CDU chastens new Muslim minister for mooting school crucifix ban (How about that!)

The Local.de ^ | 26 Apr 10

[GonzoII]

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CDU chastens new Muslim minister for mooting school crucifix ban

Published: 26 Apr 10 17:20 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20100426-26797.html

Just one day before taking her post, Lower Saxony’s new Social Minister Aygül Özkan has apologised to her fellow Christian Democrats for starting a heated political debate by suggesting that crucifixes don’t belong in German public schools.

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In an interview over the weekend the 38-year-old – who will be the country’s first Muslim state minister – said that public schools should be neutral places without religious symbols, including both crucifixes and Islamic headscarves.

The statements from the conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) member to Focus magazine sparked outrage within her own party.

On Monday morning Integration Commissioner Maria Böhmer rejected any suggestion of such a ban, saying crucifixes were part of the country’s national identity.

By afternoon Lower Saxony State Premier Christian Wulff, who appointed Özkan to his cabinet, declared the discussion was over.

After a “broad debate” in the CDU state parliamentary group, his new minister had accepted that crucifixes are “welcome and wanted” in the state’s schools, he said as a federal and state-level conference on integration began in Berlin.

“She backs this policy and the topic is finished for us,” he said, calling the situation a “misunderstanding.”

Meanwhile at the integration summit Özkan reportedly apologised for the interview, saying she gave it without adequate knowledge of the state party’s policies.

CDU parliamentary group leader David McAllister emphasised that state laws for religious symbols in schools would not be changed.

“In the eyes of the CDU the cross is a symbol of tolerance, also when applied to other religions,” he said. “The weekend’s irritations and misunderstandings have therefore been dispelled.”

A successful business woman, Özkan joined the CDU in 2004 and quickly rose through the regional ranks of the party to reach the Hamburg city council in 2008.

The debate over religious symbols in schools came as federal and state integration officials planned to gather in Oldenburg on Monday.

DDP/The Local (news@thelocal.de)

[GonzoII]

Related: [German] Muslim minister-designate calls for state school crucifix ban

[GonzoII]

Happy Ending Ping!

[mrmeyer]

Cultural suicide at its finest....

[LastNorwegian]

So she realized it was too soon...

But with no pushback it will happen in a couple of years. -When the muslims are even more numerous.

[driftdiver]

if she’s a muslim I’d like her to go to Saudi dressed like that and seek out a position in business or a leadership position in government.

If she’s successful then I might listen to her about tolerance and policy issues. As it is she’s just a plant who is moving Europe one step closer to sharia law.

[ZULU]

These western Europeans are mad mad - putting an Islamic Turk in such a position.

And we are doing the same thing here.

Its like electing NAZIs to office before WW2.

[Clemenza]

NOT Guilty!

[Moltke]

Not only that, but just a few days earlier she demanded (don’t they always?!) that more “migrants” (= muslims) be given positions in all levels of government and the public service sector. The CDU has degenerated to a sorry collection of idiots.