Thirty mosques and Islamic cultural centers in Germany are tied to the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah, a Hamburg intelligence agency report reveals.
The U.S. government and a bipartisan group of American lawmakers have urged Berlin to outlaw the Lebanese Shia terror organisation – whose name is literally translated as the “Party of Allah” – in Germany.
“In Germany, there are currently about 30 known cultural and mosque associations in which a clientele regularly meets that is close to Hezbollah or its ideology,” wrote the intelligence agency.
According to the 282-page intelligence document and other German reports reviewed by the Jerusalem Post, there are 1,050 Hezbollah supporters and members in Germany.
Iran’s regime is a major financial sponsor of its chief proxy Hezbollah. Both Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran are allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The Hamburg intelligence report states “the collection of donations is one of the most important tasks of the associations” where Hezbollah operatives meet.
On Saturday, Israel’s Ambassador to Germany Jeremy Issacharoff slammed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Twitter, writing:
“Nasrallah threatens Israel and its civilians and Europe continues to distinguish between the political and military wing of Hezbollah. Nasrallah doesn’t! This EU policy compromises any concerted international resolve to combat terror in all its forms.”
U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell responded to Issacharoff’s tweet by stating, “Agree. Hezbollah is hunting for money in Europe. Ignoring them is what they want. Secret money laundering, front companies, phony transfers.”
The U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Israel and the Arab League have designated Hezbollah’s entire movement a terrorist organization. In 2013, Germany and the European Union merely proscribed Hezbollah’s so-called military wing – a distinction the Lebanese Shia terror organisation itself does not make – as a terrorist entity.
The Post reports in every meeting with German officials, Grenell raises the need for Berlin to ban all of Hezbollah. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has vehemently rejected the call.
The chancellor snubbed her country’s own Jewish community in May after the nearly 100,000-member Central Council of Jews in Germany asked her to outlaw the group.
The president of the council, Dr. Josef Schuster, said at the time “a full ban of Hezbollah’s organization has already happened in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom”, adding that the group is “heavily financed by Iran, and poses, in its entirety, a threat to the entire world.”