Slowly but Surely, Europe Rises Against Islam

Germany has found itself involved in a scandal similar to the one which took place in Switzerland in the fall of 2009. The population of Germany’s Saar province decides whether or not the Muslim community of the province can build a minaret near the mosque in the town of Volklingen. It is not ruled out that the question will be solved at a referendum since opinions are different. The story started in January when the Muslim community of the town addressed to the municipal administration with a request to build a minaret near the mosque. The story bore a striking resemblance to what happened in Switzerland last year.
Switzerland ’s ultra-right People’s Party stated that minaret was a symbol of Islamisation of the country. The construction of minarets in the European nation was banned as a result of the referendum.
Let’s get back to Germany. The town of Volklingen with its 40,000-strong population is a special place on the map of the country. Muslims, presumably the Turks, make a third of the town’s population. The mosque was built there a long time ago, but it raises concerns with many people.
Rightist organizations of Germany share the views of Switzerland’s ultra-right activists, who believe that minaret symbolizes the Muslim aspiration to power.
Spokespeople for leftist political organizations claim that a prohibition will trigger massive protests. A local priest said that minaret was not a symbol of opposition between two cultures. Quite on the contrary, it represented peaceful integration of Muslims into the German society, the priest said.
An opinion poll conducted among the local population showed that the adversaries of minarets outnumber their supporters. Thus, it is not ruled out that a small town in Germany’s Saar will become the first place on the map of the European Union where the construction of such religious objects is officially prohibited (Switzerland is not a member of the European Union).
The story in Saar may echo in other regions of Germany. The Muslim population of Germany makes up over 4 million people; Turks make two-thirds of the number. Arabs, Kurds, Muslim Bosnians and Albanians have large communities in the country.
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