Society

The post-Pegida period

Pegida may be running out of steam, but its ideas live on

The Pegida activists' winter fairy tale is drawing to a close. We owe this not only to the movement's internal disputes and confused agenda, but also to a large number of counter-demonstrations. Civil society is apparently united in opposition to right wing demonstrations. All's well that ends well? Answers from Stefan Weidner
By Stefan Weidner
Religious communities in the Middle East

No to sectarianism; yes to equal citizenship!

The author and media commentator Khaled Hroub believes that Christians, Muslims, Jews and followers of other religions can only live peacefully together in the Middle East if people in these countries stop looking at each other in terms of their faith and start treating everyone – without exception – as citizens with equal rights
By Khaled Hroub
Arabs and Jews in Israel

You can't tear us apart

Israeli society is divided. Most Israeli Arabs and Jews live in separate worlds. Most, but not all. Andrea Backhaus presents three inspiring examples of co-existence in Israel
By Andrea Backhaus
Interview with Gudrun Kramer

Muslims must take a critical look at controversial passages in the Koran

The majority of Muslims are quite rightly resisting attempts by jihadists to co-opt their religion. Yet at the same, both jihadists and their opponents justify their arguments by quoting passages from the Koran. Ulrich von Schwerin spoke to the Islam Studies scholar Gudrun Kramer about the relationship between Islam and violence, the interpretation of the Koran and possible ways of combating jihadism
By Ulrich von Schwerin
Interview with Karen Armstrong

Islamist violence is "in part a product of Western disdain"

Karen Armstrong, British scholar of comparative religion, finds that there is a long and inglorious tradition of distorting Islam in Europe. She criticises the notion that Islam is essentially more violent than Christianity and speaks about the genesis of Western disdain for the Arab world. Interview by Claudia Mende
By Claudia Mende
Photo project "This Place"

A missed opportunity

Twelve international photographers set out to explore Israel and the West Bank through the lenses of their cameras for the photo project "This Place". The aim was to see Israel as a metaphor and to go beyond the stereotypes. According to Felix Koltermann, however, the project makes no more than a marginal contribution to a more profound engagement with the reality of the region
By Felix Koltermann
Muslims and the Paris attacks

European Muslims must speak as one

Islam will continue to be equated with brutality until such time as the Muslims of Europe stand together as a group that not only protects its religiousness, but also projects a positive image of its religion, says Jordanian writer Mousa Barhouma
By Mousa Barhouma
The anti-Semitism debate

A desperate need for a third way

In the wake of a protest against Israel's war in Gaza last year, Israel's ambassador to Germany claimed that Jews are being hunted again in Germany "like it's 1938". In this article, William Noah Glucroft, a Jew living in Berlin, considers this statement and what people mean when they talk about anti-Semitism
By William Noah Glucroft
Taliban attacks on schools in Pakistan

"We will never forget what happened"

On 16 December 2014, a group of Pakistan Taliban militants entered the auditorium and classrooms of the Army Public School in Peshawar and opened fire, killing over 140 people. The attack outraged the world and triggered a debate about the Taliban threat to schools in the country. Sadly, this school attack was no isolated incident: since 2007, more than 1,000 schools have been attacked or destroyed. By Kiran Nazish in Peshawar and Swat
By Kiran Nazish
Interview with Turkish sociologist Nilufer Gole

"There is a collective will to live together"

Prominent Turkish sociologist Nilufer Gole is a leading authority on Islamic identity and urban Muslim women. In an interview with Ceyda Nurtsch, she explains why freedom of speech is not sacred and why a new society in Europe is inevitable
By Ceyda Nurtsch
The Salaam-Shalom Initiative

Breaking down artificial walls

A year after its launch, the Salaam-Shalom Initiative has become one of the biggest intercultural groups in Berlin with dozens of events in mosques, synagogues and community centres. Armin Langer looks back on an eventful year
By Armin Langer
On Raif Badawi, Charlie Hebdo and non-violent Islamism

"We are all in this together, like it or not"

The shocking events of recent weeks – from the attacks in Paris, the flogging of Raif Badawi, and massacres in Nigeria and Pakistan – are all connected, writes Elham Manea, and they all deserve our equal and unreserved outrage and attention
By Elham Manea