Featured photo: Mosque in Abu Dhabi | © Jörg Peter from Pixabay
Even if The behavior of official DITIB representatives continues to disappoint not only me, at least as a Heilbronn local council you have to continue to leave the church in the village and make your decisions according to the law - especially when you accuse others of not standing on the ground of our free, democratic basic order.
I would like to remind my readers of the matter again. For decades we have had a massive integration problem, not only among our Turkish migrants, although we have to admit that we are not entirely innocent. And it's not just the DITIB communities, which have always been a hotbed of Turkish bigotry (keyword: Erdogan's caliphate), that contribute significantly to the fact that far too many Germans of Turkish descent don't feel comfortable here and are therefore increasingly forming a parallel society. This has been known for years and the Turkish flag has been flying in front of the mosque on Weinsberger Strasse for at least that long - and yes, there is already one there a mosque for decades!
So far, neither our local council nor the city administration have done anything to counteract the bad behavior of the DITIB and similar organizations. But here too, this is not one of their main tasks - state and federal politics, as well as state security and the judiciary, would be required here!
It must also be recognized that the majority of mosque visitors are certainly just simple believers who want to pray to their God and ours. And I assume that hardly anyone would want to deny these believers and certainly good citizens of Heilbronn the ability to practice their religion in the most attractive mosque possible - especially since such a new building would more than improve the entire district!
That's probably why most local councilors initially welcomed the DITIB community's new building plans. What I have always criticized is that our local councils all ducked away from the actual problems and are still doing so today!
The new building could have been supported constructively from the start with a few concessions from DITIB, such as: B. the removal of the Turkish flag or even the transfer of the property from the central organization in Cologne to the local DITIB community. The city could have supported the community by making the new building usable as a district center - that would have been an exemplary integration measure!
But our local councilors don't think that far, on the contrary, they have always studiously ignored such suggestions and simply waved the new building project through, at least as long as all the relevant decisions were not made during the election campaign phase for the next local council; That was already the case before 2019 and is now the case again.
And these decisions by the local council are “only” about building law and not about the question of whether the DITIB itself is a terrorist or subversive organization or not!
And so it is now happening again that the DITIB wants to further spoil the new building for purely populist and simple election campaign reasons - once again only as an election gift to their own clientele.
This does not solve the actual and urgent problem, no, it even exacerbates it, but the local councils involved in this circus get a few more votes on the ballot paper.
That's why today I have to speak to the local councilors of the SPD and the Greens as well as the Free Voters City Council Herbert Burkhardt praise those who are currently not taking part in this populism!
I am disappointed not only by the DITIB representatives, but also by the CDU and FDP local councils, who are no better with this sudden change of opinion - especially because I am convinced that at least their parliamentary group leaders do not need such populist games .
I am amused by the AfD and Pro representatives who are now demanding, in a very press-driven way (at voice level), that our fellow Turkish citizens make a “clear written commitment to the free-democratic basic order”. This demand comes precisely from those local councilors who have long since left the ground of our free-democratic basic order, if they were ever democrats at all. In contrast to the DITIB, the AfD has long been officially classified as anti-constitutional, otherwise the Office for the Protection of the Constitution would not have to constantly monitor it.
And so the entire circus might still have something good when the DITIB, AfD and Pro representatives come together on the market square soon Ralf Uwe Heer swear by our basic law.
And for anyone who still believes that construction law can create democrats, I recommend the answer below Herbert Burkhardt to the Heilbronn Voice, which also answered the questions attached Thomas Zimmerman answered.
“Dear Mr. Zimmermann,
The Free Voters respond to their questions as follows:1. The building application for the Ditib Mosque is currently being coordinated by the administration and will be submitted to the local council for a decision in the near future. In this respect, the new construction of the mosque is on the GR's agenda anyway. Bringing forward the decision for 'political reasons' is not expedient.
2. Mr. Altuntas spoke on behalf of Ditib to the public in his letter. Mayor Mergel has clearly positioned himself for the administration. There is nothing to add.
3. Only building law reasons played a role in the local council's decision to build the Ditb Mosque. The question of size, transport connections, etc. were evaluated, not the Ditib and the Turkish religious authority behind it. A political assessment would lead to the GR decision being illegal.
We Free Voters Local Councilors will continue to adhere to the law in the future. This has nothing to do with naivety and will continue to determine our voting behavior in the local council in the future.
The federal and state interior ministries are responsible for a political assessment of Ditib.
With kind regards,
27.11.2023, 15: 15 clock
Herbert Burkhardt
Spokesperson for the Free Voters (FW) in the local council”
“Dear Mr. Burkhardt,
After the demonstrations in Heilbronn and the statements made there against the state of Israel and in support of Hamas:Is the FWV thinking about putting the issue of the mosque on Weinsberger Strasse back on the council's agenda and reconsidering the issue?
The building application has not yet been submitted.
Will the FWV demand that the city approach Ditib and its Heilbronn representatives again and demand a clear commitment to our free, democratic basic order?
In view of current developments, were the city and local council not too naïve in dealing with Ditib in the past and will there be a rethink in the future?
I would like to thank you for relatively short answers by next Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Regards
24.11.2023, 15: 29 clock
Thomas Zimmerman
Editor of the city editorial team
What I would like to know from the Heilbronn Voice is whether DITIB representatives took part in the demonstration in Heilbronn and expressed themselves against the State of Israel there? Or even called for support for Hamas?
