Germany & The Incompatibility Of Cultures
Authored by Shamil Shams, op-ed via DW.com,
Cologne’s xenophobic assaults on Muslims are disgraceful. But DW's Shamil Shams feels that they just show how Germans feel increasingly threatened by a culture that is not compatible with their norms.
As a Pakistani journalist working in Germany, I have been very skeptical about the German government's decision to allow thousands of refugees into the country without much scrutiny of their backgrounds.
Of course, I am empathetic towards the plight of the people who are fleeing war-torn countries like Syria, who are facing immense oppression and violence at the hands of Islamic militants as well as President Bashar Assad. I understand their woes, the pain of losing their loved ones, their homes and livelihoods in a civil war that continues to ravage the once peaceful country.
But at the same time, I was sure that the migrants' influx would ultimately disturb the harmony and balance of German society. I feel that Islamic culture and European norms are not compatible.
Most Germans have responded to the refugee crisis with exemplary humanism. My European friends got angry when I warned them against Chancellor Merkel's migrant-friendly policy. I found it very naïve that many Germans believed that all Middle Eastern and South Asian refugees would conform to their way of life and values. I told my friends that their understanding of the Muslim world was limited and flawed. They didn't pay much attention to my arguments.
My worst fears came true when hundreds of young men allegedly from Middle Eastern and North African countries sexually assaulted German women in Cologne on New Year's Eve. Many say it was a pre-planned attack, as the Muslim men groped and touched the women's private parts shamelessly. And now the Germans are finally debating whether it was a good idea to be so open to embracing people from alien cultures.
Actually, I never felt more ashamed in my life.
I am a person from a Muslim background who has been living in Germany for many years, and have always been treated with respect and humility. I have always felt safer in Germany than in Pakistan. I have many German friends and I never felt alienated in the society.
But the New Year's Eve assault made me realize that I, too, in a way feel responsible for the heinous act: What happened in Cologne happens regularly in my homeland, Pakistan. The men are never ashamed, never feel guilty, never show remorse about the way they treat women in that part of the world.
The men who sexually harassed girls in Cologne were not demented; they knew what they were doing. And I am sure they did it with absolute contempt for the European culture, its norms and its people.
More than retaliation
Now we see a backlash from the far-right German groups. On Sunday evening, a group of 20 people attacked six Pakistanis and a Syrian national near Cologne's central station - a place where I have often walked freely even after midnight. Some people were seriously injured and had to be taken to hospital. The German media described the attackers as "bikers, hooligans and bouncers." It was a shameful and reactionary act, but what else would you expect from the right-wing groups?
I could have been one of the Pakistanis beaten up by the hooligans. They wouldn't have interviewed me before throwing a punch at me or hurling an insult. They wouldn't have known that I am an atheist who has been writing critically about Islamic extremism for over 15 years. They wouldn't have been bothered about all this. For them, I would have been just another Muslim, another South Asian, bent on changing their way of life.
The attackers might be politically motivated, but their fear can not be ignored.
German society is changing, with right-wing Christian as well as Islamic groups getting stronger by the day. It is an alarming situation for the majority of secular people in Germany and Europe.
If the German government wants to protect the country's secular foundations, it must increase checks on the people it intends to integrate into its society. Integration is not only about learning the German language.
I know many Muslims who have been living in Germany for decades, speak fluent German, yet they harbor deep resentment against secularism and Western values.
The rise of Salafism in Germany has given more impetus to right-wing movements in the country. Pegida is just one example.
What happened on New Year's Eve could change the way Germans live and treat foreigners forever. The government must make sure this doesn't happen.
And I, as a foreigner, also have a responsibility in this regard.
* * *
What is potentially even more concerning is Germany wants to import even more refugees...
Volker Kauder, leader of Angela Merkel’s Christian Union bloc in parliament, says on ZDF public television the Chancellor needs time to solve the refugee crisis “and a little patience is needed.”
Coalition to take the necessary measures jointly to stem the refuge flow.
