Hamas and the Samidoun network are at the center of the investigation in Germany. Interior Minister Faeser speaks of “consistent action against radical Islamists”
Security authorities launched raids against suspected supporters of radical Islamic organizations in Germany on Thursday morning. The focus was on the banned pro-Palestinian organizations Hamas and Samidoun, as announced by the Interior Ministry in Berlin. “We continue our consistent action against radical Islamists,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
“With the bans on Hamas and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we will not tolerate any glorification or support of Hamas’ barbaric terror against Israel.” Faeser banned Hamas from operating at the beginning of the month in view of the opposition-Israeli demonstrations in Germany against Hamas and banned Samidoun. The police union criticized that the raids occurred too late after the ban was imposed. Union leader Rainer Wendt told Welt TV that important evidence had been discarded by the organizations in the meantime.
Deployed with 500 security forces
According to other information from the ministry, around 500 emergency services took action against suspected Islamists in four federal states. Searches were carried out at a total of 16 properties in Berlin, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein. The backdrop is the ban on activities imposed on Hamas and the Palestinian network Samidoun about three weeks ago. “Islamists and anti-Semites cannot and should not feel safe anywhere here,” Faeser explained. “These extremists must face the full rigors of the rule of law.”
According to the ministry in Germany, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has around 450 members of Hamas, which has controlled the Palestinian Gaza Strip since 2007 and is responsible for the massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7. In Germany, supporters’ actions range from expressions of sympathy and propaganda to financing or collecting donations. “Members and supporters of Hamas in Germany are also committed to influencing political and social discourse in Germany in the interests of Hamas,” the ministry states.
Anti-Semitic slogans against protesters
Samidoun’s supporters repeatedly shouted anti-Semitic slogans at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Germany after 7 October. The organization “is directed against the idea of international understanding, harms and endangers peaceful coexistence, defends the use of violence as a means of asserting political interests and supports associations that defend and threaten attacks”, explained the ministry. (APA/dpa)