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Jews, Muslims stage circumcision march in Germany

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A.Rafay

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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, infamous as the site of book-burning ceremonies carried out by Adolf Hitler’s Nazis.
One banner at the demonstration accused Germany of reverting to a “colonial power” while another read: “Foreskin? No thank you!”
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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This is some news, German govt would have to start using its head on this matter from now on.
 
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Germany passes law to protect circumcision after outcry | Reuters
(Reuters) - German politicians passed a law on Wednesday to protect the right to circumcise infant boys in a show of support for Muslims and Jews angered by a local court ban on the practice in May.

The ban - imposed on the grounds that circumcision amounted to "bodily harm" - triggered an emotional debate over the treatment of Jews and other religious minorities, a sensitive subject in a country still haunted by its Nazi past.

The outcry prompted Germany's centre-right government and opposition parties to draw up legislation confirming the practice was legal - overruling the decision by a court in the western city of Cologne.

The new law passed by an overwhelming majority in Bundestag lower house said the operation could be carried out, as long as parents were informed about the risks.

Jewish groups welcomed the move.

"This vote and the strong commitment shown ... to protect this most integral practice of the Jewish religion is a strong message to our community for the continuation and flourishing of Jewish life in Germany," said Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress.

Germany's Catholic Bishops Conference said it hoped the bill would help safeguard religious freedoms. No comment was immediately available from the country's Central Council of Muslims.

PAIN MINIMISED

The May ruling centered on the case of a Muslim boy who bled after the procedure and the ban only applied to the area around Cologne.

But some doctors in other parts of Germany started refusing to carry out circumcisions, saying it was unclear whether they would face prosecution.

Under the new law, a doctor or trained expert must conduct the operation and children must endure as little pain as possible, which means an anesthetic should be used. The procedure cannot take place if there is any doubt about the child's health.

Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said no other country in the world country had made the religious circumcision of boys an offence.

"In our modern and secular state, it is not the job of the state to interfere in children's' upbringing," she said.

Child welfare group Deutsche Kinderhilfe disagreed, saying the government had "(pushed) through the legalization of the ritual of genital circumcision ... against the advice of child right campaigners and the medical profession."

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Edited by Stephen Brown and Andrew Heavens)
 
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Lol so much so for a small part of forehead skin
 
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Finally Something Jews and Muslims agree upon :D

some showed them a naked Indian man's picture, said this is you will look like if this law is implemented took them a min to set aside all differences and join togather....not joking true story
 
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