Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin reiterated his criticism of Muslim immigrants on Monday, saying the vast majority were not fit to integrate into German society. Meanwhile the Social Democrats prepared to kick him out of the party.
Thilo Sarrazin
Presenting his controversial new book “Abolishing Germany – How we’re putting our country in jeopardy,” in Berlin, Sarrazin rejected accusations he was stoking racism and xenophobia.
“I invite everyone to find discrepancies in my theories,” he said at a press conference. “It’s an uncomfortable discussion. But to solve problems we have to recognise them first.”
Sarrazin warns in his book that Germans could become “strangers in their own country” because of Muslim immigration. Excerpts published before the book’s release have sparked widespread outrage for being inflammatory and making unfounded generalisations.
But Sarrazin calmly renewed his broadsides against Muslims at the book presentation, while trying to deflect charges of overt racism.
“This isn’t about race, it’s about coming from Islamic cultures,” he said, adding that most Muslim immigrants were “hardly compatible” with a western society like Germany.
Such statements have led to a growing chorus of calls to kick Sarrazin out of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and strip him of his Bundesbank post.
On Monday, SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel confirmed early press reports that the party was making moves to expel Sarrazin.
“This has been no easy decision for us,” Gabriel said.
Sarrazin had done a lot for the party but had now crossed a “red line,” Gabriel said, by linking the genetic make-up of certain ethnic groups with intelligence and the ability to learn. This was “highly problematic” and “racist.”
The SPD could no longer discuss these issues with Sarrazin, who had shown that “he is on completely the wrong track,” Gabriel said.
Gabriel also called on the Bundesbank to act. The SPD was confident there was now “no place” for Sarrazin on the bank’s board.
Senior party members have previously said they would prefer that Sarrazin resign. But at his book launch Monday, he told reporters he had no plans to quit either the SPD or the Bundesbank board – saying he fully expected to be at the central bank a year from now, unless he suffered a heart attack.
Sarrazin also tried to distance himself from other European critics of Islam such as the Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders.
“These questions belong in mainstream parties,” Sarrazin said, referring to immigration and integration matters. “There’s a tendency towards the extreme right (in Europe). I find that dangerous. But it’s also wrong simply to ignore such problems.”
Outside the launch, about 70 protestors gathered. The demonstration was organised by the group “Stop Right-Wing Populism!”
Pressure on Sarrazin has intensified in recent days, with senior politicians including Chancellor Angela Merkel lining up to condemn his comments.
Merkel on Sunday evening weighed into the drama surrounding the central banker’s latest outburst in which he said different ethnic groups were each distinguished by an identifying gene, such as a “Jewish gene” or a “Basque gene.”
“The statements are completely unacceptable,” she told broadcaster ARD. “They are marginalizing … (they) disparage whole groups in the community.
“The type and manner of speaking here divides the community.”
Merkel also signalled that the Bundesbank should consider sacking Sarrazin.
“I’m completely certain that they will speak about this at the Bundesbank.”
Sarrazin told Welt am Sonntag newspaper: “All Jews share a certain gene; Basques have certain genes that differentiate them from others.” This followed a string of controversial remarks he has made about Muslims and integration in Germany.
Frank Bsirske, chairman of Germany’s largest union, Verdi, told daily Berliner Zeitung that Sarrazin had become an intolerable burden on an important public institution and therefore on the image of Germany as a whole. Sarrazin’s latest remarks were intellectually indefensible, particularly in light of Germany’s history, Bsirske said.
The Social Democrats’ general secretary Andrea Nahles said Sarrazin’s views had “drifted far from the values of social democracy and the consensus of our democracy.”
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Vocabulary
reiterated
to repeat something already said
stoking
to make people feel something more stongly
discrepancies
things that are missing
inflammatory
intending to cause very strong feelings of anger
broadsides
attacks
overt
done in an open way – not secret
intolerable
completely unacceptable
drifted
moved away from
indefensible
cannot be protected (in this case against contradiction or attack)
Resign Quit
to give in or give up your job
___________________________________________________________________________
what do you think?
We are back again with the freedom of speech issue! It would seem you cannot speak your mind in Germany and when a politician does, they are immediately attacked.
I am not right wing or a Nazi, but I believe there could be some form of common sense in what he has to say. We are all very different and have a different culture, way of thinking and way of life. A lot of this has to do with the evolution of the human mind – and this depends on your generic background
You will have to judge for yourself
Aaron
) @ Aaron: I have a better idea: Instead of...
Have a nice...
Concerning freedom of speech I fully agree with you.
When I read his statements, I’m somewhat astonished about the positive popular reaction to his book. Listen to radio shows, look at internet blogs, or check out the readers’ responses on Amazon – there we learn that Sarrazin is “a man who tells unpopular truths,” “whom politicians fear because they want to win the next election.” that he “tells it like it is.” In short, he says what most people already think (in their limited black-and-white-world).
