RELIGION-GERMANY: Opera Hits a Discordant Note

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Jess Smee

BERLIN, Sep 28 2006 (IPS) - German politicians met Muslim leaders this week for an unprecedented Islam Conference – a debate that the government hopes will pave the way for smoother integration of the country’s Muslims, even though community representatives warn that more needs to be done.

The talks, led by German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, included a 30-strong panel of delegates from German Muslim organisations and government groups.

The discussions come at a rocky time for Germany’s relations with its mostly Turkish Muslim population which numbers more than three million. Senior politicians and commentators are incensed by the decision of a leading opera house to cancel its controversial production of a Mozart opera over fears that a scene which shows Prophet Muhammad’s severed head could provoke violence from Islamic extremists.

On Wednesday, the day the Islam Conference started, German Chancellor Angela Merkel took a firm stance on the opera row, telling Hanover’s Neue Presse newspaper that “self-censorship out of fear is not tolerableàwe must take care that we do not retreat out of a fear of potentially violent radicals.”

Deutsche Oper has defended its decision on the grounds that it needed to protect both audience and employees amid fears it may become a target because of the scene where the heads of Prophet Muhammad, Jesus and Buddha are shown on stage.

The sudden cancellation of Mozart’s Idomeneo took center-stage at the Islam Conference, Germany’s first-ever meeting of its kind. All participants agreed that the performances at Berlin’s Deutsche Oper should resume. Participants said they wanted to visit the controversial show, Schaeuble said.

Speaking after the first session of the government-sponsored conference, Schaeuble said it had got off to a strong start. He described intensive discussions held “in a tolerant tone” but with “contrasting positions.” Bekir Alboga, representative of a German Muslim organization, said his expectations had been fully met.

But reflecting diversity within Germany’s Muslim community, many issues provoked passionate debate and irreconcilable conflict.

Necla Kelek, a Turkish-born sociologist met with fierce criticism for her support of a headscarf ban in German primary schools. Kelek, who has incensed conservative Muslims with her books about arranged marriage and the faith of Turkish Muslim men, said after the event: “We all talk of basic rights but we mean completely different things.”

Held at Berlin’s plush Italian-baroque style Charlottenburg Palace, the meeting is seen as a first step towards a structured dialogue with Germany’s Muslim community. The panel is expected to tackle issues affecting the minority over the next two to three years, and a further meeting is planned for November.

Commentators welcomed the fact that the dialogue has finally taken place: “Something’s started which should have begun years ago. Now, finally, we are talking to these new citizens as opposed to talking about them,” the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper wrote in an editorial.

But the conference faced a shaky start. Among Muslim groups there were complaints about unrepresentative selection of Muslim delegates.

Some Muslim panelists threatened to pull out of the discussion following Pope Benedict XVI’s lecture on his Germany tour two weeks ago, when he cited a medieval text connecting Islam with violence, a reference which unleashed a wave of anger across the Islamic world.

“The timing of this debate really doesn’t help,” Prof Gudrun Kraemer at the Berlin-based Institute for Islamic Studies told IPS. “Coming after the agitation over the Pope’s utterances and the very difficult experience of the Muhammad caricatures, this is just another item on a long list of conflicts.”

This year the issue of integrating its immigrant community has loomed large in Germany amid escalating social tensions. Among the headline-grabbing stories was the so-called honour killing of a young woman of Turkish origin by her brother, and violence at a Berlin school mostly attended by foreigners.

In Germany, as elsewhere in Europe, politicians have created new citizenship guidelines in a bid to boost immigrants’ awareness of the society they are living in.

With people of foreign origin making up some nine percent of the population, Germany has one of the highest immigrant population ratios in Europe. Experts predict more newcomers are needed to keep the economy on track given the country’s dwindling birthrate.

Speaking ahead of the Islam Conference, Schaeuble stressed that immigration is a question of give and take. In interviews published in national papers, he said any Muslims living in Germany would have to accept the country’s laws, norms and values.

“We want open-minded Muslims in our open-minded country,” he said. “That is why the state has to enter into a sound relationship with members of this religious community. That is why we are trying to usher in a dialogue.”

But one of the panelists, Ibrahim El-Zayat, a member of the central Muslim council, said that he remained unconvinced that the meetings would translate into concrete improvements for his community.

“It is undoubtedly a start but there are many questions outstanding,” he told IPS. “For the future we need defined concepts as it is still unclear what we hope to achieve. To make a clear contribution we need clear goals.”

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