Bremen is the third German state to recognize Islamic organizations as official religious bodies. Holidays, funerals and pastoral care will be regulated by state contracts. Other states will likely follow suit.

For Erol Pürlü, spokesman for the German Muslim coordination council, the signing of the contract with the city-state of Bremen marked a "day of joy". Three Muslim associations were officially recognized as religious bodies. "That sends a clear signal that Islam belongs to Germany," said Pürlü.

Bremen is the third German state to confer this status on Islamic organizations. Hamburg made a similar agreement last November, while Hesse officially recognized two Islamic organizations and allowed them to offer their own religious classes in schools in December.

Deutsche Welle, 29 January 2013

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A new study warns that Islamophobia in Germany is becoming culturally acceptable, as bigotry leaves the confines of ethnicity and moves towards religious bias against Muslims.

"It's no longer 'the Turks' but 'the Muslims'," Wilhelm Heitmeyer, head of the institute for research of interdisciplinary conflict and violence at Bielefeld University told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung on Monday. Research has led him to be concerned general xenophobia had given way to a growing rejection of Islam in Germany.

His theory is not new – a study from Münster university found that in 2010, 66 percent of western Germans and 74 percent of eastern Germans had a negative attitude towards Muslims.

And a more recent study from the Allensbach Institute suggested that this had not changed over the past two years, as only 22 percent of Germans asked said they agreed with Germany's ex-President Christian Wulff's statement that Islam, like Christianity, was a part of Germany.

Heitmeyer also found that Islamophobia seemed to exist not only in the far-right, but was also present in more left-leaning and centrist circles. The sentiment was identifiable throughout the country, from the highest echelons of society to the lowest.

Neo-Nazi expert from Düsseldorf's technical university Alexander Häusler told the newspaper that while discriminating against an entire ethnicity was a taboo, religion-based racism was generally considered to be exercising freedom of opinion. 

"Criticism of Islam or Muslims appear acceptable, because it is not seen as classically racist," said Häusler.

German Muslims have also voiced concern about growing anti-Islamic sentiment. Head of the Central Council for Muslims in Germany Aiman Mazyek told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung that police and intelligence officials still refused to rank violent attacks towards Muslims independently, but grouped it within the broad category of xenophobia.

"By doing this, hostility against Islam is being blurred out," said Mazyek. He said the government should publish a yearly racism report.

The Local, 7 January 2013

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An umbrella organisation representing Muslims in Germany has called for a "denazification" of German state authorities, and demanded they refrain from using the terms "Islamism" and "Islamist" to describe radical Muslims.

The German Muslim coordination council (KRM) presented a dossier on Wednesday on the botched investigation into the National Socialist Underground (NSU) terrorist cell.

German Muslims say the debacle – in which authorities failed to prevent the murders of nine immigrants and one police woman over a decade – was no accident, wrote the Frankfurter Rundschau on Thursday.

The investigation into the murders was prejudiced, said the KRM, a result of a distorted view of Islam in Germany and a widespread stigmatization of Muslims.

The council even went so far as to demand a "denazification" of German state authorities and officials, and that all responsible state authorities and politicians should feel the consequences of their failure to detect the right-wing extremist terrorist cell.

In recognition of the seriousness of the crimes, Germany should hold annual memorials for the victims of the NSU, said the council, and teach children about the murders in school history lessons as "a problem arising out of the Nazi past."

Spokesman Erol Pürlü told the press, "Those who murder Muslims today, will murder those who don't comply with them tomorrow."

Further demands laid out in the dossier included creating a special category for anti-Islamic attacks in crime statistics, and for officials to stop using the words "Islamist" and "Islamism" to refer to radical Islam. 

Pürlü emphasised that the council had no doubt that Germany was a functioning democracy and praised the work of the parliamentary NSU investigation committee tasked with looking into the failure of German authorities in the case.

Meanwhile, Aiman Mazyek, Chairman of the Central Council of Muslims, said he supported a ban on the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD). The heads of Germany's 16 federal states earlier this month backed outlawing the party, but a previous legal challenge failed in 2003.

Mayzek added that the council was concerned about growing racism in German society, and called for the state to co-operate with Muslim organisations in fighting the trend, wrote the paper.

Mayzek said that while he could not deny the existence of radical Muslims in Germany, he felt the surrounding debate was too heated and that it was wrong to play off right-wing extremists against Muslim extremists.

The Local, 13 December 2012

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The region of Bremen in northern Germany on Friday said it would be the second of the country's 16 states to recognise Muslim holidays.

