Taking a Stand Against Tax Cheats
In a controversial move, German government officials agreed to purchase a particular CD at the cost of 2.5 million euros ($3.5 million) from a whistler-blower. On the CD is a list of alleged suspects who are said to have illegally hid money in Swiss bank accounts to avoid paying tax on such funds. Now the […]
Report Backs Teaching Of Islam at German Universities
This article discusses a German advisory council’s recommendation that centers for Islamic studies be set up at universities throughout the country. The Council also recommended that Muslim authorities be given the power to choose who teaches these courses. Despite Germany’s large Muslim population there are few outlets in universities to educate individuals regarding Muslim theology. […]
German Terrorist Trial
Germany’s first terrorist-trial is coming to an end, presenting a very appropriate and provoking connection to the question of multi-culturality in Germany today and in the past. The members of the self-entitled “Sauerland Cell” terrorist group are German, German-Turkish, and Turkish, a fact very specifically stated in the article, published 2/2/2010 by the Deutsche Welle. […]
“Fremd im eigenen Land” by Advanced Chemistry
The song “Fremd im eigenen Land” (translated as “Foreign in my own Country”) by the German rap group Advanced Chemistry tackles the issue of racism faced by non-white Germans. Through “Fremd im eigenen Land” the band members, who are all German citizens with ethnic backgrounds, attempted to bring to light the problems facing modern German […]
Traurige Lieder – Söhne Mannheims
This song characterizes exactly how dramatic the racial tensions are within Germany. Söhne Mannheims is a multiethnic band from Germany, made up of fourteen friends who have all been involved in the music scene and are actively involved in political and race debates within the country, personally but also through their music. Xavier Naidoo is […]
Banning the ‘Burqa’: France’s Quest to maintain its Secular Identity
The article “Banning the ‘Burqa’: France’s Quest to maintain its Secular Identity” deals with the ban of the full veil. According to the article, a parliamentary committee has recommended full veils in France. This happened a few months after President Sarkozy declared the burqa and niqab unwelcome in France. However, the article also states that […]
German Home-Schoolers Granted Political Asylum in US
This article examines a fundamental difference between the educational culture of the United States and Germany. The Romeike family of Germany, who are Evangelical Christians, took their children out of mainstream school and attempted to homeschool their children. After hefty fines and harassment from German authorities, the Romeike family fled to the United States where […]
Extremist Swede gives anti-Islam party millions
In an attempt to prevent the nation of Germany from becoming “too foreign” Swedish businessman Patrik Brinkmann has announced that he will be investing five million Euro into an anti-Islam populist party based in Cologne called Pro NRW. Brinkmann feels assured in the right-wing party’s success and hopes that its relative unnoticed stature will allow […]
Berlin’s Museum of Islamic art reaches out to new audiences
Berlin’s Museum of Islamic art is vastly expanding. The museum plans to reach out to non-Islamic people by “making sense of the present through the past”. In this article, Stefan Weber, in charge of the expansion, seems to genuinely want to reach out to the German people and teach them about Muslim culture. His ideas […]
“Nur nicht auffallen” von Claudia Keller, Der Tagesspiegel, 1.2.2010
The article describes the life of the Martinez family, a family that lives illegally in Berlin and the challenges they face to keep their status from the authorities. They live a relatively normal middle class life but beneath the surface constantly struggle. Their predicament is just one example of many facing illegal residents. Approximately 50,000 […]