"Islamic Community of the Shiite Congregations of Germany" on the advisory board of Berlin’s Humboldt University? - WerteInitiative. jüdisch-deutsche Positionen

In 2 urgent letters we have today written to the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Mr Michael Müller, and to the President of Humboldt University, Prof. Kunst.Dear Governing Mayor Müller,

the freedom of scholarship, research and teaching is a high good of our free democratic basic order.

Part of that should be the training of German imams and religious education teachers, who are trained here independently of foreign influence. The Islamische Gemeinschaft der Schiiten in Deutschland (IGS) is to be represented on the advisory board of the new Institute for Islamic Theology at Humboldt University in Berlin.
An important member of the IGS is the Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg (IZH). According to the Hamburg Verfassungsschutz, the IZH stands “for a system of values that is incompatible with the free democratic basic order. Moreover, the Iranian constitution still contains the mandate to export the Iranian model of a theocratic state worldwide. The IZH, too, is bound by this mandate.” (1). Under the current Iranian regime, hatred of women, homosexuals, dissenters and minorities is as much a part of the reason of state as the pursued destruction of Israel. The Iranian regime is thus diametrically opposed to the values of our country and to the spirit of Berlin.
In the “Imam Mahdi Centre” in Münster, too, which is a member of the IGS, an oath of allegiance to the Iranian revolutionary leader was sworn and it was proclaimed that one was “proud” of terrorism (2). Through this involvement the IGS has placed itself offside.

We therefore consider the involvement of the IGS in academic life to be a fundamental mistake, and we ask you, when making the appointment, to require a clear commitment to our free democratic basic order, a clear distancing from states opposed to our values, and a commitment to Israel’s right to security, and, if necessary, to fill the position anew.

Only a few days ago you responded – gratifyingly and necessarily – to the criticism of the Tehran mayor’s visit. In doing so you showed that you are aware of the significance of symbolism. Having the IGS on the advisory board has, alongside the symbolism it contains, a significance that goes beyond that: it would shape which Islam we have in Germany. What conceptions that would be based on can be seen from the Verfassungsschutz report quoted above, or from the news about the next execution of a homosexual or of people who otherwise displease the regime. How can anyone come up with the idea of promoting something like that in our country?

We politely point out that we will communicate this letter and your reply publicly – unless you require otherwise of us. Personal contact details and signatures would be redacted.

Yours sincerely

Dr. Elio Adler (Chairman), Lydia Bergida, Daniel Kohn
– Board of WerteInitiative – jüdisch-deutsche Positionen e.V. –Dear Prof. Dr. Kunst, President of Humboldt University in Berlin,

the freedom of scholarship, research and teaching is a high good of our free democratic basic order. Part of that should be the training of German imams and religious education teachers, who are trained here independently of foreign influence.

The Islamische Gemeinschaft der Schiiten in Deutschland (IGS) is to be represented on the advisory board of the new Institute for Islamic Theology at Humboldt University in Berlin.

An important member of the IGS is the Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg (IZH). According to the Hamburg Verfassungsschutz, the IZH stands “for a system of values that is incompatible with the free democratic basic order. Moreover, the Iranian constitution still contains the mandate to export the Iranian model of a theocratic state worldwide. The IZH, too, is bound by this mandate.” (1). Under the current Iranian regime, hatred of women, homosexuals, dissenters and minorities is as much a part of the reason of state as the pursued destruction of Israel. The Iranian regime is thus diametrically opposed to the values of our country and to the spirit of Berlin.
In the “Imam Mahdi Centre” in Münster, too, which is a member of the IGS, an oath of allegiance to the Iranian revolutionary leader was sworn and it was proclaimed that one was “proud” of terrorism. (2) Through this involvement the IGS has placed itself offside.

We therefore consider the involvement of the IGS in academic life to be a fundamental mistake, and we ask you, when making the appointment, to require a clear commitment to our free democratic basic order, a clear distancing from states opposed to our values and a commitment to Israel’s right to security, and, if necessary, to fill the position anew.

Briefly about us: WerteInitiative has established itself as a civil-society Jewish voice in Germany since 2014. We work to strengthen the values of the free democratic basic order from a Jewish perspective. We do this by promoting values-based political, social and media discourse, civic Jewish engagement in Germany and the German-Israeli relationship.

Only a few days ago the Governing Mayor responded – gratifyingly and necessarily – to the criticism of the Tehran mayor’s visit. In doing so he showed that he is aware of the significance of symbolism. Having the IGS on the advisory board has, alongside the symbolism it contains, a significance that goes beyond that: it would shape which Islam we have in Germany. What conceptions that would be based on can be seen from the Verfassungsschutz report quoted above, or from the news about the next execution of a homosexual or of people who otherwise displease the regime. How can anyone come up with the idea of promoting something like that in our country?

We politely point out that we will communicate this letter and your reply publicly – unless you require otherwise of us. Personal contact details and signatures would be redacted.

Yours sincerely

Dr. Elio Adler (Chairman), Lydia Bergida, Daniel Kohn
– Board of WerteInitiative – jüdisch-deutsche Positionen e.V. –