Germany's "Sharia Police"

by Soeren Kern
September 8, 2014 at 5:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4681/germany-sharia-police

According to Burkhard Freier, the director of domestic intelligence for North Rhine-Westphalia, German Salafists are increasingly inclined to use violence to achieve their aims, and many have travelled to Iraq or Syria to obtain combat training.
"The intention of these people is to provoke and intimidate and force their ideology upon others. We will not permit this." — Wuppertal Mayor Peter Jung.
"In Germany, German law is determinative, not Sharia law." — Christian Democratic Union (CDU) politician Volker Kauder.
Salafist ideology posits that Sharia law is superior to all secular laws because it emanates from Allah, the only legitimate lawgiver, and thus is legally binding for all of humanity. According to the Salafist worldview, democracy is an effort to elevate the will of human beings above the will of Allah.

Muslim radicals have begun enforcing Islamic Sharia law on the streets of Wuppertal, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state with the largest Muslim population in Germany.

In what government officials say is a blatant challenge to the rule of law and the democratic order in Germany, groups of young bearded Islamists — some wearing orange traffic safety vests emblazoned with the words "Sharia Police" — have declared parts of downtown Wuppertal to be a "Sharia Controlled Zone."

The self-appointed guardians of public morals have been distributing yellow leaflets that explain the Islamist code of conduct in the city's Sharia zones. They have urged both Muslim and non-Muslim passersby to listen to Salafist sermons and to refrain from alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, gambling, listening to music, pornography or prostitution.

A seven-minute propaganda video in German, entitled "Sharia Police: Coming Soon to Your City," shows a group of men led by a German convert to Islam, Sven Lau, roaming the streets of Wuppertal at night and pressing wayward youth to embrace radical Islam. In some instances, the men physically attempted to prevent young people from entering bars, casinos and discotheques; those who resisted were pursued and intimidated.

After local residents alerted German authorities, police stepped up their presence in downtown Wuppertal and also established a telephone hotline to enable citizens to report any possible criminal activity.

Local authorities, however, appear uncertain about how to proceed.

Wuppertal Police Chief Birgitta Radermacher said the "pseudo police" represent a threat to the rule of law and that only police appointed and employed by the state have the legitimate right to act as police in Germany. She added:

"The monopoly of power lies exclusively with the State. Behavior that intimidates, threatens or provokes will not be tolerated. These 'Sharia Police' are not legitimate. Call 110 [police] when you meet these people."

Wuppertal Mayor Peter Jung said he hoped the police would take a hard line against the Islamists. "The intention of these people is to provoke and intimidate and force their ideology upon others," Jung said. "We will not permit this."

More than a dozen Islamists between the ages of 19 and 30 are now being investigated on charges of illegal assembly. But the men have not been arrested and police say they have no legal authority to confiscate the orange vests, even though impersonating a police officer is a crime. Wuppertal's Public Prosecutor, Wolf-Tilman Baumert, says it remains unclear whether the men have done anything illegal. "The mere explaining of religious rules is not a crime," he said.

The vigilantes are followers of Salafism, a radically anti-Western ideology that openly seeks to replace democracy in Germany (and the rest of the world) with an Islamic government based on Sharia law.

Salafist ideology posits that Sharia law is superior to all secular laws because it emanates from Allah, the only legitimate lawgiver, and thus is legally binding for all of humanity. According to the Salafist worldview, democracy is an effort to elevate the will of human beings above the will of Allah. As such, participation in the democratic process is polytheism (shirk in Arabic) and must be rejected.

The number of Salafists in Germany has spiked in recent years, and German authorities have been issuing increasingly dire warnings about the threat posed by the relentless encroachment of Salafist ideology there and in the rest of Europe.

Many of those attracted to Salafi ideology are impressionable young Muslims who, authorities say, are especially susceptible to perpetrating terrorist acts in the name of Islam.

In an interview with the German public television broadcaster ZDF, the director of domestic intelligence for North Rhine-Westphalia, Burkhard Freier, said that German Salafists are increasingly inclined to use violence to achieve their aims, and that many have travelled to Iraq or Syria to obtain combat training.

