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
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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.

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Overview of German Islamforum
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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.

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Muslim Leaders Stress Integration, Struggle with Extremism
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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.

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Muslims Complain That Suspicion of Islam Hinders Integration
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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.

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Training and Certification of Imams
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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.

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Continuing Debate Over Unified Structure for German Muslims
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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.

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COMMENT
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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