Berlin, Nov 21, (dpa/GNA) – The chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, Aiman Mazyek, has warned against marginalising groups such as Muslims, in the country’s fight against anti-Semitism.
“I am very worried about our situation in our country. The drifting apart of groups, the speechlessness, also hatred and the willingness not to listen to each other, has unfortunately become very great,” Mazyek told Berlin public broadcaster RBB on Tuesday. “Many Muslims in our country are insecure, are afraid to speak out at all, they feel intimidated by the debate.”
Mazyek said the Central Council of Muslims, a major umbrella organization for religious Muslims in the country, had been left out of German Islam Conference (DIK) being hosted by the Interior Ministry.
He said he wasn’t sure why his group hadn’t been invited to participate, but said there needed to be a greater show of support across German society.
“We need social cohesion. We need a very clear show of solidarity,” said Mazyek.
Also on Monday, German Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser, called on Muslim organizations to take a stronger stance against anti-Semitism, ahead of the conference.
“It is also the responsibility of the major Islamic associations in Germany, to speak out loudly and clearly against hatred of Jews, and hostility towards Israel in Friday prayers, in their communities or on their own social media channels,” she told the Funke Media Group of newspapers in an interview published on Tuesday.
“The large Islamic associations must help to ensure that anti-Semitic resentment does not spread further,” she said.
She said she would like to see more clarity from some associations in this regard.
“Right now, we need to make the rise in anti-Semitism a topic of the German Islam Conference.”
Mazyek, when asked about Faeser’s comments, said the Central Council of Muslims, is committed to the fight against anti-Semitism, and has been working with groups, including Muslim groups, for many years by visiting memorials, and through other activities.
“Actually, we are exactly on this path, we are implementing and doing exactly that,” Mazyek said of Faeser’s demands.
Faeser also made clear that Muslims in Germany, should under no circumstances be “held liable for Islamist terror.”
“We are taking tough action against Islamists, not against Islam. This differentiation is of the utmost importance,” she said.
Any generalization is wrong and leads to division and exclusion. “Such false generalized suspicion leads to new hostility towards Muslims, which is also a major problem in our country, and which we are addressing just as clearly at the German Islam Conference,” the minister announced.
Following the terrorist attacks by the Islamist movement Hamas in Israel on October 7, and anti-Semitic incidents in Germany, this year’s Islam Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday, is titled “Social peace and democratic cohesion: combating anti-Semitism and hostility towards Muslims, in times of social division.”
Faeser will be joined by former president Christian Wulff, Family Minister Lisa Paus, and Federal Anti-Racism Commissioner Reem Alabali-Radovan.
GNA