Constantin Schreiber – TROLL OF THE MONTH
The Troll of the Month is an incident we choose every month to expose racist and anti-religious haters and to show positive outcomes in the fight against intolerance in Europe.
Image: Krd, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Constantin Schreiber, a well-known newsreader for public service broadcasters in Germany, released a new book in June 2021. The book, titled “The Candidate”, is about a female candidate for the chancellery. Schreiber centers his book around a character called Sabah Hussein, who is a Muslim migrant and feminist and member of the “ecological” party. The book claims that issues like feminism, diversity and climate change awareness are becoming the new fascism.
Schreiber is referred to by some news outlets as an “Islam expert”; however, his published work is seen by many as problematic. “The Candidate” is not Schreiber’s first book. In 2017, he published “Inside Islam - What's Preached in Germany's Mosques” which led to producing a short series for broadcaster ARD on the topic. This book and the research done for it was criticized by many. Daniel Bax, writing for Taz.de, points out one of many inconsistencies in the 2017 book: “It is annoying that Schreiber gives the impression that it is a special risk to visit a mosque in Germany, as if it were a kind of secret world. In reality, most of them are open to interested visitors, and many mosques have people standing by to answer questions as needed.”
Schreiber has also developed "Moscheepedia" ("Mosquepedia"), a map of mosques which is deemed to be a very problematic project as his understanding of Islam and Muslim people seems to be full of fear and stereotypes.
As for the newly published book, similar points are being raised. As with his past work, “The Candidate” makes claims that “Islamisation” is happening in Germany, a common far-right trope. Schreiber’s new book opens up with the sentence: "Do you want absolute diversity?", which is a modified version of Joseph Goebbels "Do you want the total/absolute war?". The scene set in “The Candidate” is one where far-right extremists are fighting against “the Antifa”, which is referred to as the ally of the “sharia brigade”. Sabah Husein is described as growing up in a refugee camp, loving a luxury lifestyle, being linked to the Lebanese mafia and her brothers being involved with “clan crimes”. In the world created by Schreiber in his book, companies must ensure that 15% of employees are homosexual and every fourth employee must be Muslim. Sabah Husein wants to bring 10.000 refugees into Germany every month, as this will supposedly better her chances for election. Overall, it is clear that the book is full of exaggerated stereotypes and tropes, with feminism and diversity portrayed as posing a risk to society.
The book is published as a piece of fiction; however, we have to question how many of the ideas presented in the book mirror Schreiber’s true opinion. Being a public figure, his words, whether claimed to be real of fictional, have power. Schreiber’s track record of publishing sensationalist and hateful content specifically aimed at Muslims is extremely worrying, especially as he continues to be a very public face on German television.
To read a full analysis of the book, please refer to this piece from our German partner Amadeu Antonio Stiftung, originally published in German on Belltower News.
