The Muslim News

dw-world.de:

One of Germany's most popular television series drew loud protests from members of a Muslim group over what they consider an unfavourable portrayal in the show's most recent episode.

The Alevi Muslim Community AABF called on its members to hold peaceful protests against the "slander and disparagement" contained in the Dec. 23 broadcast of Tatort, the German word for crime scene.

A criminal complaint has been filed by the group against NDR, the network that produced the program, accusing it of incitement to racial hatred.

"It is appalling to us that a public and legitimate broadcaster would revive these centuries' old prejudices," said Ali Ertan Toprak, the secretary general of the Alevi community in Germany.

Members of the Alevi community in Berlin tried to stop the broadcast of the episode but were unsuccessful.

To answer the complaints, the network reiterated in the opening credits that the program was a work of fiction and in no way intended to harm religious feelings or rekindle prejudices against the Alevi community.

About 300 people protested outside the studios of Germany's public broadcaster ARD on Thursday, Dec. 27. More demonstrations are expected over the weekend.

The episode in question is entitled "To Whom Honor is Due" and dealt with incest and murder within an Alevi family living in Germany.

During the course of the program, investigators discover that a young Alevi girl was murdered by her father after she confronted him about impregnating her sister.

The writer and director of the program, Angelina Maccarone, defended the program in an interview with German radio station, DeutschlandRadio, saying that she in no way intended to offend any religious community

"It is not hard for me to say that I am incredible sorry," added Maccarone, adding that the response had caught her completely by surprise.

Regional networks who broadcast Tatort also found themselves having to explain the decision to run the episode.

"We in no way intended this Tatort episode to injure any religious feeling or to substantiate prejudices against a religious community," said Volker Herres, Program Director of Bayern Television, one of the networks that broadcasted the episode.

Under Ottoman rule, radical Sunni Muslims accused the Alevis of incest because they included women and children in their religious rituals.

Around 20 million Alevis live in Turkey and an estimated 700,000 reside in Germany.

DW staff (ot)

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3025769,00.html

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