Germany bans Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and raids mosques and homes

[Jose Garcia]

Source: CNN

(CNN)Germany announced Thursday it has designated the Lebanese militant and political group Hezbollah a terror organization, banning all of its activities in the country and ordering raids on sites police say are linked to the group.

Police told CNN a number of properties in Berlin, Bremen and North Rhine-Westphalia were searched early on Thursday. According to the police and the German Interior Ministry, four mosques and cultural associations were raided, as well as private homes of their board members, treasurers and tax advisers.

"The associations under investigation are suspected of forming part of Hezbollah due to their financial support and propaganda for the terrorist organization," the Interior Ministry said in a statement posted on its website. It added the searches were conducted to "ensure that evidence of potential sub-organizations in Germany could not be destroyed when this ban was announced."

The move to ban Hezbollah's activities in Germany comes after a sustained campaign by the United States and Israel. Last December, the German parliament approved a motion. It has argued for Chancellor Angela Merkel's government to ban the group's activities in Germany.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/04/30/europe/germany-bans-hezbollah-grm-intl/index.html

[madville]

1. About time

We designated them as such in 1997.

[dware]

2. Long past due.

Should have been done years ago.

[DFW]

3. Germany is very sensitive in matters of "tolerance"

They tolerate way more than they should due to their past.

Of course, if some groups abuse the Germans' generosity and bring in large quantities of guns and explosives, they get fed up rather quickly. Islamist organizations like to blow up anything related to Jews or Holocaust memorials, and Germany remains just a little more sensitive than most countries to things like that happening on their territory (thank goodness!).

The fact that the Germans waited this long can probably be attributed to Merkel's clever timing. Hezbollah can't hide under the protective covering of "religious freedom in Germany" if their people are caught in various locations hoarding guns, ammunition and explosives. That kind of stuff is illegal here, and the laws are not ambiguous. Hezbollah can whine all they want about infringement on their religious rights, but the Germans only need to point to the weapons and say, "who said anything about religion?"