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Several Palestinian associations are being targeted by German security authorities. What are they, how dangerous are they, and how does the government plan to deal with them? An overview.
The atrocities committed by the Palestinian Hamas in Israel caused widespread horror in Germany. But the crimes were occasionally celebrated in pro-Palestinian circles. German security authorities fear that this attitude could be “compatible” and that young Muslims in particular could be strongly emotionalized by the events in Gaza.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior therefore assumes an increased risk situation. Against this background, police protection for Jewish institutions in Germany has already been increased.
Meanwhile, several radical pro-Palestinian groups or associations active in Germany are coming into the focus of the security authorities. The Federal Ministry of the Interior announced that bans on activities that have already been announced should be implemented as quickly as possible. The prerequisite for a ban is the classification as “proven extremist” by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. What groups are there and how are they currently evaluated?
Hamas
On Thursday last week, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a ban on Hamas’ activities. According to the security authorities’ assessment, Hamas has no organized structures in Germany. It has been classified as a terrorist organization throughout the EU since 2001 and is banned in Germany. Since 2021, Hamas symbols or flags (green with white Arabic characters representing the Islamic creed) are no longer allowed to be displayed. Financially supporting Hamas is also prohibited.
The announced ban on activity is therefore primarily a confirmation of regulations that are already in force. It also targets individuals who support Hamas from Germany and sometimes also use other associations and even aid associations to do so.
Samidoun
Chancellor Scholz had also announced a ban on activity for this group. According to the security authorities, Samidoun has no permanent structures in Germany. The group is a network supporting imprisoned Palestinians and emerged from the Marxist-Leninist PFLP, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Immediately after the attack carried out by Hamas on Israel, Samidoun supporters celebrated the atrocities in Berlin-Neukölln. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had only formally begun monitoring the group a few days earlier and, according to information from ARD capital studio and SWR immediately classified as “proven extremist”. The Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution has had Samidoun on its radar for much longer as a “proven extremist group” because it is primarily active in Berlin.
Samidoun reacted “outraged” to the announced ban on activities. On its website, the network speaks of a “racist smear campaign” by the German press “against Palestinian and Arab young people in Germany and in particular against the Samidoun network.” The German state is a partner in the defamation and dehumanization of the Palestinian people and in “murderous war crimes and crimes against humanity of the occupying regime.”
PFLP
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP for short, has existed since 1967 and spread fear and terror through numerous aircraft hijackings until the 1970s – including the bloody hijacking of the Lufthansa plane “Landshut” in 1977. It continues to this day Attacks in Israel. It has been listed as a terrorist organization by the EU since 2002.
The PFLP has not yet been banned in Germany because, according to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, it “does not engage in terrorist activities” in this country. However, according to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution report for 2022, former terrorists enjoy great recognition among supporters in Germany “and are specifically invited to Germany for indoctrination.”
Around 100 people are attributed to the PFLP in Germany. It pursues a Marxist-Leninist ideology, wants a socialist Palestinian state and denies Israel its right to exist.
BDS
BDS stands for “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” and is an international Palestinian movement that has existed since 2005 and also has an active following in Germany. The movement calls on scientists and students not to collaborate with Israeli universities and institutes. Cultural institutions in Israel should also be boycotted.
It is also directed against companies that BDS accuses of supporting “Israel’s policies of occupation, colonization and apartheid” and calls for international sanctions against Israel. In addition to Palestinians, the BDS movement also has supporters in Germany, right into the so-called bourgeois milieu. The movement is based on information from ARD capital studio and SWR observed by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and listed as a “suspected extremist case”.
In May 2019, the Bundestag adopted a cross-party motion from the CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP and large parts of the Greens, in which the BDS movement is described as an “all-encompassing call for a boycott” and is strongly condemned. The Bundestag, it is said, is resolutely countering any form of anti-Semitism as it emerges. It is said that projects that support the BDS movement are not allowed to receive financial support. BDS activists unsuccessfully sued the Berlin Higher Administrative Court against this application.
BDS is currently organizing demonstrations and “vigils for Palestine” nationwide, some of which have been banned.