After the coup in Syria: Handshake only for men: Baerbock with the Islamist leader

Feminist foreign policy – ​​according to Annalena Baerbock, this is the common thread that runs through German diplomacy. During your visit to Syria, where Islamists have ruled for four weeks, it became clear how women’s rights are viewed there.

Ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa, who until recently was ostracized as a terrorist in the West, did not greet the foreign minister with a handshake, but did extend his hand to her French colleague Jean-Noël Barrot. Barrot returned the gesture – albeit hesitantly. All Baerbock could do was clasp her own hands and nod.

“Long live feminist foreign policy!” AfD leader Alice Weidel commented on the bumpy welcome that evening. And the satirical parody account on

Baerbock already suspected that there would be no handshake

Is the behavior of the Islamist al-Sharaa, who has recently started wearing a suit instead of a military uniform, an expression of disrespect towards the Green politician and his misogyny in general? It’s not quite that simple: a handshake between a strange man and a strange woman is unusual among believers in Islamic societies – and from the point of view of some legal scholars, it is even forbidden. But there is no clear rule and no dominant religious custom.

Baerbock, who was not wearing a headscarf at the meeting, later said when asked by a journalist that it was clear to her upon arrival that there would be no handshake. In the conversation with al-Sharaa, she made it very clear that women’s rights are an indicator of how free a society is. It was heard from delegation circles that al-Sharaa extended his hand again at the end of the conversation, but that there was no longer a handshake.

No EU money for new Islamist structures

Baerbock herself, with all diplomatic politeness, spoke plainly publicly during her visit and gave the new Syrian leadership clear conditions for Europe’s support. “We now need a political dialogue that includes all ethnic and religious groups, including all people, especially women in this country,” she said. Europe will support Syria, but will not become a financier of new Islamist structures.

The skepticism seems justified to many: Al-Sharaa is the leader of the Islamist rebel group Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which played a key role in bringing about the overthrow of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad. He was formerly known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani. The HTS group emerged from the Al-Nusra Front, an offshoot of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network.