Pro-Hamas supporters? “I’m afraid for myself and my family.” The future mayor of Berlin’s comments were published by mistake

Are there circles close to Hamas operating within Berlin’s Die Linke? The future mayor, Elif Eralp, does not even wish to name them, stating: “The criminal investigation department said at the time that they recommend never naming specific individuals. Back then, it was about organised crime. Now it concerns people with links to Hamas. I cannot put myself and my family at risk.” The statement has sent shockwaves through the capital, particularly as it reached the public by mistake. It was written in the comments section of the final approval for an interview with Eralp in Der Spiegel. The politician’s press office sent the Word document to Der Spiegel whilst it still contained Eralp’s and her team’s final comments and deletions – a rookie error. The interview question that reportedly caused the panic concerned Ibrahim Ibrahim, who, according to the security authorities, is a leading figure in the VPNK – an acronym that Berlin’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution regards as an umbrella organisation for supporters of the PFLP and Hamas. Ibrahim is known to have appeared at Die Linke’s election party in Neukölln following the victory on 20 September. “Neither my husband nor I want to name specific people; he is afraid of these people, and so am I,” Eralp writes in the comments. She then adds: “I cannot put myself and my family in danger for Der Spiegel. What do we do now? Do we cancel the whole interview?”

Spiegel decided to publish these notes, which had been sent in by mistake, overnight, stating that it was a matter of journalistic duty. “Can a woman who is too afraid to confirm the name of a terrorist sympathiser in an interview be responsible for the safety of all Berliners?”, asks the Spiegel article in a direct attack, particularly given that it comes from Germany’s leading progressive weekly. It is a highly contentious issue: the mayor of a city-state such as Berlin also bears significant policing responsibilities. Following the error, a spokesperson for Eralp wrote to Spiegel stating that the future mayor had been insulted and threatened daily for months, though referring to a general threat situation, and therefore asking that Eralp’s personal safety be taken into account. At midday on Thursday, Eralp appeared before the press to reiterate that she would take up the post of mayor, adding: “I will act with the utmost determination against all forms of organised crime, violence or terrorism. I have given my word to the people of Berlin on this, and I will ensure it is honoured.”

Eralp’s opponent in the recent elections, Stefan Evers of the CDU, immediately went on the offensive: “How could Elif Eralp, as mayor, guarantee the safety of millions of people, when she herself is afraid of the Islamist element within her own party?” Pressure from the centre and conservative camps is mounting, particularly on the SPD, which is being urged not to form the capital’s government with Die Linke (and the Greens). Some fear that the red-red-green alliance will provide the far-right AfD with years of easy opposition and propaganda. A minority within the SPD, with closer ties to the police and a ‘law and order’ stance, has long turned up its nose at Berlin’s chosen path. However, the majority of the Berlin SPD has already voted to begin coalition negotiations with Eralp as mayor. Will Spiegel’s scoop have consequences, now or perhaps in the future? In the Word document leaked by mistake, Eralp also wrote: “What do I do now? I should never have agreed to this interview.”