A letter from German human rights activist Michael Stürzenberger to Robert Spencer, lightly edited for clarity:
German authorities are apparently trying to silence me, because we hold rallies all over Germany to inform people about the danger of political Islam. Every weekend, we go to the centers of big cities and talk about the violence, terror, the oppression of women, and hostility towards Jews and other “unbelievers.”
Many radical Muslims are very angry about it. They often offend, threaten, throw objects and sometimes strike us.
Leftists extremists, meanwhile, have lost their favorite way to portray us as an enemy, because they have realized we are anti-Nazis, and we have re-founded the White Rose with the best friend of Sophie Scholl, Susanne Zeller-Hirzel. We warn against the Nazi-Islam-pact and show solidarity with Israel and the Jews. Leftists know now that they make a fool of themselves when they shout “Nazis out.” It took a long time to convince them. As you remember, when you were at the rally in Stuttgart in June 2011, they showed pure hate.
Our Leftist government is trying to ignore the danger of political Islam. Interior minister Nancy Faeser stopped the work of an “expert adviser on political Islamism” two weeks ago. She says, contrary to the facts, that the biggest problem in Germany is right-wing extremism.
Since 2010, I have held more than 400 public rallies about political Islam. In the first years, we held them only in Munich, when we engaged against the planned “European Islamic Centre” in the middle of Munich, financed by Qatar.
Since 2018, we have been touring all over Germany, and now it seems they consider us more and more as a nuisance.
The peak of obstruction by the judiciary is now this court case in Hamburg. I couldn’t believe that they want to throw me in jail for six months. Without parole!
At the rally on October 8, 2020 in Hamburg, I constantly differentiated between peaceful, democratic and non-violent Muslims and jihadis. I just criticized political Islam and its violent effects. We have an incredibly high crime rate among refugees who come mainly from Islamic countries that are jihadi hotbeds, such as Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, etc. You know the problem.
I only have one conviction, for so-called “incitement of the people“ from 2020. It was just a fine of 4000 euros. It was because of a speech from 2015 in Munich when I said “Muslims reject democracy.” I differentiated a few minutes later to specify that I was referring to radical Muslims, but the judge said that if someone walked past the rally and heard the sentence without differentiation, he could have taken it as hate speech. And so the so-called “passer-by verdict” was issued.
In Austria in 2015, I quoted my friend Nassim Ben Iman, an ex-Muslim from North Africa, who said: “Every Muslim who accepts the Koran as a direct command of Allah is a potential terrorist.” They sentenced me in Graz to six months’ probation for “hate speech.” The probation expired in 2018.
That was it so far. And now they want to throw me in jail.
I often remember our meeting in Stockholm 2012 at the counter-jihad rally. It was a great honor to meet you. Maybe we’ll see each other again sometime. Next year – when I’m still free – I’m planning to visit New York to see the 9/11 museum. That day my work on informing people about that danger started.
