Private Islamic Dialogue Forum Tackles Extremism,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 FRANKFURT 003872 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KISL PGOV PHUM GM TK SUBJECT: Private Islamic Dialogue Forum Tackles Extremism, Integration, and Training of Imams REF: A) 2004 Frankfurt 10386, B) Berlin 979 (NOTAL), C) 2004 Frankfurt 1390, D) 2004 Frankfurt 6441 Sensitive but unclassified; not for Internet distribution. SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) A high-profile national conference of the German Islamforum (established in 2002 to facilitate dialogue between Muslims and non-Muslims),meeting in Frankfurt on April 26, stressed cooperation but revealed differences between the two groups. Participants included national Green Party co-chairperson Claudia Roth, leading Muslim activists, and representatives of law enforcement. Participants agreed on the need to promote Muslim integration through German-language religious education and eventually also the training of imams in Germany (most are now trained in Turkey). Many participants welcomed plans to develop a national organization of Muslims as a means to obtain corporate public law status, a form of government accreditation allowing a religion to levy taxes and providing other benefits. END SUMMARY. -------------- Overview of German Islamforum -------------- ¶2. (U) Founded in 2002 by the German Intercultural Council (an NGO devoted to cross-cultural issues) and the Council of Turkish-origin German Citizens (a private organization representing Germans of Turkish descent),and funded by the Groeben and Robert Bosch foundations, the German Islamforum convenes twice yearly to promote intercultural dialogue and integration of Germany's Muslims. The initiative encompasses state-level and regional groups in various parts of Germany. The German Interior Ministry discontinued funding of the Islamforum in 2004 because some Muslim groups monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (OPC -- the German law enforcement organization which tracks domestic extremists) are participants. -------------- -------------- Muslim Leaders Stress Integration, Struggle with Extremism -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) German Muslim leaders called for greater legal and cultural acceptance of the Muslim community and discussed political issues before a diverse audience including representatives of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Mr. Nadeem Elyas, Chairman of the Central Council for Muslims (a private Muslim organization), argued that only a tiny fraction of German Muslims have radical affiliations and that many have lived in Germany for generations. He called for the body politic not to lump together questions of integration, immigration, and public security. Elyas also stressed the need for Muslim leaders to promote gender equality and condemn domestic violence. ¶4. (SBU) Some non-Muslim participants questioned the Muslim community's commitment to integration. Green Party national co-chairperson Claudia Roth (a vocal participant for much of the conference) noted reports of increasing anti-Semitism in Muslim quarters, adding that some radical Muslims joined with German right-wing groups to promote anti-Semitism. Social Democrat (SPD) Bundestag member Gerhild Pinkvoss- Mueller pointed out that the chairman of DITIP (Turkish- Islamic Union, Germany's largest Muslim organization) did not speak German. -------------- -------------- Muslims Complain That Suspicion of Islam Hinders Integration -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Ali Kizilkaya, Chairman of Islam Council Germany (a private Muslim organization affiliated with radical Turkish group Milli Goerus) maintained that the German public mistrusts Muslims -- hindering their integration -- and is unwilling to accept that most Moslems are moderate. He cited controversy over headscarves for female civil servants (refs C,D) and OPC surveillance of some Muslim groups as hurdles Muslims face in entering mainstream society. NOTE: September 2004 survey data from the Allensbach Institute for Opinion Survey (a well-regarded German polling organization) provided by the Islamforum indicates that 83% of Germans associate Islam with terrorism, while 82% characterize Muslims as "radical and fanatic" and 70% describe them as "dangerous." END NOTE. -------------- Training and Certification of Imams -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Many attendees argued that the Turkish-trained imams who lead most mosques lack German-language skills and familiarity with German culture, leading to the creation of Muslim "parallel societies." DITIP representative and influential moderate Bekir Alboga (ref B) acknowledged that training imams in Turkey hindered integration, but pointed to the absence of suitable German-language equivalents. He reported that the German-Turkish Union was working with the Goethe Institute to provide a German component to religious training for imams in Turkey. Establishing and expanding Islamic departments at German universities could alleviate the problem (ref A). Alboga observed that German-language certification of imams was difficult in the short-term because significant segments of Germany's Muslim population did not speak German. German-language exposure would, however, allow imams to interact with non-Muslims and promote cross-cultural dialogue. -------------- -------------- Continuing Debate Over Unified Structure for German Muslims -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Green co-chairperson Roth urged building unified representation for Muslims as a means to gain legal status in Germany (along the lines of the Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish faiths). Both Muslims and non-Muslims welcomed an agreement in February to form an Islamic umbrella organization (by its own account representing 70% of German Muslims) to seek Corporate Public Law Status and serve as a dialogue partner for the German government and non-Muslims. Islamic Community of Hessen Chairman Ramazan Kuruyuez welcomed the new organization as a "unified, democratic, and federal Muslim structure" able to speak for the entire Muslim community. Alboga said that the German-Turkish Union was hesitant to join the new organization but does not rule out future participation. NOTE: Because of its close ties to DIYANET, the German-Turkish Union considers itself the representative of Turkish Muslims in Germany. Furthermore, the Union's more secular Islam is at odds with the Sunni ideology dominant in the new organization. END NOTE. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (SBU) The Islamforum is one of the first organizations in Germany to bring together German officials and the country's splintered Muslim elite (who compete to represent the Muslim masses) for an open dialogue. The issues discussed (official recognition of Muslim organizations, the training of imams, and so on),however, have limited relevance for Germany's Muslim population, four-fifths of whom characterize themselves as "secular, with no strong ties to a particular mosque or religious tradition" (according to literature provided by Forum organizers). Real-world concerns such as the large income disparity in Germany between Muslims and non-Muslims, rising criminality in some Muslim communities, and "hot-button" topics such as immigration and headscarves are likely to continue to have the largest impact on inter-cultural relations. END COMMENT. BODDE