The New Arm of the Muslim Brotherhood Performs the “Victim Dance” in Germany… Citizenship Revocation?
Two weeks after their controversial appearance in Hamburg, “Muslim Interactive” played the victim narrative, reminiscent of the tactics of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood.
The group “Muslim Interactive” organized a new demonstration in Hamburg yesterday, following weeks after an initial protest where the group raised the slogan “the caliphate is the solution,” shaking up the German political scene.
A Different Outlook
In contrast to the demonstration where the group raised banners proclaiming “the caliphate is the solution,” Sunday’s demonstration appeared subdued. With 2000 participants, including few women, they listened to the speech by “Muslim Interactive” leader Rahim Boutang.
Boutang used his 30-minute speech to justify what happened at the previous demonstration at the same location weeks ago and spoke about his group as a victim of media manipulation.
The 25-year-old youth stated he “never called for the establishment of a caliphate in Germany,” adding that this statement “only” refers to the Middle East.
Boutang, who described himself and his “brothers and sisters” as “bearers of truth,” demanded the right to live here “as Muslims with their identity and way of life.”
Instead of banners proclaiming “the caliphate is the solution,” participants held signs reading “forbidden” and “prohibited,” with white or black flags being raised.
“Muslim Interactive” also did not promote content showing the organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, or their supporters in the protest with any typical slogans like “the caliphate is the solution” in the clips they posted on their pages.
New Rules
After the first demonstration, the Hamburg Ministry of Interior faced significant pressure, with political parties calling for the network to be banned and further marches prevented.
However, considering the legal situation, it emerged that banning “Muslim Interactive” marches was not easy to accomplish. Consequently, the Hamburg Minister of Interior, Andy Grote, played his last card by imposing several conditions on the organizers of “Muslim Interactive” marches.
These conditions included a ban on reusing the banner “the caliphate is the solution,” not allowing women to stand in separate back rows, and banning hate speech and incitement to violence.
At yesterday’s demonstration, the police deployed a larger number of officers speaking Arabic in the vicinity of the demonstration, including specially trained personnel capable of intervening if the rules were violated through words or gestures.
This meant that it would have been possible to disperse the march if the rules were breached.
Citizenship Revocation
However, “Muslim Interactive’s” step backward did not prevent Markus Söder, leader of the Christian Social Union party and one of the strong contenders for the German chancellorship, from threatening group members with citizenship revocation.
Söder said, “Anyone who wants to establish a caliphate can do so anywhere, but not in Germany.”
Söder expressed great displeasure at “Muslim Interactive’s” return to the streets yesterday Saturday, stating, “I don’t know why they (the authorities in Hamburg) continue to allow these demonstrations.”
Söder then made a surprising request, “Anyone who wants the caliphate must lose their dual citizenship,” a statement suggesting that many extremist Islamists hold German citizenship in addition to citizenship from their original country.
He continued, saying “The caliphate is not a religious idea but a purely political one,” meaning “We want to abolish democracy.”
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the domestic intelligence service in Hamburg, attributes the group “Muslim Interactive” to the banned Liberation Party since 2003 in Germany, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.
According to the office, the Liberation Party aims to use force as a means to achieve political goals, in line with the ban targeting it, thus threatening the idea of international understanding.
Online, representatives of the organization “Muslim Interactive” describe themselves as “political activists,” attacking those who label them “Islamists” or “extremists” and saying that these descriptions “are not true,” like any Islamic organization or group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood in Germany, as no group explicitly links itself to the Muslim Brotherhood and prefers secret links.
