Excerpt:
The relationship between the popular majority in Germany and the country's Muslim residents is one of the foremost topics of public discussion in the country today, one that often escalates into a dispute. One side accuses Muslim immigrants of simply not wanting to assimilate into German society, while the other accuses the majority of Germans of being hostile to Islam and trying to exclude Muslim residents from public life in this country.
The reality is admittedly much more complicated than that, and this complexity must be acknowledged and appreciated.
An important part of this recognition is to illuminate the background against which demands for integration must be met. Historically, German identity has been shaped not only by German language and culture, but also by Christian faith. Anyone whose culture did not fit into these parameters was perceived as alien. The group that experienced the effects of this exclusionism most painfully was the Jews. The tragic culmination of Jewish strivings to be accepted by the German people is only too familiar.