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 |
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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.
More joys of diversity – bizarre Germans taken in by Islam gobbledegook.