The Economist turns its attention to Germany’s Pegida. Pegida? That’s Patriotische Europäer Gegen die Islamisierung des Abendlandes (or Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West).
As I have noted before, I have reservations about aspects of this movement (and its leading figure certainly has an, um, unusual resume), but reading this in The Economist, well….
Germans must “rethink their identity”, Mr Schiffauer argues [He’s the head of Germany’s Migration Council, something best described as an academic network with something of an agenda]. Instead of the traditional ethnic definition of nationality, they should move to a “republican” one, as in America or France, which is open to newcomers. German law on dual citizenship has slowly moved in this direction, as has public acceptance in bigger cities and the west. But pockets such as Saxony lag behind. The Migration Council recommends setting up a commission to push awareness in the right direction.
Perhaps it’s just me, but “a commission to push awareness in the right direction” sounds a touch sinister, but not, it would seem, to The Economist, a magazine, we should never forget, of Davos, rather than classical, liberalism.
Deutsche Welle has more:
Schiffauer and his colleagues are calling for a national commission made up of political scientists, members of civil society and politics that would draw up a national guideline to “embrace diversity” and influence school curricula. The researchers said similar guidelines resulted in “positive change” in Canada and the US.
“Influence school curricula”.
Jihad Watch Deutschland 