GERMAN BOOKS STEREOTYPE MUSLIMS

The project concluded that immigration and diversity were presented as problems that should be combatted to attain homogenous societies. (OnIslam)

Berlin,8 Jumadil Awwal 1436/30 March 2012 (MINA) – A German government research showing stereotyping of Muslims in school textbooks has triggered condemnations from leaders of the religious community, warning that such content emphasizes frictions and conflicts between German society and immigrants.

“They (textbooks) impose on little children ideas that foreigners are bad and are involved in theft and violence,” Burhan Kesici, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Council of Germany, told Anadolu Agency on Friday, March 27.

“This lingers in their minds and becomes part of daily conversations and discussions at school,” he added. OnIslam quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

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Conducted under the Federal Government Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration and commissioned to the Georg Eckert Institute, the German government research project examined 65 textbooks in five states on the subjects of politics, social sciences and geography.

Unveiled earlier in March, the project concluded that immigration and diversity were presented as problems that should be combatted to attain homogenous societies.

Referring to the government’s research, Kesici, who also gives Islamic lessons in capital Berlin, warned that textbooks typically contained prejudice against migrants and in some cases even denigrate them.

Some books even contain examples of stealing by using characters with traditional Muslim names like Ahmad.

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Referring to widely-spread misconceptions about the Muslim community, he added that there was already a general lack of knowledge about foreigners and Muslims in the country, which was compounded by negative comments and judgments in textbooks.

“If this was done against other minorities, all hell would have broken loose,” he said.

“But when it’s specifically about foreigners coming from Muslim countries, when it’s (about examples using Muslim names such as) Ahmad and Aisha, then nobody reacts,” he added. (T/P007/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)