The Islamist group Muslim Interaktiv had again called for a demonstration in Hamburg. Several hundred people – almost exclusively men – followed the call. They adhered to the requirement not to call for a caliphate again.
Several hundred people took part in a demonstration by the Islamist group Muslim Interaktiv in Hamburg. The demonstrators gathered under a heavy police presence for the rally in the St. Georg district near the main train station.
Strict conditions applied. Among other things, the participants were forbidden from calling for a caliphate in Germany. Relevant statements and posters at the network’s first demonstration at the end of April made headlines across the country. According to the police, the demonstration was peaceful. The police put the number of participants at around 2,300.
authorities had Gender segregation prohibited
Many participants held up white posters with the words “Censored” or “Banned”. The organizers called on participants not to be provoked and not to speak to the press. Some counter-protesters gathered nearby.
Contrary to what was requested by the Islamist network Muslim Interaktiv as a registrant, the meeting was only allowed to take place as a stationary rally. The authorities did not allow a demonstration. According to on-site reporters, the participants were almost exclusively men. As one of nine conditions, the assembly authority had specified that there should be no gender separation.
March in April caused outrage
In accordance with the requirements, the organizer began by reading out the meeting authority’s conditions in German and Arabic. As with the demonstration at the end of April, there could be no calls for hatred and violence and no denial of Israel’s right to exist. Damaging or burning Israeli flags was also prohibited.
One reaction to the last rally was the ban on calling for a caliphate in Germany in words, pictures or writing. At the demonstration on April 27th, signs read “Caliphate is the solution.” There were no openly visible or audible calls for a caliphate today.
Faeser: In the focus of the authorities
In response to the demo at the end of April, numerous politicians called for a ban on another rally and for Muslim Interactive to be banned. The network has been monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution for four years. It is primarily active on social media platforms.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said today that the participants would be the focus of the security authorities. “We use all instruments: from intelligence observation to intensive investigations,” the SPD politician told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
“Anyone who would rather live in a caliphate and therefore in the Stone Age is against everything Germany stands for. We defend our constitution – with the means of our constitution,” continued Faeser.
She described the strict requirements of the Hamburg authorities as correct. “This enables immediate, tough intervention if the demonstration aggressively calls for a caliphate in Germany.”
“Part of the spiritual battle of opinions”
From the point of view of Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, it is absurd for Islamists to call for a caliphate in Germany, but this is not necessarily a case for the judiciary. “Pure expressions of sympathy for a caliphate are something I find politically absurd and absurd,” he said.
However, the Federal Constitutional Court stated in essence: As long as an absurd opinion, even one that contradicts the Basic Law, is simply expressed without any attempt being made to eliminate the order of the Basic Law or violate other legal interests, this must be considered part of the intellectual battle of opinions must be endured.