Germany Jews condemn planned U.S. Koran burning
President of Germany's Central Council of Jews says plan of Florida pastor is part of 'anti-Muslim frenzy' in the run up to Sept. 11 memorial.
By Reuters Tags: Israel news Germany HolocaustGermany's leading Jewish group condemned plans by a Florida pastor to burn the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11, saying it evoked the mass killings of Jews in the Holocaust that followed Nazi book burnings.
Wednesday's statement by Charlotte Knobloch, president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, adds to voices from U.S. religious leaders who have condemned an "anti-Muslim frenzy" in the run up to memorial services for victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington by Islamist extremists.
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A Muslim man reading from the Koran during the holy month of Ramadan. |
| Photo by: AP |
"The idea is terrible and repulsive," she said of plans by Terry Jones, the pastor of a 30-person church in Gainesville, Florida, to burn a copy of Islam's holy book on Saturday.
Knobloch said the planned action by the Dove World Outreach Center reminded her of the burning of "un-German" literature organized by the Nazi party in 1933 that foreshadowed the killing of some 6 million Jews during World War Two.
"Where people burn books, in the end they burn people," she said in a statement, referring to a quotation from 19th century German author Heinrich Heine inscribed on a plaque in central Berlin where the Nazis burned books.
German media reported on Wednesday that Jones founded a Christian congregation in the western city of Cologne in the 1980s. The group, known as the Christliche Gemeinde Koeln (CGK), confirmed this but said it had severed ties with Jones.
A spokesman for the Cologne-based group told Reuters they were appalled by Jones' plans to burn the Muslim scriptures.
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The burning of a one Koran printed book only helps the radical cause, who are pushing the idea of "Islam under attack"/ With 1.3 billion of muslims in the world what is the benefit of this silly action? I do not agree with that radical action, but I hope this bring about the discussion of the right to burn important symbols like American or Israeli flags. This should not be done, and lets remember only Nazis burn books!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,716409,00.html Just click and paste. Shalom
Accidentally offending people or casual acts of great offense are bad manners. Making use of and inflaming popular prejudices while making false claims in order to gain power is demagoguery. A person who has an anti-social personality coupled with delusions that God is ordering his actions - as Terry Jones asserts - is usually a psychopath. Take your choice.
Der Spiegel reports that Jones was fired by the Christian Community of Cologne in July 2009. One Church leader, Stephan Baar told the news agency DPA that there had been suspicions of financial irregularities in addition to thextremist fundamentalism he was preaching. "A "climate of fear and control" had previously prevailed in the congregation, says one former member of the church who does not want to be named. Instead of free expression, "blind obedience" was demanded, he says." - Der Spiegel Protestant Church authorities responsible for monitoring churches have told Der Spiegel that "Terry Jones appears to have a delusional personality," No wonder he appeals to some folks.
If you really want to fight religious intolerance then fights the oppression of religious minorities in the Muslim world or the completely BAN on building ONE church or synagogue in Saudi Arabia - since when do they get a free pass? Burning a Koran is a fundamental RIGHT in america, is it right to do it? who knows, but then building a mosque is a right that Muslims have in this Christian country, but is it right to do it near the twin towers? They don't seem to care - yet we should?
So how do you like their plan to burn the Talmud, as exposed on their website?
why all this attention for this pastor? so many people in this world do stupid things, especially religion related. History always repeats itself.
The muslims burns my flag which is holy to me, do you think they care about that ? No, ergo, i dont care about them and thier Koran. They burn the bible if found in their muslim countries, or does anyone else know that ?
the bible is found in muslim countries such as syria, lebanon, palestine, jordan, egypt, etc. and they havent burned it because the Muslim faith prohibits the burning of any of the three texts, those being the torah, the bible, and the quran
You DO know that Islam teaches Muslims to treat the Bible and Torah with respect since they also belive in Moses, Jesus, David and so on?
Anybody else find it ironic that the church is called the "Dove World Outreach Center?"
how simplistic and racist really to divide the whole world into jew and "goy" or gentile as if there is no difference between a chinese man or german or mexican man, they are all non-jews and the same. how pathetic, primitive, tribal and as symplistic as in beliving that the world falls into aryan or non-aryan.
It is next to the Ministry of Truth. http://www.doveworld.org/
I wonder, would it matter if the pastor in Florida burned only an English translation of the Kor'an? And if the dramatic act of setting fire to the book is provocative, would other acts also be? What if he ran his own private copy through a shredder in public, would there be demonstrations in Damascus? And if he tore it up in the town square, would they shed tears in Tehran? If he smeared it with pig blood, would they care in Cairo? And if he ran over it with a steamroller, would they protest in Paris (yes, Paris)? What if he threw it in a trash can filled with juicy garbage, would he be slammed in 'Slamabad? And if he publicly deleted an electronic copy of the Kor'an from his computer, would they riot in Riyadh?
If I read it right - and it was many decades ago - the Koran cannot be translated and that is why the translation I read during my religious enquiry phase, by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, is titled "The Meaning of the Glorious Koran." Perhaps I am wrong, but it seems that burning a translation would not actually be burning a Koran.
It's not the act itself that's dsgustng, it's the intent of the actors to offend people and disrespect what others believe in.
It's not important whether Jones burns a real koran or a copy in Englsh. It's the intent of Jones and his minions to offend people and disrespect what others believe in that's absolutely disgusting!!
New approach to the Taliban: pigs not bombs. Need information from a captive? Smell the sizzling bacon. ...