Even in Germany, Jews are willing to join Nationalists

How scary is an Islamic takeover of the West? Scary enough for German Jews to join German nationalists to prevent a “Londonistan.�

The Washington Times reports,

“We don’t want to build a Turkish ghetto in Ehrenfeld. I know about ‘Londonistan,’ and I don’t want that here,” he added, referring to a phrase used to describe the rising trend of radical Islam in England.

Mr. Uckermann is part of a curious coalition of protesters that united Jewish intellectuals with hard-core nationalists.

Leading the charge is Ralph Giordano, a prominent Jewish author, who wrote recently that Germany is witnessing a “clash of two completely different cultures” and questioned whether they could ever be reconciled.

Stating that he had received death threats for his opinions, he added: “What kind of a state are we in that I can face a fatwa in Germany?”

For Mr. Uckermann, who belongs to the conservative CDU party of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr. Giordano’s comments smashed a long-held taboo in Germany.

“Giordano broke down the wall,” he said. “Before, if you criticized this monstrous mosque, you were a Nazi. But we have a problem with the integration of Muslims. It’s a question of language and culture.”

At the Islamic Union, every effort is made to address those fears. “We run German-language courses,” said Ikbal Kilic, a spokesman. “And the design of the mosque features a lot of glass, so people can see in. We want to be open.”

But within the exquisitely carved walls of Cologne Cathedral, those promises are not enough. “We live in a land of religious freedom,” said Prelate Johannes Bastgen, the cathedral’s dean. “But I would be very glad if the same principles existed in Muslim countries.”

Germany’s Jewish communal leaders refuse to live in the past, but feel forced to reckon with new realities.

A pity U.S. Jewish communal leaders do not see the same need.

Via: Inverted World