Coalition has agreed that it wants to add Morocco, Algeria to the list of safe countries of origin, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to take action
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This whole concocted refugee rapist thing is all propaganda to demonize Arabs and Muslims and make Apartheid IsraHell look good >> http://bit.ly/1MwVzrs
never go full retard
Actually it wasn't so much as rapes as molesting and indecent assault. In the end they are making a mountain of a mole-hill as they never wanted to help the refugees so much anyway.
Soooo... here's the thing Germany and the rest of Europe... Stop Destroying and Destabilizing Their Countries!
That would be best ya think?
All invaders should be shot, stabbed or clubbed, here, as well as in Europe. Any politicians who allows this to happen to their country should be hung from the nearest tree or lamp post.
Ghadafi tried. But the Germans, et. al. were persistent. They destroyed Libya. NATO.
Sound like, um... oh yeah...
BLOWBACK.
BTW, caveman, where is "here"? Are we supposed to guess? Let's see... The Land Of The Free. How'd I do?
Barbara Spectre.....
"Cologne’s xenophobic assaults on Muslims are disgraceful."
F*ck you, moron. Your attack against civilized people is disgraceful. Jihadist rapists who insist on beheading anyone who doesn't convert to their religion are not fit for the civilized world.
And Dear Leader opens the flood gates for them to come to the U.S...
To insure they aculturate all welfare and state aid of any kind should be ended.
No Welfare / No medical coverage. NOTHING. Then you'll get only the people who want to be Germans.
Right now what you are getting are the welfare cheats because that's what the Ruling Class Oligarchy want. They figured the existing Germans were not voting correctly and just as if that was a job they are firing the old voters and hiring new voters. Such is the hubris of the Ruling Class Oligarchy.
And they should pay income taxes at the highest marginal rate, there is no reason to give them tax subsidies either.
Yep, time for academics and Progressives to realize Islam isnt Christianity, that ''alll religions arent just different paths to the same god'', and that the culture they take so for granted with its dignity of the individual and exalted morality, emerged from the Christianity they are so quick to throw off, in exchange for the elitism and quasi-Fascism of Liberalism/Progressivism.
Fucking Nato
Turkish authorities smuggling refugeeshttp://www.dw.com/en/greek-president-accuses-turkish-authorities-of-smug...
People werent afraid of Al Ciaduh and IS IS...so they manufactured rapists to unleash on the women.
Traditionally women want more secirity in the form of socialism.
Thinks abouts this....
RIPS
What is happening today in Europe in general and Germany in particular is sadly of their own making. Liberals/progressives, (an oxymoron if there ever was one)/socialists/communists wanted to believe the kumbaya feels of multiculturalism without ever performing their due diligence on what constituted Islam, (or Hinduism for that matter).
Had they done so they would have discovered the insidious nature of Mohammad, the profit prophet and the god in his head that only he could hear. No, not all cultures are of equal worth. The European one had paid its dues to get where it is, and the leftists have pissed it away, sullied it with the likes of a fascism dressed up as a situational theology, ("ah, Allah says this is okay", Allah is oft forgiving"). Stupidity is often its own cure. It is time to see just how long Europe chooses to remain stupid.
Oh, my! You're such a wonderful idiot howbeit with such an upstanding name!
Not all cultures are of equal worth? That's brilliant my dear Goodfellow!
European cultures paid their dues to get where it is? Oh, that's for sure!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_conflicts_in_Europe#20th_century
When it comes to war against one selves, nobody can quite be as prolific as the Europeons! (sic) Europe will remain stupid; just not in the way you're thinking... stay tuned Theosebes my good man!
I am saddened the average German who may have not wanted such an onslaught, must suffer from the lunacy of their leadership. Without an armed populous, the options are few. A mass release of goats would be fraught with problems, sanitation being most notable. Cartoon pamphlets do seem hopeless. However, after watching this, I think there is a better option. Strategically placed Mannequins!
http://www.theamericanmirror.com/video-muslim-man-gropes-blonde-mannequi...
Ok, I'm losing it
Miffed;-)
Yeah @Jurgster,
all these 1000's women and children are just making it up, suuuure.
"Berlin: 13-Year-Old Russian Virgin Kidnapped and Gang-Raped for Days by “Migrants”
http://www.dailystormer.com/berlin-13-year-old-russian-virgin-kidnapped-...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3404602/Shocking-video-shows-Swe...
http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/635359/migrant-sex-attacks-Germany-D...
