Germany

Government & Politics

Germany’s Horst Seehofer warns of ‘refugee wave’ bigger than in 2015 German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has called on the EU to do more to support Turkey and avoid another refugee crisis. If nothing is done, he said, the crisis may become 'even greater than four years ago.'

October 6, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has warned of a larger influx of refugees than that seen in Europe in 2015. He made the statement during an official visit to Greece. Traveling with incoming European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, […]

Immigration

Man crying ‘Allahu Akbar’ tries to run into Berlin synagogue with knife Police subdue, arrest 23-year-old, apparently a Syrian refugee, who also shouted ‘Fuck Israel’ in Friday incident; German media says probe ongoing but suspect released from custody

October 5, 2019   

(Times of Israel) A man armed with a knife attempted to run into a synagogue in central Berlin Friday evening, German media reported Saturday. The man, apparently a Syrian refugee, was tackled by security personnel at the entrance to the Neue Synagogue. […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

Turks in Europe face systemic racism: Turkish FM Cavusoglu voices concern over growing racism, discriminatory policies against Turks, Muslims in Western Europe

October 2, 2019   

(Anadolu) Turkish migrants increasingly face discriminatory policies and systemic racism in Western Europe, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu said on Wednesday. “We are worried over growing discrimination faced by Turkish communities in Western Europe,” Cavusoglu said during a meeting in the western German […]

Arts & Entertainment

Controversial Palestinian rappers banned from performing in Berlin Known for their anti-Israel lyrics, Palestinian rappers Shadi Al-Bourini and Shadi Al-Najjar were due to headline a so-called 'solidarity rally' held by Palestinian groups that the Israeli ambassador to Germany opposed.

September 25, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) A Palestinian rally set to take place Wednesday in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate has caused a diplomatic storm as both the Israeli and US ambassadors to Germany called for a performance by Palestinian rappers Shadi Al-Bourini and Shadi Al-Najjar to be […]

Government & Politics

Asylum approvals almost always right, German review finds — report Nearly all decisions to grant migrants asylum in Germany were justified, officials found after reviewing some 62,000 claims, according to a newspaper report. Hundreds of officials work on reviewing old cases.

September 19, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) While reviewing successful asylum applications, German officials found that only a tiny minority of asylum-seekers provided false information or tried to trick the officials, according to official data cited by Süddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday. Germany’s migration agency, BAMF, looked into […]

Law Enforcement

Germany: Raids carried out against terror financing suspects Special police units carried out raids in northern Germany to investigate alleged financial supporters of terrorist groups in Syria. Prosecutors said hundreds of thousands of euros were allegedly sent to militants.

September 11, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) Police carried out raids in northern Germany to investigate alleged terrorist suspects in several cities on Wednesday morning, prosecutors said. A senior prosecutor for the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Ulrike Stahlmann-Liebelt, said the raids were to investigate the suspected formation of an organized […]

Government & Politics

German court rejects plea to repatriate suspected jihadi from Syria A German court has found the government isn't responsible for repatriating a citizen imprisoned by Syrian Kurds on suspicion of joining the 'Islamic State.' The ruling was based on a technicality.

September 10, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) The German government is not required to repatriate one of its citizens believed to be imprisoned by Syrian Kurdish forces on suspicion of being a member of the “Islamic State” (IS), a Berlin administrative court ruled Tuesday. The German national, […]

Law Enforcement

Widow of German IS rapper is arrested in Hamburg The German-Tunisian woman has been arrested just months after a cellphone provided fresh evidence about her time in Syria. She had married two IS fighters, one of whom was rapper-turned-extremist Denis Cuspert.

September 9, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) German authorities said on Monday that Omaima A., a German-Tunisian woman, was arrested in Hamburg last week for her ties to the “Islamic State” (IS). Omaima A. was once married to German rapper-turned-IS fighter Denis Cuspert, who is believed to have died […]

Legal

German IS fighter faces torture and murder terrorism charges in Düsseldorf court A German IS fighter is facing charges of murder and torture at a German high court. This is the second time that he has faced terrorism-related charges.

September 4, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) A fighter from the self-styled “Islamic State” (IS) group stood trial in Düsseldorf on Wednesday facing serious charges of committing war crimes, in addition to murder. This is the second time that the 29-year-old has stood trial for terror-related offenses, […]

Crime

More Germans applying for alarm gun licenses More and more Germans are acquiring the permit they need to carry a gas pistol, a newspaper has reported. The number has more than doubled in the last five years.

September 3, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) Some 640,000 Germans now have an alarm gun license, some 30,000 more than at the end of last year, according to research by the Rheinische Post newspaper. The number has risen hugely since 2014, when some 260,000 people carried such a license. […]

Internet

German Hezbollah mosque declares it is proud of terrorism and pro-Khamenei According to the intelligence document reviewed by the Post, the number of Hezbollah members climbed from 105 in 2017 to 110 in 2018 in North Rhine-Westphalia.

August 29, 2019   

(Jerusalem Post) The Hezbollah mosque in the German city of Münster posted a shocking video in December on its Facebook page, announcing it was proud of terrorism and its allegiance to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The Washington-based […]

Government & Politics

German federal criminal police investigate Hamas Twitter due to propaganda 'The accounts of Hamas must disappear from Twitter! Twitter supports a terrorist organization by providing infrastructure,' said Volker Beck.

August 28, 2019   

(Jerusalem Post) German Green Party politician Volker Beck filed a formal police complaint, seeking to remove the jihadist terror organization Hamas from the micro-blogging site Twitter. “The accounts of the Hamas must disappear from Twitter! Twitter supports a terrorist organization by providing […]

Government & Politics

German state fights Islamist extremism with YouTube satire The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia is betting on wit and humor as an antidote to Islamist extremism. Extremists use YouTube to target young people, but NRW wants to fight fire with fire.

