Ansaar International

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Ansaar International is a German association that claims to support people in Syria , Somalia , Palestine and Afghanistan as an aid organization . In fact, it is supposed to be used to finance the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas and Islamist groups in the Syrian civil war . The German Federal Ministry of the Interior therefore banned the organization on May 5, 2021.

organization

Ansaar Düsseldorf e. V. was registered as an association in 2012 . The organization is based in Düsseldorf . The German citizen Abdurahman Kaiser, actually Joel Kayser, founded the association and became its chairman. Before converting to Islam, Kaiser published music under the stage name Joel K. and was part of the Düsseldorf rap group BTM Squad . The name of his organization goes back to the Arabic term Ansār (أنصار / anṣār ) and means "helper".

Ansaar International collects money and donations in kind in Germany, primarily in the Islamic community . The association has structures nationwide called Ansaar International Teams , which collect donations on behalf of the association, carry out advertising campaigns and advertise themselves on the Internet with their own Facebook pages. Members appear regularly at information stands about Islam and during campaigns to distribute the Koran . In 2014 the association raised over 1.3 million euros for the crisis regions of Gaza , Syria and Somalia alone .

The association had at times non-profit status . However, this was withdrawn from him.

Ansaar International received media attention through the support of celebrities, such as the rapper Farid Bang in September 2014 and the footballer Änis Ben-Hatira in January 2017.

Criticism and prohibition

Because of its links with the radical Islamist scene, Ansaar International is being monitored by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution of North Rhine-Westphalia , among others . According to the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, there are indications that the association supports terrorist forces in Syria. Sometimes it is only superficially about collecting donations. Behind this lies the real intention to network Salafists across Germany. The Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution describes the "supposedly purely humanitarian aid activities" of associations such as Ansaar International as a potential threat to the constitutional order . In early 2017, the Washington Post quoted high-ranking German intelligence officials that the association was part of the extremist spectrum and had suspicious contacts in the war zones in which it was active.

Salafist preachers performed several times at fundraising events, including Abu Baraa and Shaik Abu Anas. In 2015, Ansaar International posted a video in which German Salafists pose in front of a discarded ambulance with Warendorf license plates and the DRK logo in Syria .

On April 10, 2019, nationwide raids took place in the offices of the association. The investigators investigated the suspicion that the association might have supported the terrorist Hamas under the guise of humanitarian aid. This was confirmed. Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer then banned the organization on May 5, 2021. The reason given was:

“The Ansaar International e. V. is directed against the idea of international understanding , the constitutional order and pursues purposes and activities directed against the criminal laws. Ansaar and its sub-organizations use a network of associations and individuals to generate donations. Contrary to the company's own statements, these are not only used for humanitarian purposes, but in particular to support terrorist organizations such as Jabhat al-Nusra , Hamas and Al-Shabab . Ansaar continues to actively pursue Salafist proselytizing and disseminate Islamist-extremist content. "

- Press release from the Federal Ministry of the Interior

More than half a million euros were secured on the club accounts.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is also recording increasing Salafist potential in Hamburg.In: Hamburg.de. Department of Home Affairs and Sport. January 21, 2014, accessed November 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ a b Jörg Diel, Fidelius Schmid, Wolf Wiedman-Schmidt: Nationwide raids on suspicion of supporting terrorism. In: Spiegel.de. April 10, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b Federal Minister of the Interior bans Islamist network Ansaar International e. V. Federal Ministry of the Interior, May 5, 2021, accessed on May 5, 2021 .
  4. ↑ a b Reiner Burger: "If you want to fight terror, you have to dry up your sources of money". In: FAZ.net. May 5, 2021, accessed May 6, 2021 .
  5. ↑ Ulrich Kraetzer: Salafists: Threat to Germany? Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2014, ISBN 978-3-579-07064-3 .
  6. ↑ Controversial helpers: Are German Salafists playing into the hands of IS terrorists in Syria? In: rbb-online.de. Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg , August 28, 2014, accessed on January 29, 2017 .
  7. ^ Matthias Korfmann: acquittal for Sharia police - Salafist association in focus. In: derwesten.de. November 21, 2016. Retrieved January 29, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Markus Völker: Support for Ansaar International: Ben-Hatiras “Charity”. In: taz.de. January 20, 2017. Retrieved January 29, 2017 .
  9. ↑ Dieter Sieckmeyer: Raid in Düsseldorf: This is behind the Ansaar International association. In: WZ.de. April 10, 2019, accessed May 6, 2021.
  10. ↑ Kathrin Stark: Does Farid Bang have any contact with Salafists? In: Musikexpress.de. September 9, 2014.
  11. ^ Salafism allegations against Ben-Hatira. In: Spiegel.de. 22nd January 2017.
  12. ↑ Miltiadis Oulios: What authorities do against Salafists. In: Deutschlandfunk.de. September 17, 2014, accessed November 20, 2015.
  13. ↑ Donations for Terror? (No longer available online.) In: BR.de. January 25, 2015, formerly in the original ; accessed on May 6, 2021 (broadcast in Der Funkstreifzug format ; podcast accessed on October 22, 2017, from minute 7:05).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.br.de
  14. ↑ Anthony Faiola, Souad Mekhennet: Why a German-born soccer star had to choose between his Muslim faith and his career. In: washingtonpost.com. February 8, 2017. Retrieved October 22, 2017 .
  15. ↑ Ulrike Maerkel: NRW Salafists invite to Lower Saxony: Ansaar international eV collects money for Syria. Website from the portal In: ruhrbarone.de. February 9, 2015, accessed November 20, 2015.
  16. ↑ Ulrike Märkel: Humanitarian hate preachers. . In: taz.de. February 6, 2015, accessed November 20, 2015.
  17. ^ Dierk Hartleb: District and state security contradict claim of the DRK Warendorf - No active Salafist scene in Ahlen. In: WN.de. October 8, 2015, accessed December 2, 2016 .