Jonathan Weckerle

At Sept. 9 rally in Bebelplatz a woman wears a T-shirt displaying pictures of famous Jewish men such as Albert Einstein, Franz Kafka and Leonard Nimoy that is emblazoned with the words, 'We were circumcised.'

By Donald Snyder, NBC News Special Correspondent

BERLIN -- The German cabinet approved a bill on Wednesday to make circumcision legal, a major step toward ending a controversy that started when a Cologne court banned the practice.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle issued the following statement: “This law will create legal certainty for those practicing religious traditions in Germany. The bill clearly shows that Germany is and will remain a cosmopolitan and tolerant country. We want Jewish and Muslim life to flourish as part of our society.”

The bill now goes to the Bundestag (German parliament) where it will be debated and a law will be drafted.

The debate over circumcision arose in June when Cologne’s regional court ruled that the ritual deprives a child of the right to self-determination and violates his physical integrity. 

According to Deidre Berger, executive director of the Berlin office of the American Jewish Committee, the bill affirms religious freedom; treats circumcision as a matter of family law, not criminal law; and allows mohels (Jews trained to perform circumcisions) to perform the ritual. 

The Cologne court found that circumcision constitutes “bodily harm” and “assault.”  It criminalized circumcision in the Cologne district and created uncertainty about its legality in the rest of Germany.  

Tobias Schwarz / REUTERS

German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (R) chats with Health Minster Daniel Bahr before weekly cabinet meeting in Berlin on Oct. 10, 2012. Germany's cabinet approved a bill that will allow the circumcision of infant boys and end months of legal uncertainty after a local court banned the practice.

Jews question their future in Germany

The circumcision of a four-year-old Muslim boy, hospitalized due to medical complications, triggered the controversy. 

But although the ruling was originally aimed at Muslim circumcision, it severely impacts the Jewish community. Jews began asking if they have a future in Germany.

In Hof, a small town near the Czech border, a 64-year-old rabbi faces charges for performing circumcisions.

“The Germans are not protecting the child from circumcision,” said Rabbi Joshua Spinner, Executive Vice President and CEO of the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation, “Rather, they are protecting themselves from the circumcised.”

Spinner emphasized the “otherness” of Jews and Muslims in German culture. 

Attacks on religion have heightened throughout Europe, particularly religions alien to European culture. The targets are minarets, headscarves, and kosher slaughter. 

Germany’s secular society considers religion a relic from the past. This is especially true in the former East Germany with its history of Communist atheism.  

TNS Emnid, a German polling organization, found 56 percent of Germans agree with the Cologne ruling.

According to Berger, the ruling can be traced to a body of law and medical literature that’s been accumulating for a decade. Based on little scientific evidence, this literature holds that circumcision does irreversible physical damage and causes emotional trauma. 

The German Association of Pediatricians agrees and calls for a two-year moratorium on circumcisions, in sharp contrast to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization, both of which both endorse circumcision for its medical benefits, particularly in fighting the spread of HIV in Africa. 

Advocating for religious freedom

But for the Jewish and Muslim communities, it’s not a medical issue. It’s about religious freedom. 

At a September rally held in Bebelplatz, the same square where the Nazis burned more than 20,000 “un-German” books, Jewish and

Jonathan Weckerle

A demonstrator wearing a T-shirt that says 'Are you Jewish? Yes!' shows her Jewish pride at a Sept. 9 rally held in Bebelplatz, Germany.

Muslim leaders denounced the Cologne ruling and asserted the right to freedom of religion.

The draft legislation is intended to respect this right. After discussion by Merkel’s cabinet, the legislation goes before the Bundestag.

Legislators expect legislation to be passed before the end of the year.

Dietmar Nietan, a Social Democratic Bundestag member, said the law must balance the right to religious freedom with the child’s rights. He attached equal weight to both sides of the equation. Nietan said he’d like the legislation to pass with a large majority, thereby validating Jewish life in Germany.

