German state govt removes 'anti-Muslim' video compared to Nazi propaganda

A state government in Germany has deleted a controversial and provocative video about Muslims posted to X that has been slammed as echoing Nazi-era propaganda.

The video posted by Bavaria's Interior Ministry purported to warn against the alleged dangers of Salafism — a Muslim movement perceived as being intolerant and puritanical.

The cartoon depicts a woman in a headscarf watching a video on whether it is permissible for women to wear makeup. As she watches the explainer, the woman is seen being swallowed up into the mouth of a cackling, bearded man wearing a skullcap.

The woman's religious clothing is then seen becoming progressively more pervasive, until she re-emerges from the man's mouth wearing all black and a niqab full face covering.

Another scene shows the woman crying while sweeping the floor, while a man — presumably her husband — embraces another niqab-wearing woman.

The video warns that "the Salafism trap happens faster than you think".

Many took to X to slam the video.

“The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior (!) is agitating against Muslims with caricatures that are reminiscent of the times of Nazi propaganda against Jews,” said Berlin house of representatives member Ferat Koçak.

Left Party Bundestag member Nicole Gohlke described the video as "thoroughly racist".

“Instead of exclusion and incitement, we need to take a stand against anti-Muslim racism, ” she wrote on X.

The Ministry of the Interior of the 🇩🇪 state of Bavaria has released a video that is offensive to Muslims.The video appears to be directly copied from caricatures dating back to the1930s Nazi era.The essence of the video is that Muslims are portrayed as evil,dangerous & deceptive pic.twitter.com/2bBhvVnAZG

— Taqadum Al-Khatib (@taqadum) September 2, 2024

The video was posted to X just hours after Germany's far-right AfD party won the Thuringia state elections with 33 percent of the vote on Sunday.

The AfD's first victory in a state election comes amid fears of a resurgence of the far-right in Germany, who oppose multiculturalism, Islam and environmentalism. The win was also the German far-right's first since World War II.

Germany has also seen a crackdown on Muslim and pro-Palestinian groups, including restrictions on speech and protests.

In a statement to US media outlet Politico, the Bavarian Interior Ministry said it had paused the campaign due to criticism.

“We are extremely sorry if the video has led to confusion and misunderstandings,” a deputy spokesperson was quoted as saying.

“As prevention and deradicalization work in the fight against Salafism is very important to us, we will revise the video scenes — but the dangers of Salafism must not be played down.”