Germans Launch Pro-Circumcision Campaign

By JTA July 31, 2012

Two Jews and a Muslim in Germany have started a pro-circumcision campaign to counter a Cologne district court ruling that bans the practice.

Called “together against snipping off our rights,” the petition already has 300 signatures, according to The Local, a German publication. Its organizers – Mike Delberg, Michael Groys and Anil Celik – plan to send it to the German government when it reaches 1,000 signatures.

Last month, the Cologne court ruled against non-medical circumcision for young boys on the grounds that circumcision causes grievous bodily harm.

The petition accuses the ruling of limiting Jewish and Muslim religious rights, and says that Jews and Muslims will have to travel out of the country in order to be circumcised.

The German parliament has introduced a motion to keep circumcision legal, and the Jewish and Muslim communities in Austria are working to ensure it remains legal there.

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