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Europe | ||
German aims to read Satanic Verses in mosque | ||
2007-07-12 | ||
A maverick German book author said Wednesday he wants to read aloud inside a mosque from The Satanic Verses, the 1988 novel by Salman Rushdie which some Muslims consider blasphemous.
Plans to build the mosque have been opposed in recent months by some Cologne residents and an atheist novelist of Jewish heritage, Ralph Giordano, 85, who said Muslims should learn secular values and integrate into Germany. "I'm not a passionate supporter of the new mosque," said Wallraff. "But we have freedom of religion here. What I respect are the efforts of German Muslims to integrate into society." Wallraff, a gadfly writer who often attacks the German establishment, said he would demand police protection if need be so that he could read the Rushdie book aloud. "I'm not a scared person," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. He first made his proposal in a radio interview. | ||
Posted by:lotp |