German General Prosecutor Raises Charges against Muslim Leaders on Corruption and Funding Militant Organizations

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At last, the German authorities are acting against radical Muslims in Germany. The German Media reported on March 20, 2009 that the general prosecutor raised charges against Oguz Ücüncü, the secretary general of "Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüs" IGMG (Islamic Community of Milli Görüs), an Islamist Turkish organization, and Ibrahim el Zayat, chairman of the “Islamische Gemeinschaft Deutschlands (IGD) (Islamic Community of Germany). Both men were born in Germany and have the German citizenship.

Both men, not only incite to hatred and violence against Germans, but also fund radical Muslim organizations across the Arab and Muslim world, in particular in Egypt, Gaza, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The money is not transferred via banks, but transported by fellow Muslims traveling to these countries.

The IGMG has over 87 thousand members and the IGD about 50 thousand. Both organizations run more than 240 mosques across Germany. There are more than 3.5 million Muslims living in Germany, most of them are Turks and Arabs.

To add insult to injury both organizations receive from the German state, tax money, of more than 470 thousand euros a year as non-profit Vereine (organizations).

According to estimates by the office of the General Prosecutor in Munich, Germany, the IGMG and IGD smuggled more than 3 million euros to radical organizations across the Muslim world in 2008.

Muslim leaders in Germany are double-faced:

I attended several preaches by Ücüncü and el Zayat, exclusive for Muslims. In a mosque in “Klein Istanbul”, Berlin, which is predominantly inhabited by Muslim Turks and Arabs, Ücüncü said, “We Muslims must use every means possible to fight the infidels in this society and change it into a Muslim one. Armed jihad is a legitimate instrument. The Germans understand only the language of violence. They are fighting our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan and Iraq.” The local media were not allowed to attend this preach.

El Zayat is not less militant. He also urged his Muslim audience to turn to jihad in the name of Islam. He said in a mosque in Aachen (Feb. 2, 2009), “We must follow the path of our beloved prophet Muhammad – peace be upon his soul – Allah and his apostle want us to fight for Islam and spread it across the globe, also here in Germany. The earth belongs to the believers. There is no room in it for the infidels. They defile it. This country is part of the Muslim Umma (people). It must be cleansed from the infidels.” Also in this mosque, no local media were allowed to attend.

Muslim leaders in Germany do not only fund radical Islamic organizations across the world, they use German tax money and donations to enrich themselves.

Three former coworkers (who do no want to be identified for fear of reprisals) of Aiman Mazyek, secretary general of the Znetralrat der Muslime in Deutschland (ZMD) (central council of Muslims in Germany) told me that Mazyek embezzled more than a quarter of a million euros. He invested the money in Turkish resorts. Two of his friends who operate his business in Turkey are on the payroll of the ZMZ.

Also Ali Kizilkaya, chairman of the “Islamrat für die Bundesrepublik Deutschalnd” (IR) (Islam council of Germany) also embezzled public money with which he bought apartment blocks in Aachen and Dortmund over a secrete bank account in Switzerland. The German daily, FAZ reported on December 27, 2008, Kizilkaya was arrested several times for smuggling huge sums of money across the border to Switzerland. He is under police surveillance for rejecting the German Constitution and affiliation to radical Muslim organizations. 

Lamya Kaddor, an Islam teacher and former assistant of Sven Kalisch, an Islam professor at Münster University, has also abused public research money. She embezzled more than 120 thousand euros. This case is pending a court decision.

In addition to corruption, Islamists and Muslim leaders in Germany are tenaciously working on creating a parallel Muslim society, their own society. Almost all of them reject the German constitution – in the absence of local media - and advocate introducing Allah’s law, the Shari’a.

On the other hand, in the media and among the German public - eminently friendly and impeccably dressed in stylish pinstriped suits – they propagate that they vehemently accept the constitution.

