The Germany news agency Deutsche Welle reports:
Man denied German citizenship for refusing to shake woman’s hand
A doctor who studied medicine in Germany and now works as a senior physician in a clinic applied for citizenship through naturalization, for which he signed a declaration of loyalty to the German constitution and against extremism. He passed the naturalization test with the best possible score.
Nevertheless, he was not granted citizenship because he refused to shake hands with the responsible official when the naturalization certificate was handed. The woman therefore withheld the certificate and rejected the application.
Last Friday a German court ruled that someone who rejects a handshake with a woman due to a “fundamentalist conception of culture and values” was rejecting “integration into German living conditions.”
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But this has nothing to do with ‘fundamentalism’ or a so-called “Salafist perspective” on gender relations. It has always been normative sunni Muslim practice, shared interestingly with many Orthodox Jews who also will not shake hands with members of the opposite sex with whom they are not related. It is an expression of the etiquette to be observed between unmarried people.
(Negiah (Hebrew: נגיעה), literally “touch”, is the concept in Jewish law (Halakha) that forbids or restricts physical contact with a member of the opposite sex, except for one’s spouse outside the niddah period, and certain close relatives to whom one is presumed not to have sexual attraction). Source
In light of the numerous cases of unwanted touching and sexual harassment in the West, one might have hoped that such a chaste code of ethics be viewed with respect, even admiration.
But this case involved a Muslim man.
Just imagine the international outcry if Germany had refused citizenship to a Jew because of their faith!
Categories: Anti-Islam, Germany, Inequality, Islam, Islamophobia, Jews, Judaism, Life in the West
“Germany is still discriminating against its Muslims”
the first and basic problem lies in the heading: there is no “it’s Muslims”. Germany is a christian (whatever that means to an individual) country with christian culture. In Rome do as the Romans do is my credo. Everyone should be able to do in his own privacy whatever he wants, outside you respect the customs you bought in to.
In Japan every damn gaijin is bowing his head off, in Thailand the “farang” is “wai-ing” to every taxi driver and cleaner; here you shake hands with the person who just gives you the right to join her community – if he hasn’t learned that he’s either dumb or a moron. Germany got enough of either one, (lol).
I am a German citizen living in Asia; after 30 years and speaking the languages I can’t even smell at a citizenship. If I travel to Saudi Arabia with a golden gross-necklace I get my head chopped off. My head in this case goes off to this civil servant (forgive the pun). There are not many more of those officials left who aren’t completely bowing to political correctness. Cheers
“If I travel to Saudi Arabia with a golden gross-necklace I get my head chopped off.”
Not true.
Allow me a “little artistic freedom”…my point was that a) Westerners in general try to mimic local culture (our chancellor is wearing a headscarf when traveling to Mid-East.) Point is, that if I act MY in many Muslim countries I can get into serious trouble – don’t tell me not! This Muslim KNEW he would piss off the locals, so WHY would he do it. Specially Islam does NOT require you to follow all rules in foreign places – there you can even get stoned…
Cheers
Also your point about western women having to wear the headscarf is absolute nonsense. The western women do so out of choice and respect perhaps. I have come across even in the strictest religious region (yes you read that right) where a white European non-Muslim woman without headscarf in western clothing was treated with so much respect that the same officers in the same hour had treated an innocent fragile 70+ senior Pakistani Muslim man the complete opposite, in both cases they were visitors from abroad. I would never forget that time. There are many real examples like that, but that moment stood out the most for me. This was official behaviour in an official setting. One could not make up the juxtapositioning I literally saw in front of my own eyes that summarised how they officially do things. By the way, there are many people like myself who are speaking of these experiences of favouritism to rich whie westerners at the expense of undermining those from developing nations. Frankly, they should treat everyone equally.
I am shocked the way you wrote a complete contrast to reality. Yes, you may have read headlines of the exceptional cases, exceptional cases happen everywhere in the world but for you to get it wrong for what is happening on a larger and more official scale in these wealthy Gulf regions, is beggars belief and it indicates that you are not in touch with reality. Plus you have not taken into account the international and domestic measures applied by the lawmakers in those regions that further disproves your misinformation. Thanks for reading.
Now I am replying to yourself… For your information (and I’ve seen this first hand and believe me this is not just anecdotal) in these Gulf regions they treat westerners (including Israelis for that matter) like kings and queens in comparison to others. If you had said the particular country like the one you mentioned had treated non-white third world country citizens like garbage (including Muslims from poorer countries), I would have supported your statement all the way. You want see the reality of how they treat workers from poorer nations. And for your information, they (certain Gulf regions) would simultaneously celebrate Christmas for westerners more in extravagance to the Christmas you might celebrate in the west. Real examples such as having the most expensive Christmas tree or the Christmas shopping madness catered for the Americans and Europeans that would make our British high st shopping look less commercial would correct your misinformation, also I won’t even start with western fast food and western entertainment and sports industry boom to further prove against your points. Therefore your “Britain First” type propaganda argument is not reality (if you wore a cross etc), however much you want it to be. The harsh reality in those regions has much more to do with things like no trade union rights for workers in the toughest and dangerous jobs and consumer capitalism at its most extreme.
Is it really because of sexual attraction and chastity? Are handshakes that sexy?
Maybe Mohammed is making us all suffer because he was oversexed.
I don’t think the orthodox jews have a leg to stand on either.
[Sorry, about the spelling errors in my first comment (…my HAT goes off to the German official…
“…that if I act MY culture in many Muslim…”]
By now there needs to be non-Muslim Germans or native Westerners in general to defend Muslims. If here in Britain, they took a similar measure against the orthodox Jewish community by punishing a Jewish community member for something harmless, that would concern us all, for today it’s the Jews, tomorrow it will be someone else hence why people need to defend one and others on these types of matters.
On this specific thread, I replied by accident as I thought I was making a separate comment.
By now there needs to be non-Muslim Germans or native Westerners in general to defend Muslims. If here in Britain, they took a similar measure against the orthodox Jewish community by punishing a Jewish community member for something harmless, that would concern us all, for today it’s the Jews, tomorrow it will be someone else hence why people need to defend one and other on these types of matters.
I thought handshakes are now even more unpopular now due to Corona? What has just happened here?
btw shame on Germany, hopefully the lad will find peace elsewhere