggerated.”
However, Germany is introducing a controversial law in January allowing “preachers of hate” to be deported.
The law will also make German language lessons compulsory for newly arrived immigrants.