A debate has erupted online about a video from the Bavarian Interior Ministry. After criticism from the SPD, the Greens and the Left, the clip was deleted.
Munich – After sustained criticism, the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior has temporarily stopped the distribution of a video for a campaign against the dangers posed by Islamist preachers. The animated clip – which the ministry initially published on the X platform but later deleted – had sparked accusations of racism on social media. Several media outlets had reported on it.
“We take the criticism of the video very seriously and have stopped the campaign for the time being,” said a ministry spokesman. “We deeply regret if the video has led to irritation and misunderstandings.”
Criticism of the Bavarian Interior Ministry’s anti-Salafism campaign: Woman disappears into the throat of a preacher
The video, which is about 30 seconds long, shows a young woman watching a smartphone clip of a preacher wearing a prayer cap. The question “Are Muslim women allowed to wear make-up?” is displayed. Dark sounds and a malicious laugh can be heard. The preacher’s face turns into a grimace, and the woman disappears into his throat.
A short time later, the woman is seen first wearing a headscarf and then fully veiled. Finally, in the video, tears run from her eyes as she cleans the kitchen next to another fully veiled woman. “The Salafism Trap” with the subtitle “It happens faster than you think” is displayed in capital letters, followed by a link to the website of the prevention campaign “Answers to Salafism”.
“Racist garbage”: Ex-politician considers criminal complaint against Bavarian Interior Ministry
The video was intended to promote the campaign and show that influential Salafist preachers are increasingly trying to “lure young people in particular and win them over to their extremist ideas with everyday topics that at first glance seem harmless.” The clip is now to be revised. “The dangers of Salafism must not be trivialized, however,” stressed the ministry spokesman.
Niema Movassat, who sat in the Bundestag for the Left Party until 2021, wrote on X: “Muslims are demonized in the clip. What unbelievable racist garbage.” He was reminded of the “Stürmer,” an anti-Semitic and inflammatory newspaper from the Nazi era. Movassat criticized the publishers as the “propaganda department of the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior.”
The law graduate concluded his post with the words: “I will consider filing a criminal complaint for incitement against the Bavarian Interior Minister.” After the video was removed from the platform, Movassat was relieved. It pays off “not to simply accept racist garbage, but to speak out against it,” he wrote in another post on X.
Criticism from the Left, SPD and Greens: Bavarian Interior Ministry deletes video about Salafism
The domestic policy spokeswoman for the Bavarian SPD, Christiane Feichtmeier, said the video had “caused her to shake her head”. The fight against Salafism is important, said the state parliamentarian. “However, it cannot be that taxpayers’ money is spent on something that does not work or perhaps even does the cause a disservice. That is certainly the impression the video has on me and others.”
Criticism also came from the Greens in the Bavarian state parliament. “Salafists skillfully seduce young people to TikTok and the state government is embarrassing itself on X,” said the parliamentary group’s domestic policy spokesman, Florian Siekmann. “We need clever countermeasures instead of crude prejudices that only reinforce Salafist victim narratives.” (dpa/fmú)
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