Sep 11, 2:01 PM
Subsidizing Sympathy: Taxpayer Funds for Political Relativism
On the twenty-fifth anniversary of September 11, a state-funded play in Hamburg asks whether terrorists are merely freedom fighters.
It takes a remarkable degree of administrative obliviousness to channel public funds into a theatrical meditation on terrorism scheduled precisely for the twenty-fifth anniversary of September 11. Yet, on September 11, 2026, the Monsun-Theater in Hamburg will host the premiere of "Terrorist*innen," a production staged by Theater Colonia and the 1000&Ein Kollektiv.
The choice of location provides a stark historical echo. Hamburg is not an arbitrary background in the history of modern Islamist violence. It served as the staging ground for Mohammed Atta and the Hamburg cell, who spent months in the city organizing the destruction of the World Trade Center. A quarter of a century later, a stage in that same city provides the venue for a performance built around the thesis that individuals branded as terrorists might simply view themselves as freedom or resistance fighters.
This artistic exercise in moral equivalence enjoys the backing of state institutions. The organizational structure behind 1000&Ein Kollektiv received financial backing tied to the Ministry for Children, Youth, Family, Equality, Flight and Integration of North Rhine-Westphalia, alongside support from the Imhoff Foundation. Official state records document Theater Colonia e.V. as a recipient of initial kickstart funding for 2025. Under North Rhine-Westphalia guidelines, this category allows full financing up to a maximum threshold of 8,000 euros per fiscal year.
When asked to account for the precise sums, funding periods, and specific intended uses of these public resources, the responsible ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia provided no answers before publication. The Imhoff Foundation similarly disclosed no details regarding the exact extent of its financial contribution. What remains is a familiar administrative routine: public money flows toward questionable ideological projects, followed by bureaucratic silence when forced to explain the bill.
State patronage of the arts has long tested the patience of citizens, but underwriting the blurred boundaries of political violence on the anniversary of September 11 exposes a deeper decay in public judgment. When government departments quietely finance works that soften the distinction between terror and resistance, official cultural policy ceases to be mere patronage and becomes an exercise in self-inflicted demoralization.
Written by Sandy van Dongen sandy.vandongen@alpineweekly.com
