All of the ten theses

The 10 theses from Jürgen Tödenhöfer's book "Why do you kill, Zaid?" are an attempt to portray the world from the viewpoint of a Muslim for once. Jürgen Todenhöfer hopes that the following 10 theses will perhaps open a window onto another way of seeing the Muslim world – or at least prompt a fair discussion.

The ten theses for listening (German)

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1. The West is much more violent than the Muslim world. Millions of Muslim civilians have been killed since colonialism began.

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2. In view of the warmongering of the West, it is really not surprising that support for Muslim extremists continues to grow.

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3. Terrorists in Islamic disguise are murderers. The same holds true for the ringleaders disguised as Christians who wage wars of aggression in contravention of international law.

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4. Muslims were and are at least as tolerant as Jews and Christians. They have made a major contribution to Western civilization.

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5. Love of God and love of one's neighbor are the central commandments not only in the Bible but also in the Qur'an.

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6. Western policies towards the Muslim world suffer from a shocking ignorance of even the simplest facts.

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7. The West must treat the Muslim world just as fairly and as generously as it treats Israel. Muslims are worth as much as Jews and Christians.

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8. The Muslims must champion a progressive and tolerant Islam, as did their prophet Muhammad. They must strip terrorism of its religious mask.

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9. Nothing fosters terrorism more than the West's "war on terror". Wars of aggression are not only the most immoral, but also the least intelligent way to combat terrorism.

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10. What is needed now is the art of statesmanship, not the art of war - in the Iran conflict, in the Iraq conflict and in the Palestine conflict.

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