Radical Islamists
Who is behind the caliphate protests in Hamburg?
Against dictatorship of values, for the caliphate: Islamists and women at a protest in Hamburg
© Imago
Islamists walk across Hamburg’s Steindamm and demand a theocracy. A group called “Muslim Interactive” called for this. Their tactics are perfidious and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has already alerted them.
Even in street protests, Islamists stick to their own rules. When the introduction of a theocracy took place on Hamburg’s Steindamm on Saturday afternoon Germany, around 80 veiled women stand at the very end of the demonstration, visibly separated from the hundreds of bawling young men in front of them. But they painted the same messages on their posters: “Germany = dictatorship of values,” “Caliphate is the solution.”
More than 1,000 people in the middle of the Hanseatic city denounce an allegedly Islamophobic policy from Berlin, a supposed media campaign against Allah throughout Germany – which now raises the question: Who is taking to the streets for Sharia law in this country?
The demo was registered by a man who is close to the group “Muslim Interaktiv” (MI). And even if the name of this organization sounds innocuous and the march remained peaceful, at least this weekend, behind this protest there is a system that has increasingly brought German secret services into the spotlight for several years: Muslims as a minority persecuted by the West and the media; victimhood as a gateway narrative for an anti-democratic ideology; a group that wants to convert young people online.
First the Islamist flash mob, then the raid
“Muslim Interactive” was only officially founded in March 2020. The logo: the Kaaba in Mecca, the shrine of the Islamic world, in the middle of a red drop of blood. Just a few days later, the group organized a motorcade through downtown Hamburg. Apparently to commemorate the Muslim victims of the attack in Hanau. Actually, to speak of an incitement within society against Muslims caused by politicians.
Two years later, in a kind of flash mob, the Islamists compared the situation of the Uyghurs in China with that of Muslims in Germany. In February 2023, MI attracted almost 3,500 people to the streets of Hamburg’s St. Georg district after a Koran was burned in Sweden. After the Gaza war broke out, the organization called for a banned spontaneous rally – again in Hamburg. First there were anti-Israel slogans, then stones and bottles were thrown at police officers. Afterwards, the police raided two members’ apartments.
The Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution writes that the group uses “the instrumentalization of socially relevant debates and discourses in order to dissolve the boundaries between democratic and extremist commitment.” The security authorities see “Muslim Interaktiv” as closely linked to Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT), the “Party of Liberation”, which has been banned in Germany since 2003. It is considered violence-oriented, calls for the killing of Jews and the destruction of Israel and calls for the unification of all Muslims in a global caliphate based on Sharia law. HuT is now also banned in many Arab states, but is still active.
MI supporters were also spotted in front of Hamburg’s Al-Nour Mosque after Friday prayers with clear flyers. “57 rulers” of Muslim states are to be replaced by “1 caliph”, i.e. a religious-political leader. The Elbe metropolis is considered the headquarters of the movement, and most recently it called for people to break their fast together in an event hall in the east of Hamburg.
The head of the group is studying to be a teacher in Hamburg
But “Muslim Interactive” is most popular on the Internet, where young, malleable, potential new followers hang out. The Tik Tok account has more than 24,000 followers and the Instagram channel has over 5,000. Young, sporty men appear there in hoodies like pop prophets. Their leader is called Joe Adade Boateng, nickname “Raheem”, is 25 years old, says he converted to Islam in 2015 and is studying to be a teacher at the University of Hamburg. Will the German-Ghanaian actually take an oath to the German constitution in order to enter the public service? On TikTok, the ultra-conservative interpretation of the Koran seems to be far more important to him. Halloween in Dubai? Alcohol in Saudi Arabia? Baerbock on a state visit to Israel? Sign of evil. Boateng also appeared at the recent demonstration in Hamburg.
The authorities are alarmed. The Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution writes: “The group is recording a continuous increase in its level of distribution, especially among the younger generation of the Muslim community.” Politicians from various parties are calling on Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to ban the movement, just as she did against the terrorist organization Hamas and its affiliated group Samidoun in November.
There is currently no such ban on activity in sight. Instagram channels that were briefly blocked quickly went back online. Despite the dreams of a caliphate – in a position paper, “Muslim Interaktiv” officially recognizes the “validity of the Basic Law”. Islamic scholars attest that the group has a non-violent strategy. You will probably not hear a call to kill infidels from Raheem Boateng. He much prefers to portray himself as a fighter against anti-Muslim racism and for justice. The Hamburg law enforcement authorities now want to check whether there were those who violated German law among the posters and shouts of the many men and few women on the Steindamm on Saturday.