"I am delighted because Islam and Muslims are part of our city and part of our life," said the mayor of the city state, Jens Böhrnsen, after signing the deal with representatives of the local Muslim community. The agreement signed reflects "mutual recognition and respect of mutual values," added the mayor.

The deal will allow members of the community to take days off work for Muslim celebrations, although they will not receive paid holiday.

It needs to be ratified in the Bremen state parliament, as well as by city authorities. Two weeks ago, the city state of Hamburg signed a similar agreement.

Under that accord, Muslims in Hamburg will have the right to three religious holidays but will have to take them as part of their overall holiday entitlement as is the case for some regionally observed Christian holidays.

Until that point, it was up to employers to decide whether to grant Muslim staff religious days off.

AFP, 1 December 2012

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A German dental practice which refused to hire a young Muslim woman because she insisted on wearing a headscarf at work broke the law, it was reported on Thursday. The court ruling is the first of its kind for the country.

A young Berlin woman applied last summer for a traineeship to become a dental assistant. Despite being qualified and getting along with staff, she was told that she could not have the position unless she removed her headscarf, the Tagesspiegel newspaper said.

This was religious discrimination, the city's labour court ruled. A headscarf was not an "arbitrary piece of clothing" but an expression of her beliefs and wearing it was part of her right to religious freedom. Refusing to employ because of her headscarf was in breach of the Equal Treatment Act, the judge said.

The court also rejected the suggestion that headscarves could pose a hygiene risk to patients. There was no more chance of transferring bacteria with a scarf than there was via human hair, the judge said.

The Spandau-based dental surgery argued that they had a right to religious neutrality in the clinic. But the judge said that as "it was in no way a religious institution," this was not valid.

Other women who had appealed for the right to wear a headscarf at work have lost in the past, generally because they had taken church-related employers to court.

The woman applied for the position in the summer of 2011. When she was rejected she decided, with help from the Turkish Association of Berlin and Brandenburg, to take the practice to court.

The Local, 18 October 2012

See also "German court rules in favor of headscarf freedom", Today's Zaman, 18 October 2012

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An anti-Islam far-right group wants to stage a Berlin screening of the provocative anti-Islamic film that sparked violent protests across the Muslim world, a report said.

"For us, it's a question of art and freedom of expression," Manfred Rouhs, head of the small Pro Deutschland group told Der Spiegel magazine.

Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said he would use every legal means at his disposal to stop them. "Such groups and organisations only want to provoke Germany's Muslims," he said, accusing them of recklessly pouring oil on the fire.

Pro Deutschland is known for its provocative demonstrations. Last month about 50 of its activists staged demonstrations outside three Berlin mosques, in action they said was aimed at Islamist extremists. This followed a previous demonstration in Cologne which successfully provoked extremist Salafist Muslims into violence against the police.

They brandished copies of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that sparked violent reactions across the world when they were first published in a Danish newspaper.

Indeed Der Spiegel said at least part of the reason the German embassy was targeted in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Friday was because of the Pro Deutschland demonstrations.

The Local, 16 September 2012

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A poster campaign by the German Interior Ministry against some young Muslims who the ministry claim might be Islamist radicals or terrorists due to their behavioral disorder has met with strong criticism from four Islamic organizations, which have frozen their cooperation with the ministry's "Security Partnership Initiative."

On Tuesday, the four participating Muslim associations – the Turkish-Islamic Union (DITIB), the Association of Islamic Cultural Centres (VIKZ), the Central Council of Muslims in Germany (ZMD) and the Islamic Community of Bosniaks in Germany (IGBD) – said in a joint statement that the recent campaign could create new areas of conflict and therefore miss the real target.

The posters read "Missing" in large font above a portrait of a young man or woman, in the style of a missing person poster. Beneath the headline it reads: "This is our son Ahmad. We miss him, because we don't recognize him anymore. He is withdrawing more and more, becoming more radical every day. We are afraid of losing him altogether – to religious fanatics and terrorist groups. If you think like me, get into contact with the counseling centers of radicalization."

The "counseling center of radicalization" was founded under the "Security Partnership Initiative", which was launched by the ministry together with Muslim associations in June 2011.

The associations said that a permanent unilateral contextualization of violence, security policy and Islam – even if this is done with good intentions – could only lead to incorrect perceptions within the society. These counterproductive patterns of action and thought, they argued, put the Muslim population – which is a peaceful part of the German society – under suspicion and exert social and psychological pressure. They also claimed that they expected the initiative "to join forces to take, develop and implement appropriate measures against extremism of all stripes, since they all belong to the same department."