Liberals have made it a disgrace, a sin and a crime to protect yourself, your family and your loved ones from crime.
Less than 11% of Germany were active Nazi socialist fascists, it did not stop us or the Russians from firebombing. Rein in your compatriots or suffer the consequences, not pleasant but truth.
@ LSD:
Exactly...
"Oh, it's 'xenophobic'"....WRONG PERSPECTIVE, MOTHERFUCKER:
I welcome you into my house...mi casa, su casa. You start demanding that I throw out my furniture to make room for yours. Your lazy ass can't get a job to pay me for the food you eat, the clothes you wear, or the roof over your head. Now you have the balls to start raping my wife and daughter.
GO FUCK YOURSELF, YOU PAKI GOATFUCKING BASTARD.
" On Sunday evening, a group of 20 people attacked six Pakistanis and a Syrian national near Cologne's central station - a place where I have often walked freely even after midnight. Some people were seriously injured and had to be taken to hospital. The German media described the attackers as "bikers, hooligans and bouncers." It was a shameful and reactionary act, but what else would you expect from the right-wing groups?
I could have been one of the Pakistanis beaten up by the hooligans."
WRONG and total bullshit! If you look, dress and behave like a normal person then you have very little to fear in politcally correct Europe and Germany, even if you have dark(er) skin and/or Pakistani roots.
Amen.
I know several young Algerian women who attend university and graduate school in France, and they report very little problem fitting in because they dress, think, and act like intelligent people who belong in a civilized society.
It's almost like, if you look, speak, behave well and you're a good person, people will like you.
I must remind you again, the Libyans and Syrians acted very civilized in their own society when they had a society. Europeans and America made sure to turn these countries into parking lots in the quest to forestall the eventual collapse of their own societies.
The Ashkenazim used their US and European puppets to destroy the middle east for the benefit of greater israel. The Ashkenazim are pushing their victims and their ficki-ficki puppets into Europe to break down and enslave white christian european civilization. First stop: Germany. Time for a third German genocide.
Bullshit. I don't remember the Koreans or French going on a rape rampage after their countries were destroyed by WWII. Being poor and hungry does not cause mass rape. It is a mentality of hatred and stupidity.
The US took on millions of refugees from SE Asia after we bombed them to hell. I don't remember them coming over here and mass raping Ameroican women.
The Koreans country wasn't destroyed much from WWII. I think you mean Japanese. No worries. Yellow, slant eyes. Eat rice a lot. I'll give you a pass on this one.
The French don't need WWII or any war for that matter. The French Foreign legion went on mass rape... (what years would you like?). By the way, France wasn't much destroyed by WWII either. Hitler wasn't as bad as you think. It was the other (bulldog-looking) guy with the funny top hat, cigar.
Also, the French destroyed Libya. And, raped Ghadafi (sodomized) before killing him. Pretty much it was the French leading from (as usual) behind.
Rebel fighters of NTC killed Ghadafi:
"Several videos related to the death were broadcast by news channels and circulated via the internet. The first shows footage of Gaddafi alive, his face and shirt bloodied, stumbling and being dragged toward an ambulance by armed Islamic Extremists chanting "God is great" in Arabic." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Muammar_Gaddafi
In what sense were they French?
As for the French destroying Libya, it would be more correct to say the French had a hand in it. Lots of other bad actors with greater agency, as it were.
As for the FFL, over a hundred countries have citizens in the Legion. So, semi-French at best. Citations are in order.
Not sure why you are downvoted but what you said about the foreign legion is true, the Algeria war was terrible: mass rape of village girls by French soldier !
I said that as French where my grand pa knew a friend in the army who went in Algeria and raped a girl threatening her with his gun in her back !
I think very few ZH'ers would opine that the western world does bot bear any responsibility in the conflicts in the middle east, but I find it increasingly appalling and intolerable that muslims are always looking for scapegoats to justify what is happening in their own world. It's the jews, it's the banksters, it's those scantily dressed European whores in the streets, it's the infidels...