In June 2014, approximately 400 Salafists met for a barbecue "grill fest" in the Tannenbusch district of Bonn to listen to sermons by some of the most radical Salafist preachers in Germany. Police say the purpose of the gathering was to raise funds and recruit volunteers for the jihad in Syria. But after the event, groups of young Salafists began enforcing Sharia law in Bonn by forcing women to wear veils. In one instance, they beat a teenager for drinking alcohol at a party.

The audacity of the Salafists' actions in Wuppertal, however, has shocked the German public.

German politicians have responded by roundly denouncing the Sharia Police, although it remains unclear what they can and will do about the Salafist threat to Germany. "The Sharia will not be tolerated on German soil," German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière said. "No one shall presume to abuse the good name of the German police."

According to German Justice Minister Heiko Maas, Germany is a constitutional state: "The state alone — and not the self-proclaimed Sharia police — is responsible for the enforcement of laws," he said. "This much is sure: We will not tolerate an illegal parallel justice system."

The center-right politician Wolfgang Bosbach said:

"The Sharia Police is a very deliberate provocation by the Salafists, who want to challenge the rule of law. The police must act forcefully against such actions. We cannot accept that the population is provoked, confused or intimidated in this way."

A senior politician with the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Volker Kauder, said:

"We cannot tolerate under any circumstances that self-appointed Sharia police are patrolling our streets and want to dictate to people what they can and cannot do. In Germany, German law is determinative, not Sharia law."

The general secretary of the CDU, Peter Tauber, said:

"We must confront such Salafist machinations with all severity. We need to enact a ban on their activities as quickly as possible. It was a big mistake of the Red-Green coalition [a coalition of left and center-left parties that governed Germany from 1998 to 2005] to change the law so that anti-democratic propaganda is no longer a criminal offense. We must quickly correct this. The state must show that there is zero tolerance for ideologies and organizations in Germany that are aimed at abolishing our Basic Law."

Meanwhile, the trial of four Salafists — accused of planting a bomb at the main train station in Bonn in December 2012 and for plotting to murder an anti-Islam activist in Leverkusen in March 2013 — is set to begin in Düsseldorf, the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Authorities are worried that the trial, which could take up to two years, will provoke violent confrontations between Salafists and the many members of the different neo-Nazi groups based in North Rhine-Westphalia.

One such group, Die Rechte (The Right), has just founded its own vigilante group called Stadtschutz Wuppertal (Wuppertal City Guard), aimed at fighting the Sharia Police. In a statement, the group explained:

"Wuppertal activists from Die Rechte immediately agreed: If in our city Salafists are allowed to patrol the city's pedestrian zones as 'Sharia Police' and if police allow far left-wing criminal squatters to perpetrate their mischief in the Nordstadt district, then a counter pole must be created as soon as possible. Inspired by the successful model of the Stadtschutz in Dortmund, it was quickly agreed to take this form of action.

"After a very spontaneous legal training (thanks again to the party comrades from Dortmund!), the Stadtschutz Wuppertal was brought to life in less than 48 hours! New radios and red T-Shirts were purchased at personal expense. Several thousand leaflets presenting the new Stadtschutz Wuppertal are being printed and will soon be distributed.

"Together for more security, law and order in our city—DIE RECHTE 'Stadtschutz Wuppertal.'"

The implicit message to German authorities is that if they fail to stop the Salafist vigilantes, neo-Nazi vigilantes will do the job for them. No wonder many Germans have a strong sense of foreboding about what the future holds.

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-based Gatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter.

© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

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Comment on this item

32 Reader Comments

O Pesach • Oct 4, 2014 at 12:43

I'm an Israeli and I am telling you. Save yourselves before it's too late you don't realize how bad it can get with them. You'll end up with internal variants of Hamas, Hizballah and ISIS on your streets. Politically correctness overdose will kill you.

