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Gatestone Institute: German Parliament’s Hizballah ban is a legal charade

Dec 23, 2019 8:00 am By Robert Spencer

This important report from Gatestone Institute reveals that the German Parliament’s ban on Hizballah is just window dressing, not real action against the jihad terror group. The German authorities likely do not dare take any genuine steps to ban Hizballah, for fear of a violent jihadi response.

An update on this story. “German Parliament: Its Resolution to Ban Hezbollah is Just a Legal Charade,” by Soeren Kern, Gatestone Institute, December 23, 2019:

The German parliament has passed a non-binding resolution that calls on the German government to ban the activities of the Iran-backed Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah — Arabic for “The Party of Allah” — in Germany.

The measure — supported by center-right Christian Democrats and the center-left Social Democrats, the two major parties that make up Germany’s ruling coalition, and also by the classical liberal Free Democrats — has been hailed as “important,” “significant,” and a “crucial step.”

The resolution, however, falls short of a complete ban on Hezbollah and appears aimed at providing the German government with political cover that would allow Germany to claim that it has banned the group even if it has not.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has faced increasing international pressure to ban Hezbollah, but she has refused to do so. Hezbollah has more than 1,000 operatives in Germany, according to German intelligence assessments.

The three-page resolution — “Effective Action against Hezbollah” (“Wirksames Vorgehen gegen die Hisbollah”) — was passed on December 19. An abridged translation of the text reads:

“Because of our history, Germany has a special responsibility towards the Jewish and democratic State of Israel. Israel’s security and right to exist are part of Germany’s raison d’état [Staatsräson]. The Bundestag calls on the federal government to confront actors in the Middle East that question Israel’s right to exist or openly threaten its security. In addition to Iran’s continually aggressive policies, the most important of these anti-Israeli forces is the terrorist group Hezbollah, which is closely linked to Iran, and due to its widespread presence also poses a particular threat to the stability of the entire Middle East.

“The German Bundestag is committed to Germany’s special responsibility towards Israel and its security. It adheres to the two-state solution, as confirmed by the United Nations Security Council in numerous resolutions: a Jewish and democratic state of Israel within secure borders and an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state.

“According to the federal government, Hezbollah supporters primarily use Germany as a place of retreat and logistics. Its followers are under the watchful eye of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution [German domestic intelligence]. There are around 1,000 supporters of Hezbollah in Germany, and this number is increasing. Hezbollah cannot currently be banned because its association structures cannot currently be determined.

“The federal government has already taken measures against the spread and support of Hezbollah in Germany with the 2008 ban on the ‘Al Manar TV’ television station, and the 2014 ban of the ‘Lebanon Orphan Project.’ In 2018 alone, the Federal Prosecutor General [Generalbundesanwalt] at the Federal Court of Justice [Bundesgerichtshof] initiated 36 investigations against individuals linked to Hezbollah….

“According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, it must be expected that Hezbollah will continue to plan and carry out terrorist actions against Israel or Israeli interests outside the Middle East. Our commitment to the protection of the State of Israel also requires that funding flows from Germany, which serve to finance Hezbollah in the Middle East, be prevented by all means.

“The German Bundestag views as an urgent priority a consistent national and common European approach against the activities of the terrorist organization Hezbollah….

“The German Bundestag calls on the federal government to:

“1. Continue closely to monitor the activities of Hezbollah supporters, particularly in Germany, and to pursue them by all means of the rule of law; this also includes combating money laundering and preventing terrorist financing from Germany;

“2. Impose an activity ban [Betätigungsverbot] on Hezbollah in order to prevent any activity by representatives of the organization in Germany that is against the principle of international understanding [respect for all people];

“3. Abandon the conceptual division of Hezbollah into a political and a military wing and to come to a common assessment at the European level to list the group;

“4. Continue actively to advocate for the right of existence of the Jewish and democratic State of Israel and the legitimate security interests of the State of Israel as a central principle of German foreign and security policy;

“5. Take measures, together with international partners, to reduce Hezbollah’s influence in the Middle East, particularly in Syria.”

