Over 1,000 demonstrators joined an event organized by a member of an “established extremist group,” the police have said
A large-scale rally “against Islamophobia” was held in the northern German city of Hamburg on Saturday. According to the authorities, the event was organized by a person linked to an “established extremist group.”
Around 1,100 demonstrators took part in the rally, according to police data cited by dpa news agency and published by the city authorities on their official portal. Photos and videos shared on social media show a large crowd occupying a significant area along Steindamm Street in the city center.
Participants were seen holding placards and posters reading: “Germany = dictatorship of values,” “Caliphate is the solution,” and “Palestine has won the information war.” The demonstrators also repeatedly chanted “Allahu Akbar” throughout the event.
BREAKING:
Hundreds of Islamists are demonstrating in Hamburg, Germany.
They are demanding that a caliphate is established in the country.
The organization behind the protest is called Muslim Interaktiv, and is monitored by the authorities but not banned pic.twitter.com/RISFYJEKAY
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 27, 2024
According to the organizers, as cited by German media, the rally was organized to protest against what they called Islamophobic policy and an alleged media disinformation campaign against Muslims in Germany. Speakers accused politicians and journalists of “cheap lies” and “cowardly reporting” amid the conflict between Israel and Gaza-based militant group Hamas.
People on social media also claimed that the speakers called for an Islamic caliphate to be established in Germany. Videos show one of the speakers calling a caliphate a “system that… provides security” but is “hated” and “demonized” in Germany. The crowd responds with chants of “Allahu Akbar.”
The organizer of the rally was identified by the Hamburger Morgenpost as Joe Adade Boateng, 25, a German citizen and self-styled imam who spreads what the paper described as “Islamist propaganda” on social media, including TikTok.
According to media reports, the man is also a member of Muslim Interaktiv – an organization officially designated by the domestic security service (BfV) as an “established extremist group.”
Islamisten-Demo mitten in Hamburg. „Muslim Interaktiv“, vom Verfassungsschutz beobachtet, hat zur Demo aufgerufen – auf der offen ein Kalifat gefordert wird. Solche Fanatiker haben in Deutschland nichts verloren! #Islamismus pic.twitter.com/R9jdqIPl4u
— Paul Bressel (@bressel_paul) April 27, 2024
The status does not lead to an automatic ban in Germany but allows security officials to target a group’s members with all intelligence tools available, including covert surveillance, confidential informants, and phone tapping.
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The German police said they had deployed large forces to the event, which ended “peacefully” without any incidents. No major police presence can be seen in the videos that were posted on social media, though.
The group also held an unannounced rally in October last year, which ended in clashes with police. The demonstrators were pelting the officers with bottles and stones at that time, injuring three of them. Criminal proceedings were then initiated against 20 rioters.
In February 2023, “Muslim Interaktiv” also held a protest against Koran burning in Sweden, which was attended by 3,500 people, according to the media.
The development sparked concerns among some politicians. Kazim Abaci, a migration policy spokesman for the Social Democratic faction in the Hamburg parliament, called it “unbearable” that Islamists were allowed to freely march through the city streets. According to the Hamburger Morgenpost, Herbert Reul, the Interior Minister of the German neighboring state of North Rhine-Westphalia, had also been calling for a “Muslim Interaktiv” ban “for a long time.”