VZCZCXRO4884
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ
RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHDF #0032/01 1791154
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271154Z JUN 08
FM AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0157
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 0173

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSSELDORF 000032 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KISL IR GM
SUBJECT: COUNCIL OF EX-MUSLIMS CHALLENGES GERMAN GOVERNMENT'S ISLAM 
CONFERENCE 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000032  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified -- Not for Internet Distribution 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: At its first conference May 31-June 1, the 
German "Council of Ex-Muslims" challenged the annual Islam 
Conference hosted by Federal Interior Minister Schaeuble, 
criticizing him for approaching the question of integration of 
immigrants in terms of religion and attempting to strengthen 
their "religious identity."  The organizers, whose leader is a 
controversial Iranian exile activist, argued that integration in 
Germany cannot be achieved by encouraging the supporters of 
conservative Islam, whom they consider overrepresented in the 
Interior Ministry's Islam Conference, but rather by affirming 
the democratic values of individual freedom, freedom of 
expression, equality of sexes and adherence to universal human 
rights.  Panelists and audience members expressed concern that 
the focus on religion as key in the integration process was not 
only counterproductive to integration but a threat to democracy 
and free public discourse. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Summary continued: The conference's closing statement 
reiterated the Council's criticism of Islam and conservative 
Muslim groups in Germany and called for a stronger emphasis on 
secular education, the freedom to criticize Islam and human 
rights violations perpetrated in its name, as well as diplomatic 
advocacy with Muslim countries for improved human rights in 
those countries.  While the Council raises important issues 
about the German government's approach to integration, its often 
uncompromising stance may limit its appeal to a broader German 
audience.  End Summary. 
 
¶3.  (U) PA Cultural Specialist attended the first "Critical 
Islam Conference" (www.kritische-islamkonferenz.de) which took 
place in Cologne May 31-June 1, 2008.  The conference was 
attended by about 150 people, mostly concerned citizens, 
activists affiliated with critical Islam or left-of-center 
political groups, students and journalists.  About 20 percent in 
the audience had an immigrant background.  It was hosted by the 
German "Council of ex-Muslims," founded in February 2007 and 
claiming about 500 members.  The chair, Iranian-born Mina Ahadi 
(51), explained in her opening speech that her purpose was to 
criticize the focus on religion and the predominance of what she 
called "orthodox" Muslim community leaders in the public debate 
about integration, especially at the Islam Conference hosted by 
Federal Interior Minister Schaeuble.  Ahadi, author of the book 
"I Have Renounced Islam: Why I am for Freedom and against 
Islam," argued that western societies must become more active 
when human rights are violated in the name of Islam.  Religion, 
she emphasized, was a private matter while integration was a 
question of "integrating people rather than religion."  (Note: 
Ahadi, a former refugee and Iranian exile communist activist, 
has been criticized in the Iranian community for her 
uncompromising stances on both political and religious issues 
and has been accused of publicity-seeking.  In press interviews 
prior to the conference, Bundestag MP Omid Nouripour (Greens) 
said that while he respects Ahadi's biography, he regrets that 
she "defames an entire religious community."  Representatives of 
the Iranian Dialogue Circle, a secular Berlin-based Iranian 
organization, called Ahadi a "Stalinist hardliner" who is 
"surfing on the wave of current Islamophobia" in order to gain 
attention.  End Note.) 
 
¶4.  (U) In his keynote speech, Ralph Giordano (85), the 
prominent German Holocaust survivor, author, public 
intellectual, and opponent of the Cologne Mosque project, argued 
that German integration efforts at the state and federal level 
had "clearly failed."  He proceeded to deliver a passionate plea 
affirming democratic values and human rights against what he 
called "opportunistic kowtowing" by his government to Muslim 
leaders at the expense of democracy and a free civil society. 
He also faulted intellectuals and proponents on the Left for not 
facing up to the threat to liberal democracies and women's 
rights by Islamic orthodoxy.  Seeing inequality of the sexes and 
"authoritarianism" as "inherent in orthodox Islam that must be 
confronted by the public," Giordano claimed that in his 
experience many Muslim community leaders "pay lip service to the 
value of secular liberal democracy while propagating different 
values in their communities."  In a provocative flourish, 
Giodarno accused the Secretary General of the German Central 
Council of Muslims, Aiman Mazyek, of "doublespeak" and said that 
Mazyek (a German citizen) is free to leave Germany if he does 
not care for the German system. 
 
¶5.  (U) A panel of mostly ex-Muslim women from Great Britain, 
the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany examined the situation of 
Muslim women in their respective countries, offering specific 
details of inequality and repression.  The speakers sought to 
establish counterpart organizations in other countries, pointing 
to the U.S., Canada, Australia and other European states as 
having potential.  They reiterated that it was essential to "put 
people first and not religion" in the integration debate and 
that religion should be considered a private, not public, matter. 
 
DUSSELDORF 00000032  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6.  (U) Referring to difficulties in finding a conference venue, 
members of the Council acknowledged that they are regularly 
confronted with charges of Islamophobia and racism, which they 
said they completely rejected.  They considered it "indicative 
of the lack of democratic conviction" that Muslim leaders in 
Germany often denounce them in this manner "while avoiding a 
rational critical debate of Islam" and even threatening 
ex-Muslims for speaking out. 
 
¶7.  (U) The conference's closing statement, passed by 
participants, outlines both its commitment to guaranteeing 
individual freedoms and continuing its critique of Islam and 
conservative Muslim-German organizations.  Building on its 
approach of integration as an individual process, the statement 
calls for a commitment to secularism in education; the right to 
free speech, including to criticize patriarchy and anti-Semitism 
in Muslim communities, as well as human rights violations 
committed in the name of Islam; increased diplomatic efforts by 
the German government in advocating against human rights 
violations committed in Muslim countries.  The resolution makes 
no reference to the possibility of a progressive or reformed 
Islam; instead, it criticizes references to Islam as a 
peace-loving and tolerant religion and refers to Islam as a 
"two-faced" political religion.  The resolution also condemns 
the Interior Ministry's attempt to grant conservative Muslim 
organizations a meaningful role in integration, as these 
organizations "want to prevent real integration." 
 
Comment 
----------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) The German Council of ex-Muslims raise important 
political and philosophical issues that reflect views and 
concerns represented in various parts of German society 
(Christian conservative, parts of the Lutheran Church, as well 
as Germany's largely secular moderates and left-wingers) about 
how best to integrate immigrants with Muslim backgrounds. 
However, the Council's relatively small membership and, at 
times, strident and uncompromising rhetoric may hinder their 
attempts to mobilize larger portions of the German public. 
Ex-Muslim leaders at the conference strongly rejected hints or 
accusations of racism or Islamophobia, arguing that the 
integration debate focuses too much on Islamic faith rather than 
on the development of individual identities.  Interior Ministry 
officials at the federal and state levels are well aware of this 
challenge.  There is value to monitoring the Council and its 
evolving presence on the German sociopolitical stage. 
 
¶9.  (U) This message has been coordinated with Embassy Berlin. 
BOYSE