The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was operating its website with the help of German and Canadian servers until mid-October 2023, German public broadcaster BR24 revealed following an investigation. An IT expert confirmed the findings.
According to BR24's report, the site regularly distributed antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-Western content and included references to the PFLP's Telegram channels.
Stephen Stalinksy of the research institute MEMRI told BR24 that the PFLP was involved in the October 7 massacre: "The organization posted videos of its members participating in the attack in real-time."
BR24, citing the German Interior Ministry, said that EU sanctions prohibit any business activity with terrorist organizations, including making financial resources available to them.
Samen Nazari of Alliance4Europe - an organization that works to identify and combat disinformation - called for increased enforcement of these sanctions.
Germany's security services reported to BR24 that the PFLP recruits "through its activists or members for propaganda activities and gatherings," denies Israel's right to exist, and openly advocates for armed resistance against the Jewish state. However, surprisingly, the PFLP is not officially banned in Germany.
EU terror list
Hans-Jacob Schindler of the Counter Extremism Project told BR24 that there is a complete lack of understanding that, while the PFLP is designated a terrorist organization by the EU, it is not banned in Germany.
German MP Stephan Thomae of the FDP demanded that the SPD-led Internal Affairs Ministry take action: "We must not give space to terrorist organizations. Germany must act accordingly on the EU's terror list."
Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European rabbis, told BR24 that the fact that the PFLP has not yet been banned in Germany is "scandalous."
He added that the "lax attitude over the years toward terrorist organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah and the PFLP, and towards terrorist supporters like Iran, demonstrates the naivete with which politicians deal with security risks, which European companies subsequently profit from."
The German company that provides services to the PFLP admitted to BR24 that it had done so and that it had taken appropriate action.