Hundreds of Islamists living in Germany marched through Hamburg on Saturday denouncing democracy and calling for the country to become a caliphate — a move that would introduce Sharia law into Germany.
Demonstrators held placards that read “Caliphate is the solution” and chanted for Muslims to disobey the government it called a “dictatorship of values.”
The march was organized by Muslim Interaktiv, a group under investigation by Hamburg’s domestic intelligence agency for “extremism.” In a post on X ahead of the march, the organization claimed it was protesting the government and its promotion of democratic values, claiming the objective of German leaders was to “demonize all Islamic life in Germany.”
Die Welt newspaper reported that the Hamburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution believes the group is affiliated with Hizb ut-Tahrir, a proscribed organization in Germany that promotes the establishment of a caliphate in the country.
Germany’s Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser denounced the demonstration despite overseeing the country’s open borders immigration policy in recent years that has seen millions of Muslims, many of whom have originated from countries that practice fundamental Islam, arrive in Germany.
“Seeing an Islamist demonstration of this kind on our streets is difficult to bear. It’s a good thing that the Hamburg police counteracted crime with a large presence,” she told Tagesspiegel.
She warned that there was a red line between the constitutional protection of the right of assembly and freedom of speech, citing the promotion of Hamas propaganda and anti-Semitism as examples where such a march could constitute a criminal offense.
“No terrorism propaganda for Hamas, no hate speech directed at Jews. If crimes like this occur, there has to be immediate and forceful intervention at demonstrations,” Faeser added.
U.S. billionaire and X owner Elon Musk commented on the march, asking why the demonstration wasn’t illegal.
Police spokeswoman Sandra Levgrün told Bild that suspicion of violence or extremist language wasn’t enough alone to ban the demonstration. “There must be actual evidence that there will be violent riots during the meeting.”
“They meticulously fulfilled the requirements of the state they want to abolish,” a police insider added.
Hamburg’s SPD Interior Minister Andy Grote said the “display by Islamists is unbearable and disgusts me, but the police assembly authority has clearly legally ruled out banning the assembly.”