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Mark Tipton • Sep 19, 2014 at 03:55

This is what happens when those that are apparently blind to history and fact allow their emotions to control their thoughts, actions and votes. When immigrants are allowed into any nation, they must be ready to adapt to their new home even if they continue to celebrate their past and their heritage.

Multi-culturalism works great ... if you want to bring down a great nation.

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Hanna • Sep 14, 2014 at 07:05

Welcome back to Nazism - sorry - Islamism. I was wondering how long it would take. Well, it is finally happening. Germany and the rest of Europe are once again experiencing with TOTALITARIANISM. By the time they, finally, "wake up" it will be too late and HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF, ONCE AGAIN. Hanna.

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CaliforniaIsADream • Sep 8, 2014 at 21:43

All nation-states have the right to establish the laws that govern conduct within their borders. Those who do not believe that others have the right to adhere to those rules have the right to leave. If they try to force others to conform to their beliefs, then it's time to evict them from the country. Period. Islamists will eventually turn to total violence and force, the closer they get to majority rule. Time to throw them out and prevent any others from arriving.

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Iftikhar Ahmad

CaliforniaIsADream • Sep 9, 2014 at 15:42

It is easy to say" Go back to where you came from", but do not forget that British Muslims are actually born and educated here. They are in the unenviable position of trying to combine two different worlds. That is no easy. We do not want to change you lot but we would like to see our children getting balanced Islamic education along with National Curriculum. We would like our children to learn and be well versed in standard English to follow the National Curriculum and go for higher studies and research to serve humanity. At the same time we would like our children to learn and be well versed in Arabic, Urdu and other community languages to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry. A Muslim is a citizen of this tiny global village. He/she does not want to become notoriously monolingual Brit. Bilingualism is an asset but British schooling regards it as a problem.

We live in a shrunken world and millions of people are on the move; one of our biggest challenges is how we learn to live in proximity to difference – different skin colours, different beliefs and different way of life. According to a study by COMPASS, Muslims born and educated were given the impression of outsiders. The perception among Muslims is that they are unwelcome in Britain is undermining efforts to help them integrate into wider society. Most of them say that they have experienced race discrimination and religious prejudice. Muslims and Islam is promoted a fundamentalist and separatist by the western elite, which have negative impact on community and social cohesion. The number of racist incidents occurring in London Borough of Redbridge's schools have reached their highest levels since record begin.

A City or a locality, where Muslims are in majority is a ghetto. There is a tendency for people of similar backgrounds to live together in neighbourhoods. The term "ghettoisation" is inappropriate. The original ghettos in Europe during the middle ages were set up by law to confine the Jewish population to one area of a city. According to a research by an Australian academic that Muslim communities in Britain are being increasingly ghettoized in a trend that set back hopes of assimilation by years. Britain has now eight cities in the top 100 most ghettoized cities. The people from the Pakistani community in Bradford and Oldham and Leicester had trebled during the decade. A report by an academic Dr Alan Carling, that Bradford risks becoming a front line in the global clash between the West and Islam. But Islam and Muslims do not clash with the concepts of pluralism, secularism and globalisation. The native flight from Bradford's inner-city wards showed clear evidence of an increase in segregation in the city since 1991. Native parents are avoiding sending their children in state schools where Muslims and other minorities are in majority. The dominance of Pakistani Muslims in the city has meant that Bradford has become bi-cultural.

Immigrants are the creators of Britain new wealth, otherwise, inner cities deprived areas could not get new lease of life. The native Brits regard such areas as ghettoes. Integration is not religious and cultural, it is economic and Muslims are well integrated into British society and at the same time they are proud of their Islamic, linguistic and cultural identities, in spite of discrimination they have been facing in all walks of life. According to UN, 80% of British Muslims feel discriminated. They are less burden on social services. Immigrants made up 8.7% of the population, but accounted for 10.2% of all collected income tax

It is often quoted by the Western media that Muslim schools ghettoizes the children, and even lead to their radicalisation if they are not integrated. There is no evidence that faith schools lead to a "ghettoized education system. In British schools, pupils are encouraged to focus too much on their similarities rather than their differences. The integrationist approach merely results in Muslims feeling that their faith, language and culture is not respected.

