AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): An electoral debate among candidates from Berlin's main parties was held last Friday evening at the Dar al-Salam Mosque in the Neukölln district, with the presence of a number of Muslims. The session, titled "Politics Up Close; Berlin in Dialogue," was organized at the invitation of the Berlin Council of Imams.
In this session, representatives from the Left Party, the Greens, the Social Democrats, and the Free Democratic Party discussed issues related to Berlin state politics with those present.
During the debate, Christoph Meyer, the chairman of the Free Democratic Party in Berlin, raised allegations against Taha Sabri, the imam of the Dar al-Salam Mosque, by displaying an old image of him alongside Amin Aburashid, the head of the European Palestinian Conference. Aburashid had previously been convicted on charges of fundraising for the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, but was later acquitted by a Dutch court.
This action was met with reactions from other participants. Elif Eralp, a representative of the Left Party, called for a discussion about Muslim life without linking it to extremism. Bettina Jarasch, from the Green Party, also described Meyer's statements as an attempt to divert the course of the debate and repeat allegations of association against the mosque imam.
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