"Hezbollah and the PFLP are murderous terrorist organizations who can't be allowed to organize, recruit supporters and fundraise in Europe.”
By LAHAV HARKOVUpdated: AUGUST 8, 2017 05:25Hezbollah operatives swearing allegiance to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, July 2017.(photo credit: screenshot)
Terrorist groups must not be allowed to hold events in Germany, members of the Knesset and the Bundestag wrote to German Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière in a letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Jerusalem Post.“It is unacceptable that terrorist organizations in Germany are planning events and recruiting supporters while the responsible authorities do not have any legal tools to prevent it,” the letter reads.The letter was spearheaded by Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid in response to an “al-Quds Day” march in June. In that demonstration, marchers carried pictures of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Israeli flags with the Star of David crossed out and touted messages like “Zionists out of Israel.”Lapid wrote to Berlin Mayor Michael Müller, but was unsatisfied with his response.He then asked Volker Beck, head of the Germany-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group, to write a letter with him. Five Israeli MKs and six German lawmakers signed the letter, which was sent last week.The parliamentarians pointed to the al-Quds Day march and other events organized in support of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Berlin, saying that both the PFLP and Hezbollah were designated terrorist organizations by the European Union.“Hezbollah and the PFLP are murderous terrorist organizations who can’t be allowed to organize, recruit supporters and fundraise in Europe,” Lapid told the Post on Monday. “Israel needs to work with countries across the world to cut off funding to terror groups, because the money they raise abroad is used to kill Israelis at home.That’s why I organized this cross-party letter and now we expect the German government to take necessary steps.”In the letter, the lawmakers called on de Maizière to take action to ensure that Hezbollah, PFLP and other terrorist organizations will no longer be able to organize publicly in Germany. They also asked him to consider that the organizations be banned and their activities totally prohibited.The legislators wrote, “Hezbollah and the PFLP have no place in a society that cherishes freedom, democracy and human rights.”
The writers pointed out that both Germans and Israelis have suffered at the hands of terrorism in recent years and said, “The ideology of hatred for our way of life has been the same, and, tragically, the results have been the same.”“These two organizations have no place in the civilized world. Germany and Israel stand united in the fight against terrorism and as parliamentarians from both countries we stand united in the call to do everything in our power to eradicate their presence from within our nations,” they added.
