Thread by @Xy5Z89

-Thread- for summary

#Germany #Lebanon #Hezbollah #Ban

On the day on which German interior minister Horst Seehofer issued a nationwide ban on the Hezbollah terrorist organization, the organizers of the annual "Al-Quds Day" in Berlin canceled their planned march for May 16.

In this degoutant anti-Semitic meeting of haters of Israel, mostly from the Islamist milieu, which every year in the middle of the capital publicly called for the annihilation of the Jewish state, supporters of the Lebanese God Warrior Party were always among the driving forces.

Only last year participants had been prohibited from showing Hezbollah flags and symbols. Before that, they had always visibly shaped the image of the demonstrations, even if the organizers kept silent about this on their website.

The rejection that has now taken place can confidently be seen as a direct and concrete effect of the ban on Hezbollah's activities, especially since the “Al-Quds Day” is an Iranian invention and the Shiite party is closely linked to the Iranian regime.

"Al-Quds" is the Arabic name for Jerusalem, and since Khomeini's time, Iran has demonstrated on the last Friday of Lent Ramadan for the "liberation" of this city from the Jews and the destruction of Israel.

In the meantime, this day has become a fixed point in many other Islamic countries and for Islamists worldwide. It is therefore good news that the anti-Jewish march in Berlin will not take place for the first time in more than 20 years.

Police searched several mosques and premises of associations in Berlin, Bremen, Münster and Dortmund, which are supposed to form the infrastructure of Hezbollah in Germany. This includes the Markaz-al-Quaim mosque in Neukölln, which is operated by Al-Irschad,

the largest Shiite mosque association in Berlin, according to the Berlin Senate Department. He is “personally, structurally and ideologically involved in the German support structures of "Hizb Allah", runs his own school and several youth groups and maintains contacts in Lebanon.

In Bremen the officials moved to the Al Mustafa community, in Münster to the Imam Mahdi Center and in Dortmund to the Lebanese emigrant community. In addition, according to the security authorities, house searches were carried out at leading officials of the clubs concerned,

for example in Recklinghausen. "The clubs affected by the investigative measures are suspected of being part of the terrorist organization because of their financial and propaganda support for Hizb Allah," the Interior Ministry said.

A prohibition on activities is to be read on the website of the Ministry (bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/faq… .2_cid364), "issued to foreign associations that do not have any verifiable structures in Germany,

but whose activity below the threshold of formal structures can be demonstrated domestically". In contrast, a ban on organization aims to "permanently destroy associations".

However, it could only "be enacted vis-à-vis domestic associations and those foreign associations that have legally proven substructures in Germany." That means: because Hezbollah as such is not officially active in Germany,

there is "only" a ban on its activities, that is, for its supporters and supporters. However, the legal consequences of bans on organization and activities are essentially identical, according to the Ministry of the Interior: “Bans on labels, banning all assembly activities,

confiscation of assets and confiscation of assets.” Violations of bans on organization and activities are equally punishable.
The activity of Hezbollah runs counter to criminal law and the organization is "against the idea of ​​international understanding",

according to the ministry. It calls "openly for the violent annihilation of the State of Israel" and questions its right to exist - "regardless of whether it appears as a political, social or military structure".

This half-sentence corrects the previously criticized assessment of the Federal Government that a distinction must be made between the military and the political arm of Hezbollah. A differentiation that the terrorist organization itself never made.

The Netherlands and Great Britain had already followed the example of the USA and Canada and had completely banned the unification. According to a study by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, Hezbollah now has over 130,000 missiles,

compared to "only" 15,000 during the Lebanon war in summer 2006. According to the CSIS, this makes them the world's best armed non-state actor. The fact that the God Warrior Party has upgraded in this way makes another war against Israel likely,

and military precautionary measures have long been taken in the Jewish state. To finance its military and other activities in the Middle East, Hezbollah has "spanned a continent-wide network of economic relations", as it says in a contribution on World Online.

Hezbollah links were found above all in the drug and raw materials trade, particularly in Latin America and Africa. “And in this context, at least until a few years ago, it channeled profits across Europe and Germany,” meaning: it operated money laundering. And all the more,

the less money the main sponsor transferred to Iran due to the economic crisis and the US sanctions. The concrete effect of the raids and the ban on operations is likely to be a crucial question. Since the Hezbollah supporters -

1,050 people are expected to work for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution - with the current measures for months, they should have taken precautions.

These findings should also include the clan structures that shape a not insignificant part of the Hezbollah supporter scene in Germany. Important activities in the field of drug trafficking, money laundering and political propaganda are carried out via them, especially in Berlin.

Central to the ideological ammunition of supporters and sympathizers is not only mosque associations, but also and especially Al-Manar, the Hezbollah television station. He is repeatedly noticed by anti-Semitic agitation,

for example by portraying Jews as the pullers of a world conspiracy, denying the Holocaust, or imposing ritual slaughtering of children on rabbis. Al-Manar has had a ban on activities in Germany since 2008,

which has resulted in its program not being shown in cafes or other public places. But the station can be received via an Egyptian satellite as well as via live streams on the Internet. The devastation he inflicts on his audience is significant.

@threadreaderapp please unroll

@no_itsmyturn @MiddleEastNW @HezbollahWatch