In Germany, there are now about 4.5 million Muslims, so the whole discussion about Islam in Germany is completely unnecessary. If we assume that about every 20th citizen in Germany is Muslim - which I consider very important cultural assets - then we should all agree: The Muslims in Germany feel accomplished and belong to us and that is a good thing. Let us ask why so many Muslims and Turkish-German citizens live in a "parallel society." Why do the German majority and Turkish citizens continue to drift apart? This is a sad phenomenon that should be analyzed.

For many decades, German industry has been bringing foreign workers into the country. These came from bitterly poor southern Italy in the beginning, then it was mostly people from the Turkish Anatolia. However, it seems to me that the beginnings were more than intolerant. Then the term "Spaghetti" was used arrogantly to refer to Italian guest workers, and the Turks were treated as "foreign workers" in Germany. It was the exact mentality of the Nazis, of the "master race" (Herrenmenschen), who was believed to be better. Those people were told that they indeed should be happy because of their privileges, such as jobs and housing. However, it was these industrial workers, who through their hard work contributed to the "economic miracle." They were crucial to economic growth and thus contributed a significant share to constructing the welfare of Germany.

In time, their relatives also migrated to Germany. This is a very important point because only when families are given the opportunity to live together can a feeling of well-being be evoked and integration achieved. Integration and a feel-good climate are crucial factors for peaceful coexistence. Only people who feel accepted feel accomplished.

Interesting studies that show Muslims in particular feel very close to Germany, are involved in German clubs and are active professionally - after all, unemployment among Muslims is even lower, at around 5 percent, than among non-Muslim migrants, where it averages 7 percent. So how is it that the third generation, born in Germany, feels more Turkish again than their parents and grandparents - that they feel at home in Germany but do not feel close to Germans? They feel marginalized and try to compensate that with their Turkish identities. This is very unfortunate, but more than understandable. There is much to do. Young people are experiencing the concentrated hatred that is currently falling on Islam and Muslims as scapegoats.

Alarming are also the numerous threats against Muslims and the arson attacks. Between 2001 and 2016, there were more than 416 attacks - and the trend is increasing. In 2017, there were about 60 attacks on mosques and a total of 950 attacks against Muslims.

While Islam is increasingly perceived as a threat to Germans it is precisely Muslims who are very often the victims of violence.

Unity under Nibelungen-loyalty

Thilo Sarasin's lowbrow approach to Islam, was one of the first in Germany to promote hatred and prejudice toward Islam with his book "Germany Abolishes Itself." There were innumerable imitators of such a discourse. They are now finding an important reservoir, especially in the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the far-right Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West (PEGIDA) movement. All of them have helped to poison the climate more and more.

Why is Turkey being demonized with "Sultan" representation of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and portrayed as an enemy in the media daily, followed by "Tsar" Russian President Vladimir Putin, but at the same time, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under special protection? Saudi Arabia and Egypt are also treated with kid gloves. Again, it is the "Springer-Presse" that excels especially in agitation. We experience this especially on weekends, when these media unite in "Nibelungen-loyalty" with the politicians.

If even the mainstream Christian Social Union (CSU) ministers of the "new and old" federal government try to exclude Islam and use it for their own election purposes, then it becomes very dangerous. Especially I would like to mention the Green Party's Volker Beck, who not only fights at the front line of the Israel lobby, but also gives cheeky free rein to his Turks and Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) hatred. He defames the mosque association DITIB at every opportunity. For example, in an interview on March 31 with Beck, the DITIB is described by the moderator as "on a short leash" by Erdogan, who believes that the DITIB must not have a status as a religious community and must have the status of a public corporation. Beck rejects the DITIB as a discussion partner since Ankara always sits at the table.

