[Mb-civic] Muslim undesirables need not apply - H.D.S. Greenway - Boston Globe Op-Ed

[William Swiggard]

  Muslim undesirables need not apply

By H.D.S. Greenway  |  January 24, 2006  |  The Boston Globe

BERLIN
BADEN-WURTTEMBERG is described in the guidebook as having more 
universities than any other German state as well as a ''rich cultural 
and religious diversity." I am afraid the cultural diversity bit won't 
go down well these days -- at least not among German liberals and 
Muslims, who are outraged over a questionnaire that the state proposes 
to put before those seeking German citizenship. In Germany the states 
have say in these matters.

Not every applicant has to fill out the questionnaire. If you are 
Portuguese applying for German citizenship, chances are you wouldn't 
have to bother with it. But since January, if the authorities have some 
reason to think that you might not make a good citizen, then you might 
find yourself being grilled. For the instructions say that if the 
naturalization authority doubts that the applicant has really understood 
the content of his or her declaration, or doubts that the answers 
reflect ''inner convictions," then the authorities will ''conduct a 
conversation with the applicant."

Defenders say Baden-Wurttemberg is being careful to screen out 
undesirables, and that only people the authorities have reason to be 
suspicious of would be questioned. But critics are sure the 
questionnaire is specifically aimed at Muslims. ''This questionnaire is 
a very dangerous thing and has to be stopped," one of the best-known 
politicians of Turkish origin in Germany, Cem Ozdemir, told me. Ozdemir, 
a member of the European Parliament, says the danger comes from the 
discretionary powers it gives junior officials. Baden-Wurttemberg's 
government would never say it wanted to make it harder for Muslims to 
become citizens. But the tone of the questionnaire would lead underlings 
to assume that was the intention, according to Ozdemir.

''When you read these questions you see the mind of the bureaucracy and 
German society, not what Muslims may think," said Barbara John, who was 
for 20 years involved with migration and integration affairs here in the 
state of Berlin.

Says Christian Hoffmann, a convert to Islam who is chairman of the 
Muslim Academy in Germany: ''The spirit of these questions is so 
Islamophobic and ethnically biased. It is an assault against 
underprivileged people." Educated people would smell out the trap, he said.

One question asks applicants to comment on the following statements: 
''Humanity has never experienced such a dark phase as under democracy. 
In order to free himself from democracy, man has to understand first 
that democracy cannot offer anything good to him." True, monarchists 
might agree with those statements, but that's not the group the 
questions were designed to catch.

Other questions include:

''What's your opinion [of the practice] that parents force their 
children to marry? Do you believe that such marriages are compatible 
with human dignity?"

''Your daughter of full age . . . would like to dress like other German 
girls and women as well, but your husband is opposed to this. What would 
you do?"

''What is your position on the statement that a wife has to obey her 
husband and that he is allowed to beat her if she doesn't obey him? ''

''Do you consider it admissible that a man locks up his wife or his 
daughter at home to keep them from 'causing dishonor'?"

''You have heard of the assaults on September 11th, 2001 in New York and 
on March 11th 2004 in Madrid. In your eyes, were the perpetrators 
terrorists or freedom fighters? Explain your statement."

''Imagine that your son of full age approaches you and explains that he 
is homosexual and would like to live together with another man. What's 
your reaction?"

''In Germany various politicians have openly declared themselves 
homosexual. What's your opinion on homosexuals holding public office?"

The Baden-Wurttemberg questionnaire flap is emblematic of a 
European-wide, post-9/11 angst that Muslim fanatics live amongst them, 
and that the hate that spews from a handful of mosques is not only 
dangerous but also incompatible with European values. Europeans are 
shocked by such outrages as honor killings, which really have more to do 
with old-fashioned, rural attitudes that some immigrants bring with them 
than Islam. But it's Islam that gets blamed.

There is much to be done in Germany to integrate its Muslim minorities, 
most of whom abhor fanaticism, and progress is being made. But the 
primitive Baden-Wurttemberg questionnaire approach seems likely to do 
more harm than good.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/01/24/muslim_undesirables_need_not_apply/
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