What does it mean to be German? A minister close to Chancellor Angela Merkel has kicked off a divisive election-year debate about cultural identity,&nbsp;earning him praise, ridicule and charges of immigrant-bashing.

Some say it&#39;s high time to define shared values as Germany seeks to integrate more than a million mostly Muslim asylum seekers who arrived since 2015 under Merkel&#39;s open-door policy.

Others have slammed the initiative as a grab for right-wing voters who threaten to drift off to the nationalist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in September elections.

The eye-catching opening salvo was fired by Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere in the top-selling tabloid Bild on Sunday.

The front page showed the politician in charge of police and migrant affairs before the national colours black, red and gold, with the grammatically dubious headline &quot;We Are Not Burka&quot;.

In a double-page spread, de Maiziere outlined in 10 points what he considers core elements of the German &quot;Leitkultur&quot;, the guiding or dominant national culture.

He listed a diligent work ethic, respect for others, being an &quot;enlightened patriot&quot;, a belief in Europe and NATO, and in education and the arts, including the works of Bach and Goethe.

The Christian Democrat also said being German means &quot;showing our face&quot; rather than wearing an Islamic full-face burka, and greeting others with handshakes, which some Muslims shun with non-family members of the opposite sex.

Sandals with socks

On Twitter, outrage and mockery rained down on de Maiziere, garnished with memes of German sauerkraut and garden gnomes.

An alternative &quot;Ten Commandments&quot; suggested adding &quot;towels on deck chairs&quot; and &quot;sandals with tennis socks&quot; as uniquely German traits.

The Berlin daily Tagesspiegel charged &quot;the CDU has discovered the AfD within&quot;, while Greens party politician Juergen Trittin decried &quot;right-wing rabble-rousing&quot;.

Berlin state secretary Sawsan Chebli, the daughter of Palestinian refugees, said she found it &quot;off-putting&quot; to claim virtues such as respect for education as uniquely German.

Former president Christian Wulff, the first public official to proclaim that &quot;Islam is part of Germany&quot; , said the constitution provides all the rules needed for life in an open, democratic society.

Nonetheless, polls by Insa and YouGov found that around half of Germans agreed with the concept of a &quot;Leitkultur&quot;, which has been hotly debated in media columns and TV talk shows.

It is a painful debate in a country that, given its guilt over World War II and the Holocaust, long shunned open expressions of patriotism, but which is yet to fully embrace the concept of &quot;multiculturalism&quot;.

One fifth of Germans have a migrant background, and four million of its 80 million people are Muslims, including a large Turkish diaspora, a legacy of post-war Germany&#39;s &quot;guest worker&quot; programme.

Yet the word &quot;Multikulti&quot; is still often used as a negative,&nbsp;to evoke urban migrant ghettos, &quot;parallel societies&quot; and no-go areas, rather than a rich, ethnically diverse society.

&#39;Reject nationalism&#39;

The loaded term &quot;Leitkultur&quot; was first used in German politics by the CDU in 2000 to suggest that immigrants, then mainly from the former Yugoslavia, must follow Germany&#39;s customs and traditions as well as its laws.

The word was revived by the AfD, a party now polling around 10 per cent, which has urged Germans to rediscover national pride and a Christian-rooted heritage.

Now, four months before elections, de Maiziere has taken ownership of the term.

&quot;Populist, empty and slightly nauseating,&quot; was how Berlin graphic designer Bettina Braun, 37, characterised the phrase, adding that &quot;if Germany needs a Leitkultur, it should be to reject nationalism.&quot;

Retired teacher Gerda Felgner, 68, judged it &quot;problematic&quot;, because &quot;if you want to exclude someone, you define what Leitkultur is&quot;.

Others were more sympathetic, including Thai-born office worker Somkiat, who said &quot;every country has common rules that define day-to-day life&quot;.

&quot;Foreigners can&#39;t just come and do whatever they want, they have to integrate themselves,&quot; said the 62-year-old.

Health care worker Uwe Liebrecht, 61, couldn&#39;t agree more, saying he felt ethnic Germans like him were &quot;becoming a minority&quot; and migrants &quot;here should try to fit into our culture&quot;.&nbsp;

Iraqi-born Nora, 28, said the hijab headscarf she wears had &quot;sadly become a symbol&quot; and had led strangers to tell her she looks &quot;like a ghost&quot;.

&quot;Of course that hurts and I think to myself: &#39;you don&#39;t even know me&#39;,&quot; she said. &quot;I grew up in Germany and to a degree I can understand it. Many Germans don&#39;t know any foreigners and just see terror on TV.