A report by the Institute for Community Cohesion found that native parents were deserting some schools after finding their children outnumbered by pupils from ethnic minorities. Schools in parts of England are becoming increasingly segregated. The study focused on 13 local authorities. Many of the schools and colleges are segregated and this was generally worsening over recent years. This is RACISM because British society is the home of institutional racism. My statement regarding Muslim schools where there is no place for non-Muslim child or a teacher is based on educational process and not on racism. Muslim children need Muslim teachers during their developmental periods. For higher studies and research, Muslim teacher is not a priority.
IA
http://www.londonschoolofislamics.org.uk

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Iftikhar Ahmad

CaliforniaIsADream • Sep 11, 2014 at 17:10

Well you haven't read Sharia law, you'll see how it talks about equality for woman, which was something revolutionary in 600 AD. brutality to women? there are more laws protecting women. I just think Sharia is misunderstood and the word is used in a derogatory manner way too often.

Sharia is a moral and religious code which affects everything from a believer's personal hygiene to diet and finance. In terms of the latter, it prohibits acceptance of specific interest (known as riba) or fees for loans of money, whether the payment is fixed or floating. To comply with Sharia, any loan must be Qard (free of profit)'. This therefore excludes student loans, which accrue interest (albeit, at a very low rate, equivalent to the rate of inflation).

There is not a strictly codified uniform set of laws that can be called Sharia. It is considered a system of several laws, based on the Qur'an, Hadith and centuries of debate, interpretation and precedent. Attempts to implement Sharia law have been met with opposition globally. There is no consensus between Islamic schools of thought on how far-reaching Sharia law should be.

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NoBS

Iftikhar Ahmad • Sep 12, 2014 at 20:07

Kitman (Arabic kitmān كتمان "secrecy, concealment") is the act of paying lip service to authority while holding personal opposition. It is a sort of political camouflage, for the purpose of survival, in circumstances where open opposition would result in persecution.

Czesław Miłosz in the "The Captive Mind" uses Ketman (a variation on Kitman) as a metaphor for understanding how intellectuals behaved under the totalitarian regimes in Postwar Communist Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Hungary.

Some early Muslim jurists such as Muadh bin Jabal were opposed to the concept altogether as they felt it implied "lying" (kidhb) and "hypocrisy" (nifaq). In modern times, it is understood that both Kitman and Taqiyya are both forms of altering or concealing information.

In the Ibadi denomination of Islam, the concept is considered an important one as the denomination's minority status and secretive nature drove many adherents to conceal their creed in order to survive.

taqiyya تقية (alternative spellings taqiyeh, taqiya, taqiyah, tuqyah) is a form of religious dissimulation, or a legal dispensation whereby a believing individual can deny his faith or commit otherwise illegal or blasphemous acts while they are in fear or at risk of significant persecution.

This practice was emphasized in Shi'a Islam whereby adherents may conceal their religion when they are under threat, persecution, or compulsion. Taqiyya was developed to protect Shi'ites who were usually in minority and under pressure. In the Shi'a view, taqiyya is lawful in situations where there is overwhelming danger of loss of life or property and where no danger to religion would occur thereby.

The term taqiyya does not exist in Sunni jurisprudence. In the Sunni view, denying faith under duress is "only at most permitted and not under all circumstances obligatory". However, there are a few examples of practicing taqiyya among Sunnis where it was necessary.

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Poland My Heart

Iftikhar Ahmad • Sep 13, 2014 at 20:28

As a Roman-Catholic Polish woman I respect every religion, but I would like to know Why do Muslim women and girls have to wear hijabs? Look at Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and many other Countries where women can't even drive cars,study and their lives are fully controlled by men? Their freedom is so limited.

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Poland My Heart.

