As Israel strikes mosques and churches in the Gaza Strip, Muslims in Germany fear the same aggression thousands of miles away. Since a new round of conflict broke out on Oct. 7 between Israel and Palestinians, mosques in the European country whose government staunchly supports Israel, are targeted by assailants. Threatening messages, and burned Qurans around the mosques become commonplace.
Eyüp Kalyon, secretary-general of the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), says 81 mosques were “attacked” since January and half of the attacks took place after Oct. 7. DITIB represents hundreds of mosque associations of the Turkish community in Germany. The Turkish diaspora is the largest of its kind in the country and has been subject to neo-Nazi and racist attacks in the past.
Kalyon told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Tuesday that they were worried about the increasing level of attacks after noting a drastic rise since the beginning of the conflict. He urged German authorities to take measures. “Rhetoric toward or against Muslims influences these attacks. We see neo-Nazi signs drawn on the walls of our mosques. We find burned pages of the Quran thrown at the doors of mosques. In North Rhine-Westphalia state alone, seven of our mosques were subject to attacks involving the delivery of pieces of pork meat (forbidden for consumption in Islam), burned Quran pages and letters containing threats and insults. This is a blatant provocation,” he said.
"We expect from the state to ensure the security of our mosques, as they are expected to do for other places of worship, churches and synagogues. For us to practice our religion freely, the security of our mosques must be ensured," he stressed. Kalyon also said that they are receiving reports of growing racist incidents and verbal attacks against Muslim women wearing the hijab on the streets.
With a population of over 84 million people, Germany has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. Among the country's nearly 5 million Muslims, 3 million are of Turkish origin.
