Germany Crackdown on Iran’s Islamic Center Hamburg
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Raven Ruma
- . November 17, 2023
- . Update: November 17, 2023 1:45 pm
In light of Israel’s war against the Hamas in Gaza and spreading anti-Semitism, German authorities have raided sites across Germany targeting Islamists, particularly Iran-backed Hezbollah. The operation targeted the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) and five affiliate groups.
Interior Minister Nancy Faser made it clear this was their crackdown against Islamists, and not against a religion or another state. “We have the Islamist scene in our sights. Especially now, when many Jews feel particularly threatened, we do not tolerate Islamist propaganda or anti-Israel hate speech.” She said now is the time to be on high alert and for a tough approach. “This is why we are following every reasonable suspicion seriously.”
The Ministry highlighted that the Islamic Center of Hamburg was suspected of acting against constitutional order and of supporting Hezbollah, a militant group Germany outlawed in 2020. But no arrests were made during the raids.
Eyes on Islamic Center Hamburg
German authorities had been looking at the Islamic Center Hamburg for some time. It become a hotspot for pro-Iran regime Islamists in January 2020 when the US killed General Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Iraq. A memorial service was held at the Islamic Center Hamburg, drawing more than 600 mourners and sympathizers.
The German Federal Administrative Court ruled the IZH and its affiliated Blue Mosque as an extremist Islamic organization early this year. Kazem Moussavi, a spokesman for the Green Party of Iran in exile, said the IZH is not a place of prayer for secularist and democratic Muslims, but a refuge for jihadist regime supporters, secret service personnel and sympathizers of Hamas and Hezbollah.
“Police searches of the IZH and its associated religious institutions are now to be welcomed. But this is inadequate. After banning Hamas and Samidoun, interior minister Faeser should now finally immediately ban the IZH, whose regime is indisputably the decisive mastermind and supporter of the Hamas program against Israel on October 7.”
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Iranian dissidents in Germany are applauding the raid. Sheina Vojoudi, a Germany-based associate fellow, said Iranian dissidents had been trying to convince Germany, for years, to close the Islamic Center funded by the Islamic Republic in Hamburg. She believes all Islamic centers funded with Iranian wealth must be closed.
“The Islamic Republic’s intention is to spread anti-Semitism, observe and threaten Iranians everywhere and build its network all over the world to export its revolution.”
