Pressure on fibers increases
CDU politician wants to make calls for a caliphate a criminal offense
May 3, 2024, 8:25 a.m
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After an Islamist demonstration in Hamburg last week, attention turned to Interior Minister Faeser: both the Union and the traffic light factions are calling for bans on relevant groups. CDU politician de Vries even insists on a new criminal law.
After the demonstration in Hamburg organized by Islamists, there are further calls for clear consequences. According to the Union politician Christoph de Vries, anyone who publicly calls for the establishment of a caliphate in Germany should be punished in the future. The Hamburg member of the Bundestag told the German Press Agency that cross-party solidarity was needed, that demonstrations like the one in Hamburg were not tolerated and that they wanted to take criminal action against them. “Even if this is sensitive to fundamental rights and means an interference with freedom of expression, we have to have this debate seriously,” said the CDU politician.
De Vries emphasized that Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann should submit a legislative proposal. From his point of view, it would be conceivable, for example, to create a regulation according to which anyone who publicly calls for the establishment of a state order in Germany that is incompatible with the free, democratic basic order would be liable to prosecution. A change that would be linked to the offense of high treason or denigration of the state would also be possible.
Last weekend, a demonstration organized by Islamists in Hamburg caused outrage. The more than 1,000 participants aggressively denounced allegedly Islamophobic policies and media reporting. In addition, a caliphate was called for as a solution to social problems – even if only for Islamic states. The rally was organized by the group Muslim Interaktiv, which is classified as definitely extremist by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
“Expect the time for announcements to be over”
The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, also called on Faeser to take action. “Demands for a caliphate in Germany, hatred and agitation brought to the streets are absolutely unacceptable,” the CDU politician told “stern”. “The Federal Minister of the Interior should finally ban the organizations that are behind such caliphate fantasies.”
The pressure on the Federal Minister of the Interior from the factions of the traffic light parties is also increasing. “We have to put a stop to Islamist groups that are active in Germany and use all constitutional means to do so,” said the domestic policy spokeswoman for the Green parliamentary group, Lamya Kaddor, to the “Rheinische Post”. “We expect Federal Interior Minister Faeser to say that the time for announcements is over.”
The FDP domestic politician Konstantin Kuhle also called for tougher action. “The German authorities must step up their efforts against radical Islamic actors from abroad. This also includes a rapid ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH), which has been a branch of the mullahs’ regime from Tehran for many years,” said Kuhle “Rhineland Post”.
“It has nothing to do with religious freedom”
The Union faction’s domestic policy spokesman, Alexander Throm, made a similar statement. “It has long been known that the IZH, as an extension of the Iranian regime, plays a very significant role in the spread of Islamist propaganda and the surveillance of exiled Iranians in Germany,” he told the newspaper. The Union has already called for closure several times. “The left-green naivety of the traffic light towards Islamists and the Iranian regime in particular must finally be ended.”
The religious representative Schwabe told the “Rheinische Post” with regard to the demonstration: “Hate and agitation and an undermining of the free democratic basic order obviously have nothing to do with religious freedom. On the contrary, they undermine the idea of respect for human rights – and thus also Freedom of religion and belief – in a democratic pluralistic political system.” A project that questions the free democratic basic order cannot invoke religious freedom, even if it repeatedly refers to a religion. “This has just as little to do with religious freedom as right-wing extremists who supposedly want to defend Christianity.”
The caliphate as a form of rule dates from the time after the death of the Prophet of Islam, Mohammed, in 632 AD and names a system based on Islamic law (Sharia). As Muhammad’s deputy, the caliph was both a religious and secular ruler.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz had already warned of consequences on Monday: “It is very clear: all the Islamist activities that are taking place must be dealt with using the possibilities and options for action of our constitutional state.” We have to take a close look at “what concrete consequences can now be drawn from the things we saw there.”