By Judi McLeod ——Bio and Archives--November 11, 2014
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“The watershed march was organized by a new initiative called "Hooligans against Salafists," better known by its German abbreviation, HoGeSa, short for Hooligans gegen Salafisten. “HoGeSa is a burgeoning alliance between hooligans from rival football clubs who have temporarily set aside their mutual hatred for each other in order to unite against a common enemy: radical Salafists who want to replace Germany's democratic order with Islamic Sharia law. "The alliance has its roots in a hidden Internet forum called GnuHoonters (homophone of "New Hunters") formed in 2012 between 17 different hooligan groups from across Germany. GnuHoonters was established primarily to fight anarchists, Marxist-Leninists and other left-wing extremists in the country.”(So that’s how the hooligan smear got its birth!).
“In 2013, some 300 members of GnuHoonters set up another hidden Internet forum called "Because Germans Still Dare" (Weil Deutsche sich's noch trauen), aimed at developing an action plan to fight the leaders of Germany's Salafist scene. (Gatestone) “After the forum was hacked in early 2014 and its secrets were spilled to the public, the group adopted the name "Hooligans against Salafists" and began operating openly. Initially, HoGeSa's activities were limited to the Internet and social media, through which it developed a considerable following. Its Facebook page, for example, had more than 40,000 followers before it was recently shut down by Facebook censors. “On September 28, 2014, around 300 HoGeSa members met in person for the first time in Dortmund, a city in the German state of North-Rhine Westphalia that has a large Muslim population. Similar meetings were also held in the cities of Essen, Mannheim and Nuremberg. “These introductory meetings paved the way for HoGeSa's first mass gathering, the rally in downtown Cologne on October 26. The organizers of the event were expecting a turnout of around 1,500 hooligans, but more than three times that many people (4,900 by some counts) showed up. “The rally, which began in front of Cologne's central train station, was initially peaceful, given that Salafists appeared to give the area a wide berth. But matters turned extremely violent after participants refused to obey police orders to clear the area after the event was over. "More than 1,300 police were called in, many using batons, pepper spray and water cannons against the protesters, who hurled rocks, bottles and firecrackers at them. Nearly 50 police officers were injured and 20 protesters were arrested.”No problem for Merkel when the “Because Germans still dare” forum was hacked. The chancellor was too busy telephoning Barack Obama to ask if he was spying on her cell phone: “Berlin: There is a growing sense among leading German politicians that the Federal Republic's preoccupation with the NSA surveillance scandal should not overshadow the pressing need to confront the Islamic State”. (Benjamin Weinthal, Long War Journal, Oct. 13, 2014) Barely scratching the surface shows that Merkel’s stance on terrorism has thus far been far more fueled by politics than effect:
“German officials are tangled up in knots over Islamic State. While they recognize the threat, there has been little appetite over the years to clamp down on jihadist networks in the country. In short, Berlin's lax policies toward terrorist groups have contributed to its Islamic State crisis. (Long War Journal) “It is worth recalling that Hezbollah's so-called political wing is legal in the country. According to Germany's national domestic intelligence report covering 2013, and published in June 2014, Hezbollah has 950 active members in the Federal Republic. There are also roughly 6,300 radical Islamists in Germany who are supporters of the Sunni branch of Salafism, Interior Minister de Maiziere said last week. Many of these Salafists are connected to the ideologies of al Qaeda, Shabaab, or the Islamic State. “Germany's latest domestic intelligence report described the growth of Salafists as the most "dynamic Islamic movement" in Germany.”Seems that resistance is still less than futile in Germany. There are some who would say that if Angela Merkel is truly interested in protecting her country from Islamic terrorism, she should quit with allowing the media and police their full-throttle Tea Party smearing of citizens who happen to be football fans and be more like a “hooligan” herself.
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