Three weeks after the ban: searches - Hamas and Samidoun
Three weeks ago, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser banned the Islamist Hamas and the Palestinian network Samidoun - now the homes of suspected supporters in four federal states have been searched. According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the raid on Thursday covered 15 properties in Berlin, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein.
Faeser had issued a ban on Hamas' activities and a ban on the German branch of Samidoun on November 2. The bans were announced shortly after the terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel on October 7 by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), presumably to send a political signal. Normally, raids take place either before or at the same time as a ban is issued - also so that those affected do not have the opportunity to remove or destroy evidence.
The measures have now been ordered by the competent administrative courts to enforce the bans and to further clarify the banned structures of these groups, it was said. According to a police spokeswoman, searches were carried out at eleven locations in Berlin to seize evidence and assets. In North Rhine-Westphalia, private homes in Münster and Bochum were searched, according to the Ministry of the Interior there. In Lower Saxony, according to the Ministry of the Interior, a person in the jurisdiction of the Osnabrück police department was the target, but no arrests were made.
"We are continuing our consistent action against radical Islamists," said Faeser. "By banning 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." The SPD politician emphasized: "We have the Islamist scene firmly in our sights." Islamists and anti-Semites should "not feel safe anywhere" in Germany.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Samidoun advocates the use of violence as a means of enforcing political views and supports associations that threaten attacks. The security authorities had been keeping an eye on the German branch of the "Samidoun - Palestinian Solidarity Network" association for some time. Its supporters had attracted public attention when they distributed sweets on the street after the Hamas attack in the Berlin district of Neukölln on October 7 as an expression of joy at the terrorist attack.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimates that Hamas has around 450 members in Germany. According to the findings, its activities include expressions of sympathy and propaganda activities as well as the collection of donations. In contrast to Islamist terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda or Islamic State (IS), Hamas does not carry out attacks in Western countries, but exclusively in Israel and the Palestinian territories. However, terror experts fear that the Gaza war will increase the risk of attacks by sympathizers of other terrorist organizations and radicalized individual perpetrators.
The Islamist Hamas has its roots in the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded in Egypt and strives for an Islamic state. Hamas has been classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the USA for years, meaning that it was already de facto banned in Germany. The Samidoun network is close to the secular Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
According to the Senate Interior Administration in Berlin, around 300 police officers were deployed in the capital alone on Thursday. The main focus there was on the homes of supporters and the premises of a Palestinian association.
The ban on Hamas and Samidoun has been enforced through the searches of suspected supporters' homes, as these organizations are accused of promoting violence and glorifying terrorism against Israel. Faaser's actions against extremist groups send a clear message that Germany will not tolerate any support for Hamas' barbaric terror tactics.
Source: www.dpa.com
