Ban Hezbollah operations in Germany as ‘destroying Israel’ is its goal, AfD bill urges parliament
Germany’s parliament is to debate a proposal to ban the activities of Hezbollah there. Introduced by the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, it accuses the Islamist group of leading a "terrorist fight against Israel.”
The AfD bill, scheduled for debate in the Bundestag on Thursday, was announced earlier this week at an AfD press conference.
“Hezbollah must be banned in Germany,” said AfD deputy Beatrix von Storch, who helped to draft the bill. She deems the group to be a “terrorist organization” whose goal is the “destruction of Israel,” and noted that a number of other countries – including the US, UK and Israel – had already passed laws to prohibit or restrict its activities.
Short of an outright ban, the AfD bill suggests restrictions on Hezbollah’s legal rights in Germany, such as the removal of its status as a charity.
Hezbollah, or the “Party of God,” is a political and military organization that formed in the wake of Israel’s invasion of Southern Lebanon in the 1980s. The group has developed close ties with Iran and now operates in a number of countries outside Lebanon, raising funds and generating foreign support through networks of community centers and mosques.
Members of Hezbollah march at a rally in Lebanon to mark Jerusalem Day (FILE PHOTO). © Reuters / Aziz Taher
German intelligence has estimated that around 1,050 Hezbollah members and supporters were active in the EU country in 2018, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Hezbollah’s military wing, nominally separate from its political party, was added to the European Union terrorism blacklist in 2013, but von Storch challenged the distinction between the group’s armed and its civil elements.
“The Berlin government claims you must distinguish between a legitimate, political wing of Hezbollah and a terrorist wing,” she said at the press conference. “This does not make sense to us, or the voters.”
The AfD has long been a stalwart critic of “radical Islam” and of German immigration policies amid an ongoing refugee crisis – which party co-leader Alexander Gauland once branded an “Islamic invasion.”
Original: https://www.rt.com/news/461168-afd-urges-hezbollah-ban-germany/
Will they dare say the same about Israel? I'm sure if any party would have a popular vote across the country they'll get overwhelming support for Hezbollah and a tiny support for Israel. As you mentioned in your article Hezbollah was formed in the wake of Israeli aggression invading South Lebanon and continuing to threat peace and stability in the region, continue occupying land of others including and not limited to the Golan, Sheba'a Farms, Palestine, and parts of Jordan!
Israel also committed multiple war crimes especially in the blockage on Gaza, the Qana 1 & 2 massacres, destroying Lebanese infrastructure, cooperating and coordinating with alQaeda south of Syria, continuous bombing of Syrian facilities like scientific research centers... I'm telling you the Germans are not fools and know the reality, but these freaks won't dare to go to a referendum on Israel.
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no one in germany cares what AFD wants. they are a political minority and no one wants to side with them. they are full of racists, islamophobes, anti immigration and climate change denyers. that they want to ban hezbollah i would almost not consider news worthy, it just shows how trumplike they are and loyal nationalists of israel.
im more worried that other parties will think they act on behalf of the german people if they favor israel, which is not true. since the big coalition is within an existential crisis after EU election there might be a reelections in germany if they dont solve their issues. then germany would make a big leap into the left-green direction.
irony that the AFD, the group that has followers with the most antisemitic attacks in germany, wants to ban hezbollah