The wave of refugees entering Europe is a major issue of debate and concern among the public, leaders and media in Germany and in Europe at large. The impact of the refugee crisis was recently evident in Germany's local elections, which saw a rise in the power of the nationalist right-wing party that strongly opposes the immigration policy of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
A widely-publicized incident that sparked an uproar in Germany and triggered a heated debate regarding the refugees occurred this New Year, when a group of drunk men, many of them refugees from the Middle East, harassed and mugged women in the Cologne railway station and reportedly raped at least one of them.
The incident and the reactions to it were also debated in the Jordanian press. On January 19, 2016, Jordanian educator and journalist Zuleikha Abu Risha published an article in the daily Al-Ghad in which she claimed that the behavior of these refugees reflected the culture prevalent in their countries of origin: the contemporary Arab and Islamic culture that regards women as sexual objects or as satanic temptresses and thereby implicitly sanctions acts of harassment. One week later, on January 27, Al-Ghad columnist Mahmoud Al-Khatatbeh wrote an answering article, in which he stated that the incident had been perpetrated by individuals who do not represent any particular religion or nationality, and condemned whoever draws a link between their behavior and Islam.
The following are excerpts from the two articles:
Protest in Germany following the Cologne incident (image: youm7.com, January 17, 2016)
Jordanian Educator: The Actions of The Refugees In Cologne Result From The Culture In Their Countries Of Origin
Zuleikha Abu Risha wrote: "Our repulsive maladies have emigrated to Europe, along with those who have fled there seeking shelter from war and from death. The men who surrounded women in the city of Cologne in Germany during the new year celebrations and started to rape them in public, to tear their clothes off and to mug them... are not a minority that was planted [among the refugees]. They acted in the name of all the refugees and all the residents of their countries of origin, and in the name of today's Arab and Islamic culture, which is defective, in the full sense of the word. They were [simply] realizing their suppressed, hyper-charged, distorted and crisis-afflicted manhood [that burst forth] the minute they saw free women who are not incarcerated in a prison that protects their chastity, namely in their home.
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"These Arab harassers, who brought shame upon [all of] mankind, are not a minority that harmed [the reputation of] a huge public of Muslims who remain in their countries. Rather, they are part of the vast harassment machine that is the contemporary [Islamic] culture, [a culture] that teaches Muslim men from infancy that their encounter with women takes place in one place only and only for the purpose of sexual intercourse. This is a culture that causes a man to think of a woman as [nothing but] sexual organs - [a culture] that arouses in his body the arrogant [instinct] of an ancient hunter on the prowl and a constant [sense of] craving, so that when he sees [a woman] he pounces on her and tears her body asunder, along with her humanity. This is a culture whose every element and every institution stresses that a woman is [nothing but] sexual organs, and this includes her hair and her body, and even her face, her voice and her presence. It is a culture in which preachers and school teachers, both male and female, as well as the curricula and the textbooks, constantly present the woman as a corrupting influence and as a tool for [satisfying] desire, and nothing more.
"[Islamic culture] limits the relationship between men and women to sex [alone]. It distorts the women's humanity, brainwashes them and causes them to regard themselves as inferior and dependent beings and as a burden [to others]. It is a sex-crazed culture that has turned the merciful Paradise into an object of desire that contains nothing but wild physical pleasures, where the man is at the center, surrounded by thousands of bosomy black-eyed virgins of an equal age.[1] This is a culture that gave birth to parties, preachers, sheikhs, jurisprudents and broad social sectors whose only preoccupation is the woman, whether as an sexual object to be obtained or as a temptress that must be controlled and oppressed.
"Those who harassed the German women are not a planted minority, but are part of a male society that exists in their countries of origin. [In these countries,] when a young man harasses or rapes a woman, society remains silent and does not condemn or [even] debate the matter, or else blames and punishes the victim. Hence, all the refugees' countries of origin have a hand in the crime and in its perpetration. Our countries still raise men to harass women and implicitly permit them to do this. [This will be true] as long as we continue to regard women as sexual objects, as [tools for satisfying] desires and as devils, and as long as [our] social culture sees the woman - her voice, face, and presence - as [the embodiment of] shameful sexuality and as responsible for the men's perversions and crimes. All [members of our society] are responsible for sexual harassment, for they are involved either as witnesses or as silent [accomplices]. Let us not lose hope!"
Al-Ghad Columnist: The Europeans Should Eliminate The Causes Of The Refugee Wave Instead Of Persecuting The Refugees
Jordanian journalist Mahmoud Al-Khatatbeh wrote: "Why is it that, precisely at this time, they malign the refugees coming to Europe, especially the Syrian Muslims among them, describing them as ruthless wolves and sexual harassers who violate the honor of women? All this, based on the harassment incident that occurred in Cologne, Germany, on new year's eve...
"Why are the European countries and their media wildly attacking this group [i.e., the refugees], when everyone knows they are not out to destroy the countries to which they have fled? The Syrians, in particular, did not flee from their country to Europe in order to harass or steal. They fled the death, murder and destruction that prevail in their country... The Syrians' morals, religion, customs and tradition do not allow them to perform such a shameful act. Syrians are too noble to harm [anyone's] honor or perpetrate [such an] ugly and despicable act, and if a small minority is capable of this, then it is surely the doing of single individuals, not of the collective.
"Perhaps the opposite occurs as well, namely Europeans harassing female refugees, but the European media does not discuss this or give it prominence as it did in the case of the German women's harassment. Also, the tradition and morals of the Syrian women do not allow them to reveal [such incidents] or to complain, for they fear the shame this will bring upon them. We have frequently heard that, in Europe, incidents of rape and harassment occur all year long but peak during the new year celebrations. The rate of rape in Europe and the U.S. is high, and is not confined to [the deeds of] some refugees, who do not represent any specific religion, nationality or country, but only themselves...
"Why then do prominent European officials now announce that the refugees are impossible to live with and demand to expel them and not to receive any more refugees, as though they are [all] wolves who bite the women of Europe and sexually harass them?... Perhaps the reason is the findings of European surveys [which predict] that by 2040 or 2050, Europe will become 'Islamicized,' due to the rising number of Muslims in the countries of this continent? Have the Europeans begun to fear that their countries are becoming Islamic? If this is true, what is the meaning of this fear? After all, these are countries of law, freedoms, free opinion and [respect for] differing views.
"It would be better for the Europeans to address the root causes of the emigration before they persecute the refugees who have fled their country seeking freedom, employment and a source of livelihood, and before they close the gates to them... [For] some European countries assisted the terror organizations and even facilitated the entry of armed organizations into Syria until it became a stronghold of extremist and terrorist elements, [and thereby these countries] had a hand in killing hundreds of thousands of Syrians, in expelling millions of them and in making widows and orphans...
"What is even more aggravating is that people among us come out and say that the sexual harassment of the German women on new year's eve can be attributed to the principles [of Islam], the religion of peace and compassion, when Islam [actually] has nothing to do with it. [As a matter of fact,] the 'elderly continent' of Europe is the one who benefits the most from the waves of emigration to it, for its countries suffer from an increasing proportion of elderly people among their citizens and [therefore] it urgently needs refugees to inhabit them and drive the wheels of their economies."
Endnote:
[1] A reference to Koran 78:31-35: "Verily, for the righteous is a triumph: walled gardens and grape-vines, and young maidens of equal age, and overflowing cups."
