German Circumcision Ruling Raises Outcry
In response to a “controversial court ruling in Cologne that effectively prohibits most circumcisions in that city,” German Jews and Muslims have joined together in protest, reports A.J. Goldmann for The Jewish Daily Forward. Goldmann writes that the court’s decision has resulted in the uncommon union between the two religious communities, as both consider circumcision “a fundamental religious rite for membership in the community.” Serkan Tören, the Free Democratic Party’s integration expert, warns that “a ban on circumcision would be the clearest signal to the Muslims in our country that they aren’t part of Germany, that they aren’t even welcome.”