Huge mosque stirs protests in Cologne

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Huge mosque stirs protests in Cologne

By Harry de Quetteville in Cologne

Last Updated: 2:08am BST 26/06/2007



The construction of one of Europe's biggest mosques near to a globally famous Christian landmark has sparked a furious row in Germany.


More than 150 members of Pro Köln, a Right-wing group, march in protest against the building of the 170ft high mosque in Cologne


Immigration and integration are hugely sensitive questions in Germany, which is home to a Turkish community of several million. But almost within the shadow of Cologne Cathedral, political correctness has now been replaced by bitter confrontation as the city's Muslims begin to build a 2,000-capacity mosque with twin minarets that will reach 170ft.

"Muslims have been here for 40 years, yet people are praying in back rooms," said Seyda Can, an Islamic theologian at the Turkish Islamic Union in Cologne. "There are 120,000 Muslims in Cologne, that's 12 per cent of the population. We should not hide."

Work will begin in the autumn on the £15 million mosque, which will include huge glass and stone cupolas and two six-storey minarets.

Ms Can, who speaks fluent German, is an eloquent advocate for the mosque, arguing that when completed in 2009 it will aid the integration of a population sometimes regarded as outsiders.

"With this mosque Muslims will no longer think of their old countries as their home, but of Germany," she said.

advertisement"Two hundred years ago the first Protestant church was built in Cologne. It was a long process for Protestants to be accepted but today, of course, they are. Why can't we be the same?"

However, others believe that the mosque in the city's Ehrenfeld district, just two miles from the Gothic spires of Cologne Cathedral, will foster, rather that heal, divisions.

"It's not a popular plan," said Joerg Uckermann, the district's deputy mayor. "We don't want to build a Turkish ghetto in Ehrenfeld. I know about Londonistan and I don't want that here."

Mr Uckermann is part of a curious coalition of protest that has united Jewish intellectuals and neo-Nazis. Leading the charge is Ralph Giordano, a prominent Jewish author, who wrote recently that Germany was 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 Right-wing CDU party of Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Giordano's comments smashed a long-held taboo in Germany. "Gior-dano broke down the wall," he said. "Before if you criticised 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. "I would be very glad if the same principle existed in Muslim countries."
_________________
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.

Gigantic Mosque Angers Germans

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=26001&only&rsssmall

Monday, June 25, 2007

Gigantic Mosque Angers Germans

In Cologne, Germany, Muslims are building a gigantic mosque with 170-foot tall minarets, very near to the historic Cologne Cathedral. Many Germans are unhappy about the mosque, which will be one of the largest in Europe, and they should be—it’s a symbol of Islamic domination, and this kind of in-your-face provocation has been seen time and time again, in Western country after Western country: Construction of mosque ignites German hostility.

COLOGNE, Germany — The construction of one of Europe’s biggest mosques near a globally famous Christian landmark has sparked a furious dispute in Germany.

Immigration and integration are extremely sensitive issues in Germany, which is home to a Turkish community of several million.

But almost within the shadow of Cologne Cathedral, political correctness was replaced by bitter confrontation, as the city’s Muslims began building a 2,000-capacity mosque whose twin minarets will reach 170 feet.

“Muslims have been here for 40 years, yet people are praying in back rooms,” said Seyda Can, an Islamic theologian at the Turkish Islamic Union in Cologne. “There are 120,000 Muslims in Cologne, that’s 12 percent of the population. We should not hide.” ...

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.”
_________________
"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.