August 25, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia has launched a satirical YouTube channel in the hope of stopping young people from becoming radicalized via the video sharing platform. The project launched by the NRW Office for the Protection of the Constitution […]

Legal

Germany: Syrian man who posed with severed head charged with war crimes The 33-year-old claims he did not kill and then desecrate the body of an opposing fighter. The suspect is already in prison for lesser crimes.

August 23, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) A 33-year-old Syrian man was charged in the western Germany city of Koblenz on Friday with committing war crimes. Authorities say they … have concrete evidence that the man fought with the “Islamic State” (IS) terror group for two years, […]

Crime

Chechen refugee in Germany fined after sharing DW article on Islamic State A court in Augsburg has fined a refugee from the Chechen Republic after he shared a DW article on his Facebook page. According to the ruling, he propagated the insignia of the Islamic State group.

August 22, 2019 and   

(Deutsche Welle) When Mokhmad Abdurakhmanov, a Chechen refugee living in the Bavarian city of Augsburg, shared a DW article on his Facebook page last year, he never imagined he’d end up in legal trouble. But this week a court in Augsburg fined […]

Crime

Chemnitz: Syrian asylum-seeker convicted of killing that sparked far-right riots Alaa S. has been sentenced to nine years and six months for the killing of Daniel H. Chemnitz has done a lot to try and alter its image since the death.

August 22, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) The man accused of the killing that led to a week of far-right violence last year in Chemnitz was found guilty of manslaughter at a court in Dresden on Thursday, and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. […]

Children & Teens

Syrian Kurds hand over four ‘Islamic State’ children to Germany Kurdish authorities in Syria have handed over four children to Germany who had parents that were 'Islamic State' fighters. Many EU countries are grappling with how to handle returning foreign fighters and their families.

August 19, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) The Kurdish-led autonomous administration in northeastern Syria on Monday handed to Germany four children whose parents were part of the so-called “Islamic State” (IS) terror outfit, Kurdish sources and a spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry said on Monday. There […]

Government & Politics

Germany’s Seehofer warns refugees who take Syria vacations Refugees who return to Syria for holidays might lose their refugee status in Germany, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer told the Bild newspaper. Some newcomers simultaneously claim to be fleeing persecution there.

August 18, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer announced a tough response to Syrian refugees who leave Germany for holidays in their home country. “If somebody, a Syrian refugee, regularly takes holidays in Syria, he cannot honestly claim to be persecuted in Syria,” Seehofer told […]

Clothing

German conservatives renew calls for a burqa ban The deputy leader of the conservative Christian Democrats has joined other CDU members in calling for a burqa ban in Germany. The calls come after the Netherlands imposed its own ban on face-covering clothing.

August 2, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) As the neighboring Netherlands begins policing the wearing of burqas, Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) are calling for a burqa ban of Germany’s own. Julia Klöckner, who leads the provincial Rhineland-Palatinate branch of the party and is the No. 2 […]

Government & Politics

Are deportations from Germany on the rise? German's amended laws on migration and asylum will soon come into force. This includes legislation to facilitate deportations. But what is going to change? Answers to the most important questions.

August 1, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) How many people is Germany currently deporting? According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior’s figures for last year, 23,617 rejected asylum-seekers were deported in 2018. This sounds like a lot. But in the same period, about 31,000 deportations failed […]

Children & Teens

German daycares under police protection after plans to stop serving pork Two Leipzig daycare centers reversed moves to remove pork from the menu after the plans sparked a nationwide debate. The heated responses prompted police to park patrol cars outside to protect against 'possible dangers.'

July 23, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) Plans to no longer serve children pork or gelatin-containing products like gummy bears at two daycare centers in the eastern German city of Leipzig prompted a wave of criticism online and made headlines across the country on Tuesday. The mass-circulation […]

Law Enforcement

German police raid suspected Islamists’ homes The raids in the western cities of Düren and Cologne came after credible tipoffs were received by police. Six men have been taken in for questioning, according to German media.

July 18, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) Police in Germany’s western state of North Rhine-Westphalia carried out raids against suspected Islamist extremists on Thursday. Officers were searching for “concrete indications” of a planned attack, authorities said. Sniffer dogs were present as the police searched for explosives, but […]

News: Europe

Germans support democracy, but are concerned about Islam A study by the Bertelsmann Foundation found 89% of respondents, across all religions, consider democracy to be a good form of government. But half of respondents expressed concern over Islam.

July 11, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) The latest edition of the Bertelsmann Foundation’s bi-annual “Religion Monitor” interview survey published on Thursday found religious tolerance in Germany to be sustained but Islam to be having a hard time, perceived by many to be negative. As a result […]

Books

Germany’s center-left SPD ousts anti-Islam writer Thilo Sarrazin, 74, has said he will appeal the decision, and denies claims that his books are racist. SPD leadership has welcomed the decision, as they have tried three times to oust Sarrazin.

July 11, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) On its third try, Germany’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) will be able to kick controversial anti-Islam author Thilo Sarrazin from its ranks, an arbitration court ruled on Thursday. The former Berlin senator intends to appeal the ruling. “We will try […]

Legal

German ‘Islamic State’ bride jailed for 5 years Sabine S. traveled to Syria and Iraq to marry an Islamic State (IS) fighter and praised jihadi life in several blogs. She left her two children in Berlin after becoming radicalized.

July 5, 2019   

(Deutsche Welle) A 32-year-old German woman on Friday was sentenced to five years in prison for being a member of the “Islamic State” (IS) terrorist organization. Sabine S. converted to Islam and moved to Syria and Iraq from the end of 2013 […]