Gemeinsamer Beitrag des EKD-Büro Brüssels und des Kommissariats der deutschen Bischöfe - Katholisches Büro in Berlin zu der öffentlichen Konsultation der Europäischen Kommission zu Toleranz und Respekt

The EKD‐Office Brussels and the Federal Commission of German Bishops serve as interest representations of the two major churches in Germany vis à vis the European Union´s Institutions. In this context, we appreciate the opportunity to share our experience of the situation in Germany.

1 – Can you inform about new trends showing an increase in anti‐Semitic and anti‐Muslim incidents? What are to your mind the underlying factors for each of these phenomena: religion, culture, socio‐economic or political circumstances, prejudices, etc.?

The German Federal Ministry of the Interior published a statistics on politically motivated crime on the 29 April 2015. It shows that hate crimes have increased by 11,2 % from 2012 – 2013 (http://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2014/04/politisch‐motivierte‐kriminalitaet‐2013.html.). While anti‐Semitic incidents have decreased by 7,2 %. Whereas the German official crime statistic lists anti‐Semitic crimes separately, anti‐Muslim incidents fall under the general statistics. Thus there is no reliable public data on anti‐Muslim incidents available right now. Both phenomena are expressions of group‐focused enmity. Generally, anti‐Semitic and anti‐Muslim incidents can be fueled by various underlying factors reaching from foreign policy issues to domestic policy challenges, from socio‐economical factors and a lack of sufficient integration policy to the role of religion in the public sphere. The Israel‐Palestine conflict for example leads to a very critical attitude towards Judaism and resulted in a number of anti‐Semitic demonstrations last year (more violently in other European countries, but also in Germany). Domestically the acceptance of religious symbols in public – mainly regarding jewish kippas, orthodox jewish clothing and muslim headscarfs – is an example of persistent discussion. Moreover, there is a lack of knowledge about other religions, which can lead to stereotyping and prejudices. The role of the media in depicting Muslims (link to terrorism) or Jews should also not be underestimated. Finally, the lack of sufficient interaction between religions, especially between Jewish and Muslim communities seems to be a relevant factor leading to misunderstanding and prejudice.

2 – To which extent do you think anti‐Semitism and Muslim hatred require a specific or a common
response?

Generally, the European Union should foster awareness raising among EU citizens for the specificities of the major religions in Europe. However both phenomena are complex and intertwined with various political, socio‐economical, ethnical, societal issues. Anti‐Semitic and anti‐Muslim hatred are not only matters of freedom of religion but also, for example, of non‐discrimination and human dignity. As the protection of these human rights is primarily a task of the national authorities, legislators and courts of the member states, the EU can only provide support to fulfil this task. The legal framework at EU level for the protection of the human rights exists in form of the charter of fundamental rights and the European Convention of Human Rights. Moreover, for example, the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, the Council of Europe, the European Court on Human Rights as well as the European Parliament already play as institutions an important role in that regard as well as first Vice‐President Frans Timmermans as Commissioner in charge of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. Nevertheless, as the root causes for anti‐Semitism and Muslim hatred are very complex and even differ from Member State to Member State to tackle the root causes and to approach each part of the phenomena specific solutions and responses are required.

3 – Beyond security measures, which are necessary to ensure the security of people and sites, how can the feeling of security of Jewish and Muslim communities in European States be improved?

4 – Which measures do you think would be most effective in tackling the issue of hate speech, including online, with a particular focus on expressions of anti‐Semitism and islamophobia?

5 – What are the main challenges and gaps in effectively combatting racist, anti‐Semitic and islamophobic speech and crime in terms of legislation and its implementation? What should be done to overcome these challenges and how do you think the EU could facilitate this?

Anti‐Semitic, anti‐Muslim and racist prejudices can be found in various forms and in every social class. The Problem cannot be solved solely by legislation and its implementation. The starting Point of such a long‐term process should lie in a comprehensive dialogue with all relevant actors of civil society, like religious communities, Churches, politicians and civil society organizations. Here the EU could serve as a facilitator in offering fora of exchange for best practices. It is also important to prevent the radicalisation of young people. Therefore approaches are necessary on EU as well as on national level. Programs like the Radicalisation Awareness Network (RAN) in the context of the new European Agenda on Security are to be mentioned as an example here.

The EU has initiated a broad set of measures to combat different forms and manifestations of racism and xenophobia.