&quot;I think we need to talk to each other more and reduce those prejudices.&quot;

(AFP)

The opening salvo was fired by interior minister Thomas de Maiziere in the top-selling tabloid Bild

What does it mean to be German? A minister close to Chancellor Angela Merkel has kicked off a divisive election-year debate about cultural identity, earning him praise, ridicule and charges of immigrant-bashing. Some say it's high time to define shared values as Germany seeks to integrate more than a million mostly Muslim asylum seekers who arrived since 2015 under Merkel's open-door policy. Others have slammed the initiative as a grab for right-wing voters who threaten to drift off to the nationalist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in September elections. The eye-catching opening salvo was fired by Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere in the top-selling tabloid Bild on Sunday. The front page showed the politician in charge of police and migrant affairs before the national colours black, red and gold, with the grammatically dubious headline "We Are Not Burka". In a double-page spread, de Maiziere outlined in 10 points what he considers core elements of the German "Leitkultur", the guiding or dominant national culture. He listed a diligent work ethic, respect for others, being an "enlightened patriot", a belief in Europe and NATO, and in education and the arts, including the works of Bach and Goethe. The Christian Democrat also said being German means "showing our face" rather than wearing an Islamic full-face burka, and greeting others with handshakes, which some Muslims shun with non-family members of the opposite sex. Sandals with socks On Twitter, outrage and mockery rained down on de Maiziere, garnished with memes of German sauerkraut and garden gnomes. An alternative "Ten Commandments" suggested adding "towels on deck chairs" and "sandals with tennis socks" as uniquely German traits. The Berlin daily Tagesspiegel charged "the CDU has discovered the AfD within", while Greens party politician Juergen Trittin decried "right-wing rabble-rousing". Berlin state secretary Sawsan Chebli, the daughter of Palestinian refugees, said she found it "off-putting" to claim virtues such as respect for education as uniquely German. Former president Christian Wulff, the first public official to proclaim that "Islam is part of Germany" , said the constitution provides all the rules needed for life in an open, democratic society. Nonetheless, polls by Insa and YouGov found that around half of Germans agreed with the concept of a "Leitkultur", which has been hotly debated in media columns and TV talk shows. It is a painful debate in a country that, given its guilt over World War II and the Holocaust, long shunned open expressions of patriotism, but which is yet to fully embrace the concept of "multiculturalism". One fifth of Germans have a migrant background, and four million of its 80 million people are Muslims, including a large Turkish diaspora, a legacy of post-war Germany's "guest worker" programme. Yet the word "Multikulti" is still often used as a negative, to evoke urban migrant ghettos, "parallel societies" and no-go areas, rather than a rich, ethnically diverse society. 'Reject nationalism' The loaded term "Leitkultur" was first used in German politics by the CDU in 2000 to suggest that immigrants, then mainly from the former Yugoslavia, must follow Germany's customs and traditions as well as its laws. The word was revived by the AfD, a party now polling around 10 per cent, which has urged Germans to rediscover national pride and a Christian-rooted heritage. Now, four months before elections, de Maiziere has taken ownership of the term. "Populist, empty and slightly nauseating," was how Berlin graphic designer Bettina Braun, 37, characterised the phrase, adding that "if Germany needs a Leitkultur, it should be to reject nationalism." Retired teacher Gerda Felgner, 68, judged it "problematic", because "if you want to exclude someone, you define what Leitkultur is". Others were more sympathetic, including Thai-born office worker Somkiat, who said "every country has common rules that define day-to-day life". "Foreigners can't just come and do whatever they want, they have to integrate themselves," said the 62-year-old. Health care worker Uwe Liebrecht, 61, couldn't agree more, saying he felt ethnic Germans like him were "becoming a minority" and migrants "here should try to fit into our culture". Iraqi-born Nora, 28, said the hijab headscarf she wears had "sadly become a symbol" and had led strangers to tell her she looks "like a ghost". "Of course that hurts and I think to myself: 'you don't even know me'," she said. "I grew up in Germany and to a degree I can understand it. Many Germans don't know any foreigners and just see terror on TV. "I think we need to talk to each other more and reduce those prejudices." (AFP)

What does it mean to be German? Question is asked in election year

Germany&#39;s interior minister came out in favour of partially banning the full-face burqa Islamic veil on Friday, as a debate on integration rages after two jihadist attacks, and ahead of key state polls. 
 
The call by Thomas de Maiziere comes as Chancellor Angela Merkel&#39;s government attempts to address public fears surrounding last year&#39;s record influx of migrants and refugees.&nbsp;It also echoed a controversial move by several French towns in recent weeks to outlaw &quot;burkinis&quot;, the full-body Islamic swimsuit, at a highly sensitive time for relations with the Muslim community following a series of Islamist attacks. 
 
&quot;We agree that we reject the burqa, we agree that we want to introduce a legal requirement to show one&#39;s face in places where it is necessary for our society&#39;s coexistence: at the wheel, at public offices, at the registry office, in schools and universities, in the civil service, in court,&quot; De Maiziere said after a meeting with regional counterparts from his conservative bloc. 
 
