Whenever supposedly non-denominational prayer rooms are established in public buildings, they are rapidly co-opted by Muslims and turned into de facto mosques. Non-Muslim religious symbols are excluded from the rooms, women are forcibly segregated from the men, and openly expressed practices of other religions are forbidden. This occurs not just in Germany, but throughout Western Europe, North America, and Australia.
The following video is the second post in a series on the controversies surrounding the closure of “prayer rooms” at German universities. It shows a TV panel discussion featuring an attractively hijabbed young woman named Hatice Durmaz of the Council of Muslim Students and Academics.
Pay attention to the taqiyya-dance executed by Ms. Durmaz in this clip. When confronted with facts that she has previously denied, she skillfully changes direction, diverts her interviewer’s attention, and takes a different tack to reach her goal: the assertion that Muslims are blameless, that they are not responsible for the discrimination against women and infidels that is so blatantly manifested in the “silent rooms”.
Many thanks to Egri Nök for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Transcript:
| 00:01 | “Religions in Dialogue” | |
| 00:06 | A women’s section in a Room of Silence? Discussion on April 14 2015 in the House of Religions, Hannover | |
| 00:09 | With Hatice Durmaz, Dr. Ingrid Wiedenroth-Gabler and Jürgen Steinecke | |
| 00:12 | How do you view this in substance? Separate sections, | |
| 00:15 | here, a large nice room for the men, there, a dark room, curtained off with blankets, | |
| 00:19 | for the women. What do you say? Well, I saw the picture, it is quite unusual at other universities, | |
| 00:24 | doesn’t exist like that. But — and that is why I find it mysterious — | |
| 00:29 | they said this was arranged with the administration. | |
| 00:33 | Really? — I am surprised the administration approved of this. | |
| 00:37 | How do you find it in substance? Strictly positional? | |
| 00:42 | Should one separate women and men in these rooms? | |
| 00:45 | It is, especially in these rooms, not necessary at all. | |
| 00:48 | And like I said, not necessary at all. — “Not necessary, and unusual.” | |
| 00:52 | Not necessary and not usual, and in that form, as in Dortmund, it does not exist at other universities. | |
| 00:57 | It has never been an issue. It is a case that only affects Dortmund. | |
| 01:04 | And I think it grew to these dimensions by bad crisis management. | |
| 01:10 | But there are other rooms of silence where there are such room dividers, | |
| 01:14 | where particular women’s sections are established in the university’s rooms of silence, | |
| 01:18 | where women are among themselves. Do you think that is right? | |
| 01:22 | I only know of Essen, and the request came from the women themselves. | |
| 01:27 | Right. — Because, um, um — In Göttingen it is like that, definitively. — Okay I did not know that. | |
| 01:33 | In Hannover too. — For the ritual washing, there are sinks. | |
| 01:37 | I mean, twice. And, the women in Essen, for example, to my knowledge, um, simply, um | |
| 01:42 | requested that room divider, so they could conduct the washing, because | |
| 01:45 | they also take off the headscarf, and so forth. | |
| 01:48 | So it was not even about prayer, but about the ritual washing. | |
| 01:52 | It is sensible from your point of view, to do it like that? | |
| 01:55 | No well sensi — it is not about the question whether it is sensible or not. | |
| 01:58 | Because you said, at a few sites, there are these room dividers. | |
| 02:04 | Um, and, um — Or curtains or things like that. | |
| 02:07 | Exactly. Specifically, I only know this from Essen. | |
| 02:10 | Where it was brought up by women themselves. But I do not see a necessity. | |
| 02:14 | It is about performing the ritual prayer, | |
| 02:17 | and a wall is not necessary. | |
| 02:20 | One last thing. On the Internet it says, I believe until this day, | |
| 02:25 | there is this website, “Moscheesuche.de” (MosqueSearch), it says, look, | |
| 02:28 | “Prayer room University of Duisburg Essen, | |
| 02:31 | for the Friday prayer, the prayer room is accessible only for men.” | |
| 02:35 | Yes, I read that too, not on that website but on another, and I asked them, | |
| 02:40 | so, basically it is like this, the Friday prayer is um… | |
| 02:45 | only for men. Purely theologically. | |
| 02:48 | Only mandatory for men. So it would be unusual that women, then, at the University, | |
| 02:52 | according to their explanation, um — | |
| 02:55 | that women barely ever used the room. | |
| 02:58 | But I view that a bit critically. Good, but when I go there, as a woman, I do feel — | |
| 03:03 | I think the female students too, there at the university should be given the opportunity | |
| 03:09 | to perform the Friday prayer in the rooms of the university. There should | |
| 03:12 | be the opportunity for the Friday prayer. | |
| 03:15 | And it was possible at the university you mentioned. | |
| 03:18 | Insofar as the women should have the opportunity too. | |
| 03:21 | I think it is a huge difference, whether you walk into a room intended to be religious, | |
| 03:26 | and there, according to the rites pertaining there — | |
| 03:29 | and maybe segregation of the sexes is part of it. Or, not “maybe” but “obviously” — | |
| 03:33 | perform it. Or if you do that in a room set up by the state. | |
| 03:37 | I think, here we apply, and I have to emphasize this, the constitutional standards. | |
| 03:44 | And they assume equal treatment of the sexes. | |
| 03:47 | And I would find it difficult — I am equal opportunities officer — | |
| 03:51 | on the one hand, we formulate every form of gender-equitable language, | |
| 03:56 | and on the other hand we create rooms where we have to segregate sexes. | |
| 04:01 | I am not even arguing about value here. | |
| 04:05 | But I find this highly problematic. | |
| 04:08 | This means segregation of the sexes is not possible. — No! It is not. |
Are the rooms painted Green?
… as in ‘May a thousand camels…’ Kadaffy was fond of the color, I have heard. A widely shared affectation.
They do no do this in their countries of origin – European Governments should pass a law to to become secular states. Then the need to stick your backside up in the air 5 times a day anywhere you like at the inconvenience of others becomes an offence as it would be an activity that has to be conducted in PRIVATE! Like wise the call to prayer should be silenced too. Most of the refugees seem to possess the most expensive and up to date mobiles ( most likely paid for by the host nation lumbered with them) so surely there is an app to stop this nonsense. Obviously men and women would not be able to use the same mobile though heaven forbid.
Good job they closed this silent room. why the hell they appeased the muslims in the first place by letting them have a ‘mosque’ on campus, I don’t know. Just some more ‘demands’ from the religion of peace..No other religion asks for all the stuff the muslims want. Everything is about them and their stupid religion. Universities are for secular learning. If they want islam in education, go join a madrassah, preferably in a ME country