Anti-jihadist protests in Germany

The chairman of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany Aiman Mazyek (pictured) said on Friday that Germany's estimated 4.5 million Muslims should not stay silent when persons misused the Islamic faith to enact crimes.

The day-long campaign was welcomed by the President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, who said "it is good that Muslim associations are putting up a fight against the terrorism of fanatical Islamists."

Mazyek described Islamic State (IS) rebels shown recently in videoed beheadings of American and British hostages as "in truth terrorists and murderers."

They had dragged Islam "through the mud," Mazyek said, adding that the perpetrators' actions exposed other followers of Islam to hate and suffering through backlash.

"We want to make it clear that the majority of Muslims here in this country and worldwide think and act differently," Mazyek added."Islam is a peaceful religion!"

Graumann said he would visit a mosque in Frankfurt, adding that his Central Council of Jews had always stood by the side of the Muslim community when it was subjected to attack by detractors.

Radicalization on the rise

German Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, speaking at a "day of action" rally at a mosque near Hanover, warned that only together with the Muslim community could Germany detect the danger of young people becoming radicalized.

"We must exchange information on the travel movements of jihadists. That is complicated. The intelligence services must also work closely together," de Maiziere said.

He said closer cooperation was needed between Germany and Turkey to prevent the transit of mostly young men intending to become IS recruits.

"Muslims have demonstrated that hatred and violence can never be legitimized in the name of Islam,"

Germany's Muslim "day of action" included nine large rallies. Aside from Hanover, locations include Stuttgart, Berlin and Mölln, the scene of a fatal attack on resident Turks by neo-Nazis in 1992.

IS banned in Germany

Last week, Germany banned all support from German territory for the IS rebels in Syria and Iraq and any displays of its insignia.

Salafism, a conservative interpreation of the Koran, has drawn followers among some youths of Turkish and Arabic origin in several German cities.

Earlier this month, Berlin decided to sent arms to Kurds in northern Iraq in support of their fight against IS rebels who in recent months have seized swathes of territory.

ipj/glb/dr (epd, KNA, DPA)