German central banker in row over Muslims and Jews resigns
A German central bank board member who caused outrage with remarks about Muslim immigrants and Jews resigned on Thursday after coming under pressure from political leaders including Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Bundesbank said Thilo Sarrazin, 65, who accused Turks and Arabs of exploiting the welfare state, refusing to integrate and lowering the average intelligence, would leave his post at the end of the month.
Sarrazin confirmed he had stepped down during a book reading in Potsdam near Berlin. “I found it too risky in the current atmosphere … to stand up to the entire political and media establishment. That would be presumptuous and would not have worked,” he said. “So, a strategic retreat and now (I will) work on the topics that are important to me.”
He had already been relieved of some of his central bank responsibilities over remarks he made last year about immigrants but the strict independence of the central bank made it difficult to have him removed.
Sarrazin’s resignation, announced late on Thursday, means President Christian Wulff will no longer have to decide whether to approve the bank’s request to remove him, an awkward choice that threatened to expose Merkel to a backlash from conservative voters.
The Financial Times Deutschland newspaper wrote “Sarrazin does away with himself” — a play on the title of his new bestselling book “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (Germany does away with itself).
German commentaries on Bundesbank’s Sarrazin after Jewish, Muslim remarks
Germany’s Bundesbank has voted to dismiss board member Thilo Sarrazin, whose remarks about Muslim immigrants and Jews have divided the country. Following are extracts from Friday’s German newspapers on the central bank’s decision, which must still be approved by the German President Christian Wulff.
BILD (Conservative mass circulation)
“President Christian Wulff is in a horrible jam. If he signs the order to fire Sarrazin, he’ll be viewed by millions of Germans as just another one of those jaundiced political leaders … but if he doesn’t sign it, he’ll have the chancellor and the entire political establishment against him.
“But if Wulff decides to read the book himself, he’ll see that it’s based on a lot of well-documented truths about immigrants, education and Germany’s social state. And unfortunately an appalling, vulgar Darwinism that reduces every person to a hostage of their genetic makeup.
“The bottom line is: it’s not enough to sack him.”.
BERLINER ZEITUNG (Centre-left)
Q+A – Why Sarrazin comments on Jews, Muslims cause outcry in Germany
German central banker Thilo Sarrazin has divided public opinion with remarks about Muslim immigrants and comments about the genetic make-up of Jews, prompting calls for him to step down.
Leading politicians have called for the Bundesbank to dismiss the 65-year-old, who has dominated headlines in the public furore surrounding the launch of his book, “Deutschland schafft sich ab” (Germany does away with itself).
The Bundesbank has met to discuss Sarrazin’s fate this week, but has yet to announce a formal decision.
Following are some questions and answers about the case and why it has sparked such outcry in Germany.
WHAT CAUSED THE CONTROVERSY?
The same utilitarian argument made Thilo Sarrazin have been used against other minorities in other countries, including the United States. Fortunately, one’s worth as a human being goes beyond his usefulness in a commercial society.
Nonetheless, leaders of minorities around the world have a responsibility to further the education of their members. Moreover, each country has a responsibility to remove ALL roadblocks to minority education. Indeed, even with all the doors open, learning is long and tedious, and with no shortcuts for anyone.
Families that have invested in the education of their children know this, and also know that the desire must be planted early on in the child. Since many parents themselves do not see the significance of learning, this important ingredient of education is often missing. Community and church leaders can help in this regard.
In the end, it is all worth it as an informed human being is good for all of us, not just for those that invested in his education. Regarding his race or national origin, it is of concern to one no.
As for Sarrazin, like all bigots, he should be ignored. Those who think that perhaps he means well for Germany, should reflect that he has offered no solutions, whatsoever, with his criticism. This is the prime indication that his intentions are not honorable. By themselves then, his comments are both inflammatory and racist.
German Jews want central banker sacked for comments on Jews and Muslims
Germany’s Jewish community has urged the central bank to sack a board member who polarised the nation by making disparaging comments about Muslim immigrants and asserting that Jews have a particular genetic makeup.
Dieter Graumann, vice president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said on Tuesday that Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin was out of line, even as polls showed many Germans support his views.
Sarrazin, 65, has published a book — Deutschland schafft sich ab (Germany does away with itself) — in which he argues Muslim immigrants are undermining German society, refusing to integrate and sponging off the state, according to excerpts in the media.
Here’s a selection of our recent coverage of this story in English and German:
German govt calls Bundesbanker’s remarks about Muslims offensive
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s finance minister and spokesman have spoken out forcefully against disparaging comments about Muslim immigrants by a board member of the central bank, raising pressure on him to resign.
The Bundesbank’s Thilo Sarrazin, who has previously caused outrage with outspoken criticism of Turks and Arabs living in Germany, took aim at Muslims again in a new book which has been serialised in a popular daily newspaper this week.
Arguing that Muslims undermined German society, married “imported brides” and had a bad attitude, Sarrazin, a member of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), has provoked a storm of criticism from the country’s main political parties.
On Wednesday, Merkel’s chief spokesman Steffen Seibert said many people would find the remarks “offensive” and “defamatory”, and that the chancellor was concerned. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, a member of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), told reporters he “would be ashamed if a leading member of my party had behaved this way,” when asked about the 65-year-old Sarrazin’s comments.
He stressed, however, the central bank was independent.
Sarrazin has denied that he is stirring up racism. “I am not a racist,” he told Die Zeit. book addresses cultural divisions, not ethnic ones.”
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