Salafists in Germany

The following German news report discusses the Salafist Islamic movement in Germany, and in particular German converts to Islam, some of who have traveled to Syria to fight and be killed in the jihad. The occasion for this report was a recent Salafist demonstration in Cologne, where the black flag of jihad was unfurled and displayed for the crowd.

Many thanks to Oz-Rita for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:

Transcript:

00:00   They don’t only dress in traditional Muslim garb;
00:04   they also radically support their extreme
00:08   religious conviction by even joining Syria’s religious civil war.
00:12   Good evening. In NRW (North Rhine-Westphalia) too, the number of Salafists is growing.
00:16   They reject our social order and seduce more and more
00:20   young men and women to join them. The results are drastic;
00:24   the followers often don’t just change their lifestyle but are willing
00:28   to die for their “religion”, enlisted right in the heart of our cities.
00:32   They are back in Moenchen-Gladbach,
00:36   his home town. Sven Lau has waited two years for this.
00:40   His first attempt at establishing a Salafist center here failed due to
00:44   resistance from the citizens. Now his followers meet again for “prayers”
00:48   in the market place in the town centre.
00:52   allah-bla-bla-u-akbar-bla-bla
00:56   The provocation
01:00   works.
01:04   Potentially violent hooligans have infiltrated
01:09   the peaceful counter-demonstrators,
01:13   bringing the threat of escalation.
01:17   Bottles fly.
01:21   The Salafists use
01:25   only verbal provocation: protected by the hated German democracy
01:29   Sven Lau and his mob feel strong. “The time has come.
01:33   Times change. Forty years ago
01:37   this was the place of Guenther Netzer and Berti Vogts (world class footballers).
01:41   Today we celebrate our faith here!”
01:45   Even if today only a small group of 180 Salafists have followed the call,
01:50   they achieved their aim: even peaceful showing of the flag
01:54   gains them new followers, according to the intelligence services.
01:58   These Salafists, even when they act politically,
02:02   play a role, because Salafism is a breeding ground for violence,
02:06   and for radicalisation. We can trace this radicalisation;
02:10   it plays a role in the eventual departure for Syria
02:14   and the fight for the so-called “jihad”. The civil war in Syria
02:18   is the most important propaganda for German Salafists. Sven Lau
02:22   was there several times, to bring relief support, according to him.
02:26   I want to tell you
02:30   where you can donate,
02:34   for example, much-needed ambulances financed by donations.
02:38   ”Humanitarian help” which Intelligence Services regard critically.
02:42   ”Salamaleikumblabla” (caption: “Help in Need”)
02:47   We stopped convoys with people on “wanted persons” lists
02:51   that is, they also tried to send fighters with these convoys
02:55   to Syria. This has stopped recently
02:59   because security services watch these convoys very closely.
03:04   The departures now happen individually or in small groups,
03:08   but not via convoys, because they are discovered quickly.
03:12   270 Muslims from Germany have so far travelled to this war, according to Intelligence.
03:16   The biggest number (110) from NRW,
03:20   a “travel wave” with deadly outcomes. In October 2013
03:24   (name?) a German-Turk from Wuppertal died.
03:28   That week, Robert Baum from Solingen was in the headlines.
03:32   He blew himself up during a suicide attack in Syria in January.
03:36   Baum was known to security services;
03:40   Westpol had a report on him in December 2012.
03:44   Robert’s mother did not recognise her son even then: “This is not the Robert I know;
03:48   they have clearly brainwashed him”.
03:52   ”He was never like that, this is not Robert any longer”
03:56   Then Baum and a friend
04:00   were imprisoned in the UK as terror suspects.
04:04   Both had joined the Salafists in a Mosque in Solingen,
04:09   the seat of Millatu-Ibrahim, one of the most radical Salafist groups.
04:13   After a razzia and a ban on associating with it, this mosque is now deserted.
04:17   This has not stopped Robert Baum. How can it be that known Salafists
04:21   continue an open radicalisation? Why can the State not prevent them from joining a war
04:25   in Syria? “One can travel easily to Turkey
04:29   with a German passport, overland or
04:33   by plane, so that the ability of German and
04:37   even European authorities to prevent such departures is limited.
04:41   Why does the State cancel German passports of violent Salafists so seldom?
04:45   To make this trip more difficult, because more and more
04:49   Germans die in Syria, as only recently David G.
04:53   from Bavaria, only 18 years old. Before then he had been several times
04:57   in (town ?), the intelligence services tell us. In this town
05:01   David met Philip Bergner. He too is meanwhile
05:05   is fighting in Syria and calls on German Muslims via video
05:09   to follow him into the “holy war”.
05:13   ”Take part in Jihad, support Muslims”
05:17   ”Donate, speak well of us. Who are the terrorists?
05:21   The Americans are the terrorists”. Does this message work?
05:26   Back in Monchen Gladbach. What does Salafist leader Sven Lau think
05:30   of German Muslims fighting in Syria? He calls for donations and “humanitarian
05:34   help”, but where is the limit for him?
05:38   I mean, if your country is attacked, there are Syrians here,
05:42   that’s legit if they want to help their country. Or if some cannot take it any longer
05:46   that people there suffer,
05:50   so they help with their possessions and their own body.
05:54   I think that’s fully normal.
05:58   Those fighters from Germany: are they freedom fighters or terrorists for you?
06:02   They are freedom fighters. Perhaps one or another
06:06   have extreme views
06:10   which one can talk about, but they are freedom fighters for me
06:14   and my brothers in faith.
06:18   Definite sympathy. 1500 Salafists
06:22   are in NRW, according to the intelligence services. Not all
06:26   are ready for violence, but with their radical ideology they bring the Syrian civil war
06:30   into German society. Salafists who are returning from Syria are
06:35   a worry for our intelligence services.
06:39   They are seen as ‘unpredictable’.
06:43   You can find the full interviews on our internet site.
06:47   under Westpol.de
 

3 thoughts on “Salafists in Germany

  1. Pingback: An Unconstitutional Law Is Null and Void | Gates of Vienna

  2. If they all went to Syria and were “martyred,” it would be win-win situation for both sides. The “martyrs” get their paradise and Germany gets rid of the idiots. Notice it is always the old imams and such who recruit, but for some reason never got the call from allah to fight.

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