Angela Merkel has recommended that Germans who are concerned about Islamisation should play Christmas carols on the recorder to contain any possible threat.
At a national congress of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in Wittenburg the German Chancellor told supporters that it’s up to them to hold off the growth of Islam in Germany, by preserving Christmas traditions.
Addressing points raised by the populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party about Islamic law holding values that are antithetical to those of Germans, Merkel conceded: “I know that there are concerns about Islam.”
The CDU politician argued that it’s up to Germans to contain Islamisation in Germany, suggesting they do so by recalling Christian traditions. “How many Christmas carols do we still know? And how many of them are we passing on to our children and grandchildren?” she asked the crowd, rhetorically.
Merkel added: “You just have to copy a few [sheets of carol music], and ask someone who can play the recorder or the flute [to join in]”.
Met with some laughter at her suggestion that a woodwind rendition of Christmas songs could pose a challenge to Islamisation, the Chancellor insisted: “Yes I’m being serious. Otherwise, we will lose a piece of our homeland.”
Merkel’s suggestions were met with scepticism from AfD Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Beatrix von Storch, who co-leads the Eurosceptic party.
“Yes, I think it’s an excellent idea and it’s nice when people sing Christmas songs — I do that also. But it is embarrassing to think it’s possible to stop the Islamisation of Germany by playing recorders!” she told Sputnik Germany.
Merkel’s call to revive Christmas traditions took place in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern where the CDU politician’s party was beaten into third place by AfD in recent elections.
“This is helpless and desperate advice for a representative of a party with the letter C in its name which stands for Christian and not Vitamin C,” Storch added.