“It would be a relatively small mosque... It’s ridiculous to see it as a threat to the West. But the AfD appears to need such scandals” -- Abdullah Uwe Wagishauser
Source/Credit: The Independent UK
By Justin Huggler | May 18, 2016
A German far-Right party is attempting to stop the construction of a mosque in the first major test of its anti-Islam policy.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is currently third in the German opinion polls, has announced that it will oppose plans to build the first mosque in the eastern state of Thuringia.
The project is “part of a long-term land grab” by Muslims, Björn Höcke, one of the party’s most senior leaders, claimed.
The party has called for public protests under the slogan “No mosques in Thuringia without the people’s consent”.
It announced it will try to block the mosque in the Thuringia state parliament.
The move will add to concerns over the resurgent far-Right and put the party on a collision coursse with Germany’s estimated 4m Muslim residents.
The AfD inflicted heavy losses on Angela Merkel in regional elections in March, campaigning on opposition to her “open-door” refugee policy.
“It would be a relatively small mosque...It’s ridiculous to see it as a threat to the West. But the AfD appears to need such scandalsAbdullah Uwe Wagishauser
But earlier this month it ditched that platform in favour of an openly anti-Muslim agenda.
The party adopted a new manifesto which declares “Islam is not a part of Germany” and calls for a ban on minarets and the Muslim call to prayer.
The row over the proposed mosque in Thuringia is the first time it has put that policy into practice.
The mosque in the historic city of Erfurt would be the first to be built in Thuringia, an area of of former communist East Germany that has few immigrants and a small Muslim population.
The mosque is being built by the small local community of Ahmadiyya Muslims, a minority group within Islam.
The community has around 70 members, who currently hold prayer meetings in one of their homes, as there is no local mosque.
“It would be a relatively small mosque,” Abdullah Uwe Wagishauser, the local group’s leader, told Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
“It’s ridiculous to see it as a threat to the West. But the AfD appears to need such scandals.”
The building would include a dome and a small, decorative minaret, though it would not broadcast the call to prayer.
“The message of the dome and minaret is we are here and we will not assimilate,” Stefan Möller, an AfD official, said.
The party says it will introduce legislation in the state parliament to prevent the future construction of any mosques, but it is unlikely to succeed.
The AfD only has eight MPs in Thuringia and will have difficulty winning other parties’ support for a ban.
It is not clear whether Mr Höcke, the AfD’s local leader and one of its most hardline figures, has the backing of the rest of the party leadership.
But he will hope it can gather enough public support to make the Erfurt mosque into a cause celebre.
The Pegida anti-Muslim street movement has already indicated it will back the protests.
The row comes a day after Frauke Petry, the AfD leader, called off talks with Germany’s Central Council of Muslims.
Ms Petry had earlier agreed to the talks to clear the air after the party adopted its anti-Islam manifesto.
Read original post here: Germany's far-Right AfD party attempts to block construction of mosque
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