Germany on Friday banned all support from German soil for the Islamic State, the al-Qaeda splinter group that controls large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, including any displays of its flag.
The move, announced by Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere in Berlin, not only aims at cutting off fundraising and reinforcements for the militant group, but also at quashing enthusiasm for the extremists in a tiny section of Germany’s Turkish and Arab community.
“We have to prevent radicalized Islamists carrying over their jihad into our cities,” said de Maiziere, describing the Islamic State as “a threat to public security in Germany.”
The ban makes it an offence to praise the Islamic State on social media platforms such as Twitter, to wear or use its insignia, to demonstrate in support of it, or to recruit radicalized young German Muslims to become Islamic State fighters.
He said he could not comment on whether police would raid supporters’ homes in Germany, although that has been a step taken after similar bans in the past.
The prohibition falls just short of declaring the Islamic State a terrorist organization under German law. This could only come as a result of a member of the militant group being convicted by a German court.
De Maiziere said 400 Islamists are known to have left Germany for the conflict zone, with many of them heading to areas controlled by the Islamic State. More than 40 are thought to have been killed, while more than 100 have since returned to Germany.
Salafism, a conservative interpretation of the Koran, has taken hold in several German cities, striking a chord with some youths of Turkish and Arab origin and even garnering a few ethnic German converts.
In the western city of Wuppertal, a group of Salafist men aged 19 to 33 this month sought to deter Muslims from visiting bars. They wore vests marked “shariah police” on the back and then posted a video of their campaign on the internet.
The movement immediately gained national attention, prompting anger among mainstream Muslims who sought to disassociate themselves from the self-styled vigilantes.
German politicians have given limited support for an offensive against the Islamic State. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has said it would not back airstrikes in Iraq or Syria.
Earlier this month, officials in Berlin decided to send arms to Kurds in northern Iraq un support of their fight against the Islamic State.
GNA
PDC
