Opinion: a very moving vigil

Facing adversity, humans pull together. We have seen these words come to life in impressive and moving fashion these past few days. On Sunday, images from France went around the world when millions of people showed up in Paris to honor the victims that a group of Islamists have on their conscious.

In Berlin, tens of thousands gathered for a vigil organized by the Central Council of Muslims in Germany and the Turkish community organization. Both can no longer be accused of doing too little to combat radicalization or even terror, an accusation that has often been leveled in Germany in the past.

"We are all Germany," said Aiman Mazyek, head of the Central Council of Muslims. German President Joachim Gauck repeated the sentence. One couldn't have hoped for a more touching rhetorical symbol. And then came the visual symbol, as Muslims, Christians and Jews joined arm in arm, at the request of Mazyek. He could have used this opportunity to respond to the words of Abraham Lehrer, vice chair of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, who has voiced criticism of what he called the "increasing radicalization" of Islam.

Islam really is a part of Germany

Thankfully, Mazyek didn't succumb to that temptation. Instead, he called the Paris attacks the "greatest of blasphemies," a "betrayal of Islam" that has dragged its principles "in the mud." Any high-ranking religious representative would be hard-pressed to express further distance to terrorism than that. His call to German Muslims to do "even more in future to become critical members of society" had an almost beseeching tone. Now, they will have to live up to those words.

The same goes for politicians. It is a positive and encouraging sign that Chancellor Angela Merkel, one day before the Berlin vigil, took up a sentence once said by former president Christian Wulff and made it her own. "Islam is a part of Germany." Wulff had to face criticism for saying those words in 2010, especially from members of Merkel's Christian camp. Five years later, the sentence is still contentious, but far less so than back then.

Of course, Germany's roots are Christian

The fact of the matter is that Germany, as a country of immigration, is home to millions of Muslims. Nobody would deny that its roots are Christian. Nevertheless, Islam is a part of Germany and Judaism, thankfully, is also a part of Germany.

It is almost tragic that our interfaith society is actually a reflection of the perversion of religion itself. And the attacks in Paris will not be the last that are committed in the name of whichever God. It makes it all the more important to live out in our everyday life the camaraderie between religions witnessed around the world at the moment.

President Gauck found the right words: the cultural gap between immigrants and natives, even between Germany's different immigrant groups, is overcome only too seldom. "Diversity is face to face" - this idea, put into words by the head of state, should reach all Germans and provide a basis for their actions.