The German government banned Hezbollah’s “military wing” in 2013, after the group was implicated in the July 2012 bombing of a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Burgas, Bulgaria. Five Israelis were killed in the attack.

Germany, however, has refused to ban Hezbollah’s “political wing,” which continues to raise funds in the country. A German foreign ministry official, Niels Annen, has said that such a ban would be counterproductive because “we focus on dialogue.” His comment has been understood to mean that the German government does not want to burn bridges with Hezbollah’s sponsor, the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Britain, the Netherlands, Israel, the United States, the 22-member Arab League and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council see no distinction between Hezbollah’s military and civilian wings and all have banned the group in its entirety. Indeed, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, has clearly stated that the group is structurally unified:

“We don’t have a military wing and a political one; we don’t have Hezbollah on one hand and the resistance party on the other…. Every element of Hezbollah, from commanders to members as well as our various capabilities, is in the service of the resistance, and we have nothing but the resistance as a priority.”

On November 28, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that the German government had decided to ban Hezbollah in its entirety, and that a formal announcement would be made during a meeting of the interior ministers [Innenministerkonferenz] of Germany’s 16 federal states in early December. Der Spiegel wrote:

“This would mean that the activities and members of the militia in Germany would be treated as equal to the Kurdish PKK and the Islamic State. All activities of Hezbollah would be prohibited in Germany. For example, the flag of the Lebanese terror militia (green rifle on a yellow background) should no longer be shown.”

An interior ministry spokesman subsequently denied the report and no decision was announced during or after the meeting of German interior ministers….

There is much more. Read the rest here.

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Filed Under: Featured, Germany, Hizballah Tagged With: Angela Merkel


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Comments

  1. paul 316 says

    Dec 23, 2019 at 8:43 am

    You know when you piss off the muslims and put up a road block to their savage ways, look at India and the new law prohibiting muslims from claiming religious persecution in that country. Modi has struck a nerve with the new law and the WEST needs to take up similar action. The muslim violence that has followed shows you first who the muslims are (those who have no self-control) and second, a violent mob that will threaten you at any move to bring them into being on a level playing field with everyone else. Well done Modi and again Robert Spencer is right, German Parliament’s Hizballah is a legal charade.

  2. paul 316 says

    Dec 23, 2019 at 8:47 am

    German Parliament’s Hizballah BAN is a legal charade.

  3. mortimer says

    Dec 23, 2019 at 11:43 am

    It the German legislators don’t put teeth in the resolution, the fund-raising will go on. Most of the German political parties want the Muslim vote and so they won’t boldly condemn jihad terrorism, no matter how bad it is. This emboldens the jihadis.

    • Heidi says

      Dec 23, 2019 at 1:44 pm

      mortimer, it will be a cold day in hell before the legislators have enough backbone or chuzpe to stand up to Merkel. By the way, Niels Annen is married to a Turkish woman and spends a lot of time with his in-laws in Turkey. It is said that he speaks the language fluently. This is him. Any questions https://www.jpost.com/International/German-foreign-ministry-celebrates-Irans-Islamic-revolution-in-Berlin-580534

  4. Halal Bacon says

    Dec 23, 2019 at 7:38 pm

    betcha if mamma merkel had her medical history released, tubes tied by the commies – likely reason for her distaste for Germany

  5. gravenimage says

    Dec 23, 2019 at 8:12 pm

    Gatestone Institute: German Parliament’s Hizballah ban is a legal charade
    ………………

    Well, *this* is depressing. I applauded this a few days ago when the story broke, and had hoped this was actually something important from Germany.

  6. Giacomo Latta says

    Dec 24, 2019 at 10:38 am

    ”center-right Christian Democrats”?!?
    Are we talking about Merkel’s party here? The one that bans ”military wings” but not political wings of groups? Coming to a Germany near you: the military wing of the CDU will soon be visiting the homes of AfD members for polite chats.

  7. Linda Rivera says

    Dec 24, 2019 at 3:18 pm

    RABID Jew Hater Germany/EU would never get rid of Muslim terrorists.

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