Shocking footage from Hamburg: on Saturday, more than 1,000 people responded to a call by Islamists to demonstrate on Steindamm in the St. Georg district. There, the participants made their antagonism towards Germany clear.
Some participants carried signs with inscriptions such as “Caliphate is the solution” to the rally. “No to the dictatorship of values” was written on other banners. The rejection of liberal-democratic values also culminated in the battle cry “Stop the dictatorship of values”.
The demonstrators also repeatedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is great”) in chorus in response to speakers on a stage. Some participants waved flags showing the Islamic creed, the Shahada. They also gave the so-called tauhid finger. In Islam, this is considered a symbol of the unity and uniqueness of God, but is also used by Islamists as a sign.
The group “Muslim Interaktiv” had called for the rally. According to the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution, it is considered a secure extremist organisation and is ideologically close to the Islamist Hizb ut-Tahrir, which wants to establish a caliphate based on Sharia law. The group has been banned from operating since 2003.
The leader of the group is Joe Adade Boateng, who calls himself Raheem Boateng. According to a report in the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper, the 25-year-old is studying to be a teacher at Hamburg University, but on Instagram and TikTok he is a kind of Islamist influencer.
Boateng and “Muslim Interactive” are aimed specifically at young Muslims in Germany and address everyday problems such as discrimination. They then present the supposedly simple solution with the decision between German or Muslim, Koran or Basic Law.
Boateng and “Muslim Interactive” are also mobilising their supporters – and some female supporters – against the backdrop of the war in Gaza. Some participants in the demonstration printed the words “reason of state kills” on their placards, accusing German politicians of being responsible for the deaths of civilians in Gaza by supporting Israel.
“Muslim Interactive” also shared videos of the rally on social networks, including X, formerly Twitter.
The police just watched the goings-on with complete cowardice.