Anyone who had hoped that a clear message against the far-right would be sent on Sylt this weekend will be disappointed. After the scandal surrounding Nazi chants in an Eded club on the island, demonstrations and rallies were announced – but hardly anyone came. Some of the rallies were more like coffee mornings.
A group of punks had called for a demonstration in Westerland on Saturday. But only ten demonstrators marched through the town under the slogan “Be loud against the right!” The participants displayed banners with the words “Human rights instead of right-wing people”, “Prevent the pogroms of tomorrow” and “Refugees welcome”. According to the police, the organizer had expected up to 50 participants.
On Saturday evening, a vigil with music took place in front of the “Pony” in Kampen. This rally also fell short of expectations. Among the seven participants were Sylt locals, but also people from Hamburg and Berlin. They said they were there because they wanted to react to the racist incidents on Sylt. They listened to punk music and discussed things until late into the night.
On Sunday, around 450 people responded to a call from the “Sylt against the right” alliance: “We are taking a clear stand. Racism and right-wing extremist ideas have no place on Sylt. Regardless of whether you are an island resident or a tourist, we stand for a colorful and livable island,” the left-wing alliance declared beforehand. In front of the town hall in Westerland, mostly islanders demonstrated against the shift to the right in society.
The speakers included various politicians and the third deputy mayor of the municipality of Sylt, Katrin Kupfer. The organizers had expected 600 to 800 participants. There was also a rally in Keitum with few participants.
At Pentecost, guests at the “Pony” sang a racist text to the music of the party hit “L’Amour Toujour”. This triggered a nationwide scandal. According to the police in Lower Saxony, several new criminal proceedings have now been initiated for the same offense.
In the district of Gifhorn, two such cases occurred on Friday evening and on Saturday night in the vicinity of shooting festivals, a police spokesman said. The first case occurred on Friday evening in connection with the shooting festival in the municipality of Isenbüttel.
A 39-year-old woman reported to the police: As she was leaving the shooting festival with her family, a group of around ten young people were singing the slogan “Foreigners out” on the forecourt. One of the young people was also holding up an AfD election poster.
Early on Saturday morning, a group is said to have sung “Foreigners out” on the shooting range in the town of Meine. A second group joined in the singing. When police officers spoke to the people, the singing stopped. Criminal proceedings have been initiated against nine people aged between 16 and 44.
As of May 28, the State Criminal Police Office in Lower Saxony was aware of 28 cases in which people sang the racist version of the song “L’Amour Toujours,” including at several shooting festivals.
According to police, the phenomenon of a rewriting of the original text with xenophobic chants became known in November 2023. Social networks played a major role in the spread. It is being investigated whether singing these slogans can be considered incitement under criminal law. It always depends on the context, including whether it incited hatred and violence.
The penalty for incitement to hatred is between three months and five years in prison. According to the Ministry of Justice, anyone who forwards videos of racist chants may also be committing a criminal offense. In this case, violations of personal rights could also be considered.
By Olaf Wunder
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The original of this article “After outrage over Sylt scandal, demonstrations degenerate into coffee klatches” comes from Mopo.
