By Thomas Rießinger
On this page, Boris Reitschuster clearly commented on the German President’s recent statements about Ramadan and Islamic generosity. The groundbreaking proposal of the Party of Infantile Totalitarianism to promote Muslim life, also known as the Greens, has already been recognized here. In particular, the Greens’ stance on Islam may confuse some. Do they love him so much because Mohammed’s soldiers carried a green banner with them when they conquered Mecca, he himself is said to have had a preference for green robes and a green turban, and the caliphs of the family dynasty also used green as their coat of arms, and the Greens, thanks to their special cognitive structure, do not understand that a green banner is not a guarantee of green politics? Or is it more because green and Islamic thinking share certain ideas, such as a slight aversion to democracy – unless it helps to promote one’s own ideas – and to freedom, at least when it concerns the freedom of others and not one’s own?
Meanwhile, another high-ranking representative of green thinking has spoken out: Annalena Baerbock, the current President of the United Nations General Assembly, who recently described herself as the United Nations’ chief diplomat and apparently meant it seriously.
In her role as president, on March 16, on the occasion of the “International Day Against Islamophobia,” she spoke on X, in written and oral form, to draw attention to the problems of Islam. The written statement can be seen below.
Across the world, Muslims continue to face discrimination, hostility, and even violence because of their faith. This must change.
Discrimination or hatred directed at any community because of its religion has no place in our society.
Today, marking the International Day to… pic.twitter.com/yS58Y8RDMS
— Annalena Baerbock (@UN_PGA) March 16, 2026
Since not everyone is as cosmopolitan and polyglot as Baerbock, I have translated her written statements into German: “Muslims worldwide are still exposed to discrimination, hostility and even violence because of their faith. That has to change. Discrimination or hatred that is directed against a community based on religion has no place in our society. Today, on the International Day against Islamophobia, we reaffirm our commitment to dignity, tolerance and mutual respect. The fight against Islamophobia does not only mean a religious one Defending community. It’s about defending our common humanity.”
One can argue about whether “International Day to Combat Islamophobia” is an appropriate translation for the expression “International Day to Combat Islamophobia”, as this is more about a day that is supposed to be dedicated to the fight against Islamophobia and therefore has a slightly more aggressive tone to its name. Here I have chosen the name used in German for this day, which is celebrated on March 15th.
And with us?
But what does the brave president actually tell us? We first hear that Muslims around the world face discrimination, hostility and even violence because of their faith. That takes wonder. Because this is certainly not the case worldwide; you will hardly find anyone in Saudi Arabia, Iran or Afghanistan and many other countries who is harassed in any way because of their Muslim faith; Other faiths may fare worse. And in Germany? Here, non-Muslim students who dare to eat during Ramadan in the presence of their Muslim classmates are discriminated against, Ramadan rules are even enforced on the football field, I hardly need to mention in detail how people perform in the swimming pools – and all of this and much more is always garnished with complaints about the disadvantage and discrimination against Muslims.
“Discrimination or hatred that is directed against a community on the basis of religion” certainly takes place, even in Germany, but more often from the Muslim side, and often from the left, when it goes hand in hand against the Jews. But what does she mean when she says that something like this has “no place in our society”? She doesn’t speak for Germany, she speaks for the United Nations, more or less for the world – at least that’s what she believes. What should I imagine by “our society”? There is no global society; the social rules in Iran or Afghanistan are somewhat different than in Germany or Japan. Did someone tell her that?
What is important, however, is that it reaffirms “our commitment to dignity, tolerance and mutual respect”. It is “our confession”, and since she speaks as President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, she must refer this to the member states of that same assembly. But there are many of them, Afghanistan for example, Belarus and North Korea, Russia and Saudi Arabia, not to mention Iran. And they all profess dignity, tolerance and mutual respect. That is convincing. And the sentence that it is about “defending our common humanity” is just as convincing. Kim Jong Un’s humanity? That of the newest chief mullah in Iran, whatever his name is? We all like to defend them.
Since I don’t want to expect anyone to pay attention to Baerbock’s oral omissions, in which she doesn’t add anything worth mentioning anyway, I’ll leave it at that, her written statement is clear enough. John Cleese, legendary member of the equally legendary Monthy Python troupe, commented laconically and aptly on the assembly president’s stirring and moving speech on X: “I think it’s some of the stuff about beheading people they disagree with that puts impartial observers off.” Loosely translated: “I think it is primarily the reports of people with whom they disagree being beheaded that scare off impartial observers.”
What a shame that Baerbock’s speechwriters didn’t know about this!
Thomas Rießinger has a doctorate in mathematics and was a professor of mathematics and computer science at the Frankfurt am Main University of Applied Sciences. In addition to several specialist books on mathematics, he has also published essays on philosophy and history as well as a book on entertainment mathematics. You can find his book “Bet that you can do math – number acrobatics for everyday life” here. You can find an overview of his specialist books via this link.
Image: AI generated (Grok)
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