German banker blasted for remarks on Jews

BERLIN, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- A top German banker unveiled his book on immigration Monday in Berlin amid growing criticism for his stereotyping statements about Muslims and Jews.

You don't want to be Thilo Sarrazin at the moment. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged Germany's central bank Bundesbank, where Sarrazin is a board member, to consider throwing him out; his center-left Social Democratic Party has said it wants to get rid of him; and immigrant and Jewish groups have called him many things, including a "Nazi in a pin-striped suit."

In the opinion of his critics, Sarrazin has asked for this. In an interview with the Welt am Sonntag weekly published Sunday, the former finance minister of Berlin state said, "all Jews share a particular gene, Basques share particular genes, that differentiate them from others."

For its reminiscence of the language used by the Nazis, the sentence caused a storm, especially as it came on the heels of statements he made stereotyping Muslim immigrants, and after excerpts from his controversial new book on immigration were printed in newspapers ahead of publication.

Sarrazin in the texts accused Muslim immigrants in Germany of being unwilling to integrate, of taking advantage of Germany's generous social welfare system and of willfully ignoring the German constitution. The excerpts warned that Muslims, due to their high fertility rates, would one day be in the majority in Germany, resulting in severe social and economic problems for the country.

"These problems in a similar manner affect all European countries with a population of Muslim migrants," Sarrazin said Monday.

Last year, he told a magazine that he didn't accept "anyone who lives on handouts from a state that it rejects, is not adequately concerned about the education of their children and constantly produces new, little headscarf girls."

There are at least 4.3 million Muslims in Germany, the large majority of them hail from Turkey, and Sarrazin's book infuriates them.

"It's the climax of a new intellectual racism and it damages Germany's reputation abroad," said Kenat Kolat, the head of a large Turkish group in Germany.

After an extraordinary board meeting Monday, the Bundesbank distanced itself from Sarrazin's statements, saying they didn't reflect the views of the central bank. Rather, they "damage the image of the Bundesbank," the bank said in a statement.

Merkel, in a TV interview Sunday, called Sarrazin's comments "absolutely unacceptable," and urged the central bank to think about the man's future career at the Bundesbank. "The way this is being discussed is driving society apart," she added.

Sarrazin Monday defended his book and his statements during a news conference that was so packed, organizers were overwhelmed.

"I can't imagine the chancellor has found the time to read all 464 pages of my book," said Sarrazin, referring to "Deutschland schafft sich ab" -- "Germany Eliminates Itself" -- which hit the shelves Monday and is on a controversial path to the bestseller list.

Sarrazin vowed that his book is based on facts and that the heated discussion that has started around it would fade away once the people read his entire book.

He said his gene comments were made in reference to scientific findings published in the media (he cited a recent New York Times article), adding that he has a generally positive views of Jews.

He stood by his statements accusing Muslims of being unwilling or incapable to integrate, adding that this wasn't linked to their ethnicity but their cultural heritage as Muslims.

Second-generation immigrants from India, China, Vietnam or Eastern Europe, he said, are far better integrated socially and economically than their Muslim counterparts.

Sarrazin in his book lobbies for a radical overhaul of Germany's immigration policy to mimic that of the United States, Canada or Australia, where residence permits and social welfare benefits are linked to economic contribution.

Several editorials have backed Sarrazin's general observations that Germany faces a severe integration problem and lauded him for speaking inconvenient truths but almost all of them disagree with the way he has said things. This way certainly hasn't hurt his new book. Its pre-sales have exceeded expectations.