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Police officers in Berlin-Moabit during a raid against Islamists
Photo: Paul Zinken / dpa
In the early summer of 2020, euphoria briefly broke out among Berlin Islamists.
They wanted to "build a mosque in a city where it was almost catastrophic," said the leader of the group, Jarrah B., in a monitored conversation.
The men wanted to pick up on old times, when the ultra-radicals could still meet openly in Berlin.
The jihadist Fussilet Mosque should serve as a model.
It was closed in February 2017 after the attack on Breitscheidplatz in Berlin.
The assassin Anis Amri had frequented the mosque.
But nothing comes of the plans for a new meeting place.
At first the Islamists could not find any permanent rooms for their mosque.
Now the Berlin Senator for the Interior, Andreas Geisel (SPD), has banned the troop that last appeared under the name »Tauhid Berlin«.
Geisel and his security officers wanted to prevent the jihadist scene from re-forming in the capital - and prevent further terrorist attacks from occurring.
Because the authorities consider the Islamists to be ready for violence, they moved out on Thursday morning at 6 a.m. with a contingent of 850 police officers and searched 26 apartments in Berlin and Brandenburg.
Sermons with jihad chants
Geisel justified the ban with the fact that the group had advocated armed jihad and attacks on civilians.
"We do not tolerate any spaces in which terror is propagated and the so-called 'Islamic State' is glorified," said the SPD politician.
After the attack on Breitscheidplatz, it was initially quieter in Berlin's Islamist milieu.
The pressure on the scene had increased.
But at the end of 2018, the authorities noticed a channel on the Telegram messenger service that initially ran under the name »Jama'atu Berlin«.
Channels on YouTube and Instagram followed later.
The now banned group ran its own website for a few months.
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Jarrah B. alias »Abu Umar«: Still from a sermon on Instagram
Jarrah B., also known as "Sheikh Abu Umar" by his followers, acted as the leader.
In his apartment in Berlin-Reinickendorf he spread radical teachings and, according to the authorities, incited his followers against the "infidels".
A sermon widespread on the Internet was accompanied by jihad chants calling for the "tyrants" to be cut up - and not for the "Jews" to be spared.
According to SPIEGEL information, B. has had connections with the Berlin Islamist scene since 2015.
In the past, he is said to have prayed in the radical Fussilet Mosque, which saw itself as the "mosque of the IS people".
Jarrah B. and his supporters fundamentally reject democracy and the rule of law, according to the Berlin Interior Authority.
They only accepted Sharia law - including brutal punishments like cutting off hands.
One of the group's flyers stated: "Parliaments that draft laws that contradict Allah's laws" are "false gods."
Many of the group's activities took place in private circles, at meetings in apartments, in parks or at barbecues.
Nevertheless, the security authorities did not fail to see how radical the Islamists were.
According to SPIEGEL information, one of the men described German judges as "child fuckers" in a phone call that was tapped.
Another insulted Chancellor Angela Merkel in a WhatsApp chat as a “mindless stupid woman” and wished that God would “destroy” her.
Even Muslims who did not share the Islamists' extremist beliefs were "infidels" in the eyes of the group.
Separate subgroup for women
The group posted a supplication on Telegram.
Allah should help the Islamic warriors of God to victory and crash the planes of their opponents, it said.
When IS leader Abu Bakr al-Bagdhadi died while attacking his hiding place in Syria in October 2019, the Islamists mourned him with a kind of photo obituary.
Investigations are ongoing against several of the men from "Tauhid Berlin".
One is said to have insulted a police officer as a "son of a bitch" and threatened him: "We have a photo of you!" Another is suspected of financing terrorism.
Two of the approximately 20 members of the group are listed as dangerous.
The police trust them to commit acts of violence or even attacks.
There was a separate subgroup for women at »Tauhid Berlin«.
The leader is said to have been no less extreme.
In Islamist teaching units in a private apartment, her students are said not only to have been indoctrinated, but also to have been given to radical men - for the purpose of marriage.
Icon: The mirror