The challenges facing Vergangenheitsbewältigung in modern Germany: Muslim immigration and rising antisemitism. 

Supervised by: Dr Zuleika Rodgers, Associate Professor, Department of Near & Middle Eastern Studies

By Eve Townsley, 2024 Laidlaw Cohort, Middle Eastern and European Languages and Cultures

If you’ve scrolled on social media, tuned into a television news channel or simply walked through the centre of a large city since 7th October 2023, it is highly unlikely that you have escaped the news of the devastating situation currently unfolding in Israel and Palestine. Like many across the world, I watched as Hamas militants carried out unprecedented attacks in Israel, and then as Israel unleashed a retaliatory campaign of astounding proportions in Gaza, leading to mass destruction, displacement and tens of thousands of civilian deaths. This is the somber context in which I began my summer one research project. Having become familiar with the events unfolding in the Middle East, I felt well-versed in the implications of the conflict for the immediate region. However, I was struck by the lack of coverage on English-language news sites about the impact of such violence on a country that has deep ties to both Israel and the Arab world: Germany. It should come as no surprise that the combination of a genocidally antisemitic legacy and a growing population of Muslim-background migrants since the 1950s (but particularly since 2015) has transformed Germany into a veritable microcosm of the Israel-Palestine conflict. However, the conflict’s interaction with unique aspects of German society, culture and politics – notably the fundamental concept of Vergangenheitsbewältigung (coming to terms with the past) and the integration of large numbers of Muslim migrant arrivals – appeared an underexplored area. Therefore, I began my six-week research period excited to delve deeper, but slightly apprehensive of the verdict I would reach due to the deeply complicated nature of the situation.  

A key aspect of my original research proposal was to conduct online interviews with Berlin-based Muslim Germans (aged 18–25) with a migrant background, focusing on how they felt the recent eruption in conflict between Israel and Palestine had affected antisemitism and Muslim migrant integration in Germany. To locate interviewees, I sent introductory letters to student organisations at Berlin universities, to Muslim-focused community centres and to NGOs, inviting people to contact me if they were interested in taking part. However, I immediately encountered a problem: I received replies from only four of the twenty organisations I emailed, all of which informed me that they would be unable to participate for various reasons. The unforeseen difficulty of this experience also encouraged me to reflect on the likelihood of finding participants who would be able to commit to an interview, as opposed to something that required less time. Based on these reflections, I decided to modify my approach. I created an online questionnaire (which was quicker to complete but served the same purpose as an interview) and contacted friends and family members with relevant connections to find participants. Furthermore, I expanded my location range from Berlin to Germany as a whole and adapted the time scale for completion of the questionnaire. Although the results are still ongoing at the end of the six-week period, this does not pose a significant issue for the project. Overall, the experience taught me the importance of adaptability, flexibility and innovation in research. 

Aside from this minor issue, my research progressed smoothly. I used scholarly and non-scholarly sources to examine the state of antisemitism and Muslim migrant integration in modern Germany, identified problems in these areas, assessed the merits and failures of existing ways of tackling such problems and proposed methods by which Germany’s approach could be modified to achieve a more positive circumstance. Broadly, my findings matched my hypotheses; however, the project also drew some unanticipated conclusions. Notably, I gained a greater understanding of the fundamentally interconnected nature of antisemitism and Muslim migrant integration/Islamophobia (which I had previously not fully grasped) and the subsequent necessity of approaching these issues as intersectional and mutually influential, rather than as unrelated phenomena. Perhaps the most unexpected result of the research project was that it evolved to focus on the area of migrant integration more than expected at the outset. This was essential to evaluate the issues facing migrants in Germany, but also piqued my interest in the topic, which I had previously considered on a purely surface-level, current affairs-related basis. From this, I have discovered a theme that I would like to explore further, perhaps in my Leadership in Action project or in future academic endeavours.    

In terms of personal resilience and determination, there were moments in which I struggled to maintain momentum and focus during six weeks of library-based research. However, this feeling taught me the value of taking concrete steps to motivate myself. For example, I found that meeting with fellow Laidlaw scholars and sharing experiences helped, as did working alongside others. Similarly, reminding myself of my genuine interest in and passion for the topic proved an invaluable motivator.   

Overall, I feel that my experience of Laidlaw summer one research has granted me valuable insight not only into the intricacies of my research topic, but also into the nature of research itself, teaching me the important skills of resilience, perseverance and self-motivation. I look forward to implementing what I have learned - in a personal and academic capacity - into future ventures, Laidlaw and other.