The Islamic Council also claimed in a separate press release against the poster campaign that the posters stigmatized Muslims and strengthened "the fear of Muslims and Islamophobia." The Islamic Council recommends the ministry "devote all its energy and power to clear up the the National Socialist Underground [NSU] terror and regain lost confidence, instead of continuing to lose it by such actions."

Also the associations asked the ministry to stop the so-called "Missing" poster campaign. Instead, the Home Office should reflect "on suitable instruments," "which serve the welfare and cohesion of the whole society," they said.

Germany's left-leaning Green Party's North Rhine-Westphalia deputy Arif Ünal has described it a huge mistake of the Interior Ministry to focus merely on the concept of Islamist terrorists when the 20th anniversary of the racist attacks in Rostock is commemorated and NSU murders are being investigated and racist attacks escalated to such a high level.

"An Interior Minister should have taken solid steps in the fight against racism," he said, claiming that showing all young Muslim people as potential criminals will increase the prejudices against them and will foster a culture of fear. "Also, a behavioral disorder is part of young people's development. When we look at development psychology, we see that every young men and women at the age of 15, 16 or 17 is excessively shy and introverted. It is a dangerous approach to perceive this as a sign of involving in terrorist groups," said Ünal, who is also a therapist.

Meanwhile, Nikolaus Schneider, president of the council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), has said that Islam and Muslims are part of Germany. Schneider has said that Muslims who bring their faith to Germany and live in this country belong to Germany, and so Islam belongs to Germany. However, Islam could have developed a cultural and social power to a very limited degree, he added. 

Today's Zaman, 30 August 2012

See also Deutsche Welle, which reports:

"MiGAZIN reacted with a satirical version of the poster, showing a picture of the interior minister himself, with the notice: 'This is our Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich. We don't miss him, because we don't recognize him anymore. He is withdrawing more and more, becoming more radical every day. We are afraid he will disappear altogether – into the hands of right-wing fanatics and terrorist groups'."

For the wider context, see Abdullah Bozkurt, "Germany playing dangerous game with Muslims", Today's Zaman, 30 August 2012

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A Berlin court has rejected an emergency appeal by three mosques to prohibit a far-right group from displaying caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad at a demonstration this weekend.

The Berlin administrative court ruled Thursday the caricatures were protected by laws allowing artistic free expression and their display alone did not violate laws against slander nor those against inciting hate or violence.

Three mosques had filed the appeal after the far-right "Citizens Movement – Pro Germany" had said it would display the caricatures during its Aug. 18 demonstration in the capital, being held under the slogan "Islam does not belong in Germany – stop Islamization".

Associated Press, 16 August 2012

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Authorities in Hamburg have become the first in Germany to officially recognize Islamic holidays so Muslim employees and students can celebrate them at home.

The decision forms part of an agreement between the north German city and local Muslim groups. Similar agreements exist with Christian and Jewish communities in the city.

Hamburg's mayor, Olaf Scholz, said Tuesday that he hopes the deal will serve as an example for other German cities.

Authorities estimate some 150,000 Muslims live the city of almost 2 million people.

The growing public presence of Islamic culture in Germany has sparked anger among conservatives and far-right groups.

Police in Berlin are on alert for possible violence this weekend after a small far-right party said it plans to stage protests outside mosques in the German capital.

Associated Press, 14 August 2012

See also Spiegel Online, 15 August 2012

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Under the slogan "march of the patriots" the EDL's sister organisation, the German Defence League, organised a procession and rally in Cologne yesterday.

Sebastian Nobile, leader of the GDL's Cologne Division, had issued a call to "representatives of all liberal, conservative, patriotic parties and organisations" to join the GDL's demonstration, appealing to right-wingers to put aside their differences "for the sake of our country and our future". In the event, according to a report in the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, only 50 marchers rallied to the GDL's cause, while an anti-fascist counter-demonstation drew 150 participants.

One observer calculated that a mere 16 members of the GDL's Cologne, Hanover and Rhein-Main divisions turned out for their own demonstration. The remainder of the "march of the patriots" consisted of small numbers of supporters of other far-right Islamophobic groups – 18 Pro-NRW, 10 from Die Freiheit and 6 from Politically Incorrect and Pax Europa.

So, not an astounding success for the GDL, I think it would be fair to say.

