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Islamic radicalism is on the rise, especially in the second generation of young Muslims living in Europe. A Europe that has traditionally defined itself as Christian is being forced to address uncomortable questions. How do we want to live together? What are the limits of our tolerance? And on the other hand, how does it feel to be a Muslim growing up in Europe? To what extent is compromise possible?
We have put together a series of articles that try to answer these questions.
Notes on a post-secular society
Last year secularists and multiculturalists converged at signandsight.com to debate Islam in Europe. Both parties want a liberal society where autonomous citizens live peacefully side by side, but the slightest political provocation is enough to unleash an intellectual Kulturkampf. Jürgen Habermas considers both positions and points beyond them to a post-secular society, where religious and secular mentalities are open to a complementary learning process.
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The "Islam in Europe" debate
Who should the West support: moderate Islamists like Tariq Ramadan, or Islamic dissidents like Ayaan Hirsi Ali? Are the rights of the group higher than those of the individual? With a fiery polemic against Ian Buruma's "Murder in Amsterdam" and Timothy Garton Ash's review of this book in the New York Review of Books, Pascal Bruckner has kindled an international debate. By now Ian Buruma, Timothy Garton Ash, Necla Kelek, Paul Cliteur, Lars Gustafsson, Stuart Sim, Ulrike Ackermann, Adam Krzeminski, Halleh Ghorashi, Bassam Tibi and Margriet de Moor have all stepped into the ring.
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Tolerance for the tolerant
A combative response to Jutta Limbach's article on "Making multiculturalism work" by the Turkish-German lawyer and activist Seyran Ates.
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Making multiculturalism work
Should
Islamic schoolgirls be excused from gym class in German schools? Should
the Muezzin's call to prayer ring as loudly as the church bells in
German towns? Jutta Limbach, former President of Germany's
Federal Constitutional Court, sees multiculturalism on the wane in
Germany. In view of the growing terr orist threat, she makes a plea for
the protection of the rights of the minority, not the majority.
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Born again to kill
Islamic terrorism has nothing to do with tradition. It's a brand new direction in the faith. And it's rooted in Europe. By Olivier Roy
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Neither whores nor submissive
In
the fractured suburbs of France, young Muslim men are increasingly
acting as the guardians of public morals. Girls who don't conform to
Islamic behavioural codes are threatened with rape or death. Fadela
Amara's organisation "Ni putes ni soumises" ("neither whores nor
submissive") is fighting back. By Rebecca Hillauer
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Between the Sex Pistols and the Koran
In
the wake of terrorist attacks, people who plead for a dialogue between
religions are avoiding the key question: why do Muslims become
terrorists? By Zafer Senocak
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Islam in its new Habitus
The public face of Islam is changing. A new collection of essays tries to understand how and why. By Moritz Behrendt
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RSS
The dead body of Russian artist Anna Alchuk was pulled out of the river Spree in April this year. She and her husband, philosopher Michail Ryklin, had moved to Berlin in November 2007 after life in Russia became intolerable as a direct consequence of Alchuk's participation in the exhibition "Caution: Religion!". Michail Ryklin looks to his wife's tormented diary entries to help him approximate the causes of her death.
Last year secularists and multiculturalists converged at signandsight.com to debate Islam in Europe. Both parties want a liberal society where autonomous citizens live peacefully side by side, but the slightest political provocation is enough to unleash an intellectual Kulturkampf. Jürgen Habermas considers both positions and points beyond them to a post-secular society, where religious and secular mentalities are open to a complementary learning process. (Photo: Wolfram Huke)
At the Durban Conference against Racism in 2001, anti-colonialism bared its anti-Semitic face. The UN is planning a follow-up conference next year in Geneva. Pascal Bruckner tells democracies to keep their distance.
Advocates of Ukrainian democracy are motivated by old desires for independence from Moscow and, now that political autonomy has been achieved, by the need to get under the protective umbrella of Nato and the EU. From an objective point view, though, there are plenty of arguments against Ukraine turning its back on Russia. By Richard Wagner (Photo: Lothar Deus)
On the 60th anniversary of the state of Israel, exiled Iraqi writer, Najem Wali, decided to go and survey the "enemy" territory with his own eyes. What he found was an explanation for the reluctance of Arab leaders to let their people make the same journey: the stagnation of Arab societies and economies cannot be blamed on Israel.
Dragan Klaic arrived in Skopje on the day that Greece vetoed Macedonia's bid to join NATO at the summit in Bucharest. He found a nation reeling from this unexpected slap in the face.
No-one knows what the anti-Koran film 'Fitna' by the Dutch right-wing politician Geert Wilders contains exactly. But fearing Muslim anger many are ready to make concessions regarding the fundamental freedom of expression. Gelijn Molier looks to nineteenth century philosopher John Stuart Mill for advice.
The deportation of Romanians from Italy in the wake of a murder committed by an ethnic Roma has caused a stir in Romania. Yet whereas Romanians object to this discrimination abroad, they fail to see that at home the Roma are treated with nothing but hatred and disdain, and neither the Church nor the state is doing anything about it. By Mircea Cartarescu
Since the 19th century Ukrainians have been dreaming of a return to the paradise lost of Europe. But Ukraine's rich and painful history remains a blank spot in the European collective consciousness, or a mighty underground river flowing out of Europe's cellar, littered with corpses. By Oksana Zabuzhko