Germany bans Islamic group accused of calling for caliphate, inciting against Israel
Muslim Interaktiv to have assets confiscated; police search several properties belonging to two other Muslim groups as part of probe over similar allegations
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German authorities banned the Muslim Interaktiv association, accusing it of anti-constitutional activities in calling for the establishment of a caliphate, and searched two other Islamic groups on similar grounds early on Wednesday.
Seven properties have been searched in Hamburg since early morning and 12 more in Berlin and the state of Hesse as part of preliminary investigations into the associations Generation Islam and Realitaet Islam, the federal interior ministry said in a statement.
Under the ban, the 2020-founded Muslim Interaktiv, which organizes demonstrations and is active on various social media channels, will be disbanded and its assets will be confiscated.
The group drew national attention in early 2024 over a demonstration in Hamburg with 1,000 attendees that called for the creation of a caliphate in Germany.
“We will respond with the full force of the law to anyone who aggressively calls for a caliphate on our streets, incites hatred against the State of Israel and Jews in an intolerable manner, and despises the rights of women and minorities,” said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in the statement.
Interaktiv is the latest of several Islamic group involved in anti-Israel activity to be banned in Germany.
It comes amid a surge of antisemitism in Germany and around the world since the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, when thousands of terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages, starting the war in Gaza.
Last year, Germany banned the Hamburg Islamic Center, known as IZH, a Muslim religious association that was under investigation for several months over its alleged support for the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.
The Times of Israel Community.