No fear of agitation

From the Sächsische Zeitung, Zittau, June 17, 2019, 5:00 p.m., by Jan Lange

Anass Halime cannot understand why a party is campaigning with the slogan “No Islam in Upper Lusatia.” The 22-year-old is a Muslim himself and does not understand why there is such a witch hunt against his religion. But he is not afraid because of it. Nor does he have any intention of turning his back on Upper Lusatia, where the AfD emerged as the leading party in the most recent election. “You can’t just hide at home,” says the young Moroccan. “You have to talk to people, explain more about Islam to them, and show that Muslims aren’t bad people,” he adds.

Anass Halime takes an unconventional approach to this. He recently visited a Christian congregation. A friend from the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences had invited him there. And the 22-year-old went because he wants to get to know the culture and religion of his host country better. While many Europeans have no qualms about visiting a mosque from time to time, it’s not necessarily common for Muslims to visit churches of other religions. “It’s also a gathering of believers,” says Anass Halime, adding, “There, too, you can discuss misconceptions about Islam or religiosity in general.”

A few days ago, he also attended an event at the university on the topic of “Religion as a Resource for Integration.” As the only Muslim there, he spoke with many Christians about faith.

The young Moroccan is doing his utmost to integrate into German society. In doing so, he has even broken new ground at times. Take the fire department, for example. Last year, he joined the Zittau fire brigade, becoming at that time the first Arab to serve on a Saxon fire department. There are now other firefighters who come from the Arab world—such as Mustafa Abdullah from Iraq, who has been a member of the Ostritz Fire Department since October 2018.

Anass Halime passed his firefighter certification exam last November. He has since successfully completed the radio communications training course as well. Next up is training to become a breathing apparatus wearer. He has already undergone the necessary medical examinations, and the actual training course will begin in the coming months. A few days ago, he received his own pager, which allows him to be alerted at any time. This was the case on June 12, following the violent storm. Although he did not respond to the call, he provided support at the fire station.

Although he completed his initial training as a member of the Zittau Fire Department, the 22-year-old is now serving with the Görlitz Fire Department. That’s because he moved to Görlitz last year—to pursue his studies. He has been studying computer science at the HSZG since the fall. Since the computer science department is based in Görlitz, he naturally moved there as well. “Since you live in Görlitz, you should also get involved with the local fire department there,” recommended Uwe Kahlert, the chief of the Zittau Fire Department. The young Moroccan found him to be a very kind person and is very grateful for his openness. That motivated him to stay with the fire department.

He’s met many friendly people, but he’s also experienced the downsides. Sometimes he’s heard a thoughtless remark—though that’s been rare so far, explains Anass Halime. One woman didn’t want to speak to him at all. That surprised him. At first, the 22-year-old thought she was joking, but the woman was dead serious. The young Moroccan talks quite casually about such experiences. Anass Halime knows that other foreigners, after bad experiences, become afraid and want to leave the region. He, on the other hand, openly confronts prejudices. This approach has been good for him with the fire department—it’s become like a family to him.

And yet it comes in third place. His studies are the most important thing right now, the 22-year-old explains. He’s been attending the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences for a year; the program, including a master’s degree, takes a total of five years. “I’ll definitely stay here for another four years,” says Anass Halime. He had already studied computer science for three years in his home country of Morocco. Just a few steps away from the university in Görlitz, he found a small one-room apartment. He feels at home here, says the young Moroccan, and that’s another reason he refuses to back down in the face of the AfD’s good election results.

His studies also helped him find a part-time job. For that, he travels regularly to Zittau—at RTT Robotertechnik, he works an average of 10 to 12 hours per week, spread over three days. He works more hours during breaks and fewer during the semester. As if that weren’t enough, he also works at a fast-food restaurant in Zittau on the weekends—he’s been doing this for three months now.

Many thanks to Anass Halime for providing this article.