The left-wing Die Linke party, which won Berlin’s election about two weeks ago, is facing growing scrutiny over its ties to figures linked to Arab crime families in the German capital, as well as antisemitic and anti-Israel activists. Now, questions are also being raised about Elif Eralp, the party’s candidate for mayor, and her involvement in a group that Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has described as one of the country’s most important far-left organizations.
Warning signs emerged on election night, when Issa Remmo, head of Berlin’s largest crime clan, attended the party’s victory celebration in the immigrant-heavy district of Neukölln. Remmo said the party had finally given him a sense of political belonging. Ibrahim Ibrahim, a representative of an umbrella organization linked to Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Germany, was also present.
The party sought to distance itself from the two men, but the Remmo clan later publicly released messages between its members and Die Linke lawmakers who had asked the family to distribute campaign material on their behalf.
It has now emerged that until a year ago, Eralp was a member of the organization Red Aid, whose motto is “the end justifies the means.” The group provides legal and financial support to offenders as long as their crimes were committed in pursuit of left-wing political causes.
Many Germans had already raised concerns over the party’s ties to crime clans and its calls to reduce police funding and presence. Some voters are now questioning whether Eralp’s past in an organization seen as supporting violence, or turning a blind eye to violations of the law in pursuit of its goals, could undermine her ability to serve as Berlin’s democratic, law-abiding leader.
While a left-wing coalition involving the Greens, Die Linke and the Social Democrats is beginning to take shape in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a similar coalition in Berlin, though mathematically possible, appears increasingly remote. Many Social Democrats and Greens have warned against opening coalition talks with Die Linke.
Once again, the party is giving potential coalition partners reasons to keep their distance.
It was revealed this week that representatives of the Barbak clan were also present at Die Linke’s victory party in Neukölln, where the party won 31% of the vote, compared with 25.7% citywide.
The clan arrived in Berlin from Khan Younis in recent years and now numbers more than 130 family members, most of them living in Neukölln.
Pro-Palestinian demonstration in Berlin
(Photo: AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Unlike the Remmo clan, the Barbak family is not considered heavily involved in conventional criminal activity. Its members are primarily involved in organizing anti-Israel demonstrations, supporting Hamas and its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, disseminating inflammatory messages, spray-painting red triangles associated with Hamas on walls across the city and sharing extremist Islamist content on social media.
According to police, the family’s activities, violence by some of its members against officers, calls for Israel’s destruction and attacks on Jews, as well as efforts directed against Germany’s constitution and democratic order, have led intelligence agencies to place many of its members under surveillance.
Despite this, two representatives of the family not only attended Die Linke’s victory celebration but also interviewed senior party officials and filmed them on video.
“We express full solidarity with the Barbak family,” wrote the Palestine Solidarity group, which is affiliated with the party.
The group also wrote on its Instagram account that “the Palestinian resistance will not stop until Tel Aviv is Palestinian. Solidarity with Palestine is not a crime.”
Meanwhile, Jewish and Israeli activists in Germany are continuing efforts to provide Eralp with a degree of public legitimacy in response to warnings from numerous Jewish institutions and public figures against including her in a coalition because of manifestations of antisemitism within the party.
After 150 Israeli and Jewish artists and cultural figures signed a letter supporting the party, Eralp visited a solidarity sukkah organized by the group Israelis for Peace on Monday.
She delivered remarks there with sukkah decorations behind her bearing slogans including “Israelis against genocide” and “Germany, impose sanctions on Israel now.”