He told public television that the full-face veil &quot;does not belong in our cosmopolitan country&quot;. 
 
&quot;We want to show our faces to each other and that is why we agree that we reject this. The question is, how we put this into law,&quot; he said.&nbsp;De Maiziere, who was to hold a press conference later on Friday on the proposal, did not say when he would put forward a draft bill. 
 
But he indicated that outlawing the burqa only under certain circumstances, as opposed to the blanket ban favoured by the hard right of Merkel&#39;s Christian Union bloc, would be &quot;likely to win approval&quot; in parliament.&nbsp;Merkel&#39;s right-left &quot;grand coalition&quot; holds an overwhelming majority in the Bundestag lower house. 
 
Islamic State threat &#39;already there&#39; 
 
In an interview with a regional newspaper this week, Merkel underlined her objections to the burqa.&nbsp;&quot;From my point of view, a woman who is entirely veiled has hardly any chance at integrating,&quot; she said. 
 
De Maiziere&#39;s position outlined on Friday represents a compromise with hardliners ahead of two pivotal regional elections next month in which the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party looks set to make strong gains. 
 
Just last week he had rejected a call from conservative state interior ministers for a sweeping burqa ban, saying: &quot;We can&#39;t ban everything that we reject, and I reject the wearing of the burqa.&quot; 
 
He made the comments on August 11 as he unveiled tough new anti-terror measures after two attacks in Germany last month claimed by the Islamic State group.&nbsp;The measures included a controversial proposal to strip jihadist fighters of their German nationality, as well as to speed up deportations of convicted criminal migrants and boost police resources. 
 
The AfD in particular has attempted to link the arrival of nearly 1.1 million migrants and refugees in Germany last year with an increased threat of terrorism, an argument Merkel sharply rejected this week on the campaign trail in her home district. 
 
&quot;The phenomenon of Islamist terrorism by Islamic State is not something that came to us with the refugees, it was already there,&quot; she said, referring to the threat posed by homegrown militants. 
 
(AFP)

Thomas de Maiziere told public television that the full-face veil 'does not belong in our cosmopolitan country'

Germany's interior minister came out in favour of partially banning the full-face burqa Islamic veil on Friday, as a debate on integration rages after two jihadist attacks, and ahead of key state polls. The call by Thomas de Maiziere comes as Chancellor Angela Merkel's government attempts to address public fears surrounding last year's record influx of migrants and refugees. It also echoed a controversial move by several French towns in recent weeks to outlaw "burkinis", the full-body Islamic swimsuit, at a highly sensitive time for relations with the Muslim community following a series of Islamist attacks. "We agree that we reject the burqa, we agree that we want to introduce a legal requirement to show one's face in places where it is necessary for our society's coexistence: at the wheel, at public offices, at the registry office, in schools and universities, in the civil service, in court," De Maiziere said after a meeting with regional counterparts from his conservative bloc. He told public television that the full-face veil "does not belong in our cosmopolitan country". "We want to show our faces to each other and that is why we agree that we reject this. The question is, how we put this into law," he said. De Maiziere, who was to hold a press conference later on Friday on the proposal, did not say when he would put forward a draft bill. But he indicated that outlawing the burqa only under certain circumstances, as opposed to the blanket ban favoured by the hard right of Merkel's Christian Union bloc, would be "likely to win approval" in parliament. Merkel's right-left "grand coalition" holds an overwhelming majority in the Bundestag lower house. Islamic State threat 'already there' In an interview with a regional newspaper this week, Merkel underlined her objections to the burqa. "From my point of view, a woman who is entirely veiled has hardly any chance at integrating," she said. De Maiziere's position outlined on Friday represents a compromise with hardliners ahead of two pivotal regional elections next month in which the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party looks set to make strong gains. Just last week he had rejected a call from conservative state interior ministers for a sweeping burqa ban, saying: "We can't ban everything that we reject, and I reject the wearing of the burqa." He made the comments on August 11 as he unveiled tough new anti-terror measures after two attacks in Germany last month claimed by the Islamic State group. The measures included a controversial proposal to strip jihadist fighters of their German nationality, as well as to speed up deportations of convicted criminal migrants and boost police resources. The AfD in particular has attempted to link the arrival of nearly 1.1 million migrants and refugees in Germany last year with an increased threat of terrorism, an argument Merkel sharply rejected this week on the campaign trail in her home district. "The phenomenon of Islamist terrorism by Islamic State is not something that came to us with the refugees, it was already there," she said, referring to the threat posed by homegrown militants. (AFP)

Germany's interior minister votes for partial burqa ban

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What does it mean to be German? Question is asked in election year

Germany's interior minister votes for partial burqa ban