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The court ruled that the 40-year-old doctor, who arrived in Germany in 2002, “should not obtain citizenship” after he said he “refuses to shake hands with women for religious reasons.”
Despite the health recommendations to renounce the handshake in the time of the Coronavirus, the court considered that refusing to shake hands for “fundamentalist cultural concepts” and dealing with women on the basis of the “risk of sexual temptation”, expresses “a refusal to integrate into German life”.
The Lebanese citizen now works as a doctor in a clinic in a senior position, and studied medicine in Germany, applied for German citizenship in 2012, signed a pledge of allegiance to the German constitution, and pledges against extremism.
The German official withheld the nationality certificate after he refused to shake his hand and told the court that he had promised his wife that he would not shake another woman’s hand.
The court described the handshake as a common greeting and parting ritual, and is independent of the gender of the parties involved, adding that this practice dates back centuries.
The judge found that the handshake also has a legal meaning, as it symbolizes the conclusion of a contract, and the judge said that the handshake is “rooted in social, cultural and legal life that shapes the way in which that we live together “in Germany.
The court found that anyone who refuses to shake hands on the grounds of gender violates the equality enshrined in the German constitution.
