by Sabine Beppler-Spahl, spiked
A leaked intelligence agency report has revealed the extent of hardline Muslim influence over public institutions.
‘Domestic intelligence agency warns of Islamist influence on German institutions.’ So announced German tabloid Bild in early June, after journalists got hold of a secret German intelligence-agency report
The leaked report quoted Sinan Selen, the head of Germany’s domestic intelligence services, who stated that Islamists, and the Muslim Brotherhood in particular, are focussed on a long-term strategy aimed at ‘gradually transforming social and political decision-making processes’.
It is difficult to know what’s worse: the threat posed by Islamists itself, or the fact the German state wanted to keep this threat secret? By refusing to make these insights public, the government implies that citizens cannot be trusted with them.
The reason for the secrecy is obvious. These warnings from the domestic intelligence agency do not fit the ‘official’ narrative that Muslim immigration is, on the whole, a success story. They certainly embarrass a significant number of politicians who have not merely ignored the problems it raises, but deliberately looked away – the better to portray themselves as especially virtuous, enlightened defenders of a minority group they have chosen as uniquely worthy of protection.
Examples of this attitude abound. On 15 March, Berlin hosted a ‘Day Against Islamophobia’ (other minority groups – say, Hindus or Buddhists – are afforded no equivalent day). The occasion, to be commemorated annually, was promoted as one meant to strengthen ‘diversity and social cohesion’.