The Bitter Truth About Multiculturalism

This is the first in a five-part series of articles from the German news site Bild based on excerpts from Heinz Buschkowsky’s new book, Neukölln ist Überall (“Neukölln is everywhere”), and interviews with the author.

Many thanks to Hermes and JLH for sharing the task of translation. The first part was translated by Hermes.

The Bitter Truth About Multiculturalism

Part 1

Heinz Buschkowsky, mayor of the conflict-ridden Neukölln district in Berlin (41% immigrants) has written a book which will stir up a lot of debate. Bild is publishing exclusive excerpts.

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By Heinz Buschkowsky

At this point I want to highlight the daily powerlessness in a world where somebody walks in the supermarket, picks products from the shelves, goes past the cash desk without paying, and makes clear to the cashier what she would risk by calling the police.

Where a group of five goes down the sidewalk and all the others must get out of their way, where one has to fix one’s sight strictly straight ahead while waiting for the green at a traffic light in order not to be abused by the street-fighters sitting in the car waiting alongside and not to be asked things like: “Hey, any problem? We can solve it right now!”

Where youngsters demand an entrance fee or a charge from small children who want to play on the climbing frame in the park. Where young girls are asked if they want to undergo a “process of fertilization”. Where coca-cola is poured on the head of the bus driver if he wants to see the ticket. All this simply puts one into a foul mood, even if just reading this.

As long as we put forward a policy of tolerance and forgiveness and give signals to people that we have no intention to change these conditions because this neglect of morals belongs to the cultural identity and to the openness to the world, we will find nothing but restrained personnel in terms of trying to advance a truly successful policy of integration.

It is mostly the older who suffer from these conditions in the district, but also the youngest, who are being shown who is the boss there.

This is a continuous disregarding of behavioral interactions such as politeness or consideration towards others, which are the most simple rules of behavior which one follows when interacting with other people in public. And people then ask themselves: “Where am I, actually? Is this my city, my home?”

That is why many come at some point to the conclusion that: “I do not like these people. They do not want to live with me, nor I with them”

This is by no means an exaggeration. This is about the bosses of the place openly showing that they do not give a damn about the Germans and their laws. And it cannot be said that they are unsuccessful concerning this behavior of theirs.

To give an example, in Sonnenallee [Sun Avenue], cars often triple-park. The first car is on the sidewalk, the second on the road itself, and the third stands on the next lane, that is, the traffic lane. If you as a car driver happen to be unfortunate enough, somebody will be blocking your way on the second lane while chatting with those sitting outside a café and drinking coffee or tee. In this case do not make the mistake of honking or getting out of your car, because you would most probably get into an unpleasant situation.

If you have a problem, well that could be “solved” right on the spot. But if you think you can play the boss just because you’re the German, it will soon be shown you who is to lick the boots of his opponent. Police patrols are also powerless.

Police officers take care not to get too close to a given person, because it could happen that — whoops — one’s cap or anything else flies away. And then a loud argument ensues over the reason for all this, and that nobody knows who the cars belong to, and that the police should drive away and stop interfering.

All this happens mostly with an aggressive attitude and tone. If the situation escalates, the agents have to call for reinforcements. And then a real operation takes place, sometimes also with physical aggression.

It can happen afterwards that the police agents are asked by their supervising officers if they have ever heard of the principle of proportionality. Was it not clear to them that resistance could be expected? Don’t they know how the court judges such operations?

These trials usually end with an acquittal in favor of the “lane lout”, and the police agent may breathe a sigh of relief that he has not been prosecuted. Numerous judges are not even prepared to give proper legal support to police agents regarding their official duty in controlling the traffic.

The aggressions which the agents fulfilling their punitive obligations have to endure, and the way in which law should in those cases be applied, are of little interest for these “good-guy judging” incompetents.

The police superintendent Gärtner, who has been doing his job in Neukölln for decades, told me not long ago that he simply cannot recall one single case of a handbag having been stolen from, or an attack having been carried out by immigrants against a woman with a headscarf during all his period of service.

Their enemies are the hated Germans, who are the objects of their aggressions, and they (the Germans) simply cannot do anything against the flash mobs: a round of SMS messages is enough to summon a group of people who immediately adopt an aggressive posture. The Germans are just easy victims.

Anybody can be the subject of all this in everyday life. It can happen that you get a surprise at a simple rear-end collision, namely when the other involved is an immigrant. In this case, you both will immediately be surrounded by some “witnesses” who have seen everything perfectly. It is not the driver behind who has run into you, but you who have suddenly driven in reverse.

It is proper to help the ethnic sister or brother who is in a hard situation. Regarding an “infidel”, what is true and what is not means nothing. These are the little experiences which make people so “cheerful” here from time to time.

We educate our children to be peaceful. We abhor aggression in (given) encounters and this is what we pass on to our children. Others teach their youngsters to be strong, brave and ready to fight. The current situation is simply unequal.

Part 2: The Bitter Truth About Our Social System