Here is a list of the most active Islamist organizations in Germany and their most active operatives:

1. “Der Islamrat für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland (IR), (the Islam council of Germany). It comprises 30 organizations and allegedly has 140 thousand members and operates about 470 mosques . The most radical organization of this council is the „Islamische Gemeinschaft Milli Görüs” (Muslim community of Milli Görüs). Necmettin Erbakan, founder of this organization, and his followers believe that the “Ottoman Empire will be sooner of later” established in Germany under Shari’a. 
2. “Zentralrat der Muslime in Deutschland (ZMD) (central council of Muslims in Germany) was established in 1994, and since 2006 it has been under the chairmanship of Ayyub Axel Köhler, a German convert. This council has around 20 thousand members all over Germany and operates about 180 mosques. The ZMD also supports Shari’a law, including stoning women if they commit adultery.
3. “Der Verband der islamischen Kulturzentren” (VIKZ) (association of Islamic cultural centers). It has around 70 thousand members and operates more than 240 mosques. It is chaired by Mehmet Ylmaz, a radical Muslim Turk who “visited Afghanistan and Pakistan several times.” Die Welt reported Jan. 17, 2009.
4. “Türkisch-islamische Union der Anstalt für Religion (Ditib) (Turkish Islamic institute for religion affairs). It is a Turkish-state-controlled organization which was established in 1984. It allegedly has more than half a million members and operates about 870 mosques across Germany. 

All the above organizations do not only operate mosques, but also have their madrassas (religious schools) and “cultural” centers.

Several studies and surveys conducted in Muslim communities in German cities indicate that the majority of Germany’s Muslim population, in particular among younger Muslims, are increasingly fanatic and fundamentalist, especially after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leader of the Justice and Development Party (Turkish: Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi - "AK Parti") became prime minister in 2003.

Ursula Spuler-Stegemann, an Islam expert at Marburg University says, “I failed to find one single mosque or Muslim cultural center where there were no major misrepresentations. They all teach hatred and violence against the German infidels.”

In her study “Muslims in Germany” of 2004, Spuler-Stegemann presents details of her accusations. She says, “Despite assertions to the contrary by Muslim leaders, almost all Muslim centers and madrassas incite to hatred and violence. The pupils are indoctrinated into rigidly Shari’a-oriented forms of Islam. Pupils are trained to accept strict obedience, and a rigid segregation of sexes.”

Hanspeter Pohl, an official in Hesse’s Social Services Department has been observing Muslim madrassas, mosques, and cultural centers for years. He told me that Muslim youngsters at these places are “extreme anti-Semitic and anti-American attitudes.”

Eva Meyer, a teacher at a high school in Detmold, Germany who teaches English and biology, says, Muslim pupils at her school “refuse to learn English even if it means failing their exams. They also reject the theory of evolution in biology lessons. They also bully girls and urge them to wear the hijab (headscarf). They denigrate women. When I talk to them they refuse to look at me in the eyes.”

According to the Rhineland’s Youth Services Department, the VIKZ established in 2004 weekend and holiday camps all over Germany – without official permission - for some 30 thousand Muslim youngsters. Heinz Kholitz, an official in this department, is alarmed. “The youngsters are indoctrinated into hatred to non-Muslims.” Kohlitz says.  

The German authorities are standing blithely by as Muslim communities are increasingly turning into parallel societies.

The German state-controlled TV channels (ARD, ZDF, and WDR) did not report the above news. Elke Heidenreich, a critic of these channels, said sarcastically, “They don’t want to scratch the feelings of fanatic Muslims in Germany.”

German courts have passed verdicts excusing Muslim girls from coed swimming lessons and class trips, citing Shari’a and religious freedom.

Some liberal Turks are appalled by these developments. Faruk Süen, director of the Center for Turkish Studies (CTS) says, “The boys and girls are increasingly defining themselves by reference to their faith.”     

According to a survey by the CTS, before 9/11 only 26% of Muslims in Germany were religious, now it is over 80%. While in 2000, 29% of Muslim women wore the hijab (headscarf), now it is 89%.

In addition, more and more liberal Muslims are harassed and attacked by fanatic Muslims in Germany. Ekin Deligöz, an MP of the Green Party, who called on Muslim women to remove their headscarves, received death threats. Therefore, now she can only move around under police protection.

Seyran Ates, a lawyer in Berlin of Turkish descent, who defends Turkish divorcing women and blasts Muslim men for ill-treating their family female members, has also received death threats. She also feels that German authorities are doing very little to stop violence and fanaticism among Muslim men.

Lale Akgün, an outspoken Turkish critic of Islamism in Germany, and an MP of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), appealed to the Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble from the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) to “stop talking to Muslim leaders in Germany”.  Akgün said, “Those leaders are fooling Schäuble, and both are fooling all of us. It’s futile to talk to fanatics. They must be put under surveillance and strictly apply the law on them, before it’s too late.”