Henriette Reker is the immigrant-friendly mayoress of Cologne. She made the news in these pages a few times in the past, the first time after she was stabbed in the neck by a “xenophobe” when she was running for mayor. She became notorious after the “groping jihad” on New Year’s Eve of 2015 for remarking that women should stay an arm’s length away from migrant men if they wanted to remain safe.

Ms. Reker visited the new mega-mosque in Cologne on Friday to give a speech at an iftar dinner. She was in full dhimmi mode for the occasion — I’m surprised she wasn’t wearing hijab. You’d be well-advised to keep your antiemetic pills handy while watching the video below.

Many thanks to Ava Lon for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Video transcript:

53:35 Ladies and gentlemen before I welcome you now,

53:39 I would like to say that I consider it a good sign

53:43 that when I came on stage a verse of Quran

53:47 was being read.

53:51 Honorable professor [Turkish name],

53:55 honorable general consul [another Turkish name],

53:59 consuls from Düsseldorf —

54:03 that female consul I met before, but also from Turkey

54:07 and Poland. Honorable doctor

54:12 [Turkish name], honorable representatives

54:16 of many faith communities

54:20 who are here today, and dear representatives from politics

54:24 and society, dear Fritz Schramer

54:28 whom I just saw, ladies and gentlemen,

54:32 dear friends: I am glad

54:36 to be here today with you this year as well

54:40 for Iftar dinner, and I am especially happy

54:44 that today, on the second Friday

54:48 of Ramadan, the room of the Dome was ready for use for the Friday prayer. Surely it was for you a

54:56 huge moment and a special event, and my heart

55:00 is still full of what I saw, that

55:04 what was built around us

55:08 so we got a little closer to heaven.

55:12

55:16 The motto, ladies and gentlemen,

55:20 that was chosen this year for the blessed fasting month, is —

55:28 we can see it on the menus, and here: “You are carrying responsibility

55:32 for every single living creature.” This is an appeal!

55:36 to all of us! This motto touches me deeply;

55:40 it was wonderfully chosen and it is still

55:44 of course very relevant, right now because of

55:48 the background of bad news from all over the world.

55:52 We should never forget

55:56 that we carry a responsibility for every single

56:00 living creature, but above all for our fellow men

56:04 everywhere in the world.

56:08

56:12 The basis for a peaceful coexistence is for me

56:16 the ability to solve conflicts

56:20 with creativity and empathy.

56:25 Professor [Turkish name]

56:29 emphasized in his speech

56:33 the violent solution [sic!]

56:37 and for that I thank him [sic!] as much

56:41 as for the fact that they put

56:45 “connecting” the foreground.

56:49 [In the silence police sirens are heard outside.]

56:53 So I see it as our common success that

56:57 we celebrated, in May, eleven years of existence for the Cologne For Freedom Commitment.

57:02 And many of you — perhaps not the foreign guests —

57:09 but you’re hearing about it now;

57:13 this is clearly a true Cologne Jubilee

57:17 number eleven. For an explanation:

57:21 on 29th October 2006 in the Cologne Town Hall,

57:25 following the initiative of the project Do You Know Who I Am?

57:29 [the Cologne For Freedom Commitment] was signed.

57:33 Sorry. With the project Do You Know Who I Am? the three large

57:37 monotheistic religious communities have accomplished, since

57:41 2004, an addition to understanding and freedom.

57:45 And since 2016 especially

57:49 for the integration of refugees and social cohesion.

57:53 I remember very well

57:57 that I visited you, like all the other religious

58:01 communities already in 2014,

58:05 and I asked you

58:09 for your help and I experienced your support.

58:13 I thank you for that as well.

58:17

58:21 In 2006 Cologne was

58:25 not only the first large German town that

58:29 created a Religious Council and signed its own peace engagement.

58:34 I argue that Cologne was and is like no other city

58:38 in Germany. Suited to send peace messages

58:42 in a believable way. Peace messages that we in Cologne

58:46 not only demonstrate every day with our about hundred different religious

58:50 communities, from people of more than 180 nationalities

58:54 but also often [accept being] challenged

58:58 by differently thinking people, which sends clear signals

59:02 to the entire world. Together

59:06 we also demonstrated on the 22 April 2017 on the

59:10 [unintelligible] party day in our city

59:14 for the opening to the world, tolerance and solidarity.

59:18 Ladies and gentlemen,

59:22 you also know that freedom of opinion doesn’t mean

59:26 freedom of dissent. [sic!] And I am very happy

59:30 that on this day you are also on my side.

59:34 Ladies and gentlemen, a good cooperation

59:38 of the religious communities is considered by the city of Cologne

59:42 and the city’s inhabitants and the entire society outside Cologne

59:46 a positive connection signal, an orientation

59:50 and a role model. Also, when we sometimes have to show proof of patience to one another,

59:58 and have to endure some things, I am very

60:02 happy about continuing a dialogue with you,

60:06 and about building this city community

60:10 together; you have showed

60:14 today [that you carry] the burden and the responsibility and the respect

60:18 for your fellow men, and for that