Iftikhar Ahmad • Sep 13, 2014 at 20:48

Very well said. Don't worry, the Westerners do the same to Poles. Brits, Irish complain about Poles at all the times and we are Roman-Catholics. Actually Cameron hates Poles and we will be the first nation kicked-out of UK. So, don't feel alone as we Poles have the same problems and guess what? The European Union destroyed our economy, our unemployment is very high, our politicians are corrupted crooks, thieves and liars. Angela Merkel of Germany destroyed our shipyards, ferries, farmers and everything else except low wage jobs where people work as labour slaves without human's and labor rights. Freedom and democracy don't exist in Poland anymore. Best regards

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Fritz Kohlhaas • Sep 8, 2014 at 19:11

Arrest them, charge them, try them and lock them up! And yes, throw the keys away.

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Paul In US

Fritz Kohlhaas • Sep 12, 2014 at 14:13

I'm certain this story must be a fabrication because for over a decade now my "enlightened" colleagues on the left have been responding to concerns of the forewarned appearance of Sharia in the west as pure fear mongering of right-wing "Islamaphobes," so none of this can be true ... right?

Ready to hold the Progressive and multiculturalists to account for their foolishness and deal the root problem or shall we wait for some beheading, public stoning and blood of innocents to pool in the streets?

Wake up people, before it's too late.

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george • Sep 8, 2014 at 14:49

It is totally unacceptable for these people to put themselves above the man made law. Crack down hard on them now.

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John • Sep 8, 2014 at 14:00

Here we have it, again. The Islamists are using laws of the country they reside in to do their dirty work and they are being protected by the multiculturalists who are putting the EU to sleep with their drivel.

It is time for the local Wupperthal police to act, not just by voicing an opinion but by removing these people. I suggest deporting these trouble makers and giving them to ISIS.

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Dafna Yee • Sep 8, 2014 at 13:41

I don't know why Germans, and other Europeans, are so surprised. These Salafists are acting exactly like Hitler's early followers did in the early '30s and they still swallowed their propaganda whole and voted them into office! Who welcomed these radical Muslims into Germany over the past 20 years? Who ignored their slowly increasing acts of radicalization and increasingly open anti-Semitism? Who ignored their widespread proselytizing and recruiting matching the increasing violence?

Instead of reacting by increasing police power, adding patrols, giving harsher sentences up to removal of citizenship and expelling these terrorists from Germany, all anyone has been doing is TALKING!!! Talking didn't stop Hitler's Brownshirts and it won't stop these Salafists who have the same intention to rule the world that Hitler does and the world is practically on its knees trying NOT to see what is really happening and instead accepting the lie that everything is Israel's fault!

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Laurence Morrell • Sep 8, 2014 at 13:24

If they were wearing brown shirts instead...This should be scaring the bejeezus out of the German population. It like a replay of the early 1930's. History is on our side. STOP IT NOW....please. Same methodology, same tactics, same reasoning

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philip utarid • Sep 8, 2014 at 12:27

To all peace loving Germans, please do not let this dogma of satanic doctrine (sharia) dominate your laws. You all will be turned into zombies like the Islamists who are hell bent on converting their devilish ideology to the Germans' laws & then turn you into fanatics. Hitler tried his best to obliterate the Jews -- a forerunner of Islamism. Hitler failed to do so but the Jews are non existent in Germany. Now this menace has raised its deadly head and is ready to strike you, the innocents. Be aware & steadfast & turn away from this evil. Actually you should deport all these fanatics who want to impose their will of sharia. They should practice it in the lands from where they immigrated to Germany. Forewarned is forearmed !

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Interested Reader • Sep 8, 2014 at 12:18

Forcing women to wear veils.
Radical jihad public meetings in a democratic country.
Beating teenager up for drinking alcohol.
Accosting the public on the streets of the city for visiting local restaurants and pubs.

In a democratic country .

Seems pretty clear who the criminals are.

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steven L • Sep 8, 2014 at 10:33

The people who reject the law of the land must be returned to the country they come from no matter the consequences for them. Liberal Europeans & Americans want to commit suicide at any cost. The question is WHY?

