East German Spy Agency's Legacy Linked to Palestinian Groups and ISIS Founder

In Berlin, the Left Party celebrated a municipal election victory, with prominent attendees including Arab mafia figure Issa Remmo and a representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ibrahim Ibrahim. This event highlights historical ties between East German intelligence (Stasi) and Palestinian radical factions.

During the German Democratic Republic (GDR), the Stasi, considered the best intelligence agency in the Soviet bloc after the KGB, extensively supported Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). This support included providing instructors, funding, operational bases in Europe against Israelis, and infrastructure for training Palestinian cadres. The Stasi particularly favored the PFLP, known for hijacking planes carrying Israeli citizens.

East German universities educated individuals from Arafat's movement and the PFLP. The Stasi benefited from this relationship as Arafat's emissaries cultivated connections with West German leftist radical youth in the 1970s, creating an intelligence network for their East German counterparts. These young Germans were trained in Lebanon, forming the core of the Red Army Faction (RAF), a militant group that fought against West German authorities and capitalism.

This historical collaboration between German leftists and Palestinians persisted even after the fall of the Soviet Union and the GDR. Markus Wolf, the Jewish head of Stasi intelligence, was instrumental in these secret programs supporting Palestinians. His agents also trained intelligence officers from Iraq, Libya, Syria, and South Yemen in interrogation and recruitment techniques.

One notable trainee was Iraqi intelligence Colonel Samir al-Khalifa, known as Hajji Bakr. He is credited with founding the Islamic State (ISIS), which at its peak controlled significant territory in Iraq and Syria, as well as areas in Yemen, Libya, and Nigeria.