The other side of the table

Germany has a very good constitution that guarantees undisturbed religious practice and guarantees the freedom of faith and conscience. Unfortunately, I see that the separation of church and state is not so consistently adhered to but rather eroded more and more. So, I think it is more than inappropriate when services take place before political events or Bundestag meetings. In fact, more and more Germans are non-denominational laicists or atheists. So, if people are constantly talking about the "Christian" or "Christian-Jewish" worldview or worse, "values," then I think that is more than questionable.

Islam, in that respect is more than progressive, for after all, Islam, as repeatedly shown by some circles, is compatible with every political order. However, I wonder why a Muslim woman wearing a headscarf who does not want to shake hands with foreign men for cultural reasons is far more critical and disapproving than a kippa-wearing Jewish man who refuses to shake hands with women - so much for the equal treatment of religions.

If Jewish parallel societies are formed, then that is tolerated and do not really integrate, then that is tacitly accepted. A new dangerous phenomenon is to constantly point to growing anti-Semitism and more recently to those who are said to have "Muslim roots." This is a terrible development that I vehemently oppose, not the alleged Muslim anti-Semitism, which is claimed to have been brought into the country by Muslim immigrants, are the conditions, especially in the Jewish state, that promote anti-Semitism.

How can a Muslim person look away when Muslim brothers and sisters in illegally occupied Palestine are brutally murdered for peacefully campaigning for the freedom of Palestine? For 70 years, Palestinians have been denied their legal right to return. In the face of these facts, how can one criticize the fact that the Star of David banner or dummies of it are burned as the symbol of occupation and oppression?

Policy-making without understanding

As the situation escalated on March 30, the memorable day after more than 30,000 Palestinians from Gaza began their "march of return," to be continued until Nakba on May 15, were assassinated by snipers from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). So far, there were 18 Palestinian martyrs and more than 1,400 injured. The humanitarian situation is a disaster and medical care in the hospitals of Gaza unimaginable. In this sealed-off strip of misery there is a lack of everything, including clean drinking water as well as the power supply and medicine. Some 2 million people are living with the blockade. It is a brutal disconnection of land, water and even fresh air. Netanyahu's tear gas drones harass people. The situation reminds me of the previous massacres and the genocide of 2014.

You need to thank Erdoğan for his clear words. Yes, it was a massacre by the IDF and yes, Netanyahu is a terrorist and Israel is a terrorist state. It would be even more important, however, if Turkey acted immediately and provided material and non-material assistance to Gaza. Now, Erdoğan is the only statesman who dares to speak plainly to the rulers of the Jewish state.

Unlike Israel, Turkey is not an occupier state, nor is Israel the only democracy. Actually, Israel is not a democracy. It is downright teasing when Netanyahu repeatedly repeats the phrase claiming the "most moral of all armies," and Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman once again refuses an independent investigation - just like after the Mavi Marmara massacre on May 31, 2010, when the Enlightenment was denied the IDF's brutal killings. Because nothing scares Zionists more than the truth.

Lieberman also rejected demands for an independent investigation of the murderous shots fired at Palestinians on the border with Gaza and was so full of praise for the Jewish "defense soldiers" who only did what was necessary: The soldiers responsible for the massacre, according to Lieberman, should be given even awards.

While Turkey has an exemplary record with more than 3.5 million refugees and has signed a refugee agreement with us to keep the refugees from "necking," the Netanyahu regime despises black refugees and calls them invaders, imprisons them or wants to stop them from sending money to Europe and Africa. Only Jewish refugees are gladly accepted and receive a so-called "right of return," which has been denied to the Palestinians and their descendants since the expulsion, so the regime wants to promote the final solution of Judaization.

The worst part of this unbearable situation was when the new German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas made his "reconciliation trip" to the Jewish state and to Netanyahu, while he had the Palestinians flashed off and spoiled with a "KaDeWe" gift basket. His comments on Turkey and Russia also promise little good. I already miss the predecessor Sigmar Gabriel, who had just tried to restore a good relationship with Turkey.

I sincerely hope that no hatred should be sown against Muslims and migrants, for those who sow hatred will grow violence.

* German activist and journalist