Why not owning up to your own wrongdoings for a change? The quicker you do that, the quicker you'll be part of the 21st century. And if you're not prepared to do that: stay out of Europe.
that is true. In fact you can detect Arabs very quickly by language, dress, behaviour......there are some well-mannered Arabs but there are lots of low-class scum from the prisons and slums of Casablanca and Tangiers and no doubt Afghanistan, Turkey, Lahore and Cairo
There are no low-class scum Arabs from Afghanistan.
Turkey either.
Neither Lahore.
Zero Hedge has no more standards apparently.
Are you in Egypt, cuz it looks like you are posting from the river De-Nial.
(j/k) but the point is - there are a lot of low-class muzzies in Europe now because the flood gates were opened, and the flood brings not only the mud but also the shit.
Selective entry could have been enforced, but it wasn't. Now it's too late.
"... cuz it looks like you are posting from de-Nile". Or perhaps "...posting from de-Nile River".
Delivery my man, delivery.
Libya was destroyed by Sarkozy who did not want anyone to find out how much Ghadaffi had paid him......and his father in law is Frank Wisner of the CIA
Sarkozy, The UK people, the German people, the Americans, The French, et al. All of NATO. They are all guilty.
Then all muslims are guilty for the repeated invasions of europe and terrorism for the past 1000 years and deserve to be bombed to allah. It goes both ways.
It's hard to decide where to start on this one...
Ape. There's a good start. Hey Ape, Arabs have not invaded Europe for the past 1000 years. I'll leave that as self-evident.
Terrorism? The most prolific terrorists in Europe over the past century were The IRA, the Basque Separatists ETA, The German Red Army Faction, the Italian Red Brigades.
Today terrorism is done by those getting their tools from Boeing, BAE, EADS, and a host of other European and American war profiteers.
Agreed. Politicians everywhere are blackmailed, coherced, bribed and hand-picked to follow orders from ZWO cartel. None of them do what's right by their own countrymen -- let alone to others whose lands they plunder. Rinse. Wash. Repeat.
viva la skin head
I second that notion!
For starters here's a good list if you're in the mood to shoot, stab or club an invader.
From 1940 to 1945, we shot, stabbed or clubbed politicians and their many crony followers who spoke like you do about non-nationals and different ethnic groups here in Europe. And not without reason: The far-right ideas you advocate were directly responsible for the most devastating war in Europe's history, as well as for historical atrocities such as the Holocaust.
Muslim migrants from the Middle-East have been present in Europe since the 1960s. The current problems did not exist/were unheard of with this first generation of Muslim guest laborers. This cogently implies that the current issues are neither inevitable nor insurmountable.
"historical atrocities such as the Holocaust"
That's a matter of opinion.
"The current problems did not exist/were unheard of with this first generation of Muslim guest laborers."
No, they just reproduce by the dozen, and collect welfare for 18 years per kid, all courtesy of Germany's productive class.
Then you agree that Hitler was simply spreading diversity and multiculturalism by sending Germans across Europe.
Wee ewik, start worrying about Sweden, grow a set and preserve your country you dull emasculated tool..
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3404602/Shocking-video-shows-Swe...
How many of these rapist robber thugs have been arrested?
Why are healthy normal Germans called far right for prostesting extermination?
Germany didn't fucking attack any shitskin or Moslem country. YOUR problem, Mudslime, is with us, Americans. Come get me nigger, you know where to find us. But you'd rather attack defenseless cucked pacifist Swedes and Germans because you are fucking cowards like all Moslems.
Trust me, this all ends badly for you.
The last time White Supremacist nutjobs like yourself gained power and influence around here, it ended up very, very badly for the whole European continent.
Never again.
Hitler was right.
He was. And he wasn't a nutjob. He was fighting to save Germany from the scavengers to the north, the east, the west. You know who they are.
Nor was he a "white supremacist". He was however a Nationalist. And he needed to be. There were 30+ Nationalities fighting alongside him in the Wehrmacht. Black, Brown, and tan. French too. Americans too.
He congratulated Jesse Owens. The American president snubbed Jesse Owens (as did the American public pretty much). Check it out.