Teachers at a German high school boycotted the graduation ceremony after the principal allowed a Muslim student who refuses to shake hands with women to take part.
More than half the faculty at the school in Hamburg gave the principal an ultimatum after a student ignored a female teacher’s handshake invite. The teacher wanted to congratulate the student on finishing his oral examination part, but the gesture was not returned. (RELATED: Swiss Suspend Muslim Citizenship App After Boys Refuse To Shake Women’s Hands)
“I am not doing this out of disrespect, but for religious reasons,” the student said.
The teachers then demanded the student should be banned from taking part in the graduation ceremony, calling the student an “extremist.” When the principle took the student’s side, they went along with a boycott.
“Several colleagues will not participate in this event and allow an extremist to use it for misogynist religious propaganda with the approval of the school management,” an anonymous teacher wrote in an email Friday to Hamburger Abendblatt.
The principal stands by her decision to side with the student, but said she doesn’t support the boy’s behavior.
“He is by no means a radical or extremist,” Andrea Lüdtke, the school’s head teacher, told Hamburger Morgenpost in defense of the student “We are considering how we can send a signal that we do not tolerate such behavior.”
The episode furthered the ongoing debate in Germany over which exceptions students can get for religious reasons. Several schools have removed pork from their school cafeterias out of respect for religious minorities in recent months. (RELATED: Merkel’s Party Fights Religious Minorities On Right To Sausage)
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.