I do not mind politicians singing and recording songs, we are living in a free society and after all nobody can force me to listen to their songs. So when I first heard that the French and German foreign ministers, Bernard Kouchner and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, were to record a duet together I simply shrugged my shoulders and wondered whether there was nothing more important for them to do. I was relieved though, when I heard that they would be helped by professional musicians. 1
Not any more!
For the German-Turkish rapper, Muhabbet, the two politicians have been singing with allegedly said that Ayaan Hirsi Ali deserved death and that Theo van Gogh was lucky to have died so quickly for in his view van Gogh should have been tortured first.
His remarks were being reported by journalist Esther Schapira who in October was awarded a prize for her excellent documentary on Theo van Gogh`s murder. After the ceremony she and her cameraman had a conversation with Muhabbet and his manager during which the alleged remarks were being made. 2
Now you might wonder how our Foreign Minister reacted when confronted with all this. Did he step back, apologize? No! He simply asked the journalists to be more careful in their research. 3
And now I would really like to know more about the Foreign Ministry`s research methods …
PS: Sadly in my (so far) favourite newspaper die WELT I had to read that while acknowledging that there was no “sensible reason” to doubt Esther Schapira`s report, she might have reacted “more sensitive than appropriate”. 4
This shows a significant lack of both, sense and sensitivity.
1 “Steinmeier and Kouchner to Record R&B Song”, Spiegel-Online, November 09, 2007
3 “Schräge Töne - Der Außenminister und sein Lied”, NDR-Website, Zapp, 14.11.2007
4 “Steinmeiers Muster-Rapper” von Iris Alanyali, Die WELT, 17. November 2007