Germany Bans Activist Group Muslim Interaktiv

The ministry described the group, known as Muslim Interaktiv, as posing a “serious threat” to Germany’s constitutional order. It said the organization had worked to undermine democratic principles and replace them with a religious-based social system.

“Those who aggressively call for the caliphate on our streets, incite hatred against the State of Israel and Jews in an intolerable manner, and despise the rights of women and minorities will be met with the full force of the law,” said German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in a press release. “We will not allow organizations like ‘Muslim Interaktiv’ to erode our free society with their hatred, despise our democracy, and attack our country from within.”

Founded in 2020, Muslim Interaktiv advocates Islam as “the sole model for social order,” referring to democratic society as a “dictatorship of values,” according to officials.

The group gained national attention last year over a demonstration in Hamburg demanding the creation of an Islamic caliphate in Germany.

At the time, Germany’s Federal Criminal Intelligence Service, or BKA, and Hamburg’s security services said Muslim Interaktiv is part of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a global movement that has been banned in Germany since 2003 and is designated as a terrorist organization in the United Kingdom.

Authorities described the group’s activities as “militant and aggressive,” noting its heavy use of social media to call for a caliphate, or Islamic state, to replace Germany’s democratic system.

“The group is particularly opposed to gender equality and freedom regarding sexual orientation and gender identity. This expresses an intolerance incompatible with democracy and human rights,” the ministry said.

Officials cited multiple statements by the group as evidence of antisemitic and extremist ideology, including “Israel has no right to exist” and “We will not accept a single inch of the apartheid state of ‘Israel’ and its colonial borders.”

Another statement by the group said that “the establishment of the rightly guided caliphate will be able to solve the problems in the Islamic world, and especially in Palestine, at their root.”

According to the government, such rhetoric violates the principle of international understanding by denying Israel’s right to exist.

The ban comes amid heightened tensions over the Middle East conflict and rising antisemitism in Germany. According to Germany’s semi-official body that monitors antisemitism, two years after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas, antisemitic incidents in Germany remain at a persistently high level.