As we all know, Germany has undergone a change in government, with Angela Merkel becoming the new German Chancellor. The first serious challenge she has had to face is the kidnapping in Iraq of a German Citizen; 43-year-old archaeologist Susanne Osthoff whose kidnappers naturally demand that the German government does what it tells them to do. Remember Spain.
While Germany was not involved in the war, it is now stuck in the middle of the trouble, and while Germany may be "in the cross hairs of terrorism" (Rolf Tophoven, Institute of Research on Terrorism), the new Iron Lady of Germany it seems, is not the type of Politician whose primary interest is found securely wrapped up in her ego.
According to an article entitled: "Germany's Wake-Up Call?," by Tom Goeller: "If the Iraqi insurgents don't release the German hostage or, worse, if they kill her, it will not be a good time to be a Muslim in Germany. As recent polls show, xenophobia is continuously on the rise, basically against Turks and Arabs living in Germany. The kidnapping of a German woman in Iraq is exactly the kind of terrorism that will turn Germans against all Muslims rather than foster sympathy for their alleged goals".
The interesting thing about this statement, is that it asserts that the people's of France and Germany, take a different approach to 'Political Correctness'.
In an article entitled: The Riot Act, By Nidra Poller at he points out that if you speak what you think,or worse, if you give an interview about it in relation to the French Riots and the Muslim connection, then the political correctness police will pounce. Poller writes: "the prevailing dhimmitude climate (in France) leaves no room for debate: It is forbidden to criticize Islam".
"Here in France," he wrote, "where no accusation against America or Israel is too scurrilous for official dissemination and mass consumption, Finkielkraut was beaten almost senseless for developing, with utmost precaution, a thoughtful analysis of the riots. Going beyond the simplistic sociological description of ghettoized youths bursting out in frustration against discrimination and unemployment, Finkielkraut analyzes the violence as a nihilistic attack against the French Republic".
In Australia thankfully, at least for the moment, we don't have any where near the problem that France and Germany are facing. But we are moving toward it. For instance, from my home state, this article: Anger over attack on Christmas, by Ainsley Pavey [The Sunday Mail]: the use of the term "Christmas" is politically incorrect because it excludes too many people in multicultural Australia". The Islamic-relations forum director, Kuranda Seyit said: "Australia is now so diverse and there are so many cultures and festivities, we need to acknowledge the need to be inclusive of our identity".
Whilst some Jewish groups are also calling for the removal of the 'religious' tag on Christmas because "the season has been reduced to a shopping festival", and Australian politicians are making it quite clear that there will be no change, not only have many Christian groups objected, but thankfully, so have other Muslim groups. "Islamic Council of Queensland president Abdul Jalal said Muslims have "no right" to question what Christians called their religious festival".
Would to [insert Divine entity's name] that Muslims in the rest of the world would be as gracious, but unfortunately, as Tom Goeller says in his article [Germany's Wake-Up Call?] "Again it is made clear what so many pundits in the West deny: the Islamists have declared war on the entire West on 9/11, and the Germans are not exempt".
Related Reading:
R.P.Bendedek
Email: rpbendedek@hotmail.com
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R.P.BenDedek is the pseudonym of the Author of 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran' (www.kingscalendar.com), and is a guest columnist at Magic City Morning Star News. An Australian, he currently teaches Conversational English in China. King's Calendar Social Commentaries may be found at: http://www.kingscalendar.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi?action=viewnews&id=331
The King's Calendar' is a synchronous chronological presentation of the history of Ancient Israel, as principally recorded in the Biblical books of Kings and Chronicles, and sets forth Apologetics for and the results of R.P.BenDedek's discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Books of the Bible, Josephus and the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls. www.kingscalendar.com
