Germany bans Islamic center over alleged Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood ties

Berlin — Authorities within the German state of Brandenburg on Thursday banned an Islamic center within the city of Fürstenwalde over alleged affiliations with the militant teams Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The Interior Ministry of Brandenburg state, which surrounds Berlin, mentioned the choice to pressure the closure and ban all operations of the Islamic Center Fürstenwalde al-Salam affiliation (IZF) was made after a sequence of coordinated police raids earlier within the day.

Authorities searched the affiliation’s premises in Fürstenwalde in addition to a number of non-public residences throughout Brandenburg and in Berlin, which, like Washington D.C., is an unbiased area that doesn’t sit inside any state’s boundaries.

The operation’s intention was to safe proof supporting allegations of extremist actions linked to the IZF, the ministry mentioned.

The Interior Ministry mentioned in a statement that the IZF was concerned in actions “directed against the idea of international understanding and the constitutional order,” justifying the ban. It mentioned about 30 individuals on the affiliation, which, together with its related mosque was a comparatively small group, had been suspected of connections with Hamas.

Interior Minister Michael Stübgen mentioned Brandenburg was dedicated to safeguarding democratic values and sustaining public safety however mentioned the state “cannot tolerate associations that are directed against the constitutional order or the idea of international understanding.”  

Founded in 2018, the IZF had operated the al-Salam mosque and supplied a wide range of providers to the native Muslim group, together with Friday prayers, academic packages, summer season camps and spiritual coaching for kids. 

The Brandenburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, nevertheless, categorised the IZF an extremist group in July 2023, citing the promotion of antisemitic narratives, denial of Israel’s proper to exist and dissemination of content material related to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Muslim Brotherhood was briefly elected to energy in Egypt however has since been designated a terrorist group by the nation’s new management, which got here to energy by overthrowing the group. The U.S. authorities has not formally designated the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, however Hamas has carried the designation for greater than 20 years.

Thursday’s raids round Berlin had been a part of a broader effort to curb extremism and stop radicalization, significantly amongst younger individuals in Germany.

“Young people do not become extremists in a vacuum,” Stübgen mentioned. “There are always perfidious radicalization strategies by extremist organizations behind this.”

“This evil must be tackled at its roots,” he mentioned. “We also owe this to those Muslims who live here in good faith and once fled from Islamists.”

During the raids, the ministry mentioned police seized paperwork, digital gadgets and different gadgets that would present additional hyperlinks between the IZF and extremist propaganda and help for organizations such because the Muslim Brotherhood.

The raids got here simply weeks after authorities in neighboring Austria, performing on intelligence supplied by U.S. authorities, foiled an alleged ISIS-linked terror plot to focus on followers at Taylor Swift Eras Tour live shows within the nation, forcing their cancellation.

Germany has confronted quite a few attacks by extremists, together with by people motivated by radical Islam, and the federal and state governments have intensified their commitments to deal with non secular and political radicalization by working intently with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

The German authorities can be underneath stress to point out it’s addressing the problem amid the rise of far-right, anti-Islam and anti-immigrant nationalist political parties, significantly within the east.