German Charity Sounds the Alarm: Kids Carrying Knives and Growing Support for ISIS

Germany is heading towards an "uncontrollable catastrophe," warns Christian Büscher, a representative of Die Arche, a Christian charity dedicated to fighting child poverty. According to him, more and more children and teenagers are carrying knives, while religious radicalisation — including covert sympathy for the so-called "Islamic State" — is on the rise.

Die Arche looks after around a thousand children and young people in Berlin, and across Germany the organisation supports 11,500 teenagers through 40 facilities. Roughly 80% of those in its care have a migration background.

Knives Are No Longer Rare

"Knives don't shock most teenagers anymore. We've even found bladed weapons on eleven-year-olds," Büscher told the German outlet Merkur. He also pointed to growing religious radicalism, noting that young people often pick up antisemitic and Islamist views directly within their own families.

"Many quietly sympathise with 'Islamic State' propaganda. We're heading for disaster. A lot of these young people can no longer be brought back to democratic values," Büscher laments, adding that radicalisation most often begins at home.

His concerns are backed by a study commissioned by the Berlin state government: a survey of schoolchildren found that 40% of Muslim students place religious rules above school regulations.

Preachers Reaching Youth Through Social Media

"Essentially, we'd need a social worker for every single refugee," Büscher says, pointing to the growing activity of Islamist preachers on social media. On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, they reach tens — sometimes hundreds — of thousands of young users, tailoring their content to fit each platform's style.

Topics are chosen to grab young people's attention — from scandal-prone bloggers to debates about the "religiously correct" way to treat the opposite sex. Over time, the content narrows and becomes increasingly laced with extremist messaging. Islamist preachers who present themselves as influential opinion leaders are gaining more and more traction.

The group Muslim Interactive — later banned by Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) — organised demonstrations in Hamburg in May and October 2024 via Instagram and TikTok. Meanwhile, lectures by the Salafist preacher Abdelhamid, recently convicted of fraud, drew crowds of several thousand at mosques.

According to the annual report from MOTRA, a German research project that tracks and analyses trends in radicalisation, extremism and terrorism, around 45% of Muslims under 40 in Germany show signs of open or covert Islamist views.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz