The Divergence of Judaism and Islam. Interdependence, Modernity, and Political Turmoil

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Jews and Turks in Germany after 9/11 · 77

between immigrants and minorities are not clear-cut. In fact, some im-
migrant communities consciously choose specific historical minorities as
their models. Therefore, in order to understand the process of immigrant
incorporation, it is not sufficient to analyze macro structures, in terms
of the political structure of the receiving country and majority-minority
relations.^11 In fact, it is essential to have a framework that distinguishes
between minorities and explores immigrant and minority relations, to
understand what kind of strategies immigrants create to incorporate into
the mainstream society.
Ideally, liberal states introduce clear-cut policies for immigrants and
minorities according to the principle of “consent in incorporation.”^12
However, the difference between these two groups is not always obvi-
ous. Immigrants do not always incorporate into the host society in the
same unilinear and developmental fashion. In some cases, the children
and grandchildren of immigrants still consider themselves foreigners.
Similarly, ghettoizing immigrants into residential clusters can be seen
as aiding in the construction of a minority. Moreover, immigrants asso-
ciate themselves with minorities and claim that discrimination against
immigrants is an extension of historical racism against the minorities in
that country. Accordingly, immigrant associations hope to achieve social,
cultural, and political recognition by drawing parallels to the minority
associations. For example, Turkish immigrant associations emphasize the
relationship between “anti-Semitism and racism”; they state that they
want “minority rights instead of immigrant rights,” and they say “no
to assimilation.” Their campaigns and projects aim to set up “non-dis-
criminatory schools and workplaces, and generally a non-racist social
structure.”^13
The fact that immigrant associations interact with minorities does not
imply their solidarity. In fact, many immigrant groups and minorities
are in conflict with each other.^14 The historical minorities may hold some
political and economic power that they have earned as privileges in the
past. The lack of these rights and privileges may cause resentment among
immigrants. Nevertheless, all these differences and rivalries show that
there is an important relationship between minorities and immigrants
that is overlooked in the literature. In order to bring these into discus-
sion, we briefly introduce the Jewish and the Turkish communities in
Germany.

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