No, Sarrazin is no Nazi, although he and those who identify with him share the potential to develop into one: a fanatical bureaucrat with a sense of mission. Skinheads and storm troopers are not particularly dangerous in themselves. They are the tools of those in power. It is nationalists equipped with power and brains who make an authoritarian order possible.
By the way – is it irony of life? – His own family is descended from French Huguenot immigrants from Lyon. The name “Sarrazin” derives from the Saracens, Muslim Arab pirates who terrorized the Mediterranean in the Middle Ages…
it is not a matter of whether he is a nazi or not, he is speaking out at the way Germany is treating other races out of fear of being judged and in doing so are hurting themselves and being used
Other countries have very strict immigration laws – this doesn’t make them racists
certain races are using our feeling of guilt and that has to stop sooner or later – I hope this stops before it is too late
this country has nothing to be ashamed of in it’s past; none of you were there and so you are not responsible, but when this false guilt is used against you, someone, sooner or later, has to speak out – in this case it is somebody descended from Muslims
Around 70 asylum seekers have broken out of a detention centre in the Australian city of Darwin to stage a protest.
read this to see how über nice we are compared to others
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11147772
Don’t we talk about human beings here? – Such camps are deeply inhuman and violate the highest fundamental right: human dignity. Not for nothing it is the first article of our constitution: “Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority. The German people therefore acknowledge inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every community, of peace and of justice in the world.”
In my opinion the detention centre is not very different from the camps which fortunately were abolished 65 years ago here. Your’re right – we are not responsible for the incidents during World War II. We live here and now – and we would be guilty if we would make it possible that such things could happen again. What did Brecht say in the epilogue of his play “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui”? – “Do not rejoice in his defeat, you men. For though the world has stood up and stopped the bastard, the bitch that bore him is in heat again…”
I really enjoy – no, its more – I love the discussion.
Remember: A man wrote a book. It puplished 1 week (?) before. The book has 464 pages. He brings a lot of arguments, substantiates his position with statistics, theories and expert opinions.
What is the result ? The chancellor, the board of the Bundesbank, different heads, more or less important leader and underleader of different parties, unions, speakers of more or less important assossiations all of them have an opinion about this book. (Behinde the scenes: yearly puplished more than 350.000 new publications…)
How interesting. It shows us a two things:
First of all: Our leader can read. Very fast.
Second: All of them are experts. They understand all of them and had developed their own theories.
Summary: Who leads Germany during the time when our chancellor is building her own theories ? What the hell are doing all this senseless people during the time when everybody expect that they lead their parties, unions and assossiations ? They are reading books and build their own theories. It´s amazing, isn´t it ?
Another fact: Where are the counter-arguments, the counter-theories, counter- statistics, counter-expert opinions which all of them will confute the writer ?
Maybe I didn´t understand but all the people who discuss argue about their personal (but of course political correct- hot steam) opinion, but NO facts. Where is the alternative draft ?
I think, we should just waiting. During this time it make not sense to discuss about the WW II or concentration camps or about our constitution. These things are neither content of the book nor counter-facts.
Enjoy the stir.
Hey, and I already thought nobody else would like to take part in the discussion
Some “counter-facts” for you: Today is the first of September, the 244th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 121 days remaining until the end of the year.
And its the day Nazi Germany invaded Poland (1939), the beginning of WW II in Europe (but no counter fact).
Hi sister, I´m so sorry but I don´t understand the connection between our discussion and the gregorian calendar, the end of the year and the WW II. Could you explain please ?
I´m really deeply impressed to see in which wide dimension we think if we discuss about one book (one of more than 350.000 new publications). Claudia Roth, the leader of the Green Party entiteld Sarazin as a “Quartalsirrer”. Anyhow she spoke about a former Senator of Berlin, a active member of the social democartic party since 37 years, a director of our Federal Bank, a man with 65 years who say and write what he think (and maybe about his longstanding experiences).
I think, this is the difference. They don´t argue about facts, they talk about their opinion, about their personal feeling when they hear the points.
In my opinion it´s not enough to kill the person and ignore the facts behind them. Atatürk the great turkish leader spoke: First of all before we can start in a new age we have to make a honest analyse without false considerateness, without understandable emotions, a honest analyse based only on facts.
It´s hard to see how fare away we discuss from this objectiv position.
In this sense: For me ist the first of september the international day of peace.
That’s the advantage of a blog: we don’t need to stick to articles. Sarrazin himself is not very interesting for me – (although I wouldn’t share Roth’s harsh opinion) . But I find it interesting to know how people think about the issues he picked out. Insofar I’m convinced that we have to discuss and to change a lot in our immigration policy. If you followed my recent comments you will know what I think about the theme. Of course it’s my personal opinion – you may have another.
I admit my yesterday comment was not very earnest – sometimes my ironic mood apparently misleads me to write oddish things… Maybe I wondered a bit about the word “counter facts” – in my opinion a fact is a fact so I thought let’s count the days…
No harm meant!
Have a nice day! (Today is Vietnam’s undependence day)