‘Hezbollah tied to 30 mosques in Germany’
The intelligence agency for the city of Hamburg has reported that 30 mosques and cultural centers in Germany have ties to the US-classified terrorist organization Hezbollah.
“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,” the agency wrote this past week.
According to the 282-page document reviewed by The Jerusalem Post, “The collection of donations is one of the most important tasks of the associations” where Hezbollah operatives meet.
“The associations are characterized by the effort to strengthen the bonds of the Lebanese living here [in Hamburg] with their homeland and to the organization.”
The intelligence document raises the question of how much money German Hezbollah members are sending to Lebanon to aid in advancing terrorism and to wage war against Syrian civilians.
The Post has previously reported on Hezbollah-controlled centers in the cities of Bremen and Münster along with other Hezbollah meeting places in the state of Lower Saxony. The Hamburg report shows a larger presence of Hezbollah locations than previously documented by German authorities.
The report says there are 30 Hezbollah supporters in Hamburg and a total of 1,050 Hezbollah supporters across Germany, the latter figure confirmed by additional German intelligence data.
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.”
US 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 US, 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 as a terrorist entity.
The Post has learned that in every meeting with German officials, Grenell raises the need for Berlin to ban all of Hezbollah. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has vehemently rejected a full ban of Hezbollah in Germany.