Germany: Merkel to speak at event honoring Motoonist Kurt Westergaard

[Fury]

(Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel risked angering Muslims by speaking at an awards ceremony on Wednesday for a Dane whose cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed provoked sometimes violent protests by Muslims five years ago.

The 75-year-old cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, whose drawings of Mohammed that offended Muslims worldwide first appeared in Danish paper Jyllands-Posten in 2005, was due to receive a prize Wednesday evening at a conference on freedom of the press.

At a time of fierce debate in Germany over disparaging remarks about Muslim immigrants made by a central bank member, some Muslims criticized the center-right chancellor and the media said she was taking a risk by honoring a man whom many Muslims believe insulted their faith.

Aiman Mazyek of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany said in a statement: "Merkel is honoring the cartoonist who in our view trampled on our Prophet and trampled on all Muslims."

"By having her photo taken next to Kurt Westergaard, Merkel is taking a huge risk," wrote the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung before the ceremony.

"It will probably be the most explosive appointment of her chancellorship so far."

The mass-circulation Bild, which has voiced admiration for Bundesbank member Thilo Sarrazin for depicting Turkish and Arab immigrants as welfare spongers who fail to integrate, praised Westergaard and said Merkel's presence showed Germany "does not back down in the face of threats from Islamist fanatics."

Organizers of the M100 Media Prize to be awarded at Potsdam near Berlin said the cartoons had "triggered an international controversy about freedom of speech and sparked worldwide, partly violent demonstrations of Muslims who felt insulted."

Most Muslims consider any depiction of the founder of Islam to be offensive, and the Danish cartoons portrayed Mohammed with a turban shaped like a bomb. At least 50 people died in ensuing riots by enraged Muslims in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Westergaard stood by his work "invoking the right to freedom of speech," said the M100 prize committee, praising the Dane's "courage to stand by these democratic values and defend them, notwithstanding threats of violence and death."

The Organizers issued a statement from Merkel saying that, at a time when Germany is marking 20 years of unity after the fall of East Germany's communist regime, her country was "still conscious of what the lack of freedom implies."

Conservatives in Berlin's city assembly threw out a member for inviting Dutch anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders to speak next month.

("Anti-immigrant.": A narrow misrepresentation of Wilders' actual concerns about the transformation of Dutch society, and European societies in general.)

But Wilders said he would "of course" still speak in the German capital despite the action taken by Merkel's Christian Democrats against councilor Rene Stadtkewitz, telling Reuters in an email he had "respect for Rene Stadtkewitz!"

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6873CC20100908

Predictably, "Aiman Mazyek of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany said in a statement: 'Merkel is honoring the cartoonist who in our view trampled on our Prophet and trampled on all Muslims'."

Are your prophet and religion really so fragile that one man's drawing can "trample" them? No, the real issue is a wounded sense of entitlement to be above criticism, ridicule, and satire, all of which are non-negotiable in the Western tradition of free speech.

Is Angela Merkel an "islamophobe"? 

[Fury]

Merkel says violence of Muslim youths is a problem in Germany
Sep 4, 2010, 12:23 GMT

Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel has weighed in on Germany's fierce immigration debate, acknowledging in an interview released Saturday that fervently religious Muslim youths tended to be more violent than others.

'This is a big problem and we can talk about it openly, without arousing suspicions of xenophobia,' Merkel said in the interview Bild am Sonntag newspaper, which is to be published Sunday.
Her comments came after central banker Thilo Sarrazin sparked outrage and debate with claims in his new book that Muslim immigrants are lowering German intelligence and harming society more than they contributed.

Merkel said it was important not to associate violence with a particular religion.

'This is misleading. Violence amongst young people is often a sign that they see no perspective for themselves. All that helps is education, education, education.'

'Our state is making many offers, but the main responsibility lies with the parents, and cannot be taken on by schools or the state,' Merkel added.

Sarrazin, a member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) received partial backing from party leader Sigmar Gabriel, who said there was an element of truth in his book, entitled Germany Abolishes Itself.

'I think we are experiencing much of what he is describing in (the book). There is no question,' Gabriel said. However he did not share Sarrazin's thesis that Muslim integration problems resulted from genetic predispositions.

The SPD has initiated procedures to evict Sarrazin from the party, while the central bank has asked President Christian Wulff to approve his dismissal from the bank's board.

Merkel said it was crucial to maintain law and order in violent city districts with high migrant populations. She said one solution would be to hire more civil servants with a foreign background.

'It would surely help if we had more migrants in the police, youth welfare offices and other authorities,' Merkel told Bild.

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1582333.php/Merkel-says-violence-of-Muslim-youths-is-a-problem-in-Germany

She's such an "islamophobe". 

[George Whorewell]

Finally, Europe is gaining its sanity again.

Sarkozy has been terrific in dealing with the Muslim barbarians trying to destroy European culture. Germany has been blessed to have someone like Merkel at the helm-- reigning in fiscal irresponsibility, challenging Islamic extremism and celebrating freedom of speech.

Unfortunately, here in America and in England, the insanity continues.

I never thought that I would live to see the day where I would hope my country could emulate France and Germany, but that day has arrived.

[Kazan]

What the fuck ever, I am so sick of listening to muslims bitch and moan about every little thing. I hope they riot and the Germans mow the fuckers down. Then maybe they'll get the message that their 6th century bullshit won't fly in civilized nations.