A scheme to promote better understanding of Islam in Germany has run into controversy — after Muslim groups objected to the use of beer mats to provide information.
Under the scheme, beer mats are provided to pubs and restaurants with questions about Islam. On the reverse is an internet link to the answers.
Rather than using formal German, the beer mats are printed in regional dialect for each city, complete with local slang.
Typical questions include “Mohammed, what was he like?” and “What is it with Muslims and pork?”
The scheme has run in a number of German cities since it was first launched in 2016, and the beer mats have been translated into three dialects.
But a bid to introduce it in the small central German town of Maintal, close to Frankfurt, has run into opposition from local Muslims, who say beer mats are an inappropriate way to educate people about a religion that forbids alcohol.
“They could have used postcards, or adverts on the side of a bus. Why did it have to be the pub?” Salih Tasdirek, the head of the local foreigners' advisory council, told Spiegel magazine. [The Telegraph] Read more
