Germans Do Not See Islam Part of Society

A slight majority of Germans have rejected a famous statement by former President Christian Wulff that “Islam is now part of Germany”, with a similar percentage viewing anti-Islam actions as equally deplorable as anti-Semitism.

The poll found that 52 percent of the people surveyed by Forsa opinion institution for Stern magazine disagreed with the statement.
On the other hand, only 44 percent of people surveyed by agreed with the former head of state that Islam was part of Germany.
However, a second question asking how people thought Germany should deal with hostility to Muslims found that 53 percent of people believed that it should be treated as seriously as anti-Semitism.
Support for Islam varied according to age and political inclinations.
Young people and supporters of the Green Party, were most likely to look favorably on Islam, with 61 and 69 percent positive responses respectively.
Fifty percent of centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) supporters agreed Islam belonged in German society.
However, the conservative CDU/CSU's number was just 36 percent in agreement with the statement.
People in East Germany and the over-60s were among the least likely to agree. Only 31 percent of Easterners and 39 percent of seniors sided with Wulff.
The least welcoming to Islam were respondents close to the eurosceptic party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), 82 percent of whom did not think Islam was a part of German society.
But a majority of 57 percent of AfD supporters still thought that hostility to Muslims was as serious as hatred against Jews.
Germany is believed to be home to nearly 4 million Muslims, including 220,000 in Berlin alone.
The country is Europe's second-biggest Muslim population after France, and Islam comes third in Germany after Protestant and Catholic Christianity.
Turks make up an estimated two thirds of the Muslim minority in the European country.
Germans have grown hostile to the Muslim presence recently, with a heated debate on the Muslim immigration into the country.
A recent poll by the Munster University found that Germans view Muslims more negatively than their European neighbors.
Germany’s daily Der Spiegel had warned in August 2012 that the country is becoming intolerant towards its Muslim minority.
Source: On Islam