Hamas to be banned ‘from operating in Germany’

BERLIN (AA) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that the Palestinian group Hamas would be outlawed in the wake of deadly attacks in Israel.

“The Federal Ministry of the Interior will ban Hamas from operating in Germany,” said the chancellor in a statement to parliament explaining his government’s stance on the latest situation in the Middle East following Israeli’s war on Gaza.

Toeing the official US and EU position, Scholz said, “anyone who supports a ‘terrorist’ organization like Hamas is committing a criminal offense.”

He also announced that the Berlin-based Palestinian group ‘Samidoun’, which also calls itself the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, would also be banned.

“A club like Samidoun whose members celebrate the most brutal ‘terrorist’ attack (in Israel) on the street is banned in Germany. This is disgusting. This is inhumane. That contradicts all the values ​​to which we as a country are committed,” said Scholz.

“We will not accept hatred and agitation. We do not tolerate anti-Semitism,” he added.

German authorities have clamped down on pro-Palestinian activists and sympathizers over the past days following the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza. All Palestinian demonstrations in Berlin have been banned until Octber 17.

Critics say the government’s recent actions violate constitutional rights, freedom of association, and the right to demonstrate.

Earlier this week, Initiative Palestine, accused Berlin police of banning pro-Palestinian rallies “on racist grounds.”

“However, we will not be silenced. We will inform about upcoming steps to bring (the) Palestine (issue) to the streets of Berlin,” the group said on its website.

Over 1,200 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israel-Palestine conflict on Saturday.