Pro

It's a story tailor-made to liven up the dull political landscape and give both tabloids and government backbenchers a perfect opportunity to voice some populist indignation: German-Iranian soccer player Ashkan Dejagah has announced that his political sympathies prevent him from being able to take part in an official Under-21 match against Israel.

Not acceptable, agree politicians across the board. Where would we be if sports player started choosing their opponents? Sport should not become politicized, they say. But that's exactly what they do themselves. Anyone who refuses to demonstrate allegiance to German society is not allowed to represent the German national team. The Central Council of the Jews agrees, arguing that a German team player should not be allowed to "initiate a private Jewish boycott."

They might have had a point, had the young man said he refused to play in Israel because he does not acknowledge the State of Israel. But he didn't. He referred to personal reasons and stressed that he was Iranian as well as German. Anyone who criticizes him shows they have no awareness of how complex life can become for immigrants awarded German citizenship, and that they understand little or nothing of the integration process.

Clearly, immigrants awarded German citizenship should try to become part of German society. But this should not necessitate their having to renounce at the door their roots, their past, and everything it stands for. Obviously, they have ties to their former home; they have friends and family there, maybe even property. Germans cultivate personal ties to foreign countries -- why shouldn't immigrants retain their ties to their former home?

It would be unreasonable and wrong to expect anything else. In most cases, this principle is respected. But not when politics enter the equation. And they inevitably do, when Iran and Israel rear their head. The German-Iranian soccer player has little to do with it all -- the real conflict is between sworn enemies Tehran and Jerusalem. But it's the public who take the rap -- people, like Ashkan Dejagah, who then face penalties, or unpleasantness at the very least.

The German media and the politicians should avoid blowing these stories out of all proportion and, first and foremost, should stop twisting peoples' words.

Moreover, no one would ever insist that a German-Israeli football player in the German Under-21 team should have to take part in a game in Iran, were it scheduled.

Integration is a two-way process, as this case shows. It has to be undertaken by the naturalized citizen, and it has to be undertaken by the society welcoming him -- or not, as the case may be. Integration should not have to mean self-abnegation. It requires sensitivity, awareness and respect from both sides. In this particular case, all these are absent. Ultimately, the political rabble-rousing is superfluous for an entirely different reason: Ashkan Dejagah is 21 years old. He only has to play in the Under-21s for another few months.

Peter Philipp is DW's chief correspondent (jp)