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Yeshayahu Hollander • Sep 8, 2014 at 10:22

Freedom is basic. We cannot compromise our freedom. And we cannot allow private police forces, which will develop into militia, and Islamist militia will endanger not only our freedom, but our lives.
BUT do people living in a well defined neighborhood NOT have a right to insist that the neighborhood is free of prostitution? Free of sexuality paraded in the streets? Free of drugs? Free of alcohol? Free of gambling?

Read "ON FREEDOM" by John Stuart Mill. He thinks this is perfectly reasonable, and does NOT infringe on our liberty.

If you agree that it IS legitimate for a neighborhood to declare these aims, you must give the neighborhood the means of establishing this situation and maintaining it. I think the means are - the police! Not a local militia, but the ordinary police. As follows:
1. a neighborhood should have the right to define borders - and these borders must be confirmed by the municipal or regional authorities;
2. by public-controlled free poll, the people living in the neighborhood should be able to make by-laws, such as prohibiting prostitution in the neighborhood;
3. these by-laws should be approved by the government authority,
after that
4. regular law enforcement methods by regular law enforcement authorities should be maintained. There should be no need for "Sharia Police" - and such militias should not be tolerated.
Additionally, ALL THE WORLD should be defined as a neighborhood in which preaching intolerance is forbidden. Preachers of violence against ANYONE WHO IS NOT A CRIMINAL should be totally prohibited, and those who preach violence should be removed from the public arena, in prison or at least house arrest, with limited rights of communication and visitation.
Of course, preaching is only a part of it: all violence, from obstructing public ways, stone throwing, other violence - must be severely punished. Stone throwing is attempted murder. No less.
It seems to me that this is an acceptable "social contract".

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Nungman

Yeshayahu Hollander • Sep 13, 2014 at 12:44

That's a funny idea, Yeshayahu.
And what's next? Should a neighborhood be allowed to define itself ethnically, with those not of acceptable heritage to be "cleansed" right out of their homes?

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David Walker • Sep 8, 2014 at 10:20

*"The implicit message to German authorities is that if they fail to stop the Salafist vigilantes, neo-Nazi vigilantes will do the job for them."*

One wonders if that is not in fact the whole intention, and not just in Germany, either.

This is going to get messy.

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Heidi • Sep 8, 2014 at 10:12

The problem is that our politicians (or whatever they think they are) of any party "representing" the German people belittled or denied that there is a problem. People who advised them on the problem or raised their concerns were and are still titled "right wingers" or downright "Nazis".

We have been downgraded to guests in our own country and if the right wingers are on the rise you can blame the so called politicians. We don't have too many enemies on outside but we have the enemy within supported by the people who are paid for by the general German public. We do not believe in them and they are nothing but a bunch of liars, thieves and traitors who will sacrifice their people for the goal of the USA to admit Ukraine in to the EU (Euer Untergang) and NATO (the majority of the German population are sick and tired of it and want out of both) and the demands of the Muslim society who does not respect this country as their host nation.

I don't mind the salafists going to Syria or else, I'll even buy them a ticket and take them to the airport. All our authorities have to do is to ensure they never set foot on German soil again. That goes for their supporters as well. Whoever lets Erdogan do his speeches of hatred in ones own country does not deserve better. Unfortunately the "regular man on the street" will suffer for their stupidity. So, don't be surprised if things get out of hand. The writing has been on the wall for a long time just to be ignored by those who should have closely looked at it.

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Aridaman

Heidi • Sep 18, 2014 at 07:43

The way the Muslims in Germany are out-breeding the natives (if my information is correct, the total fertility rate of a Muslim woman is more than 4 to a German woman's 1.4), it is only a matter of one or two decades that in a number of towns and cities of Germany, Muslims will come to be the majority community. Then the natives will really be reduced to become guests in their own country!

And this, more or less, will be the situation also in France, Belgium, UK, the Netherlands, Austria, and Spain.