Two of the GDL's sixteen members on the march

Counter-demonstrators offer their view of the German Defence League and its allies

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President Joachim Gauck has said in a newspaper interview that Muslims living in Germany are more definitively a part of the country than the religion of Islam, a slight change from the stance of his predecessor.

When asked about a quote from the previous president, Christian Wulff – who had said that "Islam is now also a part of Germany" – Gauck told the newspaper Die Zeit that he would not have used this particular sentence, adding "but I do welcome the intent behind it."

"I would have simply said that the Muslims who are living here are a part of Germany," Gauck said in an interview published in the current edition of the weekly paper. He elaborated further, defining what he considers the most important factor for people with immigrant roots to be part of Germany.

"Anybody who has come here and doesn't just pay their taxes, but also likes to be here, partly because there's a level of justice and freedom not available in their country of origin, they are all one of us; so long as they adhere to our basic rules," Gauck said.

But more generally, the president said he thought "one-sentence formulations on belonging" were problematic, "and especially when they concern something as delicate as religion."

The co-leader of the Green Party, Cem Özdemir, said in the Ruhr Nachrichten newspaper on Friday that he "can not understand this differentiation between Islam and practicing Muslims," adding that if Gauck considers Muslims a part of Germany, "then of course Islam is part of Germany too."

Deutsche Welle, 1 June 2012

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The Interior Minister of Germany's western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) has blamed a far-right group that displayed lampooning cartoons of Prophet Mohammed (peace and blessing be upon him) outside mosques for a recent cycle of violence in the European country.

The actions of the extremist anti-Islam group, "Pro NRW", in Bonn on Saturday had been a "deliberate provocation" that had triggered reprisals by Salafists, Ralf Jäger, the NRW Interior Minister, was quoted as saying by Deutsche Welle on Monday, May 7.

Gathering outside the Saudi Fahd Academy in Bonn's suburb of Mehlem, "Pro-NRW" supporters showed caricatures depicting a man said to be the prophet.

Hundreds of Salafi Muslims gathered in response to protest the rightist rally, which developed into clashes that left 29 policemen injured. More than 100 Salafist protesters were briefly arrested.

OnIslam, 7 May 2012

See also Spiegel Online, 7 May 2012

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A far-right party on the campaign trial in Germany's most populous state is threatening to put caricatures of Mohammed outside mosques in a string of cities.

The "Pro NRW" party in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia has already shown anti-Islamic caricatures in Essen and Gelsenkirchen, though the police prevented demonstrations taking place directly outside mosques.

Police have also banned "Pro NRW", which is campaigning on an Islamophobic platform, from using the Danish cartoons that caused massive protests in the Islamic world in 2005.

But "Pro NRW" intends to send activists to 25 mosques throughout the state in the run-up to the election on May 13, staging protests in Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Aachen, Wuppertal and Solingen. A report in Die Welt newspaper on Sunday said the far-right party intended to post around 100 what it called "Islam-critical" drawings outside the mosques.

Interior Minister in state Ralf Jäger condemned the campaign and expressed support for planned counter-demonstrations. "Pro NRW is committing spiritual arson," he told the paper. "The party is consciously taking into account that Muslims will feel provoked and upset. The authorities will exhaust all legal avenues to prevent a xenophobic hate campaign."

The federal Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich is reportedly worried about violent confrontations with the Salafists, the fundamentalist Muslims who began distributing free copies of the Koran in Germany three weeks ago. A report in Der Spiegel magazine over the weekend said his ministry had been in contact with the North Rhine-Westphalia state government in recent weeks to find a way to de-escalate the situation. The election there is on May 13.

"Pro NRW" campaign manager Lars Seidensticker says he did not understand the outrage over the campaign, and says his party would bear no responsibility for any violence.

"If the situation is so tense that you can't do a campaign like this against Islamist influences any more, then the politicians are responsible for doing away with Germany," he said, alluding to the title of a 2010 book by banker Thilo Sarrazin ("Germany Does Away with Itself"), which criticized Islamic immigrants in Germany.

"Mosques are potential centres of a new civil war that we have to prevent," said Seidensticker. "That's why we have to pull out the Islamist evil by its roots."

"Pro NRW", which boasts 250 members, is also planning to award a cash prize for the "best" anti-Islamic caricature, named after Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who was responsible for the 2005 images. Westergaard has distanced himself from the competition and is reportedly considering legal action against the party for using his name.

The Local, 30 April 2012

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