ATTILA SAUSIC: HALF MOON IN GERMANY BOOK LAUNCH

In Western Europe, the debate on Islam and the Muslim minority is divided between two poles. One believes that "for those who insist on tolerance, there is no end of tolerance if someone else does not want to be tolerant" (Thomas Steinfeld), while the other believes that "tolerance of people and cultures that are imbued with a sense of their superiority is a guide to suicide" (Henryk M. Broder). The book seeks to find the narrow field of objective discourse between the obfuscation or denial of problems and hostility, even hatred.

There are values that a liberal society must not compromise on, such as the recognition of women's equality, the guarantee of freedom of expression and the rejection of anti-Semitism and homophobia. These are much less recognised among Muslims than in the majority society, but generalisation to the minority as a whole is not acceptable.

What does the Koran and Islamic tradition say about these? How is the immigration and integration of Muslims into Western society? Why does the headscarf symbolise the subordination of women? What happened in Cologne on New Year's Eve 2015? What does anti-Jewishness of Muslims mean today? What does homosexuality look like from a Muslim perspective? Is it allowed to criticise, even mock, Islam and its prophet?

Muslims are separated from the majority society to the extent that they consider themselves different and are treated as different. Their integration is not an unfounded hope, but their segregation is an undeniable fact.

Attila Sausic (Schauschitz) was born in Budapest in 1952. He defected to West Berlin with his family in 1983 and currently lives in Berlin. As a journalist, he reported first for Radio Free Europe and then for Magyar Narancs. Many of his writings have appeared in Élet és Irodalom.

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