SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: German authorities carried out a major crackdown on radical Salafist Muslims on Thursday, raiding properties and banning an organization. German media commentators welcome the moves but warn that bans aren't enough to change how extremists think.The debate on Salafists, members of a fundamentalist strain of Islam who are suspected of having close ties to Islamist extremists, has been raging in Germany for months. Following a number of recent violent incidents, including the stabbing of police officers in Bonn, there have been growing calls for the government to act.
On Thursday, it did just that. In an operation involving 1,000 officers, authorities raided Salafist facilities in seven German states. They also banned one of the most important Salafist groups in the country, the Millatu Ibrahim.
"The organization acts in opposition to the idea of constitutional order and multicultural understanding," German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said on Thursday. He added that the group promotes violence in its "fight against the existing constitutional order."
The German government considers Salafists to be particularly dangerous and prone to violence, primarily because of their single-minded goal of establishing Sharia in Germany and their rejection of Western values. They have been in the headlines all spring, initially because of their drive to attract new members by handing out free copies of the Koran in major German cities. But it was their violent response to a campaign in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia that landed them in the spotlight of justice officials.
In early May, the Islamophobic mini-party Pro-NRW launched a campaign to display anti-Islam caricatures in front of mosques and other Muslim facilities in North Rhine-Westphalia ahead of elections in the state. Counter-demonstrations in both Solingen and Bonn turned violent, with Salafists attacking police with rocks, sticks and even knives. In Bonn, 29 police were injured, two of them landing in the hospital with stab wounds.
On Friday, German commentators welcome the action but warn that more needs to be done. » | David Gordon Smith | Friday, June 15, 2012
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