First Issa Remmo. Then Ibrahim Ibrahim from the PFLP’s milieu. Now two social media activists from the Barbakh extended family have also been documented at the Left’s election party in Neukölln. Encounters, interviews and joint photographs are documented. This does not automatically indicate organized cooperation. Nevertheless, the accumulation is politically relevant.

The Neukölln Left’s election party at Ballhaus Rixdorf has, in retrospect, developed into a stress test for the district association. Issa Remmo initially made headlines. It then became known that the anti-Israel activist Ibrahim Ibrahim had also been present. Now WELT reports, citing further research, on two social media activists from the Barbakh extended family who conducted interviews with politicians from the Neukölln Left at the event.

Different developments must be distinguished here. Issa Remmo comes from Berlin’s well-known clan milieu. Barbakh is a Palestinian extended family whose individual members, according to investigators, are relevant to security authorities. Ibrahim Ibrahim, meanwhile, has been publicly visible for years as part of organized anti-Israel activism. These are different milieus. Their common point of intersection that evening was initially their documented presence at the same political event.

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Mena-Watch 27.09.2026 · 07:01 Uhr Die Berliner Linke feiert ihren Wahlerfolg. Doch Kontakte zu Clan-Chef Issa Remmo, Chats seines Sohnes Firas mit Ferat Koçak und ein PFLP-Unterstützer auf der… Mena-Watch 25.09.2026 · 11:38 Uhr Der mit der @LinkeNeukoelln in einem Bündnis befindliche PFLP-Aktivist Ibrahim Ibrahim soll sich öffentlich zu @dielinkeberlin bekannt haben, um eine „Schmierenkampagne“ gegen @dieLinke auszulösen…?… Jüdische Allgemeine 22.09.2026 · 18:30 Uhr Wegen umstrittener Kontakte zur Berliner Großfamilie Remmo zieht sich der Linken-Bundestagsabgeordnete Ferat Koçak vorerst aus der Öffentlichkeit und aus dem Bundestagsinnenausschuss zurück. Dies teilte… Jüdische Allgemeine 22.09.2026 · 17:15 Uhr Grünen-Fraktionschefin: Ferat Koçak hat wiederholt an Veranstaltungen teilgenommen, bei denen Menschen aufgetreten sind, »die Terror verherrlichen, das Existenzrecht Israels infrage stellen und die antisemitisch… Mena-Watch 23.09.2026 · 06:55 Uhr Dass im Wahlkreis »Neukölln 1« fast die Hälfte der Wählenden ihre Erststimme einer dezidiert israelfeindlichen Kandidatin der Partei »Die Linke« gab, zeugt von gewaltiger…

Two activists from the Barbakh extended family

The appearances by two social media activists from the Barbakh extended family that have now come to light must be viewed differently. One of them conducted interviews with Neukölln’s leading Left candidate Ahmed Abed, co-district chair Jorinde Schulz and Basem Said. Another activist filmed Ibrahim Ibrahim in front of the stage.

This, too, does not mean that Abed, Schulz or Said knew whom they were speaking with. The Tagesspiegel explicitly notes that this is unclear. Schulz said in response to an inquiry that, given the election result, she had given many interviews that evening.

The family’s background is nevertheless relevant to the classification. According to Tagesspiegel, more than 300 members of the family live in Berlin. Many reportedly arrived from the Gaza Strip from 2024 onward. Investigators classify a two-digit number of family members as relevant to security authorities. Individual members are said to have attracted attention at anti-Israel demonstrations through violent offenses or Hamas symbolism.

These statements concern specific individuals and investigators’ findings. They are not a license to place an entire extended family under general suspicion. That is precisely why the two activists remain anonymized in the article and in the images.

Ibrahim Ibrahim and his connections to the PFLP milieu

In Ibrahim Ibrahim’s case, the background goes back considerably further than this election evening. In October 2025, the research association democ documented Ibrahim’s appearance at a demonstration in Berlin. There, he praised the then Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as a “steadfast leader” and “martyr hero.” Sinwar played a major role in organizing and coordinating the October 7, 2023 massacre.

For years, democ and other media have described Ibrahim as an activist or supporter of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, PFLP. The European Union continues to list the PFLP on its terrorism list.

At the election party, Ibrahim was also photographed together with Neukölln Left member of the Bundestag Ferat Koçak. Koçak subsequently said that he had taken hundreds of photographs that evening with people who supported his political work, and explicitly distanced himself from Ibrahim’s statements glorifying violence and terrorism.

