I took a lot of heat for my diary explaining why Muslim leaders need to condemn terrorism. But in this story we see the other side to what I said. Some Syrian refugees are going above and beyond by handing out leaflets condemning the Cologne assaults. As I am committed to fair coverage when I write about immigration issues, I feel obliged to share this. And it’s such a good story too.
We, men from Syria, condemn in the strongest possible terms the abuse against women and the attack and robberies on New Year’s Eve.
We regret that women were injured, physically and in their honor, we hope that they will recover well and soon from these attacks.
We hope that the perpetrators of these criminal acts will be found and punished.
Our cultural values were trampled by these crimes. These values include respect for women and men, respect for bodily integrity, and respect for personal property.
We Syrians have come to Germany as refugees, because we want to live freely in this democratic society. We want to shape, to speak, and to live democracy.
We regret that the acts on New Year’s Eve have brought our group — a group of Syrians, a group of refugees and of other Arab or North African people — and our culture into disrepute.
We’ve fled an inhuman war in order to save our lives and our ability to remain human. We want peace and security and the opportunity to provide for our families through work.
We thank all the people in Germany, both women and men, for all of the help they have so far offered us. We want to show ourselves worthy of your help. We remain united: your values are our values.
Germany has done more for us than any other European or Arab country!
Not that I think ordinary people have a responsibility to condemn this, but I’ve never heard of white men doing this. I condemn violence against women, but I’ve never done this.
Fantastic. Bring refugees like this over as fast as you can. Our societies would be improved for having them, not weakened.