Germany has outlawed a Muslim religious organisation it accuses of propagating “extremism” and supporting Iran and Hezbollah.
The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community announced the ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) and its national affiliates on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, calling its mission “anti-constitutional”.
“Today, we banned [IZH], which promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany,” Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser said in a statement.
“This Islamist ideology is opposed to human dignity, women’s rights, an independent judiciary and our democratic government,” she added.
Faeser claimed that the group and its “sub-organisations” support Hezbollah and “spread aggressive antisemitism”. Germany outlawed the armed Lebanese group in 2020, designating it as a “terrorist” organisation.
Her ministry also alleged the group acts “as the direct representative of Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader’,” and works in the interests of establishing an Islamic revolution in Germany “outside of the free and democratic constitutional system”.
“In addition, the Islamic Centre Hamburg and its affiliated organizations support the terrorists of Hizb Allah and spread aggressive anti-Semitism,” the Minister said.
The Interior Ministry said that, while the group tries to present itself as a tolerant and purely religious organization without political ties or a political agenda, “investigations have confirmed without a doubt that the IZH’s activities are not simply religious in nature.”
It said that the group’s purpose and activities are opposed to Germany’s constitutional order.
The ban on the Islamic Center Hamburg, or IZH, and five suborganizations around Germany followed searches carried out last November.
Faeser said that evidence gathered in the investigation “confirmed the serious suspicions to such a degree that we ordered the ban today.”
In connection with the ban, which also includes five affiliated organizations, raids were carried out across Germany on Wednesday morning, including at the Blue Mosque in Hamburg.
A total of 53 properties in the states of Hamburg, Bremen, Berlin, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria have been searched on the basis of court orders, the ministry said.
Due to the ban, four Shia Muslim mosques in Germany will be shuttered, while IZH’s assets have been confiscated.
The IZH has long been under observation by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, which said in its annual report for 2023 that it is Iran’s most important representative in Germany beside the country’s embassy.
It said there were no reliable figures for members or supporters of the group, founded in 1962. There have been calls for it to be banned for years.
Group Not Targeted On Religious Grounds
German Interior Minister, Nancy Faeser stressed that the group was not targeted on religious grounds and that Shia Muslims are free to practice their faith.
“We are drawing a clear distinction between the Islamist extremists that we are cracking down on and the many Muslims who belong to our country and live according to their faith,” she said.
She added, “This ban absolutely does not apply to the peaceful practice of the Shiite [Shia] religion.”
The American Jewish Committee Berlin welcomed the ban.
The top regional security official in Hamburg, Andy Grote, declared that the group is now “history.” He said that “the closure of this outpost of the inhuman Iranian regime is a really effective hit against Islamic extremism.”
Germany’s main Jewish organization also welcomed the ban.
“Iran’s mullah regime and its proxies are in position worldwide — their aim is the destruction of democracy and our way of living,” Josef Schuster, the President of the Central Council of Jews, said in a statement.
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