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1. Factsheet: Alice Weidel

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
03-2025
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Alice Weidel is the co-chairwoman of the Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland, AfD), a far-right political party in Germany and the first far-right nationalist party to enter the German parliament since World War II. Under the leadership of Weidel, the party has become the second strongest force following the national elections in February 2025. Weidel has a long history of anti-Muslim statements and support for discriminatory policies targeting Muslims. She argues that Islam is incompatible with the German constitution and European values, and is also connected to several anti-Muslim actors.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Alternative for Germany (AfD), and Alice Weidel
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

2. Factsheet: Manfred Weber

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Manfred Weber is a German politician who has served as President of the European People’s Party (EPP) since 2022, and as Leader of the EPP Group in the European Parliament since 2014. He has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Germany since 2004. He is a member of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), which is a member of the EPP. Weber has made statements alleging that Muslims and Islam are a threat to European culture.
Topic:
European Union, Islamophobia, Catholic Church, Xenophobia, Christian Social Union, and European People's Party (EPP)
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, and Austria

3. Factsheet: Friedrich Merz

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
07-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Friedrich Merz is a German politician. In 2022, he became the leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the German federal parliament, the Bundestag. He has made anti-Muslim comments and represents the conservative right-wing camp within his party.
Topic:
Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, and Friedrich Merz
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

4. Factsheet: Sigrid Herrmann-Marschall

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Sigrid Herrmann-Marschall is a widely quoted German blogger, who is often invited as an expert on Islamism. She regularly argues that the government needs to take stricter measures to tackle Islamism in German society. She frequently lectures, trains, and publishes in a variety of newspapers and is referenced as an expert by many political parties including the far-right. More recently, she reportedly served as an expert on behalf of the far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Topic:
Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, Far Right, Islamism, and Sigrid Herrmann-Marschall
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

5. Factsheet: Heiko Heinisch

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Heiko Heinisch is a German political commentator and writer on Islamism. Heinisch is often presented as an expert on Islam and Islamism by the far-right Austrian government and the Austrian media. He serves on the academic advisory board of Austria’s Documentation Center for Political Islam, a federally funded center for monitoring, surveilling and mapping Muslims in Austria.
Topic:
Surveillance, Islamophobia, Far Right, and Islamism
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, and Austria

6. Factsheet: Mouhanad Khorchide

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
03-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Mouhanad Khorchide is professor of Islamic pedagogy at the University of Münster in Germany. He has authored several books on Islam and is a frequent media commentator on Islam and Muslims. Khorchide is a member of several political initiatives calling for the reform of Islam and he supports discriminatory state policies, including the hijab ban. He heads the advisory board for Austria’s Documentation Center for Political Islam—a project that monitors movements that do not pose a security-related threat and is “part of the national strategy of extremism prevention and deradicalization.”
Topic:
Islam, Domestic Politics, Discrimination, Academia, and Muslims
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

7. Factsheet: Susanne Schröter

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Susanne Schröter is a trained ethnologist and Professor of Anthropology at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. She is the founder of the Frankfurt Center of Global Islam (Frankfurter Forschungszentrum Globaler Islam) and author of several books and articles on political Islam. Schröter has called on the German government to only work with “liberal” Muslims, has a history of making broad and generalized statements about Islam and Muslims, and works with several anti-Muslim voices and organizations.
Topic:
Academia, Muslims, and Susanne Schröter
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

8. Factsheet: Ahmad Mansour

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
10-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Ahmad Mansour is an Arab-Israeli psychologist based in Germany. Mansour is a former program director and current advisor at the Brussels-based European Foundation for Democracy, and research associate at the Centre for Democratic Culture (Gesellschaft Demokratische Kultur, or ZDK) with a focus on ‘radicalization.’ Mansour is also the chairman of the Muslim Forum Germany (Muslimisches Forum Deutschland). From 2009 to 2013, Mansour was a member of the German Islam Conference, which was launched by Germany’s Interior Ministry. He is a frequent commentator in German news media, and has received several awards for his anti-Muslim work.
Topic:
Radicalization, Research, and Islamophobia
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

9. Factsheet: Hamed Abdel-Samad

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
03-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Hamed Abdel-Samad is a German-Egyptian journalist and award winning author who has helped shape the public discourse on Islam in Germany. He has written seven books that are not only critical of Islam and Muslims, but frame Islam as a totalitarian ideology. Abdel-Samad is often invited as a guest by the German media, is part of governmental initiatives such as the German Islam Conference, and has been invited by the rising far-right political party Alternative for Germany.
Topic:
Islamophobia, Far Right, Journalism, Muslims, and Hamed Abdel-Samad
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany

10. Factsheet: Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland/AfD)

Author:
Bridge Initiative Team
Publication Date:
04-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Bridge Initiative, Georgetown University
Abstract:
Alternative for Germany (Alternative für Deutschland/AfD) is a far-right political party in Germany and the first far-right nationalist party to enter the German parliament since World War II. AfD is widely regarded as an anti-Semitic, Islamophobic, and racist political party.
Topic:
Domestic Politics, Islamophobia, Far Right, Anti-Semitism, Political Parties, Racism, and Alternative for Germany (AfD)
Political Geography:
Europe and Germany