The photograph alone does not prove personal or political proximity. But it is not the first documented shared political context. As early as June 2025, Koçak and Ibrahim appeared as speakers at the same rally organized by the Neukölln Left in front of the town hall. WELT documented at the time how district association spokesman Hermann Nehls welcomed Ibrahim with the words: “I am very pleased that Ibrahim is now speaking to us.” Koçak told WELT at the time that Ibrahim was not known to him and that he rejected terrorism, the glorification of violence and extremist positions.

VPNK and the Left: Background to the election-party milieu

The United Palestinian National Committee, VPNK, also did not first appear in the district association’s milieu on election night. For 2024, Berlin’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution described how supporters of Hamas and the PFLP jointly organized events under this umbrella designation. In its 2025 report, the agency again lists the VPNK among the influential actors in Berlin’s anti-Israel extremist scene.

In August 2025, a pro-Palestinian solidarity neighborhood event took place whose event flyers listed both the VPNK and “Die Linke, AG Palästina-Soli, BV Neukölln.” In an answer from the Berlin Senate it was stated that these and other groups had presumably been shown on the flyers as organizers. Tagesspiegel documented Ibrahim Ibrahim as a speaker for the VPNK at this event.

The district association itself describes the relationship even more clearly. An FAQ from its Palestine Solidarity Working Group dated August 19, 2025, states that it had been in contact with representatives of the VPNK for months and had been taking to the streets together. The VPNK representatives at Left events had the working group’s “fullest trust.”

Ibrahim’s presence at the election party therefore cannot be classified in the same way as Remmo’s unannounced appearance. Remmo was sent out of the hall after being identified. Ibrahim had already appeared publicly on several occasions as a political actor at events connected to the district association.

This point gained additional significance after the election. The Tagesspiegel reported that Ibrahim had congratulated them on the election success and described the VPNK as “part of this success.” The Berliner Zeitung also documented a German-language congratulatory message from the VPNK. In it, the committee stated that its members and supporters had contributed to the election success through mobilization, voter outreach and the promotion of democratic participation. At the same time, it signaled that cooperation would continue.

Remmo, Barbakh and Ibrahim do not belong to a single organization and must not be conflated into one “clan” complex. What is documented is something else: People from different problematic milieus were visible at the same election event. In Ibrahim’s case, there is also a longer-documented political history with the Neukölln district association.

The “election intifada” came on the same day

Another development belongs to the political context of this election evening. On September 20, Basem Said, a candidate of the Neukölln Left for the district assembly, shared an Instagram appeal by activist Majed Abusalama. It described the Berlin election as an “election intifada” and called for votes for Ahmed Abed, Basem Said and the Left.

The Tagesspiegel reports that Abusalama was a co-founder of the group “Palästina spricht,” which the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified as definitively extremist. Said shared the appeal and thanked people for their support.

The term “intifada” is not historically arbitrary. It refers in particular to the Palestinian uprisings against Israel. During the Second Intifada, more than a thousand Israelis were killed in attacks and other acts of violence. Tagesspiegel assesses the specific use of the slogan in connection with the election appeal as an unambiguous call for violence. This assessment comes from Tagesspiegel and is reproduced here as such.

An open election party does not explain all the encounters

The open event explains part of the evening. Apparently, anyone who was not on a registration list could still enter the packed hall. In Issa Remmo’s case, it is now documented that exactly this happened and that he was subsequently sent out.

But the open door does not fully explain every other development. Two social media activists conducted interviews with leading members of the Neukölln Left. Ibrahim Ibrahim was photographed with Ferat Koçak. On the same day, Basem Said had shared the appeal for an “election intifada.” None of these findings, taken individually, proves organizational cooperation. Taken together, however, they constitute a series of politically relevant encounters that goes beyond Remmo’s brief unannounced visit.

A stress test for the district association

The Left received around 32 percent with its district list in Neukölln, becoming the strongest force by a clear margin. After the election, Ahmed Abed said that he “certainly” wanted to become district mayor and would invite the SPD and Greens to talks about policy content and the mayor’s office.

At the state level, too, the debate comes at a time of possible government formation. The Berlin Left is holding talks with the SPD and Greens. The developments in Neukölln are therefore a stress test for the district association, not merely an internal matter. They raise the question of which political and extremist milieus are accepted as interlocutors within and around a potential governing party, and where concrete boundaries are drawn.

The decisive question is not whether the Neukölln Left is cooperating with a “clan.” There is no evidence of this. The verifiable question is how the district association draws its boundary with actors who publicly take an anti-Israel stance or are attributed to extremist structures, and how it explains repeated joint appearances and encounters.

Remmo was recognized and sent out. In contrast, Ibrahim Ibrahim has a documented history of appearances at events organized by the Neukölln Left. This exact difference is decisive for classifying the election evening. The political question begins where a random visitor gives way to repeatedly encountered known actors and documented shared contexts.