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Brenda Reiss • Sep 8, 2014 at 09:49

In 1933 Hitler won, democratically, the election. The few years preceding this were filled with The "Brown Shirts" harassing and beating up mostly Jewish citizens, but not only Jews. The Nazi party used democracy against itself. Today in the democratic western European nations we see similar tactics to impose a an extreme and violent religious philosophy onto their citizens.
Since we have the advantage of history I cannot understand why the police and the government are stymied as to what to do? There a legal ways to stop this from continuing and to prevent a violent wing of a religious entity from taking over and forcing the citizenry to follow against their will. It is uncanny that democracies are so stupid as to how to combat a direct assault on democracy itself. These budding terrorists are clearly breaking the law. What is the problem with arresting them? Why are we afraid to enforce the laws that were democratically put into place.

If no action is taken to stop this we all know how this will end. And it won't be pretty.

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Dorothy Hubert • Sep 8, 2014 at 09:27

Always glad to get your updates on what is happening around the world sure makes one know we are living in the last days.

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Howard • Sep 8, 2014 at 08:59

Doesn't all of this seem very familiar when in the early 1930's Germany did not do much to stop the thug like gangs that roamed around supporting the nascent Nazi hoodlums?

Protesting amongst themselves and doing nothing about it, the German political leaders and the police are simply stepping back and allowing another crazy, unlawful gang of thugs decide the fate of their country.

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Ian Bersten • Sep 8, 2014 at 08:57

Sooner, rather than later, while democratic forces are in charge of Western Parliaments all over the West, there should be enacted a law prohibiting laws which follow the precepts of any religion, whether it be Judaism or Christianity or Islam trying to follow the word of god. There should be a general prohibition against 'god' in any political debates. Just to make sure that this cannot be changed easily, a referendum requiring a 90% vote is required.
Perhaps it should be a requirement that any citizen wanting to get citizenship be required to accept this set of laws.
The fact that all three monotheistic religions are specified would mean that it is non-discriminatory.

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Paul Pleau • Sep 8, 2014 at 07:09

Well, as much as I disagree with vigilante behavior in any form, the truth of the matter is that, an old saying must be applied here: "In order for evil to thrive, all that is needed if for good men to do nothing". And indeed, evil in the guise of these "Sharia Police" must be stopped, and the waffling of the Government and of the legitimate police (good men doing nothing) will inevitably be "replaced" (as it were) with any opposing force really. Historically this leads to extreme violence and of course the strongest, best trained and best armed ends up the victor.

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Eric Price • Sep 8, 2014 at 06:34

They remind me of the Ordnungspolizei or Schutz Abteilung (S.A.) High time this was put to an end. Yes, send them back home before it's too late. They do not recognize our laws, it's as simple as that!

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Fiorella Massey • Sep 8, 2014 at 06:13

If a disparate group of ideological rabble rousers like the self appointed Sharia policemen, can expound their absurd 'disciplines' on our streets and intimidate people claiming to know 'the way", it is time to give extra powers to police to stop this .
I don't pay my taxes in order not to be protected from this abuse.
Freedom of speech goes both ways ;what about freedom to have democratic western behaviour?

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D. Doyle • Sep 8, 2014 at 05:59

I don't need to be German to understand these issues. They're happening everywhere. These arrogant people don't want to be part of anything, they want to impose themselves on everyone else. Then they whine about being treated differently, or shunned by some. What these kind of Islamist Muslims demand in the minority, they'll never give anyone when they're in the majority.

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Rich • Sep 8, 2014 at 05:46

Good article Soeren - were you aware that students associated with Anjem Choudary did this back in 2013 in the East End of London? The leaflet looks identical. There is clearly a European network of these dangerous ideological thugs that Europe as a whole needs to stop. I have the pic and will send it to you.

The guy holding it got put in jail for not refraining from these patrols, then got released and given an ASBO to prevent him from seeing Anjem Choudary. Within a few months him and some other thugs attended one of Choudary's marches and assaulted 2 Shia Muslims. So he is now inside for 2 years. Nowhere near enough. Whilst Choudary continues to enjoy his Western freedoms and given way too much media time. UK media should be ashamed of itself.

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