Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) has banned an Islamic association outside of Berlin, saying it is associated with the Muslim Brotherhood and the terrorist organization Hamas and promotes anti-Semitism.
Stübgen, in a statement released on Thursday, also said the Islamic Centre Fürstenwalde al-Salam opposes the constitutional order.
The Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement founded in 1928 in Egypt, is banned there.
Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist militia group which started the current Gaza war after it invaded Israel on October 7, is the Brotherhood’s branch in Gaza.
“The ban is now being enforced by police,” explained a spokesman for the ministry. The group’s premises in Fürstenwalde, about 80 kilometres south-east of Berlin, and private residences in Brandenburg and Berlin are being searched.
“We cannot tolerate associations that oppose the constitutional order or the notion of harmony among nations,” said Stübgen in the statement.
The “embers of the Stone Age culture of Islamism” must be extinguished at the outset to prevent them from growing, he said.
The announcement comes about 10 days before the September 22 state election in Brandenburg, in which migration and religious extremism are playing a role and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is leading in the polls.
Stübgen said in particular “the indoctrination of young people with extremist ideologies in an organized manner” poses risks.
“Treacherous radicalization strategies of extremist organizations and movements” are behind this, he added. “This evil must be tackled at the root,” said Stübgen.
The minister had already announced months ago that he intended to take action against the association.
Last winter, Stübgen demanded a swift ban on Hamas in Germany, saying that was needed to take action against the Islamic centre.
According to the interior ministry, the association was founded in 2018 in Fürstenwalde and operates the al-Salam Mosque there. The Islamic Centre Fürstenwalde offers Friday sermons and a wide range of services for Muslims from the region.
In July 2023, the association was classified by the Brandenburg’s domestic intelligence agency as a having confirmed extremist purpose.
At that time, Stübgen said, “The association acts against the liberal democratic basic order, spreads anti-Semitic narratives and denies Israel’s right to exist. We must not tolerate this.”
According to assessments by the agency, known as the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the association’s extremist agenda can be demonstrated through its activities and social media posts.
Posts make clear references to Islamist extremist organisations. For example, the association disseminated content from organizations close to the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood on its social media channels.
Additionally, anti-Semitic content is disseminated that questions Israel’s right to exist, the domestic intelligence agency said.
