By Gunnar Schupelius
Schreiber’s fate shows that anyone who raises their voice critically is putting themselves in danger. He can’t count on any support. And not everyone can stand that, says Gunnar Schupelius.
The ARD journalist Constantin Schreiber (Tagesschau) has been threatened by Islamists for years. That’s scary enough for him and his family.
On August 29th, a second front emerged: When Schreiber wanted to present his new book at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, he was attacked by left-wing extremists. They accused him of “Islamophobia.” One of them pushed a cake into his face.
This attack was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back: Last Wednesday, Schreiber announced that he wanted to withdraw: “I will no longer comment on anything that has even the remotest connection to Islam. (…) I do not do this anymore.”
What had Schreiber done? He became known in 2017 with the book “Inside Islam – What is preached in Germany’s mosques”. There he published the findings of months of research. He listened to Friday sermons in a total of 13 mosques.
In Berlin he visited the Wilmersdorf Mosque (Brienner Straße), the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Mosque (Kreuzberg), the Al-Furqan Mosque (Neukölln), the Dar Al-Heckmah Mosque (Moabit), the Şehitlik Mosque (Neukölln), the Yanus Emre Mosque (Wedding), the Risala Mosque (Moabit), the Mehmed Zahid Kotku Tekkesi Mosque (Wedding) and the Imam Riza Mosque (Neukölln).
His conclusion: The sermons were “mostly directed against the integration of Muslims into German society.” The imams “rejected democracy and our society”. Disillusioned, he stated: “I would like to give a positive example, a sermon that exudes cosmopolitanism (…). Unfortunately, my visits to mosques did not reveal such an example.”
Schreiber, who speaks Arabic himself and has lived in Syria, did what a journalist should do: He went, listened and wrote down what he heard. And he wanted to talk about it again at the Friedrich Schiller University.
The university apologized to Schreiber very belatedly. The management did not provide security, he said, even though left-wing extremists were gathering. There was even understanding for the attackers on site.
Schreiber felt completely alone. He also only heard a resounding silence from his colleagues. Worse still: Stefan Buchen (NDR, Panorama) had previously compared Schreiber’s novel “The Candidate” with the Nazi propaganda film “Jud Süß” from 1940. The left-wing attackers of August 29th adopted this vicious accusation.
So abandoned and threatened, Schreiber retreats to protect his private life and his family. That’s easy to understand and yet it’s so devastating. Because Schreiber’s fate shows: Anyone who raises their voice critically is putting themselves in danger. He can’t count on any support. And not everyone can handle that.
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