Merkel calls for tolerance after poll shows 61% say Islam doesn't belong in West; anti-immigration group says Paris attack justifies stance.
Yeah, that's the problem, not enough tolerance.
Or, Germans are growing weary of "multiculturalism" and "diversity" that benefits only Muslims.
(INN) German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a fresh call for tolerance Thursday, as a poll showed a growing majority of Germans see Islam as a threat and an anti-immigrant group said the Paris massacre the day before underscored its stance.
In a survey conducted several weeks before Wednesday's killing of 12 people by Islamist gunmen at a French satirical paper, 61% of non-Muslim Germans said Islam had no place in the West.
The figure was up from 52% in 2012, according to the study released by the Bertelsmann Foundation think tank.
In findings that suggested deep anxiety about Muslims in Europe's top economy, more than half - 57% - said they felt threatened by Islam, four points higher than in 2012.
Forty percent said they felt like "foreigners in their own country" because of the rapidly growing presence of Muslims, while one in four (24%) said that Muslims should be barred from migrating to Germany.
Asked about relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in the wake of the Paris rampage, Merkel, who condemned the attack as "despicable," sought to address the growing apprehension around the country's large Muslim population.
"We have very good ties with the vast majority of Muslims in Germany. All have been clear in their statements on terrorist attacks," she said.
She acknowledged that there were also "unfortunately some individuals in Germany" who had "joined the jihadists" and said the country must maintain existing security measures.
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