Philip Missfelder, a Bundestag member from the Christian Democratic party, called the draft legislation “a good approach to resolve the current juridical dilemma regarding circumcision.” 

The 33-year-old rising star in Merkel’s party believes the draft legislation “ensures both practice of Jewish religious life in our country and the children’s welfare.” He expects the bill to pass the Bundestag “without substantial alterations.” 

Missfelder says his Jewish constituents ask how they can live in a Germany that does not permit a four thousand year old religious ritual.

Chancellor Merkel has denounced the Cologne decision, calling for speedy enactment of a law that would be acceptable to Jews and Muslims.

But for some, regardless of the legislation that’s finally passed, the very fact that this discussion is happening raises questions about whether Jews belong in Germany. A debate over the right to engage in a ritual practice that’s at the very core of Jewish identity is a debate that should not even be taking place. 

“I look at this with much anger,” said Emmanuel Nashon, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Berlin. 

And according to Berger, the adoption of this law is not even a foregone conclusion.  There are well-financed campaigns against it.

“Public opinion seems to be against circumcision and many parliamentary delegates from all parties are ambivalent. In addition major medical associations in Germany are anti-circumcision and are likely to oppose the draft law.” 

Berger sees this legislation as “a litmus test” for the future of Jewish life in Germany.     

BERLIN - Jewish and Muslim groups protested on Wednesday after a German court banned the circumcision of young boys for religious reasons, Reuters reported. The ban applies to the Cologne region of Germany.

The court in the western city of Cologne handed down the decision on Tuesday in the case of a doctor who was prosecuted for circumcising a four-year-old Muslim boy.

The doctor circumcised the boy in November 2010 and gave him four stitches, the Guardian reported. When the boy started bleeding two days later, his parents took him to Cologne's University hospital, where officials called police. The doctor was ultimately acquitted on the grounds that he had not broken a law.

The court ruled that involuntary religious circumcision should be made illegal because it could inflict serious bodily harm on people who had not consented to it. Male circumcision is part of Jewish and Muslim religious tradition.

The ruling said boys who consciously decided to be circumcised could have the operation. No age restriction was given, or any more specific details.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany called the ruling an "unprecedented and dramatic intrusion" of the right to religious freedom and an "outrageous and insensitive" act.

"Circumcision for young boys is a solid component of the Jewish religion and has been practiced worldwide for millennia. This religious right is respected in every country around the world," President Dieter Graumann said in a statement.

Fewer than 20 percent of boys are circumcised in Germany; by contrast, 56 percent of male newborns in the United States were circumcised in 2005, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

In the U.S., circumcision rates vary by region. In the West, fewer than one-third of newborn boys are circumcised; in the Northeast, nearly two-thirds of newborn boys are circumcised.

Parents who choose to circumcise their boys have said they did so because they believe it improves hygiene and can reduce the risk of the spread of disease, HIV in particular.

"Fatal to the freedom of religion"
According to the court ruling, "the fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighs the fundamental rights of the parents."

But the Central Council of Muslims in Germany called the sentence a "blatant and inadmissible interference" in the rights of parents.

Rabbi Aryeh Goldberg called the ruling “fatal to the freedom of religion,” the Guardian reported. He told Haaretz that it went against the European Union’s convention on human rights.

"The child's body is permanently and irreparably changed by the circumcision. This change runs counter to the interests of the child, who can decide his religious affiliation himself later in life," it said.

Germany is home to about four million Muslims and 120,000 Jews. In Judaism, 8-day-old boys are circumcised to recall the covenant established between God and the Hebrew patriarch Abraham.

The time for Muslim circumcision varies according to family, region and country.

Concerned the ruling could be followed in other parts of the country and that it could prevent doctors carrying out circumcisions for fear of prosecution, the Central Council of Jews urged the German parliament "to provide legal clarity in order to prevent attacks on religious freedom."

Reuters and msnbc.com's Isolde Raftery contributed to this story.

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