In a recent incident in the German city of Offenbach, a TV news crew was set upon and beaten by “youths” when they came to investigate the recruitment of young “Germans” for the jihad against the Assad regime in Syria. At least one member of the crew had to be hospitalized.
Pay attention the imam interviewed in the news reports below. He is soft-spoken and reasonable, yet he wears a full Salafi beard and is similar in appearance to the most hard-core “radicals”. Is he sincere in his distress about the violent young men who occasionally visited his mosque? Or is he dissembling?
Below are two reports on the incident from German TV. The first is shorter, and contains abbreviated versions of some parts of the second video, including the actual attack.
Many thanks to Oz-Rita for the translations, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling.
Video 1:
Video 2:
Transcript 1:
| 00:08 | Young Muslims | |
| 00:13 | radicalised here who then join the civil war in Syria: | |
| 00:17 | a danger the Interior Minister has warned us about because they will later return | |
| 00:21 | and endanger our “living together”. Young Muslims | |
| 00:26 | who obviously want to join the war in Syria do exist here. | |
| 00:30 | An ARD TV team wanted to film a documentary about this in Offenbach. | |
| 00:35 | Our colleagues from “Report Mainz” were attacked and beaten up in broad daylight. | |
| 00:40 | Without any warning, 6 men attack | |
| 00:44 | the TV team. One reporter, a camera man and his assistant are injured. | |
| 00:49 | Reporter Fritz Schmaldienst (middle) regularly researches | |
| 00:53 | the ‘Salafist scene’: “If one reports critically | |
| 00:57 | about the Salafist scene | |
| 01:01 | one always has to expect aggressions, that’s clear, | |
| 01:06 | but that they get that aggressive and violent | |
| 01:10 | we did not expect this”. | |
| 01:15 | The reporters had an appointment with the Imam of that community | |
| 01:19 | for an interview: 10 young males of the community had been radicalised | |
| 01:24 | and were planning to go to Syria to fight against the Assad regime. | |
| 01:28 | One father of these men had asked the reporters for help. The imam | |
| 01:33 | is horrified. The group had never been violent. | |
| 01:37 | “This of course shows us how some members of our community… | |
| 01:42 | or rather ‘visitors’ of the mosque | |
| 01:46 | think and it gives us the chance to actively intervene. | |
| 01:50 | because, until someone really | |
| 01:55 | shows what he thinks or shows his reaction towards others | |
| 01:59 | we can do nothing. Radicalised Islamists in Offenbach?? | |
| 02:04 | Not a general problem for the director of the “Program for Integration” | |
| 02:08 | “Offenbach is a city where integration | |
| 02:12 | and “living together” functions very well. We have | |
| 02:17 | had no such incidents in the past and hope that | |
| 02:21 | this remains so”. The ‘Report Mainz’ researches have | |
| 02:26 | revealed that the young men in this community have been under surveillance for a while | |
| 02:30 | by Police and intelligence services. Despite this, neither the Hessian Interior minister nor | |
| 02:34 | the Offenbach Police wanted to comment on the possible radicalisation of these men. | |
| 02:39 | From the police only this: “We are investigating grievous bodily harm | |
| 02:43 | and criminal property damage. We try, also with help of the responsibles | |
| 02:48 | of the mosque, to find the suspects | |
| 02:56 | Many community members are shocked. | |
| 03:01 | Report Mainz will bring an in-depth report on the incident tomorrow evening on ARD. |
Transcript 2:
| 00:01 | Some reportages start with a | |
| 00:05 | Call for help. In this case a father who worried about his son | |
| 00:09 | called us. The practising Muslim was afraid about his underage son | |
| 00:13 | getting caught in the net of radical Islamists. | |
| 00:17 | he worried his son might follow a call to Syria | |
| 00:22 | and go to fight a ‘holy war’ against the Assad regime. | |
| 00:26 | When our reporters, Eric Bals and Fritz Schmaldienst started their researches | |
