Muslim headscarves irritate many European politicians
The unrest caused in October by the banker of social democratic stripes, when he accused the Arab and Turkish population of the capital of being 'unproductive' in all areas of life except for 'mass reproduction of girls-in-headscarves,' had not yet fully subsided when a new scandal erupted. Speaking at a podium discussion, Sarrazin called on the German government to ban the wearing of Muslim headscarves in the country's schools. The former senator justified his demand quite forcefully: 'Headscarves symbolize the complete subordination of women to men' and are therefore 'incompatible with the democratic norms accepted in Germany.'
The outraged public did not take long to react. The very next day, Sarrazin was labeled 'insane' (FDP education expert Mieke Senftleben), 'provocateur' (Berlin Senate Commissioner for Migration and Integration Günter Piening), and 'militant anti-Islamist pouring oil on the fire of ethnic discord' (Vice President of the Islamic Conference Badr Mohammed).
The last of those quoted appealed to Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel with a demand to remove 'especially dangerous figures' like Sarrazin from big politics. Piening advised his former fellow countryman to 'read the German Constitution,' and Ms. Senftleben suggested taking a couple of extra days off for Christmas, as there was 'clear overwork.'
However, unlike the October scandal, this time Sarrazin found supporters. They were by no means his SPD comrades, as one might think following party logic – on the contrary, the Berlin Social Democrats even raised the issue of expelling the former senator from their ranks, but were stopped by the conciliation committee. Support for Sarrazin came from the CDU. As CDU education expert Sascha Steuer noted, the idea of banning headscarves seems 'quite timely' – 'you only have to look at how the number of female students shirking sports and school events due to religious or pseudo-religious beliefs is growing before our eyes.' Moreover, the CDU camp emphasizes that the 'headscarf' thesis was actually only a small part of a strategy formulated by Sarrazin, the meaning of which is as follows: taking into account the increasing Islamization of Europe, it is necessary to strictly limit the influx of new immigrants, and with regard to foreigners already settled in Germany, 'increase integration pressure.' In particular, compel them to learn German by any means, 'from financial to deportation measures.'
The result of the previous scandal starring Sarrazin was his de facto demotion – from the cash management department he was moved to the risk and information technology department. Some experts believe that by stripping Sarrazin of several important powers, Bundesbank President Axel Weber is trying to force his subordinate to resign. He cannot sign a dismissal order on his own: members of the board of the country's largest financial institution are appointed and removed from office by the president of the country.
But it does not seem that the integration fighter would voluntarily leave his posts. It is also not possible to expel him from the party, because the SPD conciliation committee found no grounds in Sarrazin's theses for accusations of 'violation of party rules.' Moreover, the public prosecutor's office closed the case of incitement to ethnic hatred, deeming the formulations about 'unproductive' migrants as 'unfortunate' but by no means criminal.
So the 'German Zhirinovsky' will not soon disappear from big politics. Especially since in the ruling CDU his ideas on integration are generating growing interest: as Sascha Steuer stated, the government should consider how to reconcile Sarrazin's innovative proposals with the existing legislation in Germany.
Elena OBODOVSKAYA. 