Jewish & Muslims Stage Circumcision March in Berlin Germany

Submitted by Pervaiz Khokhar Salem-News.com

About four million Muslims and more than 200,000 Jews live in Germany.

Around 500 mainly Jewish but some Christian and Muslim protesters gathered in Berlin Sunday to demand the right to circumcision

A protester wearing a kippa attends a demonstration for the religious right of circumcision at Bebelplatz in Berlin, Germany, on September 09, 2012. Around 500 mainly Jewish but some Christian and Muslim protesters gathered in Berlin Sunday to demand the right to circumcision after a disputed court ruling in Germany outlawing the rite. AFP

(BERLIN) - Around 500 mainly Jewish but some Christian and Muslim protesters gathered in Berlin on Sunday to demand the right to circumcision after a disputed court ruling in Germany outlawing the rite. Some protesters were draped in Israeli flags, others wore orthodox Jewish dress for the peaceful demonstration on Berlin's Bebelplatz. One banner at the demonstration accused Germany of reverting to a "colonial power." Following the judgement from the court in Cologne saying circumcision was tantamount to grievous bodily harm, Jewish and Muslim groups joined forces for the protest in central Berlin as the foreign minister expressed his concern.

"I am very worried about this debate. It will not be understood in any way outside our country," Guido Westerwelle told Focus news magazine. "It is completely incomprehensible that Jewish families in Germany might not be able to have their young boys circumcised," added the minister. Diplomats admit the ruling has proved disastrous" for Germany's international image, particularly in light of its Nazi past, following uproar from religious and political leaders in Israel as well as Muslim countries. The leader of Germany's Jewish community, Dieter Graumann, told the same publication it was "unbearable" that Jews were being portrayed as "child torturers" for carrying out the practice.

And he backed his predecessor as head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, who said last week that Jewish life in Germany was being questioned for the first time since 1945. "I can well understand her feelings," said Graumann. On Wednesday, the city of Berlin imposed new legal conditions on parents who have their boys circumcised. Both parents must give written permission after being informed of the risks of the procedure, and provide proof of the "religious motivation and religious necessity of the circumcision" before the child is old enough to take the decision himself. Berlin's top justice official, Thomas Heilmann, said the new policy was intended to protect the rights of Jewish and Muslim parents and their children. About four million Muslims and more than 200,000 Jews live in Germany.

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Reverend Pervaiz Khokhar is a contributing Salem-News.com writer in Asia who covers issues pertaining to Christianity in countries that fail to tolerate religious freedom. While writing his own articles, Pervaiz also keeps a sharp eye out for the latest news from Pakistan generated by other writers.

Pervaiz is the Chairman of The Preaching Society & Social Welfare Services, Mohallah Rasool Pura Street No 7 in Jhumra City, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

You can write to Pervaiz Khokhar at this email address: pssws2012@gmail.com

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Free Thinker September 10, 2012 12:03 pm (Pacific time)

Amazing, Muslims and Jews adopt a pagan practice and now expose themselves to the world as child-abusers. The banning of circumcision was a planned German tactic simply to show the world what percentage of their countries population is stupid and backwards. Smile for the camera you CHILD-ABUSERS!!!!! * The Judge Who Banned This Practice Should BE Given An Award

Amandablack September 10, 2012 10:43 am (Pacific time)

At least one Country is sensible enough to outlaw this mutilation. I am sure, the demonstrators in Berlin will have little support, or elsewhere in Germany.

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