| 00:30 | they had no idea how dangerous this story would become | |
| 00:34 | even for themselves. Last Friday in front of a Mosque | |
| 00:38 | in Offenbach: With our camera team we had an appointment | |
| 00:42 | with the Imam of the Mosque. “ off”. | |
| 00:46 | Some didn’t seem very welcoming. But we were not prepared | |
| 00:50 | for what happened next. Firstly | |
| 00:54 | a man attacks the reporter then the camera man. | |
| 00:58 | The man does not let go of us. | |
| 01:02 | Brutal violence. | |
| 01:06 | For his attack the attacker uses a firm object, | |
| 01:10 | probably a mobile. Result: | |
| 01:14 | several persons of our team are injured. | |
| 01:18 | Our camera assistant suffers a cranial bruise | |
| 01:22 | has to be treated by the emergency doctor. He is afraid and does not want to be recognised, | |
| 01:26 | He was attacked by several persons. | |
| 01:30 | Why this outbreak of violence? | |
| 01:34 | Several hours earlier in Offenbach | |
| 01:38 | we are looking for a group of young Muslims. They apparently want | |
| 01:42 | to travel to Syria to fight there. A desperate father | |
| 01:46 | had called us: he is fearful for his under-age son. | |
| 01:50 | In the vicinity of the mosque we encounter several youths | |
| 01:54 | When we mention Syria, they walk away. | |
| 01:58 | Is this the group we are looking for? | |
| 02:02 | We get confirmation of this a day later from the Imam of the Mosque. | |
| 02:06 | he seems shocked about the attack on us and | |
| 02:10 | confirms that there is a group of youths who want to go to Syria. | |
| 02:14 | ”We have observed that some of the youths | |
| 02:18 | who occasionally come to this mosque | |
| 02:22 | have distanced themselves from | |
| 02:26 | the general program of the mosque | |
| 02:30 | and occupy themselves somewhat alternatively | |
| 02:34 | and…” …”radicalise?”…”probably” | |
| 02:39 | He tells us about the under-age youth. | |
| 02:43 | The worried father had also called upon the Mosque. “The Father | |
| 02:47 | said that the son wanted to go to Syria, as I understood it”. “To fight?”. | |
| 02:51 | ”ahhmm…difficult to say | |
| 02:55 | Why does one go to Syria these days. Tourists don’t go there now”. | |
| 02:59 | Later we learn: this is the 17 year old | |
| 03:03 | Muslim on his way to the Mosque. | |
| 03:07 | He is there when we are attacked, and he | |
| 03:11 | joined the group who wants to fight in Syria. | |
| 03:15 | Why do he and the others risk their lives in that war? | |
| 03:19 | Are these the pictures that drive them? | |
| 03:23 | Syria, an especially cruel war. | |
| 03:27 | Participating: Islamic terror groups. Their aim? | |
| 03:31 | A theocracy. Islamists from Germany fight there also. | |
| 03:35 | On the internet we discover this video. It shows | |
| 03:39 | a man from North Rhein Westfalia in fighter uniform in Syria. | |
| 03:43 | Sabri Ben Acta. In Germany he is known as agitator. | |
| 03:47 | for the Salafists: “Only Zionists, they | |
| 03:51 | decide what happens in this world!” In Syria Ben Apta agitates | |
| 03:55 | for “Help in Need”. Allegedly only a charity | |
| 03:59 | but what messages does he spread here? | |
| 04:03 | ”If you are real men, come here… | |
| 04:07 | don’t be stupid with some Kalashnikovs etc. in some rent videos | |
| 04:11 | come here, yes? The brother here risks his life every day. | |
| 04:15 | If you are REAL men, come down here. | |
| 04:19 | come down here and help with rebuilding!”. | |
| 04:23 | Is he really about the rebuilding of a destroyed country? We meet Karl-Heinz Ruff. | |
| 04:27 | In the State office of Criminal Investigation of Baden Wuertemberg he directs the department | |
| 04:31 | for State Security. What does he say to the statements of Sabri ben (Name?)? | |
| 04:35 | ”I think that | |
| 04:39 | he actively incites his brothers in faith in Germany | |
| 04:43 | to come to Syria and to fight there | |
| 04:47 | In my opinion we are here, | |
| 04:51 | when you are recruited for a terror organisation, in an indictable area”. | |
| 04:55 | Are there really young Muslims who follow his call? | |
| 04:59 | We learn about a case in Pforzheim. | |
| 05:03 | Munir Ibrahim. During earlier researches we have already met him. | |
| 05:07 | That’s him. the young Muslim takes part in the “Distribution of the Koran” action | |
| 05:11 | and has participated in last years’ Salafist protests in Berlin. | |
| 05:16 | His message on YouTube: “It is | |
| 05:20 | time to fulfill our obligations”. Meanwhile, according to security services, | |
| 05:24 | he fights in Syria. And Karl-Heinz Ruff believes to know who | |
| 05:28 | incited him. “We assume | |
| 05:32 | that Ben Akta (name?) had great influence on the young Pforzheim man | |
| 05:36 | who is at present in Syria”. | |
| 05:40 | We want to speak with Sabri (Name). 2 days ago in Hahnau | |
| 05:44 | the association “Help in need” has invited to a “Syria Gala” | |
| 05:48 | High ranking Salafist preachers came. Sabri Ben (Name) too | |
| 05:52 | is back from Syria. Instead of his fighter uniform, this time he is in a suit | |
| 05:56 | ”Mr. Ben Apta (name) a very short question. | |
| 06:00 | Do you incite young people to go to Syria | |
| 06:04 | to fight? Mr. Ben Apta (name)”. He does not answer our questions. | |
| 06:08 | yet he surely has a huge influence on the youth. | |
| 06:12 | Back in Offenbach. How could | |
| 06:16 | the group of youth so radicalise themselves, here? | |
| 06:20 | A question to which the Imam also seeks an answer. | |
| 06:24 | In doing so, he looks helpless. | |
| 06:28 | ”One should perhaps have | |
| 06:32 | done something much earlier | |
| 06:36 | but one doesn’t know what they do outside the mosque | |
| 06:40 | We cannot survey them, we can say nothing, anyway | |
| 06:44 | they are also the ones who acted yesterday” | |
| 06:48 | Increasingly in Germany, young radical Muslims | |
| 06:52 | fanatic and violent to the extreme | |
| 06:56 | a danger in the face of which, so far. we all find ourselves helpless. | |
| 07:00 | ||
| 07:04 | Today in Berlin (you saw it in the News) | |
| 07:08 | Homeland Security presented their report. One focus: | |
| 07:12 | the danger from Islamic terrorism. From Germany | |
| 07:16 | already 60 persons have travelled to Syria to participate in that war. | |
| 07:20 | When those return to Germany, they will be | |
| 07:24 | battle hardened and ready for terror attacks, according to homeland security. | |
| 07:28 | under www.reportmainz.de also an interview with our reporter | |
| 07:32 | Fritz Schmaldienst, meanwhile an expert | |
| 07:36 | on this theme. |
For a complete listing of previous enrichment news, see The Cultural Enrichment Archives.
“Many thanks to Oz-Rita for the translations”
Thanks for the thanks, Baron 🙂
I observed that the Reporter (Fritz Schmaldienst) talks German with an accent, yet the “Iman” is obviously a native speaker. Colour me cynical, conservative and islamophobic, but I have heard of Takja (even if I cannot spell it ), and I do not give the benefit of the doubt to a man who dresses like this in my old country. Hmmmpfff.
” … a danger in the face of which, so far. we all find ourselves helpless.”
The helplessness of knowing the future JIM scenario –
Doctor Jihadist was employed by the NHS… in 2013 it is believed that he fought with the Free Syrian Army… on returning to the U.K. he resumed his employment with the NHS… colleagues that treated scores of casualties from yesterday’s atrocity were shocked on learning that Doctor Jihadist was one of the several terrorists involved in the attack… William Hague, today refused to comment when asked if Doctor Jihadist had been placed on a watch list or had been monitored by the secret intelligence service on his return to the U.K. from Syria.
“The Siren Call of the Syrian Jihad
I just realised that this ^^^ is more than just a delectable alliteration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=88QYAWbVLsc
🙂
In the past the U.K. has arbitrarily banned alleged hooligan football fans from travelling abroad to international soccer fixtures, yet it condones jihad tourism that is presumably facilitated on British passports to go and murder the citizens of other nations.